The Khoi and San peoples were some of Cape Peninsula’s earliest settlers. During the early years of the Age of Discovery, European ships used the Cape as a way-station to replenish their supplies. Europeans (mostly Dutch and English) often docked near the Cape, and traded iron, copper, and other products for cattle owned by the Khoi. During the mid-1600s, the Dutch East India Company finally decided to colonize the Cape Peninsula to make the replenishment of Asia-bound ships easier. In 1652, Jan van Riebeeck led the earliest Dutch settlers to colonize the Cape Peninsula. This event is recorded on the Bible Timeline Chart with World History.
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Cape Peninsula’s Earliest Settlers and the Arrival of the Europeans
For thousands of years, the Khoi and San peoples lived side by side in South Africa’s Cape Peninsula. The Khoi were herders while the San people were hunter-gatherers, so there was conflict between them from time to time. The fate of these people soon changed with the appearance of Bartolomeu Dias’s ships in the waters of Cape of Good Hope in 1488.
By the early 16th century, Portuguese trade ships bound for Asia were constant sights for Cape Peninsula natives. English, Dutch, and the occasional French ships joined them in the latter part of the 16th century. Starting in 1590, Asia-bound English and Dutch trade ships began to use the Cape of Good Hope as a stopover to replenish their food supplies. European servants would then venture on land and trade with the Khoi herders for cattle and vegetables. In exchange, the Khoi people received copper, iron, beads, alcohol, and tobacco. The trade between the Khoi people and the Europeans prospered as the years passed, but it began to falter when the Khoi stopped trading their cattle for low-quality European products.
The Cape as a Dutch Colony
Jan van Riebeeck founded Cape Town in 1652.
The Dutch government granted the East India Company a trade monopoly in 1602. They had long used the Cape of Good Hope as a way-station to replenish their supplies, but the sheer number of ships that passed through meant that demand for meat and vegetables had also risen. In 1652, the Company decided to send Jan van Riebeeck and 125 men to the Cape to buy cattle and vegetables. However, the directors soon changed their minds and released the men (with some reluctance) so they could farm the land and raise cattle in the peninsula.
It was supposed to be a temporary solution for the directors of the Company but the Cape soon turned into a settlement. In 1657, the Company gave away plots of land along the banks of Liesbeek River to the men who came with Riebeeck. There was a shortage of workers, but the Dutch Boers (“farmers”) were forbidden at the onset by the Company to enslave the Khoi. Slaves from Indonesia, Malaysia, and other parts of Africa were then brought to the Cape colony as an answer to the labor shortage.
The fact that the Khoi were sidelined in the cattle trade and that foreign slaves were working in their homeland became a source of tension between them and the Dutch settlers. The tension sometimes broke out in violence, but this did not stop the Boers from pushing further inland. The Dutch encroachment on the lands on the north and east of the Cape displaced not only the Khoi but also other tribes who lived near the Cape.
Dutch men sometimes had children with Khoi women, but they were often considered as half-castes, so the European population remained small for many years. It was not until 1685 that the Dutch population swelled when the Company sent additional settlers as laborers and soldiers. French Huguenots, Walloons, Germans, Swedes, and Danes also added to the colony’s immigrant population. Many of the new settlers were members of the Dutch Reformed Church, but a small portion were Catholics. Many of the immigrants intermarried, and soon produced a new generation of people called Afrikaners.
Boonzaier, Emile. The Cape Herders: A History of the Khoikhoi of Southern Africa. Cape Town: New Africa Books, 1996.
Gray, Richard, ed. The Cambridge History of Africa. Vol. 4. The Cambridge History of Africa. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1975. doi:10.1017/CHOL9780521204132.
Hunt, John. Dutch South Africa: Early Settlers at the Cape, 1652-1708. Edited by Heather-Ann Campbell. Leicester: Matador, 2005.
Marks, Shula. The Cambridge History of Africa: From c. 1600 to 1790. Edited by Richard Gray. Vol. IV. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1975.
In 1642, a hardy group of French pioneers led by Governor Maisonneuve founded a colony on the island of Montreal. The project was the dream of the French layman Jérôme de la Dauversière who, after seeing a vision, decided to lead a group of pioneers from France into the New World. He worked with the nobleman Baron de Fancamp and the priest Abbe Olier to make the vision come true. After several challenges, his dream was finally realized in 1641 when the first Montreal-bound colonists sailed from France. These events are recorded on the Biblical Timeline Chart with World History during that time.
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In 1535, the French explorer Jacques Cartier and his crew arrived in the St. Lawrence River area. He left two of his ships docked near Stadacona (modern Quebec) and sailed with his men to the southern portion of the river. Cartier and his men came across a large village named Hochelaga which was then inhabited by the St. Lawrence Iroquois.
Cartier spent some time in the village, and named the nearby mountain “Mount Royal.” He returned to France in 1541 and many years would pass before the French visited the area again. It was not until 1603 that the French navigator Samuel de Champlain explored the St. Lawrence River area. The village of Hochelaga had long been abandoned, and there were no permanent settlements on the island of Montreal.
The French merchants established a monopoly on the fur trade with the natives who lived nearby. Champlain was then appointed as the governor of the territory, and he established Quebec as the colony’s headquarters. The French government encouraged their people to emigrate, but few people seized the opportunity. The few French pioneers who dared settle in the territory were also left to fend for themselves when the Thirty Years’ War started in 1618. They were forced to establish an alliance with the Wyandot people (Hurons) both for protection and for trade.
However, it seemed that they were not totally forgotten. Jesuit priests arrived in the colony named New France in 1625 and soon sent missionaries to convert the natives. In 1627, the French government created the Compagnie de la Nouvelle France (Company of One Hundred Associates) and granted it the right to govern the colony. It was also given the monopoly on the fur trade and fishing rights to the nearby waters. Despite having administrators, the conditions in the colony continued to worsen, and many of its residents died of starvation.
In 1629, the French government tried to send some reinforcements and supplies to its beleaguered colony, but the ship was intercepted by the English fleet led by Admiral David Kirke. The English fleet then sailed to Quebec where the admiral demanded Champlain’s surrender. The French governor had no choice but to surrender the colony. Kirke had him imprisoned and sent the fur bought by the French back to England. It was not until 1632 that the territory was restored to France and Champlain was reinstated as its governor. Champlain died three years later and was buried in his adopted hometown.
The Foundation of Montreal
A statue of the first governor of Montreal, Paul de Chomedey (Sieur de Maisonneuve)
Back in France, a tax collector and layman named Jérôme le Royer de la Dauversière had a vision while attending mass in the town of La Fleche in Anjou. In his vision, a being commanded him to establish a city on an island. He was also charged to establish a hospital on the same island, as well as a religious order of nursing sisters. He confided this vision to a local priest who then directed him to Pierre Chevrier, the wealthy Baron de Fancamp.
The two men then traveled to Paris in 1639 where they met Abbe Jean-Jacques Olier. The three talked about the far-off island of Montreal (Mount Royal) and agreed to establish a colony there. Thanks to the well-connected Abbe Olier, they were soon able to secure the patronage they needed from the French court. They were able to create the Société Notre-Dame de Montréal and were soon joined by three additional partners. Other people joined the venture and contributed their money, but the funds were still insufficient. Despite the odds, the members of the Société persisted in raising funds for a couple more years until they finally accumulated the amount that they needed.
In 1636, a member of the Compagnie named Jean de Lauzon acquired the island of Montreal and some lands on the southern portion of the St. Lawrence. He returned to France after staying in Quebec for some time and soon met with the leaders of the Société. They offered to buy the island of Montreal from him, but he initially refused. The negotiations continued, and he was forced to accept after the Jesuits appealed to him. He set the price at 150,000 livres, but the Société found it too steep. The negotiations with de Lauzon continued for months until they finally had an agreement.
After securing the title for the land, the Société then informed the Compagnie of their intention. The leaders of the Compagnie thought that Société’s single goal was to convert the natives, so they easily agreed to let them establish a colony in New France. Members of the Société were allowed to choose their own governor, build their own garrisons, and establish their own courts. The only condition was that the Compagnie retained the ownership of the northern shore, as well as any forts that would be built on it.
Jérôme de la Dauversière then looked for a suitable governor for the new colony. He had heard of a former soldier and nobleman named Paul de Chomedey (Sieur de Maisonneuve) who seemed to be the right man for the job. Dauversière arranged to see him, and he was impressed with Maisonneuve when they finally met. Not only was Maisonneuve wealthy, but he was also popular for his piety which sometimes bordered on puritanical. He was also tireless, disciplined, and generous which made him the right man for the job for Dauversière. Maisonneuve accepted the position of governor of Montreal and prepared for the journey ahead.
The search for volunteer colonists also started while negotiations with Maisonneuve was ongoing. Skilled artisans and able-bodied single men who could handle muskets were prioritized as colonists. The Jesuit priest Charles Lallemant also recruited the hardy and pious Jeanne Mance to serve as a nurse for the group of Montreal-bound colonists. Though frail, Mance had earned her stripes after her service as a nurse during France’s civil war which made her the perfect candidate for the job.
The Compagnie was able to secure three ships which would bring the colonists to the New World. In June 1641, the ships finally left France and sailed for Montreal. They were beset with bad weather, but all ships arrived in New France safely. The ship that bore Jeanne Mance’s group was the first to arrive in Quebec. It was followed three weeks later by the ships that bore Maisonneuve and the rest of the colonists. The group’s initial reception in Quebec was frosty. They were even discouraged by Governor de Montagny to continue their journey because of the threat of the marauding Iroquois bands.
Maisonneuve refused to be daunted. He invited Montagny and a priest to travel with him to check the island and look for a possible site to settle. Unfortunately, the harsh winter and the frozen St. Lawrence River forced the Montrealers to spend the winter in Quebec. The men used the time to prepare for the journey. Jeanne Mance, meanwhile, volunteered at a hospital in Quebec to improve her skills.
Finally, on the 8th of May 1642, 45 colonists sailed from Quebec to the island of Montreal. Maisonneuve and Mance were among the first group to leave, and they were accompanied by Governor de Montagny to their new home. They arrived on the island on the 17th of May and celebrated the first mass in Montreal on the same day. They immediately cleared the land to build an outpost and spent the summer planting crops and building houses for themselves. The number of settlers soon swelled to 70 when additional colonists joined them from Quebec.
The colonists were able to celebrate mass when they finished the new chapel in August of 1642. Maisonneuve then named the settlement Ville-Marie in honor of the Virgin Mary, and it became the first French settlement on the island of Montreal.
References:
Picture by: Ŝculpture: Louis-Philippe Hébert / Photo: Jeangagnon – J’ai pris moi-même ce cliché, CC BY-SA 3.0, Link
Atherton, W. H. Montreal, 1535-1914. Montreal: S.J. Clarke, 1914.
Jenkins, Kathleen. Montreal: Island City of the St. Lawrence. Garden City, NY: Doubleday, 1966.
Rich, E.E. The New Cambridge Modern History: The Decline of Spain and the Thirty Years War 1609-48/59. Edited by J.P. Cooper. Vol. 4. London: Cambridge University Press, 1971.
In 1633, the first Dutch and English colonists settled along the banks of the Connecticut River. Although the Dutch got a head start by building the Huys de Hoop outpost in as early as 1623, the English settlers quickly caught up when they created two settlements ten years later. Huys de Hoop, the first European settlement in Connecticut, was seized by the English later on. These events are recorded on the Biblical Timeline with World History during that time.
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The Dutch fur-trader and explorer Adriaen Block was the first known European to explore the coast of Connecticut from the Long Island Sound in 1614. Block and his crew came upon a river that the native Pequot named Quinnehtukqut (“the long tidal river” in Algonquin). Apart from the Pequot, Block recorded that the area was also home to other Algonquian peoples, such as the Mohegan and the Paugussett.
Block and his men were able to sail upriver until they reached the location of present-day Hartford. He then claimed the area for the Netherlands, but it remained safe from colonization for many years. It would not be until 1623 that the Dutch West India Company sent men to build a trading outpost and fort there. The Dutch named the area Huys de Hoop (House of Hope) and used it as a base for the fur trade. It later expanded into a city and was renamed as “Hartford” when it was seized by the English.
English Settlements in Connecticut
After being banished from Plymouth Plantation, colonist John Oldham ventured out to explore the Connecticut River.
War broke out between River Indians and Dutch-supported Pequot in 1631. To counter the Pequot, the River Indian chief Wahginnacut decided to make an alliance with the English settlers. He and his men first traveled to the Massachusetts Bay Colony and appealed to Governor Winthrop for support. Wahginnacut appealed to the governor by telling him how fertile their land was in hopes of enticing him to build a settlement there. Winthrop listened, but he was not keen on making an alliance with them.
Wahginnacut then traveled to the nearby Plymouth colony and appealed this time to Governor Edward Winslow. The governor was more receptive to Wahginnacut’s appeal, and he soon organized an expedition with his men to the Connecticut River. It remains unclear whether it was Winslow or William Holmes who established the town of Windsor around 1632. The English town was built just beyond the Dutch fort in Hartford which was finished in 1633. The English also cemented their alliance with the displaced River Indians by bringing them back to the area.
Around the same time, a settler named John Oldham left Plymouth with his men and explored the Connecticut River. Oldham was at the center of a disagreement among the settlers of Plymouth, so he was eager to escape the colony and look for a place to call their own. The news of a fertile land along the banks of the Connecticut River and the chance to escape the conflicts of the colony seemed too good to be true. The possibility of benefitting from the fur-trade with the River Indians was an additional bonus.
Oldham and his men saw that the land indeed was fertile. They returned to Plymouth and reported it to the settlers. In 1633, Oldham and his companions sailed into the Connecticut River and established Watertowne (present-day Wethersfield). The new English town was just a stone’s throw away from the Dutch-controlled Hartford and the town of Windsor. The three towns established an alliance in 1636 and created the Colony of Connecticut.
“Connecticut’s Oldest English Settlement.” ConnecticutHistory.org. Accessed August 01, 2017. https://connecticuthistory.org/connecticuts-oldest-english-settlement/.
Rich, E.E. The New Cambridge Modern History: The Decline of Spain and the Thirty Years War 1609-48/59. Edited by J.P. Cooper. Vol. 4. London: Cambridge University Press, 1971.
Winthrop, John. History of New England from 1630 to 1649. Vol. 1. Phelps and Farnham, 1825.
In 1643, the independent colonies of Massachusetts, Plymouth, Connecticut, and New Haven came together and established the Confederation of New England Colonies. The Confederation was established in response to the threat posed by hostile natives, as well as colonies’ French and Dutch rivals. Its goal was to create friendship and interdependence between the colonies, as well as defend each other in times of hostilities. The Confederation of New England Colonies lasted until 1684. This event is recorded on the Bible Timeline Poster with World History during that time.
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During the early 17th century, large groups of Puritans fled England and sought refuge in the New World. In spite of the challenges they faced, they were able to establish settlements along the coast of the Massachusetts Bay. Some of the towns created during the early years of colonization were Plymouth, Salem, Charlestown, and Boston.
Unfortunately, religious uniformity was impossible to attain, and dissenters soon emerged among the Puritans. Despite the persecution they experienced in the past, the Puritans themselves were not tolerant of dissent. The dissenters’ conflict with the Puritan leaders soon forced them to look for other places where they could settle. Some of them eventually founded new colonies in Wethersfield (1633) and New Haven (1638) in Connecticut.
The colonies of New England, however, were wedged between two other rivals: the French in the Canada and the Dutch traders in New Amsterdam. Apart from their Old World rivals, the different Native American tribes that lived near the colonies became a threat to the settlers. The tribes and the colonists were often times allies, but wars sometimes broke out between them.
The trade-driven conflict between the Native Americans and the English settlers finally exploded in 1637 with the Pequot War. What started out as a rivalry on the fur and wampum trade ignited into retaliatory killings between the natives and the settlers. The conflict only ended when the settlers (along with their Mohegan and Narragansett allies) massacred the Pequot in their village in Mystic, Connecticut.
The Confederation
The Pequot War was a catalyst for the formation of the Confederation of New England Colonies.
The Puritans knew that their enemies would continue as threats unless they put up a united front and create defenses for themselves. In May 1643, the representatives of the Massachusetts, Plymouth, Connecticut, and New Haven finally came together and created the United Colonies of New England (also known as Confederation of New England Colonies or New England Confederation).
It was one of the earliest forms of government in the colonies and was created so they could support and defend each other. Each colony was allowed to appoint two commissioners who would then represent them in annual meetings (or whenever necessary). A commissioner who wanted to lead the Confederation would need six votes for him to become president. The colonies were also encouraged to help each other and build their own defenses against the natives and foreign rivals. This alliance lasted only until 1684.
Rich, E.E. The New Cambridge Modern History: The Decline of Spain and the Thirty Years War 1609-48/59. Edited by J.P. Cooper. Vol. 4. London: Cambridge University Press, 1971.
United Colonies of New England. The Articles of Confederation of the United Colonies of New England. New York: P.P. Simmons Co., 1917.
“The Articles of Confederation of the United Colonies of New England; May 19, 1643.” Avalon Project. Accessed August 01, 2017. http://avalon.law.yale.edu/17th_century/art1613.asp.
Starting in 1613, Dutch settlements in New Netherland appeared alongside French and English colonies in the northeastern portion of North America. The Dutch, French, and English settlers often engaged in trade, but rivalry and hostilities occasionally flared up between them. The Dutch dominance in New Netherland finally ended when it was taken by the English for James, the Duke of York, in 1664. This event is recorded on the Bible Timeline Online with World History during that time.
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In 1613, Dutch traders established New Amsterdam on the southern tip of the island of Manhattan. Like their French counterparts in Canada, the Dutch traders’ main source of income was the beaver pelt trade with the Native Americans. With the Iroquois as allies, the Dutch fur trade soon expanded into the areas between the Hudson, Connecticut, and Delaware Rivers.
The Dutch colony and their outposts were wedged between two powerful rivals. The English held most of the northeastern seaboard with colonies extending from the coast of the Massachusetts Bay to Cape Cod. The London Company of Virginia was further south, but it was quickly prospering due to the tobacco plantations throughout the colony.
The French fur traders, meanwhile, were confined to their outposts along the banks of the St. Lawrence River. However, their alliance with the Huron people and their entrepreneurial spirit strengthened their foothold in the eastern portion of modern Canada. They were outnumbered by the English settlers, but these pioneers still outpaced their Dutch counterparts.
In 1620, the representatives of the Virginia Company came together and discussed the existence of New Amsterdam. They commissioned the explorer Thomas Dermer to travel north and meet with the Dutch traders to assert their rights to the colony. Dermer also claimed the whole island of Manhattan and the Hudson River area for the English.
News of their claim to New Amsterdam reached England in 1621, so King James I decided to strengthen it by granting the land between the 40th and 48th parallels to the Council for New England. The English ambassador in The Hague promptly told the Dutch authorities to compel their traders to leave New Amsterdam because they were staying there illegally.
The claims and the land grants had no effect on the Dutch. In the same year, the authorities granted a charter to the Dutch West India Company and gave it the right to appoint its own governor in New Amsterdam. The company also received the right to make treaties with the natives, as well as create its own military and build garrisons.
The Dutch traders also established trade outposts along the banks of the Connecticut River in 1623 (Hartford) and settled Walloon immigrants in Fort Orange (Albany) in 1624. The Dutch also built outposts near modern Philadelphia in the south. England, meanwhile, had its hands tied with wars with France and Spain, so its claim to the colony was momentarily set aside.
In 1626, governor Peter Minuit of the Dutch West India Company bought the island of Manhattan from the Lenape people. Although there were still few settlers, the Dutch leaders continued to fortify the city as the years passed. Their fur trade prospered when the Company forged an alliance with the Mohawk people that dominated the Hudson River area. Despite England’s claims to New Netherland, the Dutch—ever practical—did not hesitate to trade with their English counterparts.
New Amsterdam, pictured here in 1664, served as the seat of colonial government in New Netherland.
Their numbers, however, continued to lag behind the English settlers. To encourage emigrants, the Dutch government across the Atlantic issued the Privilege and Exemption for their citizens in 1629. Those who volunteered to go to America would be granted land immediately and be allowed to trade with the English and the French. Dutch emigrants sailed to America and settled in what is now Hoboken and Staten Island.
The Dutch finished the Huys de Hoop outpost (present-day Hartford) in Connecticut in 1633. This outpost was unfortunately wedged between two English settlements that were established in the same year. The English settlers also controlled the mouth of the Connecticut River, which cut off the Dutch outpost in Hartford from New Amsterdam. Trade still continued between the English and the Dutch despite the resentment that simmered beneath the surface. The two groups went beyond the fur trade and even transitioned to agricultural products.
In 1639, the English became more aggressive in taking territories from the Dutch. They attempted to take over Fort Nassau but were repelled. Additional emigrants flowed into New Netherland when the Dutch West India company relaxed trade regulations and provided incentives for emigrants. Huguenots, Walloons, Englishmen, Jews, and Native Americans all flocked to New Amsterdam, which soon gained a reputation as a cosmopolitan city.
Despite the incentives, most of the emigrants were interested in trade rather than cultivating the land, so its population still lagged behind the English colonies. Large groups of English emigrants also settled in New Netherland, and their number alarmed Governor William Kieft. He bought the land owned by Native Americans near present-day Greenwich and forced the English settlers who lived there to acknowledge Dutch authority.
The relationship between the Dutch and the Native Americans became complicated as the years passed. The Mohawk and the Dutch formed an alliance based on trade but left out the Algonquian who lived among them. Murders and retaliatory killings between the three groups flared up over the years which left the Dutch with fewer allies in the area.
New Amsterdam continued to be a melting pot of Dutch, French, English, and Native American peoples. The colony’s diverse population was both its strength (because of revenue) and its weakness (lack of loyalty from non-Dutch settlers). The Dutch colonists’ rivalry with the French over beaver pelt and with the English over land also intensified over the years.
By then, there were nearly 30,000 English settlers living in the colonies from Maine to Virginia. These colonies became increasingly independent as England became engulfed in conflict during the brief disappearance of the House of Stuart and the reign of Oliver Cromwell. In 1651, the English Parliament enacted the Navigations Acts which prohibited English merchants from buying New World products in Zeeland and Holland. The English navy led by Admiral Robert Blake also challenged the Dutch domination in the Caribbean.
From New Netherland to New York
Back in New Netherland, the Dutch governor Peter Stuyvesant had whipped the rough-and-tumble colony into shape. The Dutch territory spanned from some parts of the Connecticut River and Delaware Bay in the south. The Company also controlled the greater part of the Hudson River area up to Fort Orange in present-day Albany. The directors of Dutch West India Company still controlled the fur trade through their partnership with the Iroquois but started to relax the rules on the English settlers who sold tobacco in their territory.
The House of Stuart, meanwhile, had been restored to the English throne in 1660. Charles II summoned a Council of Plantations in 1663 to discuss possible actions to drive the Dutch colonists out of New Amsterdam. In early 1664, Charles granted Delaware, Connecticut, and New Netherland to his brother, James, the Duke of York. He then sent his adviser Captain John Scott to stake England’s claim in New Netherland.
The English colonies were also busy in asserting themselves. While England was grappling with the Restoration, the English colonists in Connecticut had claimed Westchester County and nearby Long Island. Governor Peter Stuyvesant knew that the Dutch were outnumbered and poorly-equipped to fight the more powerful English. He also realized that he would not receive any help from the Dutch authorities across the Atlantic, so he was prepared to hand the colony over to the English.
Captain John Scott arrived on Long Island in 1663 and started negotiations with Stuyvesant and John Winthrop (leader of Connecticut colony) immediately. Scott’s reputation as a swindler, however, did not help in the negotiations and Winthrop decided to imprison Charles’ commissioner. The Duke of York then sent his Groom of the Chamber, Richard Nicolls, to assert his claim and appointed him appointed him as governor of the new territory.
Nicolls left England on May 25, 1664, and arrived with his fleet in August of the same year. Governor Stuyvesant gave New Amsterdam up to Nicolls without any bloodshed on September 8, 1664. Nicolls, for his part, rewarded the Dutch for readily handing the colony over to him by allowing them to remain in Manhattan. He also allowed Dutch ships to travel freely to and from the Netherlands and waived Cromwell’s Navigations Acts. The handover was not entirely without bloodshed as the Dutch defenders of Fort Orange and Fort Casimir fought the English before surrendering the garrisons.
References:
Picture by: Johannes Vingboons – Geheugen van Nederland (Memory of The Netherlands), Selections from the Map Collections http://international.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/r?intldl/awkbbib:@field(DOCID+@lit(awkb012367)), Public Domain, Link
Rich, E.E. The New Cambridge Modern History: The Ascendancy of France, 1648-1688. Edited by F. L. Carsten. Vol. 5. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1971.
Shepherd, William R. The Story of New Amsterdam. Ann Arbor, MI: University Microfilms International – Books on Demand, 1917.
The Catholic tradition dominated the Low Countries from the 3rd century AD up to the reign of the House of Habsburg. The explosion of the Reformation during the early 16th century threatened Catholic power over the Low Countries. Repressions followed the spread of Protestantism, but Rome and the Habsburg rulers found that it could not be contained. Despite the unrelenting repressions, the Dutch Reformed Church was finally created in 1571. It became one of the dominant churches in the Netherlands from the start of the Reformation and into the early 20th century. This event is recorded on the Bible Timeline with World History during that time.
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The Low Countries, the Holy Roman Empire, and Christianity
The Romans brought Christianity to the Low Countries (Belgium and Netherlands) in the early 3rd century AD. Bishoprics were soon established in cities such as Tournai and Tongeren as the new religion spread. Christianity later declined with the arrival of pagan Germanic tribes in the area in the mid-3rd century. The religion experienced a revival upon the conversion to Catholicism of the Frankish king Clovis I in AD 496. Except for the region inhabited by the fiercely independent Frisians, Christianity once again dominated the Low Countries.
The pagan Frisians soon became Christians during the reign of the Carolingian king Charlemagne. The Carolingian kingdom was divided between Charlemagne’s sons after his death, but the arrival of the Vikings disrupted their domination in the Low Countries. The Vikings soon converted to Catholicism and Christianity continued to be the dominant religion in the Low Countries.
Although the Low Countries were always dominated by their neighbors, local princes soon emerged as independent rulers of their own cities. In 1369, Duke Philip II of Burgundy (related to the French House of Valois) married Margaret Dampierre, the daughter of the count of Flanders. This marriage brought Flanders into the orbit of France and the Burgundian ties to the Low Countries would be strengthened later on by Philip the Good’s expansion to Holland, Zeeland, Hainaut, and Friesland.
In 1477, the Low Countries was folded in the territory of the Holy Roman Empire with the marriage of Mary of Burgundy to Maximilian I. Their son, Philip the Handsome, married Joanna I of Castile which further expanded the Holy Roman Empire. The royal couple’s eldest son, Charles V, was born in 1500. The prince inherited the Low Countries when his father died in 1506, and succeeded to the Spanish throne ten years later. The staunchly Catholic monarch became the Holy Roman Emperor in 1519 and was largely responsible for stemming the tide of the Reformation during the early 16th century.
The Reformation and the Creation of the Dutch Reformed Church
In 1566, iconoclasm swept through the Catholic churches in the Netherlands.
During the late 1300s, Geert Groote, Florentius Radewyns, and their disciples created the Brethren of the Common Life. It was a community which devoted itself to charitable works and education. The Brethren may have paved the way for the Reformation more than a century later because of their insistence on reading the Bible in Latin and in Dutch. Intellectual giants such as Thomas a Kempis, Rodolphus Agricola, Alexander Hegius von Heek, and Desiderius Erasmus were among the Netherlands’ famous residents who were also Reformation forerunners. It was no wonder that it was the Dutch who were the first ones to embrace the Reformation.
By the time Martin Luther released the Ninety-Five Theses in 1517, the cities of the Low Countries were already vibrant centers of the Renaissance and humanism. Luther’s then-radical theses did not sit well the Catholic authorities. He was later forced to recant, but his refusal to renounce his beliefs later resulted in his excommunication in 1521. Despite the Pope and Charles V’s opposition to Luther’s ideas, the Reformation still spread to other parts of Germany and even outside its borders.
The Wittenberg-educated Hendrik van Zutphen was possibly the first person to introduce the evangelical movement in the Netherlands. His activities centered in the city of Dordrecht, but Catholic opposition and fear for his life drove him back to Wittenberg in 1519. Book-burnings and persecutions became the norm during that time. These acts, however, did not stop the spread of the Reformation in the Netherlands starting in the 1520s.
In 1522, Charles V went after the “heretics” when he established the Inquisition in the Low Countries. Two of the Inquisition’s first victims were Zutphen’s followers Henry Voes and John Esch. Both men were condemned to be burned at the stake and were executed in Antwerp or Brussels in 1523. Charles passed harsher laws against the “heretics” over the years, but the numbers of those who broke away from the Catholic Church only increased.
The arrival of the radical Anabaptists in the Netherlands only intensified the repressions against the dissenters. Despite the dangers to their lives, the Dutch Anabaptists produced prominent Reformation personalities such as John of Leiden and Menno Simons (founder of the Mennonites). Calvinism eventually overtook other versions of Protestantism (including Lutheranism) in the Low Countries. It also became the foundation of the French-speaking Walloon Churches in Southern Netherlands.
In 1556, the Habsburg prince Philip II rose to the Spanish throne and inherited the provinces of the Low Countries. He then named William (Prince of Orange-Nassau) as the governor (stadtholder) of Zeeland, Utrecht, and Holland in 1559. A German native, William was raised by his parents as a Lutheran. He later received a Catholic education as a condition for inheriting the principality of Orange.
The king, however, was unaware that William’s sympathy with the Protestants remained although he claimed to be a Catholic. His resentment of Spanish rule rose especially during the height of the Inquisition in the Netherlands. In 1564, William started to openly attack Spain’s restrictive rule and its cruel persecution of Protestants. The unrest in the Netherlands intensified over the years, and William himself supported the Dutch rebels financially.
As expected, Philip II soon declared William an enemy of Spain and of Catholicism. William only dug his heels in and even became the leader of Dutch rebels. The intense battles which started in 1568 ignited the Eighty Years’ War between the Dutch Protestant provinces and Spain.
In the midst of this bloody conflict bloomed a new church geared primarily for the Dutch-speaking Protestants of Northern Netherlands. Between the 4th and 14th of October in 1571, 29 exiled members of the Walloon Church came together in the German city of Emden and held a synod. Before it ended, the Walloon Church had already breathed life to the Dutch Reformed Church (Hervormde Kerk).
This church, just like its southern counterpart, also accepted the Calvinist Reformed Confessions of Faith which included the Belgic Confessions of 1561 and the Heidelberg Catechism of 1563. Unlike the Lutherans, however, the Dutch Reformed Church is presbyterian in administration (led by elders).
Cerny, Gerald. Theology, Politics and Letters at the crossroads of European civilization: Jacques Basnage and the Baylean Huguenot refugees in the Dutch Republic. Springer Science & Business Media, 2012.
Lindsay, Thomas M. A History of the Reformation. New York: C. Scribners Sons, 1914.
The French theologian John Calvin (1509-1564) was one of the giants of the Reformation movement. He was born into a well-to-do family and spent most of his early years in preparation for the life as a priest. He studied law from 1528 to 1531 and soon came into contact with the Reformation movement. The repression he encountered in France drove him to exile, and he sought refuge in Basel, Ferrara, and Strasbourg. He eventually settled in Geneva where he became one of the leading contributors and innovators of the Reformation. These events are recorded on the Bible Timeline Chart.
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John (or Jean) Calvin was born on July 10, 1509, in the town of Noyon in Picardy, France. His father, Gerard Calvin (Cauvin), served as a lawyer and high-ranking notary for a bishop in Noyon. It was also in this town where Gerard met his wife, Jeanne Le Franc. In addition to John, the Calvins also had three or four other children. Gerard remarried and had two other children when Jeanne died in 1515..
At that time, the Calvins belonged to France’s wealthy middle-class. John studied at the Colleges des Capettes and was considered a brilliant student by his teachers. He was later sent to the home of the influential de Hangest family where he was educated by a tutor along with the children of the family. Despite his break from Catholicism and his exile from his homeland, the de Hangest family remained Calvin’s lifelong friends.
Around 1520 or 1521, John Calvin came to Paris with the de Hangest brothers. He studied Latin grammar at the College de la Marche in preparation for the degree in theology and eventually, the life of a priest. At twelve years old, Calvin already wore a tonsure and served as the clerk of a bishop. He followed it up by entering the College de Montaigu (still in Paris) to study philosophy.
Calvin During the Early Years of the Reformation
In 1526, Gerard Calvin pulled his son out of Paris and sent him instead to study law at the University of Orleans. The elder Calvin’s withdrawal of his son from Montaigu was said to have stemmed from a disagreement with the bishop of Noyon. It was also a practical move by Gerard as the Reformation raged on in Europe at that time. If Luther became successful and the Church was dissolved, his son, at least, would still be able to make a living as a lawyer.
Calvin then transferred to the University of Bourges in 1529 to study under the humanist lawyer Andreas Alciati. He learned Greek under the humanist Melchior Wolmar and then became a lecturer on rhetoric at a local Augustinian monastery during his 18-month stay in Bourges. He went back to Noyon sometime in 1531 when he heard that his father was ill. Gerard Calvin died in May 1531. By June, the younger Calvin was already in Paris to study Greek and possibly, Hebrew. He stayed there for some time until the arrival of the plague forced him to flee for the countryside.
Calvin returned to Orleans sometime later to finish his law course. He came back in February of 1532 and published his commentary on Seneca’s De Clementia (his first book) in April of the same year. On November 1, 1533, Calvin helped the newly-elected rector of the University of Paris Nicolas Cop write his rectorial address. The audience took Cop’s speech as an attack on the Catholic Church and a demand for reforms. The faculty considered the speech heretical, and the Catholic authorities soon sent men to arrest Cop. However, he had already fled for the Swiss canton of Basel.
The Exile
As a supporter of the Reformation, Calvin was forced to leave Paris to hide in Noyon.
Calvin had been a supporter of the Reformation for some time, so he was forced to leave Paris to hide in Noyon. He later came back to Paris but left again when it became clear to him that the city was a dangerous place for those who had sympathies for the movement.
Calvin went back to Noyon in May 1534 and gave up the benefices previously granted to him. He then traveled to different cities in his homeland to evade persecution and first came into contact with the Anabaptists while in hiding. He wrote his first tract, the Psychopannychia, to disprove the Anabaptist’s belief that the soul slept after death.
The hostilities towards Protestants in France finally forced Calvin to leave his homeland and seek refuge in Basel in 1535. The Swiss canton was known as a Protestant stronghold and home of various European Reformation leaders who fled repression in their own homelands. Calvin reunited with his friend Nicolas Cop, and later befriended some of the leading Protestant intellectuals in Basel.
Calvin contributed a preface to Pierre Robert Olivetan’s French translation of the Bible that was published in mid-1535. In the March of the following year, he published the Institutio Christianae Religionis. It was a statement of faith aimed at the nation of France and their king, Francis I. It soon reached France and became popular among the people.
Calvin left the safety of Basel to become the secretary of sympathetic Princess Renee of France, in her husband’s court in Ferrara. This stopover did not last long as the repression soon caught up with the French exiles. He then went to back to Basel and lived briefly in France while the Edict of Lyons was in effect. The repressions continued, so Calvin, his brother Antoine, his half-sister Marie, and some residents of Noyon traveled to the Protestant-friendly city of Strasbourg.
Reforms in Geneva and Calvin in Strasbourg
The caravan could not travel directly to Strasbourg because of the dangers on the road, so they decided to detour to the canton of Geneva. The original plan was to stay only for the night, but Calvin became ill, so they had to remain there for several months. While they were stranded in Geneva, the French preacher Guillaume Farel approached Calvin and urged him to stay. Calvin agreed and served as a preacher (and later on as pastor) under Farel.
On January 16, 1537, the two French pastors presented the Articles on the Organization of the Church and its Worship in Geneva to a city council. The two men introduced some innovations in the Protestant church in Geneva and attempted to reform the city itself. The reforms did not sit well with the citizens, and they were suspected as agents of France. They were soon driven out of Geneva by a mob in 1538. They then sought refuge first in Bern and then in Zurich to appeal to the Protestant leaders, but to no avail. Calvin and Farel had no choice but to leave Zurich and seek temporary haven in Basel.
The two men soon parted ways when Calvin received an invitation from Strasbourg-based German reformists Wolfgang Capito and Martin Bucer. Calvin accepted their offer, while Farel moved to Neuchatel. His decision to settle in Strasbourg was a good one, and it was said that he was at his happiest there. He served as a minister to fellow French refugees which may have eased the pangs of homesickness during his exile. Money was hard to come by at first, but he supplemented his income by teaching in private. He expanded the original Institutio and had the second edition published in 1539. He also wrote a lengthy commentary on the Romans in the same year and had it published in 1540.
Calvin was always in poor health, so his friends convinced him to marry so there would be someone to take care of him. He agreed to see some candidates, but somehow never found them to his liking. With the help of his friends, Calvin married an Anabaptist widow named Idelette de Bure in 1540 and took in her two children from her previous marriage. The only child between her and Calvin, however, died soon after he was born.
Factional conflicts once again broke out in Geneva after the arrival of new church ministers, but Calvin wrote to his friends there that they should not give in to division. They should, he advised, follow the ministers appointed over them for the sake of unity.
A conflict also flared up between the cantons of Geneva and Bern in 1539 because of a piece of land which sat between their borders. The Genevan delegates sent by the authorities for the negotiations not only failed but also quarreled with their counterparts in Bern. They had to flee for their lives and were soon replaced by the followers of Farel. Farel’s partisans fared no better, and the situation only worsened.
Cardinal Jacopo Sadoleto, the Archbishop of Carpentras, quickly capitalized on this conflict in hopes that the Genevans would come back to Catholicism. He sent the council a letter convincing them to turn back from Protestantism and encouraged them to embrace Catholicism. The council of Geneva did not want to offend him, so the members decided to ask the Swiss theologian Pierre Viret to come up with a reply. Viret refused, so the Genevans sent a letter to Calvin in Strasbourg instead. He agreed and wrote the Responsio ad Sadoletum in which he defended Geneva’s stance on the Reformation.
Many of the people who were instrumental in driving Calvin and Farel out of Geneva died or fell out of favor in the city during this time. The Genevans also realized that they had been wrong in driving the Frenchmen out, so they decided to make amends to entice Calvin back to their city. The council first sent envoys to Strasbourg but were disappointed when they found that Calvin had traveled to Worms to attend a colloquy between the Catholics and Protestants.
The envoys followed him to Worms and convinced him to come to Geneva. Calvin, however, could not promise anything concrete as he still had commitments in Strasbourg. He was also hesitant to return as he considered the canton a dangerous place. He only promised the envoys to visit the city after the colloquy and asked the council to convinced Pierre Viret to take over for six months instead. He also made it clear that if he were to return, the people would have to submit to the reforms he had in mind both in church and in the city’s politics itself.
The council agreed, and he accepted a 6-month trial run in mid-1641. On September 13, 1541, John Calvin re-entered Geneva with his family, and they were received warmly—a far cry from the reception he received when he first entered it as a refugee. The council also gave him an allowance and allowed him and his family to live in a good house.
The Reformer of Geneva
Calvin’s first task was to help the council draft a set of ordinances for Geneva. The laws called Ordonnances ecclesiastiques were passed by a committee of councilors and ministers on November 20, 1541. Calvin’s Ordonnances allowed the committee to create a church hierarchy made up of pastors, doctors, elders, and deacons. The pastors’ main tasks were to preach and dispense the sacraments. Pastors were elected to the office by their peers and then confirmed by a committee. The twelve elders were in charge of discipline which was imposed with a heavy hand in Calvin’s Geneva. Deacons, meanwhile, took charge of charity works which included taking care of the city’s poor, ill, and imprisoned.
Calvin expected the people to attend regular sermons on Sunday and specific days during the week. Those who failed to attend church services without a valid reason received rebukes. Those who committed grave sins were excommunicated, banished, or executed. He also introduced some innovations for church services which included:
Congregational singing (especially of the Psalms)
Conveying the sermon in the people’s native language
Explanation of the sacraments
John Calvin initially preached several times each week. The task, however, became too much, so some of the responsibilities were passed on to other preachers. He was a prolific preacher, but it was not until 1549 that his sermons were transcribed by a French scribe named Denis Raguenir. His knowledge of the Bible and his immense memory also allowed him to preach without the aid of notes.
His work in Geneva, however, was not without opposition. Calvin’s Geneva was to be upright to the point that some residents (which he called the “libertines”) considered the laws too strict. Some of Geneva’s most prominent families made up the so-called libertines. At the center of this group was the Favre family patriarch Francois, his daughter Francoise, and his son-in-law Ami Perrin.
Calvin’s main issue was with Francoise Favre who violated the law against dancing in the city. She and her husband spent some time in prison when their behavior was reported (Perrin was imprisoned because of a separate offense). Perrin initially refused to apologize for his behavior but was later forced to submit.
In his quest to reform Geneva, Calvin and the city council ordered the taverns to be closed down. They were then converted to religious houses but were able to return to business many years later. Staging of certain plays was also prohibited for some time after a riot broke out in the city. Apart from dancing, other acts that were prohibited were swearing and gossiping. The council also requested Calvin to come up with a list of names that parents should not give to their children.
Later Years
Calvin continued working on the revisions on the Institutio and the commentaries on several books of the New Testament in Geneva. He also wrote a commentary on the book of Isaiah in 1551 which he dedicated to the English king Edward VI.
Idelette Calvin died after a series of illness in 1549. Her grief-stricken husband promised to take care of her children from her first marriage. Calvin himself was often ill, but he made good on his promise to his wife and took care of her children.
The libertines led by Perrin and his father-in-law continued to cause trouble for Calvin over the years. In spite of their resentment, they knew that they would not be able to drive him out of the city again. In 1552, Ami Perrin was elected to a high position in the city, and it seemed that it was the start of Calvin’s defeat. After several standoffs with the libertines, Calvin decided to resign in July 1553. The council, however, refused to accept his resignation. The libertines themselves did not push for him to be driven out of the city again but only wanted him out of their way.
In summer of 1553, Calvin played a role in the downfall of the Spanish humanist and theologian Michael Servetus. The bad blood between Calvin and Servetus started in 1546 when they sent letters to each other but could not agree on doctrine. Calvin was further offended when Servetus sent back a copy of his very own Institutio with some annotations.
Branded as a heretic because of his denial of the Trinity, Servetus was forced to wander in some parts France and Italy. He was caught and imprisoned in the French city of Vienne, but he managed to escape before he was condemned to death by fire. Servetus then traveled to Geneva and even sat boldly inside the St. Pierre Cathedral where Calvin was preaching on August 13, 1553. It was a foolish decision as some people recognized him. Servetus was immediately arrested and imprisoned by the authorities.
To his credit, Calvin initially tried to reason out with Servetus, but the latter only stood by his beliefs. The council condemned Servetus as a heretic on October 20, and he was sentenced to death by fire six days later. Calvin asked the council to behead Servetus instead (considered more “humane” than burning), but the council refused to grant his request. Servetus was burned at the stake on October 27, 1553.
Calvin continued to write the commentaries on several Old Testament books starting between 1557 and 1564. He caught malaria in 1558, so he hurriedly expanded the Institutio for fear it would go unrevised when he died.
After overcoming roadblocks such as lack of funds and lack of enthusiasm from the council, Calvin’s dream of establishing a university in Geneva was finally realized in 1558. The university opened in summer of the following year, but it was still far from perfect. Calvin managed to secure Theodore Beza as rector of the university. Francois Berauld taught Greek, while the Frenchman Antoine Chevalier became a professor of Hebrew. He also hired the whole Lausanne faculty after they resigned en masse. Calvin himself taught theology, along with another professor.
Calvin was often ill with piles, bladder stones, and tuberculosis during the early 1560s. He became very weak and was unable to stand at the pulpit to preach without some form of assistance. On May 27, 1564, the 54-year old giant of the Reformation died peacefully in his home in his adopted city of Geneva. He was buried the following day in an unmarked grave in the common cemetery, as was his instruction when he was alive
The Anglican Church (Church of England) first arose during the reign of Henry VIII and the height of the Reformation in Europe. The followers of the Anglican Church were compelled to recognize Henry as the head of the church in his Act of Supremacy of 1534. Henry advocated a “middle way” and kept most Catholic doctrines and traditions alive during his reign. However, Protestant doctrines slowly took root during the reign of his children, Edward VI (1547-1553) and Elizabeth I (1553-1603). These events are recorded on the Biblical Timeline Poster with World History during that time.
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By the time Henry VIII ascended the throne, the local Roman Catholic clergy were already unpopular among the people of England. The clergy’s nepotism, simony, greed, sexual immorality, and their display of excessive wealth became the chief cause of resentment among the common people. Henry’s main objective, meanwhile, was to annul his marriage to Catherine of Aragon and marry Anne Boleyn so he could beget a male heir. His frustrations with the Pope led him to profit from the people’s resentment against the clergy. He later used it to break away from the authority of the Roman Catholic Church.
Henry had already taken steps to weaken the authority of the clergy during the trial for his annulment. He first vented his frustrations concerning Cardinal Wolsey whom he accused of praemunire (the act of putting the pope’s authority above the King of England’s). Wolsey’s trumped-up offense was considered treason, and he was promptly summoned to appear for trial before the king. Wolsey died on his way back to London, and his position as Archbishop of Canterbury was given to Henry’s ally, Thomas Cranmer.
In 1533, the king went ahead and secretly married the now-pregnant Anne Boleyn. With the Parliament securely on his side, Henry then proclaimed Anne as the new queen during a public coronation. This act not only removed Catherine of Aragon as queen, it also signaled England’s defiance of the authority of the pope.
The break between England and Rome was nearly complete when the Council declared that the Pope had no authority in the kingdom. The declaration even referred to the Pope simply as the “Bishop of Rome.” The Council also insisted that the Pope had no right to interfere in the kingdom’s affairs.
The priests who were loyal to Rome were unhappy with the turn of events. Those who were sympathetic to the Lutheran movement, however, eagerly jumped on the bandwagon. What both sides did not count on was Henry’s independence. He advocated a middle way rejecting both pro-Rome supporters and the so-called Lutheran heretics (Luther earned Henry’s anger when he refused to support his annulment).
Henry VIII was determined to undermine the authority of the Pope and the Catholic Church’s involvement in kingdom affairs.
Between spring and summer of 1534, Henry revoked all preaching licenses in the kingdom. He also forbade anyone from defending or attacking the doctrines of the Catholic Church until a new and satisfactory set of doctrines could be established by his own Council.
In November 1534, the English Parliament passed the Act of Supremacy which recognized King Henry VIII as the head of the state and the church. He still considered himself a good Catholic, but he began to take steps to make it clear to his people that it was he who was in charge. He ordered the clergy to scratch out all references to the Pope in prayer books, and those who failed to do so would be punished. He also required the preachers to introduce him as the new head of the church.
The executions of pro-Rome clergy and Dutch Anabaptists started in earnest in 1535. Some of the most prominent victims were John Fisher (Bishop of Rochester) and Henry’s own councilor, the humanist Sir Thomas More. Meanwhile, Henry had elevated the chief minister Thomas Cromwell as the vicar-general and vicegerent for church concerns.
This promotion made Cromwell one of the most powerful persons not only in the state but also in the church. His first order of business was the dissolution of monasteries—a task that was not foreign to him since he did this in 1525 under Cardinal Wolsey. No one knew if Henry came up with the dissolution, but it was clear that the king eagerly embraced the project. He was happy to take the lands and treasures of the monasteries so he could use it to satisfy his own greed. No one stopped him as the English people viewed monks as lazy, greedy, abusive, and sexually immoral.
In 1535, the dissolution of English monasteries and nunneries started in earnest. Cromwell and his men first inspected the monasteries for the tiniest offenses that they could hold against the monks. If they found anything questionable, the monks would then be allowed to leave. Monks who were 24-year old or younger were allowed to leave immediately, while those who were older were allowed to leave the monastery after they were given a special license. Cromwell and his men then made life miserable for the remaining monks so they would be forced to leave the monastery. The same rules were applied to the few nunneries scattered around England.
Henry’s next step was to allow the circulation of Myles Coverdale’s translation of the Bible. Unlike Tyndale’s translation, Coverdale’s Bible was met with little resistance in England thanks to Cromwell’s patronage. Coverdale also appealed to Henry’s good side when he dedicated the first edition of his translation to the king himself.
If the English Protestants had any hopes that Henry would side with them, he crushed them as soon as he could. The rebellions that started in 1536 (Pilgrimage of Grace) and his desire to be seen as a true Catholic monarch forced him to issue the Act of the Six Articles in 1539. Also known as the “An Act Abolishing Diversity in Opinions,” the king strengthened the existing heresy laws that targeted the Protestants so that Francis I of France might see him as a good ally. It was followed up by the “Act of Ten Articles” (Articles Devised by the King’s Highness’ Majesty to Establish Christian Quietness and Unity Among Us) issued in the same year.
Beyond Henry VIII: Edward VI and Elizabeth I
It was not until Edward VI’s reign (Henry’s son by his third wife, Jane Seymour) and the regency of Thomas Cranmer that the Protestants finally gained the upper hand. The Scottish reformer John Knox became Edward’s chaplain, while the Strasbourg-based German reformer Martin Bucer became a professor at Cambridge University. It was also Bucer who encouraged Cranmer to adopt the beliefs of the Reformation. Cranmer abolished masses in 1549 and replaced it with a new liturgy. One of the most enduring Anglican books which emerged during Cranmer’s dominance was the Book of Common Prayer.
Protestantism experienced a decline after Edward VI’s death in 1553. He was succeeded by his half-sister Queen Mary I whose devotion to Catholicism drove her to persecute her Protestant subjects. Illness ended Mary’s reign in 1558, and she was succeeded by her sister Elizabeth to the throne. Protestantism underwent a revival during Elizabeth’s reign and continued to dominate uninterrupted up to the modern times.
Elizabeth reintroduced her father’s Act of Supremacy with Protestant backing and (just like her father) reinforced her position as the head of the Church of England. During her reign, the queen ordered the revision of previous acts. The result was the “Thirty-nine Articles of Religion” which became the doctrinal statement of the Church of England.
The last Lusignan king of Cyprus, James II, died in Cyprus in 1473. His son by the Venetian Catherine Cornaro died in the following year. Catherine Cornaro ruled the island for some years until the Venetian rulers forced her to relinquish the island to their control. She did so in 1489, and the island belonged to the Venetians from that time onward. Their rule would abruptly end when Cyprus was ceded to Turkey by Venice in 1571. This event is recorded on the Bible Timeline with World History during that time.
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Venice and the Ottoman Empire had been at each other’s throats since the Ottoman conquest of Morea in 1460. Venice lost a great part of its Mediterranean colonies during the first three Ottoman-Venetian Wars. To add insult to injury, Venice was forced each time to sue for peace with the Ottomans in the last three wars. The peace treaty signed by Venice and the Ottoman Empire in 1540 lasted for only 30 years until war flared up again.
Piracy was a common problem in 16th century Mediterranean. While Ottoman Corsairs dominated the Barbary Coast, European pirates also preyed on ships in different parts of the Mediterranean. Some of them attacked the Ottoman merchant ships that plied the waters between Istanbul and Egypt. This disrupted communication and trade between the Ottoman province of Egypt and the capital. Venice landed in hot water once again when the Ottomans learned that its administrators in Cyprus sheltered these European pirates.
Sultan Selim II
The Venetians and the Ottomans had signed a treaty right after Sultan Selim II’s rise to the throne. With the Venetian protection of the pirates, Selim and his court agreed to break the treaty and occupy Cyprus once and for all. Preparations to attack the island started in 1569 with Lala Mustafa Pasha as the commander the Ottoman army. The inexperienced Muezzinzade Ali Pasha led the Ottoman fleet, and he was assisted by the veteran admiral Piyale Pasha.
News of Ottoman attack against Cyprus trickled to Venice soon after, so the Venetians hastily repaired their fortifications on the island. The Venetian rulers had few allies to turn to as they prepared their defense. Their administrators in Cyprus were corrupt which made them unpopular among the locals. The Habsburg rulers were also reluctant to help Venice as there was no incentive for them to join an alliance. Besides, Venice had not been helpful in the past when Austria and Hungary were at war with the Ottomans.
The pope came to the rescue when he convinced the Habsburg rulers to help Venice. However, they would only help defend the island if the Venetians would also help them crush the Ottomans in the Barbary Coast. Venice had no choice but to agree.
It seemed that the alliance was too late. The Ottomans easily breached and occupied Famagusta on the eastern part of the island on August 1, 1571. Nicosia on the central part of the island fell in September 1571. The Habsburg fleet led by Philip II of Spain and his half-brother Don Juan of Austria sailed from Italy to Greece in the same month.
In the early days of October 1571, the Ottoman fleet led by Muezzinzade Ali Pasha sailed back to Greece and docked off the coast of Lepanto (Nafpaktos). Don Juan’s fleet encountered the Ottoman navy in the Gulf of Patras and a fierce naval battle ensued. The Habsburg fleet defeated the Ottoman navy on the 7th of October 1571. Thousands of Ottoman seamen died in the Battle of Lepanto, including Admiral Muezzinzade Ali Pasha.
Incredibly, a decisive Venetian-Habsburg victory did not happen even after the Battle of Lepanto. Fighting continued off the coast of Morea, however there was no clear winner. Venice was worn out, and it finally gave up its claims to Cyprus in 1573. The Venetian representative in Istanbul negotiated a peace treaty with the Ottomans in the same year.
References:
Picture by: By Belli değil – http://www.unitedamericanmuslim.org/padisahlar/11.jpg, Public Domain, Link
Carsten, F. L., ed. The New Cambridge Modern History, The Ascendancy of France: 1648-88. Vol. 1. Cambridge University Press, 1961.
Faroqhi, Suraiya, ed. The Cambridge History of Turkey: The Later Ottoman Empire, 1603–1839. Vol. 3. Cambridge U Press, 2006.
Finkel, Caroline. Osman’s Dream: The Story of the Ottoman Empire, 1300-1923. NY, NY: Basic Books, 2007.
Kia, Mehrdad. The Ottoman Empire. Westport, CT: Greenwood Press, 2008.
Shaw, Stanford Jay. History of the Ottoman Empire and Modern Turkey : Empire of the Gazis: The Rise and Decline of the Ottoman Empire, 1280-1808. Vol. 1. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1977.
After many years of decline, the Ottoman Empire finally thrived again under Sultan Mehmed IV. The men who were responsible for the brief revival of Ottoman power under Mehmed were the Grand Viziers Koprulu Mehmed Pasha and his son, Fazil Ahmed Pasha. Competent yet ruthless, the Koprulus were considered as some of the best statesmen of the Ottoman Empire. Both men made political and economic reforms which brought back stability to the Ottoman Empire. The Ottoman army had declined before the Koprulu Era, but they were able to revive it and turn it into a formidable force once again. These events are recorded on the Bible Timeline Chart in 1648.
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The Ottoman Sultan Mehmed IV was born on January 2, 1642, in Istanbul. He was the son of Sultan Ibrahim I by Turhan Hatice Sultan. He was just six years old when he became sultan in 1648 and he reigned until his deposition in 1687. The empire that Mehmed inherited was one of the largest at that time. His dominion stretched from the Hungarian frontier in Europe to the ports of Yemen in Asia. The Turks also held the Barbary Coast in North Africa and the Caspian Sea region in West Asia. He ruled up to 30 million people who belonged to different ethnic groups and religions.
But the Ottoman Empire of the mid-17th century had been in decline since the reign of Selim II. Incompetent and corrupt people held government positions over the years, while powerful harem women, viziers, and eunuchs dominated the Sultan’s court. The provinces were also ruled by corrupt or inept governors, and extortion was rampant. The prestige and strength of the army and the navy had also declined when the Ottomans failed to update their weapons. This was a sharp contrast to Christian Europe which, over the years, had invested in the latest weapons.
The decline started during Selim II’s reign, but it became worse during Ibrahim I’s reign. Nicknamed “the Mad,” Ibrahim preferred to spend his time in the harem instead of ruling his empire. His reign was beset with rebellions within the Empire, as well as attacks launched by the Venetians in the south and the Cossacks in the north. The exasperated Kosem Sultan, Ibrahim’s mother, was later forced to remove her son from the throne. His son, young Mehmed, was brought out of the harem so he could be crowned as Ottoman Sultan in 1648. Ibrahim was murdered soon after.
As Mehmed was still young at the time of his accession, Kosem Sultan and the Grand Viziers stood as his regents. His mother, the ambitious Turhan Sultan, was forced to take a backseat since Kosem Sultan was too powerful at that time. The empire remained unstable despite the change of hands. Rebellions flared up every now and then, while bandits preyed on their victims in the Anatolian countryside.
Turhan Sultan’s resentment of Kosem Sultan’s power simmered over the years. Kosem Sultan quickly realized that Turhan (and therefore Mehmed) would not be easily controlled, so she organized the sultan’s deposition with the Janissary corps in 1651. Her goal was to replace Mehmed IV with his younger brother, Suleiman, whose mother was Ibrahim’s concubine, Saliha Dilasub Sultan. Turhan and Mehmed were backed by the equally powerful eunuchs, and Kosem’s plot was foiled soon after. She was murdered inside the Topkapi Palace on September 2, 1651.
Her son was still young, so Turhan Sultan and the viziers took over as regents. Mehmed went back to the harem, but he devoted his time to playing instead of studying. Over the years, he also became an avid hunter, and he spent more time hunting than ruling a large but stagnant empire. In 1652, Turhan appointed a new Grand Vizier to manage state affairs on behalf of her son. The new Grand Vizier was Tarhoudja Ahmed Pasha, and he immediately started the economic and political reforms the empire desperately needed.
The Grand Vizier implemented new custom duties and confiscated the properties of rich families to replenish the empire’s coffers. He also prohibited the imposition of unreasonable taxes and forbade unqualified people from being appointed to government posts. This did not sit well with the Ottoman elite, so he was soon removed as Grand Vizier and executed. The Grand Vizier who succeeded him shared his fate in 1655.
Revolts because of incompetent administration and high taxes once again raged in the empire. The Venetians preyed on the empire’s weakness to blockade the Dardanelles. Because of this, grains and other foodstuffs shipped from Egypt could not reach Istanbul. This drove the prices of the food up which added to the rage of the people. The sultan, meanwhile, still continued his favorite pastime despite the chaos in the empire.
The Koprulu Era: The Resurgence of Ottoman Power
On September 1656, Turhan Sultan appointed an experienced 71-year old government official named Koprulu Mehmed Pasha as Grand Vizier. The competent Albanian vizier had retired some years before, but he was recalled to Istanbul by Turhan Sultan to fill in the position. He accepted the post. Unlike the grand viziers before him, Koprulu Mehmed Pasha coupled his competence with ruthlessness by ordering the execution of rivals and possible enemies. As a result of this, no one dared to stand in his way.
Koprulu Mehmed Pasha also implemented reforms which made the brief revival of the Ottoman Empire possible under Mehmed IV. He removed incompetent and corrupt viziers, judges, and provincial administrators. He curbed unnecessary spending throughout the empire. He also helped quash the rebellions within the empire, especially those led by Abaza Hasan Pasha and George II Rákóczi. Under Koprulu Mehmed Pasha’s leadership, the Turks were able to lift the Venetian blockade of the Dardanelles. They also recaptured the island of Bozcaada (Tenedos) and Lemnos in 1657.
Mehmed IV had grown up, but he still devoted his time to hunting. This left the empire in the hands of the competent and loyal Koprulu Mehmed Pasha. The Grand Vizier died in 1661 and his son, Koprulu Fazil Ahmed Pasha was soon appointed to the post. Like his father, the new Koprulu Grand Vizier was also an experienced and competent government official despite his age (he was 26). The only difference was that the younger Koprulu Grand Vizier was less ruthless than his father. He helped curb corruption within the government. The Turkish economy had also recovered during his time. He is considered as one of the best Ottoman Grand Viziers along with his father.
He controlled Habsburg intervention in Transylvania by sending a large army to Belgrade as a warning to Austria. When the Austrians refused, the Ottomans besieged the Habsburg-held Nove Zamky in Hungary. The fortress fell to the Ottomans in September 1663. The Austrians were forced to negotiate, but the two armies faced off once again in 1664 just as a messenger was trying to reach Fazil Ahmed Pasha. The battle took place near the town of Saint Gotthard in the westernmost border of Hungary, and it resulted in a devastating Ottoman loss. But the confirmation of the peace treaty between the two sides ended the hostilities—at least temporarily. Austria also agreed to back off from Transylvania for the time being.
The End of the Koprulu Era
A 16th century Ottoman rendering of the Siege of Vienna
Koprulu Fazil Ahmed Pasha died in 1676, and he was succeeded by his brother-in-law and deputy grand vizier, Merzifolu Kara Mustafa Pasha. He continued the policies of the last two Grand Viziers, but he was more ambitious and rash. The new Grand Vizier was also unpopular in the Ottoman court, unlike his father-in-law and brother-in-law. Mehmed IV, meanwhile, continued hunting and was still largely absent from ruling the empire.
Kara Mustafa Pasha’s failure in the Battle of Vienna was the end of the brief revival of the Ottoman Empire during the Koprulu Era. For many years, the Catholic Habsburg interfered with Hungarian affairs and even launched harsh counter-reformation measures against Protestant Hungarians. The resentment of the Hungarians turned into rebellion, and the young Protestant Imre Thokoly was chosen as the people’s leader. Imre Thokoly made an alliance with Kara Mustafa Pasha to counter the Austrians. He also promised to help the Ottomans recapture the fortress of Gyor which the Austrians stubbornly held onto.
In 1663, the Ottoman army marched from Istanbul to capture the fortress of Gyor. Kara Mustafa Pasha led the troops, and they were later joined by the allied Crimean Tatars. Mehmed went as far as Edirne to show his support for the troops, but hunting once again distracted him. The sultan also would not have gone if not for the insistence of Kara Mustafa Pasha. He would later pay the price for this neglect
Kara Mustafa Pasha became overconfident as he had a large army behind him. He commanded his army to bypass the fortress of Gyor, and march directly instead to the outskirts of Vienna. The Siege of Vienna ended in a crushing defeat for the Turks at the hands of the Holy League. The Grand Vizier was a poor general whose arrogance alienated the military leaders around him, especially the Crimean Tatar leader who led an important section of the cavalry. The defenders of Vienna were also disciplined fighters, while additional soldiers from allied European kingdoms later boosted their numbers. The European investment in advanced and superior weaponry also paid off in their defense.
The Grand Vizier and his troops limped back to Belgrade in defeat. He decided to spend the winter there, but the court ordered his execution later on. He was strangled in Belgrade on the 25th of December, 1683.
Mehmed, meanwhile, still continued hunting despite the loss of the Ottoman army. He also grew unpopular at court and among the troops. He finally gave up hunting when he realized his mistake, but the troops were still dissatisfied. Mehmed IV was removed as Ottoman sultan in November 1687, and he was succeeded by his brother, Suleiman II. Mehmed died in Edirne on January 6, 1693.
References
References:
Picture by: Unknown – HÜNERNÂME II. CİLT MİNYATÜRLERİNDE KOMPOZİSYON DÜZENİ, Ruhi KONAK, Public Domain, Link
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