1767
Ayutthaya Destroyed
The Burmese sack was thorough - temples dynamited, Buddha statues melted down for gold. Of 150,000 Siamese, tens of thousands were marched north as captives. Foreign traders watched from ships as smoke covered the river. Siam's classical age ended in a single week of fires. Within months, however, the half-Chinese general Taksin rallied survivors, recaptured the lower Chao Phraya, and began the long work of rebuilding.
Jesuits Expelled from Spanish Empire
Following Portugal and France, Spain's Charles III expelled the Society of Jesus from his vast empire in one coordinated night. Soldiers arrested priests in their beds from Paraguay to the Philippines. The reasons remained murky - the king's Bourbon reformers distrusted the order. Education and missions across three continents staggered.
Townshend Acts
Charles Townshend, a theatrical British chancellor, imposed new duties on American imports of glass, paint, paper, and tea. He died before seeing the colonies erupt again. Boston merchants organized another boycott. John Dickinson, a Pennsylvania farmer, published Letters arguing that any tax for revenue was unconstitutional. The acts provoked a new round of resistance and led directly to the quartering of troops in Boston.
Paraguay Jesuits Expelled
Spanish troops arrived at the reducciones - the famous Jesuit mission communities among the Guarani - and arrested the priests. Thirty prosperous towns of literate, weaving, music-making Indians passed to civil administrators. Within a generation most of the population had fled or died. A strange experiment in Catholic utopia ended on bureaucratic order.
Taksin Rallies Siamese Resistance
A half-Chinese general named Taksin escaped Ayutthaya on horseback with 500 men. Within a year he had recaptured the lower Chao Phraya, established a new capital at Thonburi, and declared himself king. Siam would survive. Taksin would go mad, be deposed, and end his days executed in a sack. His successor, Chakri, moved the capital across the river to Bangkok, where it remains today.
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Frequently asked
What happened in the year 1767?
Saeculum lists 5 curated events from 1767. The most significant is Ayutthaya Destroyed: The Burmese sack was thorough - temples dynamited, Buddha statues melted down for gold. Of 150,000 Siamese, tens of thousands were marched north as captives.
What era was 1767 part of?
1767 falls within the Enlightenment (1651-1800). Reason, revolution, and the first global wars.
Which regions saw notable events in 1767?
The curated events from 1767 span Southeast Asia, Europe, North America and South America.