Seventeenth Century

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= Key to entries =

Items in normal text indicate South African non-theatrical events and activities Items printed in bold indicate South African theatre and performance events. All items in italics refer to international (i.e. non-South African) events or international theatre and performance events

= Entries =

±1601AD
Shakespeare’s Hamlet

1602AD
Dutch East India Company chartered

±1603-8AD
Shakespeare begins his great tragedies (Othello, Macbeth and King Lear)

1604AD
Guy Fawkes executed

1605AD
Cervantes’s Don Quixote (part 1)

1607AD
Montiverdi’s opera Orfeo

1608AD
'''HAMLET PERFORMED ABOARD THE DRAGON AT SIERRA LEONA AND OFF THE EAST COAST OF SOUTH AFRICA. RICHARD II WAS DONE EN ROUTE.'''

1609AD
''Kepler’s Astronomica Nova. Galileo’s telescope''. 'Lope de Vega’s The New Art of Writing Plays published. Shakespeare’s co. performs indoors at the Blackfriars'.

1610AD
A “VERY PRETTY COMEDY” WAS PLAYED IN THE THREE DAYS ON BOARD A PORTUGUESE SHIP WHILE PASSING THE CAPE.

1611AD
King James version of the Bible. Shakespeare’s The Tempest performed

1613AD
First Romanov becomes Tsar of Russia

1616AD
The notion of a sun-centered universe rejected by Inquisition

1618AD
Proscenium arch introduced as permanenent feature in the Teatro Farnese, built in the Ducal Palace in Parma. Start of the Thirty Years’ War in Germany.

1620AD
Francis Bacon’s Novum Organum, expounds a new way of learning. THE ENGLISH COMMANDERS FITZHERBERT AND SHILLING TAKE POSSESSION OF THE CAPE OF GOOD HOPE IN THE NAME OF JAMES I.

1623AD
''Velasquez becomes court painter to Philip IV of Spain. Bernini’s statue of David''.

1624AD
Cardinal Richelieu Louis XIII’s chief minister.

1625AD
Charles 1 king of England.

1628AD
William Harvey’s treatise on the circulation of the blood.

1632AD
''Galileo’s Dialogue on the Two Chief Systems of the World. Van Dyck court painter to Charles I of England''.

1633AD
Galileo has to recant his ideas.

1635AD
French Academy founded by Richelieu.

1636AD
Corneille’s Le Cid.

1637AD
Descartes’s Discourse on Method. First theatre built in Amsterdam, under the influence of the Rederijkers.

1638AD
Galileo’s Discourses on Two New Sciences.

1641AD
Descartes’s Meditations

1642AD
Civil war in England (Roundheads and Cavaliers). Rembrandt’s The Night Watch. Theatres in England closed by act of parliament

1643AD
Torricelli invents barometer.

1644AD
''Milton’s Areopagitica. Descartes’s Principles of Philosophy''. Theatres in Madrid closed for 6 years.

1648AD
The Taj Mahal completed in Agra, India. Peace of Westphalia ends 30 years’ war in Germany. DE NIEUWE HAERLEM FLOUNDERS IN TABLE BAY AND LEENDERT JANZ IS LEFT BEHIND WITH THE CARGO. BUILDS A TEMPORARY FORT.

1649AD
Charles I tried and beheaded in England.

1652AD
JAN VAN RIEBEECK LANDS AT THE CAPE TO START A REFRESHMENT STATION.

1653AD
Cromwell becomes Lord Protector of England. VAN RIEBEECK GOVERNOR 1652-USES MUSICIANS TO ESTABLISH GOOD RELATIONS WITH THE KHOI, HAVING MUSIC PLAYED DURING THEIR VISITS. HE HOWEVER ONLY ALLOWS HIS SETTLERS ONE DAY A YEAR OF FEASTING ON THE SUNDAY AFTER THE RETURN OF THE HOME FLEET. THE PORTUGUESE SHIP NOSSA SENHORA DE BELEM WRECKED ON THE NATAL COAST, AND THEY PLAYED COMEDIES AND FARCES TO PASS THE TIME.

1657AD
FIRST “FREE BURGHERS” ALLOCATED LAND BY THE DUTCH GOVERNMENT AT THE CAPE.

1658AD
Molière arrives in Paris.

1659-60AD
Molière’s "Les Précieuses Ridicules" performed. BATTLES BETWEEN KHOI-KHOI AND DUTCH. THE GRADUAL DISINTEGRATION OF THE KHOIKHOI-SOCIETY BEGINS, AS MORE AND MORE FALL UNDER THE CONTROL OF THE DUTCH COLONY RULES, AND THEY ARE DECIMATED BY EUROPEAN DISEASES. BATTLES ON THE BORDER AREAS CONTINUE FOR MANY YEARS.

1660AD
First rotating electric generator invented by Von Geuricke. Monarchy restored in England with Charles II. 'Dramatic performances restart in England. First professional actress appears as Desdemona'.

1664AD
Molière’s Tartuffe.

1665AD
Great plague of London kills 60,000.

1666AD
''Great fire of London destroys two-thirds of the city. French Academy of Sciences founded by Colbert''.

1667AD
Milton’s "Paradise Lost". Racine’s "Andromaque".

1668AD
De la Fontaine’s "Fables".

1670AD
Pascal’s "Pensées".

1672AD
French Academy of Music founded by Lully.

1677AD
'Dryden’s "All for Love". Racine’s "Phèdre"'.

1679AD
THE CASTLE IS TAKEN INTO USE IN CAPE TOWN. SIMON VAN DER STEL BECOMES GOVERNOR.

1680AD
Official founding of the Comédie Française.

1682AD
''Newly remodelled Palace of Versailles taken into use by Louis XIV. Dryden’s "Absolom and Achitophel". Halley observes the comet now bearing his name''.

1683AD
Turks lay siege to Vienna.

1685AD
Edict of Nantes revoked by Louis XIV.

1687AD
Newton’s "Philosophiae Naturalis Principia Mathematica".

±1688AD
Siege of Vienna by Ottoman Turks. ARRIVAL OF FRENCH HUGUENOTS. SIMON VAN DER STEL ESTABLISHES STELLENBOSCH. HIS BIRTHDAY CELEBRATED WITH FESTIVITIES AND A “PARROT SHOOT” THERE ANNUALLY IN OCTOBER.

1689AD
Locke’s "Letters on Tolerance" published. ''Mary and William of Orange declared rulers of England. Peter the Great Tsar of Russia''.

1690AD
Locke’s "Second Treatise of Civil Government".

1694AD
''French Academy issues first dictionary. Bank of England founded, to lend money to the Government''.

1696AD
Licensing Laws for Plays in England.

1699AD
Treaty of Karlowitz, where Ottomans lose territories in Europe.

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