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