History of political thought/Timelines

495 BCE Pericles (495-429) - Athenian statesman and advcate of democracy

469 Socrates (469-384) - Athenian philosopher who is credited with laying the foundations of western philosophy; sentenced to death in Athens for heresy.

450 The Twelve Tables[1] - the first recorded statement of Roman Law

431 The Pelopponesian War[2] (431-404) between Athens and Sparta

428 Plato (428-347) Athenian philosopher, recorder of Socratic dialogue and critic of democracy

427 The Mytilene Debate[3] - that led to the Athenian decision to execute all the men on the rebellious island of Mytilene

384 Aristotle (384-322) pupil of Plato, author of The Politics

341 Epicurus (341-271) founder of Hedonism[4]

331 Zeno of Citium (331-261) founder of Stoicism

106 BCE Cicero (106-43 BCE) statesman of the Roman republic, Stoic and opponent of dictatorship

49 BCE Julius Caesar crosses the Rubicon[5] prompting the Roman Civil War[6] of 49-46 BCE, which led to a transition from republic to empire.

204 CE Plotinus[7] (204-270 CE) - founder of Neoplatonism[8] and originator of the Great Chain of Being[9]

313 Edict of Milan[10] - established religious freedom in the Roman Empire.

325 First Council of Nicea[11] - the first of the ecumenical councils[12]

354 CE Augustine of Hippo (354-430) Neoplatonist African Bishop and leading philosopher of the Roman Catholic Church; advocate of papal supremacy.

381 Council of Constantinople - that approved the Nicene Creed[13] - the official statement of Christian belief

410 Sack of Rome[14] the first invasion of imperial Rome - which survived further attacks until 610 CE in the form of its Eastern Empire[15]

533 Corpus Jurus Civilis[16]: a compendium of Roman Law promulgated by the emperor Justinian[17]

570 Muhammad (570-632) Arab prophet and founder of Islam

800 Charlemagne (742-814) is crowned Holy Roman Emperor[18] by Pope Leo III

800s Written collections of Hadith[19] (sayings of the Prophet Muhammad) are compiled.

1126 Averroës (Abu'l-Walid Ibn Rushd)[20] (1126-1198) interpretor of Aristotle, leading Islamic philospher

1215 Magna Carta[21][22] - statement of civil rights and fundamental document of the English constitution.

1225 Thomas Aquinas (1224-74) Catholic theologian and philosopher, author of Summa Theologica, defender of the doctrine of papal supremacy[23].

1469 Machiavelli (1469-1527) Pragmatic Florentine political advisor, famous for his amoral approach to the exercise of authority.

1588 Thomas Hobbes (1588-1679) English philospher, conditional defender of monarchy as the source of civic order.

1632 John Locke (1632-1704) English political philospher of The Enlightenment. Proponent of the concept of universal human rights and of the concept of a social contract.

1642 Isaac Newton (1642-1727) Central figure of The Enlightenment. Founder of differential calculus and classical mechanics.

1641 The Grand Remonstrance[24] A list of grievances presented to Charles I of England by the Long Parliament[25].

1643 English Civil War [26] (1643-6) Armed conflict between supporters of the parliament and the monarchy, ending in the execution of King Charles I.

1645 The Levellers [27]. English popular movement that agitated for religious toleration, reform of the law, free trade, an extended franchise, rights guaranteed under a written constitution and a government answerable to the people rather than to King or Parliament.

1648 Treaty of Westphalia[28]. The peace treaty that ended the Thirty Years War and included an agreement to respect the sovereignty of nation states.

1660 The Restoration [29]. The ending of the desptism of Oliver Cromwell and the restoration of the English Monarchy'.

1688 Glorious Revolution The largely bloodless events in England which led to the deposition of King James II.

1689 The Bill of Rights English legislation that restricted the powers of the monarchy and established the rights of a free Parliament.

1689 Montesquieu (1689-1755)[30] French Enlightenment philosopher. Advocate of the separation of powers of legislature, executive and judiciary[31]

1711 David Hume (1711-1776) Scottish philosopher, economist and historian. Opponent of merchantilism and of government intervention in commerce.

1712 Jean-Jacques Rousseau (1712-1778) French Enlightenment thinker. Author of The Social Contract.

1723 Adam Smith (1723-1790)

1724 Immanuel Kant[32] (1724-1804)

1729 Edmund Burke[33] (1720-1797)

1737 Thomas Paine[34] (1737-1809)

1748 Jeremy Bentham (1748-1832) founder of Utilitarianism.

1751 James Madison (1751-1836)

1774 American Revolution

1776 Declaration of Independence by the United States of America

1789 Storming of the Bastille and start of the French Revolution

1806 John Stuart Mill (1806-1873)

1818 Karl Marx (1818-1883)

1917 Russian Revolution[35]

1945 San Francisco Conference[36]