Their vain presumption of knowing all can take beginning solely from their never having known anything; for if one has but once experienced the perfect knowledge of one thing, and truly tasted what it is to know, he shall perceive that of infinite other conclusions he understands not so much as one.
- Galileo Galilei, Dialogue Concerning the Two Chief World Systems
In the year AD 1632...
- As the brutal Thirty Years War enters its fourteenth year, the Imperial forces of Holy Roman Emperor Ferdinand II are in total disarray and all but driven from the field as the brilliant Swedish king Gustavus Adolphus continues to rampage across Germany and lead the Protestant forces to victory after victory. At the Battle of Rain, Gustavus Adolphus crushes the last remnants of the Imperial army under Tilly (who dies shortly thereafter from wounds), thus opening the way to Bohemia and even Austria itself. In desperation, Ferdinand goes crawling back to disgraced general Albrecht von Wallenstein, whom he had sacked just over a year before, and reinstates him as supreme commander. Raising a brand new army in record time, Wallenstein races to Bohemia, slowing the Protestant advance by threatening Gustavus Adolphus's supply lines, and finally checking him by besieging him at Nuremberg and defeating him at the ensuing Battle of the Alte Veste. Gustavus Adolphus withdraws to the north, but then, having received fresh reinforcements from Sweden, boldly attempts to catch Wallenstein's army off guard by sneak attacking him after the onset of winter. Disaster is narrowly averted for the Imperial forces when a small detachment of Wallenstein's army stumbles upon the advancing Swedes and gets out warning of the attack. The ensuing Battle of Lützen is a draw, but Gustavus Adolphus is killed in the fighting, thus eliminating the most able of all the Protestant commanders and ensuring years of further stalemate.
- Manchu ruler Abahai declares Korea a vassal state, and launches a massive assault on Inner Mongolia, forcing Ligdan Khan to flee to Qinghai with 100,000 of his people.
- Hoping to take advantage of Polish weakness following the sudden death of King Sigismund III, Russian forces under Mikhail Shein invade Polish territory and lay siege to the city of Smolensk, inaugurating the brief "Smolensk War."
- English king Charles I grants a charter for the colony of Maryland to Cæcilius Calvert, 2nd Lord Baltimore.
- In the Treaty of Saint-Germain-en-Laye, the English agree to return the province of Quebec, which they had seized in 1629, back to the French.
- Galileo Galilei publishes his famous treatise Dialogue Concerning the Two Chief World Systems, favorably comparing the Copernican view of the cosmos to the Ptolomaic view, for which he will be called before the Inquisition the following year and forced to live the rest of his life under house arrest.
- Rembrandt van Rijn paints some of his most famous paintings, including The Anatomy Lesson of Dr. Nicolaes Tulp, The Abduction of Europa, and Portrait of a Lady, Aged 62.
- The English words plunder, consciousness, and lifeguard make their earliest known appearances.
These people were born in 1632...
These people died in 1632...
- Swedish king Gustavus Adolphus, killed at the Battle of Lützen, succeeded as ruler of Sweden by his daughter, Christina.
- Polish king and former king of Sweden Sigismund III, succeeded by his son Wladyslaw IV.
- Frederick the Winter King, elector of the Palatine and briefly king of Bohemia.
- Tokugawa Hidetada, second shogun of the Tokugawa shogunate.
- Emperor Susenyos of Ethiopia, succeeded by his son Emperor Fasilides.
- Imperial general of the Thirty Years War Johan Tserclaes, Count of Tilly, of tetanus, having been wounded by a cannonball at the Battle of Rain.
- Bavarian general of the Thirty Years War Gottfried Heinrich Graf zu Pappenheim, killed at the Battle of Lützen.
- French explorer of America Étienne Brulé, killed in a brawl with Native Americans.
1631 - 1632 - 1633
17th century
How they were made