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John Milton
(1608 - 1674)

1608

LT : Ben Jonson: Masque of Beauty
M : Girolamo Frescobaldi : Set of open-score fantasias
M : Girolamo Frescobaldi : Book of madrigals
PH : Protestant States of Rhineland form Protestant Union under Christian of Anhalt and Frederick IV of the Palatinate
PH : Jesuit State of Paraguay established
RP : St.Francis de Sales: Introduction à la vie dévote
ED : Edward Grimestone: A General History of the Netherlands
RP : William Perkins: A Discourse of the Damned Art of Witchecraft (posth.)
ST : Dutch scientist Johann Lippershey invents the telescope
ST : Samuel de Champlain founds a Fr. settlement at Quebec
ST : Galileo constructs astronomical telescope
DL : First checks "cash letters" in use in Netherlands
DL : Royal Blackheath Golf Club, London, founded

1609

LT : William Shakespeare: Cymbeline; unauthorized publication of Sonnets
LT : Ben Jonson: Masque of Queens and Epicoene: or, The Silent Woman
M : Orlande de Lassus : Jubilus B. Mariae Virginis 100 settings of the Magnificat, published by his sons after his death
PH : Twelve years truce between Spain and Holland
RP : Bacon: De sapienta veterum
RP : Catholic League of Ger. princes formed at Munich against Protestant Union of May 1608
ED : Garcilaso de la Vaga: History of the Conquest of Peru
RP : Congregation of Female Jesuits founded (dissolved by Pope Urban VIII)
RP : Hugo Grotius: Mare Librum , advocating freedom of the sea
RP : The Emperor Rudolf II permits freedom of religion in Bohemia
M : Orlando Gibbons: Fantazies of Three Parts., first example of engraved music in England
ST : Charles Butler: De fiminine monarchie, or a Treatise concerning Bees
ST : Henry Hudson explores Delaware Bay and Hudson River
ST : Johann Kepler: De motibus stellae Maris
DL : Founding of Bank of Amsterdam
DL : Founding of Charterhouse public school
DL : Tea from China shipped for first time to Europe by Dutch East India Company
DL : Tin-enameled ware made at Delft

1610

LT : William Shakespeare: The Winter's Tale
LT : Ben Jonson: The Alchemist
LT : John Donne: Pseudo-Martyr and A Funerall Elegie
M : Claudio Monteverdi : Vespers
PH : Henry IV of France assassinated; succeeded by his son Louis XIII (age 9), with Maria de'Medici as Regent
PH : Prince Henry, eldest son of King James I, created Prince of Wales
PH : Czar Vasili Shisky deposed; Russ throne offered to Vladislva, son of Sigismund III of Poland
PH : Elector Palatine Frederick IV dies; succeeded by his son Frederick V
LT : Academy of Poetry founded at Padua
RP : John Cowell's Interpreter burned by the common hangman for enhancing authority of the crown
RP : St. Francis de Sales founds, with Mme. de Chantal, Order of the Visitation nuns
ED : Nicholas and Dorothy Wadham found Wadham College, Oxford
ST : Jean Beguin: Tyrocinium chymicum, first textbook on chemistry
ST : Galileo observes Jupiter's satellites, naming them "sideria Medicea"
ST : Thomas Harriott discovers sunspots
ST : Nicolas Pieresc discovers Orion nebula
ST : John Speed: Theatrum of Great Britain, collection of maps
DL : Dutch East India Company introduces the term "share"
ED : The Stationers' Company begins to send a copy of every book printed in England to Bodleian Library, Oxford
VA : Michelangelo Merisi (Caravaggio) dies

1611

LT : William Shakespeare: The Tempest
LT : John Donne: An Anatomy of the World and Ignatius his Conclave
M : William Byrd : Psalmes, Songs & Sonnets
PH : Dissolution of Parliament by James I
PH : War of Calmar declared by Denmark on Sweden
PH : Archduke Matthias crowned King of Bohemia; the Emperor Rudolf II resigns Bohemian crown
PH : Charles IX of Sweden dies , Gustavus II elected King
LT : George Chapman completes his translation of Homer's Iliad
RP : Authorized version of the Holy Bible "King James Bible" published
RP : Etienne Pasquier: Les Recherches de la France
ED : John Speed: A History of Great Britain
ED : University of Rome founded
ST : Marco de Dominis published scientific explanation of rainbow
DL : Dutch merchants permitted to trade in Japan
DL : James I institutes the baronetage as a means of raising money

1612

LT : Anne Bradstreet born
LT : William Shakespeare: Henry VIII
LT : George Herbert publishes first verses (two memorial poems in Latin on the death of Prince Henry, the heir apparent)
LT : Michael Drayton: Poly-Olbion
LT : John Donne: Of the Progress of the Soul
PH : The Emperor Rudolf II dies; succeeded by Matthias, King of Bohemia
PH : Treaty between the Dutch and the King of Kandy in Ceylon
ED : Accademia della Crusca publishes the Ital. Vocabolario
RP : Jakob Böhme: Aurora, oder Morgenröte im Aufgant, mystical philosophy
RP : Last recorded burning of heretics in England
RP : Sir John Davies: Discoverie of the True Causes Why Ireland Was Not Entirely Subdued
RP : Roger Fenton: Treatie of Usurie
ST : Simon Marius rediscovers Andromeda nebula
ST : Antonio Neri: L'Arte vetraria, manual on glassmaking
ST : Bartholomew Pitiscus, Ger. Mathematician, uses decimal point in his trigonometrical tables
ST : John Smith: A Map of Virginia
ST : Earliest colonisation of the Bermudas from Virginia
DL : Tobacco planted in Virginia

1613

PH : Peace of Knärod ends Dan.-Swed. War of Calmar
PH : Protestant Union of Germany signs treaty of alliance with Holland
PH : Eng. colonists in Virginia destroy Fr. settlement at Port Royal, Nova Scotia; prevent Fr. colonisation of Maryland
PH : Michael Romanov, son of the patriarch of Moscow, elected Czar of Russia, founding the House of Romanov
PH : Turks invade Hungary
LT : Fire destroys Globe Theatre, London
RP : Oliver de Serra: The Causes of Wealth
RP : Francisco Suarez: Defensio catholicae fidei contra anglicanae sectae errores
M : Pietro Cerone: El Malopeo y maestro, musical history and theory
ST : Samuel de Champlain explores Ottawa River to Alumette Island
DL : Amsterdam Exchange built
DL : Belfast granted charter of incorporation
DL : Copper coins come into use
DL : John Dennys: The Secrets of Angling

1614

LT : Ben Jonson: Bartholomew Fair
M : Claudio Monteverdi : Book VI of Madrigals (including 'Arianna's Lament')
PH : James I's second Parliament - "The Addled Parliament" - meets and refuses to discuss finance; dissolved
PH : Maria, Queen Regent of France, summons the States General of France to counteract power of nobility
PH : Treaty of Xanten: Jülich-Cleves divided between Brandenburg and Neuburg
PH : Virginian colonists prevent Fr. settlements in Maine and Nova Scotia
ED : Sir Walter Raleigh: The History of the World
DL : Danish East India Company founded
ED : University of Groningen, Holland, founded
RP : John Napier: Mirifici logarithmorum canonis descriptio
ST : Santorio Santorio: De medicina statica, study of metabolism and perspiration
DL : Founders' Company, London, incorporated
DL : The North American Pocahontas, an Indian princess, marries John Rolfe; from their son descend many celebrated persons

1615

M : Girolamo Frescobaldi : First Book of Toccatas
M : Girolamo Frescobaldi : Book of ricercari
PH : Peace of Tyrnau: the Emperor Matthias recognises Bethlen Gabor as Prince of Transylvania; confirms treaty with Turks
LT : George Chapman completes his translation of Homer's Odyssey
RP : William Camden: Annales rerum Anglicarum, of the reign of Elizabeth I
ED : Theodore Agrippa d'Aubigné's Histoire Universelle, a Huguenot-inspired survey from 1553 to 1602, officially burnt in Paris
RP : Jesuits count 13,112 members in 32 provinces
RP : Antoine de Montchrétien: Traité de l'économie politique, mercantilistic tendencies
ST : Galileo Galilei faces the inquisition for the first time
DL : Frankfurter Oberpostamts-Zeitung founded by Egenolph Emmel
DL : Merchant Adventurers granted monopoly for export of Eng. cloth

1616

LT : Ben Jonson: The Devil is an Ass and Works, in folio
PH : Sir Walter Raleigh released from Tower to lead expedition to Guiana in search of El Dorado
PH : Ieyasu of Japan dies; succeeded by Hidetada, a militant enemy of Christianity
PH : James I begins to sell peerages to improve serious financial position
PH : War between Venice and Austria
RP : Johann Valentin Andrea: Chymische Hochzeit Christiani Rosenkreutz, beginning of formation of the Rosicrucians
RP : Paulus Bolduanus: Bibliotheca philosophica
RP : Catholic oppression intensified in Bohemia
RP : St.Francis de Sales: Traité de l'amour de Dieu
RP : Notre Dame Cathedral, Antwerp, finished
M : Collegium Musicum founded at Prague
ST : William Baffin discovers Baffin Bay while searching for a Northwest Passage
ST : First rounding of Cape Horn by Willem Schouter and Jacob Lemaire
ST : Galileo prohibited by Catholic Church from further scientific work
ST : John Smith: A Description of New England    GO !
ST : Dutch astronomer and mathematician Willebrord Snellius discovers the law of refraction
DL : Gustavus Selenus: Chess, or the Game of Kings
LT : William Shakespeare dies 23 April

1617

PH : Peace of Stolbovo ends war between Russia and Sweden; Gustavus Adolphus recognises Czar Michael, returns to Novgorod, and obtains Karelia
LT : James I makes Ben Jonson poet laureate
ED : Duytsche Academie founded in Amsterdam
RP : Papal bull of Leo X: Epistolae obscurorum virorum
M : J.H.Schein: Banchetto musicale, first dance suite
ST : Willebrord Snellius established technique of trigonometrical triangulation for cartography
DL : "Stuart collars" become a fashion for men and women
VA : Gerard Ter Borch born

1618

LT : John Donne: Holy Sonnets
PH : Peace of Madrid ratified, ending war between Venice and Austria
PH : Prince Philip William of Orange dies; succeeded by his brother Maurice of Nassau
PH : Count Matthias von Thurn leads Bohemians to revolt against Catholic policy of the Regents in Prague
PH : Defenestration in Prague, when the Regents Jaroslav von Martinitz and William Slawata are thrown down from windows in Hradcany Palace by the rebels; beginning of Thirty Years' War
PH : Ferdinand of Styria crowned King of Hungary
PH : Duke Alber of Prussia dies; his possessions pass to the Electorate of Brandenburg
PH : Sir Walter Raleigh returns to England and is executed
PH : Poland signs two-year truce with Sweden, 14-years truce with Turkey
LT : Marquise de Rambouillet starts her literary salon in Paris
LT : Teatro Farnese opened at Parma
RP : Robert Balfour: Commentarii in organum logicum Aristotelis
RP : John Stow and E.Howes: Summarie of Englyshe Chronicles
ST : Martin Böhme: Ein neu Buch von bewehrten Rosz-Arzteneyen, veterinary science
DL : Founding of Dutch West African Company
ST : Kepler: Harmonices mundi, stating the third law of planetary motion
ST : Royal College of Physicians, London, issues Pharmacopoia Londinensis
ST : Johann Jakob Scheuchzer: Natural History of the Swiss Landscape
DL : James I: Book of Sports, the Puritans object to playing of popular sports
LT : Sir Walter Raleigh dies 29 October
LT : Richard Lovelace born 6 December

1619

M : Heinrich Schütz : Psalmen Davids
PH : Maria de'Medici challenges power of her son Louis XIII of France; Treaty of Angoulém ends conflict
PH : The Emperor Matthias dies; Archduke Ferdinand, who assumes crown of Bohemia, is elected Holy Roman Emperor
PH : Bohemian Diet deposes Ferdinand, and elects Frederick V, Elector Palatine, son-in-law of James I of England, King of Bohemia; Frederick, "The Winter King", crowned in Prague
PH : First representative colonial assembly in America held at Jamestown, VA
RP : Johann Valentin Andreae: Chritianopolis
RP : Jakob Böhmne: On the Principles of Christianity
RP : Hugo Grotius: De veritate religionis Christianae
RP : Pietro Sarpi: Istoria del Concilio Tridentino published in London
RP : Luciló Vanini, Ital. Catholic philosopher, burned as a heretic
ED : Dulwich College, London, founded
ST : John Bainbridge: An Astronomical Description of the Late Comet
ST : Jan Pieters Coen, Dutch explorer founds Batavia
ST : William Harvey announces his discovery of the circulation of the blood
DL : Giro-Bank, Hamburg, founded to improve "desolate state of currency"
DL : A Dutch ship brings the first permanent African settlers to Jamestown

1620

M : Samuel Scheidt : Cantiones sacrae
PH : Revolt of Fr. nobles against Louis XIII; Richelieu makes peace
PH : War between Sweden and Poland
PH : Massacre of Protestants in the Valtelline
PH : Agreement of Ulm between Ger. Catholic League and Protestant Union
PH : Pilgrim Fathers, leave Plymouth, England, in "Mayflower" and found Plymouth Colony in Mass.    GO !
RP : Battle of the White Mountain near Prague: Protestant clergy expelled
RP : Johan Heinrich Alsted: Encyclopaedia septem tomis distincta
RP : Francis Bacon: Instauratio magna: novum organum scientiarum
M : Michael Praetorius: Syntagma musicum, musical encyclopedia
ST : Edmund Gunter: Canon triangulorum, treatise on logarithms
ED : Uppsala University Library founded
ST : J.P. Bonet: The Art to Teach Dumb People to Speak, Span. manual
DL : Oliver Cromwell denounced because he participates in the "disreputable game of cricket"
VA : Aelbert Cuyp born

1621

PH : Frederick V, Elector Palatine, placed under the ban of the Holy Roman Empire; war moves from Bohemia to the Palatinate
PH : Francis Bacon, charged in Parliament with corruption, is fined £40,000, imprisoned, and declared incapable of holding office; pardoned by the King
PH : Philip III of Spain dies; succeeded by his son Philip IV
PH : Huguenot rebellion against Louis XIII
PH : Twelve years truce between Holland and Spain ends; war resumed
LT : Fortune Theatre, London, burnt down
RP : Robert Burton: The Anatomy of Melancholy
RP : Pope Paul V dies; Alexander Ludovisi becomes Pope Gregory XV
ST : English attempt to colonise Newfoundland and Nova Scotia
ST : Dutch West India Company chartered
ST : Johann Kepler: The Epitome of the Copernican Astronomer banned by the Roman Catholic Church
ED : University of Strasbourg opened
DL : Corante, or newes from Italy, Germany, Hungarie, Spaine, and France, first periodical published with news issued in London
DL : Potatoes planted in Germany for first time
LT : Andrew Marvell born 31 March
LT : Henry Vaughan born 17 April
M : Jan Pieterszoon Sweelinck dies 16 October

1622

PH : Ferdinand II and Bethlen Gabor sign peace treaty
PH : Treaty of Montpellier ends rebellion of the Huguenots
PH : James I dissolves Eng. Parliament
ED : Francis Bacon: History of the Regin of Henry VII
RP : Jaboc Böhme: De signatura rerum
RP : Pope Gregory XV canonises Philip Neri and grants Piarists a constitution
RP : Bacon: Historia naturalis et experiementalis
ED : Benedictine University of Salzburg founded
RP : Camillio Baldo: Treatise of How to Perceive from a Letter the Nature and Character of the Person Who Wrote It
DL : Papal chancellery adopts 1 January as beginning of the year - up to then, 25 March
DL : Weekeley Newes issued in London for the first time

1623

PH : Commercial treaty between Holland and Persia
PH : Gustavus Adolphus reforms central administration of Sweden
LT : Maciej Sarbiewski, the "Polish Horace", crowned laureate in Rome by the Pope
RP : William Drummond: A Cypresse Grove philosophical thoughts on death
RP : Pope Gregor XV dies; Maffeo Barberini becomes Pope Urban VIII
ED : Bibliotheca Palatina removed from Heidelberg to Rome
ST : New Netherlands in America formally organised as a province
ST : First Eng. settlement in New Hampshire
DL : Patents law in England, to protect inventors
M : William Byrd dies 4 July

1624

M : Girolamo Frescobaldi : Book of caprices
M : Samuel Scheidt : Tabulatura Nova
PH : James I's last Parliament; monopolies declared illegal
PH : England declares war on Spain
PH : Virginia Company charter annulled; Virginia becomes crown colony
PH : Cardinal Richelieu made first minister of France
LT : Saruwaka Kanzaburo opens first Jap. theatre in Yedo
RP : Lord Herbert of Cherbury: De veritate, foundation of theory of Eng. deism
RP : John Donne: Devotions Upon Emergent Occasions
ST : Henry Briggs: Arithmetica logarithmica
RP : Antonio de Andrade leaves Jesuit mission at Agra to explore the Himalayas and Tibet
ED : Pembroke College, Oxford, founded
ED : Captain John Smith: A General Historie of Virginia, New England and the Summer Isles
ST : Dutch settle in New Amsterdam
ST : First Eng. settlement in eastern India
ST : Johannes Baptista van Helmont, Belg. scientist, coins the name "gas" for compressible fluid

1625

LT : Ben Jonson: The Staple of News
M : Heinrich Schütz : Cantiones sacrae
PH : James I of England (James VI of Scotland) dies; succeeded by Charles I of England and Scotland
DL : Plague in London
LT : Martin Opitz crowned poet laureate in Vienna
RP : Francis Bacon: Of Masques and Triumphs
ED : Hugo Grotius: De jure belli et pacis, on international law
RP : Order of Sisters of Mercy founded in Paris
ST : Johann Rudolf Glauber discovers Glauber's salt
DL : First Eng. settlement on Barbados, under Sir William Courteen
DL : First fire engines in England
DL : Hackney coaches appear in streets of London
DL : Introduction of full-bottomed wigs in Europe
VA : Jan Brueghel the Elder dies

1626

M : Heinrich Schütz : Der Psalter nach Cornelius Becker
PH : Knighthoods for all Englishmen with property over £40 year, to help king's revenue
PH : Peace of La Rochelle between Huguenots and Fr. crown
PH : Treaty of Monzon between France and Spain confirms independence of the Grisons
PH : Duchy of Urbino bequeathed to the Pope by last of the Della Rovere family
RP : John Donne: Five Sermons
RP : Joseph Hall: Contemplations
ED : Irish College in Rome founded
RP : Sir Henry Spelman: Glossarium archeologicum
M : Professorship of music founded at Oxford University
ST : Fr. "Company for the Islands of America" incorporated
ST : Jardin des Plantes established in Paris
ST : Salem, Mass settled
ST : Santorio Santorio, Ital. physician, measures human temperature with the thermometer for the first time
DL : A royal edict condemns anyone to death who kills his adversary in a duel in France
PH : Peter Minuit, director-general of Dutch West India Company's settlement in N. America, buys the entire Island of Manhattan from native Indian chiefs
PH : Dutch colony of New Amsterdam founded on Hudson river
M : John Dowland dies 21 January

1627

LT : Michael Drayton: The Battle of Agincourt, The Miseries of Queen Margaret, and Nymphidia, the Court of Faëry
M : Girolamo Frescobaldi : Second Book of Toccatas
M : Heinrich Schütz : Opera, Dafne
PH : Huguenots rise again
PH : Vincent II, Duke of Mantua, last of the Gonzagas, dies; Charles, Duke of Nevers, claims succession
PH : Korea becomes a tributary state of China
PH : Richelieu signs treaty with Spain
PH : Shah Jahan, succeeding his father Jahangir, becomes the Great Mogul of India
LT : Lope de Vega made theological doctor by the Pope
ED : Collegium de Propaganda Fide founded
RP : Gabriel Naude: Avis pour dresser une bibliothèque, on librarianship
RP : Alessandro Tassoni: Manifesto, attacks the House of Savoy
M : Heinrich Schütz: Dafne, first Ger. opera, libretto by Martin Opitz, given at Torgau
VA : Francis Bacon: New Atlantis, plans for a national museum of science and art (posth.)
ST : Charles I grants charter to the Guiana Company
ST : Johann Kepler compiles the Rudophine Tables, giving places of 1,002 fixed stars
DL : "Company of New France", Canada, incorporated by Richelieu
DL : Swedish South Sea Company founded

1628

M : Girolamo Frescobaldi : Book of instrumental canzoni (revised in 1634)
PH : Third Parliament of Charles I meets; Oliver Cromwell enters it as Member for Huntingdon
PH : Swed-Dan. treaty for defence of Stralsund; Gustavus Adolphus enters Thirty Years' War
RP : The Alexandrian Codex presented to Charles I by patriarch of Constantinople
ED : Johann Amos Comenius: Informatorium der Mutterschul, on primary education
RP : René Descartes: Règles pour la direction de l'esprit
RP : Ignatius Loyola canonised by Pope Gregory XV
ED : Henry Spelman: Glossary of Law Terms
ST : First harbour with sluices being constructed at Le Havre

1629

LT : Ben Jonson: The New Inn
M : Heinrich Schütz : Symphoniae sacrae I
PH : Charles I dissolves Parliament; it does not meet again until 1640
PH : Edict of restitution of church property in Germany, secularised since Peace of Augsburg in 1555
PH : Peace of Susa ends war between England and France
PH : Peace of Lübeck: Christian IV undertakes not to intervene in imperial affairs
PH : Peace of Alais ends Huguenot revolt
PH : Truce of Altmark signed between Sweden and Poland
PH : Commercial treaty signed between Russia and France
RP : Lancelot Andrewes: XCVI Sermons
RP : Thomas Hobbes translates The Peloponnesian War by Thucydides
ST : Dutch mathematician Albert Gerard uses brackets and other abbreviations in mathematics
ST : John Parkinson: Paradisi in sole Paradisus terrestris, on flowers
DL : Royal charter granted to Guild of Spectacle Makers, London
DL : Colony of Massachusetts founded

1630

M : Girolamo Frescobaldi : Arie Musicali Two books of songs
PH : John Winthrop, Engl. Puritan leader, sails with Plymouth Company's expedition, founds Boston - the "Great Migration"
PH : Treaty of Madrid ends Anglo-Fr. war
PH : "Day of Dupes" in France; Richelieu overthrow conspiracy of Maria de'Medici, the Queen Mother
LT : Andres Christensen Arrabo initiates modern Dan. literature with his religious poem Hexaëmeron
RP : Congregation of the Engl. Ladies founded in Munich
VA : Beginning of the High Baroque period in Italy
ST : Franic Higginson: New England's Plantation, on living conditions in America
DL : Pirates of all nationalities, called "buccaneers", settle in Tortuga
DL : Eng. poet Sir John Suckling invents the card game cribbage
DL : Fr. Philanthropist Théophraste Renaudot founds the Bureau d'adresse, a labor-exchange charity organisation

1631

LT : Michael Drayton dies
PH : Ger. Protestant princes hold a convention at Neu Brandenburg, and decide to form alliance with Gustavus Adolphus
PH : Pope Urban VIII annexes Urbino
PH : Maria de'Medici exile to Brussels
RP : Friedrich Spee von Lagenfeld: Cautio criminalis, against witch-hunting
ST : Dutch West India Company founds settlement at the Delaware River
ST : Eng. mathematician William Oughtred proposes symbol "X" for multiplication
DL : T. Renaudot founds the Gazette in Paris
DL : Eng. settlement of Leeward Islands begins at St. Kitts
DL : Earthquake in Naples; eruption of Vesuvius
LT : John Donne dies 31 March
LT : John Dryden born 9 August

1632

PH : Queen Christina ascends throne of Sweden (five regents, headed by Chancellor Axel Oxenstierna, govern country)
PH : Sigismund III, King of Poland, dies; succeeded by Vladislav IV
ST : Antonio Bosio: Roma sotterranea, report on excavation of catacombs in Rome
ED : John Davies: Welsh Dictionary
RP : John Selden: Mare Clausum, on England's sovereignty of the sea
RP : Johann Angelus Werdenhagen: Introductio universalis in omnes republicas, on comparative politics
M : Monteverdi takes holy orders
ST : Galileo: Dialogho sopra i due massimi sistemi del mondo published, on terrestrial double motion
ST : Leiden University Observatory founded
DL : First coffee shop opens in London
DL : Eng. settlers in Antigua and Montserrat
DL : Russian fur trade centre established in Yakutsk, Siberia
VA : Johannes Vermeer born
M : Jean-Baptiste Lully born 28 November

1633

LT : Ben Jonson: A Tale of a Tub
LT : Robert Herrick: A Priest to the Temple
PH : Charles I crowned King of Scotland in Edinburgh
PH : Charles I revives forest eyre to raise money by fines
RP : Outbreak of plague in Bavaria leads to passion play vow in Oberammergau
ST : Galileo forced by the Inquisition to abjure the theories of Copernicus
RP : First Baptist church formed at Southwark, London
RP : Edmund Spenser: A View of the Present State of Ireland (posth.)
RP : John Cotton becomes a religious leader in Boston
ST : Eng. trading post established in Bengal
PH : Dutch settle in Connecticut
RP : Trial of the Lancashire witches
DL : The Royal Scots, oldest regular regiment in Brit. Army, established
DL : Wind sawmill erected near the Strand, London
LT : George Herbert dies 1 March

1634

M : Marc-Antoine Charpentier born
PH : Treaty of Polianovsky: King Vladislav of Poland renounces claim to Russia
RP : The Oberammergau Passion Play given for first time; re-enacted every 10 years
RP : Méric Casubon: The Meditations of the Roman Emperor Marcus Aurelius
RP : Anne Hutchinson, religious controversialist, migrates to Massachusetts
ST : Jean Nicolet lands on Green Bay; explores Wisconsin
ED : Founding of University of Utrecht
DL : Covent Garden market, London, opened

1635

LT : Richard Lovelace: The Scholars
M : Girolamo Frescobaldi : Fiori musicale
PH : Franco-Swed. treaty of alliance signed by Richelieu and Oxtenstierna
PH : Peace of Prague signed between the Emperor Ferdinand II and the Elector John George of Saxony; Thirty Years' War is now a conflict between France and Sweden against the House of Hapsburg
PH : Treaty of Stuhmsdorf: 20 year truce between Sweden and Poland
PH : Treaty of St. Germain-en-Layes agrees on regular Fr. subsidies to the army of Bernhard of Saxe-Weimar
PH : Dutch occupy Formosa, English Virgin Islands, French Martinique
RP : Giulio Alenio, Ital. Jesuit, published first life of Christ in Chinese
RP : Cornelius Jansen: Mars gallus, against Richelieu
ED : Académie Française founded by Richelieu
ED : Budapest University established
ED : Eng. High and Latin Schook, Boston, Mass., oldest secondary school in N. America, founded
DL : Speed limit on hackney coaches in London: 3 m.p.h.
DL : First inland postal service in Britain between London and Edinburgh
DL : Sale of tobacco in France restricted to apothecaries, only on doctors' prescriptions

1636

LT : Thomas Traherne born
M : Heinrich Schütz : Kleine geistliche Concerte Book I
PH : The Emperor Ferdinand II has his son, Archduke Ferdinand, elected Ferdinand III, King of the Romans
PH : Manchus proclaim the Ch'ing Dynasty at Muken
PH : Dutch settle in Ceylon
LT : Italian Fedeli Company performs Commedia dell'art at the Fr. court
RP : Welsh Puritan Roger Williams banished from Mass; established Providence, R.I.; proclaims complete religious freedom
RP : Peter Heylyn: The History of the Sabbath
RP : George Sandys: A Paraphrase Upon the Psalmes
M : Fr. theorist Marin Mersenne publishes his most important work, Harmonie Universelle, with full descriptions of all contemporary musical instruments
ED : Harvard College founded at Cambridge, Mass
DL : Tea appears for the first time in Paris
PH : Beginning of Pequot War    GO !

1637

M : Dietrich Buxtehude born
PH : Ferdinand II dies; succeeded as Holy Roman Emperor by his son Ferdinand III
PH : Bogislav XIV, last Duke of Pomerania dies
PH : William Prynne, Puritan parliamentarian condemned, with Henry Burton and John Bastwick, for seditious writing, to be pilloried and mutilated
PH : Extermination of Christianity in Japan; prohibition of foreign books; European contacts prohibited
RP : Thomas Hobbes: A Briefe of the Art of Rhetorique, based on Aristotle
RP : Introduction of new liturgy into Scotland causes riots
LT : Teatro San Cassiano, first public opera house, opens in Venice
ST : René Descartes: Géométrie
PH : Eng. emigration to America restricted by royal proclamation
DL : Eng. traders established in Canton
ST : Fr. traders settle at St. Louis, at mouth of the Senegal River
DL : Commercial collapse of Dutch tulip trade
LT : Ben Jonson dies 6 August

1638

M : Claudio Monteverdi : Book VIII of Madrigals, Madrigali guerrieri e amorosi ('Madrigals of War and Love') including 'The Combat Between Tancredi and Clorinda')
PH : Elector of Brandenburg moves his capital to Königsberg
PH : Franco-Swed. alliance renewed for three years
LT : Schouwburg Theatre opens in Amsterdam
RP : William Chillingworth: The Religion of Protestants a Safe Way to Salvation
RP : Scot. Covenant drawn up and signed; Charles I abandons liturgy and canons in Scotland
ST : Galileo : Discorsi e Dimonstrazioni Matematiche
RP : Anne Hutchinson, leader of the New England Antinomians, is banished from Boston, Mass, and sets up a community in Rhode Island
DL : New Haven, Conn, founded
DL : Soldier-student becomes a common type in Germany
DL : Torture abolished in England
PH : 21 September - The Treaty of Hartford ends Pequot War: Surviving Pequot are divided as slaves among Indian allies and English, Pequot forbidden to inhabit former Pequot territory, and the name Pequot is to be expunged

1639

M : Heinrich Schütz : Kleine geistliche Concerte Book II
PH : First Bishops' War in Scotland; episcopacy abolished in Scotland
LT : Drury Lane Theatre, London, receives its first patent
ED : Académie Française compiles dictionary of the Fr. language
M : Marco Marazzoli and Vergilio Mazzochi: Chi soffre, speri, first comic opera
ST : Gérard Désargues published his book on modern geometry
ST : William Gascoigne invents micrometer
ST : Jeremiah Horrocks observes the transit of Venus, which he had predicted
ST : Quinine increasingly used for medicinal purposes
DL : English settle at Madras
DL : First printing press in N. America at Cambridge, Mass

1640

M : Claudio Monteverdi : Opera, Il Ritorno d'Ulisse in Patria ('The Return of Ulysses to his Homeland')
PH : Short Parliament (April-May) and Long Parliament (November-1653) in England
PH : Second Bishops' War
PH : Portugal becomes independent under John IV of Braganza
PH : Elector George William of Brandenburg dies; succeeded by the "Great Elector" Frederick William
PH : Sultan Murad IV of Turkey dies; succeeded by Sultan Ibrahim
RP : John Donne: Eighty Sermons (posth.)
RP : John Eliot: Bay Psalm Book, oldest surviving book printed in America
RP : Cornelius Jansen: Augustinus, treatise against Jesuit doctrines (posth.)
RP : John Milton: Of Reformation Touching Church discipline in England
ED : Abo University, Finland, founded
ST : Coke made from coal for first time
ST : James Howell: Dondona's Grove, or The Vocall Forrest, manual of dendrology
ST : John Parkinson: Theatrum botanicum, a herbal
DL : Eng. settlers found Fort St. George in Bengal
DL : First European café opens in Venice
DL : Eight postal lines running in England
VA : Peter Paul Rubens dies

1641

PH : Massacre of the Ulster Protestants; Catholic rebellion in Ireland
RP : René Descartes: Méditations métaphysiques
ED : William Habington: Observations Upon Historie
PH : General Court of Massachusetts Bay Company codifies 100 laws
RP : George Wither: Hallelujah, or Britain's Second Remembrances, collection of hymns
ST : Arsenic prescribed for medicinal purposes for first time
ST : Cotton goods begin to be manufactured in Manchester
DL : Diurnal Occurrences, a weekly periodical issued in London
PH : French settle in Michigan
DL : Théophraste Renaudot publishes his plan for free medical treatment of needy in Paris; three years later faculty of medicine forbids him to practice
VA : Sir Anthony van Dyck dies

1642

M : Claudio Monteverdi : Opera, L'Incoronazione di Poppea ('The Coronation of Poppea')
PH : Charles I marches to Westminster to arrest five members of the Commons; attempt fails; he flees with his family to Hampton Court
PH : Eng. Civil War begins
DL : Inflation in Spain
LT : All theatres in England closed by order of the Puritans
RP : Johann Amos Comenius: A Reformation of Schooles, trans by Samuel Hartlib
RP : Thomas Fuller: The Holy State and the Profane State
RP : Thomas Hobbes: De cive
ED : James Howell: Instruction for Foreign Travel
RP : Thomas Lechford: Plain Dealing, or Newes from New England, political survey
RP : Pope Urban VIII issues bull Universa per Orbem, reducing annual feast days to 32
ST : Abel Tasman discovers Tasmania and New Zealand
ED : University of Ancona founded
DL : Income and property tax introduced in England
DL : Loire-Seine canal finished
DL : Montreal, Canada, founded

1643

PH : Unsuccessful peace talks between the Cavaliers and Roundheads at Oxford
PH : Louis XIII of France dies; succeeded by his five-year-old son Louis XIV with Mazarin as principal minister
PH : Anne of Austria, the Queen Mother, invested with supreme power
PH : Confederation of New England formed     GO !
LT : Molière founds "Illustre Théâtre" in Paris
ED : Sir Richard Baker: A Chronicle of the Kings of England
ED : François Eudes de Mézeray: Histoire de France
RP : John Milton: The Doctrine and Discipline of Divorce
ED : William Prynne: The Soveraigne Power of Parliaments and Kingdomes
ED : Roger Williams: Key into the Language of America
ST : Ital. physicist Evangelista Torricelli invents the barometer
DL : Christiania Almanack, first Norw. printed book, appears
DL : Coffee drinking becomes popular in Paris
DL : Parcel post established in France
M : Girolamo Frescobaldi dies 1 March
M : Claudio Monteverdi dies 29 November

1644

PH : Queen Christina begins her actual reign in Sweden
PH : Ming dynasty in China ends, Manchu dynasty in power
LT : Pegnitzischer Blumenorden, Ger. poetical society founded at Nuremberg
RP : René Descartes: Principia philosophicae
RP : Henry Hammond: A Practical Catechism
ED : Sir Henry Manwayring: The Seaman's Dictionary
RP : John Milton: Areopagitica, for the freedom of the press
RP : Samuel Rutherford: Lex rex, on the elective nature of the monarchy
RP : Pope Urban VIII dies; Giovanni Battista Pamfili becomes Pope Innocent X
RP : Roger Williams: Queries of Highest Consideration, separation of church and state
VA : Last age of fine Chin. porcelain
DL : Dutch settlement in Mauritius
DL : Tasman charters parts of northern and western Australia (New Holland)

1645

M : Girolamo Frescobaldi : Set of keyboard canzoni (published posthumously)
PH : Michael I, Czar of Russia dies; succeeded by Alexis I
PH : Peace talks open between Holy Roman Empire and France at Münster and Osnabrück
PH : Turk.-Venetian war over Crete
RP : Sirk Kenelm Digby: A Treatise on Bodies and of Man's Soul
RP : Lord Herbert of Cherbury: De causis errorum
M : La Finta Pazza by Francesco Paolo Sacrati given as possibly first opera in Paris
RP : Capuchin monks sail up Congo River
ED : University of Palermo founded
DL : Ordinarie Post-Tidende begins to appear in Stockholm

1646

LT : Henry Vaughan: Poems with the Tenth Satire of Juvenal Englished
PH : Engl. Civil War ends with surrender of Oxford to Roundheads; Parliamentary commissioners present Charles I with the Newcastle Propositions
RP : Jeremy Taylor: A Discourse Concerning Prayer
ST : Ger. mathematician Athanasius Kircher constructs first projection lantern (laterna magica)

1647

M : Heinrich Schütz : Symphoniae sacrae II
PH : Treaty of Ulm
RP : Eng. Civil War: Charles I agrees to abolish episcopacy and restore Presbyterianism
PH : Frederick Henry of Orange dies; succeeded by his son William II of Orange
PH : Revolt against Czar Alexis I in Moscow
RP : Calvinists acknowledged by Lutheran as co-religionists
ED : Thomas May : History of the Long Parliament
RP : Dismissal of Anglican professors at Oxford University
VA : Dresden Academy of Arts founded
ST : Johan Hevel: Selenographia, on the lunar surface
DL : First newspaper advertisement
DL : Yellow fever in Barbados

1648

LT : Robert Herrick: Hesperides
PH : King Christian IV of Denmark dies; succeeded by Frederick III
PH : Naples restored to Span. rule
PH : Outbreak of the Fronde in France
PH : Peace of Westphalia ends Thirty Years' War; is condemned by Pope Innocent X (bull Zelo Domus Dei)
PH : John II Casimir succeeds his brother Vladislav IV as King of Poland
RP : George Fox founds the Society of Friends (Quakers)
RP : John Lilburne: The Foundation of Freedom
RP : John Stearne: Confirmation and Discovery of Witchcraft
RP : Sabbatai Zevi, self-proclaimed Messiah, founds a Jewish sect
M : Aria and recitative become two distinct unities in opera
ED : University of Bamberg founded
ST : John Wilkins: Mathematical Magic
DL : Mirrors and chandeliers are being manufactured in Murano

1649

LT : Richard Lovelace: Lucasta
PH : War of the Fronde begins in France; ended by Treaty of Ruel; followed shortly by outbreak of second Fronde
PH : Charles I tried and beheaded; Prince of Wales takes title Charles II and is proclaimed king by the Scots in Edinburgh
PH : England declared a Commonwealth (The Interregnum)
PH : Sultan Ibrahim deposed and murdered; succeeded by his son Mohammed IV
PH : Maryland Assembly passes act of toleration, professing belief in the Holy Trinity    GO !
RP : René Descartes: Les Passions de L'âme
DL : In Great Britain, English becomes language of all legal documents in place of Latin
RP : John Lilburne: An Agreement for the Free People of England
RP : John Milton: The Tenure of Kings and Magistrates , defence of Charles I's execution
ST : Dutch physician Isbrand de Diemerbrock publishes his study of the plague, De peste
PH : Puritan exiles from Virginia settle in Providence, Md.
ST : First Brit. navy frigate, "Constant Warwick", constructed
DL : Free enterprise in England receives state support

1650

LT : Anne Bradstreet: Tenth Muse Lately Sprung Up in America published by her brother without her knowledge
M : Heinrich Schütz : Symphoniae sacrae III
M : Samuel Scheidt : Tablatur-Buch harmonised accompaniments for 100 sacred songs and psalms
PH : Charles II lands in Scotland
PH : Treaty of Nuremberg between the Holy Roman Emperor and Sweden amplifies Peace of Westphalia
LT : Beginning of modern development of Jap. "No" drama
RP : Richard Baxter: The Saints' Everlasting Rest
ED : Mathew Hale: Analysis of the Civil Law
ED : Thomas Hobbes: The Elements of Law, Moral and Political
ED : Gilles Ménage: Dictionnaire étymologique
ED : James Ussher: Annales Veteris et Novi Testamenti (giving beginning of world as 4004 B.C.)
M : Beginning of modern harmony; development of modulation
M : Athanasius Kircher: Musurgia universalis, theory
M : The overture as musical form emerges in two types, Italian and French
DL : Opening of first coffee house in England, at Oxford
DL : First fiacres in Paris
DL : Tea first drunk in England
DL : Sir Richard Weston, Eng. agriculturist, advocates cultivation of turnips
LT : Henry Vaughan: Silex Scintillans

1651

LT : Henry Vaughan: Olor Iscanus
PH : Charles II crowned King of Scots; flees to France after his defeat by Cromwell at Worcester
PH : Parliament votes for release of Condé, Fronde leader
PH : Treaty between Czar Alexis I and the Cossacks
PH : King Louis XIV attains majority
PH : Eng. Navigation Act, gives Eng. ships monopoly of foreign trade    GO !
PH : Yetuna, new shogun of Japan, overcomes two rebellions in Edo
LT : First public "Comedy-house" in Vienna
RP : John Donne: Essays in Divinity (posth.)
RP : Thomas Hobbes: Leviathan, defence of absolute monarchy
RP : Jeremy Taylor Rule and Exercises of Holy Dying
M : The young King Louis XIV of France appears as a dancer in a court ballet
DL : Dutch settle at Cape of Good Hope
ED : Mazarin's library closed by order of the Parlement
ST : Ital. astronomer Giovanni Riccioli introduces in his map of the moon many of the modern names of lunar features
LT : Division of publisher and printer begins in book trade

1652

LT : Henry Vaughan: Solitary Devotions and The Mount of Olives
PH : Eng. Parliament passes Act of Pardon and Oblivion to reconcile Royalists
PH : Provisional Fronde government set up in Paris
PH : Louis XIV re-establishes lawful government, recalling Mazarin
RP : Jean-Louis Guez de Balzac: Cocrate Chrétien, religious dialogues
RP : John Donne: Paradoxes, Problems (posth.)
ED : Hayashi Shunsai: O-Dai-Ichi-Ran, a history of Japan
RP : Gerrard Winstanley: The Law of Freedom in a Platform
M : The minuet comes into fashion at Fr. court
M : First opera house in Vienna
ED : Imperial Ger. Academy of Naturalists founded
ST : Ger. scientist Otto von Guericke invents the air pump
DL : First London coffee house opened in St. Michael's Alley, Cornhill
VA : Artemisia Gentileschi dies
PH : Start of first Anglo-Dutch war

1653

PH : Ferdinand IV becomes King of the Romans
PH : End of Fronde
PH : The "Great Elector" abolishes the estates; establishes a standing army
PH : Peasants' revolt in Bern under Nikolaus Leuenberg
ED : Chetham's Library, Manchester, founded
RP : Blaise Pascal joins the Jansenists at Port-Royal
ED : The London Polyglot Bible (in 10 languages)
ST : Armamentarium chirurgicum, work of Ger. surgeon Johann Schultes on surgical instruments and procedures (posth.)
DL : Izaak Walton: The Compleat Angler
DL : First letter boxes in Paris
M : Johann Pachelbel born 30 August

1654

LT : Henry Vaughan: Flores Solitudinis
PH : Treaty of Westminster ends first Anglo-Dutch war; Dutch recognise Navigation Act
PH : Treaty of Commerce between England and Sweden
PH : Queen Christina of Sweden abdicates on becoming a Roman Catholic; succeeded by her cousin Charles X
PH : Coronation of Louis XIV at Rheims
PH : War between Russia and Poland
DL : Johann Amos Comenius publishes in Nuremberg first picture book for children, Orbis sensualium pictus
RP : John Milton: Defensio secunda
ST : Blaise Pascal and Pierre de Fermat state the theory of probability
DL : Entailor, fee tail, after Span. model, introduced in Germany
M : Samuel Scheidt dies 30 March

1655

LT : Henry Vaughan: Silex Scintillans, second part
PH : Cromwell dissolves Parliament and divides England into 11 districts
RP : Anglican services prohibited in England
PH : Outbreak of first Northern War
ED : Pierre Borel: Tréso des recherches et antiquités Gauloises
RP : Oliver Cromwell readmits Jews into England
ED : William Drummond: A History of the Five Jameses (posth.)
RP : Thomas Fuller: Church History of Britain
RP : Thomas Hobbes: Elementorum philosophia
RP : Pope Innocent X dies; Fabio Chigi becomes Pope Alexander VII
RP : Thomas Stanley: A History of Philosophy
ST : Chin. scientist and naturalist Ch'en yüan-lung publishes Ko-chih-ching-yüan, on new inventions
DL : First regular newspaper in Berlin

1656

PH : Treaty of Königsberg and Alliance of Marienberg between Sweden and Brandenburg
PH : Second Protectorate Parliament
PH : King John IV of Portugal dies; succeeded by his son Alfonso VI
RP : Manasseh ben Israel: Vindiciae Judaeorum, reply to attacks on Cromwell's readmission of Jews
RP : John Bunyan: Some Gospel Truth Opened
RP : Marchamont Needham: The Excellency of a Free State
RP : Blaise Pascal: Lettres provinciales against Jesuits
RP : Spinoza excommunicated
VA : Academy of Painting in Rome founded
M : Opening of first London opera house
ST : Thomas Wharton describes anatomy of glands
DL : Regiment of grenadier guards formed
DL : Hôpital général, Paris, opens, combining hospital, poorhouse, and factory

1657

LT : Richard Lovelace dies
LT : Henry Vaughan: The Chemist's Key
PH : Emperor Ferdinand III dies; his son Leopold I succeeds him
PH : Oliver Cromwell rejects offer of title "king"
PH : Creation of a new House of Lords increases Cromwell's power
PH : Treaty of Bromberg: Brandenburg allied with Poland against Sweden
RP : Richard Baxter: A Call to the Unconverted
RP : Johann Amos Comenius: Opera didactice omnia
ED : Le Sieur Saunier: L'encyclopédie des beaux esprits, believed to be first reference book with "encyclopédie" in title
ED : Accademia de Cimento founded in Florence
ST : Dutch scientist Christiann Huygens designs first pendulum clocks
DL : Drinking chocolate introduced in London
DL : First stockings and fountain pens manufactured in Paris

1658

PH : Treaty of Roskilde between Sweden and Denmark ends first war
PH : Aurangzeb imprisons his father, Shah Jahan, and succeeds him as Mogul Emperor
PH : Charles X begins Second Northern War
PH : Oliver Cromwell dies; succeeded as Lord Protector by his son Richard
PH : Leopold I elected Holy Roman Emperor
PH : Formation of Rhenish League under Fr. protectorate
RP : James Harrington: The Prerogative of Popular Government
ED : Edward Phillips: A New World of Words
RP : Société des missions étrangères founded in Paris
ST : J.R. Glauber: De natura salium
ST : Jan Swammerdam first observes red blood corpuscles
ST : Robert Hooke, naturalist and philosopher, invents the balance spring for watches
DL : Swed. Financier Johann Palmstruck devises first bank note, issued by the Swed. state bank

1659

M : Henry Purcell born
PH : Richard Cromwell resigns
PH : Peace of the Pyrenees between France and Spain
RP : Henry More: The Immortality of the Soul
ED : William Somner: Dictionarium Saxonico-Latino-Anglicum
ST : Eng. physician Thomas Willis describes first typhoid fever
ED : Prussian State Library, Berlin, founded

1660

PH : Charles X of Sweden dies; succeeded by Charles XI
PH : Parliament invites Charles II to return to England (The Restoration)
PH : Peace of Oliva signed, ending war between Austria, Poland, Sweden, and Brandenburg, and recognising the "Great Elector's " sovereignty in E. Prussia
PH : Peace of Copenhagen ends war between Sweden and Denmark
PH : Dan. crown becomes hereditary
LT : Patents granted for reopening of London theatres
RP : James Harrington: Political Discourse
ED : James Howell: Lexicon Tetraglotten, Eng.-Fr.-Ital.-Span. dictionary
DL : Dutch peasants (Boers) settle in S. Africa
DL : Royal African Company founded
DL : Famous "Café Procope" opens in Paris
DL : Water closets arrive from France in England
M : Alessandro Scarlatti born 2 May
VA : Diego Velázquez dies

1661

VA : Alexandre Francois Desportes born
PH : Cardinal Mazarin dies; Louis XIV begins his personal rule
PH : Coronation of Charles II
PH : Peace of Kardis between Russia and Sweden ends Northern War
PH : "Cavalier Parliament" meets
DL : Famine in India, no rain since 1659
PH : Mohammed Kiuprili, Grand Vizier of Turkey dies; succeeded by his son Ahmed Kiuprili
LT : Sir William Davenant, poet and dramatist, opens Lincoln's Inn Theatre, London
RP : John Eliot translates the Bible into Algonquin (first Amer. Bible edition)
RP : Joseph Glanvilil: The Vanity of Dogmatizing
M : Académie Royale de Danse founded by Louis XIV
M : Mathew Lock made court composer to Charles II
M : Edward Lowe: Short Direction for the Performance of Cathedra Servies, to revive organ accompaniment, suppressed during Commonwealth
ST : Robert Boyle: The Skeptical Chymist, with definition of chemical elements
ST : Christian Huyghens invents the manometer for ascertaining elastic forces of gases
ST : John Evelyn: Fumifugium, or the Inconvenience of the Air and Smoke of London Dissipated, an early attack on air pollution
ED : Kongelige Bibliothek, Copenhagen, founded
VA : Antoine Coypel born 11 March

1662

LT : John Dryden: The Wild Gallant
PH : Elizabeth of Bohemia, "the Winter Queen", dies
PH : Shun Chih, first Manchu Emperor of China dies; succeeded by his son K'ang-hsi
RP : Act of Uniformity gives assent to revised Eng. prayer book
ED : Thomas Fuller: The worthies of England, biographical reference work (posth.)
VA : Louis XIV begins to build palace of Versailles
ED : Founding of the Academia Leopoldina in Vienna
ST : The Royal Society receives charter from Charles II
DL : Last silver pennies minted in London

1663

LT : John Dryden: The Rival Ladies
PH : Turks declare War on Holy Roman Empires
LT : Colbert founds Académie des Inscriptions et Belles Lettres in Paris
LT : The Theatre Royal, Drury Lane, London, opens
RP : Robert Boyle: Concerning the Usefulness of Experimental Philosophy
RP : Lord Herbert of Cherbury: De religione gentilium (posth.)
RP : Writings of Descartes put on the Index
ST : Guericke constructs a frictional electrical machine
ST : John Newton discovers the binomial theorem
DL : First gold guinea pieces coined in England
DL : Hearth tax in England
DL : Turnpike tolls introduced in England

1664

PH : Alliance between France and Brandenburg
PH : Truce of Vasvar between Turks and Austrians
RP : Conventicle Act, against Nonconformists, forbids meetings of more than five people
RP : The Trappist Order founded at La Trappe, Normandy
M : French horn becomes an orchestral instrument
ST : Thomas Willis: Cerebri anatome on the nervous system
DL : "Compagnie des Indes Occidentales" formed to control Fr. trade in Canada, S.America, W.Africa and W. Indies
DL : Introduction of large periwig style
DL : First Royal Marine Regiment
PH : Start of second Anglo-Dutch war

1665

LT : John Dryden: The Indian Emperor
PH : Philip IV of Spain dies; succeeded by his son Charles II
PH : Absolutism introduced into Denmark by Lex Regia
LT : Journal des Savants, first literary periodical, started in Paris
RP : John Bunyan: The Holy City
ED : Codex Theodosianus, ed by Jacques Godefroy
RP : John Eliot: Communion of Churches, privately printed at Harvard, Mass.
RP : Five-Mile Act put restrictions on Nonconformist ministers
ST : Philosophical Transactions, first scientific journal in England
ST : Giovanni Cassini determines rotations of Jupiter, Mars, and Venus
ST : Peter Chamberlen invents midwifery forceps
ST : Francis Grimaldi: Physico-mathesis de lumine (posth.) explains diffraction of light
ST : Robert Hooke: Micrographia, on the microscope
ED : University of Kiel founded
PH : Colony of New Jersey founded
ST : Issac Newton experiments on gravitation; invents differential calculus
ED : First modern census taken in Quebec
ED : Caleb Cheeshateaumuck, first N. Amer. Indian to take an A.B. Degree at Harvard
DL : First issue of the London Gazette
DL : The Prince Archbishop of Münster sells 7,000 of his subjects as solders
DL : The Great Plague of London begins, killing 68,596
VA : Nicolas Poussin dies

1666

PH : France and Dutch declare war on England
PH : Quadruple alliance between Holland, Brandenburg, Brunswick, and Denmark to secure safety of Holland
PH : Treaty of Cleves between Brandenburg and Neubrug for partition of Jülick-Cleves
PH : Hungarian noblemen revolt against Emperor Leopold I
RP : First Armenian Bible printed
RP : John Bunyan: Grace Abounding to the Chief of Sinners
RP : Leibniz: De arte combinatoria
RP : Raskol (Great Schism) breaks out in Russ. Church
RP : John Tillotson: The Rule of Faith
M : Antonio Stradivari labels his first violin
ST : Issac Newton measures the moon's orbit
DL : First Cheddar cheese
DL : Great Fire of London
VA : Gobelin workshops established in Paris by Colbert
DL : Cricket Club founded at St. Alban's , Herfordshire, England
VA : Frans Hals dies

1667

LT : John Dryden: The Maiden Queen, Sir Martin Marall and an adaptation of The Tempest
PH : Truce of Andrusovo ends 13-year war between Russia and Poland
PH : Secret treaty between Louis XIV and Charles II against Spain
PH : War of Devolution begins as Fr. troops invade Netherlands
PH : Shah Abbas II of Persia dies; succeeded by his son Suleiman
PH : Alfonso VI of Portugal banished to the Azores by his brother Pedro, the regent
PH : Peace of Breda between the Dutch, France and England
RP : Pope Alexander VII dies; Giulio Rospigliosi becomes Pope Clement IX
ED : Fr. jurist Guillaume Lamoignon compiles the Code Louis
RP : Leibniz: Nova methodus discendique juris
RP : Samuel Pufendorf: De statu republicae Germanicae
ST : National Observatory, Paris , founded
DL : Fr. army uses hand grenades
PH : Treaty of Breda ends second Anglo-Dutch war
VA : Alessandro Magnasco born

1668

LT : John Dryden: The Mock Astrologer and Tyrannic Love, or the Royal Martyr
PH : Alliance of the Hague signed by English and Dutch
PH : Treaty of Lisbon: Spain recognises independence of Portugal
PH : Brit. East India Company obtains control of Bombay
PH : Peace of Aix-la-Chapelle ends War of Devolution between France and Spain
PH : John II Casimir, King of Poland abdicates
PH : Treaty between Louis XIV and Leopold I concerning future partition of Span. realms
RP : Joseph Glanvill: Plus ultra, or Progress of Knowledge since Aristotle
RP : Henry More: Divine Dialogues
RP : William Penn: Sandy Foundation Shaken, questions the doctrine of the Trinity
RP : Sir Josiah Child: Brief Observations Concerning Trade and the Interest of Money
ST : Robert Hooke: Discourse on Earthquakes
ST : Isaac Newton constructs reflecting telescope
DL : Oder-Spree Canal finished
M : François Couperin born 10 November

1669

PH : Michael Wisniowiecki, a Lithuanian, elected King of Poland
PH : John Locke's constitution for Carolina approved, S. Carolina founded    GO !
PH : Venetians lose Crete, their last colonial possession, to the Turks
RP : Aurangzeb bans Hindu religion in India
PH : Last meeting of the Hanseatic League
RP : Pope Clement IX dies
RP : William Penn: No Cross, No Crown
M : Royal patent for founding Académie Royale des Opéras granted
M : Mathew Locke: The Treasury of Musick
ED : Edmund Castell: Lexicon Heptaglotton
ST : Phosphorus prepared for first time
ST : Nicolaus Steno begins the modern study of geology
ST : Jan Swammerdam: History of the Insects
DL : Outbreak of cholera in China
DL : Earliest Fr. trading station in India
VA : Rembrandt Harmenszoon van Rijn dies

1670

LT : John Dryden: first and second parts of Almanzor and Almahide, or the Conquest of Granada
PH : Defensive alliance between France and Bavaria
PH : Treaty of Dover between England and France
PH : Frederick III, King of Denmark, dies; succeeded by Christian V
PH : Rebellion of Ukrainian Cossacks crushed
LT : John Dryden appointed historiographer royal and poet laureate
LT : First Ital. "commedia dell'arte" companies appear in Germany
RP : Cardinal Emilio Altieri becomes Pope Clement X
ED : John Milton: The Historie of Britain
RP : Pascal: Pensées (posth.)
RP : Spinoza: Tractatus theologico-politicus
ST : Paul Amman: Medicina critica
ST : Ital. scientist Giovanni Borelli attempts to use artificial wings for flying
ST : Engl. physician Thomas Willis describes for first time typical symptoms of diabetes
PH : Hudson's Bay Company incorporated by royal charter to trade in region of N. America draining into Hudson Bay
DL : Louis XIV's Minister of War introduces uniforms and paper cartridges in Fr. army
DL : First minute hands on watches

1671

PH : Turks declare war on Poland
RP : First Bible edition in Arabic, printed in Rome
RP : John Bunyan: A Confession of My Faith
ED : Stephen Skinner: Etymologicon linguae anglicanae
M : Paris Opéra opens
ST : Leibniz defines nature and existence of the ether
DL : Eng. Crown resumes direct control of customs system
DL : Founding of the Fr. Senegal Company
M : Tomaso Albinoni born 14 June

1672

LT : John Dryden: Marriage à la Mode and The Assignation, or Love in a Nunnery
DL : Stop of Eng. exchequer; cash payments suspended for 12 months
PH : Declaration of Indulgence issued by Charles II (withdrawn in 1673)
PH : Britain declares war on the Dutch
PH : France declares war on the Dutch
ED : Clarendon Press, official printers of Oxford University, founded
ED : Elias Ashmore: Institutions, Laws, Ceremonies of the Order of the Garter
RP : William Cave: Primitive Christianity
RP : Confessions of faith of the Greek Orthodox Church revived by the Synod of Jerusalem
ED : William Tempel: Observations upon the United Provinces of the Netherlands
DL : Fulham Pottery, London, founded
M : First public concert at Whitefriars, London
ST : Root ipecacuanha introduced for medicinal purposes in Europe
ST : Flexible hose for use in fighting fires introduced
ST : John Josselym: New England's Rarities Discovered, on local flora and fauna
DL : Charter granted to the Royal African Company
PH : Start of third Anglo-Dutch war
LT : Anne Bradstreet dies 16 September
M : Heinrich Schütz dies 6 November

1673

LT : Thomas Traherne: Roman Forgeries
LT : John Dryden: Amboyna
M : Marc-Antoine Charpentier : Incidental music to Molière's play Le Malade imaginaire ('The Hypochondriac')
PH : Test Act excludes Roman Catholics from office in England
PH : After preliminary peace between Brandenburg and France the "Great Elector" promises, in Treaty of Vossen, not to support any enemies of Louis XIV
PH : Emperor Leopold I declares war on France
PH : King Michael of Poland dies
PH : Fr. expedition against Ceylon
ED : Robert Clave; Catalogue of All the Books Printed in England Since the Dreadful Fire of London in 1666
LT : Archpriest Petrovich Avvakum writes his Zhitie, first Russ. autobiography
M : Mathew Locke: The Present Practice of Music Vindicated
ED : University of Innsbruck founded
ST : Stalactic grotto of Antiparos (Aegean Sea) discovered
DL : Financier Richard Hoare founds Hoare's Bank, London
DL : Mitsui family's trading and banking house in Japan founded

1674

LT : Thomas Traherne dies
LT : John Dryden: The State of Innocence
PH : Jan Sobieski elected as Jan III, King of Poland
PH : Sivaji Bhonsla declares himself independent of the Mogul Emperor Aurangzeb; founds Mahratta state and is crowned at Raigarh
PH : Office of Stadholder of the United Provinces becomes hereditary in the House of Orange
LT : Theatre Royal, Drury Lane, London, rebuilt after the fire and reopened
ED : Anthony à Wood: Historia et antiquitates universitatis Oxoniensis
RP : Nicolas Malebranch: De la recherche de la vérité
ED : Louis Moreri: Le Grand Dictionnaire historique, first encyclopedic reference work on history
ST : John Mayow: Tractatus quinque medico-physici, on the nature of combustion
ST : Thomas Willis: Pharmaceutice rationalis
LT : Robert Herrick dies in October
Personae

Terms Defined

Referenced Works