"So much [silver] and [money]...always has been poison to cities and republics. They believe money will protect them but it is not true: plowed fields, pastures, and fisheries are what provide true sustenance."

- Spanish humanist [Pedro de Valencia], accurately foreseeing the corrosive effects of South American silver on the future prospects of the [Spanish Empire].

In the year AD 1608...

Tensions continue to increase in Europe between Protestants and Catholics. After a majority of the [Holy Roman Empire]'s [Imperial Diet] votes that the renewal of the [Peace of Augsburg] ([1555]) must be contingent upon the restoration of all Catholic Church lands confiscated since [1552], the German Protestant states band together under the leadership of [Frederick IV], Elector Palatinate, to form the [Protestant Union] in order to protect their lands and interests.
[Hans Lippershey] invents the [telescope].
An army led by Ethiopian emperor [Susenyos I] ambushes an army of [Oromo] near [Ebenat], reportedly killing 12,000 Oromo at the cost of just 400 Ethiopians.
Italian monk [Francesco Maria Guazzo] first publishes his popular witch-hunter's manual, the [Compendium Maleficarum].
French explorer [Samuel de Champlain] founds what would later become [Quebec City] as a fur trading post called the [Habitation de Québec].

These people were born in 1608:

English poet [John Milton].
Holy Roman Emperor [Ferdinand III].
Italian physicist [Evangelista Torricelli], best known for his invention of the [barometer], and for whom the unit of pressure, the "[torr]," was named.
English general [George Monck], restorer of [Charles II].
Japanese Neo-Confucian philosopher [Nakae Toju].

These people died in 1608:

Korean king [Sonjo].
English scholar/mystic/conman [John Dee].
Flemish-born Italian sculptor [Giambologna].
Italian jurist and tutor to Queen [Elizabeth I] [Alberico Gentili].
Scottish poetry enthusiast [George Bannatyne].

[1607] - 1608 - [1609]

[17th century]

[How I made the Year Nodes|How they were made]

1608 (thing)