By this point, in terms of European projects at world domination and all the plunder, destruction, and genocide that they entailed, Spain was clearly stepping into the number-one role. (See the orange-daubed parts of the world, above. Yellow was Portugal.) The Spanish state was also still actively throwing its weight around inside Europe, whereas the … Continue reading Key developments of 1525
Here’s a list of key events of 1524 CE that I culled from Wikipedia– and from the online Encyclopedia Britannica: In January, the French king Francis I entered the transatlantic exploration game by sending Florentine explorer Giovanni da Verazzano on an expedition to “the New World”, apparently seeking a western sea route to the Pacific … Continue reading Key developments of 1524
There was not as much happening in 1523 CE in the key areas I’m tracking, as there had been the preceding years. (To be honest, things going on in Scandinavia at that time leave me yawning.) But here’s what I have picked up: Martin Luther published his translation into German of the Pentateuch (the first … Continue reading Key developments of 1523, and notes on the pre-Portuguese Indian Ocean
So, in 1522 CE, our story of the development of Western imperialism continues to focus on many of the same actors as we were tracing the past two years: In January, and on behalf of “Spain” (more precisely, perhaps, the union of Castile and Aragon inaugurated by the 1469 marriage of Ferdinand and Isabella), the … Continue reading Key developments of 1522 (and notes on the Portuguese Empire)
The main actors I’d identified in my 1520 post all remained active in 1521: Martin Luther appeared as ordered before the Diet of Worms, which had been convened by the “Holy Roman Emperor” to examine his heretical beliefs. Luther refused to recant and made a speedy getaway before May 25, when the HRE declared him … Continue reading Key developments of 1521
Key developments of 1520 The best listing I’ve found of the events of 1520 is this one, on Wikipedia. There is also one on the New Zealand/Aotearoa-based website On This Day. Both lists are fairly Euro/Atlantico-centric, leaving out what I’m sure were significant developments in East Asia, Africa, Latin America, etc. But the Wikipedia one … Continue reading 500 years ago this year
In the past few months I have, I confess, fallen very seriously off the writing wagon atop which, back in 2019, I had vowed to ride into the future. My only defense is that I keep getting carried away by other kinds of broadly educational projects that seem at the time to be both urgent … Continue reading The 500-year project
Some quick takeaways from this past week’s election news here in the USA. 1. Though Biden won, it’s still true that more than 70 million Americans cast a vote for Donald Trump. That, after four years of seeing him in action: racism, misogyny, crass cutting of health care and other vital social programs; “White” entitled-ism, … Continue reading Takeaways from an election
Whoa. September was a complete washout, a zilch, for my plan to return to being a writer and getting my own voice back out there after nearly a decade of supporting other people’s voices. I have been super-busy in other parts of the Just World (anti-imperialist) “Empire”. I planned and then have been managing challenges … Continue reading What I’m not writing about when I’m not writing…
Bill the spouse and I have been lucky enough to get away from Washington DC for a few days, to enjoy the relatively bucolic charms of our former stomping-grounds in Charlottesville, Va. Today, we walked over to the Memorial for Enslaved Laborers that the University of Virginia opened on its famed “Grounds” recently. It is … Continue reading UVA’s Memorial to Enslaved Laborers
