Historical Events in 1619

  • Feb 20 Trial against Johan van Oldenbarnevelt begins in The Hague for alleged crimes against the federal government
  • Mar 12 Dutch settlement on Java changes name to Batavia
  • Apr 19 Theatrum Anatomicum opens in Amsterdam

Hugo Grotius Sentenced

May 18 Dutch jurist and scholar Hugo Grotius sentenced to life in prison in Loevestein Castle in the Netherlands (later escapes in a book chest)

  • Jun 2 England and the Netherlands sign treaty about trading in the Indies
  • Jun 10 Thirty Years' War: Battle of Záblatí, a turning point in the Bohemian Revolt
  • Jun 24 Tsar Michail's father Filaret becomes patriarch of Moscow
  • Jul 20 Gerardus Vossius resigns as Dutch regent States college leader
  • Jul 30 House of Burgesses Virginia forms, 1st elective American governing body
  • Aug 20 1st known African Americans in English North America (approx. 20) land at Point Comfort (Fort Monroe), Virginia. They are then sold or traded into servitude.
  • Aug 27 Frederik van Palts chosen as King of Bohemia

Emperor Ferdinand II

Aug 28 Ferdinand II elected Holy Roman Emperor (rules till 1637)

  • Sep 15 Prince Bethlen Gabor's troops occupy Pozsony (Pressburg) Hungary
  • Sep 30 Remonstrant Society forms in Antwerp
  • Oct 8 Duke of Bavaria Maximilian I and Holy Roman Emperor Ferdinand II sign the Treaty of Munich
  • Oct 28 Japanese Keichō Embassy headed by Hasekura Tsunenaga leaves Sendai aboard the Japanese-built Date Maru galleon for Acapulco
  • Nov 4 Frederick V crowned king of Bohemia

Event of Interest

Nov 10 René Descartes has the dream that inspires his "Meditations on First Philosophy"

The First Thanksgiving

Dec 4 38 colonists from Berkeley Parish, England disembark in Virginia and give thanks to God. Considered by many the first Thanksgiving in the Americas.