212 Text Antiquity Italy
Edict of Caracalla
Roman citizenship is extended to nearly all free men of the Empire: a legal, not ethnic, community.
A shared history
European construction did not begin in 1950. This thread links the ancient inheritance, the Judeo-Christian matrix and the contemporary Union.
326
events
3600 BC
earliest marker
46
countries covered
0
already discussed
Event density
One century per bar before 1500, one decade after: archives are not evenly spread.
200 :
1 event
300 :
1 event
800 :
1 event
1510 :
3 events
1530 :
1 event
1540 :
1 event
1680 :
1 event
1710 :
1 event
1730 :
1 event
1760 :
1 event
1780 :
1 event
1790 :
1 event
1800 :
1 event
1810 :
1 event
1830 :
1 event
1840 :
2 events
1940 :
1 event
1950 :
2 events
1960 :
1 event
1970 :
1 event
1990 :
1 event
2000 :
1 event
Ancient Greece
Early Middle Ages
Renaissance
Enlightenment
Concert of Europe
European integration
Rome
High and Late Middle Ages
Reformation and wars of religion
Age of revolutions
World wars
Cold War
200
1104
2009
26 events
200 299
Rome 1 event300 399
Rome 1 event313 Text Christianisation Italy
Edict of Milan
Constantine grants freedom of worship to Christians. The Empire turns to Christianity and hands it its administrative frameworks.
800 899
Early Middle Ages 1 event800 Text Middle Ages Ireland
The Book of Kells
A masterpiece of insular illumination, symbol of Ireland’s role in transmitting texts.
1500 1599
Renaissance 5 events1516 Text Renaissance and Reformations Netherlands
Erasmus edits the Greek New Testament
The return to biblical sources opens the way to the Reformation and to modern textual criticism.
1517 Text Renaissance and Reformations Germany
Luther’s 95 Theses
At Wittenberg, Luther challenges indulgences. His German Bible founds the modern language and fractures Western Christendom.
1517 Text Renaissance and Reformations Belarus
Skaryna’s Bible
The first book printed in Ruthenian appears in Prague, a year after Erasmus.
1539 Text Renaissance and Reformations France
Ordinance of Villers-Cotterêts
Francis I imposes French in public acts: the vernacular supplants Latin in administration.
1548 Text Renaissance and Reformations Finland
The New Testament in Finnish
Mikael Agricola creates written Finnish so that Scripture is accessible to all.
1600 1699
Reformation and wars of religion 1 event1685 Text Early modern period Latvia
Bible in Latvian
Ernst Glück’s translation fixes the written language and spreads reading through the parishes.
1700 1799
Enlightenment 5 events1710 Text Early modern period Ukraine
Constitution of Pylyp Orlyk
The Cossack text separates powers and limits the hetman: one of Europe’s oldest.
1739 Text Early modern period Estonia
Bible in Estonian
The complete translation fixes the literary language and accelerates rural literacy.
1766 Text Early modern period Sweden
First freedom of the press act
Sweden adopts the world’s first law guaranteeing public access to official documents.
1789 Text Early modern period France
Declaration of the Rights of Man
The Assembly proclaims universal rights. The political vocabulary of contemporary Europe flows directly from it.
1791 Text Early modern period Poland
Constitution of 3 May
Europe’s first written constitution, adopted shortly before the country’s third partition.
1800 1824
Age of revolutions 2 events1804 Text Early modern period France
Civil Code
Napoleon commissions a synthesis of Roman and customary law, exported from Spain to Poland.
1814 Text Early modern period Norway
Eidsvoll Constitution
On 17 May Norway adopts one of the most liberal constitutions of its time.
1825 1849
Concert of Europe 3 events1835 Text Early modern period Finland
Publication of the Kalevala
Lönnrot compiles the national epic, the foundation of the Finnish cultural awakening.
1848 Text Early modern period Switzerland
Federal Constitution
After a brief civil war, Switzerland becomes a federal state with direct democracy.
1849 Text Early modern period Denmark
Liberal constitution
Absolutism ends; Denmark becomes a constitutional monarchy.
1925 1949
World wars 1 event1949 Text Contemporary period Germany
Bonn Basic Law
“Human dignity shall be inviolable”: Article 1 places the person — a Christian and humanist legacy — at the summit of the legal order.
1950 1974
European integration 3 events1950 Text European construction
Schuman Declaration
On 9 May France proposes placing coal and steel under a common authority. Community Europe is born of a material pooling.
1957 Text European construction Belgium
The Spaak Report
Belgian Paul-Henri Spaak drafts the preparatory text of the Treaties of Rome.
1963 Text European construction
Van Gend en Loos judgment
The Court of Justice asserts direct effect: Community law creates rights for citizens themselves.
1975 1999
European integration 2 events1978 Text Contemporary period Spain
Democratic constitution of Spain
Three years after Franco, Spain adopts a parliamentary monarchy and a state of autonomies.
1993 Text Contemporary period Andorra
Democratic constitution of Andorra
Andorra becomes a sovereign state under the rule of law and joins the UN the same year.
2000 2024
European integration 1 event2008 Text Contemporary period Kosovo
Declaration of independence
On 17 February Pristina proclaims independence; recognition remains partial.