1438—1439.Albert II. of Austria; beginning of the uninterrupted succession of the Hapsburgs.
1440—1493.Frederick III.
1444.Battle of St. James.
1450.Invention of printing.
1453.Constantinople taken by the Turks.
1466.Treaty of Thorn; Prussia tributary to Poland.
1474.War with Charles the Bold of Burgundy.
1476.Battles of Grandson and Morat.
1477.Death of Charles the Bold; marriage of Maximilian of Austria and Mary of Burgundy.
1486—1525.Frederick the Wise, Elector of Saxony.
1493—1516.Maximilian I.
1495.Perpetual peace declared; the imperial court.
1512.Division of Germany into districts.

FOURTH PERIOD. (1517—1648.)

The Reformation.

1483.Martin Luther born.
1502.He enters the University of Erfurt.
1508.Is appointed professor at Wittenberg.
1510.Luther's journey to Rome.
1517.Luther nails his ninety-five theses, against the sale of indulgences, to the church-door in Wittenberg.
1518.Interview with Cajetanus in Augsburg.
1519.Interview with Miltitz in Altenburg.
1520.Luther burns the Pope's Bull.
1520—1556.Charles V., Emperor.
1521.Luther at the Diet of Worms; his concealment.
1522.His return to Wittenberg.
1524.Ferdinand of Austria and the Bavarian dukes unite against the Reformation.
1525.The Peasants' War.
1525—1532.John the Steadfast, Elector of Saxony.
1525.Albert of Brandenburg joins the Reformers; end of the German Order; battle of Pavia.
1526.Ferdinand of Austria inherits Hungary and Bohemia.
1526.The League of Torgau.
1527.War of Charles V. against Francis I. and the Pope; Rome taken by the Constable de Bourbon.
1529.Peace of Cambray; Diet of Speyer; the name of "Protestants;" Luther meets Zwingli; Vienna besieged by the Turks; Charles V. crowned at Bologna.
1530.Diet of Augsburg; the "Augsburg Confession."
1531.League of Schmalkalden.
1532.Religious Peace of Nuremberg.
1532—1554.John Frederick, Elector of Saxony.
1534.Duke Ulric of Würtemberg joins the Protestants.
1536—1538.Charles V.'s third war with Francis I.
1540.Ignatius Loyola founds the Order of Jesuits.
1542—1544.Charles V.'s fourth war with Francis I.
1545—1563.The Council of Trent.
1546.Death of Luther; the Schmalkalden War; treachery of Maurice of Saxony.
1547.Battle of Mühlberg; capture of John Frederick of Saxony; Philip of Hesse imprisoned.
1548.The Augsburg "Interim."
1552.Maurice of Saxony marches against Charles V.; Henry II. of France takes Toul, Metz, and Verdun.
1553.Death of Maurice of Saxony.
1555.The religious Peace of Augsburg.
1556.Abdication of Charles V.
1556—1564.Ferdinand I.
1558.Death of Charles V.
1560.Death of Melanchthon.
1564—1579.Maximilian II.
1567.Grumbach's rebellion.
1576—1612.Rudolf II.
1581.Rise of the Netherlands against Spain.
1606.Rudolf II.'s brother, Matthias, rules in Austria.
1608.The "Protestant Union" founded.
1609.The "Catholic League" founded; "War of the Succession of Cleves."
1612—1619.Matthias, Emperor.
1614.End of the "War of the Succession of Cleves."

The Thirty Years' War.

1618.Outbreak in Prague.
1619—1637.Ferdinand II.; Frederick V. of the Palatinate chosen King of Bohemia.
1620.Battle near Prague; flight of Frederick V.
1622.Victories of Tilly in Baden.
1623.Tilly defeats Prince Christian of Brunswick.
1624.Union of the northern states.
1625.Christian IV. of Denmark appointed commander; Wallenstein enters the field.
1626.Defeat of Mansfeld by Wallenstein: defeat of Christian IV. by Tilly.
1628.Wallenstein's siege of Stralsund.
1629.The "Edict of Restitution."
1630.Diet in Ratisbon; Wallenstein removed: Richelieu helps the Protestants; Gustavus Adolphus of Sweden lands in Germany.
1631.Tilly destroys Magdeburg; Gustavus Adolphus defeats Tilly and marches to Frankfort.
1632.Death of Tilly; Gustavus Adolphus in Munich; his attack on Wallenstein's camp; battle of Lützen, and death.
1633.Union of Protestants under Oxenstierna.
1634.Murder of Wallenstein; defeat of the Protestants at Nördlingen.
1635.Saxony concludes a "separate peace."
1636.Victories of Baner.
1637—1657.Ferdinand III.
1638.Duke Bernard of Weimar victorious in Alsatia.
1639.Death of Duke Bernard.
1640.Diet at Ratisbon.
1642.Victories of the Swedish general, Torstenson.
1643.Torstenson's campaign in Denmark.
1645.Torstenson's victories in Bohemia; his march to Vienna; the French generals, Turenne and Condé, in Germany.
1648.Protestant victories; Königsmark takes Prague.
1648.The Peace of Westphalia.

FIFTH PERIOD. (1648—1892.)

1640—1688.Frederick William of Brandenburg, the "Great Elector."
1643—1715.Louis XIV., King of France.
1655—1660.War of Sweden and Poland.
1656.Battle of Warsaw.
1657—1705.Leopold I.
1660.The Duchy of Prussia independent of Poland.
1667—1668.Louis XIV.'s invasion of the Spanish Netherlands; the Peace of Aix-la-Chapelle.
1672—1678.Louis XIV.'s war against Holland.
1673.The "Great Elector" assists Holland.
1675.The battle of Fehrbellin.
1676.The Elector conquers Pomerania.
1678.The Peace of Nymwegen.
1681.Strasburg taken by Louis XIV.
1683.Siege of Vienna by the Turks; John Sobieski.
1687.The shambles of Eperies.
1688—1713.Frederick, Elector of Brandenburg.
1689—1697.Attempts of Louis XIV. to obtain the Palatinate.
1697.Peace of Ryswick; Prince Eugene of Savoy defeats the Turks at Zenta; Augustus the Strong of Saxony becomes King of Poland.
1699.Peace of Carlowitz.
1701.Prussia is made a kingdom.
1701—1714.War of the Spanish Succession.
1704.Battle of Blenheim.
1705—1711.Joseph I.
1706.Victories of Marlborough at Ramillies and Prince Eugene at Turin.
1706.Charles XII. of Sweden in Saxony.
1708.Battle of Oudenarde.
1709.Battle of Malplaquet.
1711—1740.Karl VI.
1713—1740.Frederick William I., King of Prussia.
1713.The Peace of Utrecht.
1714.The Peace of Rastatt; the Elector George of Hannover becomes King George I. of England.
1717.Taking of Belgrade by Prince Eugene.
1718.Treaty of Passarowitz.
1720.Treaty of Stockholm; Prussia acquires Pomerania.
1733—1735.War of the Polish Succession.
1740.Death of Karl VI.

The Age of Frederick the Great.

1712.Frederick born, in Berlin.
1730.His attempted flight; execution of Katte.
1740.Succeeds to the throne as Frederick II. of Prussia.
1740—1742.First Silesian War.
1741—1748.War of the Austrian Succession.
1742—1745.Karl VII. (of Bavaria), Emperor.
1742.Peace of Breslau; Prussia gains Silesia.
1743.Battle of Dettingen.
1744.East Friesland annexed to Prussia.
1744—1745.Second Silesian War.
1745.Battles of Hohenfriedberg, Sorr, and Kesselsdorf; Peace of Dresden; death of Karl VII.
1745—1765.Francis I. of Lorraine.
1748.Peace of Aix-la-Chapelle.
1750.Voltaire comes to Berlin.
1756—1763.The Seven Years' War.
1756.Frederick's successes in Saxony and Bohemia.
1757.Frederick's victory at Prague; defeat at Kollin; victories at Rossbach and Leuthen.
1758.Ferdinand of Brunswick defeats the French; siege of Olmütz; victory of Zorndorf; surprise of Hochkirch.
1759.Battles of Minden and Kunnersdorf; misfortunes of Prussia.
1760.Battle of Liegnitz; taking of Berlin; victory of Torgau.
1761.Frederick hard pressed; losses of Prussia.
1762.Death of Elizabeth of Russia; alliance with Czar Peter III.; Catharine II.; Prussian successes.
1763.The Peace of Hubertsburg.
1765—1790.Joseph II.
1769.Interview of Frederick the Great and Joseph II.
1772.First partition of Poland.
1774—1782.American War of Independence.
1778.Troubles with the Bavarian succession.
1780.Death of Maria Theresa.
1786.Death of Frederick the Great.
1786—1797.Frederick William II., King of Prussia.
1787.Prussia interferes in Holland.
1788—1791.Austria joins Russia against Turkey.
1790.Death of Joseph II.