1555- The Protestant Reformation instigated a spate of religious turmoil and warfare throughout Europe, since few states and officials could agree on the fate of the two intertwined yet conflicting ecclesiastical disciplines. Wars between Italy, Spain, Germany and the Turks marked the period until the Peace of Augsburg. The Peace …

1520

In response to Martin Luther's strong condemnation of church doctrine, Holy Roman Emperor Charles~V, 1519- 1556 convened a meeting to force Luther to recant his heretical stance. Undaunted, Luther stood fast, and proclaimed that [paraphrase] he had arrived at his beliefs based on the word of God, and …

1453- The city of Constantinople fell to the Turks after being sieged for several months. This event and the rapid spread of the Turkish people throughout the east, allowed the Turks to exert considerable pressure on the western kingdoms.

1450- 1485 - The War of the Roses was a civil war that broke out between English ducal houses. The house of Lancaster, whose symbol was a red rose, and the house of York, adopting the white rose. In the 1450's many aristocratic families were pitted against one another. Later, in …

1377- After determining that a decline in papal authority was due, at least in part, to an Avignon Papacy , Pope Gregory XI returned the seat of papal power to Rome. Unfortunately, in 1378 Gregory died, resulting in a new struggle for papal power. Many Roman cardinals feared that the powerful …

1305- 1377 - Continuing his bid to quell papal power, Philip IV pressured French cardinals to elect a French pope in the wake of the death of Bonifice VIII. Clement~V, 1305- 1314 was elected and moved the seat of the Papacy to Avignon, southern France, citing political turmoil in Rome …