The Second Millenium

[Vince53]

It is now 1595!

C-sections had involved cutting a living baby out of its dead mother. This year, an Italian doctor demonstrates that a C-section can be successfully performed on a living woman having delivery problems.

You’ve never heard of Bartholomaeus Pitiscus? He did not invent trigonometry, but he invented the name for it this year in the first great textbook on the subject. He possibly invented the decimal point as well.


Mehmed III begins his eight year reign as Sultan of the Ottoman Empire. He quickly executes his nineteen brothers and half-brothers. A lazy ruler who allowed his mother to rule the Empire, he personally assumed command of his armies after they suffered a major defeat, defeating the Hungarians and Habsburgs in several battles. He kept his treaty with England's Queen Elizabeth and built up the Turkish navy. Historians agree that he left the Ottoman Empire a little stronger than it had been.



William Shakespeare's Richard II, Romeo and Juliet, and A Midsummer Night's Dream are performed for the first time in London.

 

[Vince53]

1596 is now on deck!

It's the fourth bad harvest in a row and famine breaks out in England.

Dutch explorers discover two Arctic islands that are now part of Norway,

England, France, and the Netherlands form the Triple Alliance against Spain. So Spain invades France, England invades Spain, and the Netherlands is recognized by the other two as an independent nation.

John Harrington builds the first bathroom, including the "ajax," a toilet that almost flushes correctly.

 

[Vince53]

1597 had got to be better than last year.

Japan publicly crucifies 26 Catholics, some of whom were foreign missionaries, to prevent conversion to Christianity. Japan had seen that Spain had converted many Filipinos and then seized the nation, and they were afraid that the Spanish and Portuguese would do the same to them.

The great astronomer Tycho Brahe gets fired and is forced to flee persecution. But he is forbidden to conduct any science no matter where he goes. The biggest complaint seems to be that he was not a good leader of the various scientific teams he had controlled.

The Netherlands begins to trace in spices with the Pacific islands.

Spain suffers a series of defeats in both France and the Netherlands.

 

[Vince53]

It's 1598, and...

After 58 years of peace, the Spanish declare the Hopi Indians of the southwestern United States to be a conquered people. These peaceful farmers were forced into Spanish slavery but eventually drove the Spanish out. They later became friends with the US.

Dutch sailors discover the dodo, a 31 pound flightless bird, on an island in the Indian Ocean. With no predators on the island, the dodos became a good source of fresh meat, and the island was used to replenish Dutch vessels. Pigs were turned loose, rats and dogs escaped from ships, and it was these animals, not humans, who destroyed the dodos’ habitat. A century after being discovered, the dodo was extinct.


Tycho Brahe publishes a catalog of 1,004 stars.


In Russia, "The Time of Troubles" begins. Lasting fifteen years, about 1/3 of Russia's six million people will die of famine, the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth will seize much of Russia, and civil wars and uprisings will be rampant.


France's religious wars come to an end, with Protestants granted equal rights with Catholics. France also ends its war with Spain.


Swedish Protestants defeat a Catholic invasion by Poland.


After suffering a major naval defeat, the Japanese abandon Korea. There is a common belief that Japan never lost a war until World War 2, but it is incorrect. No foreign invader had ever conquered Japan, however.


In South America, the Mapuche Indians begin their successful revolt against the Spanish. The Indians eventually win and remain independent until conquered by Chile in 1870.

 

[Vince53]

It's now 1599!

An Italian lawyer publishes “The Anatomy of the Horse,” the first published anatomy of an animal.

A 16,000 man English army arrives in Ireland to restore order.

Surrounded by Ottomans and their Catholic allies, Wallachia invades Transylvania. Hungary joins Transylvania, but Michael the Brave leads Walachia to victory. As a result, Wallachia, Moldavia, and Transylvania are loosely united as a new nation: Romania.

A Dutch fleet returns from the Pacific with 425 tons of spices.

"Julius Caesar" is performed at the Globe Theater in London.

Using a combination of persuasion and threat of force, the Catholic Church peacefully absorbs the "Saint Thomas Christians" of India. Literally founded by the Apostle Thomas in India, they had become corrupted with Hindu thought, which the Catholic Church removed.

 

[Vince53]

We made it! It's the Seventeenth Century! Welcome to the year 1600!

The Dutch Miracle is the greatest event of the century. The Netherlands becomes the world’s greatest economic, maritime, military, and scientific power. Incredibly, they aren’t recognized as independent until 1648. Towards the end of the century, it falls apart.


“The Scientific Revolution” will include a massive loss of control over science and thinking by religions. Science had already been important, and it had always been speeding up. But in this century, the speed of scientific progress booms.


Historians disagree on “The General Crisis,” but wars and changing governments dominate much of the world during this century. During the 1640’s, more governments will collapse than in any other decade in history.


And about this time, sumo wrestling becomes a professional sport in Japan. It had already existed as a religious ritual, military training technique, and political unification tool.

 

[Vince53]

We return to the year 1600.

"Young Volcano" erupts in Peru. It puts so much debris into the atmosphere that there will be record cold for the next three years. One-third of Russia (about 2 million people) will die of famine during this time. 1500 local people are killed, and the local agriculture doesn't recover for another 150 years.

An Italian writes the first opera.

King James has a bizarre experience. He is lured to a castle where two brothers try to ???? James' bodyguards kill them, and it is reported that it was an assassination attempt. Decades later, a nobleman will confess that it was a kidnap plot, intended to force James to obey a group of nobles. And other sources suspect that Queen Elizabeth was behind the failed kidnapping.

William Gilbert describes the earth's magnetic field.

Decades of terrific civil war come to an end in Japan with one man ruling as Shogun and the Emperor little more than a figurehead.

 

[Vince53]

1601 is the current year.


At the Battle of Kinsale, England wins its greatest victory over Ireland. Despite taking far heavier losses, the English destroy the Irish aristocracy, cementing their hold over the Irish.


On January 1, 1601, Eternity begins. Huh? No joke, starting with Windows 95, all Windows operating systems operate as if Eternity began on January 1, 1601. Dates and even nanoseconds are counted from the beginning of this Eternity.



Queen Elizabeth quickly defeats a rebellion and beheads the leader.


Hamlet is performed for the first time.


Crypto-Calvinism appears in the Lutheran Church. It refers to secret Calvinist beliefs by members of any denomination who often pretend that they are holding to the actual teachings of that group.

 

[Vince53]

We welcome you, to 1602!

The Dutch East India company is formed. Eventually, it will spread the Dutch Empire around the world through trade. Frustrated at Portuguese mistreatment, Asian and Pacific nations will often unite with the Dutch as a result.

England loses half its 12,000 man army, but it defeats the Irish and Spanish at the Siege of Kinsale.

Imprisoned for teaching "dangerous ideas," such as women are intellectually equal to men and should be educated, the Chinese scholar Li Zhi commits suicide.

 

[Vince53]

1603 is a great year for great rulers.

With the death of Queen Elizabeth, James VI, King of Scotland, inherits the Throne of England, permanently uniting the two nations. James gets mixed reviews as King of Great Britain. He failed to expand the Empire. But he kept the great Elizabethan Empire that he inherited in great shape.

After decades of civil war, a battered and impoverished Japan makes sixty year old Tokugawa Ieyasu their new Shogun. This begins the Great Peace of Japan, which will last until 1868. Understanding “The Great Peace” will help you understand the concepts behind World War 2.
After decades of ferocious civil wars had left Japan impoverished, a brilliant general became Shogun and assumed all of the real power. The Shoguns eventually exterminated Christianity, increased economic growth, caused art to flourish, put the nation in isolation, developed extremely rigid rules of behavior, and gave Japan the highest standard of living in the world. The Japanese military was usually small and did mostly police work. Tokyo became the most populated city in the world.
The rulers attributed their success to the national gods, who actually lived in Japan. From the Dutch, they learned of the wars and chaos in the rest of the world, and it was easy to believe that Japan’s gods were superior to the other gods. They believed that the western gods existed, but that Jesus was an enemy of Japan who wanted to enslave them as he had done in other Asian nations.
But military science floundered, and in 1850, four heavily-armed American warships forced Japan to open to the rest of the world. The doomed shogunate held on for another eighteen years, but Japan was now rapidly modernizing to catch up with a world that could conquer them at any time.

 

[Vince53]

We return to 1603.

Out in the Pacific, the Dutch East India Company begins seizing Portuguese ships.

Ireland surrenders to England, ending The Nine Years War.

It is not clear what happened in the Sangley Rebellion. The archbishop of Manila got suspicious when China sent thousands of merchants to Manila, fearing that China planned to seize the Philippines. An arrogant Spanish commander berates his officers as cowards before leading a large Spanish army into a Chinese mob, which annihilates several hundred of the soldiers. But more Spanish troops, backed by Filipinos and even some Japanese, arrive and massacre 20,000 Chinese, ending the rebellion.

In Japan, the Kikkoman Company is founded. And, yes, I have used their soy sauce, and it's very good.

"To Whom the Peaks Bow" becomes Emperor of Ethiopia, converts to Catholicism, and is killed in a revolt, all within a few months.

 

[Vince53]

Never before, was it 1604!

England's King James has his act together. He gets work started on the Authorized Version of the Bible, making an important requirement--the translators must keep notes, explaining themselves whenever they disagree with a previous translation. Scholars had (and still are) bewildered by the way various ancient translations translate certain words and phrases, and previous English translators had realized that these ancient translations were giving the correct meaning without translating literally.

James goes on to make peace with Spain. Sometimes regarded as a coward, James will maintain the prosperity established by Queen Elizabeth by avoiding war when possible.

After being overthrown last year, Yaqob I returns to the throne of Ethiopia. He spends the next two years fighting uprisings before being killed in battle.

Kepler's Supernova is so bright that it can be observed at night for over a year. There will not be another supernova visible without a telescope until 1987.

It's only two miles long, and the wagons are pulled by horses, but England builds the first railroad track. Used to pull coal, it might have been based on earlier short-distance tracks. Oh, and, uh, the rails were made of wood.

 

[Vince53]

1605 just came down the tracks! (Pulled by horses, if you read yesterday's post).

Leo XI, "The Lightning Pope," reigns for 26 days. An experienced diplomat, he was elected because French and Italian cardinals united to keep out the candidate picked by the King of Spain. Almost seventy years old, cold and fatigue from Papal ceremonies wore him out.

Paul V begins his sixteen year reign as Pope. A tough-minded lawyer who was politically neutral, he rigidly enforced Catholic Law on the clergy. Meeting personally with Galileo, he condemned the doctrine that the Sun is the center of the universe, rather than the earth. (Actually, the Sun is the center of the solar system, not the universe).
He failed to enforce Papal Law against Venice, but sent assassins who wounded Venice's chief lawyer. The lawyer had persuaded the government to ignore the Pope's claim to superiority in civil matters.
He is still burned in effigy in England every year. Pope Paul had merely pleaded with England's Protestant King not to persecute Catholics, and the Pope was not involved in a failed Catholic attempt to assassinate the King.

 

[Vince53]

We return to 1605.

The Gunpowder Plot fails to go off. English Catholics accumulate enough gunpowder to blow up the House of Lords and kill King James, but authorities find out in time.

It is difficult to define a “newspaper.” However, most publishing houses believe that “Account of all distinguished and commemorable news,” printed in Germany, is the first real newspaper. It was printed at regular intervals, contained recent news, and readers were able to keep up on current events.


The first part of Don Quixote is published in Spain and rapidly becomes a world-wide bestseller.


With the death of his father, sixteen year old Feodor II becomes Czar of Russia. He is quickly deposed and murdered.


It is still unclear who False Dimitri was related to, but he begins his ten year reign as Czar. Scholarly and competent, he quickly murders his opponents, pardons his allies (who had been exiled by Ivan the Terrible), helps the serfs, stabilizes the economy, and grants freedom of religion to Catholics and Protestants (He was Russian Orthodox). He is killed by a mob that believed he was about to have Polish troops massacre the citizens of Moscow in order to establish Catholicism--it is still not known if the report was true.

 

[Vince53]

For the third and last time, we return to 1605.

England decrees that all Irish are subject to the Crown and not to any local leaders. All seminary priests and Jesuits are then expelled from Ireland.

The Great Peace of Japan continues as the Shogun voluntarily abdicates to his son, who then rules for eighteen years before abdicating. A competent general who had defeated uprisings against his father, the new Shogun virtually annihilates Christianity in Japan. Although the Emperor was a figurehead, he still had some influence, so the Shogun used marriages to make his daughter the Empress.

Despite the widespread devastation of American Indians in the Caribbean, the Indian population of Central America reaches one million.

England begins colonizing Nova Scotia, in modern Canada.

 

[Vince53]

1606 is a good year for discovering continents.

The Dutch discover Australia but make no attempt to colonize it.

The Spanish discover the Pitcairn Islands. Later inhabited by mutineers from the HMS Bounty (whose burnt wreck is still visible) and some Tahitians, the only inhabited island now has 56 inhabitants, all of whom are Seventh Day Adventists. It is Britain's only remaining Overseas Territory in the Pacific. And whenever a ship arrives, everyone on the island attends the party.

The Holy Roman Empire and the Ottoman Empire make peace. Austria stops paying tribute to the Turks, and Transylvania is recognized as independent.

 

[Vince53]

'Tis the year 1607!

England founds a colony at Jamestown, Virginia, the oldest city in the United States. 80% of the colonists die within three years, but not until they have massacred the local Indians, who had helped them when they arrived. With about 12,000 inhabitants today, it is considered the beginning of the British Empire.


You've never heard of Aceh? This minor kingdom in modern Indonesia begins expanding against its Moslem neighbors this year. Its rivals, including Portugal, seek to control the maritime trade that passes through Indonesia on its way to Europe. We'll be hearing from them again.


"To Whom the Angel Bows" begins his 26 year reign over Ethiopia. After two years of destroying Moslem invaders and a few uprisings, he is officially crowned in 1608. Needing military aid from Catholic Europe against the Ottoman Empire (which almost surrounded Ethiopia) he forces the nation to convert to Catholicism and spends the rest of his reign dealing with civil wars because of it. He eventually grants freedom of religion and capitulates to his son.


Spain goes bankrupt.

 

[Vince53]

You really won't hate 1608.

France founds Quebec, Canada. Its population today is over half a million.

John Dee dies. A devout Anglican and advisor to Queen Elizabeth, Dee was a successful navigator and astronomer who helped chart many of England’s voyages. Convinced that angels could tell him the ultimate truths, he spent thirty years trying to contact them without success.


Hans Lippershey invents the first refracting [FONT=&quot]telescope[/FONT]. He used sliding tubes to move the lenses closer or farther apart, allowing the viewer to focus. He is probably not the first person to invent one, but his was good enough that telescopes became more common.


Between a major fire, hostile Indians, and disease, the 38 survivors at the English colony at Jamestown badly need the 100 new settlers who arrive.

 

[Vince53]

1608 is a great year for science.

Hans Lippershey invents the first successful refracting [FONT=&quot]telescope[/FONT]. Its sliding tubes allow the viewer to focus the lenses, opening whole new areas of astronomy to scientists.

France founds Quebec, Canada. Its population today is over half a million.

John Dee dies. A devout Anglican and advisor to Queen Elizabeth, Dee was a successful navigator and astronomer who helped chart many of England’s voyages. Convinced that angels could tell him the ultimate truths, he spent thirty years trying to contact them without success.


It's a rough year for the English colony at Jamestown, Virginia. Between a massive fire, hostile Indians, and disease, only 38 settlers are left when 100 new settlers arrive. Captain John Smith is made the leader, and another 70 arrive later.

 

[Vince53]

1609 is an even greater year for science.

Johannes Kepler shows that the planets move in elliptical, rather than circular orbits. This solves one of the greatest problems with the heliocentric theory.

While studying the properties of light with his new telescope, Galileo takes a look at the moon. He is shocked to discover mountains, plains (which he thought were seas), and craters.

Spain and the Netherlands sign a twelve-year truce. While not official, the Netherlands is now independent.

Samuel de Champlain accidentally alters world history while trying to help his friends. A French explorer allied with the Huron Indians, he helps them in a battle against the more-powerful Iroquois. Firing a single shot that splits in two and kills two Iroquois, he sends the Iroquois fleeing. And from then on, the powerful Iroquois nation is the bitter enemy of France. They will later happily ally with the English, making the United States an English territory, rather than a French territory.

A crypto-Catholic poem, ridiculing three Protestant martyrs killed by Bloody Mary, is first printed. The title? "Three Blind Mice."