IMAT Reading Skills and General Knowledge · History
Middle Ages, Renaissance and the Age of Exploration
From the fall of Rome to the voyages of Columbus: feudal Europe, the Crusades and the plague, then printing, the Renaissance, the Reformation and new sea routes.
Why this matters
The 2024 ministry paper asked which kingdoms fought the Hundred Years' War, and an older paper asked which of several events was the most recent, an ordering question that needs dates. Learn one date per event.
Concept 1 of 3: Key events of the Middle Ages
The Middle Ages run for about a thousand years, from the end of the Western Roman Empire (476) to the fall of Constantinople (1453) or Columbus (1492). Power was spread out: kings granted land to nobles in exchange for loyalty and soldiers, and the Church was the one institution present everywhere. A handful of dated events gives you a frame for the whole period.
Definition
- Feudalism: a lord gave land (a fief) to a vassal in return for loyalty and military service; serfs worked the land and could not leave it.
- Holy Roman Empire: begun with Charlemagne's coronation (800) and refounded under Otto I (962); it lasted until 1806.
- Crusades: Christian military expeditions to take the Holy Land from Muslim rulers.
- The Hundred Years' War was fought between the kingdoms of England and France; despite its name it lasted 116 years.
| Date | Event | Fact to remember |
|---|---|---|
| 622 | Muhammad moves from Mecca to Medina (the Hijra) | Year 1 of the Islamic calendar |
| 800 | Charlemagne, king of the Franks, crowned emperor in Rome on Christmas Day | Crowned by Pope Leo III |
| 1054 | Great Schism | Split between the Catholic Church (Rome) and the Orthodox Church (Constantinople) |
| 1066 | Norman conquest of England | William the Conqueror wins the battle of Hastings |
| 1096 to 1291 | The Crusades | The First Crusade took Jerusalem in 1099 |
| 1215 | Magna Carta | King John of England accepts that the king is under the law |
| 1337 to 1453 | Hundred Years' War | England against France; Joan of Arc; France wins and England keeps only Calais |
| 1347 to 1351 | Black Death | Bubonic plague kills between a third and a half of Europe's people |
| 1453 | Ottoman Turks capture Constantinople | End of the Byzantine Empire; often used as the end of the Middle Ages |
Practice this conceptself-check · 4 quick reps
The Hundred Years' War did not involve Spain or Portugal
It was a dynastic war between the kingdoms of England and France over the French crown and English lands in France, 1337 to 1453. Options with Aragon, Castile or Portugal are wrong, and the war lasted 116 years, not exactly a hundred.
Concept 2 of 3: Renaissance and Reformation
The Renaissance ("rebirth") began in the rich Italian cities of the 1400s, where scholars and artists turned back to Greek and Roman models and put human beings at the centre. The printing press then spread new ideas fast, which is why one German monk's protest in 1517 could split Western Christianity within a few years.
Definition
- Humanism: the study of classical texts and a belief in human dignity and ability (Petrarch, Erasmus).
- The Renaissance started in Florence, helped by patrons such as the Medici family.
- The Reformation created the Protestant churches (Lutheran, Calvinist, Anglican).
- The Counter-Reformation was the Catholic response, organised at the Council of Trent.
| Date | Person or event | Fact to remember |
|---|---|---|
| About 1450 | Johannes Gutenberg in Mainz | Printing with movable metal type; the Gutenberg Bible, about 1455 |
| 1469 to 1492 | Lorenzo de' Medici (il Magnifico) rules Florence | Patron of Botticelli and the young Michelangelo |
| About 1495 to 1519 | Leonardo da Vinci | The Last Supper (Milan), the Mona Lisa, anatomical drawings |
| 1508 to 1512 | Michelangelo paints the Sistine Chapel ceiling | Also the marble David (1504) |
| 1513 | Machiavelli writes The Prince | Published in 1532, after his death |
| 1517 | Martin Luther's 95 Theses, Wittenberg | Against the sale of indulgences; start of the Reformation |
| 1534 | Act of Supremacy | Henry VIII makes himself head of the Church of England |
| 1545 to 1563 | Council of Trent | Catholic Counter-Reformation |
| 1618 to 1648 | Thirty Years' War | Religious and political war in Germany; ended by the Peace of Westphalia (1648) |
Practice this conceptself-check · 3 quick reps
Henry VIII broke with Rome for political reasons, not Lutheran doctrine
The Church of England split from Rome in 1534 because the Pope would not annul Henry VIII's marriage. Luther's Reformation began in Germany in 1517; Henry had earlier written against Luther. Both are Protestant breaks, but they had different causes.
Concept 3 of 3: The age of exploration and the conquest of the Americas
Portugal and Spain wanted a sea route to the spices of Asia that avoided Ottoman and Venetian middlemen. Portugal went south around Africa; Spain went west and found a continent in the way. The two then divided the newly found lands between them.
Definition
- Portugal sailed around Africa (Dias, da Gama) and reached Brazil (Cabral).
- Spain sponsored Columbus (an Italian from Genoa) and Magellan (a Portuguese).
- The Treaty of Tordesillas (1494) drew a line through the Atlantic: lands west to Spain, east to Portugal. That is why Brazil speaks Portuguese.
- America is named after the Florentine Amerigo Vespucci, who argued the new lands were a separate continent.
| Date | Explorer or event | Achievement |
|---|---|---|
| 1488 | Bartolomeu Dias (Portugal) | First to sail round the Cape of Good Hope |
| 1492 | Christopher Columbus (for Spain) | Reached the Caribbean (the Bahamas, then Cuba and Hispaniola) |
| 1494 | Treaty of Tordesillas | Divided new lands between Spain and Portugal |
| 1498 | Vasco da Gama (Portugal) | First sea voyage from Europe to India, round Africa |
| 1500 | Pedro Álvares Cabral (Portugal) | Reached Brazil |
| 1519 to 1522 | Ferdinand Magellan's expedition (for Spain) | First circumnavigation of the globe; Magellan was killed in the Philippines and Elcano finished the voyage |
| 1521 and 1532 | Hernán Cortés and Francisco Pizarro | Spanish conquest of the Aztec and Inca empires |
Practice this conceptself-check · 3 quick reps
Magellan did not complete his own circumnavigation
Magellan led the expedition but was killed in the Philippines in 1521. One ship, commanded by Elcano, returned to Spain in 1522 and completed the first voyage round the world.
Summary — formulas & gotchas at a glance
A revision cheat-sheet for the formulas and gotchas above. Click any concept name to jump back to its full explanation.
Reference tables (3)
Key events of the Middle Ages9 rows
| Date | Event | Fact to remember |
|---|---|---|
| 622 | Muhammad moves from Mecca to Medina (the Hijra) | Year 1 of the Islamic calendar |
| 800 | Charlemagne, king of the Franks, crowned emperor in Rome on Christmas Day | Crowned by Pope Leo III |
| 1054 | Great Schism | Split between the Catholic Church (Rome) and the Orthodox Church (Constantinople) |
| 1066 | Norman conquest of England | William the Conqueror wins the battle of Hastings |
| 1096 to 1291 | The Crusades | The First Crusade took Jerusalem in 1099 |
| 1215 | Magna Carta | King John of England accepts that the king is under the law |
| 1337 to 1453 | Hundred Years' War | England against France; Joan of Arc; France wins and England keeps only Calais |
| 1347 to 1351 | Black Death | Bubonic plague kills between a third and a half of Europe's people |
| 1453 | Ottoman Turks capture Constantinople | End of the Byzantine Empire; often used as the end of the Middle Ages |
Renaissance and Reformation9 rows
| Date | Person or event | Fact to remember |
|---|---|---|
| About 1450 | Johannes Gutenberg in Mainz | Printing with movable metal type; the Gutenberg Bible, about 1455 |
| 1469 to 1492 | Lorenzo de' Medici (il Magnifico) rules Florence | Patron of Botticelli and the young Michelangelo |
| About 1495 to 1519 | Leonardo da Vinci | The Last Supper (Milan), the Mona Lisa, anatomical drawings |
| 1508 to 1512 | Michelangelo paints the Sistine Chapel ceiling | Also the marble David (1504) |
| 1513 | Machiavelli writes The Prince | Published in 1532, after his death |
| 1517 | Martin Luther's 95 Theses, Wittenberg | Against the sale of indulgences; start of the Reformation |
| 1534 | Act of Supremacy | Henry VIII makes himself head of the Church of England |
| 1545 to 1563 | Council of Trent | Catholic Counter-Reformation |
| 1618 to 1648 | Thirty Years' War | Religious and political war in Germany; ended by the Peace of Westphalia (1648) |
The age of exploration and the conquest of the Americas7 rows
| Date | Explorer or event | Achievement |
|---|---|---|
| 1488 | Bartolomeu Dias (Portugal) | First to sail round the Cape of Good Hope |
| 1492 | Christopher Columbus (for Spain) | Reached the Caribbean (the Bahamas, then Cuba and Hispaniola) |
| 1494 | Treaty of Tordesillas | Divided new lands between Spain and Portugal |
| 1498 | Vasco da Gama (Portugal) | First sea voyage from Europe to India, round Africa |
| 1500 | Pedro Álvares Cabral (Portugal) | Reached Brazil |
| 1519 to 1522 | Ferdinand Magellan's expedition (for Spain) | First circumnavigation of the globe; Magellan was killed in the Philippines and Elcano finished the voyage |
| 1521 and 1532 | Hernán Cortés and Francisco Pizarro | Spanish conquest of the Aztec and Inca empires |
Watch out for (3)
- The Hundred Years' War did not involve Spain or Portugal→ Key events of the Middle Ages
- Henry VIII broke with Rome for political reasons, not Lutheran doctrine→ Renaissance and Reformation
- Magellan did not complete his own circumnavigation→ The age of exploration and the conquest of the Americas
Drill the past-year questions on this topic
Open the bank with this topic pre-filtered.