1562 was such a big year for this project. 1563 CE seems, by contrast, to be very quiet. I am certain that over here in the Americas, the Spanish and Portuguese settlers were continuing their genocidal activities and in London the Queen and various very rich dudes around her were planning their next investment in … Continue reading Key developments of 1563
Omg, 1562 CE, the year of the first instance of officially-backed English involvement in the trans-Atlantic trade in enslaved Africans. (A few other globally significant things happened, too.) Here goes: John Hawkins was a 30-year-old mariner from the southwest England port town of Plymouth, when this happened (per WP): “Hawkins received commission from Queen Elizabeth … Continue reading Key developments of 1562
The single most interesting development of 1561 CE was the renewed outbreak of an anti-colonial uprising in today’s Chile. But Suleiman the Magnificent was also getting on in years and his sons had been circling around for the succession… Anyway, read on! First Chile. 1561 saw the outbreak of the Second Great Mapuche Rebellion in … Continue reading Key developments of 1561
Well, lots of things happening in 1560 CE. Today’s survey will take us to many of that era’s empires! Here we go: Spain’s king Philip II had assembled a coalition of Christian naval powers with the goal of retaking Tripoli, in today’s Libya, from the Ottomans, who had captured it in 1551. The Christian fleet, … Continue reading Key developments of 1560
Here were the main developments of world-historical impact, in 1559 CE: England’s Queen Elizabeth I got crowned and immediately enacted two laws central to the Protestant supremacy there. These were the Act of Uniformity, which laid down the order of service in the Church of England and forced all subjects to go to church once … Continue reading Key developments of 1559
Not much happened in 1558 CE. Perhaps the fact that the global flu pandemic that had broken out the preceding year continued to rage throughout 1558 had something to do with that? (Above is a historic photo of the quarantine station built at Dubrovnik harbor in 1590, but Europeans and Ottomans had known a lot … Continue reading Key developments of 1558
1557 CE was a pretty epic (and eerily familiar) year which saw pandemic and economic collapse… Here goes: The year saw the start of an influenza pandemic that, because of the new frequency of transoceanic shipping, traveled fast and devastated areas across whole continents over the four years that followed. This seems to have been … Continue reading Key developments of 1557
Whoa, another big year, 1556 CE: In January, Charles of Spain, having divested himself of the Holy Roman Empire in 1555, abdicated from the Kingdom of Spain, retiring to a monastery. He left the Kingdom to his son Philip. End of a long era for Spain. Later in January, the Shaanxi Province in China was … Continue reading Key developments of 1556
A big year, 1555 CE! Let’s dive right in: On a world-historical scale, maybe the biggest thing happening in 1555 was that Spain’s King/Emperor Charles was at the height of a two-year process he’d started in 1554, of undertaking abdications from his many offices, titles, and kingdoms. Abdications in the plural, you might ask? Indeed … Continue reading Key developments of 1555
On a world-historical scale, I guess the Luso-Chinese agreement was the biggest event of 1554 CE (see more below.) But in England there was more drama from the Real Housewives of the House of Tudor and in the Americas various conquistadorings continued apace… The bullet-points: In 1554, a Portuguese group headed by Leonel de Sousa, … Continue reading Key developments of 1554
