| c. 120 |
Probable date of writing of Sepher Yetzirah |
| c. 200 |
Most (or all) of Corpus Hermeticum written by this time |
| c. 260 |
Gallienus recognizes Christianity as a lawful religion |
| 311 |
Arius becomes a presbyter of Alexandria |
| 325 |
Council of Nicea, presided over by Constantine, who was not a Christian at this point. Arianism declared a heresy. Bishops of the See of Rome, founded by St. Peter; Alexandria, founded by St. Mark; and Antioch, sometime residency of St. Mark, recognized as heads of the Hierarchy of the Church |
| 336 |
Death of Arius |
| 354 |
Birth of St. Augustine |
| 383 |
Vulgate written by St. Jerome |
| 410 |
Sack of Rome by the Visigoths. Since they are Arian Christians, they spare all Christian edifices. Pantheon was a Christian church by this time |
| 411 |
Cyril becomes Patriarch of Alexandria. Library sacked |
| 425 |
Death of Proclus, head of the Platonic Academy of Athens |
| 428 |
Nestorius becomes Patriarch of Constantinople |
| 430 |
Death of St. Augustine |
| 431 |
Council of Ephesus. Nestorianism declared a heresy |
| 451 |
Council of Chalcedon. Monophysitism declared a heresy |
| 476 |
Fall of Rome |
| 529 |
Justinian shuts down the Platonic Academy at Athens |
| 570 |
Birth of Mohammed |
| 600 |
Sepher Yetzirah definitely written before this time |
| 632 |
Death of Mohammed |
| 711 |
Moors overrun the Visigothic kingdom south of the Pyrenees |
| 719 |
Moorish invasion of southern France begins |
| 720 |
Septimania controlled by Moors. It becomes an autonomous principality with capital at Narbonne |
| 732 |
Battle of Poitiers, at which Charles Martel checks the advance of the Moorish hordes |
| 738 |
Charles Martel drives the Moorish invaders back to Narbonne, which, defended by both Moors and Jews, proves impregnable |
| 752 |
Pepin the Short, son of Charles Martel and father of Charlemagne, brings Septimania under his control. Narbonne, however, still holds out for another seven years |
| 754 |
Pepin the Short aids Pope Stephen II against the Longobards in Italy. Appearance of the forged "Donation of Constantine." This document asserted that the "Bishop of Rome" was the "Vicar of Christ," and had the status of Roman Emperor. After this point, the Pope wielded supreme authority over both the spiritual and secular affairs of Western Christendom. Ceremony of coronation and annointment devised. Pepin the Short crowned and annointed by the Pope at Ponthion, and becomes the first "created" King |
| 759 |
Pepin the Short makes pact with the Jewish population of Narbonne, under siege since 752, whereby they endorse his claim to the biblical succession, by which he hoped to legitimize his claim to the Merovingian lands he had usurped. In return, he would ensure the independence or at least autonomy of the Jews, and recognize a Jewish King of Septimania. Jewish population of Narbonne slaughers Moorish defenders and opens gates to Pepin's army |
| 768 |
Principality of Septimania created, with nominal alliegance to Pepin. Theodoric, of Merovingian descent, becomes King of Septimania. The device on his shield is the Lion of Judah. He is recognized by both Pepin and the Caliph of Baghdad as "the seed of the royal house of David" and King of the Jews. He marries Pepin's sister, Alda. Death of Pepin the Short. Accession of Charlemagne as King of Neustria and Austrasia. Letter from Pope Stephen III to the Sons of Pepin, which expresses "distress unto the point of death" over the grant of (especially Church) lands to the Jewish Kingdom. He states that since it was all right for God to break ancient spiritual promises to the Jews because of the Crucifixion of Jesus, it was a much lesser issue for Kings to break promises to Jews over temporal matters |
| 771 |
Charlemagne becomes King of all the Franks |
| 778 |
Charlemagne leads an expedition across the Pyrenees to harass the Moors. Roland, of the "Song of Roland," accompanies him |
| 792 |
Guilhem de Gellone, son of Theodoric, founds Caballistic academy and library at Gellone |
| 800 |
Charlemagne, crowned and annointed Holy Roman Emperor on Dec. 25. End of the Dark Ages, beginning of the Middle Ages |
| 803 |
Guilhem de Gellone captures Barcelona, thus extending the Kingdom of Septimania to straddle the Pyrenees. Kingdom of Septimania confirmed by Charlemagne as a permanent institution |
| 806 |
Guilhem of Gellone retires to academy of Gellone |
| 812 |
Death of Guilhem de Gellone, King of Septimania |
| 814 |
Death of Guilhem de Gellone, King of Septimania |
| 830 |
Al-Ma'mun, son of Haroun al-Raschid, passes through Harran on his way to a war at Byzantium. He threatens the pagan inhabitants of Harran with extinction if they don't convert to one of the accepted religions. They decide to call themselves "Sabians," and adopt the writings of Hermes Trismegistus as their "Scripture." |
| 835 |
Birth of Thabit ibn Qurra, founder of the community of Sabians at Baghdad |
| 862 |
John Scotus Eriugena translates Pseudo-Dionysius the Areopagite into Latin |
| 872 |
Thabit goes to Baghdad |
| c. 901 |
Death of Thabit ibn Qurra |
| 949 |
Birth of St. Symeon the New Theologian, monk of Mt. Athos who claimed to have seen divine light on a regular basis and was a great influence on the Hesychasts |
| 961 |
St. Athanasius the Athonite begins building monasteries on Mt. Athos |
| c. 1000 |
Psellos starts a Hermetic revival in Byzantium. His copy of the Corpus Hermeticum is translated by Ficino 450 years later. Death of St. Athanasius the Athonite |
| 1022 |
Death of St. Symeon the New Theologian |
| 1034 |
Birth of Hassan-i-Sabbah, "The Old Man Of The Mountain," founder of the Hashishim |
| 1037 |
Death of Avicenna |
| c. 1050 |
Order of Knights Hospitaller of St. John of Jerusalem founded by a group of religious laymen from Amalfi, Italy |
| 1054 |
East-West Schism between the Roman and Byzantine Churches |
| 1071 |
Jerusalem falls to the Seljuk Turks |
| 1087 |
Peter Gerard or Gerard the Blessed becomes Abbot-Master of the Knights of St. John of Jerusalem |
| 1090 |
Hasssan-i-Sabbah seizes fortress of Alamut in Persia |
| 1091 |
Birth of St. Bernard of Clairvaux |
| 1094 |
Hassan-i-Sabbah breaks with Fatimid Caliphate |
| 1095 |
Peter the Hermit and Pope Urban II preach the need for a crusade throughout Europe. Urban holds a synod at Piacenza, and then gives a famous speech at Clermont, France, which Peter attends. Peter inspires the crusade of the pauperes. He claims that Jesus appeared to him in the Church of the Holy Sepulchre |
| 1096 |
First Crusade begins. Peter the Hermit leads one of the five sections of the pauperes to Constantinople. All his followers killed in Asia Minor. He returns to Constantinople |
| 1098 |
Holy Lance discovered at Antioch by Peter Bartholomew. Jerusalem falls to the Fatimid Caliph of Cairo |
| 1099 |
Jerusalem falls to the Crusaders on July 15. Entire native population of Jerusalem slaughtered by the Crusaders under Godfroi de Bouillon. Church of the Holy Sepulchre captured. Godfroi de Bouillon refuses the Kingship, but becomes "Advocate of the Holy Sepulchre." |
| 1100 |
Death of Godfroi de Bouillon. Kingdom of Jerusalem begins on Christmas Day with the crowning of Baudoin de Bouillon |
| 1113 |
Pope Pascal II issues a Bull sanctioning the constitution of the Knights Hospitaller |
| 1118 |
Foundation of the Knights Templar in Jerusalem |
| 1120 |
Count Fulk V of Anjou, later King of Jerusalem and father of Geoffrey Plantagenet, joins the Knights Templar |
| 1128 |
St. Bernard writes "In Praise of the New Knighthood" advocating the Knights Templar. Knights Templar chartered and fully recognized as a religious-military body with Hugh de Payns as first Grand Master |
| 1131 |
Fulk of Anjou becomes King of Jerusalem |
| 1136 |
Death of Hugh de Payns. First recorded grant of land to the Knights Templar, by Matilda of Boulogne, Queen of England and great-niece of Baudoin I |
| 1139 |
Bull issued by Innocent II, protege of St. Bernard, frees Knights Templar from alliegance to all other temporal authorities than the Pope himself, thereby making them an autonomous international "superkingdom" |
| 1143 |
Death of King Fulk of Jerusalem. Accession of first native-born King, Baudoin III, to the throne of Jerusalem. John Comnenus of Constantinople dies. Peter, Venerable of Cluny, condemns to Louis VII the Jews of Narbonne, who claim to have a King residing there |
| 1144 |
Theobald, Bishop of Cambridge refers to "the seed of David residing at Narbonne" |
| 1145 |
Eugenius III, disciple of St. Bernard, elected Pope. He issues two bulls advocating the Templars |
| 1146 |
Templars granted the right to wear the cross pattée by Pope Eugenius III |
| 1149 |
First Cathar bishopric founded |
| 1153 |
Death of St. Bernard |
| 1161 |
London Order of the Temple moves to New Temple, between Fleet Street and the Thames |
| 1173 |
Canonization of St. Bernard |
| 1177 |
Pope Alexander III sends a letter to Prester John |
| 1184 |
William of Tyre begins his history, which has come to be the standard historian's reference on the Knights Templar |
| 1187 |
Disastrous battle of Hattin. Jerusalem falls to Saladin. Saladin allows the Knights Hospitaller to stay an extra year to finish their curing of the sick |
| 1192 |
Richard the Lionhearted sells Cyprus to the Knights Templar, who in turn sell it to Guy de Lusignan. He becomes King |
| 1198 |
Foundation of the Teutonic Knights |
| c. 1200 |
Sepher-ha-Bahir written in southern France by Isaac the Blind |
| 1209 |
Beginning of the Albigensian Crusade |
| 1229 |
Teutonic Knights begin conquest of Prussia |
| 1233 |
Holy Inquisition founded by the Dominicans |
| 1234 |
Teutonic Knights become independent of all authority except the Pope, like the Templars |
| 1235 |
Birth of Ramon Llull ("Dr. Illuminatus"), first Christian Cabalist writer |
| 1243 |
Siege of Montségur |
| 1244 |
End of the Albigensian Crusade |
| 1259 |
Maltese cross granted exclusively to the Order of St. John of Jerusalem (Hospitallers) by Bull of Pope Alexander IV |
| 1275 |
Moses de Leon composes and compiles Sepher-ha-Zohar |
| 1291 |
Fall of Acre to the Muslims. Knights of St. John expelled from Jerusalem. They go to Cyprus. Grand Master of the Teutonic Knights retreats to Venice |
| 1296 |
Birth of St. Gregory Palamas, monk of Mt. Athos and Hesychast leader who claimed he could see the Light of God |
| 1307 |
On Friday, October 13, all seneschals of France open secret sealed orders at dawn. Hundreds of Templars are arrested and imprisoned. Teutonic Knights accused of heresy by Bishop of Riga. Mt. Athos sacked by Spanish mercenaries. Ninety percent of its monasteries destroyed. |
| 1310 |
Hundreds of Templars burned on the orders of Philip IV and Archbishop Marigny. Knights of St. John move from Cyprus to Rhodes. They become commonly known as the "Knights of Rhodes." Grand Master of the Teutonic Knights transfers his seat to Marienburg on the Vistula |
| 1312 |
Suppression of the Knights Templar by Pope Clement V. Order of St. John of Jerusalem receives all their vast holdings |
| 1314 |
Jacques de Molay, last Templar Grand Master, roasted over a slow fire in Paris. French and Scottish Templars fight at the side of Robert the Bruce at Battle of Bannockburn |
| 1315 |
Death of Ramon Llull |
| 1339 |
Hesychast controversy begins in Byzantium |
| 1348 |
Black Plague ravages Europe |
| 1351 |
Hesychasm made a doctrine of the Eastern Orthodox Church |
| 1354 |
Gallipoli falls to the Ottoman Turks, giving them their first foothold in Europe. Beginning of what would become the Ottoman Empire. Cola di Rienzi fails to restore the Roman Republic |
| 1358 |
Boccaccio completes Decameron. Approximate year of the birth of George Gemistos Plethon |
| 1359 |
Death of St. Gregory Palamas |
| 1360 |
First professorship of Greek established at Florence under the influence of Petrarch and Boccaccio |
| 1368 |
Hesychasm confirmed as dogma of the Eastern Orthodox Church. Gregory Palamas canonized |
| 1389 |
Birth of Cosimo de' Medici |
| 1391 |
First siege of Constantinople by the Turks |
| 1401 |
Birth of Nicholas of Cusa |
| 1408 |
Birth of Bessarion |
| 1410 |
Defeat of the Teutonic Knights by Ladislaus at Tannenberg |
| c. 1415 |
Birth of John Argyropoulos |
| 1429 |
Brunelleschi begins the building of the dome of the Florentine Cathedral |
| 1431 |
Council of Basle convenes. Cardinal Cesarini appointed President of the Council by Pope Eugenius IV. Bessarion goes to study for five years under Plethon |
| 1433 |
Birth of Marsilio Ficino at Figline near Florence |
| 1434 |
John Argyropoulos teaching at university in Padua. Pope Eugenius IV driven out of Rome by a mob. He seeks refuge in Florence |
| 1435 |
Council of Basle issues decree inviting the Greeks to Basle to remove their heresy |
| 1436 |
Bessarion recalled to Constantinople, where he heads Monastery of St. Basil. Council of Basle splits |
| 1437 |
The minority after the split of the Council of Basle, "the healthier part," votes to invite the Greeks to Florence. A delegation led by Nicholas of Cusa goes to Constantinople to invite them. Council of Basle majority members send a party to insist on Basle as the location for the Council, but they arrive in Venice after the delegation has already embarked, on the Papal fleet, to the accompaniment of an earthquake. Bessarion ordained and consecrated Bishop, although he is underage by regulation for the office |
| 1438 |
Cardinal Cesarini defects from the the Council of Basle to the Pope's party. He goes to Ferrara. Council of Ferrara begins. Cardinal Cesarini is chief spokesman for the Latin side. Nicholas of Cusa remains to report to the Pope. He brings back from Constantinople a manuscript of Proclus's Platonic Theology which he gives to Ambrose Traversari in Ferrara for translation. Aeneas Sylvius Piccolomini of Siena, the future Pope Paul II, attends a dinner in Ferrara and meets Plethon and debates Plato and Aristotle with him |
| 1439 |
Majority party of Council of Basle elects anti-Pope Felix V. Pope Eugenius IV declares the Council of Basle to be dissolved. Cosimo de' Medici invites the Council of Union to Florence, which he says can easily defray the cost. The Greeks are welcomed with a speech in their own language by Leonardo Bruni. Pope Eugenius IV (still in exile from Rome) and Emperor John Paleologus instigate a new reunion of the Eastern and Roman Churches, which is opposed by most of the Greeks, including Plethon. John Argyropoulos and Bessarion in attendance. Plethon spends most of his time lecturing on Plato to laymen. Cosimo attends eagerly. Cosimo begins to send his agents to many countries looking for ancient manuscripts |
| 1440 |
Lorenzo Valla exposes the fraudulent nature of the Donation of Constantine, the keystone of the Papal claim to temporal sovereignty. Pope Eugenius IV (still in exile from Rome) creates Bessarion, disciple of Plethon, a cardinal of the Roman church. John de Lastic, Grand Master of the Hospitallers, repels an invasion of Rhodes from Egypt |
| 1441 |
John Argyropoulos returns to Constantinople. Bessarion takes up residence in Rome and assumes a Cardinal's hat |
| 1442 |
End of Council of Florence |
| 1444 |
John de Lastic repels another invasion from Egypt. Cosimo de' Medici founds first public library in Florence. Delegation arrives in Constantinople from Italy to enforce the decree of Union signed in Florence in 1439. Death of Brunelleschi |
| c. 1448 |
Nicholas of Cusa becomes a Cardinal |
| 1449 |
Birth of Lorenzo "Il Magnifico" de' Medici. Anti-Pope Felix V resigns. Actual dissolution of the Council of Basle. |
| 1450 |
Bessarion becomes Papal legate to (or is made governor of) Bologna |
| 1452 |
Death of Geroge Gemistos Plethon. Scholarios (a.k.a. Gennadios) burns Plethon's Book of Laws. By this time, Marsilio Ficino has become interested in Platonism |
| 1453 |
Constantinople falls to the Ottoman Turks |
| 1454 |
Teutonic Knights cede Prussia to the King of Poland. Ficino writes his first philosophical works |
| 1455 |
Birth of Johann Reuchlin in Pforzheim. John Argyropoulos reaches Florence. Pope Nicholas V dies. Bessarion almost elected to replace him, but is denied because of his Greek birth. Calixtus III finally elected. Bessarion leaves Bologna |
| 1456 |
John Argyropoulos reaches Florence from Constantinople at invitation from Cosimo de' Medici. He becomes a lecturer at the Florentine Studio. Around this time Ficino begins to study Greek. Bessarion in Naples. Gutenberg prints the Vulgate at Mainz |
| 1459 |
Marsilio Ficino becomes pupil of Greek instructor John Argyropoulos. Bessarion completes In Calumniatorem Platonis, against George of Trebizond. Bessarion campaigns in Italy for the repulsion of the Turks |
| 1460 |
Bessarion in possession of a manuscript (not Psellos's) of the Corpus Hermeticum. Bessarion made Papal legate to Germany; he campaigns in Germany and Vienna for repulsion of the Turks |
| 1461 |
Bessarion leaves Germany |
| 1462 |
An agent of Cosimo, Leonardo da Pistoia, brings a manuscript, originally belonging to Psellos, of the Corpus Hermeticum to Florence from Macedonia. Cosimo gives Marsilio Ficino a villa at Careggi near Florence. Probable date of the founding of the Platonic Academy of Florence. Ficino translates the Orphic Hymns and begins singing them. He also translates the Sayings of Zoroaster. Birth of Johannes Trithemius at Trittenheim |
| 1463 |
Cosimo de' Medici commands Ficino to put aside the Platonic manuscripts and translate the Corpus Hermeticum first. Ficino completes the translation, which becomes his most-published work. Bessarion in Venice. Birth of Giovanni Pico della Mirandola |
| 1464 |
Death of Cosimo de' Medici. Lorenzo de' Medici becomes a student at the Platonic Academy. Death of Nicholas of Cusa. Printing reaches Italy. Sigismondo Malatesta, condottiere of Rimini, leads an invasion of the Peloponnese, exhumes Plethon's remains and buries them in a sarcophagus in the outer wall of the Tempio Malatestiano in Rimini. |
| c. 1464 |
Bessarion in Rome; he founds a Platonic Academy which meets in his home. Sometime after this year, Bessarion donates his library of 800 Greek manuscripts to Venice, which becomes the nucleus of the Biblioteca Marciana |
| c. 1466 |
Birth of John Colet |
| 1468 |
Ficino finishes his translation of Plato into Latin, the first complete translation into any western language |
| 1469 |
Lorenzo "Il Magnifico" de' Medici becomes ruler of Florence at 20. Printing reaches Venice. Bessarion's In Calumniatorem Platonis published in Rome. Bessarion sends a copy of it to Ficino. Ficino begins the Theologia Platonica. Birth of Giles of Viterbo |
| 1470 |
By this time, the Hermetic frescoes in Borso d'Este's Palazzo Schifanoia in Ferrara are completed. Perotti begins to publicize the Bessarionis Academia in Rome. Invention of lower-case type in Venice. Printing reaches France |
| 1471 |
Publication of Ficino's translation of the Corpus Hermeticum at Florence. John Argyropoulos goes to Rome. Printing reaches Utrecht (The Netherlands) |
| 1472 |
Ficino ordained a priest. Bessarion in France. Death of Bessarion in Ravenna |
| 1474 |
Ficino completes the Theologia Platonica. Printing reaches Spain |
| c. 1475 |
De alchemia, the first printed work on alchemy, published in Venice |
| 1476 |
Peter d'Aubusson becomes Grand Master of the Knights of St. John. William Caxton brings printing to England |
| 1479 |
Peter d'Aubusson defends Rhodes against the fleet of Mohammed II, as a result of which he gains international fame in Europe. Pico goes to Ferrara and begins to study philosophy at the University |
| c. 1480 |
Mosaics of Hermes Trismegistus and Fortuna in the Siena Cathedral begun |
| 1480 |
Pico studies philosophy at the University of Padua, where he is a pupil of the Jewish Averroist Elia del Medigo |
| 1481 |
Zizim, son of Mohammed II, proclaimed Sultan of the Ottoman Empire, after successfully wresting the throne from his brother, Bajazet II |
| 1482 |
Zizim defeated. He takes refuge with the Knights of St. John on Rhodes, who give him their famous Hospitality in return for constant peace with d'Aubusson and his successors, non-interference with commerce to, in, or from Rhodes or other Aegean islands, free access to all ports and provinces to sell merchandise tax-free, the right to remove 300 Christians a year from Zizim's dominions, the return of all islands which the Ottoman Empire had "stolen" from the Knights of Rhodes, and payment of the sum of 150,000 gold crowns. Reuchlin goes to Florence and meets with Ficino, then to Rome where he becomes the pupil of John Argyropoulos. Trithemius finishes his studies at Heidelberg |
| 1483 |
Peter d'Aubusson accepts a bribe from Bajazet II and betrays Zizim, locking him in prison. Trithemius becomes Abbot of Sponheim. |
| 1484 |
Ficino's translation of Plato published. Pico della Mirandola settles in Florence. He meets Ficino and convinces him to translate Plotinus. Heinrich Kramer and James Sprenger publish Malleus Maleficarum (The Hammer of Witches) |
| 1485 |
Pico visits the University of Paris |
| 1486 |
Marsilio Ficino completes the translation of Plotinus into Latin. Death of John Argyropoulos. Pico returns to Florence from Paris, then moves to Perugia, where he studies Hebrew and Arabic under several Jewish teachers. He becomes interested in the Jewish Cabala. Then he goes to Rome and publishes the 900 Theses, which he offers to defend against all comers. He even offers to pay the way of the challengers. The 900 Theses are the first fusion of Hermeticism and the Kabbalah, the birth of the Hermetic Cabala. Birth of Heinrich Cornelius Agrippa in Cologne. Innocent VIII, influenced by the Malleus Maleficarum, issues a papal bull condemning witches. Beginning of European witch craze |
| 1487 |
Pico's Apologia and The Dignity of Man published. Pope Innocent VIII issues Bull condemning the 900 Theses, ending the debates, and naming a Commission of Inquisition. Pico flees to France, where he is arrested and jailed under papal authority |
| 1488 |
Pico della Mirandola is released into the custody of Lorenzo Il Magnifico. He lives in Florence under "house arrest." James IV of Scotland issues charter Fratribus Hospitalis Hierosolimitani, Militibus Templi Solomonis (Brothers of the Hospital of Jerusalem, Knights of the Temple of Solomon), which reaffirms all the ancient rights and privileges of the Hospitallers and also the Templars. Hermes Trismegistus mosaic completed in the Siena Duomo |
| 1489 |
Pierre d'Aubusson delivers Zizim to Pope Innocent VIII. In return he is made Cardinal. Ficino publishes De vita coelitus comparanda (On Drawing Down the Life of Heaven). Pico publishes Heptaplus |
| 1490 |
Reuchlin goes to Florence, where he meets with Pico. Lorenzo de' Medici, at the exhortation of Pico, invites Savanarola to return to Florence |
| 1492 |
Expulsion of the Jews from Spain by Ferdinand and Isabella. Death of Lorenzo "Il Magnifico" de' Medici at age 44. Ficino's translation of Plotinus completed and published. Ficino's translation of Dionysius the Areopagite completed. Rodrigo Borgia elected Pope as Alexander VI. John Colet leaves England to study on the Continent |
| 1493 |
Pope Alexander VI Borgia issues Bulls exonerating Pico and approving the 900 Theses. He also writes a personal letter to Pico himself, stating Pico is a faithful son of the Church inspired by Divine Greatness, which is published in every subsequent edition of Pico's works |
| c. 1493 |
Birth of Theophrastus Paracelsus von Hohenheim at Einsiedeln, Switzerland |
| 1494 |
Death of Pico della Mirandola from fever, perhaps induced by poison, at age 31. Medicis exiled from Florence; Ficino retires to the country. Ficino succeeds in casting out Saturnian demons by astrological means. Johannes Reuchlin publishes De Verbo Mirifico at Basel. Jacques Lefèvre d'Etaples publishes Ficino's Pimander at Paris |
| 1495 |
Alexander VI receives a 300,000 ducat bribe from Bajazet II. Zizim dies under suspicious circumstances in Naples, after a 12-year imprisonment, probably poisoned by Alexander. Ficino again succeeds in casting out Saturnian demons by astrological means |
| 1496 |
Reuchlin moves to Heidelberg. John Colet returns to Oxford. Ficino's commentaries on Plato published |
| 1497 |
Ficino's translation of Iamblichus published. Giles of Viterbo associates with Ficino in Florence, learns about Pico and begins to study Hebrew. Giles of Viterbo called to Rome to preach to Alexander VI |
| 1498 |
Philip, Elector of the Palatinate, sends Reuchlin on a mission to Rome to find Hebrew texts. John Colet ordained priest. He reads Pico's Heptaplus and Ficino's Thelogia Platonica and Epistolae. Printing reaches Tübingen (Germany) |
| 1499 |
John Colet corresponds with Ficino. He finishes his abstract of Celestial Hierarchies by Pseudo-Dionysius the Areopagite. Death of Marsilio Ficino. John Colet meets Erasmus |
| c. 1500 |
Trithemius writes Steganographia, a book primarily concerned with summoning and using spirits to carry messages over long distances. Peter d'Aubusson expels all adult Jews from Rhodes, and forcibly baptizes all remaining Jewish children |
| 1503 |
Death of Peter d'Aubusson |
| 1504 |
John Colet becomes Dean of St. Paul's, London |
| 1505 |
Jacques Lefèvre d'Etaples publishes Pimander and Asclepius together for the first time, establishing the modern form of the Corpus Hermeticum |
| 1506 |
Maximilian I offers Trithemius a lifelong pension. Trithemius becomes Abbot of St. Jakob at Würzburg. Agrippa organizes a secret society in Paris, whose members are sworn to aid each other with astrology, magic, Cabala, and alchemy |
| 1508 |
Trithemius visits Maximillian I in Vienna. Through Trithemius's arts, Maximilian is able to have a conversation with his dead wife. |
| 1509 |
Agrippa moves to Dôle and sets up an alchemical laboratory. Agrippa lectures on Reuchlin's De Verbo Mirifico at the University of Dôle |
| 1510 |
Thomas More publishes The Lyfe of John Picus, Earle of Mirandula, a translation of the Latin biography by Giovanni Francesco della Mirandola, Pico's nephew. Agrippa studies under Trithemius. Agrippa dedicates De occulta philosophia to Trithemius, to whom he sends a copy. Trithemius responds positively. Maximilian I sends Agrippa as ambassador to London. He stays with John Colet |
| c. 1510 |
"Portrait of a Notary in the Character of St. Fiacre" painted by Quentin Massys, showing a notary holding a quill, rose, and cross in his right hand |
| 1511 |
Birth of Michael Servetus |
| 1513 |
Paracelsus goes to Italy for three years. During this time he studies under Johannes Manardus in Ferrara |
| 1512 |
Agrippa lectures at Pavia on Plato |
| 1515 |
Agrippa lectures at Pavia on Ficino's Pimander |
| 1516 |
Death of Johannes Trithemius at Würzburg. Agrippa lectures on theology at Turin |
| 1517 |
Martin Luther nails his 96 Theses to the door of the church in Wittenburg. Beginning of the Reformation. Reuchlin publishes De Arte Cabbalistica at Hagenau |
| 1519 |
Reuchlin teaches Greek and Hebrew at Ingolstadt. Agrippa, now public advocate in Metz, defends Jacques Lefèvre d'Etaples, student of Ficino and Pico and publisher of the Corpus Hermeticum. Birth of Crato. Death of John Colet |
| 1520 |
Agrippa returns to Cologne from Italy. He receives the magical portion of Trithemius's library |
| 1521 |
Emperor Charles V denounces Luther at Diet of Wörms |
| 1522 |
Suleiman the Magnificent, Emperor of the Ottoman Empire, lays naval siege to Rhodes. European powers send no assistance. Death of Johannes Reuchlin. Paracelsus in Venice as military surgeon |
| 1523 |
Knights of St. John expelled by the Ottoman Turks from Rhodes. During the next seven years, they go to Crete, then Messina in Sicily, then Baia near Naples, then Civita Vecchia northwest of Rome, then Rome, then Viterbo, then Cumae near Naples, then Nice |
| 1524 |
Agrippa becomes court astrologer to Francis I of France. He writes Commentary on Ars brevis of Ramon Llull |
| 1525 |
Birth of Tadeash Hajek in Prague. Giorgi's De Harmonia Mundi published at Venice. Albert of Hohenzollern, Grand Master of the Teutonic Knights, converts to Lutheranism. He secularizes all lands east of Poland |
| 1526 |
Birth of Clusius in the Netherlands. Paracelsus goes to Strasbourg, where he is enrolled in the grain merchants' guild (not the physicians') |
| 1527 |
Birth of John Dee in London. Paracelsus goes to Basel, where he receives an appointment as town physician at the urging of Erasmus |
| 1528 |
Agrippa moves to Antwerp, where he sets up an alchemical laboratory. At the bidding of Margaret of Austria, he becomes Charles V's historiographer. Paracelsus leaves Basel |
| 1529 |
Thomas More becomes Chancellor of England |
| 1530 |
Pope Clement VII, former member of the Order of the Knights of St. John, intercedes with Holy Roman Emperor Charles V, who gives complete sovereignty over Malta, Gozo, and Tripoli in Africa to the Knights, in return for promise that the Knights will protect these areas. The Knights become commonly known as the Knights of Malta. Meeting of Luther and Servetus |
| 1531 |
Giles of Viterbo completes his exhaustive study of the Cabala for Pope Clement VII (Giulio de' Medici). Henry Cornelius Agrippa publishes De occulta philosophia at Antwerp. Birth of Ioannes Sambucus in Hungary. Birth of Leonhard Thurneysser at Basel |
| 1532 |
Death of Giles of Viterbo. Birth of William IV of Hesse |
| 1533 |
Charles V sentences Agrippa to death for heresy. He flees to France, where he is imprisoned. Charles V commutes sentence to exile. Agrippa released from prison, and is last seen in Grenoble. Death of Heinrich Cornelius Agrippa. Birth of Queen Elizabeth, only child of Henry VIII and Anne Boleyn. Birth of Andreas Dudith |
| 1535 |
Thomas More executed for refusing to recognize Henry VIII as supreme head of the Church in England |
| 1536 |
Birth of Albert Laski. Queen Elizabeth decided illegitimate by Parliament. Meeting of Calvin and Servetus. Paracelsus publishes Die grosse Wundartzney (The Great Surgery Book) |
| 1538 |
Servetus defends himself against complaints by the medical faculty of Paris about his lectures on astrological medicine |
| 1541 |
De alchemia (a different one than that of Venice 1475) published at Nuremberg by Petreius. Birth of David ben Solomon Gans. Death of Theophrastus Paracelsus von Hohenheim at Salzburg |
| 1542 |
Dee enters Cambridge |
| 1543 |
Copernicus's De revolutionibus orbium caelestium, source of our connotation of "revolutionary" ideas, published at Nuremberg by Petreius. Birth of Francesco Pucci. Girolamo Cardano publishes treatise on astrology |
| 1545 |
Beginning of the Council of Trent, and thus of the Counter-Reformation. Servetus begins fatal correspondence with Calvin |
| 1546 |
Death of Martin Luther. Birth of Tycho Brahe |
| 1547 |
Calvin refuses to return Servetus's manuscript and prevents its publication in Germany. Dee meets Mercator in the Netherlands. William IV governs Hesse, until 1552 |
| 1548 |
Dee gets his M.A. from Cambridge and goes to study at Louvain. Birth of Giordano Bruno at Nola, Italy |
| 1550 |
Dee lectures on Euclid at the University of Paris. He meets Guillaume Postel and Turnebus. Birth of Johann Matthias Wacker at Constance |
| 1551 |
The Knights of Malta lose Tripoli in Africa to Selim Pasha, who then unsuccessfully attacks Malta. Girolamo Cardano publishes De Subtilitate Rerum |
| 1552 |
Birth of Rudolf II. Dee becomes tutor to Robert Dudley, future Earl of Leicester. William IV of Hesse resumes his astronomical studies |
| 1553 |
Servetus finally gets Christianismi Restitutio (Christianity Restored) published. Inquisitor-general of Lyons takes up investigation of Servetus. He is questioned on March 16 and arrested on April 4. He escapes from prison on April 7. He is arrested in Geneva on August 7. The Law of Justinian, allowing for capital punishment, which had been discarded in 1535, is revived for the occasion. Servetus is sentenced on October 26 and burned in Geneva on October 27 (Calvin had advocated he be beheaded) |
| 1554 |
Turnebus publishes the full Corpus Hermeticum, including the parts Ficino did not have, at Paris. Marriage of Mary Tudor to Philip II of Spain. Birth of Sir Philip Sidney. Birth of Fulk Greville. Dudith leaves Hungary for Northern Italy and settles temporarily in France, where he meets Joachim Perion (translator of Pseudo-Dionysus the Areopagite) and Hubert Languet. He also visits England as secretary to Colonel Pole sometime before 1558 |
| 1555 |
Birth of Edward Kelley. After casting the natal charts of Mary, Philip II, and Elizabeth, Dee is imprisoned for several months for attempting to "enchant" the Queen (Mary) |
| 1558 |
Accession of Queen Elizabeth to throne of England. Sepher-ha-Zohar in Hebrew printed in Mantua. Dudith leaves France |
| 1559 |
Birth of Johan (Jan) Tserclaes, Count of Tilly |
| c. 1560 |
La Valette refuses to allow a tribunal of the Holy Inquisition on Malta. Birth of Oswald Croll |
| 1560 |
Birth of Heinrich Khunrath. Crato becomes body surgeon to Ferdinand I. Dudith acts as spokesman for Ferdinand I at Council of Trent and receives the Bishopric of Pecs (Hungary). Thurneysser enters the service of Archduke Ferdinand of Austria, on whose instruction he visits England, France, Bohemia, Hungary, Italy, Spain, and North Africa to research metallurgy |
| 1561 |
Clusius, who has already met Hubert Languet, is brought by Crato to become the mentor of Thomas Rhediger at Breslau. He dedicates a work to Sambucus. William IV of Hesse builds an observatory with a rotating top at Cassel |
| 1562 |
Hajek translates Matthioli's Herbal into Czech. Sepher Yetzirah in Hebrew printed in Mantua |
| 1563 |
End of Council of Trent. Beginning of Counter-Reformation. John Dee visits Maximilian II at Pressburg and meets Maximilian's Paracelsan physician and herbalist Bartholomeus Carrichter. He discovers Trithemius's Steganographia, which gives him ideas about angel summoning |
| 1564 |
Dee publishes Monas Hieroglyphica, dedicated to Maximillian II. Rudolf II's horoscope cast by Nostradamus. Hajek publishes a tract on astrology. Birth of Shakespeare. Sambucus becomes Court Historian to Maximilian II |
| 1565 |
Selim Pasha resoundingly defeated at Malta by La Valette |
| 1566 |
Birth of the future James VI of Scotland, a.k.a. James I of England, son of Mary, Queen of Scots. Birth of Johann Jesensky at Breslau |
| 1567 |
James VI crowned King of Scotland at age 1. Dudith renounces Catholicism and settles in Cracow. William IV of Hesse gives up astronomy to govern Hesse at the death of his father |
| 1569 |
Albert Laski finances the first edition of a Paracelsus work. Tycho goes to Augsburg where he joins a Platonic Academy. Other members are Jerome Wolf, who could speak Greek more fluently than Latin, and Paul Hainzel, who would later finance the construction of Tycho's Great Quadrant. Tycho and Blotius work together on constuction of a quadrant. Birth of Michael Maier in Kiel |
| 1570 |
Tycho meets and confers with Ramus. He ceases practice of astonomy and devotes himself exclusively to alchemy |
| c. 1570 |
Tycho a student of Caspar Peucer at Wittenberg. Peucer is nephew and son-in-law of Melancthon, a correspondent of William IV of Hesse, and during some period body surgeon to Augustus, Elector of Saxony. He serves as intermediary between the Bohemian Brethren and Germany |
| 1571 |
Birth of Johannes Kepler in Wurttemberg. Pucci visits France and England. Thurneysser made court physician in Berlin |
| 1572 |
St. Bartholomew's Day massacre. 30,000 Calvinists are murdered in France. Tycho discovers new star in Cassiopeia on Nov 11, dethroning Aristotle. He begins to practice astronomy again. Pucci meets Justus Lipsius at Leyden |
| 1573 |
While studying abroad, Sir Philip Sidney meets Ramus; also Hubert Languet, a close correspondent of Crato and associate of Dudith. Clusius becomes herbalist to Maximilian II in Vienna. He begins to correspond with Camerarius and Landgrave William IV of Hesse. Philip Sidney travels to Austria and stays with Crato, Clusius, and others |
| 1574 |
Hajek publishes Dialexis, a treatise on the new star of 1572. Tycho gives a lecture series that contains Paracelsan and Ficinian themes and a defense of astrology. Birth of Robert Fludd. Peucer deprived of his professorship at Wittenberg and imprisoned for twelve years. Crato and Languet bring printer Esrom Rudiger to Moravia from a hostile Wittenberg. Sidney in Poland and Moravia |
| 1575 |
Elizabeth and her Privy Council visit Dee at Mortlake with the express purpose of seeing his library. Sidney reaches Prague. Then he returns to England, and he and Edward Dyer study "chymistry" with John Dee. Sometime after this, Wacker corresponds with him. A note in Wacker's copy of Bruno's Spaccio della Bestia Trionfante names Sidney as Wacker's great and good friend. Tycho visits William IV of Hesse, reawakening the latter's interest in astronomical observation; visits Venice where he is the guest of several "Platonic academies;" attends the coronation of Rudolf II as King of the Romans and heir apparent to Maximillian II at Regensburg; meets Hajek, establishes a life-long friendship and receives a manuscript of Copernicus's Commentariolus from him; visits Camerarius the younger, Reinhold the younger. Thurneysser publishes Archidoxa |
| 1576 |
Rudolf II becomes Holy Roman Emperor at the age of 24. Crato becomes his body surgeon. Dudith flees Cracow and moves to Moravia with the permission of Rudolf II. Crato and Languet recommend Wacker for the tutorship of Nicholas Rhediger, nephew of Thomas. After travelling to Italy, France, and Germany, Wacker returns to Breslau and becomes part of the Dudith-Clusius circle, which is also associated with Crato, Hajek and Sidney. Tycho Brahe starts building his observatory of Uraniborg on the island of Hveen, donated to him by Frederick II of Denmak at the urging of William IV of Hesse. Its topmost spire is crowned with a revolving statue of Hermes Trismegistus. Bruno leaves Naples |
| 1577 |
Appearance of comet causes quite a stir in astronomical circles. Hajek is widely consulted. Tycho finds that comet has no parallax, so it must be higher than the moon. Christian Rothman of Anhalt becomes assistant to William IV of Hesse. Wittich plagiarizes Tycho's methods and sells them to William IV as his own. Leicester (Dudley), Sir Philip Sidney, and Edward Dyer consult with Dee at Mortlake. Sidney, Fulk Greville, and Dyer go on embassy to Emperor Rudolf II in Prague, ostensibly to offer condolences on the death of Maximilian II. Rudolf and Sidney have a private enclave. Sidney also has secret meetings with Don John of Austria; Casimir, Count Palatine; Ludwig, Elector Palatine; William IV, Landgrave of Hesse; and William of Orange. Daniel Rogers visits Dee at Mortlake. Dee inspires Drake to go around the world; the voyage is financed by Walsingham, Leicester, and Edward Dyer |
| 1578 |
Dee meets Thurneysser at Frankfurt-am-Oder. Francken flees the Jesuit Order in Vienna |
| 1579 |
Hubert Languet and Casimir, Count Palatine, visit England to meet secretly with Sidney. Fulk Greville returns with them to Heidelberg, then meets with William of Orange on his way back to England. Dudith publishes De Cometarum Significatione about the comet of 1577. He moves to Breslau and meets Crato |
| 1580 |
Dee enters an agreement with his student Humphrey Gilbert which promises him ownership of all land discovered north of the 50th parallel. Gilbert's flagship destroyed in a storm off the coast of Newfoundland. Gilbert is drowned on the return voyage. Paul Wittich visits Tycho with a letter of introduction from Hajek. Thurneysser returns to Basel |
| c. 1580 |
Joachim Gans or Gaunse, a Jew of the Prague ghetto and relative of David Gans, works in England as a metallurgist and mining expert |
| 1581 |
The Revolutionary Estates General deposes Philip II as Lord of the Netherlands. Mistrust of the Jesuits causes Crato to leave Prague. Dee is visited by John Hawkins, a member of Drake's voyage. He inspires the German Johann Haller to visit China |
| 1582 |
Edward Kelley appears unannounced at Mortlake. Lord Willoughby d'Eresby, sent by Queen Elizabeth to invest King Frederick of Denmark with the Order of the Garter, visits Tycho. He is accompanied by a physician, Thomas Muffet, who is an acquaintance of Hajek. Pope Gregory XIII issues a breve ordering calendar reform. German Protestant Princes Union refuses to recognize the breve. Spain, Portugal, France, most of Italy, Savoy, Luxembourg, Belgium, and the Catholic Netherlands adopt the Gregorian reform. Tycho supports it |
| 1583 |
Sir Philip Sidney knighted so that he may stand in for Casimir, Count Palatine, at his (the Count's) initiation into the Order of the Garter. Sidney marries the daughter of Sir Francis Walsingham. Rudolf II completes the move of the capital of the Holy Roman Empire from Vienna to Prague. Bruno goes to England, where he lives with the French ambassador. Albert Laski visits England, where he meets Sidney, Leicester, John Dee and Edward Kelley. Dee and Kelley enter Laski's service and the three depart for Poland. A mob ransacks Dee's house after he departs, destroying many irreplaceable manuscripts. Thurneysser publishes Magna Alchymia. Catholic Germany, Austria and the Protestant Netherlands adopt Gregorian calendar reform |
| 1584 |
When they reach Poland, Laski's debts have piled up, so he can't support Dee and Kelly, who go to Cracow. There, Dee writes 48 Claves angelicae, containing Enochian invocations of 48 angels, along with English translations. Dee and Kelley, under angelic direction, leave Poland and arrive in Prague. With at least two intervening trips to Cracow, they stay for the next 2 years with Hajek. Hajek records watching Dee and Kelly transform mercury into gold. Dee meets once with Rudolf II, but then rumors started by his Catholic advisers turn Rudolf against Dee. Dee meets Heinrich Khunrath in Prague. Tycho makes two macrocosm/microcosm woodcuts, containing allusions to the Asclepius. Wittich leaves the circle of William IV of Hesse because, according to Dudith, he doesn't like the him. Assassination of William of Orange. Pucci meets Dee and Kelley in Cracow. Death of Sambucus. His library is anxiously acquired by Rudolf II and his librarian, Blotius. Bohemia and Moravia adopt the Gregorian Calendar reforms |
| 1585 |
Sir Philip Sidney attempts to accompany Drake on a voyage to the new world. Elizabeth discovers his plans and prevents him. He accompanies his uncle, Robert Dudley, Earl of Leicester, to the Low Countries, where he is appointed Governor of Flushing. Death of Crato. Dee and Kelley go to Cracow, where they have three meetings with Stephen Bathory, King of Poland. He attends one of their "seances." Dee, Kelley, and Pucci go to Prague. Poland adopts the Gregorian Calendar reforms |
| 1586 |
Death of Sir Philip Sidney at age 32. Ramist tract dedicated to Sidney. "Leicester episode" supported by Sidney, his friend the English exile Daniel Rogers, and the Justus Lipsius circle. One of Sidney's last letters is from Lipsius. Birth of Johann Valentin Andreae in Wurttemberg. Secret meeting of German Electors and representatives of Henry IV of France, the King of Denmark, and Queen Elizabeth at Luneborg. Probable foundation of the secret society later allegorized as the Rosicrucian "Invisible Fraternity." Dee and Kelley go to Leipzig. Rudolf II listens to his advisors and banishes them from the Empire. They continue on to Cassel and stay with Landgrave William IV. Willem Rozmberk intercedes for them with Rudolph, and their banishment is rescinded on the condition that they stay with Rozmberk in Trebona. Dee and Kelly return to Trebona. Pucci visits Dee and Kelley at Trebona and tries to convince them to join the Catholic Church. Pucci introduces Dee and Kelley to Francken. Peucer released from prison |
| 1587 |
Tycho complains to Hajek of Wittich's misappropriation of his methods. Fulk Greville goes on a secret mission to France for Queen Elizabeth. She signs death warrant of Mary, Queen of Scots. Bruno moves to Wittenberg. One of the books he writes there is dedicated to Tycho. Pucci recants and rejoins the Catholic Church. Michael Maier matriculates at Rostock. Hungary adopts the Gregorian Calendar reforms |
| 1588 |
Defeat of the Spanish Armada. Death of Robert Dudley. Bruno goes to Prague and publishes 160 Articles Against the Mathematicians there. He assoicates with Wacker. After several years of vain pleading for the return of Dee and Kelley, Edward Dyer makes a journey to Trebona (Bohemia) and meets with Dee to study the art. He carries letters from Dee back to Queen Elizabeth. Daniel Rogers visits Tycho and promises to obtain copyrights in England for Tycho's works. William IV intends to visit Tycho, but cancels because of death of King Frederick. Jesensky begins study of medicine in Padua, where he is influenced by Patrizi |
| c. 1588 |
Tycho sends his book on the comet to John Dee |
| 1589 |
Giambattista della Porta publishes a description of the telescope in Magia Naturalis. John Dee recalled to England by Queen Elizabeth. On his return journey through Germany Dee presents Landgrave William IV with 12 Hungarian horses. He meets Edward Dyer, who is on the way to Denmark on a secret mission for Queen Elizabeth. Dee is visited at Bremen by Heinrich Khunrath. Dee recommends Khunrath to Willem Rozmberk as body surgeon. Kelley moves to Prague at the request of Rudulf II, who receives him, grants him Bohemian citizenship, and a patent of Imperial nobility. Bruno matriculates at University of Brunswick in Helmstedt. Heinrich Julius becomes Duke of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel. He allows Bruno to deliver an oration to the University. Bruno dedicates De Triplici Minimo et Mensura and De Monade to him, reminding him in the dedication that in the time of Hermes Trismegistus, priests were kings, and kings priests. Death of Dudith at Breslau |
| c. 1589 |
Tycho studies Frederick's horoscope, trying to understand how to have predicted his death. He points out that the horoscope he cast for Peucer twenty years ago has come true. Michael Maier goes to Padua, where he receives title of Poet Laureate |
| 1590 |
Bruno harbored by Franfurt publisher Wechel. Kelley continues in high favor with Rudolf II. The future James I visits Tycho, and finds a portrait of his (James's) tutor, George Buchanan, hanging in Tycho's library. James gives Tycho a thirty-year copyright on his works in Scotland. Rothmann visits Tycho. Duke Heinrich Julius visits Tycho and ostensibly "borrows" his statue of Hermes Trismegistus to make a copy. Due to a dispute, he never returns it. Tycho sends him several reminders over the years, and complains to William IV about its fate. Death of Sir Francis Walsingham |
| c. 1590 |
One of Tycho's assistants is John Hammond of Kent, who later was body surgeon to James I and his son, Prince Henry. Jakob Kurtz, vice-chancellor to Rudolf II, secures an Imperial copyright for Tycho's works. Thurneysser travels to Italy, where Ferdinand de' Medici becomes his patron |
| 1591 |
Wechel of Frankfurt reprints Dee's Monas Hieroglyphica. Pucci leaves Prague for the Netherlands. Kelley is placed under house arrest in Prague. Bruno returns to Venice at the invitation of Giovanni Mocenigo. Henry Wotton receives a recommendation from Clusius and spends time with the librarian Blotius in Vienna; then procedes to Prague. Heinrich Khunrath becomes body surgeon to Vilem Rozmberk. Duke Heinrich Julius, although he is a Cabalistic practitioner, posesses a copy of the Cabalistarum Dogmata of Pico della Mirandola and knows Hebrew, expels all Jews from Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel. Jesensky visits Prague |
| 1592 |
David Gans becomes first Jew to publish a chronicle which includes Gentile history. Michael Maier receives Ph.D. at Frankfurt am Oder. Death of Willem Rozmberk |
| 1593 |
Pucci arrested in Salzburg and turned over to the Inquisition. Dee writes that he thinks Kelley has been pardoned. Croll moves to Prague as agent of Christian von Anhalt, where he is in extended close contact with Peter Vok Rozmberk. Jesensky publishes Zoroaster. Henry of Navarre abjures Protestantism |
| 1594 |
Wacker ennobled |
| 1595 |
Hajek ennobled by Rudolf II. Death of Francken. Dee writes of "the newes that Sir Edward Kelley was slayne" falling from a turret while escaping from prison. Khunrath's Amphitheatrum Sapientiae Aeternae (Amphitheater of Eternal Wisdom) published at Hamburg |
| 1596 |
Michael Maier receives MD at Basle. Birth of Elizabeth Stuart in Scotland. Thurneysser returns to Germany. Death of Leonhard Thurneysser, author of Magna Alchemia, in Cologne. Birth of Descartes |
| 1597 |
Pucci executed as an unrepentant schismatic in Rome. Death of Edward Kelley. Kelley, definitely still alive, helps draft a copy of the Bohemian "constitution." Oswald Croll visits Kelley. Fulk Greville knighted |
| 1598 |
Rudolf II gives Khunrath a special copyright to insure his works are not plagiarized. Peace is restored to France. Spanish troops violate the territory of the Holy Roman Empire by taking up winter quarters in Westphalia. Kelley thought to be still alive. Tycho flees Denmark, moving to Wittenberg where he stays with Peucer. There he meets Jesensky. Rudolf Coraduz, a student of Hebrew who wrote out his own copy of the Sepher Yetzirah, becomes Vice-Chancellor of the Holy Roman Empire. Hajek tells Tycho that Coraduz is well-disposed towards him. Tycho sends him, Maurice of Orange, and Kepler copies of his star catalog. |
| c. 1598 |
Scioppio reads several works by Bruno from Wacker's library |
| 1599 |
Coraduz writes to Tycho in Wittenberg to come to Prague. Tycho establishes observatory in Bohemia under the patronage of Rudolf II. One of the things that entices him to come to Prague is that Hajek is there. He associates with Bajazek, Peter Vok Rozmberk and Baron Johan von Hasenburg. Wacker settles in Prague. Henry IV divorces Margaret and marries Marie de' Medici |
| 1600 |
David Gans visits Tycho. Kepler accepts the invitation of Rudolf II and moves to Prague to escape the Counter-Reformation in Graz. He becomes the assistant of Brahe, with the hopes of completing his study of the Harmony of the World. Jesensky arbitrates the dispute between Kepler and Tycho. Peter Vok Rozmberk retires to Trebona. Death of Hajek. Agrippa's Opera Omnia published at Lyon. Scotland adopts Gregorian calendar |
| 1601 |
Andreae enters Unversity of Württemberg. Death of Tycho Brahe after a "fatal banquet" at the home of Peter Vok Rozmberk. Jesensky delivers his funeral oration. Kepler becomes Imperial Mathematician and Court Astrologer at Prague |
| 1602 |
First edition of Theatrum chemicum published by Zetzner at Strasbourg. Jesensky appointed Imperial Court Physician to Rudolf II. Michael Maier begins to practice alchemy |
| 1603 |
Death of Queen Elizabeth at age 70. Accession of James VI of Scotland as James I of England. Andreae writes the first version of the Chymische Hochzeit (Chemical Wedding). Special embassy from James I of England invests Duke of Württemberg with the Order of the Garter in Stuttgart. Clavius publishes his treatise on the Gregorian calendar reform. Maderno begins Church of Santa Maria della Vittoria in Rome |
| 1604 |
New stars appear in Serpentarius and Cygnus. They are observed by Kepler. Publication of the Naometria by Simon Studion. It contains extensive calculations of the dimensions of the Temple of Solomon, and describes a secret alliance between Henry IV of France, James I of England, and the Duke of Württemberg. Maderno begins Church of Santa Maria della Vittoria in Rome |
| 1605 |
Pucci is beheaded for heresy. Death of Heinrich Khunrath. Death of Albert Laski |
| 1606 |
Trithemius's Steganographia published at Frankfurt in the Palatinate |
| 1607 |
Beginning of the Revival of the Hermetic Cabala in England. The movement coalesces around Prince Henry, son of James I. Dr. Croll, Christian von Anhalt's agent in Prague, visits Peter Vok Rozmberk in Trebona. Duke Heinrich Julius moves to Prague |
| 1608 |
John Dee dies in poverty and disgrace. Michael Maier goes to Prague. Formation of Union of German Protestant Princes under Frederick IV, Elector of the Palatinate. Croll publishes Basilica Chymica which includes a letter from Peter Vok Rozmberk. It is dedicated to Christian von Anhalt. Publication financed by Peter Vok Rozmberk. An expanded version of Khunrath's Amphitheatrum Sapientiae Aeternae published posthumously at Hanau in Hesse. Maderno begins Church of Santa Maria della Vittoria in Rome |
| 1609 |
German Protestant Princes Union allies with Henry IV of France. Heinrich Khunrath publishes Amphitheatre of Eternal Wisdom at Hanover, which contains much influence of John Dee. Croll publishes De signaturis internis rerum. Michael Maier publishes De Medicina, his first work on alchemy, at Prague. He enters the service of Rudolf II. Rudolf ennobles him with 3 titles, including Count Palatine, but no income to go with them. Death of Clusius at Leyden. Kepler dedicates Somnuim to Wacker and Astronomia Nova to Rudolf. Rudolf sends James I of England a clock and a globe. Death of Oswald Croll. Trithemius's Steganographia placed on the Index |
| 1610 |
Henry IV of France assassinated by Francois Ravaillac. Frederick V becomes Elector of the Palatinate. Copy of the Fama Fraternitatis seen in the Tyrol (Austria). By this time, Duke Heinrich Julius is Chief Director of Rudolf II's Privy Council. The Duke acts as Rudolf's agent in negotiations between Catholics and Protestants, and with the Passau troops. Jan Tserklaes, Count of Tilly, appointed by Maximilian, Duke of Bavaria, to reorganize his armies. Michael Maier writes to August von Anhalt, Christian's brother, describing his alchemical work |
| 1611 |
King James Bible published. The Tempest, an allegory of the life of John Dee, first performed. Wacker, still in the service of Rudolph II, participates in political intrigues. Michael Maier in England, where he stays until 1616. He sends James I a Christmas card bearing the Rose-Cross, the earliest known occurrence of the Rose-Cross in England. August von Anhalt receives a copy of the Fama as a New Years gift from Adam Haslmeyer. Death of Peter Vok Rozmberk |
| c. 1611 |
Wacker tells Kepler excitedly of Gallileo's discovery of the moons of Jupiter |
| 1612 |
James I of England joins German Protestant Princes Union, now headed by Frederick V, Elector of the Palatinate. Frederick initiated into the Order of the Garter. "The Tempest" performed at his betrothal celebration. Death of Prince Henry of England of typhoid, before he can receive the Christmas card Maier made for him. His death, and the departure of his sister Elizabeth the following year, end the Revival of the Hermetic Cabala in England. Death of Emperor Rudolf II. Michael Maier, Lutheran body-surgeon to the Catholic Emperor, leaves Prague. Kepler also leaves Prague |
| 1613 |
Marriage of Frederick, Elector of the Palatinate to Elizabeth Stuart, daughter of King James I of England. They return to Heidelberg and found a Rosicrucian State. Copy of the Fama circulated in Prague. Part of David Gans's scientific encyclopedia published. Death of Gans. Death of Duke Heinrich Julius of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel |
| 1614 |
Publication of the Fama Fraternitatis, the first "Rosicrucian Manifesto," at Cassel in Hesse. Michael Maier publishes Arcana Arcanissima, dedicated to William Paddy. Isaac Casaubon discovers that the Corpus Hermeticum is later than Plato |
| c. 1614 |
Michael Maier becomes body-surgeon to Maurice, Landgrave of Hesse |
| 1615 |
Publication of the Confessio, the second "Rosicrucian Manifesto," at Cassel in Hesse. Along with it, as a preface, is published A Brief Consideration of More Secret Philosophy, based on John Dee's Monas Hieroglyphica, much of it a word-for-word translation into German of Dee's work. Faulhaber publishes Mysterium Arithmeticum, with a dedication to "most enlightened and famous Brothers R.C." |
| 1616 |
Shakespeare and Cervantes die on the same day. End of the Middle Ages. Chymische Hochzeit: Christiani Rosencreutz (Chemical Wedding of Christian Rosencreutz) by Johann Valentin Andreae pulished by Zetzner at Strasbourg. It contains Dee's Monas Hieroglyphica symbol on the title page. Michael Maier returns to Germany from London |
| 1617 |
Ferdinand Hapsburg becomes King of Bohemia without election. He begins suppression of the Hussite Church. Fludd publishes first volume of Utriusque Cosmi... Historia at Oppenheim. It is dedicated to James I of England |
| 1618 |
Claims to East Prussia pressed by Teutonic Knights against Elector of Brandenburg. Birth of Princess Elizabeth, daughter of Frederick V and Elizabeth Stuart, at Heidelberg. Jesensky publishes Typotius's De Hieroglyphia and dedicates it to Zerotin. Jesensky backs Bohemian uprising. Michael Maier makes a journey from London to Prague. He publishes Atalanta Fugiens at Oppenheim. He presents Maurice of Hesse with all his works. Maurice rewards him with the title "Physician and Chemist." Descartes quits reading the works of others and leaves home to study "The Book Of The World." Jan Tserklaes (Tilly) made Commander-In-Chief of the field forces of the Catholic League |
| 1619 |
Election of Frederick V, Elector of the Palatinate, as King of Bohemia. His mother urges him not to accept it. He accepts in September. He is crowned in Prague by Hussite clergy. German Protestant Princes Union refuses to support him. Wacker flees to Vienna where he dies. Descartes has a vision in a dream in which he discovers a "marvelous science," which became analytic geometry. He seeks the "Brothers R.C." in Germany |
| 1620 |
Spinola invades Lower Palatinate in the absence of Frederick. Oppenheim falls. De Bry, Oppenheim publisher of works by Fludd and Maier, moves to Frankfurt. Michael Maier in Magdeburg. Descartes meets Faulhaber. Battle of the White Mountain, near Prague. James I of England sells out his own daughter and withholds his promised support. Forces of Frederick utterly defeated by the Spanish mercenary army under the command of Jan Tserklaes, Count of Tilly. Descartes fights on the side of Catholic forces, and enters Prague with the victors. Federick and Elizabeth Stuart flee to the Hague, where they set up court in exile. Heidelberg ravaged. Libraries' contents thrown into stable yards and trampled by horses. End of the Renaissance. Beginning of the Thirty Years War. Pilgrims land at Plymouth Rock |
| 1621 |
Jesensky executed. Ferdinand II gives Lower Palatinate to Maximillian, Duke of Bavaria. Dissolution of German Protestant Princes Union. From now until 1623, Jan Tserklaes successfully conducts campaign in the Palatinate. Fulk Greville made a baron |
| after 1621 |
Church of Santa Maria della Vittoria rededicated to the virgin in commemoration of the Battle of the White Mountain |
| 1622 |
Michael Maier disappears at Magdeburg, during the invasion of the Spanish army, never to be seen again. Death of Michael Maier |
| 1623 |
Descartes returns to Paris, where he is branded a Rosicrucian |
| 1628 |
Fulk Greville assassinated |
| 1629 |
Fludd publishes Medicina Catholica, dedicated to William Paddy |
| 1630 |
Kepler preparing Somnium for publication at the time of his death; it is dedicated to Wacker. Birth of Countess Sophia, mother of King George I of England, to Frederick V and Elizabeth Stuart. Jan Tserklaes replaces Wallenstein as commander of the Imperial forces |
| 1632 |
Death of Frederick V, Elector of the Palatinate. Death of Jan Tserklaes, Count of Tilly, at the battle of Lech against Gustavus Adolphus |
| 1633 |
Elizabeth Stuart raises an army on behalf of her son, Charles Louis |
| 1637 |
Death of Robert Fludd. Brulart de Sillery, a noted Knight of Malta, establishes a chapel near Quebec |
| 1643 |
Descartes becomes teacher of Princess Elizabeth |
| 1644 |
Descartes moves to Leiden to be near Princess Elizabeth. He dedicates the Principia philosophiae to her |
| 1645 |
Priory of the Order of St. John of Jerusalem established in Quebec at Chateau Frontinac |
| 1647 |
Cornaro Chapel by Bernini begun in the Church of Santa Maria della Vittoria |
| 1648 |
Treaty of Westphalia ends the 30 Years War. Among other things it returns the Lower Palatinate to Charles Louis, son of Frederick |
| 1649 |
Princess Elizabeth suggests that Descartes move with her to the Palatinate, but he becomes tutor to Queen Christina of Sweden instead |
| 1650 |
Death of Descartes in Stockholm, perhaps by poisoning |
| 1652 |
Fulk Greville's Life of Sir Philip Sidney published posthumously. Ashmole's Theatrum chemicum Britannicum published at London. The Order of St. John of Jerusalem obtains possession of St. Kitts, St. Croix, and others of the French West Indies for 5,000 pounds |
| 1654 |
Death of Johann Valentin Andreae in Stuttgart |
| 1660 |
Final edition of Theatrum chemicum, the largest work on alchemy ever to come out, published by Zetzner in Strasbourg. It contains Dee's Monas Hieroglyphica.Charles II restored as King of England |
| 1661 |
Elizabeth Stuart returns to England to visit Charles II |
| 1662 |
Death of Elizabeth Stuart in London |
| 1665 |
Caribbean islands possessed by the Order of St. John sold to a merchant company |
| 1667 |
Leibniz becomes secretary of the Rosicrucian Society of Nuremberg. Princess Elizabeth becomes Abbess of Herford |
| 1668 |
Isaac Newton buys Theatrum chemicum, which, at his death, contains more marginal annotations than any other work in his library |
| 1676 |
Wolfgang Ernst Heidel, counselor to the Archbishop of Mainz, decodes Volume 3 of Trithemius's Steganographia. He publishes the decryption in code, so his claims are discounted |
| 1680 |
Death of Princess Elizabeth |
| 1714 |
George Ludwig, Duke of Brunswick-Lüneburg, grandson of Frederick V and Elizabeth Stuart, great-nephew of Heinrich Julius, becomes King of England |
| 1717 |
First Grand Lodge of Freemasonry established in London. King George I is a member |
| 1741 |
Manoel Pinto, Grand Master of the Knights of St. John, expels the Jesuits from Malta |
| 1752 |
England adopts the Gregorian calendar |
| 1792 |
Property of the Order of St. John of Jerusalem confiscated in France |
| 1794 |
James Monroe, American Minister in Paris, proposes an alliance with the Knights of Malta |
| 1798 |
Through the treason of the sixty-ninth Grand Master of the Knights of Malta, Napoleon arrives in Malta and catches the populace unaware. He conquers Malta and expels the Knights |
| 1801 |
Francis Barrett publishes The Magus in London, containing much material from Agrippa's De Occulta Philosophia. Lands of the Teutonic Knights west of the Rhine absorbed by the French government |
| 1809 |
Teutonic Knights suppressed by the French government |
| 1842 |
Bulwer-Lytton publishes Zanoni: A Rosicrucian Novel |
| 1854 |
Eliphas Lévi visits Bulwer-Lytton in England. They conceive the idea of writing a treatise on magic |
| 1855 |
Eliphas Lévi's Dogme et Rituel de la Haute Magie published |
| 1888 |
Foundation of the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn |
| 1918 |
Russia adopts the Gregorian calendar |
| 1993 |
Thomas Ernst decodes Volume 3 of Trithemius's Steganographia |
| 1996 |
Jim Reeds independently decodes Volume 3 of Trithemius's Steganographia |
