Red: historical events
Blue: dendrochronological dates of Bosch's paintings, their present names and locations
Black: fictional events read from various Bosch paintings
 

Chapter 1
1466 Fragment of a Last Judgement (Munich)
1468 Temptation of Saint Hieronymus (Madrid)
1467 Inauguration of Charles the Bold of Burgundy as Duke of Brabant in s'Hertogen Bosch - Maximilian of Hapsburg attends as emissary of his father, German Emperor Fredrick III
Jacob van Almengien, tutor of Maximilian, meets Jeroen van Aken and Sibylle.
1467 Right wing of Garden Triptych (Hell or Our World)
1467/68 Jacob studies at Ficino's academy in Florence

.Chapter 2
1468 Jacob returns to s'Hertogenbosch
1468-69 Middle panel of Garden Triptych
1469 Left wing and outside of the Garden Trptych
1470 Garden of Earthly Delights (Madrid)

 Chapter 3
1471 Jacob establishes Neoplatonic Society in s'Hertogenbosch, in Vught:
Participants: Johann V von Nassau-Dillenburg (*1455), Jan van Bergen, Cornelis van Bergen (aka Zevenbergen, a friend of Maximilian's I and Philip the Fair's, godfather of Charles V's), Ghjisbert de Bije (deacon of St. John's)
Johann von Nassau offers to buy the triptych. He agrees to loan it to Jacob indefinitely
Jacob translates Hebrew texts, adopts Albertus Magnus as "local spiritual teacher"
1472/73 Vught's Jews object to Jacob's presence. Jacob beaten up.
Cornelis van Bergen lends Jacob his town-house in s'Herogenbosch
1473 Wedding of Sibylle's and Jacob's at her father Noah's house in Vught
1475 Wedding at Canaa (copy in Rotterdam)
1476 Increasing tensions between Jacob and Sibylle's father Noah
1476 Jacob and Sibylle leave for Antwerp, Sibylle pregnant
1477 The Swiss kill Charles the Bold at Nancy. Marie of Burgundy marries Maximilian I in Ghent
1477 27 September Cosmas and Damianus Flood: Sibylle and her child drown

.Chapter 4
1478 Jeroen marries Adeleit van de Mervenne
1478 Philip the Fair born in Ghent
1481 May 6, Maximilian convenes Golden Fleece in Den Bosch, knights 3-year-old Philip
1482 Anthonius van Aken dies. Hieronymus in Prayer (Ghent)
1482 Marie of Burgundy dies
1482 In objection to Maximilian's reign, Philip the Fair held prisoner in Ghent until 1485
1482 Last Judgment (Vienna)
1483 Jacob becomes Philip the Fair's tutor
1483 Treaty of Arras cedes the French-speaking part of Brabant to Louis XI of France
1484 Adoration of the (Four) Magi, (Madrid), first time Bosch signs a painting
1484 Innocent VIII, né Giovanni Battista Cibo (1432 –1492), elected Pope
1484 Jacob dismissed as tutor of Philip the Fair because of his drug problem
1485 Anonymous Bosch Portrait (Amherst)
1486 Christ Crowned with Thorns (London)
1486 Bosch elected member of the Confraternity of our Lady
1486 Maximilian I designated German Emperor elect
1488 Plague in Holland
1491 Last Judgement Panels (Venice)
1491 Noah, Sibylle's father dies
1492 Pope Innocent VIII issues "Maleus Maleficiorum" Bulle
1492 Alexander VI, né Rodrigo Borgia (1431 -1503) elected Pope
1493 Fredrick III dies, Maximilian I German Emperor. He makes Philip the Fair Duke of Brabant.

.Chapter 5
1494 Maximilian marries Bianca Maria Sforza
1495 Ship of Fools, Death of Usurer, and Gluttony (various museums)
1495 Jacob (54) returns to Den Bosch ravaged by opium
1495 Anneke, Jeroen's sister, takes Jacob in and weans him from the "little red pills"
1495 The Prodigal Son (Rotterdam)
1496 Philip of Burgundy marries Juana daughter of Ferdinand and Isabella of Spain
1496 Entry in state in Den Bosch of Philip the Fair of Hapsburg and Burgundy as Duke of Brabant. Philip the Fair proclaimed Duke of Brabant
1496 15 December Baptism of Jacob van Almaengien (~56), "a Jew" by Ghysbert de Brie, deacon of San Janskerk. As godparents are present: Maximilian I the German Emperor, his son Philip the Fair, Jan van Bergen, Cornelius van Sevenbergen and others. In honor of his sponsor Jacob was baptized Philip van Sint Jans
1496/97 According to the expense reports of the Confraternity of Our Lady, Philip van Sint Jans, "once a Jew," was made a member of the Fraternity. As a initiation gift Bosch painted two panels for the Confraternity:
1494/96 St. John Baptist in the Desert (1494) (Madrid)
1496/97 St. John Evangelist on Patmos (Berlin)

.Chapter 6
1497 Original Adoration of the Christ-Child, (copy in Cologne)
Philip van Sint Jan as Joseph (57). 20th anniversary Sibylle's death
1497 Table of the Seven deadly Sins (Madrid)
1497 St. Christopher (Rotterdam)
Jeroen vows to go to Compostela
1499 Christ Bearing the Cross (Escorial)
Philip van Sint Jan (~58) carrying the Cross
1500 Carles V born to Juana and Philip the Fair, Johannes van Bergen godfather
1500 Christ Bearing the Cross, (Vienna)
Philip van Sint Jan (60) carrying the Cross
1502 Temptation of St. Anthony (Lisbon)
Jacob van Almaengien (61) rescues the fallen Anthony

Chapter 7
1504 Philip the Fair ordered a large Last Judgement from Bosch and made a down payment
1504 Philip the Fair elected King of Spain. The Low Lands become Spanish possesion.

Chapter 8
1504 After the death of Isabella her daughter Juana is designated Queen of Castile
1504 Columbus 4th voyage to the West Indies, Amerigo Vespucci
1505 The Table of 7 Deadly Sins discovered
1505 Jacob forced to cease teaching
1505 Cornelis van Bergen sells the Anthony Triptych to an Amsterdam art dealer
1505 The Haywain, (copies in Madrid and the Escorial)
Outside shows Almaengien (~64) as pilgrim
1506-07 Jeroen and Jacob on "pilgrimage" to Santiago de Compostela
1506 Philip the Fair elected King Philip I of Spain
1506, 25 September Philip the Fair dies In Burgos
1506 October Jeroen and Jacob reach Burgos, meet Juana near Hornillos del Camino
1506 November they reach Oporto, Portugal,
1506/07 Jacob and Jeroen return by ship to Amsterdam. Jacob dies on the voyage

.Chapter 9
1507 Jeroen returns to Den Bosch and finds his shop bankrupt
1508 Entry in state in 's-Hertogenbosch of Maximilian I
He makes his grandson Charles Duke of Brabant, but retains the regency.
1508 Copernicus publicly argues that the Earth circles the Sun
1515 Sicut erat in Diebus Noë (Rotterdam)
Bosch's last painting in memoriam of Jacob van Almaengien's
1516 on 7 August Hieronymus Bosch dies in his 66th year, a financially ruined pauper