AP Euro Eras and Dates

Renaissance Era

1450-1527

The Renaissance Era is defined by a revival of antiquity. Classical civilization was revived in Italy. An interest in biblical scripture was revived in Northern Europe.

Reformation Era

1517-1555

The Reformation Era is defined by a protestant revolt against the Roman Catholic Church, originally due to catholic practices that could not be supported by biblical scripture. This led to a religious, political, economic and cultural fracturing of Europe.

Religious Wars Era

1555-1648

The Religious Wars Era emerged directly out of the Reformation with protestants and catholics continuing to fight each other for political control throughout most of Europe. It resulted in a shift of power from Southern Europe to Northern Europe and the development of greater secular thinking and economic development

The Era of Absolutism and Constitutionalism

17th Century

As a result of the Era of Religious Wars and the diminished power of the Catholic Church, monarchs emerged with greater power over their kingdoms. Some attempted to exert absolute power over the nobility and were met by resistance. In some cases, such as France and Russia, the monarch maintained absolute authority over the aristocratic class. Britain, in contrast, established a constitutional monarchy and parliamentary rule.

Scientific Revolution

The 16th and 17th Centuries

The Scientific Revolution began during the Reformation Era and culminated with the publication of Newton’s Principia in 1687, the year before the Glorious Revolution. During these two centuries, a handful of ‘natural philosophers’ challenged the accepted wisdom of the church and the ancients, and slowly developed a scientific method which would become the new standard for providing sound, evidence-based explanations for how the natural world worked.

The Enlightenment

18th Century

Following the Scientific Revolution and the Glorious Revolution the values of secularism, reason, progress and the questioning of authority and tradition spread to the wider masses. This culture was also fueled by the increase of printed works and literacy. Scientific developments led to better health care and agriculture, which increased the population and placed increased strain on governments.

The French Revolution & The Napoleonic Era

1789-1815

In 1789 an economic and agricultural crisis in France inaugurated an attempt to reform the government, but Enlightenment philosophy and proletariat poverty triggered a revolution. The French replaced a monarchy with a republic. By 1793, in a desperate attempt to protect the republic from external and internal threats, the French Republic resorted to state terror. Cultural turmoil followed. Eventually, one man, Napoleon Bonaparte, seized control of the government and proclaimed himself Emperor in 1804. Despite this political tyranny, Napoleon declared that he would enshrine the values of The Enlightenment under his rule: he enforced a Napoleonic Code, providing equality for all men, across his European empire. After Napoleon was finally deposed in 1815, The Congress of Vienna attempted to establish a new international order to prevent future revolutions