The era of
Subscribe1640s
6 recaps across 3 years of the decade. Reconstructed from contemporary coverage, archives, and the public record.
1642English Civil War Begins
A nation splits over who gets to rule.
1648Peace of Westphalia Signed
This treaty ended the Thirty Years' War, established the nation-state system as Europe's governing principle, and secularized international relations.
1648Peace of Westphalia Ends European Wars
The treaties that concluded the Thirty Years' War established the principle of sovereign nation-states and reshaped European political order.
1648Peace of Münster Signed
The agreement recognizing Dutch independence and ending the Eighty Years' War validated the nascent Dutch Republic's sovereignty.
1649English Revolution & Execution of Charles I
The regicide that shock monarchical Europe and established Parliament's supremacy over the crown, reshaping British governance.
1649Execution of King Charles I
The unprecedented trial and beheading of a reigning English monarch crystallized the revolutionary principle that no ruler stands above law.
Before
← The 1630s
After
The 1650s →