-
The Thirty Years War begins.
With Emperor Ferdinand II’s ascension to head of state of the Holy Roman Empire in 1619, religious conflict began to form.
Ferdinand II’s first actions was to force citizens of the empire to follow Roman Catholicism, even though religious freedom had been given to its people previously. This escalated into The Thirty Years’ War, which was fought mostly in Europe from 1618 to 1648. And as time passed the war became less about religion and more about what group would end up ruling Europe -
Plymouth Colony is Established
In September 1620, during the reign of King James I, a group of around 100 English men and women, boarded the Mayflower and set sail to the New World. Two months later, the three-masted merchant ship landed on the shores of Cape Cod, in present-day Massachusetts. About half of the original settlers died but the rest managed to create bonds with the natives, which led them to create a self sufficient economy in within 5 years. Plymouth was the first colonial settlement in New England. -
Charles I becomes King
Charles was the second surviving son of James VI of Scotland and Anne of Denmark. In 1623, Charles accompanied by the duke of Buckingham visited Spain in order to get marriage treaty with the daughter of King Philip III. The marriage treaty was not received because of Buckingham’s arrogance and the Spanish court insisted he became a Roman Catholic. He later joined Buckingham in pushing his father for war against Spain. -
Charles’s Catholic brother James II takes throne
James II was the second surviving son of Charles I and Henrietta Maria. He was formally created duke of York in January 1644. During the English Civil Wars he lived at Oxford—from October 1642 until the city surrendered in June 1646. He was then removed by order of Parliament to St. James’s Palace, from which he escaped to the Netherlands in April 1648. In his reign parliament was made the official ruling power in England. -
Witch Trials begin
They took place in Salem, Massachusetts. It was a series of investigations and persecutions that caused 19 convicted “witches” to be hanged and many other suspects to be imprisoned in Salem Village in the Massachusetts Bay Colony (now Danvers, Massachusetts). It is now theorized that it was all mass hysteria.
