The Age of Discovery turns into the Age of Colonialism.
The Renaissance becomes the Baroque, the age of naked power and greed,
the age of reason, the first glimmerings of enlightenment. Thuggery tricked up as enterprise.
Absolute rulers play out their ambitions on the stage of the world.
Political wars disguised as religious ones; religious wars disguised
as political ones.
The flowering of science and mathematics.
The birth of notions of freedom for the common man at the same time as a vast, cruel expansion of slavery for millions.
The 17th Century is the stage for countless events that shaped the way
the world is today. In the nodes indexed below, I and others have
tried to place many of them in their chronological context, and provide
access to further nodes that explain them in-depth.
How I Made the Year Nodes is long enough to be off in its own writeup;
follow the link.
Special measures have been taken to identify at least one Dutch painter who passed away in each year of this century.
The 1600-oughts
1600 - 1601 - 1602 - 1603 - 1604 - 1605 - 1606 - 1607 -
1608 - 1609
The 1610s
1610 - 1611 - 1612 - 1613 - 1614 - 1615 - 1616 - 1617 -
1618 - 1619
The 1620s
1620 - 1621 - 1622 - 1623 - 1624 - 1625 - 1626 - 1627 -
1628 - 1629
The 1630s
1630 - 1631 - 1632 - 1633 - 1634 - 1635 - 1636 - 1637 -
1638 - 1639
The 1640s
1640 - 1641 - 1642 - 1643 - 1644 - 1645 - 1646 - 1647 -
1648 - 1649
The 1650s
1650 - 1651 - 1652 - 1653 - 1654 - 1655 - 1656 - 1657 -
1658 - 1659
The 1660s
1660 - 1661 - 1662 - 1663 - 1664 - 1665 - 1666 - 1667 -
1668 - 1669
The 1670s
1670 - 1671 - 1672 - 1673 - 1674 - 1675 - 1676 - 1677 -
1678 - 1679
The 1680s
1680 - 1681 - 1682 - 1683 - 1684 - 1685 - 1686 - 1687 -
1688 - 1689
The 1690s
1690 - 1691 - 1692 - 1693 - 1694 - 1695 - 1696 - 1697 -
1698 - 1699
16th Century - 17th Century - 18th Century
You will notice that I have included the year 1600 in the seventeenth
century, as I have little patience for pedantic statements about a year-counting
system which missed the event it supposedly starts from by six or seven
years. But if you insist, here's a link to the year 1700. | 
