(16th century - 17th century - 18th century - more centuries)
Events
- Antwerp merchants established the Dutch East India Company in 1602, embarking on colonial expansion based on shareholdership rather than royal control
- The Dutch republic became the dominant economic and political power in Europe. It also underwent crashes, e.g. the windhandel in tulips led to many bankruptcies in 1637
- Republic of the Seven United Netherlands gains formal independence from Spain in 1648. Dutch merchant ships sail all over the world, leading to a Golden Age in the country, which also shows by the many famous Dutch painters living in this age.
- Major changes in philosophy and science take place, often characterised as the Scientific revolution.
Significant people
- William Shakespeare, author and poet
- Isaac Newton, physicist and mathematician
- Gottfried Leibniz, philosopher and mathematician
- Galileo Galilei, scientist
- René Descartes, philosopher and mathematician
- Blaise Pascal, theologian, mathematician and physicist.
- Baruch Spinoza, philosopher
- Thomas Hobbes, philosopher
- John Locke, philosopher
- Oliver Cromwell, Lord Protector of England
- Christina of Sweden, high profile catholic convert, matron of arts
- Sir Thomas Browne author,philosopher and scientist
Inventions, Discoveries, Introductions
Decades and Years