The 12th century featured the building of European cathedrals and Paris universities. The Mongols and the Ottoman Empire emerged in the 13th Century. The 14th Century's bubonic plague killed 25 million people.

In the 15th century, trade routes brought civilizations closer together. In Europe, the Renaissance celebrated art, learning, and culture. Christopher Columbus discovered a New World.

1207 Poet Jalaluddin Rumi born 1215 St. Francis of Assisi establishes Friars Minor 1253 Sorbonne established in Paris 1266 St. Thomas Aquinas begins work on Summa Theologica 1306 Dante Alighieri begins writing Divine Comedy 1310 Giotto di Bondone completes Madonna Enthroned 1429 Joan of Arc liberated Orleans 1450 Inca city of Machu Picchu built 1492 Christopher Columbus set sail for the New World 1495 Leonardo Da Vinci paints Last Supper 1498 Michelangelo began Pieta 1513 Niccolo Machiavelli wrote The Prince 1520 Martin Luther excommunicated 1523 St. Ignatius Loyola develops Spiritual Exercises 1535 Thomas More executed 1542 Mary Stuart, Queen of Scots, born 1543 Copernicus published heliocentric masterpiece, De Revolutionibus 1555 Nostradamus wrote Centuries 1555 St. Teresa of Avila experienced religious awakening MORE ERAS B.C. | 16th-18th c. | Wild West | Jazz Age | Great Depression | 1950s | 1960s