| c.4000BC | In Egypt, the harp and vertical flute were among the most popular instruments,
which were probably played mostly by the upper classes. |
| c.3000BC | Egyptians knew of the concept of fourths, fifths, octaves and unisons.
Sumerian writers mention ecclesiastical music |
| c.1580BC | Instruments from western Asia introduced into Egypt, including
trumpets, oboes, lyres and drums.
Profession musicians now come from the lower classes.
Women now also play instruments. |
| c.1500BC | An Egyptian wall painting shows conductors beating time by snapping fingers and pounding.
|
| c.800BC | The period of written music begins with the oldest surviving example of musical
notation - a Sumerian hymn concerning the creation of man. |
| c.776BC | The first recorded date of the Olympiad (no fanfares survive:). |
| c.675BC | The first known musical figure, Terpander, a Kithara player
from Lesbos, started a musical revolution in Greece. Terpander changed the
Greek lyre from 4 to 7 strings, filled in all the "missing" notes in the
octave and created the Mixolydian scale. Terpander was also supposed to
have been appointed by Sparta to pacify the city with his music during
a period of social turmoil. |
| c.685BC | The creation of the trombone by Tyrtaeus. |
| c.606BC | Rome passed a law to prevent the playing of any instrument other than
the preferred instrument, the pipes. |
| c.606BC | After reforms of Servien (which presumably allowed the other
instruments again), the tuba and cornu players of Rome became an official
section of the lists of Roman citizens. |
| c.586BC | Music became a part of the Pythian games in Greece and were
won by the piper Sakadas. |
| c.550BC | The diatonic scale originated in Greece.
Vibrations were discovered to be the basis of sound by Lasos of Hermione,
a teacher of Pindar. |
| c.427BC | Plato recommended that the state be based on the
foundation of music, attributing great ethical value to it in his Republic.
He felt that any changes in the traditional ways of music might lead to the
downfall of the State. |
| c.250BC | The hydraulis, an organ with a keyboard and pipes run
by water pressure, was invented by Ktesibios. |
| c.170BC | Greek musicians had problems catching the Romans'
interest except when playing at sports events (possibly the start of the
half-time show). |
| c.141BC | Emperor Wu of China created the Imperial Office of
Music to establish and preserve correct musical pitch. |
| 43 (AD) | Britain conquered and brought into the Roman Empire
by the Emperor Claudius. |
| 58 | Three court orchestras were established in the Chinese
Han Dynasty in addition to a large military band. The orchestras were to
play for religious ceremonies, for the archery of the palace, and for
banquets and the harem. |
| c.200 | The organ became a part of Catholic churches in Europe. |
| c.300 | Euclid tried to find mathematical ratios of different notes.
At this time, a Schola Cantorum was founded in Rome with the purpose of
improving singing. |
| c.350 | Monks and Bishops brought antiphonal psalmody into the church.
It soon spread to the secular clergy. |
| c.354 | Christmas was first observed in Rome. |
| c.400 | A dualistic interpretation of the incarnation of Christ
leads to a distinction between "Lord" and "Christ."
The barritus, the barbarian war song, described as a soft hum that built
to a great crescendo until at last it thundered like waves breaking on rocks. |
| 432 | Pope Sixtus established a monastery for daily practice of psalmody |
| c.500 | Monasteries were the only remaining centers of culture
in Western Europe |
| 576 | A Nestorian Synod forbade the use of tambourines and castanets
during funerals. |
| 590-604 | Pope Gregory I (the Great) collected and codified the best
chants being used in the church and called the Gregorian Chant. He discovered that
the second half of the scale, H to P, was a repetition of the first half, A to H,
and abolished the last 8 letters. He then used the first 7 again, indicating the
lower ocatve by capitals and the upper octave by lower case letters. |
| c.600 | According to the Venerable Bede (673-735), the harp
was played in Britain and it was customary to hand it from one player to
another at entertainments. |
| c.700 | Tempo and intensity was denoted in Romania with the use
of alphabetic letters. |
| c.720 | Beowulf was composed in northern England. |
| 781 | English monk Alcuin (ca. 732–804) meets Charlemagne;
Alcuin encouraged study of liberal arts, influencing the Carolingian
Renaissance. Alcuin was largely responsible for the revision of the
Church Liturgy during the reign of Charlemagne. |
| 800 | Charlemagne (742–814) crowned Holy Roman Emperor. |
| 850 | Hucbald wrote the earliest manuscript giving rules for writing organum. |
| 853 | First printed book in China |
| c.900 | A single horizontal line served as a guide for the position of
the Neumae, which were written on, above or below the line. In southern Europe, the
Neumae were being spaced. They were placed in the modern way at different heights
corresponding to their pitches. |
| c.900 | The bow, the bridge and the fingerboard of the monochord were
applied to the "Fidicula" or "Crwth," a forerunner of the violin. |
| c.900 | The Wofenbuttel manuscript was a collection of folk songs
containing many of the old German secular songs. |
| c.910 | Hucbaldus was the first to write a group of parts together
in what could be considered a score. Hucbaldus invented a staff consisting of an
indefinate number of lines. The syllables that he intended to be sung were
written between the lines. |
| c.1000 | Gryffull ab Aynam, king of North Wales, reformed the order
of Welsh bards, separating the professions of bard and minstrel. |
| c.1000 | Two-, three- and four-lines staves were being used for
Gregorian Chants. |
| c.1010 | Guido d'Arezzo used 6 syllables Ut, Re, Mi, Fa, So and La,
suggested by syllables of the hymn "Ut queant laxis." |
| 1025 | Guido invented accidentals as a result of diving the scales
into Hexachords. |
| c.1030 | Parallel fourths become considered more pleasant to the
ear than parallel fifths. |
| c.1045 | Moveable type printing invented in China |
| 1061 | In the Hungarian anti-Christian Rebellion of 1061, pagan
shamans used old songs to arouse the people to murder the bishops and priests
of the new, official religion. |
| 1066 | The Norman Conquest of England. 1066 William of Normandy
conquered England. |
| c.1090 | In Southern France, the new verse writing
aristocrat/ musician Troubadours travelled from court to court, spreading their
poems and songs of courtly love and knightly ideology. Their songs and poems
were also spread by the jongleurs, the itinerant professionals of the time.
The Troubadours left 2600 poems and 275 melodies. |
| c.1095 | Chanson de Roland, the oldest and most important song
of deeds was composed. |
| c.1095 | First crusade was proclaimed by Pope Urban II. Many
songs of Troubadours and Trouveres dealt with the Crusades. William, Duke
of Guienne, one of the earliest Troubadours, joined the first Crusade. |
| c.1100 | First universities in Europe; Salerno (medicine),
Bologna (law), Paris (theology and philosophy) |
| c.1100 | The songs of the troubadours received strong impetus
as a result of the new desire for intellectual pursuits. The earliest known
written music for guitars (popular in Europe at this time) was written by
the Troubadours, who flourished until c.1300. |
| c.1100 | Bagpipes become known (and probably abhored by many:)
in England. |
| c.1100 | Popular music is performed almost exclusively by nomadic musicians. |
| c.1100 | The French Rondeau in its oldest form was a song sung
while performing a round dance. Hence, its name. |
| c.1150 | The Dies irae was written by Thomas of Celano
and sung in the Requiem Mass. |
| c.1182-1226 | The lauda (Italian hymns of praise) originated. |
| 1199 | King Richard the Lion-hearted of England, a leading trouvere, died. |
| c.1200 | Trumpets used in battles as a signal to attack. |
| c.1200 | Dance music and motets were the most popular forms of music. |
| c.1200 | Wandering musicians settled down in communities and
later acquired official recognition as town pipers who performed at various
municipal ceremonies. They formed corporations for their mutual protection
in England, France and Germany to prevent being classed with wandering vagabonds. |
| 1203 | The parson of Ossemer was killed by a stroke of lightning
as he was fiddling for his parishioners to dance on the Wednesday of Whitsun-week. |
| 1215 | Magna Carta (England). |
| c.1225 | Note values with associated length values begin with
the longa, the stemmed square, derived from the breve, the stemless square. |
| c.1225 | The earliest known song in harmony was the song
"Sumer is icumen in", written by John of Fornsete, a monk of Reading Abbey. |
| c.1225 | Guilds and fraternities came into existence. |
| c.1226 | A vocal composition, scored by an English Ecclesiastic
(probably John of Fornsete) used notes exactly like those now in use in English
churches and readable by modern musicians. |
| 1240 | Spectacles invented in Italy. |
| c.1250 | The sharp or diesis came into use. Also the diamond-shaped
semi-breve and equivalent rest were introduced. |
| 1252 | King Alphonso of Castile and Leon assembled the
Cantigas de Santa Maria,
writing down over 400 melodies. |
| 1252 | Gold currencies introduced in Florence and Genoa. |
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| 1257 | Chinese silk became available in Europe. |
| ca.1263-1269 | Marco Polo (ca. 1254–1324) accompanies father,
Nicolo Polo, and uncle, Maffeo Polo, to Court of Kublai Khan. The three
returned to China, 1271–1295. |
| ca.1270 | Anonymous IV, De mensuris et discantu. |
| 1291-1515 | expansion of the Swiss Confederation. |
| 1297-1309 | Swiss Confederation recognized by the enemies of the Hapsburgs. |
| 1314 | Gervais du Bus, Roman de Fauvel (satirical poem of over
3000 verses, attacking Church & State); enlarged in 1316 by Chaillou de
Pestain, with additional poetry and music. |
| ca.1316-ca.1400 | Ars nova [musical period]. |
| ca.1320 | Philippe de Vitry, Ars nova. |
| c.1320 | Cultural revival in Italy; Dante (1265-1361),
Giotto (1276-1337), Petrarch (1304-71) |
| 1327-1377 | Edward III (England). |
| 1334-1336 | Giovanni Boccaccio (1313–1375), Caccia di Diana
("Diana's Hunt"), first Italian hunting poem in terza rima. |
| 1337–1453 | Hundred Years' War, a series of wars between France
and England. In the end, England was expelled from all of France, except
Calais. (Begins with war between Philip VI of Valois and Edward III.) |
| 1340 | Battle of Sluys (French navy defeated). |
| 1341 | Francesco Petrarca (1304–1374) crowned with Laurel, Rome. |
| c.1341 | Black Death starts in Asia |
| 1346 | Battle of Crécy. |
| 1347 | English capture Calais. |
| 1347–1361 | the Black Death (resulting in possibly 24 million or
more deaths—about 25%–50% of Europe's population). [See Robert S. Gottfried,
The Black Death: Natural and Human Disaster in Medieval Europe (New York
The Free Press, 1983).] |
| 1348 | University of Prague founded. |
| ca.1350 | Machaut, the Missa de Nostre Dame. |
| ca.1350-ca.1450 | European population continued to decline in numbers. |
| ca.1351-1353 | Boccaccio, Decameron. |
| 1356 | Battle of Poitiers. |
| 1360 | lull in Hundred Years' War after Treaty of Brétigny |
| 1363-1404 | Philip the Bold (Burgundy). |
| 1364-1380 | Charles V (France). |
| ca.1370 | Sir Gawain and the Green Knight. |
| 1373–1394 (and after) | Geoffrey Chaucer (ca. 1343–1400), Canterbury Tales,
written initially as unrelated fragments, later assembled together. |
| 1377–1399 | Richard II (England). |
| 1377 | Death of Guillaume de Machaut (1300-1377), who sought to
recover the world of the Troubadours in monophonic and polyphonic song by
combining the trouvere forms with the polyphonic techniques developed
during the Gothic period. |
| 1380 | Wyclif, first English translation of the Bible. |
| 1391–1399 | First Ottoman Siege of Constantinople. |
| 1397 | Turkish Invasion of Greece. |
| 1399–1413 | Henry IV (England). |
| 1400 | Death of Chaucer, first great English poet |
| 1415 | Battle of Agincourt: Henry V of England resumes attack on France |
| ca.1415 | Tres Riches Heures, completed by the Limbourg brothers for
the Duc de Berry. |
| 1419 | Alliance between Burgundy and England. |
| 1419–1467 | Philip the Good (Burgundy). |
| 1420 | English occupy Paris. |
| 1420–1436 | Filippo Brunelleschi (1377–1446) completes dome of Florence
Cathedral. |
| 1422–1461 | Charles VII (France). |
| 1428 | Joan of Arc: beginning of French revival |
| 1431 | Jeanne d'Arc executed. |
| 1432 | Jan van Eyck (Burgundian–Flemish painter, 1386–1440), the
Ghent Altar-piece. |
| 1435 | Alfonso V of Aragon (king 1416–1458) captures Naples. |
| 1436 | French recapture Paris. |
| 1440 | Platonic Academy, Florence established. |
| ca.1445 | Johannes Gutenberg (ca. 1400–1467/8) invented printing
with movable metallic type, prints first book in Europe. |
| ca.1445-1521 | Josquin des Prez, Flemish composer |
| ca.1445-1527 | Heinrich Finck, German composer |
| ca.1450-1517 | Heinrich Isaac, Flemish composer |
| c.1456-1506 | Alexander Agricola, French composer. |
| 1447–1455 | Pope Nicholas V established Vatican Library. |
| 1450 | Battle of Formigny. |
| c.1450 | The popularity of the French basse danse and the
Italian bassadanza created a new style of ensemble improvisation, and
the instrumental dance band was established, replacing the predominantly
solo performance of dance music of the 13th and 14th centuries. |
| 1453 | England loses Continental possessions (except Calais) |
| 1453 | Battle of Castillon—English driven from France; Turks
capture Constantinople. |
| ca.1455 | Gutenberg, first printed Bible |
| 1455–1487 | Wars of the Roses (England). |
| ca.1460-1522 | Jean Mouton , French composer |
| ca.1460-1518 | Nicholas Gombert, Flemish composer |
| 1467–1477 | Charles the Bold (Burgundy). |
| 1470 | Printing presses set up at the Sorbonne, Paris, and at Utrecht. |
| 1471–1528 | Albrecht Durer. |
| ca.1473-1476 | Johannes Tinctoris, Proportionale musices. |
| 1473 | Printing press set up at Buda, Hungary. |
| 1474 | Printing press set up at the Valencia, Spain. |
| 1474 | Death of Du Fay; Josquin des Prez and Compère in service
of Duke of Milan. |
| 1477 | Death in Battle of Nancy of Charles the Bold, last Duke of
Burgundy. Maria (of Burgundy) marries Maximilian (later Maximilian I), son
of Frederick III (Emperor of Austria). Burgundy becomes part of Austrian Empire. |
| 1477 | First book printed in England, William Caxton's Dicets and
Sayings of the Philosophers. |
| ca.1477 | Sandro Botticelli (Alessandro di Mariano dei Filipepi)
(1444–1510), Primavera. |
| ca.1477-1576 | Titian (painter). |
| 1477 | Johannes Tinctoris, Liber de arte contrapuncti. |
| 1478 | Ferdinand and Isabella, with authorization of Pope Sixtus
IV, establish Inquisition. |
| 1479 | Marriage of Ferdinand V of Aragon and Isabella of Castile. |
| 1480-1547 | Jean Richafort, French composer |
| ca.1485-1560 | Clement Janequin, French composer |
| 1485 | Battle of Bosworth, death of Richard III, ends Wars of the
Roses, Henry Tudor crowned King of England (Henry VII). |
| 1485-ca.1493 | Heinrich Isaac in service of Medici in Florence. |
| ca.1485 | Johannes Tinctoris, De inventione et usu musicae. |
| ca.1485 | Botticelli, The Birth of Venus. |
| 1486 | Josquin des Prez in papal choir. |
| 1487 | Bartholomew Diaz sails around the southern tip of Africa
(then called the Cape of Storms; renamed Cape of Good Hope by John II of Portugal. |
| 1490-1562 | Adrian Willaert, Italian composer |
| 1490–1502 | Eton Choirbook compiled. |
| ca.1490-1562 | Claudin de Sermisy, French composer |
| ca.1490-1545 | Phillipe Verdelot, Italian composer |
| 1491–1492 | Siege of Granada, Moorish troops finally expelled
from Spain. 200,000 Jews expelled from Granada. |
| 1492 | Christopher Columbus (1451–1506) arrives in new world
(Bahamas). Second journey to Caribbean, 1493. |
| ca.1492-1555 | Ludwig Senfl, German composer |
| 1493 | Maximilian I becomes Austrian Emperor. |
| 1494 | Ludovico Sforza becomes Duke of Milan. |
| 1494 | Albrecht Dürer travels to Italy; then returns to Nuremberg. |
| 1494-1545 | John Taverner, English composer |
| 1495 | Expulsion of Jews from Portugal. |
| 1495–1498 | Leonardo da Vinci (1452–1519) paints his Last
Supper in the refectory of Santa Maria delle Grazie, Milan. |
| ca.1495-1545 | Constanza Festa, Italian composer |
| 1496 | Franchino Gafori, Practica musicae. |
| 1497 | Heinrich Isaac becomes court composer to Maximilian I. |
| 1497–1498 | Vasco da Gamba finds sea route to India. |
| 1497–1553 | Hans Holbein the younger. |
| 1498–1450 | Columbus' third voyage—to Trinidad and coast of South America. |
| 1499 | Swiss independence recognized by the Empire (Peace of
Basle). French expell Ludovico Sforza from Milan. Amerigo Vespucci and
Alonso Hojeda sail to the mouth of the Amazon River. |
| c.1500 | Italian Renaissance: Leonardo da Vinci (1452-1520),
Botticelli (1444-1510), Machiavelli (1468-1527) |
| 1500 | Peter Henlein invented the pocket watch (Nuremburg). |
| ca.1500-ca.1561 | Luis de Milan, Italian composer |
| ca.1500-1573 | Christopher Tye, English composer |
| 1501 | Ottaviano Petrucci (1466–1539), in Venice, publishes
first printed book of music, Harmonice musices Odhecaton A; followed by
two more books of secular works, Canti B (1502) and Canti C (1503). |
| 1501–1502 | Amerigo Vespucci sails along coast of South America. |
| 1501–1504 | Michelangelo sculpts the statue David. |
| ca.1502 | Leonardo da Vinci (1452–1519) paints Mona Lisa. |
| 1502–1504 | Columbus' fourth (and last) voyage—to Honduras and Panama. |
| 1504 | Josquin des Prez appointed at Notre Dame, Condé-sur-l'Escaut.
Obrecht appointed maestro di cappella at Ferrara. |
| ca.1504-ca.1567 | Jacques Arcadelt, Italian composer |
| ca.1505-1585 | Thomas Tallis, English composer |
| 1505 | Obrecht dies of plague. |
| 1506 | Brumel appointed maestro di cappella at Ferrara. |
| 1506 | Pope Julius II commissioned St. Peter's, Rome—architects
& artists included Bramante (1444–1514), Raphael, Peruzzi, and Michelangelo (1575–1564). |
| 1507 | Escobar appointed maestro di cappella of Seville Cathedral. |
| 1507 | Margaret of Austria appointed Regent of the Netherlands. |
| 1508 | Raphael enters service of Pope Julius II. |
| 1508–1512 | Michelangelo paints the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel. |
| 1509 | Henry VIII becomes King of England. |
| ca.1510-1557 | Jacobus non Papa Clemente, Flemish composer |
| ca.1510-1586 | Andrea Gabrieli, Italian composer |
| ca.1510-1564 | Pierre de Manchicourt , French composer |
| 1511 | Sebastian Virdung, Musica getutscht. |
| 1512 | Dürer become court painter to Maximilian I. |
| 1513 | Portugese reach Canton (China). |
| 1515 | Charles V (1500–1556) becomes Duke of Burgundy. |
| 1515 | Adrian Willaert in Italy, in service of Cardinal Ippolito d'Este. |
| 1515 | Battle of Marignano; François I defeats Swiss and Venetians
and enters Milan. |
| 1516-1565 | Cipriano de Rore, Italian composer |
| 1516 | Charles V (1500–1556) becomes Emperor of Austria and Spain
(greatest empire in the world). Thomas More (1478–1535), Utopia. |
| 1517 | Martin Luther (1483–1546) posts the 95 theses, castle church,
Wittenberg. |
| ca.1517 | Constanzo Festa enters Papal Choir. |
| 1519 | Charles V, ruler of Spain and Netherlands, elected emperor |
| 1521 | Martin Luther outlawed: beginning of Protestant Reformation |
| 1523 | Pietro Aron, Thoscanello de la musica (later editions as
Toscanello in musica). |
| 1525 | Attaingnant's earliest surviving book (Paris). |
| 1525–1594 | Palestrina. |
| c.1525 | Introduction of potato from South America to Europe |
| 1526 | Hans Holbein (1497–1543) arrives in England (from Basel). |
| 1527 | Willaert becomes maestro di cappella at S. Marco, Venice. |
| 1528-1596 | Thomas Wythorne, English composer |
| ca.1528-1600 | Claude Le Jeune, French composer |
| 1529 | Turkish seige of Vienna. |
| 1530 | Madrigali novi, Rome—first publication to use the term madrigal. |
| 1532 | Martin Agricola, Musica instrumentalis Deudsch. |
| 1532 | Pizarro begins conquest of Inca Empire for Spain |
| 1532–1594 | Orlando di Lasso. |
| 1532-1594 | Roland de Lassus (Orlando Lasso), French composer |
| 1533-1604 | Claudio Merulo, Italian composer |
| 1533 | Pierre Attaingnant, Vingt et Sept Chansons Musicales a
Quatre Partes…; Verdelot, Madrigali. |
| 1534 | Ignatius Loyola (1491–1556) founds the Societas Jesu.
Jaques Cartier explores the Gulf of the St. Lawrence River. |
| 1534 | Henry VIII of England breaks with Rome |
| 1534–1539 | Henry VIII dissolves the monasteries, sells
their lands to the gentry—the largest shift in ownership of property
in modern history. |
| 1535 | Cristóbal de Morales joins the Papal Choir. |
| 1535–1536 | Jaques Cartier returns to North America, sails
up the St. Lawrence River as far as present-day Quebec and Montreal. |
| 1535–1541 | Michelangelo paints the Last Judgement in the Sistine Chapel. |
| ca.1535-1582 | Giorgio Mainerio, Italian composer |
| 1536 | Luis de Milán (ca. 1500–ca. 1562), El Maestro, Valencia. |
| 1536 | Sir Thomas More executed. John Calvin (1509–1564),
Institutio Religionis Christianae. |
| 1538-1574 | Robert White, English composer |
| fl.1540-1550 | Vincenzo Fontana, Italian composer |
| ca.1540-1580 | Florentio Maschera, Italian composer |
| 1541 | John Calvin founds reformed church at Geneva |
| 1542 | Geneva Psalter published (1st edition). |
| 1542–1543 | Silvestro di Ganassi, Regola Rubertina. |
| 1542–1543 | Portugese become first Europeans to visit Japan. |
| 1543 | Susato establishes printing press in Antwerp. |
| 1543 | Thomas Tallis joins the Chapel Royal. |
| 1543 | Nicholas Copernicus (1473–1543) publishes On the
Revolutions of the Celestial Orbs. |
| 1543 | Copernicus publishes Of the Revolution of Celestial Bodies |
| 1543-1623 | William Byrd, English composer |
| 1544–1595 | Torquato Tasso, poet. |
| 1545 | Cristóbal de Morales appointed maestro di cappella at
Toledo Cathedral (until 1547). |
| 1545-1609 | Eustache Du Caurroy, French composer |
| 1545–1551 | First Council of Trent. |
| 1545 | Council of Trent: beginning of Counter-Reformation |
| 1546 | Alonso Mudarra (1508/ca. 1520-1580), Tres libros de mvsica… |
| 1547 | Claude Gervaise, Second liure contenant trios gaillardes,
trois pavanes, vingt trois branles, tant gays, simples, que doubles, douze
basses dances, & neuf tourdions, en somme cinquante… . |
| 1547 | Cipriano de Rore appointed maestro di cappella at Ferrara. |
| 1547 | Heinrich Glareanus, Dodecachordon. |
| 1547 | Michelangelo appointed architect of St. Peter's
(begun by Bramante, 1506). |
| 1549 | Francis Xavier establishes a Jesuit mission in Japan.
English Book of Common Prayer. |
| 1550-1605 | Orazi Vecchi , Italian composer |
| 1550 | Giorgio Vasari (1511–1574), Le vite de' piu
eccellenti architetti, pittori e scultori italiani (Lives of the
Most Eminent Painters and Sculptors; revised 1568). |
| 1551 | Palestrina appointed maestro di cappela of Cappella Giulia. |
| 1553–1558 | Mary Tudor Queen of England. |
| 1553-1599 | Luca Marenzio, Italian composer |
| 1554 | Mary Tudor marries Philip of Spain. |
| 1554 | first Masses by Palestrina published. |
| 1555 | Peace of Augsburg. |
| 1555 | Juan Bermudo, Declaración de instrumentos musicales… . |
| 1555 | Palestrina appointed maestro di cappela of
St. Johan Lateran, Rome; also becomes member of the Sistine Chapel. |
| 1556-1622 | Giovanni Gastoldi, Italian composer |
| 1556 | Lassus receives position at Chapel of Duke Albrecht V, Munich. |
| 1556 | Herman Finck, Practica musica. |
| 1557-1603 | Thomas Morley, English composer |
| 1558 | Gioseffo Zarlino, Le istitutioni harmoniche. |
| 1558–1603 | Elizabeth I Queen of England. |
| 1559 | Tobacco first introduced into Europe |
| 1559 | Sarum rite abolished. |
| 1560-1630 | William Brade, German composer |
| 1560-1628 | Peter Phillips, English composer |
| 1560-1613 | Carlo Gesualdo, Italian composer |
| 1561 | Palestrina appointed maestro di cappela of S. Maria Maggiore, Rome. |
| 1562 | Council of Trent begins discussions of Music. |
| 1562–1598 | Huguenot Wars. |
| 1562-98 | Wars of religion in France |
| 1562-1621 | Jan Sweelinck, Flemish composer |
| 1562/3-1628 | John Bull, English composer |
| 1563-1626 | John Dowland, English composer |
| 1563-1640 | Giles Farnaby, English composer |
| 1563 | formal establishment of the Church of England. |
| 1563 | William Byrd organist and Master of Choristers at Lincoln Cathedral. |
| 1563 | Cipriano de Rore appointed maestro di cappela of St. Mark's, Venice. |
| 1564-1612 | Hans Leo Hassler, German composer |
| 1565 | Philip II (Emperor of Austria and Spain 1556–1598)
orders intensification of the Inquisition in the Netherlands. |
| 1565 | Zarlino appointed maestro di cappela of St. Mark's,
Venice (on death of C. de Rore). |
| 1565 | Giaches de Wert appointed maestro di cappela of S. Barbara
(Ducal Chapel), Mantua. |
| 1566 | Andrea Gabrieli appointed organist at St. Mark's, Venice. |
| 1567 | military dictatorship established in the Netherlands, under
the Spanish Duke of Alba; multiple executions of rebels. |
| 1567-1620 | Thomas Campion, English composer |
| 1567-1643 | Claudio Monteverdi, Italian composer |
| 1568-1634 | Adriano Banchieri, Italian composer |
| 1568–1648 | Dutch Wars of Independence. |
| 1569-1645 | Tobias Hume, English composer |
| c.1570-1626 | John Coprario (Cooper), English composer |
| 1570 | William Byrd joins the Chapel Royal. |
| 1571 | London Stock Exchange established. |
| 1571-1621 | Michael Praetorius, German composer |
| 1571-1656 | Thomas Tompkins, English composer |
| 1571-1683 | John Ward, English composer |
| 1574-1638 | John Wilbye, English composer |
| 1575-1623 | Thomas Weelkes (Wilkes), English composer |
| 1575 | Thomas Tallis and William Byrd, Cantiones…Sacrae… . |
| 1575 | Giovanni Gabrieli employed at court of Duke Albrecht V, Munich. |
| 1576 | Martin Frobisher in Frobisher Bay, Canada. |
| 1577–1580 | Francis Drake sails around the world. |
| ca.1577-1614 | John Maynard, English composer |
| 1578-1628 | Alfonso Ferrabasco II, English composer |
| fl.1579-1594 | John Johnson, English composer |
| ca.1579-1639 | Melchior Franck, German composer |
| 1579 | Union of Utrecht—establishment of Dutch Republic. |
| 1580 | Portugal & Spain united under Philip II of Spain. |
| 1580 | Luca Marenzio, first book of madrigals. |
| 1580-1630 | Richard Dering (Deering), English composer |
| 1580-1648 | Michael East, English composer |
| 1581 | Dutch Proclamation of Independence. Torquado Tasso,
Gerusalemme liberata. |
| 1581 | Vincenzo Galilei, Dialogo…della musica antica e della moderna. |
| 1582 | Gregory XIII's reform of the calendar—accepted by
Papal States, Spain, Portugal, France, Spanish Netherlands, Denmark, Norway. |
| 1582 | First publication of music by Monteverdi. |
| 1582-1630 | Thomas Simpson, English composer |
| 1583-1643 | Giralamo Frescobaldi , Italian composer |
| 1583-1625 | Orlando Gibbons, English composer |
| fl 1584-1602 | Anthony Holborne, English composer |
| 1584 | Sir Walter Raleigh (1552–1618) established first
English colony in Virginia. |
| 1584 | Palestrina, Motettorum liber Quartus. |
| ca.1585 | William Shakespeare (1564–1616) begins career
as actor and playwright. |
| 1588 | Spanish Armada. |
| 1588 | Spanish Armada defeated by English |
| 1588 | Nicholas Yonge, Musica transalpina. |
| 1589 | performance of the intermedi of La Pellegrina, Florence. |
| 1590 | Monteverdi employed at court of Duke Vincenzo I, Mantua. |
| 1590 | Spenser, The Faerie Queene, books I–III.; Sir Philip Sidney, Arcadia. |
| 1591 | Thomas Morley appointed organist of St. Paul's Cathedral, London. |
| fl.1591-1601 | John Farmer, English composer |
| 1592 | Thomas Morley appointed member of the Chapel Royal, London. |
| 1593 & 1609 | Girolamo Diruta, Il Transilvano. |
| 1594 | Gregorian Calendar accepted in Catholic German States,
and Switzerland. |
| 1594 | Hercole Bottrigari, Il Desiderio overo de' Concerti di
varij strumenti musicali. |
| 1594 | William Shakespeare joins the Lord Chamberlain's company [of actors]. |
| 1595 | Luca Marenzio, Il Settimo libro de madrigali a cinqve voci, Venice. |
| 1597 | John Dowland, The First Booke of Songes or Ayres…, London . |
| 1597 | Thomas Morley, A Plaine and Easie Introduction to Practicall Musicke. |
| 1597 | Giovanni Gabrieli, Sacrae symphoniae, Venice. |
| 1598 | Edict of Nantes—Huguenots given freedom of worship and equal rights. |
| 1598 | Peri, Dafne performed in Florence. |
| 1598 | Ben Jonson, Every Man in his Humour performed in London. |
| 1599 | Lord Chamberlain's company builds the Globe Theatre. |
| 1600 | East India Company established. Rubens appointed at
court of Duke Vincenzo I, Mantua. |
| 1600 | Peri, Euridice performed in Florence. |
| 1600–1601 | Shakespeare, Hamlet. |
| 1601 | Claudio Monteverdi (1567-1643) appointed maestro di
cappela, Mantua. |
| 1601 | Luzzasco Luzzaschi, Madrigali…, Roma. |
| 1601 | Monteverdi appointed maestro di cappela, Mantua. |
| 1602 | Giulio Caccini, Le nuove musiche, Florence [dated 1601]. |
| 1602 | Giulio Caccini, Le nuove musiche. |
| 1603 | Samuel de Champlain (ca. 1567-1635) begins exploration
of the Gulf of St. Lawrence and St. Lawrence River. |
| 1604 | John Dowland, Lachrimæ, London. |
| 1605 | Miguel de Cervantes Saavendra, El Ingenioso Hidalgo
Don Quixote de la Mancha published. |
| 1605–1607 | William Byrd, Gradualia. |
| 1607 | Jamestown, Virginia established—first permanent English
colony in North America. |
| 1607 | Monteverdi's La Favola d'Orfeo establishes opera as an
art form, performed in Mantua |
| 1608 | Francesco Rasi, Vaghezze di musica, Venice. |
| 1608 | The Dutchman, Johann Lippershey (ca. 1570-1619) invents
the telescope. |
| 1609 | Dutch traders first visit Japan. |
| 1609 | Galileo Galilei (1564-1642) discovers moons of Jupiter. |
| 1609 | Johannes Kepler (1571-1630), Astronomia Nova. |
| 1609 | English Baptist Church established in Amsterdam. |
| 1609 | Rubens appointed court painter to Archduke Albert and
Archduchess Isabella, Antwerp. |
| 1610 | Monteverdi, Vespero della Beata Vergine, Venice; Gio.
Paolo Cima, Concerti ecclesiastici, Milan. |
| 1610 | Robert Dowland (compiler), A Musicall Banqvet, London;
Robert Dowland (compiler), Varietie of Lvte-Lessons, London. |
| 1611 | The Authorized Version of the Bible published [the King James Bible]. |
| 1612 | Orlando Gibbons, The First Set of Madrigals and Mottets
of 5. Parts…, London. |
| 1613 | Carlo Gesualdo, …Sei libri de'madrigali a cinqve voci…, Genoa. |
| 1613 | Monteverdi appointed maestro di cappela, St. Mark's, Venice |
| 1615 | Michael Praetorius, Syntagma musicum, Vol. I (Vol. II
1618, Vol. III 1619). |
| 1615 | Sigismondo d'India, Le musiche a due voci, Venice;
(Le musiche…Libro terzo, Venice, 1618; …Libro quarto, Venice, 1621;
…Libro quinto, Venice, 1623). |
| 1616 | Inigo Jones (1573-1652), builds Queen's House,
Greenwich—introduction of Italian style of Palladian architecture. |
| 1616 | Death of William Shakespeare (born 1564) |
| 1618–1648 | Thirty-Years War; began with revolt in Bohemia. |
| 1619 | First black slaves arrive in Virginia. |
| 1620 | Francis Bacon (1561-1626), Novum Organum, and
The New Atlantis, 1627, prepares foundations for rational scientific experimentation. |
| 1620 | Pilgrims land at Cape Cod, Massachusetts. |
| 1622 | Biagio Marini, Scherzi, e canzonette a vna, e due voci…, Parma. |
| 1623 | Claudio Monteverdi, Lamento d'Ariana…et con due
lettere amorose in genere rapresentativo. Venice. |
| 1625 | French establish trading settlements in the
Caribbean—export sugar and tobacco. |
| 1628 | William Harvey (1578-1657) discovers circulation of the blood. |
| 1630 | Dutch establish trading settlements in Brazil—export sugar and silver. |
| 1630 | Girolamo Frescobaldi, Primo libro d'arie mvsicali
& Secondo libro d'arie mvsicali, Florence. |
| 1630 | Gustavus Adolphus, King of Sweden, invades Holy
Roman Empire to protect protestant states. |
| 1630 | more than 1000 Puritans settle in Massachusetts. |
| 1631 | Catholic army under General Tilly sacks Magdelburg. |
| 1632 | Galileo, Dialogues Concerning Two World Systems,
presents evidence for heliocentric solar system. |
| 1632 | Oughtred (1575-1660) invents slide rule. |
| 1633 | Inquisition forces Galileo to retract his views. |
| 1636 | Marin Mersenne, Harmonie universelle. |
| 1637 | René Descartes (1596-1650), Le Discours de la Méthode,
establishes modern scientific method; Descartes also invented coordinate geometry. |
| 1638 | Galileo, Two New Sciences. |
| 1639 | France enters Thirty-Years War. |
| 1641 | Giovanni Batista Fontana, Sonate a 1 2. 3. per il Violino,
o Cornetto, Fagotto, Chitarone, Violoncino o simile altro Istromento, Venice. |
| 1642-1646 | English Civil War. |
| 1642 | Rembrandt van Rijn (1606-1669), "The Night Watch". |
| 1643 | Evangelista Torricelli (1608-1647) invents barometer. |
| 1644 | Barbara Strozzi, Il primo de' madrigali…, Venice. |
| 1647-1659 | French-Spanish war. |
| 1648-1653 | French civil war. |
| 1648 | Peace of Westphalia ends Thirty-Years War. |
| 1649 | Charles I executed. |
| 1649-60 | English Republic under Oliver Cromwell banned elaborate
church music, thereby stimulating secular music composition. |
| 1651 | John Playford publishes The English Dancing Master, the
first book to give the melody and dance instructions for English Country Dancing,
which had been around since at least the mid-sixteenth century. Country dances,
enjoyed by all levels of society, were danced by groups of four or more, whereas
dances such as the Almain, Bouree, and Courante were intended for couples. |
