1630-1649 Taj Mahal, Charles I, Oliver Cromwell

This twenty year period covers the reign of Charles I who was executed in 1649 and the monarchy was suspended during the Protectorate of Oliver Cromwell. In this period there was constant warfare in the world,  but at least the building of the beautiful Taj Mahal began during this period.

This period coincided with the year ending the 1625–1630 Anglo–Spanish War -- part of the 1618–1648 Thirty Years' War that continued in Sweden, France, Spain and Austria -- and the middle of the 1620-1645 Manchu Conquest of China. Then came the 1632–1634 Smolensk War, the 1634 Polish-Swedish War, the 1637 Pequot War, the 1639–1645 Kieft's War, the 1639–1652 Wars of the Three Kingdoms (the British Civil Wars), the 1640–1656 Catalan Revolt, the 1640–1668 Portuguese War of Independence, the 1640–1701 French and Iroquois Wars, (or the "Beaver Wars"), the 1641–1649 Wars of Castro, the 1645–1669 Turkish-Venetian War ("Cretan War"), the 1648–1653 The Fronde and the 1648–1660 Northern Wars, a series of wars involving Poland, Sweden, Brandenburg, Russia and Transylvania and Denmark-Norway.

The execution of Charles I was a terrible shock, but in view of religious tension he should have minded his own business. Instead, in 1637 he tried to impose a new prayer book on Scotland, provoking protest from the Calvinists who drew up the National Covenant asserting the inviolability of the Scottish church. Then Civil War broke out in 1642, Charles I surrendered to the Scots army and was executed 1649. For the period after 1649 until Charles II became king by negotiation in 1660, England was a 'republic' under the protectorship of Oliver Cromwell. It was an amazing period.

During this period work started on the beautiful Taj Mahal in 1632, in 1633 Galileo proclaimed that the earth revolved around sun, not vice versa, and was punished for holding views against that of the Catholic Church. In 1637 the first opera house was built in Venice, in 1642 Tasmania (van Dieman's Land) was discovered by Abel Tasman, in 1642 Blaise Pascal invented the adding machine and in 1643 Evangelista Torricelli invented the barometer. 

1670-1689 Ottoman Siege of Vienna, Two Williams

This twenty year period covers the reign of Charles II who died in 1685 and was succeeded by his brother James II who was deposed in 1688 and replaced in 1689 by his daughter Mary II and her Dutch Orange husband William III in what was known as the 'glorious revolution'. In this period there was constant warfare in the world, and Europe risked becoming Muslim when the Ottoman Turks lay siege to Vienna in 1683.

There was the Polish-Turkish War in 1671–1676, followed by the 1672–1678 Franco-Dutch War, the 1672–1674 Third Anglo-Dutch War, the 1672–1679 War between Brandenburg and Sweden, the 1675–1677 King Philip's War, the 1676–1681 Russo-Turkish War, the 1682–1699 War of the Holy League, the 1683 Siege of Vienna by the Ottoman Turks, Monmouth's Rebellion in 1685, the 1685-1689 Sino-Russian War, the 1686–1700 Russo-Turkish War, the 1687–1689 Crimean campaigns, the 1689–1697 King William's War in North America (part of the War of the Grand Alliance), the 1689–1691 Williamite war in Ireland and the 1689–1691 Jacobite Rising in Scotland.

The Siege of Vienna by the Ottoman Turks in 1683 was of particular concern because if the Holy League had not joined together to fight the Turks it is likely that the whole of Europe would have become Islamic.

The deposing of the Catholic James II by the Protestant William of Orange in 1688 and a sad event in our history. It started the Jacobite movement in Scotland and Europe and James II never abandoned hopes for a Stuart restoration. His son, Charles Edward Stuart, born in Rome in 1720, carried on the struggle as Bonnie Prince Charlie.

Because of constant warfare there were no great inventions or discoveries during this twenty year period, but William Penn did stand out for presenting a vision of harmony in the new world. He was granted the Charter of Pennsylvania in 1681 and founded Philadelphia in 1682 with migrants he had previously attracted during his travels through war-ravaged Europe.

1650-1669 London Burns, Bombay & New York Gain

This twenty year period covers the Protectorship of Oliver Cromwell, a year after Charles I had been executed and ten years before Charles II became king in 1660 and acquired Bombay in 1664. The longest period of relative world peace and safety in this period was at the end of the 1667–1668 War of Devolution - 2 years

This twenty year period covers the Northern Wars of 1648–1660 -- a series of wars involving Poland, Sweden, Brandenburg, Russia and Transylvania and Denmark-Norway -- followed by the 1652–1654 First Anglo-Dutch War, the 1654–1659 Anglo-Spanish War, the 1657–1662 Turkish-Transylvanian War, the 1662–1664 Austro-Turkish War, the 1665–1667 Second Anglo-Dutch War and the 1667–1668 War of Devolution.

The restoration of the monarchy under Charles II in 1660 was a wonderful event, particularly when in 1661 Great Britain acquired Bombay and in 1664 acquired New York from the Dutch. Bombay was a crown jewel because it was an established and important city in an ancient civilization. New York was a barely a settlement in the New World.

In 1661 Virginia legalized slavery and the tobacco industry was at its height. Pipe smoking was common across Europe and one wonders whether it -- or something else -- was responsible for the 1666 Great Fire of London.