1631 The English build a fort on the northern "Gold Coast" in Western Africa.
1631 The Republic of Venice, a maritime power, has been declining, exacerbated by the bubonic plague killing almost 500,000 people. The government responds with a church built for Our Lady of Health and Deliverance – Madonna della Salute.
1632 Galileo publishes his ideas about the universe. Intellectuals across Europe applaud. The Church prohibits further sales of the book, and Galileo is ordered to appear before the Inquisition in Rome.
1632 The town of Boston is founded.
1635 Shogun Tokugawa Iemitsu forbids travel abroad, except for restricted voyages by ships to China and Korea. Books from abroad are banned except for those on science, technology and military tactics. A trading post near Nagasake remains after the Dutch there agree to restrictions regarding trading and an end of signs of Christianity. The Dutch enjoy seeing their trading rivals, the Spanish and Portuguese, expelled.
1635 The Puritans in Massachusetts colony see tolerance as compromise with God's will. They banish an English clergyman, Roger Williams.
1636 Roger Williams arrives in what today is Rhode Island, where he is to established a settlement with twelve "loving friends and neighbors."
1636 France, a largely Catholic country but allied with the Dutch and the Swedes, enters the Thirty Years' War against Spain and the Holy Roman Empire.
1637 Manchu troops, 30,000 in number, have crossed the Yalu River into northern Korea. The Koreans recognize Manchu suzerainty in place of Chinese suzerainty. A non-aggression pact and trade agreement are established, and the Manchu withdraw.
1638 A raid by Pequot Indians kills 600 members of the Massachusetts Bay Colony.
1639 Works by the philosopher, mathematician and scientist Rene Descartes have entered Dutch universities. Descartes rejects relying on authorities regarding idea. He advocates disciplined philosophical argumentation integrated with physical science.
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