1626
Peter Minuit Purchases Manhattan
The newly arrived director of New Netherland, a Walloon named Peter Minuit, concluded a transaction with Lenape leaders for the island of Manhattan. Dutch records value the goods at sixty guilders. The Lenape likely believed they were sharing, not selling. The confusion would prove expensive for one side, and the island itself would become the most valuable real estate on earth.
Siege of La Rochelle Begins
Cardinal Richelieu, determined to break the political power of French Protestants, ordered the royal army to besiege the Huguenot stronghold of La Rochelle on the Atlantic coast. A massive seawall was built across the harbor to cut off English relief. The siege would last fourteen months and starve the defenders.
Francis Bacon Dies of a Frozen Chicken
The English philosopher of inductive science, riding through the snow near Highgate, stopped to stuff a chicken with snow in an experiment on refrigeration. He caught a fatal chill and died days later. His last letter described the experiment as a success, which in a way it was. The father of empiricism had perished in the act of empirical inquiry.
Peter Minuit Arrives in New Netherland
A Walloon from Wesel named Peter Minuit took over as director of the struggling New Netherland colony and reorganized its fur trade on a stricter footing. His famous purchase of Manhattan was merely one of many small transactions with Indigenous nations, but it became the founding myth of New York commerce.
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Frequently asked
What happened in the year 1626?
Saeculum lists 4 curated events from 1626. The most significant is Peter Minuit Purchases Manhattan: The newly arrived director of New Netherland, a Walloon named Peter Minuit, concluded a transaction with Lenape leaders for the island of Manhattan.
What era was 1626 part of?
1626 falls within the Renaissance (1501-1650). Reformation, conquest, and the world drawn whole.
Which regions saw notable events in 1626?
The curated events from 1626 span North America and Europe.