The Second Millenium

[Vince53]

1622 is ready for you.

Up in Massachusetts, the Pilgrims are busy acting like Christians. But in Virginia--

The Powhaten Indians had come to the painful realization that the English colony at Jamesotwn planned to conquer the land. Resentful at being forced to give food to English raiding parties, a large number of unarmed Indians enter the Jamestown area carrying food, and suddenly start massacring colonists with whatever weapons they can grab. About 1/3 of the settlers (about 400) are killed in the next few days.

England responds by sending troops and more settlers, and for the next few decades the Powhaten are steadily defeated and driven off.


The Thirty Years War is going badly for the Protestants. After losing a minor battle, different Catholic forces unite to hand the Protestants a massive defeat. Likewise, the Huguenots are getting slaughtered and their cities are steadily being recaptured.

But while winning the Thirty Years War, Spain is badly losing the Eighty Years War against the Dutch. From Europe to the Pacific, the Dutch constantly defeat the Spanish.

 

[Vince53]

Well, let's see, it's 1623.

Urban VIII begins his 21 year reign as Pope. He piled up such heavy debts that his successors had to cut back heavily on Papal armies, although Urban did manage to seize some territory by military force.

He reduced mistreatment of the American Indians, banned smoking, furthered the arts, and put family members into several high positions. He built several major fortifications in Papal lands and vigorously persecuted Galileo. He built various churches and cathedrals and added excellent architectural art to others. He enforced the Council of Trent and furthered Catholic missionary work.



Spain is really having a bad year. In addition to losing the Eighty Years War against the Dutch, they now face an alliance between France, Savoy (between France and Italy and now part of France) and Venice. And then the Dutch send a fleet to raid Peru.



Eleven year old Murat IV begins his seventeen year reign over the Ottoman Empire. Chaos had broken out in the Empire, with local rulers seizing large areas. Murat was only made Sultan so that his relatives could continue their failed reign over the disintegrating Empire. But at age 16, Multan begins widespread executions of all who oppose him, and he re-establishes the authority of the government. A brilliant military leader, he expands back into lost areas, massacring civilian populations as he goes.

 

[Vince53]

Never before was it 1624!

You've never heard of the Safavid Empire? At its height, it will control most of the Middle East, finally collapsing in 1736. But this year, it recaptures Baghdad from the Ottoman Empire.

The Dutch are having a good year. They seize a Brazilian port from Spain and begin settling the mid-Atlantic coast of the United States. And Japan expels the Spanish.

Jesuit missionaries enter Tibet--they are the first known Europeans to do so.

The Catholic church begins burning Luther Bibles (which are written in German).

A Belgian doctor publishes the first description of malaria.

 

[Vince53]

1625 has just crossed the ocean.

The Dutch found New York City. (But we forgive them).


Icelanders burn their first witch.


Losing badly in their rebellion, the Huguenots get a new leader and quickly win two victories over France. But after several more minor battles, they are defeated and their rebellion ends.



King James dies, and his son becomes Charles I, King of England, Scotland, and Ireland. "Incompetent" is too kind a word for this man. Believing in the Divine right of Kings, he ignored Parliament as he passed taxes, married a Catholic, forced High Church practices onto the Church of Scotland, caused a civil war, tried to start another one, and was executed in 1649.


Spain finally manages to win two battles in their Eighty Years War against the Netherlands. After successfully attacking San Juan, Puerto Rico, the Dutch are so badly defeated that they leave Spain alone for the next five years.



Moslem pirates from north Africa raid southwestern England.


In England, the Thames River has its highest recorded tide, causing massive flooding.

 

[Vince53]

Okay--it's 1626.

Gustavus Adolfus had become King of Sweden in 1611 at the age of 17 and had immediately begun leading Swedish troops into battle. One of history's greatest commanders, he combined a variety of weapons, including field artillery, into one of the most effective armies of all time. Thanks to him, Sweden "won" the Thirty Years War, emerging as one of the most powerful nations in the world. This year, he personally leads his troops in a victory over Poland.

Ethiopia declares Catholicism to be the state religion.

The Netherlands buys Manhattan Island from the Indians for $24 worth of goods.

In Germany, the Wurzburg Witch Trial begins. Lasting five years, they will execute about 1, 280 people for witchcraft. Led by the Catholic Church, the victims included nine year olds, Catholic priests, vagrants, mayors, nobility, and peasants.

About 10,000 people are killed when an earthquake strikes Naples, Italy.

 

[Vince53]

Heeeeer's 1627!

You've never heard of the auroch? It's a species of wild cattle from which all domestic cattle are descended. They had roamed Europe, and north Africa. This year, the last aurock dies in a Polish forest.
Moslem raiders from north Africa find some easy pickings—Iceland. Taking almost 400 slaves out of a population of 60,000, but finding little of value, the pirates attack Iceland with three ships but never return. During the attack, they manage to capture a Danish merchant ship.

Angered at Korea’s support of China against them, Manchuria invades Korea. They loot everything they can, sign a peace treaty, and leave.


The Dutch capture the last Spanish stronghold in the eastern Netherlands.

An earthquake destroys two small cities in southern Italy.

To the surprise of the Swedish fleet blockading Danzig,, a small Polish fleet rushes at them. The Poles capture Sweden's flagship, another Swedish ship blows itself up rather than being captured, and the other Swedish ships flee.

 

[Vince53]

Great! It's 1628!

William Harvey describes the circulatory system, showing that blood is constantly re-used. Believe it or not, Servetus, who was burned at the stake in Geneva for trying to throw Europe into war, had discovered it first, but no one believed him.


John Bunyan, author of Pilgrim’s Progress, is born. It is possible that more people have read his book than any other fictional work.


Sha Jahan begins his brilliant thirty year reign over the Mughal Empire of India. He will bring in the Golden Age of India; persecute Hindus and Christians (he was a Moslem); build the Taj Mahal; and built a large number of grand buildings and gardens, some of which attract millions of tourists every year. He personally led a 200,000 man army against a neighboring empire, absorbing it as a vassal state. At his height, he had an army of over a million men, steadily increasing the sides of his borders. He maintained peace with the powerful Ottoman Empire, built the second-largest merchant fleet in the world (at that time), and seized a Portuguese stronghold in India. He mass-produced cannon and other weaponry, and strengthened the economy despite his high taxes. After thirty years, he became ill and made his son the Regent. His son kept him under house arrest until his death eight years later.


Speaking of military geniuses, Sweden launches a magnificent 64-gun warship which sinks before it gets out of the harbor.


Okay, we all like the Pilgrims, but then there were the Puritans. This year, they settle in Salem, Massachusetts. The Puritans would steal land from the Indians, threaten other Christians in America (including the Pilgrims and the Baptists) with war, and conduct the Salem Witch Trials. They would also found educational institutions that still exist, and some of them did evangelize the Indians.


A Dutch fleet captures so much Spanish treasure that the Netherlands finances its army for the next eight months with it.

And in New Amsterdam (New York City), they found the Collegiate School, the oldest existing school in the United States. It is listed as THE best K-12 all-boys prep school in the US today. And the Dutch bring the first African slaves to New York.

 

[Vince53]

Welcome to 1629!

Aceh's entire navy is destroyed by a combined Portuguese-Moslem fleet. Despite the loss, Aceh conquers another Moslem kingdom in Indonesia a few months later.

A two year long outbreak of the Black Death kills about 280,000 people in Italy.


About 350 new Puritans arrive in Salem, Massachusetts.


The Holy Roman Empire requires all Catholic properties seized by Protestants to be returned. The Empire also grants freedom of religion to Catholics and Lutherans, but nobody else.


Englands's Charles I realizes that as long as he doesn't need to raise taxes and armies for war, he doesn't need Parliament. For the next eleven years, he rules single-handedly. The common people have their lives improved, and many corrupt laws are reformed. But the nobility's growing resentment will eventually lead to civil war.


The Huguenots rebel--again. This time they regain religious freedom but lose all their territory and political rights.



Denmark has had enough--they sign a treaty and withdraw from the Thirty Years War.


The Dutch capture some key Spanish forts, endangering the areas in the Netherlands still held by Spain.


Five year old Empress Meisho begins her fourteen year reign over Japan. Her father actually serves as Emperor, but under the Shogunate, neither of them have any real power.


Lacking finances, the government of China begins to collapse.

 

[Vince53]

It is now 1630.

The Puritans outlaw cards, dice, and gaming tables. 700 new Puritans arrive in the successful colony a few months later.

Alexander Leighton was an unsuccessful Scottish doctor who became a Puritan . He published a pamphlet attacking the bishops of the Church of England for their mistreatment of the Scots. He was held in solitary confinement without a trial for fifteen weeks and was too sick to attend his trial. He was publicly flogged, his ears were cut off, and his nose was split. His face was branded "SS" for "Sower of Sedition." Parliament later released him from prison and paid him compensation.

In the Thirty Years War, Protestant Sweden seizes Pomerania, a duchy in northern Europe that has changed hands many times. After being conquered, Pomerania signs an alliance with Sweden and the two become powerful allies.

In India, a two year famine begins that will eventually kill two million people.

The British found a colony in South America named "Suriname." Today it is the only English-speaking nation in the Americas south of the United States.

 

[Vince53]

Welcome to 1631

Roger Williams joins the Pilgrims temporarily. A highly-educated lawyer and ordained Anglican minister, he had pushed himself steadily farther into separation from all Churches. With a gift for languages, he had learned how to communicate with the Indians, and after studying their cultures and customs became convinced that it is wrong to mistreat an Indian (a revolutionary concept at the time). He had become a Puritan, then a Separatist, then a Baptist (founding the first Baptist church in the US, which still exists) and finally an independent. Possibly America’s first abolitionist, he taught that slavery and mistreatment of Blacks are wrong (two more revolutionary concepts). The Pilgrims liked him, though, but after two years, Williams decided that they weren’t separated enough and he left.


Sweden is having a great year. France agrees to supply the money, and the Swedes invade northern Germany. When Catholic forces under the Holy Roman Empire massacre 20,000 inhabitants of a German Protestant city, many of the smaller Protestant states in the Empire ally with Sweden. Advancing steadily into Germany, the Swedes put an end to the Catholic witch trials. The Catholics respond by invading Protestant territory in the Empire, and with even more German allies, the Swedes hand the Empire a massive defeat.


They win a naval battle off the coast of Brazil, but Spain suffers a major defeat when the Dutch sink an invasion fleet on its way to the Netherlands.



Baltimore is on the southernmost tip of Ireland. A prosperous village, it is raided by Algerian pirates, who destroy the village and take 100 citizens as slaves. Survivors abandon the area, and it doesn't recover for over one hundred years.

 

[Vince53]

1632 is another bad year for the Catholics.

Protestant Sweden is winning so many victories that they have to invade Bavaria, winning some more. In their last victory, Swedish King Gustavus Adolphus is killed (the Swedes still win) and his five year old daughter becomes Queen of Sweden.

And The Dutch Protestants capture still more of the Netherlands from Catholic Spain.

Maryland is chartered as an American colony. Named after King Charles 1's Catholic wife, it becomes a haven for Catholics. Lord Baltimore is appointed ruler. For 42 years, without leaving England, he will appoint governors, grant religious freedom to Catholics and non-conformists, keep Maryland out of England's civil wars, treat the Indians fairly, and make Maryland so successful that it still exists as a US state.

Fasilides begins his thirty-five year reign over Ethiopia. He quickly restores the Ethiopian Orthodox Church as the state religion. Over time, he seized all Jesuit lands and exiled them, and later burned all Catholic books. He founded Gondar, building a royal castle (a popular tourist attraction today) and making it the capital. Gondar currently has over 200,000 residents. He built cathedrals, bridges, and roads, many of which are still in use.

Poland bans anti-Jewsish hate literature.

 

[Vince53]

[FONT=&quot]1633[/FONT]
Japan becomes a "chained country." No foreigners may enter (the ones there are eventually expelled) and no Japanese may leave. In 1853, American warships will force Japan to re-open for trade.[FONT=&quot][/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]

Condemned for heresy by the Catholic Church, Galileo, threatened with torture, confesses that the Earth is the center of the universe. He is allowed to return home under house arrest, but they take away his telescope.

A Chinese fleet defeats a Dutch fleet off the coast of China.

In Ireland, the Anglican Church builds the first Protestant cathedral in Europe.

17 year old Trijntje Keever dies of cancer. At 8 feet, four inches tall, she is the tallest woman ever recorded.[/FONT]

 

[Vince53]

1634

Ethiopia expels Catholic missionaries.


After winning a major military victory, Poland agrees to a Russian settlement. Russia pays a huge indemnity to Poland, and the King of Poland renounces his claim to the Russian throne. Poland's real purpose in the treaty was to bring Russian into an alliance with Poland against Sweden, which was conquering large parts of the Holy Roman Empire. But the alliance never goes through--however, the next fourteen years of peace are the most prosperous in the history of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth.

Jesuit missionaries establish a small college in Maryland. Eventually it will become Georgetown University, the oldest university in North America.

Urbain Grandier was a French Catholic priest who committed widespread immorality. He was accused by several nuns of using witchcraft to seduce them, but was acquitted. However, after he attacked Cardinal Richelieu, he was re-accused and then burned at the stake. Even under torture, he denied practicing witchcraft.

A combinied Catholic army of the holy Roman Empire, Spain, and Italy wins a major battle against Sweden and her German Protestant allies. Several of the smaller Protestant states then make a separate peace with the Empire, and France finds itself almost surrounded by its Catholic Habsburg enemies. And so, Catholic France enters the Thirty Years War--on the side of the Protestants.

Bavarian villagers made a deal with God--if He would spare them from the Black Plague, they would perform a public play honoring the life of Jesus every year. They had to cut it back to every ten years, but the Berammergau Passion Play, which lasts five months, is a major tourist attraction to this day.

 

[Vince53]

Welcome to 1635!

German Protestant states in the Holy Roman Empire officially sign a peace treaty with the Empire, which is now controlled by Habsburg Catholics. The Emperor didn't want to sign, but the Empire was on the verge of economic collapse and he couldn't afford to continue the war.

With their Protestant allies gone, and with two years of crop failure, the Swedes are forced to steadily retreat northwards, allowing the Empire to retake large areas of Germany.

And Catholic France declares war on Catholic Spain.

Eleven years after building a fortress on Taiwan, the Dutch invade and conquer the rest of the island.

The Boston Latin School becomes the first public school in the US. Still one of the top schools in the US, it is also the oldest US school still in existence.

 

[Vince53]

1636 is a major year in world history, because...

Learning that he was going to be arrested by the Puritans for objecting to stealing Indian land, Roger Williams flees during a blizzard. He walks 105 miles to the Wampanoag Indians, whom he had befriended when he lived with the Pilgrims. Massasoit took him in and protected him, allowing Williams to leave in the spring.
Williams tried to start a new colony, but the Pilgrims warned him that he might still be arrested and urged him to go farther away. And so, with a small group of followers, he goes on to found “Providence,” which is now the capital of Rhode Island. For the next forty years, he helped establish other colonies, protected the powerful Narragansett Indians, and kept the peace.

The government of China falls--The Manchu are the fourth largest ethnic group in China. Decades ago, they had rebelled against mistreatment by China's Ming Dynasty, and this year they win. The Ming Dynasty ends and is replaced by the Qing Dynasty. Their reign ends in 1911 with the formation of the Chinese Republic.

China retakes Korea--Taking advantage of the disorder in both China and Korea, the Manchu and their Mongolian allies conquer Korea. It remains in subjection to China (which the Manchu now controlled) until 1894.

The Puritans found the first college in the US, which will later become Harvard University. And having antagonized the Indians, they form a part-time militia, which later becomes the US Army National Guard.


Dutch Jews who had fled to Brazil found the Rock of Israel synagogue, the first synagogue in the new world. It survives until 2001, when it is torn down, and a Jewish museum is built on the spot.

 

[Vince53]

It's 1637, and you know what that means...

The world’s first opera house opens in Italy.

If you understand the Dutch Tulip Mania, you will be a better investor. The prices of tulip bulbs rose to spectacular heights. Why? Because the prices kept going up. So you should buy now and sell later after it goes up some more. But when prices started declining, panic-selling set in as investors desperately tried to sell their bulbs before the prices dropped even more.This year, the mania collapses as tulip bulb prices crash down to reality.

A little personal advice here: I retired successfully to Mexico at the age of 52. I saved heavily, putting my money into the Vanguard Index 500 Fund. No high-risk investments for me. And NEVER, NEVER go to a broker.

Spain wins a massive naval victory off the coast of England when they attack 44 merchant ships escorted by six warships. The Spanish sink three ships and capture 17 more from the Anglo-Dutch convoy, with the Spanish not losing a single ship.

The Pequots had been the dominant tribe in the area that included English settlers in New England. After a series of raids and small battles in a war provoked by the Puritans, English settlers and their Indians allies massacre about 700 Pequots in the Mystic Massacre. Already devastated by smallpox, the Pequots lose next year.

Ignoring furious objections from everybody, England's King Charles I builds the HMS Sovereign of the Seas. By far the most magnificent and largest ship ever built, it lasted sixty years, ran aground in its only battle, and was finally burned by the British to get rid of it. However, it did help Britain extend its naval power.

 

[Vince53]

Oh great! It's 1638!

Upon being baptised by immersion, Roger Williams founds the first Baptist church in America, which still exists. A few months later, Rogers repudiated his own baptism because he had been baptized by people who had been baptized by apostates. However, he remains friends with the Baptists, although now an independent.

A major Catholic rebellion in Japan is defeated, and 37,000 rebels are executed. Christianity in Japan is literally exterminated.


Catholic France and Protestant Sweden sign a treaty in which France pays restitution to Sweden (which was in bad economic shape) and the two unite against the Habsburgs. And Sweden begins its own colonizing of the Americas, sending two boatloads to settlers to Delaware.



Cyril Lucaris was the bizarre Patriarch of the Orthodox Church. He lived in Constantinople, which was part of the Ottoman Empire. With Catholic missionaries converting his subjects, he tried to turn the Orthodox Church Calvinist. He sent students to the Netherlands, Switzerland, and England and gained their political support, while the Catholic nations had their ambassadors urge the Sultan to oppose him. Fearing a rebellion (Cyril was probably innocent) the Sultan has him killed.


It's odd, but not a miracle. December 21 is the shortest day of the year, and before dawn, there is a total lunar eclipse.

 

[Vince53]

1639 is a bad year for peace-lovers.

A ten year civil war breaks out in northern Italy between rival families. It ends when Pope Innocent X destroys the city of Castro, including its churches, seizes the land, and sells it to pay off debts. The city has never been rebuilt.

With England, Scotland, and Ireland all under one monarch, twelve years of sporadic civil wars break out.


After winning a major victory over the Catholics, the Swedes end their retreat from Germany and start advancing.


After buying an uninhabited strip of coastal land, England begins building a fortress. From there, they will eventually conquer India. The fortress is still in use as a government building.


Following a large river, Russians reach the Pacific Ocean for the first time. They establish a town that will be Russia's major Pacific port for three centuries. And they begin mistreating the Evens ("Ocean People"), local nomads who later will burn the town down.

 

[Vince53]

Welcome to 1640!

Spain sends 41 delegates to Japan, which has banned foreigners. So the Japanese behead them.

Portugal revolts, ending 60 years of Spanish control.

The Bay Psalm Book becomes the first book published in North America. This collection of hymns, printed by the Pilgrims, will be used for over 100 years, but none of its hymns are sung today.

 

[Vince53]

1641

Angered by the influx of Protestant immigrants from England and Scotland, Irish Catholics rebel. Within a few months, the Catholic Confederation controls most of Ireland, and it will be nine years before England regains control.

With everyone against him, England's King Charles I flees London. Parliament starts passing laws limiting the King's power.

A massive epidemic breaks out in China. In some areas, it wipes out 90% of the population.

For the third and last time in 3800 years, Mount Parker erupts in the Philippines. It forms a lake that still exists, and there is occasional trembling to this day.