Descartes Dies in Stockholm
1650
The French philosopher, summoned by Queen Christina of Sweden to give her early-morning lessons in the royal library, caught pneumonia in the Baltic cold and died at fifty-three. He had always insisted on a warm bed until noon. The father of modern philosophy had been killed, in effect, by an ambitious queen.
In context
Also in 1650 (3 other events on record)
- Population of Americas Collapses · North America · Science
- Kangxi Emperor Born · East Asia · Politics
- Otto von Guericke Demonstrates the Vacuum · Europe · Science
Before and after in Europe
Before and after in Science
Era
Renaissance (1501–1650), one of 715 events from that era on Saeculum.