Born in 1688:
Died in 1688:
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English author John Bunyan.
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Welsh pirate Sir Henry Morgan, recently governor of Jamaica.
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English Platonist philosopher Ralph Cudworth, critic of Thomas
Hobbes.
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Italian composer Giovanni Battista Borri.
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Italian composer Carlo Grossi.
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"Belgian" astronomer and missionary Ferdinand Verbiest.
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German astronomer Georg Samuel.
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French mathematician Honoré Fabri.
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French poet Philippe Quinault.
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Dutch painter Philips Koninck.
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German painter Joachim von Sandrart.
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Italian composer Carlo Pallavicino.
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Spanish sculptor Pedro de Mena.
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English dramatist Lewis Theobald, critic of Alexander Pope.
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French historian Charles du Fresne, Sieur Du Cange.
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English poet and painter Thomas Flatman.
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Serban Cantacuzino, prince of Wallachia (vassal of The Ottoman
Empire). Constantin Brâncoveanu succeeds him.
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James Butler, 1st Duke of Ormonde,
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Frederick William, elector of Brandenburg. His son Frederick succeeds him as elector.
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Phra Narai the Great, king of Siam, and his advisor Constantine
Phaulkon, see below.
Events of 1688:
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Higashi-yama had acceeded to the throne of Japan the previous
year. 1688 is the traditional start of the Genroku Era,
a flowering of Japanese literature, arts, and theater.
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Mennonites in Germantown, Pennsylvania issue a
resolution condemning slavery.
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Jean de La Bruyère publishes his most important work, Les
Caractères de Théophraste.
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Greek adventurer Constantine Phaulkon has risen to the post of Phra Narai's
premier, and has expanded trade with the West. However, Siamese nobles
are unhappy over the influence Westerners, especially Phaulkon, have over
Narai, who is bedridden by this time. Phaulkon has allowed the French
too much freedom for their liking, and when French missionaries attempt
to convert Narai to Catholicism, the aristocrats have had enough.
Different sources have Narai dying of old age, or falling on his sword
when his sons enter the palace in Ayutthaya to murder him, or General
Phra Phetracha killing the whole royal family. At any rate, Narai
is dead. A brief revolution follows, after which Phra Phetratcha
has come out on top. Phaulkon is captured and executed; the French are
expelled from Siam. All Western traders except the Dutch (i.e. the
Vereenigde Oostindische Compagnie) are forbidden from the country.
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Maximillian, elector of Bavaria, captures Belgrade and several
other cities in Serbia from The Ottoman Empire.
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Louis XIV sends an army into The Palatinate, touching off a war with
the German League of Augsburg.
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The Glorious Revolution:
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James II attempts to suspend the penal laws by issuing a Declaration
of Indulgence permitting freedom of worship for everyone in his realm,
including Dissenters and Roman Catholics. Seven bishops refuse his
order to read the Declaration in their cathedrals, and James has them arrested
for seditious libel. They are acquitted at trial, and most of the
country lines up against James.
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Sir Edmund Andros has talked James into revoking the charters of East Jersey and West Jersey, and these are bundled
into the Dominion of New England.
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James' wife Mary of Modena gives birth to a son (see above), guaranteeing
the continuation of the Catholic Stewart line.
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The Tory faction in Parliament sees James' actions as a threat to their
authority and prominent Tories write a famous letter inviting James's Protestant
daughter Mary and her husband, William III, Stadtholder
of the Netherlands, to take over the thrones of England, Scotland,
and Ireland. William leads a small force across the English Channel
in November and occupies Exeter. Important nobles, especially
Princess Anne, begin to defect to William. Mary flees to France
with her infant. James attempts to flee as well, but is captured by fishermen
on the Isle of Sheppey. He is held under guard at Rochester.
1687 - 1688 - 1689
How They Were Made - 17th Century