Chronology
This chronology has two purposes: to situate historically the events cited in DEDBT (De Europae dissidiis et bello Turcico) and the letters and to outline Vives’s travels to and from England, as a backdrop to the documents in DEDRP (De Europae dissidiis et republica) and his cultivation of Henry VIII’s and Catherine of Aragon’s courts. Principal sources for Vives’s movements: Noreña 1970:79–94; MHL 1–43; and C (de Vocht, Literae ad Craneveldium, 1928).
1414–1435
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Giovanna II, last Angevin ruler of Naples. Succeeded by René I of Anjou.
1442–1458
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Alfonso V of Aragon (il Magnanimo) rules Naples.
1446–1455
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Rule of Pope Nicholas V (Tommaso Parentucelli).
1453
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Turks under Mehmed II take Constantinople.
1454
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Pope Nicholas V preaches a crusade in vain.
1458–1464
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Rule of Pope Pius II (Enea Silvio Piccolomini). He also called for a new crusade (14 June 1460) and died in Ancona while conducting it in person.
c. 1466
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Birth of Erasmus.
1477
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Mary of Burgundy marries Maximilian of Austria.
1478
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Birth of Thomas More.
1458–1494
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Alfonso V’s son Ferrante rules Naples.
1469
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Marriage of Ferdinand of Aragon and Isabella of Castile.
1480–1481
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Otranto (heel of Italy) briefly held by the Turks.
1483
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Louis XI of France dies: Charles VIII succeeds.
1492
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Columbus’s arrival in the New World; Expulsion of the Jews from Spain.
1493
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Maximilian succeeds his father Frederick III as Holy Roman Emperor.
1492–1503
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Rule of Pope Alexander VI (Rodrigo Borgia).
1493
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Birth of Juan Luis Vives.
1494
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Charles VIII, King of France, invades Italy, briefly occupies Naples.
1496
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Marriage of Philip the Fair and Joanna of Castile.
1498
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Sudden death of Charles VIII; Louis XII succeeds.
1500
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The future Emperor Charles V born at Ghent.
1500–1504
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Ferdinand II of Aragon (ruled 1479–1516) and Louis XII take over Naples. They fall out; Louis cedes Naples to Ferdinand.
1501
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Prince Arthur of Wales marries Catherine of Aragon; he dies in 1502.
1503–1513
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Rule of Pope Julius II (Giuliano della Rovere).
1506
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Death of Philip the Fair.
1508–1510
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League of Cambrai: Pope Julius II, Emperor Maximilian I, France, Spain [i.e. Ferdinand II], Ferrara, and Mantua vs. Venice. Territorial shifts result.
1509
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Henry VIII becomes King of England; marries Catherine of Aragon.
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Vives travels to Paris.
1511–1513
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‘Holy League’: Pope Julius II, Spain, Venice, the Holy Roman Empire, England, and the Swiss against Louis XII. French driven out of Milan. Separate peace treaties ensue.
1513–1521
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Rule of Pope Leo X (Giovanni di Lorenzo de’ Medici).
1513
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Henry VIII occupies Thérouanne and Tournai.
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September: Battle of Flodden Field; Henry VIII decisively defeats Scots (French ally).
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Ferdinand II takes Navarre.
1514
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Louis XII marries Henry VIII’s sister Mary Tudor.
1515
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Diplomatic mission of Thomas More to the Netherlands.
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Louis XII of France dies; Francis I succeeds, takes over Milan. Cardinal Wolsey becomes English Lord Chancellor.
1516
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January: Ferdinand II dies. Spanish throne passes to Charles V.
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First edition of Erasmus’s Novum Instrumentum (Basel).
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Thomas More’s Utopia is printed at Louvain.
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Birth of Mary Tudor to Henry VIII and Catherine.
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Vives at the court of Charles V.
1516–1517
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Turks take Egypt.
1517
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Martin Luther’s 95 Theses promulgated at Wittenberg.
1519
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Maximilian I dies; Charles V elected Holy Roman Emperor.
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Charles V and Francis I of France begin a long rivalry.
1520
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Vives’s first encounter with Thomas More.
1521
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January: Death of William of Croy, Vives’s patron.
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July: Catherine of Aragon is giving Vives financial support.
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Pope Leo X bestows on Henry VIII the title Fidei Defensor.
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Contact between Vives and More renewed.
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August: Turks take Belgrade.
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December: Death of Leo X.
1522–1523
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Rule of Pope Adrian VI (Adriaan Florensz Boeyens).
1522
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January: Election of Pope Adrian VI.
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August: Vives’s edition of Augustine’s De civitate Dei dedicated to Henry VIII.
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October 12: Vives’s letter to Pope Adrian VI (In DEDRP).
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December: Turks end successful siege of Rhodes.
1523–1534
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Rule of Pope Clement VII (Giuliano de’Medici).
1523
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April: Vives dedicates De institutione foeminae christianae to Catherine of Aragon.
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May 12: Vives’s 1st English visit begins.
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England at war with France.
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Summer: Vives appointed reader at Cardinal College by Wolsey, teaching at Corpus Christi College while Cardinal College is under construction.
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Aug. 23–Apr. 24, 1524: Vives’s lectures at Oxford.
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September: Death of Pope Adrian VI: accession of Pope Clement VII (ruled until 1534).
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October: Vives dedicates De ratione studii puerilis to Catherine of Aragon.
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Dec. 15: Vives’s letter to Cardinal Wolsey, with Isocrates translations (In DEDRP). Isocrates in favor at Cardinal College.
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Christmas 1523: Vives spends holidays at Court / Windsor Palace.
1524
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Jan. 10: Vives returns from English court to Oxford.
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Apr. 24: Vives’s 1st English visit ends. He is back in Bruges.
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May 26: Vives marries Margaret Valdaura.
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July 8: Vives’s letter to John Longland (in DEDRP).
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Early October: Vives’s 2nd English visit begins. He goes to London.
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? End of 1524: Print of Vives’s 1522 letter to Adrian VI.1
1525
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Jan. 25: Vives returns to Oxford from London.
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Feb. 24: Francis I of France is defeated at Pavia and taken prisoner.
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March 12: Vives’s first letter to Henry VIII (in DEDRP).
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March 15: Vives writes a long letter to Wolsey on educational reform (abstract in Brewer Letters & Papers IV, 1187).
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April: Vives invited to live with Thomas More.
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Apr. 28: Commercial concessions to Vives’s family; royal pension active.
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Early May: Vives leaves Oxford for the last time. Spends approximately a week in London with Thomas More.
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May 10: Vives’s 2nd English visit ends suddenly; his wife Margaret is in ill health.
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October 8: Vives’s second letter to Henry VIII (in DEDRP).
1526
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Jan. 14: Treaty of Madrid, ending Francis I’s captivity. (See n. to DEDBT #15.)
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Feb. 18: Vives’s 3rd English visit begins. Events are shadowed by Wolsey’s alliance with France against Charles V. Court fracturing: Wolsey backing away from Vives, Thomas More befriending him.
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May: Formation of the anti-Spanish League of Cognac, headed by Francis, including the papacy, Milan, Florence, and Venice.
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May 21: Vives’s 3rd English visit ends. He is back in Bruges, ‘writing his dialogue DEDBT’, starting it before the Turkish victory at Mohács.
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Aug. 29: Battle of Mohács, Hungary: King Louis II defeated and killed, his army wiped out, Hungary partitioned.
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December: DEDRP ensemble appears in print. First publication of DEDBT.
1527
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April: Vives’s 4th English visit begins.
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May 6: Charles V’s imperial troops sack Rome.
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June 11/12: Vives’s 4th English visit ends. He is back in Bruges
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October: Vives’s 5th English visit begins. He comes back to Greenwich ‘to teach Latin to the princess [Mary]’.
1528
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Jan. 28: Vives to Cranevelt: he is ‘being closely watched’; his life is in danger.
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Early February: Wolsey cross-examines Vives regarding Catherine.
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Feb. 28–Apr. 1: Vives under house arrest: he is released on condition that he never set foot in the ‘Royal Palace’. Catherine admonishes him to leave; he complies.
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Apr. 7: Vives’s 5th English visit ends. He is back in Bruges, but royal pension continues.
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Nov. 17: Vives’s 6th English visit begins. He returns with two Flemish advocates for Catherine’s divorce proceedings. He advises her to give up the fight against the divorce; she is ‘furious.’ Catherine’s and Henry’s pensions cease.
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Shortly afterward: Vives’s 6th and last English visit ends. He leaves for Bruges.
1529
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Siege of Vienna by the Turks.
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Chancellor Wolsey in disgrace, succeeded by Thomas More.
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August: The Ladies’ Peace (Cambrai), ending a phase of the war between Charles V and Francis I.
See the Introductory Page to the Letter to Adrian.