Timeline of the Early Modern World

Some call it the Baroque Age. This post focuses on history, philosophy, literature, and art and architecture and covers the 1600s and up to 1715, the death of King Louis XIV of France.

This post has Bottom Line sections as it goes along, and there is a Conclusion section at the end, which asks the Western world to remember some things..

If you’re in a hurry, don’t forget the ctrl-f search to find your key term.

Please click on corresponding post Outline of the Early Modern World for additional and reorganized information.

Let’s get started.

The Advance of the Early Modern World

1) The Emergence of Modern State System

2) The Age of Louis XIV (The Baroque)

3) Scientific Developments

I. Timeframe

A. 1603: when Queen Elizabeth I of England died

B. 1715: When King Louis XIV of France died

Thirty Years War (1618-1648)

I. The Last Major War of Religion

A. The Origins

1. Germany alone divided into 300+ political entities

a. Therefore, an ambitious leader could encroach on a neighbor, if strong enough

2. Lutherans and Calvinists v. Catholics; and sometimes liberal v. conservative Lutherans; and Lutherans v. Calvinists

3. Germany centrally located, so trade goes N, S, E, and W

B. The Fight in Four Periods

1. Bohemian Period (1618-1625)

1618 Ferdinand II inherits right to ascend to Bohemian throne; also in line to be Holy Roman Emperor, strongly Catholic

He revokes freedoms of Protestants (May)

Protestant nobility throw regents out of window in Prague, falling fifty feet (they survive) in May; “Defenestration” of Prague

1619 Ferdinand II elected Holy Roman Empire by unanimous vote of Electors (Aug)

Bohemians depose Ferdinand in their own territory and elect Frederick V, Calvinist Elector of Palatinate married (Feb 1613) Elizabeth Stuart, daughter of James I of England

Spanish sends aid to Ferdinand; now full-fledged war others join

Ferdinand (Catholic) + Maximilian of Bavaria (Catholic) + John George of Saxony (Lutheran) v. Frederick V (Calvinist)

1620 Ferdinand under General Tilly and allies defeat Frederick at Battle of White Mountain (Nov)

1622 Ferdinand re-Catholicizes Bohemia and conquers Protestant Palatinate, and Maximilian pushes north into Germany

2. Danish Period (1625-1629)

1625 Danish king Christian IV (r. 1588-1648) elected leader of Lower Saxony

1626 Danish king Christian IV (r. 1588-1648) enters Germany to challenge Maximilian, but is forced to retreat (Protestant v. Catholic)

Ferdinand hires Albrecht Wallenstein (Protestant) (1583-1634) to counter successful Maximilian

Wallenstein raises army of 100k

1628 Wallenstein defeats Danes (Apr)

1629 Edict of Restitution, in which Ferdinand makes unrealistic demands to return land that had been settled for a long time

3. Swedish Period (1630-1635)

1630 Gustavus Adolphus of Sweden (r. 1611-1632) lands in Germany “Magdeburg Wedding”: Tilly’s mercenaries storm Magdeburg after a lengthy seize and loot, rape and burn it to ground

1631 Swedes defeat Tilly at Breitenfeld, dramatically reversing course of war (Sept), killing 12k and capturing 8k (out of 36k)

1632 Adolphus and Wallenstein meet at Battle of Luetzen, a standstill, but Swedish king killed, naked on battlefield with many bullet holes (Nov)

Swedes now fight under their Chancellor, Axel Oxenstierna

1634 Ferdinand has Wallenstein assassinated for price

Ferdinand defeat Swedes at Noerdlingen (Nov)

1635 Peace of Prague signed between German states and Ferdinand, abrogating (canceling) Edict of Restitution and compromising with Ferdinand, but Swedes, supported by France and Holland, refuse to sign it (May 30)

France declares war on Spain (May 19), and sides are drawn

4. Swedish-French Period

1635-1648 Spain, France, Sweden stomp on Germany in a mixture of formal battles and reckless looting

C. Bottom Line:

1. Treaty of Westphalia (1648)

a. Reasserts Peace of Augsburg (1555), leader determines religion;

b. Recognizes legal protection for Calvinists;

c. Recognizes Swiss Confederacy;

d. Recognizes United Provinces of Holland;

e. Approximately one-third of Germans die

f. Economy devastated

Bottom line on Thirty Years War and the Church

Justo Gonzalez: “The principles of tolerance of the Peace of Westphalia were not born out of a deeper understanding of Christian love, but rather out of growing indifference to religious matters . . . In the end, nothing had been resolved. Perhaps rulers should not allow their decisions to be guided by religious or confessional considerations, but rather by their own self-interest, or by the interests of their subjects. Thus the modern state began to develop . . . [a]nd an attitude of doubt regarding matters that previous generations had taken for granted. On what grounds did theologians affirm that they were correct, and others were mistaken? Could any doctrine be true that produced the atrocities of the Thirty Years War? Was there not a more tolerant, more profound, and even more Christian way to serve God, than simply following the dictates of orthodoxy, be it Catholic or Protestant? These were some of the questions posed by the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, partly as a result of the Thirty Years War and other similar events.” (Story of Christianity 2: 140-41)

Genealogical Tables

Philippe Erlanger, Louis XIV, trans. Stephen Cox (New York: Praeger, 1965, 1970)

J. H. Shennan, The Bourbons: The History of a Dynasty (New York: Continuum, 2007)


Alan Massie, The Royal Stuarts: A History of the Family that Shaped Britain (New York: Thomas Dunne Books, St. Martin’s Griffin, 2010)

James is the sixth James in Scotland, so up there he is called James VI. At the same time, he is the first James in England, so there he is called James I.

France and England: A Tale of Two Countries

I. Introduction

A. Elaborated Timeframe:

1. 1603: Death of Elizabeth I of England

2. 1610: Assassination of Henry IV of France

3. 1648: Treaty of Westphalia

4. 1714: Death of Queen Anne of England

5. 1715: Death of Louis XIV of France

B. Description

1. Barroco (irregular pearl)

II. Problems

A. Monarchy v. Parliament: Who controls what?

B. Religion: Protestant or Catholic?

C. Hierarchy and Government:




King King or Queen
Royal Council Privy Council
Estates General | Parlements Parliament
Estates General: Clergy, Commons, Nobility; meets only when called by king, but never convened after 1614

Parlement: Law Courts that register and try cases; under Louis XIV minimal debates over edicts with a few flare-ups

House of lords: Peers, aristocracy

House of Commons: Knights, Landowners, Burgesses and meets only when monarch calls it; votes for extra money like wars and royal debts

I. Louis XIII (1610-1643)

A. Marie de Medici (d. 1642)

1. Queen mother who hands reins of power to Cardinal

B. Richelieu (1585-1642)

1. Centralizes royal control

a. Finances

b. Nobility (even by force)

c. Assembly of Notables not convened after 1626

d. Estates General not convened after 1614

II. Louis XIV or le Grand (1638-1715)

A. Cardinal Mazarin (1602-1661)

1. Italian (Giulio Mazarini); Regent who carries on Richelieu’s policies

B. Louis XIV (r. 1643/1661-1715)

1. “My glory . . . my dignity . . . my greatness . . . my reputation”

C. La Fronde (1648-1652) (a slingshot)

1. Nobility and populace revolts

a. Nobility squeezed too hard

b. Bad crop harvests

2. Mazarin in exile, but returns

D. Centralizes royal power (1661)

1. Royal Council:

a. Reduced to three and no prime minister (men of humble origins)

b. Jean-Baptiste Colbert (1619-1683) becomes finance minister

2. Paris Parlement (and provincial ones)

a. Silenced in matter of registering royal edict: they must!

b. Forced to accept royal decisions taken in Council, not ratified by them;

c. This raises level of decision-making above Parlement(s)

3. Assembly of Clergy

a. Met every five years

b. Refused to adjourn, waiting to sign decrees, but now forced to adjourn

4. Nobility

a. Reduced their hold over army

b. Recruited men who served king, not a nobleman

c. Live in Versailles after 1682

d. Elaborate rituals and “Roll Call”

5. Bourgeoisie

a. Revolts in certain cities “put down and punished” by royal troops

E. Economic Policy under Colbert

1. Mercantilism: control of economy to maximize exports over imports in order to increase gold and silver bullion

2. Intendants and subdelegates and tax collectors

F. Religion Policy

1. Company of the Holy Sacrament (1630s onwards)

a. Dévots (the Devout) carry on Council of Trent reforms

b. Personal piety

c. Officially banned in 1665, but carried on anyway

2. Jansenists

a. Cornelius Jansen, Flemish (1585-1638)

b. Blaise Pascal (1622-62)

c. Puritan movement in Catholic church:

1) Personal piety

2) Simpler liturgy

3) Original sin corrupts free will and good works (Augustine)

d. Located in Port-Royal, it spread all over France

e. Officially declared heretical in 1553 by Pope

f. Peace of the Church (1668) clamps down on Port-Royal

g. Papal Bull Unigenitus (1713) condemns Jansenism, but, due to inaccuracies in Bull, Paris church leaders revolt, and some join Jansenists; Louis fumes and wails, but he’s old

3. Four Articles (1682)

a. Gallicanism

4. Edict of Fontainebleau revokes Edict of Nantes (1685)

a. Camisards and Dragonnades (Dragoons)

b. All churches demolished

c. All assemblies forbidden (death penalty; 600 die)

d. All children must attend Mass; some carried off

e. Expulsion of Protestants from Paris

5. Quietism

a. Madame Guyon and followers imprisoned (1697)

b. Bishop François Fénélon is influenced

c. He retires to Archbishop duties

G. Foreign Policy

1. Wars: Please click on corresponding post Outline of the Early Modern World for additional and reorganized information and for outcomes

a. 1667-1668:  War of Devolution

b. 1672-1679:  War with Netherlands

c. 1689-1697:   Nine Years War (War of League of Augsburg)

d. 1701-1714:   War of Spanish Succession

H. Timeline of Major Events and Policies:

A. Politics and Economy

1643 Accession of Louis XIV under Anne of Austria and Mazarin

1648-52 La Fronde revolt

1655 He enters Parlement dressed for hunting to curtail debates over edicts

1661 He reigns as king in own right without Prime Minister

1665 Colbert appointed Controller General of Finance: Mercantilism

1667 Ultra-protectionist customs tariff

1674 New taxes to fund war against Netherlands provokes rebellions, but crushed

1679 Tariff of 1667 rescinded

1682 Court moves to Palace of Versailles

1683 Colbert dies, largely out of favor

1701 The Tenth Tax (la dixième) on annual income; universal, egalitarian

1713 Royal deaths leave two-year-old Duke of Anjou, great-grandson, sole heir of France

1715 Louis dies (Sept 1): “I have loved war too much,” he writes his son

B. Society

1661 Academy of Dance established

1663 Academy of Inscriptions and Belles-Lettres established

1664 Molière is writing Tartuffe

1666 Academy of Sciences brought under royal protection

1671 Academy of Architecture established

1672 Academy of Music established

1677 Jean Racine retires from theater of Phèdre

1680 Comédie française opens as National Theatre

C. Religion

1664 Louis expels nuns from Port-Royal

1665 King disbands Company of Holy Sacrament (see “Religion” above)

1668 Peace of the Church is temporary solution to Jansenist problem, by (once gain) dismissing nuns and men

1669 Declaration permits persecution of Protestants

1676 Innocent XI becomes Pope (r. to 1689)

1679 More conflicts with Jansenists

1678 Legislation against Protestants, restricting them and forcing conversions

1680-81 Intensive persecution of Protestants and first appearance of dragonnades

1682 Declaration of Four Articles: Gallicanism and Louis’ partial schism

1685 Edict of Fontainebleau revokes Edict of Nantes (Oct); 1.75 million Huguenots; 200-250k emigrate to England, Holland, Germany, Switzerland, North America

1690 Pope Alexander VIII condemns Four Articles (see 1682)

1693 Louis withdraws Four Articles (see 1682) as too radical

1702 Camisards revolt against oppression (to 1705)

1705 Papal Bull against Jansenist: Vineam domini, which adds to earlier one in

1656: Ad Sacram sedem

End of Camisard revolt

1710 Stringent persecution of Protestants and Jansenists

1711 Final destruction of Port-Royal, even burial grounds

1713 Bull Unigenitus condemns supposed Jansenist doctrines

C. Foreign Policy

1659 Treaty of Pyrenees between Spain and France, in which Maria Theresa, Louis’ wife, renounces claims to Spanish inheritance on payment o500k crowns, which was not met

1665 Philip IV of Spain dies, leaving door open to conflict over inheritance (War of Devolution) because he’s father of Maria-Theresa, wife of Louis, whose grandson should vie to inherit Spanish Belgian provinces

1667 Beginning of the War of Devolution (to 1668), which was a dispute over Spanish Belgium and who gets it; Triple Alliance: United Provinces of Holland, England, and Sweden oppose France

1668 End of War of Devolution, in Treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle, leaving Louis in control of towns in Spanish Belgium

1672 Declaration of war on Netherlands (to 1679); he crosses Rhine and confronts William of Orange (later King William III of England)

1678-79 Successive Treaties of Nijmwegen ends war in Netherlands, resulting in minor territorial adjustments and Netherlands controlling all of its     territory

1683 Death of Maria-Theresa; secret marriage to Madame de Maintenon a few weeks later

1686 League of Augsburg forms to resist King’s expansion into Germany

1689 William of Orange becomes King William III of England

League of Augsburg grows to include England, Spain, Sweden, United Provinces of Holland) and electorates of Bavaria, Saxony, and Palatinate, supported by Austrian Emperor Leopold

Beginning of Nine Years War pits France against League of Augsburg

1697 Peace of Ryswick ends Nine Years War with William and Leopold triumphant

1700 Death of King of Spain, Charles II, who leaves entire inheritance to Philip of Anjou, Louis’ grandson

1701 War of Spanish Succession, ending in 1714, Emperor Leopold disputes terms of Charles II’s will

Grand Alliance (United Provinces, England, Holy Roman Empire) to fight France

1713 Treaty of Utrecht withdraws England from war of Succession

1714 Treaty of Rastadt (Mar) ends war of Succession, leaving Philip V, grandson of Louis, as king of Spain (to 1746)

Bottom Line on Louis XIV

1. Politically, he is an absolutist, especially in religion and war, but his power in the end is weakening, so will his great-grandson be able to maintain his policies and control?

2. Economically, mercantilism reigns, which has these main tenets: (1) exports must exceed imports; (2) therefore gold and bullion will increase at home; and (3) the government should control and subsidize entrepreneurship and business—“a hands-on” policy.

3. In religion, he is intolerant, believing he is doing God a favor by forcing everyone to conform to the true church with the confession, “I reunite” with the Catholic Church. Rather than uniting them, he pushes high-quality members of society out of his kingdom.

4. Major movements are Jansenism, Protestantism, Quietism, and Company of the Holy Sacrament. By the way, Company of the Fontainebleau Edict was not a major religious movement.

5. He loves the arts, so he establishes academies to foster them. He loves to dance ballet, and is reported to be above average.

6. The French or classical Baroque style reflects his absolutist outlook: control and order and grandeur.

7. His foreign policies mostly result in geographically stalemated wars, which leaves the government in debt.

The Stuarts of England and Scotland


I. James I, a Stuart, (r. 1603-1625; b. 1566)

A. Timeline

1604 Hampton Court Conference with Puritans who present grievances in Millenary Petition to, e.g., get rid of Bishops as too popish

Canon of 1604 limits preaching on controversial doctrines (e.g., predestination, aimed at Puritans

Gunpowder Plot whiplashes against Catholics, but King does not persecute them

1606 Oath of Allegiance forces Catholics to be loyal, but they may live in good conscience to be Catholic

James wins Bate’s Case, which allows him to tax imports

1611 Authorized Version (King James Version) published

1618 Five Articles of Perth seeks to impose Anglicanism on Scottish Presbyterianism, e.g., kneel before Eucharist elements; this creates strife among Scots

Book of Sports published by James, which allows Anglicans to have games on Sunday; bishops refuse to read it from pulpit, he rescinds it

1620 Puritan Separatists found Plymouth Colony at Cape Cod, Mass.

1623 Prince Charles and (Duke &) Earl of Buckingham leave for Spain without permission, as James is seeking to arrange marriage with Infanta

1624 Declares war on Spain with approval of Parliament (politics and Thirty Years War)

1625 James dies, and Charles accedes (Mar 27)

II. Charles I, a Stuart (r. 1625-49; b. 1600)

A. Timeline

1625 Charles marries Henrietta-Maria, daughter of Henry IV of France (June)

1626 He cannot get support from Parliament for war because Buckingham leads a failed naval expedition against Spain

Charles convenes Parliament to seek more money; they want Buckingham’s head, so he dissolves it and seeks “forced loans” and imprisons      those who refuse

1628 Petition of Right from Parliament, which forces king to no longer

(1) Collect forced loans and import taxes without consent of Parliament;

(2) Imprison freemen without due cause;

(3) Quarter troops in private homes; Charles reluctantly agreed

1629-1640 Years of Personal Rule: He makes peace with France (1629) and Spain (1630) so he can live on his own money without Parliament; He seeks new taxes (e.g., ship money); his Peace with Spain and France and his Catholic French wife arouse suspicion that he’s sympathetic to Catholics

1633 William Laud is appointed Archbishop of Canterbury; he’s an Arminian, and this doctrine offends Puritans

1636 Canons of 1636 impose Anglican worship on Scottish Presbyterians

1637 Scots revolt

1640 Short Parliament (Apr-May) King summons Parliament to crush Scottish revolt, but Parliament is not in giving mood, so he dismisses them

Battle of Newburn (Aug): Scots defeat English army, so Charles must have money and army

Long Parliament (Nov 1640 to 1660); they’re not in giving mood

1641 Triennial Act: Parliament must meet every three years

Grand Remonstrance (Dec 1): list of grievances of over 200 articles; this divides Parliament into Royalists and Parliamentarians

III. Civil War (1642-48)

A. Timeline

1642 Charles invades Parliament (Jan)

Parliament raises army, and Charles unfurls his banner: “Give Caesar His Due”

1643 Royal army has better year

Parliament allies with Scotland with understanding that England would adopt Presbyterian church government

Oliver Cromwell (1599-1658) leads Parliament army

1644 Battle of Marston Moor (Jul) gives Parliament its first major victory

1645 Battle of Naseby (Jun) Charles is defeated

1647 Westminster Confession clarifies beliefs of many branches of British Reformation

1648 Pride’s Purge: Scottish insist on Presbyterianism, and majority of Parliament were Presbyterians, but Thomas Pride forcibly refused their entry into Parliament building; Now the “Rump” Parliament

Second Civil War: Scots and Charles v. Cromwell and Parliament; Cromwell wins easily (Aug 17)

1649 Charles I is executed on January 30

IV. Republic (1649-1660)

A. Timeline

1649 Various attempts at governments, but too many religious and political factions and differences

1650 Adultery Act: death penalty for adulterers; Puritans regulate other social practices like theater, taverns, drunkenness, bear-baiting

1654 Cromwell makes himself Lord Protector (not king)

1659 James, son of Charles I, marries Ann Hyde in Breda, Holland

V. Restoration under Charles II (r. 1660-1685; b. 1630)

1660 Parliament and people are worn out, so they invite Charles II to assume kingship (son of Charles I)

Declaration of Breda (Apr 4) gives general amnesty and allows for freedom of worship (see 1673)

1661 Corporation Act allows Commons to enforce locally loyalty to king and restricts Presbyterians from offices

1662 Licensing Act regulates and censures printing presses

Militia Act puts military in kings control

King Charles II marries Catherine Henrietta of Braganza (daughter of Duke), very Catholic

Act of Uniformity requires clerics and teachers to be Anglicans

Declaration of Indulgence, but it does not last

Mary (later Mary II) is born to James Duke of York and Anne, but raised Protestant

1664 Conventicle Act bans Church services other than Anglican

1665 Five Mile Act prevents dissenting clergymen from living within five miles from and an incorporated town (see 1661)

Anne (later Queen) is born to James and is raised Protestant

1666 Great Fire in London; Christopher Wren begins St. Paul’s Cathedral

1668 James and Anne convert to Catholicism, but keep it secret

1670 Treaty of Dover makes peace with France if France attacks Netherlands; has two secret clauses: suspension of penal laws against Catholics and Charles’ conversion

1672 Declaration of Indulgence defends Anglican Church established by law, but permits Catholics and dissenters to worship privately

1673 Test Act is Parliament’s response and requires all civilian office-holders to take communion publicly and denounce transubstantiation

James’ conversion to Catholicism becomes public; he’s next in line to become king; he marries Mary, daughter of Duke of Modena

1678 Popish Plot, and general backlash against Catholics

1679 Rise of Whigs (pro-Commons) and Tories (pro-Royalty)

1680 Parliament and king at stand-still: Parliament wants to exclude James from acceding and have more Test Acts

1681-1685 Charles rules without Parliament, getting money from various taxes and estates

1685 Charles II dies, and James II accedes (Feb)

VI. James II (r. 1685-88; b. 1633)

A. Timeline

1685 He attempts to repeal Test Act, but Parliament balks, and he dissolves Parliament and appoints Catholics to high offices

Louis XIV of France repeals Edict of Nantes

1687 Declaration of Indulgence gives freedom to Catholics and dissenters; local officers were removed from office by king’s soldiers and replaced with Catholics

1688 James imprisons seven Anglican bishops who refused publicize his suspension of laws against Catholics

Glorious Revolution: James has son (Jun 20), and Parliament takes action “to restore ancient privileges”; they invite William, Stadtholder in Netherlands and married to James’ oldest daughter, Mary

William III lands in England (Nov); James is about to fight with an army, but inexplicably flees

1689 Parliament (even House of Lords) declares William and Mary king and queen (Feb 6)

Bill of Rights passes and does the following:

(1) Strikes down exercise of prerogative in judicial matters;

(2) Forbids standing army in peacetime;

(3) Forbids king raising money outside Parliament;

(4) Gives right to people to bear arms;

(5) Allows “people” to hold free elections;

(6) Gives the right to have frequent Parliaments in which members can speak openly;

(7) Forbids excessive bails, exorbitant fines, cruel and unusual punishment;

(8) Excludes James from throne, forbidding a Catholic from ruling and a monarch from being married to a Catholic

1690 Battle of Boyne in Ireland, James loses any attempt at regaining throne

1691 Treaty of Limerick effectively puts Ireland under English control and the Irish Parliament under Protestant control through a Test Act

1694 Queen Mary dies from smallpox

1701 Act of Settlement says since Anne outlived her offspring, throne passes to House of Hanover; her son William died in 1700 of hydrocephalus;

Hanovers come down from James I’s oldest daughter Elizabeth’s marriage to Frederick, King of Bohemia (see Thirty Years War, above)

1702 King William dies from a riding accident; Anne accedes

VII. Queen Anne (r. 1702-1714; b. 1665)

A. Brief Timeline

1707 Act of Union provides for Scotland to sit in Parliament (forty-five to             Commons; sixteen to Lords); Scotland and England = United Kingdom; unites Wales too with England

1713 Treaty of Utrecht withdraws England from French-Spanish War of Succession

1714 Anne dies (very obese); George I of Hanover accedes

Bottom Line on Stuarts

1. James-Charles-Charles-James ultimately fail because they do not settle the religious issues—religion and politics are intertwined—and do not know how to manage Parliament.

2. Therefore, Parliament wins the upper hand, especially after the Glorious Revolution.

3. So William and Mary and Anne never had as much power as Elizabeth I.

Church and Orthodoxy: Second Generation of Reformers

I. Catholic

A. Gallicanism

1. Assertion that French king and clergy are independent of pope’s control over temporal matters

2. Pope has control in matters of faith

B. Jansenism

1. “Puritan” movement within French Catholic Church that adhered to Augustine, but doubted free will, so this smacked of Calvinism, according to Jesuits

II. Lutheranism

A. Philip Melancthon (1497-1560)

1. Life

a. Educated at Heidelberg, Tuebingen, Wittenberg

b. Professor of Greek at Wittenberg, and soon embraced Luther’s cause

2. Luther left few systematic works

3. So Melancthon is a disciple-colleague of Luther and best interpreter of Luther’s beliefs

B. Formula of Concord (1577)

1. After controversy emerged over Luther’s beliefs, especially relating to good works, Melancthon and others clarified matters in a big theology book

C. Lutheran Scholasticism

1. Next generation of Lutherans (after Luther and Melancthon) seeks to reconcile various strands in Lutheranism yet distinguish it from Catholicism and other forms of Protestantism

2. Systematic theologies emerge

3. Aristotle’s logic and metaphysics not shunned

4. Scholastic because it’s born out of the schools

III. Reformed

A. Jacobus Arminius (1560-1609)

1. Life

a. Pulpiteer in Amsterdam

b. Professor of Theology at Leiden (1603)

2. Remonstrance in Five Articles (1610), for example:

a. Grace unto salvation is resistible; thus free will is strong

b. God has not predestined some to hell in His sovereignty, but they are left in sin

c. Leaves door open as to whether the saved can “lose” their salvation

B. Synod of Dort (1618-1619)

1. Clarifies Calvinism

T = Total Depravity or Total inability to save oneself. Humans do not have enough natural light to use it “aright even in things natural and civil.”

U = Unconditional Election is based on God’s will, not on any good or bad conditions humans have; God’s call to salvation is based only on His foreknowledge; thus God predestines some to heaven, some to hell

L = Limited Atonement means Christ died only for the elect

I = Irresistible Grace means once God regenerates a human, he responds willingly to call to salvation

P = Perseverance of the Saints: God preserves the saved (Once saved, always saved)

2. Arminians killed and driven out of Netherlands until 1631

3. Westminster Confession in England (1647) closely adheres to Canons of Dort

Bottom Line on religion

Justo Gonzalez: “It was clear that the orthodox theologians of each confession were becoming increasingly entrenched in their positions, as if only those who agreed with them on every point of doctrine properly deserved to be called Christians. Such dogmatism, while bolstering the conviction of some, also gave rise to increasing doubts about the truth of Christianity, or at least about the value of theology and doctrine.” (Story of Christianity, 2: 178)

Revolutionary Science

I. Introduction

A. Ptolemaic and Aristotelian Systems

1.  Geocentric

B. Scholasticism

C. Renaissance + Reformation = Revolutions

II. Some Scientists

A. Johannes Kepler (1571-1630)

1. On the Motion of Mars (1609)

a. Planets move in elliptical orbits, not circular ones

b. Velocities of planets are not uniform, but vary at different points in their orbits: slow away from sun, fast near sun

c. The velocities of planets relative to each other can be expressed mathematically

B. Galileo Galilei (1564-1642)

1. Dialogues on the Two Chief Systems of the World (1632)

a. Copernicus’s system is superior to that of Aristotle

2. In his own experiments, lighter and heavier objects fall at the same speed, thus contradicting Aristotle

The Inquisition:  In 1633, the Inquisition called Galileo to stand trial for his claim that the earth moved.  He was said to have muttered under his breath after he was forced to recant his belief, “Nevertheless, it [the earth] does indeed move.”  He was placed under house arrest.

C. Isaac Newton (1642-1727)

1. Work

a. The Mathematical Principles of Natural Philosophy (1687)

1) Any massive object persists in its state of rest or of motion unless an external force acts upon it

2) Any external force produces acceleration proportional to that force and inversely proportional to the mass upon which it acts

3) For every force acting on a body there is an equal and opposite reaction from the body upon its neighbors

III. Some Advances, Inventions, and Discoveries

1600 William Gilbert launches science of magnetism; claims Earth is a gigantic magnet

1602 Galileo discovers isochronism of pendulum

1608 Three telescope patents applied for (including Hans Lippershey)

1609 Kepler’s first two laws of planetary motion are published (the third in 1619)

1614 John Napier (Scottish) invents logarithms, which enable lengthy calculations involving multiplication and division to be carried out by addition and subtraction

1615 William Oughtred invents the slide rule

1623 Wilhelm Schickard invents the mechanical calculating machine

1625 Introduction of wheeled carriages for artillery

1628 William Harvey improves knowledge of circulation of blood in Motions of the Heart and Blood in Animals

1632 The world’s first official observatory is established in Leiden, Netherlands

1635 The perfected French flintlock mechanism becomes the standard ignition method in universal use by 1660

1637 René Descartes introduces coordinate geometry

1642 Blaise Pascal invents adding machine and introduces principles of hydraulics

1643 Evangelista Torricelli invents mercury barometer

1647 French introduce the bayonet

1654 Otto von Guericke invents vacuum pump

1657 Christiaan Huygens builds pendulum clock

1661 Robert Boyle defines an element as any substance that cannot be broken down into simpler substances and asserts matter is composed of corpuscles (atoms) of varying sorts and sizes, capable of arranging themselves in groups

1662 Boyle describes the inverse relationship between the volume and pressure of a fixed mass of gas (Boyle’s Law)

1665 Robert Hooke uses the microscope to describe the cellular structure of plants

1666 Isaac Newton develops differential calculus, a method of calculating rates of change

1668 Newton invents reflecting telescope (mirrors)

1672-74 Gottfried Leibniz builds his first calculator, the Stepped Reckoner

1675 Royal Observatory is established in Greenwich, England

Leibniz introduces the modern notation for integral calculus, a method of calculating volume

1687 Newton publishes Mathematical Principles

Revolutionary Philosophy

(And not so revolutionary)

I. England

A. Francis Bacon (1561-1626)

1. Works

a. Essays (1597, 1625)

b. Novum Organum (1620)

            “By far the greatest change I make is in the very form of induction, and the judgment made from it.  For the induction of which the logicians talk, which proceeds by simple enumeration, is a childish affair, unsafe in its conclusions, in danger from a contradictory instance, taking account only of what is familiar, and leading to no result.

            “Now what the sciences need is a form of induction that will analyze experience and take it apart, and through due exclusion and rejections necessarily come to a conclusion.  And if the common sort of judgment of the logicians involved so much labor and exercised such great intellects, how much more work is involved in this other method, which is drawn not only from the inner recesses of the mind, but also from the very bowels of Nature.” (from Novum Organum)

B. Thomas Hobbes (1588-1679)

1. Work

a. Leviathan (1651)

1) Absolutism

“This is the government of that great LEVIATHAN, or rather, to speak more reverently, of that mortal god [monarch], to which we owe under the immortal God, our peace and defence . . . .  And in him consisteth the essence of the commonwealth, which to define it is one person, of whose acts a great multitude, by mutual covenants one with another, have made themselves every one the author, to the end he may use the strength and means of them all, has he shall think expedient, for their peace and common defence.

            “And he that carrieth this person, is called SOVEREIGN, and said to have sovereign power; and every one besides; his SUBJECT.” (from Leviathan in 1651; capitals and emphases are the author’s)

C. John Locke (1632-1704)

1. Work

a. Essay Concerning Human Understanding (1690)

Click on Outline of John Locke’s Theory of Knowledge

b. Two Treatises of Government (1690)

“The great end [goal] of men’s entering into society being the enjoyment of their properties in peace and safety, and the great instrument and means of that being the laws established in that society, the first and fundamental positive law of all commonwealths is the establishing of the legislative power; as the first and fundamental natural law, which is to govern even the legislative itself, is the preservation of the society, and (as far as will consist with the public good) of every person in it.  The legislative is not only the supreme power of the commonwealth, but sacred and unalterable in the hands where the community have once placed it; nor can any edict of anybody else [read: monarch or any other executive power], in what form conceived, or by what power soever backed, have the force and obligation of a law which has not its sanction from that legislative which the public has chosen and appointed.” (From Two Treatises)

II. France

A. René Descartes (1596-1650)

1. Works

a. Discourse on Method (1637)

b. Meditations (1641)

2. Cartesian Systematic Doubt

Doubts soul and body exists – Doubts physical things – Dreaming? – Deceived by malicious being? – Foundation: I think, therefore I am

Even if all those things can be doubted, there is still a thinking thing that doubts.

3. Rebuilds

I have clear and distinct ideas – I have clear and distinct idea of my body – I have clear and distinct idea of objects – God exists – Soul exists

Click on Outline of Descartes’s Meditations I and II.

B. Blaise Pascal (1623-1662)

1. Works

a. Pensées (idea in 1657; publ. 1670)

The following words were written down, and after his death they were found sewn into his clothing; it seems he carried it around with him at all times:

The year of grace 1654

 Monday, 23, November, feast of Saint Clement, Pope and

Martyr, and of others in the Martyrology.

Eve of Saint Chrysogonus, Martyr and others

From about half past ten in the evening until half past midnight


“God of Abraham, God of Jacob, God of Isaac,” [Ex. 3:6] not of philosophers and           scholars.

Certainty, certainty, heartfelt, joy, peace.

God of Jesus Christ.

 God of Jesus Christ.

 My God and Your God [Jn 20:17].

 “Thy God shall be my God” [Ruth 1:16]

 The world forgotten, and everything except God.


 Greatness of the human soul.

 “O righteous Father, the world had not known thee, but I have known thee” [Jn.  17:25].

Joy, joy, joy, tears of joy.

I have cut myself off from him.

They have forsaken me, the fountain of living waters [Jer. 2:13]

 “My God wilt thou forsake me?” [cf. Mt. 27:46]

Let me not be cut off forever!

“And this is life eternal, that they might know thee, the only true God, and Jesus             Christ whom thou hast sent” [Jn. 17:3]

Jesus Christ.

Jesus Christ.


Let me never be cut off from him!


Sweet and total renunciation.

Total submission to Jesus Christ.

 Everlasting joy in return for one day’s effort on earth.

 I will not forget they word [Ps. 119:16].  Amen

Church Reaction to Scientific and Enlightenment Thought)

I. Spiritualist Option

A. George Fox: Quaker  (1624-1691)

1630s   Apprenticed as shoemaker

1643 Fox leaves Anglican church and becomes a traveling preacher, emphasizing   the Holy Spirit’s presence in each believer

1646 He comes to rely on “Inner Light of the Living Christ”

1647 Preaches truth is to found in God’s voice speaking to soul, i.e., Friends of Truth or just Friends

1649 Thrown in jail for interrupting a Nottingham church service with an impassioned plea from Scripture that Holy Spirit is our guide and authority

1650 Thrown in Derby prison as a blasphemer and there a judge nicknamed the group “Quakers” because Fox told magistrates to tremble before the Lord

1660 Founds the Society of Friends (Quaker Movement)

1667 William Penn becomes a Quaker and seeks a new colony of religious tolerance in Pennsylvania (later called that)

1669 He marries Margaret Fell

1671 He leaves for Caribbean and N. America and converts many

1673 Returns to England to build up churches

1677 He leaves for Holland and Germany and converts many followers

1694 Journal is published posthumously

B. Jacob Boehme (1575-1624)

1580-90s Apprenticed as shoemaker

1600 He looks at a dish reflecting sunlight and in ecstatic vision sees “the Being of Beings, the byss and abyss, the eternal generation of the Trinity, the origins and descent of this world, and of all creatures through the divine wisdom”

His ideas shift, but generally he is known as a theosophist; he is also critical of the Protestantism of his day because of its bibliolatry and doctrine of election and other things.

II. Pietist Option

A. German Pietism

1. Philipp Jakob Spener (1635-1705)

1635-63 Aristocrat and comes under influence of Reformers

1664 Receives doctorate in theology

1666-85 Pastor in Frankfurt am Main and emerges as leader of Pietist movement

1675 Publishes Pia Desideria (Pius Desires), which becomes Pietist charter

1) Bible study; 2) Priesthood of all believers; 3) True faith expressed in good deeds, not only in knowing; 4) Avoid theological disputations; 5) Emphasis on devotional life and literature; 6) Inspired preaching

1669 Preaches from Sermon on the Mount, and people responded with conversions and changed families

1686 Accepts position as Court preacher in Dresden, but his uncompromising preaching cause his departure

1690 Some of his followers ejected from Leipzig due to rising popularity

1692 Spener accepts invitation to go to Berlin under Elector of Brandenburg

2. August Hermann Francke (1663-1727)

1684 Becomes professor of Hebrew in Leipzig

1687 Converts and begins Bible study classes at Leipzig; opposition grows and he is forced out

1692 Professor of Oriental Languages at University of Halle and pastor in a nearby town; he helps poor children; founds an orphanage, common school, bookstore, bindery, and other industries; and makes Halle a center of missions and piety

Baroque Literature

I. Introduction

A. Description: Please click on corresponding post Outline of the Early Modern World for additional and reorganized information.

II. France

A. Molière: Jean-Baptiste Poquelin (1622-1673)

1. Works

a. Misanthrope (1666)

b. Tartuffe (1664)

See corresponding Outline of Early Modern Age

B. Jean Racine (1639-99)

1. Works

a. Phèdre (1677)

III. England

A. John Donne (1572-1631)

“And new philosophy [astronomy] calls all in doubt, / The element of fire quite put out; / The sun is lost, and the earth, and no man’s wit / can well direct him where to look for it. / And freely men confess that this world’s spent, / When in the planets and the firmament / They seek so many new; they see that this / Is crumbled out again to his [its] atomies [components]. / ‘Tis all in pieces, all coherence gone; / All just supply, and all relation: / Prince, subject, father son, are things forgot, [politics, social order, and astronomy!] / For every man alone thinks he hath got / To be a phoenix, and that there can be / None of that kind, of which he is, but he. [This refers to growing individualism] (“Anatomy of the World: First Anniversary,” lines 205-18)

After Donne laments the loss of earth’s power, he continues:

“For the world’s beauty is decayed or gone; / Beauty, that’s color and proportion. / We think the heavens enjoy their spherical, / Their round proportion embracing all. / But yet their various and perplexed course, / Observed in divers ages, doth enforce / Men to find out so many eccentric parts, / Such divers down-right lines, such overthwarts [vertical and horizontal lines] / As disproportion that pure form.  It tears / The firmament in eight and forty shares, / And in those constellations there arise / New stars, and old do vanish from our eyes: / As though heav’n suffered earthquakes, peace or war, / When new towns rise, and old demolished are. / They have impaled within a zodiac / The free-born sun . . . .” (ibid. lines 249-64)

B. John Milton (1608-1674)

1. Works

a. Paradise Lost (1667)

In Paradise Lost 8.66-178 Adam asks about cosmology, and the angel Raphael is ambiguous as to which system, Ptolemy’s or Galileo’s, is best.  He concludes that Adam should focus on things on the Earth right in front of him and not to speculate.  But he may favor the new model of the universe:

. . . Hereafter, when they [scientists] come to model Heav’n / And calculate the Stars, how they will wield / The mighty frame, how build, unbuild, contrive / To save appearances, how gird the Sphere / With Centric and Eccentric scribbl’d o’er, / Cycle and Epicycle, Orb in Orb . . . .  (PL 8.79-84)

Baroque Art and Architecture


I. Florid Baroque

A. Introduction

1. Counter-reformation continued

B. Examples

1. St. Peter’s Basilica

2. Gianlorenzo Bernini (1598-1680)

3. Michelangelo Merisi (1573-1610) (a.k.a. Caravaggio)

4. Artemisia Gentileschi (1593-1653)

5. Peter-Paul Rubens (1577-1640)

6. Diego Velásquez (1599-1660)

II. Classical Baroque

A. Introduction

B. Examples

1. Palais de Versailles

2. Nicolas Poussaint (1594-1665)

III. Restrained Baroque (a.k.a. Protestant)

A. Introduction

B. Examples

1. Rembrandt van Rijn (1606-1669)

2. Jan Vermeer (1632-1675)

3. Judith Leyster (1609-1660)

4. Anthony Van Dyke (1599-1641)

5. Sir Christopher Wren (1632-1723)

Bottom Line on Early Modern Age or Baroque Age

I. Government

A. Modern state system emerges in England with a strong Parliament and weakened executive or monarchial power

B. However, absolutism in Europe—expressed most spectacularly in Louis XIV—is still alive, but it is declining gradually

C. John Locke is the best defender of a strong legislature—he’s widely read, especially in America

II. Economics

A. Mercantilism is the policy of the day:

1. Stronger exports (outgoing stuff) than imports (incoming stuff)

2. Precious metals would therefore build the treasury and money supply

3. Yet, government controls and subsidizes entrepreneurship

B. Mercantilism fuels much of the foreign and colonial policies concerning North America

III. Science

A. 1600s is known as Revolutionary, especially in astronomy

B. The universe is turned “right side in” with Copernicus’s theory being confirmed beyond dispute

C. The universe operates according to laws that can be figured out and calculated

IV. Philosophy

A. Descartes is the founder of modern philosophy

B. Although a devout Christian who attempts to “prove” God’s existence, Descartes unleashes skepticism that philosophers are still trying to figure out & answer

V. Religion

A. Christianity is still strongly flavored with rigid dogmatism and fighting

1. Witches are burned

2. Galileo arrested by Inquisition

B. Therefore, Christianity is in danger of being left behind among the intellectual elite in 1700s and eventually among regular folks, especially in late 1800s

C. But revivals and renewals still crop up

VI. Literature

A. Classicism dominates

1. This trend could reflect, among other things, the absolutism in France, since classical literature has been interpreted as following strict rules (unity of time, space, and plot)

2. It could also mirror the clear lines in French paintings, e.g., Poussin

B. Ornamented and grandiose language and themes

1. These features reflect the ostentation and grandiosity of the royal courts

VII. Art

A. Classical Baroque dominates in France

1. It reflects literary classicism and political absolutism.

B. Protestant or Restrained Baroque dominates in Holland and England

1. It reflects Dutch and English Protestant Christianity.

C. Florid Baroque dominates in Italy

1. It reflects Council of Trent’s call for emotion and movement that appeals to the religious sentiment in the viewer


Western world, wake up! Take back your good heritage, like your biblical Christian faith, rather than empty religion,  and leave the bad in the past. The English developed modern democracy.

Live as free people.


Outline of Ancient Egypt (3100-525 BCE)

Outline of Mesopotamian Civilizations (2900-1750 BCE)

Outline of Minoan Civilization (3000-1380 BCE)

Outline of Archaic Greece (1900-500 BCE)

Outline of Classical Athens (500-323 BCE)

Outline of Hellenistic World (336 BCE-14 CE)

Outline of Roman Civilization (800 BCE-476 CE)

Outline of Medieval Age (476-1500)

Outline of Renaissance and Reformation (1400-1610)

Timeline of Renaissance and Reformation (1492-1610)

Outline of the Early Modern World (1603-1715)

Timeline of the Early Modern World (1603-1715)

Outline of the Age of Reason (1715-1789)

Timeline of the Age of Reason (1715-1789)

Outline of Revolutions and Reactions (1789-1830)

Timeline of Revolutions and Reactions (1789-1830)

Outline of the Triumph of the Bourgeoisie (1830-1871)

Timeline of the Triumph of the Bourgeoisie (1830-1871)

Outline of the Gilded Age (1871-1914)

Timeline of the Gilded Age (1871-1914)

Outline of the Age of Populism (1914-1945)

Timeline of the Age of Populism (1914-1945)

Outline of the Age of Affluence (1945-1990s)

Timeline of the Age of Affluence (1945-1989)

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