The violin was invented in northern Italy early in the 16th century. The name comes from the Italian word "violino." They became immensly popular with both the commonfolk and royalty, with French king Charles IX ordering 24 violins for himself in 1560. One of these is still on display today, being one of the oldest violins still intact.
The original models were much less sophisticated than the ones we see today. In the 1700s, changes were made which improved the sound of the violin, such as elongating the neck, adding heavier strings, and making stronger bass bars. This standard for violin construction was retroactively applied to many older models, and we construct them this way to this day. There are many famous violin crafters and families from this era, such as the Stradivari, whose violin set the record price at an auction at around $15.9 million.