In 1678 CE, the world of European imperialisms saw several developments of note. In Portuguese-controlled Brazil, the royal leader of an enclave of escaped, previously enslaved Kongolese tried to negotiate peace with the colonial authorities then faced an internal challenge. In Europe, the two empire-building powers France and the Dutch UP’s finally made peace after … Continue reading 1678: Formerly enslaved Kongolese run a free enclave in Brazil. Franco-Dutch treaty. Dutch war in Java. Etc. →

It’s a mainly-Anglosphere post again today. I’ll look at two main history-of-imperialism items from 1677: the marrying of James, the Duke of York’s daughter Mary to William of Orange, and the Treaty concluded between Governor Berkeley of Virginia with “several Indian Kings and Queens, &c.” of that area. In other world news, the Franco-Dutch war … Continue reading 1677: An Anglo-Dutch dynastic marriage. A Treaty in Virginia. →

Here we are at 1676 CE. A hundred years hence there will be a somewhat significant Unilateral Declaration of Independence by some European settlers in North America against their colonial metropole, but that is still far in the future. What we had in the English colonies in N. America in 1676 were two very significant, … Continue reading 1676: A settler-extremist rampage in Virginia. The last months of Metacomet’s Uprising. Other world news. →

1675 CE feels like an emotional year for me to write about. As an English-origined settler living in North America I totally realize that I am here because of White privilege and as a beneficiary/participant in the continuing story of “White”, English land-grabbing, exploitation, and dispossession of these lands. I live in the traditional lands … Continue reading 1675: Indigenes and enslaved resist English colonists in New England, Caribbean →

In 1674 CE, the main development in world affairs was the crowning of the Maratha Hindu leader Shivaji as Chhatrapati (“paramount sovereign”)– potentially of all of India. The growth of Maratha power under Shivaji was starting to pose a challenge to the control the (Afghan-origined) Mughals had been exercising over much of the subcontinent over … Continue reading 1674: Marathas’ Shivaji curbs Mughal power in India. Franco-Dutch war. Etc. →

1673 CE was not a great year for England’s King Charles. The war against the Dutch United Provinces was (a) not going well and (b) leading to increasing political turmoil at home. By year’s end he was ready to make a (separate) peace with the Dutch– and in fact I’ll take today’s bulletin through the … Continue reading 1673: War with Dutch leads to political conflict in England. France does global exploring. Etc. →

Just two years earlier, in 1670 CE, France’s King Louis XIV had persuaded England’s King Charles II to conclude the “Secret Treaty of Dover”, that bound Charles to joining in an upcoming French attack against the Dutch, and in May 1672 the attack was launched. (Charles also committed to becoming a Catholic. It is unclear … Continue reading 1672: Anglo-French attack on Dutch UP’s →

We’ll take a bit of a detour today, since in 1671 CE there were no big new developments in the history of the world’s four big European-origined empires. But longtime readers will know that I have a particular interest in precisely how it was that people professing various forms of the Christian religion persuaded themselves … Continue reading 1671: Quaker founder George Fox in Barbados →

The biggest development of 1670 was a secret treaty that England’s King Charles II concluded with France’s King Louis XIV. This treaty had huge effects over the following years. It was a masterpiece of diplomatic ingenuity wrought by Louis’s very able First Minister Jean-Baptist Colbert and his younger brother Charles, Louis’s ambassador in London. The … Continue reading 1670: A kingly plot, imperial expansion, end of an African empire, & more →

By 1669 CE it was already clear that the big profits and big power in world affairs were accruing to nations that could create and sustain capable transoceanic empires, the prerequisites for which were: large, capable fleets of trans-oceanic ships that had the dual capabilities of carrying cargo and being able to fight defensively and … Continue reading 1669: News from India, Baltic, Eastern Med, China →