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1580 CE

This year falls in the Early modern period (c. 1500–1800). European ships link the Americas, Africa, Europe and Asia into one trading world, and the conquest of the Americas and the Atlantic slave trade follow. Large land empires, among them the Ottoman, Safavid, Mughal and Qing, rule much of Asia, while printing and the Scientific Revolution change how knowledge spreads in Europe.

Within fifteen years

Country · NetherlandsNetherlands1581–The Netherlands is a low lying country in western Europe, much of it below sea level. It declared independence from Spain in 1581 and became a great trading empire in the seventeenth century. It is a parliamentary constitutional monarchy.

Philosopher · Early modern period · EnglandThomas Hobbes1588–1679English thinker whose Leviathan of 1651 founded modern political philosophy on the social contract. Men in the state of nature live in war of all against all, so they surrender power to a sovereign. He lived 1588 to 1679.

Ruler · Early modern period · IranAbbas I1571–1629Shah of Persia from 1588 to 1629, born in 1571, who restored the Safavid Empire to greatness. He retook lands lost to the Ottomans and Uzbeks, moved the capital to Isfahan, and made it one of the most beautiful cities in the world. His reign is the peak of Safavid Persia.

Ruler · Early modern period · SwedenGustavus Adolphus1594–1632King of Sweden from 1611 to 1632, born in 1594, who made Sweden a great power and turned the Thirty Years' War. Landing in Germany in 1630, he smashed the Catholic armies at Breitenfeld in 1631 and saved the Protestant cause. He was killed at Lutzen in 1632, leading a cavalry charge.