17th century

Events

• The Thirty Years' War in Europe (1618-1648).
• Union of the Crowns of Scotland and England -- James VI of Scotland becomes James I of England: the Crowns are united in one person, but the kingdoms remain separate entities
• Scottish and English Protestants sent to colonize Ireland, as reaction to Catholicism there
• The English Civil War (1642-1651).
• The Deluge: series of wars and civil wars in Poland with Sweden, Russia, Prussia and Transylvania which caused Poland to lose power status and began rise of Russia to power status.
• Antwerp merchants established the Dutch East India Company in 1602, embarking on colonial expansion based on shareholdership rather than royal control.
• The Dutch republic became the dominant economic and political power in Europe. It also underwent crashes, e.g. the windhandel in tulips led to many bankruptcies in 1637.
• Republic of the Seven United Netherlands gains formal independence from Spain in 1648. Dutch merchant ships sail all over the world, leading to a Golden Age in the country, which also shows by the many famous Dutch painters living in this age.
• Major changes in philosophy and science take place, often characterised as the Scientific revolution.

Significant people

• James VI of Scotland / James I of England
• William Shakespeare, author and poet.
• Isaac Newton, physicist and mathematician.
• Gottfried Leibniz, philosopher and mathematician.
• Galileo Galilei, scientist.
• René Descartes, philosopher and mathematician.
• Blaise Pascal, theologian, mathematician and physicist.
• Baruch Spinoza, philosopher.
• Thomas Hobbes, philosopher.
• John Locke, philosopher.
• Oliver Cromwell, Lord Protector of England.
• Christina of Sweden, high profile catholic convert, matron of arts.
• Sir Thomas Browne author, philosopher and scientist

Inventions, Discoveries, Introductions

• Calculus is invented and used to formulate classical mechanics.
• Cannon and gunpowder technology refined.