Last year, 1566, one main big thing of world-historical importance happened. This year, 1567 CE, lots of things happened! I shall try to bring order out of a degree of global chaos: In China, the Jiajing Emperor dies Uproar & uprising in the Spanish Netherlands Conquistadores found key settlements in Americas Many adventures for Mary … Continue reading Key developments of 1567
Quite the year, 1552 CE! Conquistadores doing their thing, while back home in Europe their King/Emperor almost got captured by hostile forces. Ottomans, Portuguese, Ivan the Terrible, the dreadful Ming emperor. Imperial roiling as usual: In Chile, veteran conquistador Pedro Gutiérrez de Valdivia founded not one but two new settler towns, Valdivia and La Imperial. … Continue reading Key developments of 1552
It is still less than 60 years since 1492… but here we were in 1551 CE with the Spanish conquistadores taking new steps to consolidate their settler-colonial grip on the Americas. Things were also happening in the Mediterranean: In May, an order of Spain’s King/Emperor Charles established the “Royal and Pontifical University of the City … Continue reading Key developments of 1551
The year 1550 CE saw several world-historical things happening around the world. Before we dive deeper into one of these, here are the main bullet-points: Conquistadores doing their aggressive, expansionist thing in various parts of the Americas. Notably at Penco (halfway down today’s Chile) one conquistador force vanquished an army of several thousand indigenous Mapuche … Continue reading Key developments of 1550, & notes on Christianity and slavery
In 1545 CE, we’ll look quickly at some of the usual story-lines but then take a deeper dive into a Portuguese-controlled zone in West Africa. The usual story-lines: King Henry VIII of England was fighting both the Scots (who won a battle) and the French (whose short-lived capture of the Isle of Wight the English … Continue reading Key developments of 1545, & the Portuguese in West Africa
In 1543 CE, of course the Spanish depradations in the “New World” continued. Back home in Seville, King Charles V may, the previous year, have signed the “New Laws” that sought to restrain the violence the conquistadores/settlers used against the indigenes. But over there (here) in the Americas, the settlers and their military bosses paid … Continue reading Key developments of 1543
In my 1541 post, I noted the centennial of Portugal’s introduction of the practice of European slave-raiding into sub-Saharan Africa. This year, 1542 CE, marks the first half-century of Spain/Castile’s massive empire-building project in the Americas. (See a rough map of its extent in 1542, above.) This year also marked some significant stirrings of conscience … Continue reading Key developments of 1542, and Spain’s conquista of the Americas at 50
Probably the most world-historical development of 1540 CE was something that happened in the north of the Indian subcontinent. But elsewhere, lots of interesting things were happening, too: In May, an Afghan leader called Sher Shah Suri swept out of the highlands and in a battle at Chausa in Bengal he vanquished the armies of … Continue reading Key developments of 1540
These were the main developments in 1539 CE that impacted the development of the “West”‘s domination of world affairs: In January, the Catholic kings of Spain and France set aside the rivalry they had pursued for many years to reach agreement that neither would make further alliances with England, where King Henry VIII had now … Continue reading Key developments of 1539
The main themes of 1536 CE that had a bearing on the continuing emergence of European-origined empires were as follows: In January, the Spanish-backed Franciscans established the Colegio de Santa Cruz de Tlatelolco, in Mexico City. It was described as “the oldest European school of higher learning in the Americas.” The Franciscans, it turns out, … Continue reading Key developments of 1536
