In seventeenth century Europe religion and religious conflict were central concerns in politics and war. The effects would be felt half a world away
“God hathe consumed the natives with a miraculous plague, whereby the greater part of the country is left void of inhabitants.”
- John Winthrop, Governor of the Massachusetts Bay Colony
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- Plimoth Patuxet Museums
Massachusetts in 1620
Beginning in the 1500’s European fishermen and explorers brought diseases that wiped out up to ninety percent of native populations in coastal Massachusetts. Patuxet, the village that would be called Plimoth, had been abandoned. Disease was not well understood. In a deeply religious age many English colonists saw this as a sign of God’s favor, clearing the land for them.
- John Smith
The Thirty Years War
On the continent of Europe, Catholics and Protestants fought a prolonged and devastating war between 1618 and 1648. The overall death toll rose into the millions with barbarous atrocities on both sides. The population of German speaking Europe was reduced by 20%. Eventually the war evolved into a great power conflict as alliances crossed religious lines to maintain a balance of power
England: Gathering Clouds
In England there were fears that religious war would engulf the
country. After the Protestant Reformation many felt that the
Church of England had not gone far enough to reform its liturgy
and hierarchy. The king and most members of the aristocracy
remained committed to the Anglican Church. Dissenters,
including the “Pilgrims” and “Puritans” who would come to
Massachusetts, experienced tremendous pressure to conform.
King Charles
I had no tolerance for religious dissenters. His father James I had threatened “to make them conform themselves or I will harry them out of the land.” The policies of Charles I pushed England toward Civil War.
- Portrait by Anthony Van Dyck
The 1631 sack of...
The 1631 sack of the German city of Magdeburg cost an estimated 20,000 lives during Europe’s Thirty Years War.