1020 Italian towns, including Rome, Florence and Venice, become city states

1000-1038 Rule of Stephen, first of Arpad dynasty of Hungary; he accepts Christianity for his people

1014 Brian Boru, High King of all Ireland, defeats Vikings at Battle of Clontarf, but is killed after victory

1016-1035 Reign of Canute, Viking king of England, Denmark, Norway and Sweden

1019-1054 Yaroslav the Wise, ruler of Kiev in Russia, unifies many Russian principalities

1020 Boleslav I of Poland creates a powerful state

1034 Scotland becomes united down to present border with England

1035-1066 Normandy in north of France grows powerful

1037 Spanish kingdoms of Castile and Lel'n unite

1054 Split between Catholic church of Rome and Orthodox Christian church of Byzantium

1072-1091 Norman armies conquer Sicily

1077 Pope Gregory expels Holy Roman Emperor Henry IV from church; Henry pleads forgiveness, but conflict between empire and Papacy continues into 12th century

1086 Survey of England by order of William I is recorded in Domesday Book

1098 Monastery founded at Citeaux in France; start of Cistercian order of monks

1115-1142 French teacher Henry IV makes Paris centre of religious learning

1115-1153 Career of Bernard of Clairvaux, whose abbey becomes most important monastery in Europe

1119 Bologna University founded in Italy; Paris University, in France, is founded in 1150

1124-1153 David I rules Scotland

1132-1144 St Denis Abbey, the first Gothic church, built by Abbot Suger in Paris

1139-1185 Alphonso I becomes first king of Portugal

1152-1190 Reign of powerful Holy Roman emperor Frederick I, called Barbarossa (red beard)

1154-1189 Reign of Henry II Plantagenet of Anjou as king of England; he reforms law and government

1171-1172 Henry II invades Ireland and is accepted as its lord

1180-1223 Philip II Augustus rules France, conquering Angevin lands in the west

1190 Teutonic Order of knights, a military society, set up in Germany to defend Christian lands in Palestine and Syria

1209 St Francis of Assisi founds Franciscan religious order

1212 Almohads defeated by Christians at battle of Las Navas de Tolosa

1215 English King John seals Magna Carta, giving more power to barons

1240 Russian Alexander Nevsky defeats Swedes at great battle on the Neva river

1241 Lubeck and Hamburg form a Hansa (association) for trade and mutual protection; beginning of Hanseatic League

1249 University College, first college of Oxford University, England, founded

1254 Explorer Marco Polo born in Venice

1262 Iceland and Greenland come under Norwegian rule

1273 Rudolph I becomes first Habsburg ruler of Austria

1282-1284 Edward I of England conquers Wales

1284 Sequins coined in Venice, Italy

1290 Invention of spectacles in Italy

1291 Three Swiss cantons join together to begin struggle for independence from Habsburgs

1308 Papal court moves to Avignon; Great Schism follows

1314 Scots defeat English at Battle of Bannockburn

1346 English defeat French at Battle of Crecy

1347 Bubonic plague or Black Death reaches Europe

1358 Jacquerie Revolt; peasant uprising north of Paris, France

1370 Geoffrey Chaucer writes first book, Book of the Duchess

1373 Treaty of Anglo-Portuguese friendship; the English and Portuguese are still allies today

1389 Christian Serbs defeated by Ottoman Turks at Kossovo in Serbia

1397 Kalmar Agreement unites three Scandinavian kingdoms of Denmark, Norway, and Sweden

1403 Ghiberti sculpts human bodies in realistic style for bronze doors of Florence baptistry, heralding the Renaissance

1415 John Hus, Bohemian religious reformer, burnt at stake

1417 End of Great Schism in Catholic church; a single pope elected in Rome

1429 Joan of Arc leads French forces against occupying English army at Siege of Orleans

1431 Joan of Arc is burnt at the stake by the English

1430 Gutenberg, a German metalworker, experiments with printing using moveable type

1447 Casimir IV of Poland unites Polish kingdom with Grand Duchy of Lithuania

1453 Ottomans besiege and capture Constantinople, ending Byzantine empire

1455-1456 First Bible printed in Europe by Gutenberg

1456 Hungarians under nobleman John Hunyadi storm Belgrade and drive out Turks

1462-1505 Reign of Ivan III (the Great), Grand Prince of Muscovy

1466 Birth of Desiderius, Dutch scholar and leader of revival of learning in northern Europe

1478-1492 Rule of Renaissance art patron, Lorenzo de' Medici

1479 Crowns of Aragon and Castile in Spain united under Ferdinand and Isabella

1480 Spanish Inquisition introduced to uncover heresy

1492 Christian Spanish capture Granada in Spain from Muslims

1492 Christopher Columbus lands on Bahama islands, Cuba, and Hispaniola; he is first European to reach Americas since Vikings

1497-1498 Portuguese Vasco da Gama rounds Cape of Good Hope, South Africa, and sails on to India

1498 Italian religious reformer, Savonarola, burnt at stake

1506-1512 Construction of basilica of St Peter's in Rome

1517 Martin Luther, German scholar, publishes 95 objections to Catholic practices

1519 Charles, archduke of Austria (and king of Spain), elected Holy Roman emperor (retires in 1556)

1519 Death of Italian Renaissance artist Leonardo da Vinci

1527 Troops of Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor, sack Rome and capture Pope Clement VII

1541-1564 Leadership of John Calvin in Geneva, Switzerland

1545-1563 Council of Trent, Italy; Catholics efforts to reform

1547 Tsar Ivan IV "the Terrible" (reigns 1533 - 84) takes power in Russia

1556-1598 Reign of Philip II of Spain

1559-1584 Building of palace of Escorial outside Madrid

1560-1590 French Wars of Religion: Protestant minority in conflict with Catholic majority as leading nobles struggle for power under weak Valois kings

1568-1648 Dutch campaign for independence from Spanish rule

1571 Don John of Austria smashes Ottoman fleet at Battle of Lepanto

1572 Massacre of St Bartholomew: 8,000 Protestants die in Paris, France

1572 Dutch Sea Beggars take Brill

1575-1586 Stephen Batory, prince of Transylvania in Romania, is elected king of Poland

1580-1640 Spain united with Portugal

1598 Henry IV, first Bourbon king of France, grants equal rights to Protestants

1605 End of Boris Godunov's reign in Russia

1609 Italian Galileo Galilei confirms that the sun is the centre of the universe

1611-1632 Reign of Gustavus Adolphus of Sweden

1613 Michael becomes tsar of Russia; Romanov dynasty begins

1613-1629 Reign of Bethlen Gabor in Hungary

1618-1648 30 Years War involves almost all Europe except Britain

1619-1628 In London, England, William Harvey discovers the circulation of the blood

1624 Cardinal Richelieu becomes first minister in France

1625 Dutchman Hugo Grotius publishes De Jure Belli ac Pacis, which becomes the basis of international law

1627-1628 Catholics besiege Huguenots in La Rochelle on western coast of France

1632-1654 Reign of Queen Christina of Sweden

1640 Portugal gains independence from Spain

1643 Italian physicist Torricelli invents the barometer

1643-1715 Reign of Louis XIV of France

1645-1669 Candian War between Venice and Ottoman Turks

1648 Treaty of Westphalia ends 30 Years War

1648-1653 The Frondes; revolts against mazarins rule in France

1679 Habeas Corpus Act in England ensures no imprisonment without court appearance first

1682-1725 Reign of Peter the Great of Russia

1683 Turks besiege Vienna; beaten off by John Sobieski

1685 Revocation of the Edict of Nantes in France

1689 Formation of Grand Alliance of Habsburgs, the Dutch, and the English against France

1697 Treaty of Ryswick between France and Grand Alliance

1697-1698 Peter I (the Great) of Russia travels through western Europe in disguise

1699 Treaty of Karlowitz; Habsburgs gain almost all Hungary

1700 Age of Enlightenment introduces revolutionary new ideas to Europe

1700-1721 Great Northern War: Russia is victorious and replaces Sweden as the dominant power in northeastern Europe

1701-1713 Much of Europe involved in War of Spanish Succession; French routed at Battle of Blenheim, 1704

1703 Peter the Great, Tsar of Russia, founds St Petersburg

1712 In England, Thomas Newcomen invents a workable steam pump for use in mines

1712 Religious warfare in Switzerland

1713-1740 Reign of King frederick william I of Prussia

1724 Peter the Great founds Russian Academy of Sciences

1726-1743 Cardinal Fleury governs France peacefully

1733-1735 France and Austria fight War of Polish Succession to make their candidates Polish king

1740-1786 Frederick The Great rules Prussia; he greatly expands its territory and Prussia becomes a major power in Europe

1740-1748 Prussia attacks Austria and drags much of Europe into War of Austria Succession

1741-1761 Reign of Elizabeth I of Russia, daughter of Peter the Great; she founds Russia's first university at Moscow

1750-1777 Sebastian de Carvalho (later Marquis of Pombal) appointed foreign secretary and acts as chief minister to Jose I of Portugal; introduces reforms

1754 Concordat with Vatican gives Spanish church independence from Rome

1755 The great Lisbon earthquake in Portugal; many thousands killed

1757 Battle of Rossbach; Frederick The Great of Prussia defeats French and Austrians

1762 Publication of French philosopher Jean Jacques Rousseau's Contrat Social

1762-1796 Reign of Russian empress Catherine the Great

1764-1795 Reign of King Stanislas Poniatowski, the last king of Poland

1772-1795 Poland is divided between Russia, Austria, and Prussia

1773-1775 Emelian Pugachev leads uprising of Cossacks and peasants in Russia

1774-1792 Reign of Louis XVI, king of France

1777 Accession of Maria as queen of Portugal; she exiles Pombal but continues his work

1778 War of Bavarian Succession between Prussia and Austria

1780 Joseph II, co-ruler of Austria with his mother Maria Theresa in 1780, becomes sole ruler on her death; ten year period of important reforms

1783 Russian government annexes the Crimea

1783-1801 William Pitt the Younger is prime minister of England

1787-1792 Turkey fights Russia to regain the Crimea, but is defeated

1788-1790 Sweden attacks Russia, but a peace treaty confirms the pre-war borders

1789 Outbreak of French Revolution; Paris Bastille stormed (14 July)*

1795 France overruns Netherlands; creates dependent Dutch republic

1798-1799 Wolfe Tone organizes Irish revolt against English rule

1800 Italian scientist Volta invents electric cell

1801-1825 Reign of Tsar Alexander I of Russia

1804 First oil lamp made in England, designed by Frenchman Argand

1804 Napoleon becomes Emperor of the French

1806 Napoleon brings the Holy Roman empire to an end

1808-1814 The Peninsular War in Spain

1812 Napoleon reaches Moscow; is forced by partisan warfare and burning of Moscow to retreat to France

1813 Napoleon defeated in the "Battle of the nations", Leipzig

1815 Congress of Vienna follows defeat of Napoleon; map of Europe decided

1821-1829 Greek War of Independence, against Turks

1827 Frenchman Nicephore Niepce takes the first photograph

1827 Battle of Navarino Bay; British, French, and Russian navies destroy Turkish fleet

1830 Russians suppress Polish revolt

1830 Revolution in France

1830-1831 Kingdom of Belgium is founded

1833 Abolition of slavery in British empire

1841 Nationalist leader Lajos Kossuth founds Hungarian liberal reform newspaper

1844 First effective Factory Act in Britain

1847-1848 Civil war leaves Switzerland a federal state

1848 Publication of the Communist Manifesto

1848 Year of Revolution throughout Europe

1852 Louis Napoleon becomes Emperor Napoleon III of the French

1860 Italian parliament meets in Turin; Garibaldi takes southern Italy; most of Italy unified

1861 Tsar Alexander II abolishes serfdom in Russia

1862-1890 Career of Bismarck as chief minister of Germany

1863-1864 Poles rebel against Russian rule

1866 Prussia defeats Austria at Sadowa in Seven Weeks War

1870-1871 Franco-Prussian War; Napoleon III abdicates, Third Republic established in France (to 1940)

1871 Unification of Germany: Prussian king William I becomes emperor of Germany

1876 Turks put down Bulgarian rising with great cruelty

1878 Congress of Berlin ends Russo-Turkish War (1877 - 78); freedom for some Balkan countries

1881 Assassination of Tsar Alexander II of Russia

1882 Triple Alliance is formed between Germany, Austria, and Italy

1885 German Karl Benz is first to sell motor cars

1887 Bulgaria elects Ferdinand of Coburg king; it becomes leading Balkan state

1888-1918 Kaiser (Emperor) William II reigns in Germany

1891-1894 Franco-Russian agreement

1895 In France, the Lumiere brothers invent the film projector

1895 Assassination of Bulgarian prime minister Stambuloff

1895 Marconi invents wireless telegraphy

1900 German naval law introduces 20-year building programme for a high seas fleet to compete with the British navy

1901-1905 Separation of the church from the state in France

1901 Foundation of Russian Social Revolutionary party (Bolsheviks)

1903 Assassination of Alexander, king of Serbia

1903-1905 Scandal breaks in Belgium over Belgian rule in Zaire

1904-1905 Russo-Japanese War

1905 Revolution in Russia

1905 Norway breaks away from Sweden; elects King Haakon VII

1906 Navy arms race escalates

1908 Young Turk revolution

1908 Carlos I of Portugal assassinated

1908 Austria annexes Bosnia and Herzegovina

1908 Ferdinand I proclaimed emperor of Bulgaria

1910 Portuguese revolution brings about the end of the monarchy

1912-1913 Balkan Wars

1913 Coup d'etat of Young Turks in Turkey

1914 Assassination of heir to Austrian throne leads to outbreak of World War I

1914 Battle of the Marne

1914 Battle of Tannenberg between the Germans and the Russians; German victory

1915 Dardanelles Campaign; British try to force passage to Constantinople

1917 Russian Revolution: Liberal revolution (February); Bolshevik revolution (October)*

1918 Armistice ends World War I

1919 Ernest Rutherford splits atom for first time

1921 Lenin introduces New Economic Policy in Russia

1922 Irish Free State founded

1922 Mussolini becomes Italian prime minister; dictator from 1925

1923-1930 Dictatorship of Primo de Rivera in Spain

1924 Death of Vladimir Lenin

1925 Locarno Agreements between major European powers aim to maintain peace and stability

1928 French begin to build fortification, the Maginot Line, on German border

1928 Stalin launches five-year plan to expand Soviet industry

1931 Republic declared in Spain after King Alfonso XIII abdicates

1933 Nazi leader Hitler appointed German chancellor; Nazis begin organized persecution of Jews

1934 Mussolini meets Hitler

1936 Germany invades Rhineland region on French-Belgian border

1936-1939 Civil War in Spain

1937 Eamonn de Valera becomes prime minister of Ireland (Eire)

1938 Hitler compels Austria to form union with Germany (the "Anschluss")

1938 Munich crisis: France and Britain agree to let Germany partition Czechoslovakia

1939 Stalin and Hitler agree to divide Poland between them

1939 Germany invades Poland; this leads to World War II

1940 France surrenders to Germany

1940-1945 Holocaust - 6 million Jews are murdered in German extermination camps in Germany and Poland

1943 German Sixth Army fails to capture Stalingrad (present-day Volgograd) in Soviet Union, and surrenders

1944 Allies invade France and begin to reconquer Europe

1948-1949 The Berlin airlift

1953 Death of Stalin in Russia; Nikita Khrushchev takes power

1953 DNA discovered

1955 The Warsaw Pact is signed

1956 Soviet troops invade Hungary and quash revolt

1957 Russians launch Sputniks; Laika, a small dog, becomes the first living creature in space

1957 The Treaty of Rome ushers in the EEC

1958 Charles de Gaulle brings strong presidential rule to France

1961 Russian Yuri Gagarin becomes first human in space

1961 Berlin Wall built to stop East Germans fleeing to the West

1961 Female oral contraceptive pill comes onto the market

1964 Leonid Brezhnev takes over from Khrushchev as ruler in Russia

1968 Paris erupts into student riots followed by general strike

1968 Czechoslovakia tries to initiate internal reforms; Soviet troops enter Prague and end "Prague Spring"

1972 "Bloody Sunday" in Londonderry, Northern Ireland; troops fire on civil rights marchers

1972 Munich Olympics; Israeli athletes killed by Arab "Black September" organization

1976 Helsinki convention on human rights adopted

1977 240 Czech intellectuals sign Charter 77 stating that democratic freedoms are still denied

1980 Independent trade union, Solidarity, formed in Poland

1985 Mikhail Gorbachev elected Soviet Communist party leader; introduces reforms

1986 Nuclear power disaster at Chernobyl in Ukraine

1989 Berlin Wall dismantled

1990 East and West Germany are unified as one nation

1990 Solidarity's Lech Walesa is elected president of Poland

1991 Break-up of the Soviet Union, resignation of Gorbachev; Yeltsin takes power in Russia

1992 Yugoslavia breaks up and erupts into bloody civil war





