| 1434–1737 | Medici family in power in Florence |
| 1450s | Development of movable metal type in Germany |
| 1469 | Marriage of Isabella of Castile and Ferdinand of Aragon |
| 1492 | Spain conquers Granada; practicing Jews expelled from Spain |
| 1508–1512 | Michelangelo paints ceiling of the Sistine Chapel |
| 1513 | Niccolò Machiavelli writes The Prince |
| 1521 | Diet of Worms |
| 1521–1555 | Charles V’s wars against Valois kings |
| 1525 | Peasant revolts in Germany |
| 1527 | Henry VIII of England asks Pope Clement VII to annul his marriage to Catherine of Aragon |
| 1536 | John Calvin publishes The Institutes of the Christian Religion |
| 1540 | Founding of the Society of Jesus ( Jesuits) |
| 1545–1563 | Council of Trent |
| 1555 | Peace of Augsburg |
| 1558–1603 | Reign of Elizabeth I in England |
| 1560–1660 | Height of European witch-hunt |
| 1568–1578 | Civil war in the Netherlands |
| 1572 | Saint Bartholomew’s Day massacre |
| 1598 | Edict of Nantes |