Early Modern
Battle of the Boyne (1690): William III Defeats James II
Williamite victory; James II fled to France, Dublin fell to William, though the war in Ireland continued until 1691.
Region
Europe
Early Modern
Glencoe Massacre (1692): Murder Under Trust in the Highlands
About 38 MacDonalds were killed by soldiers billeted among them and more died of exposure; a 1695 inquiry called it murder but no one was punished.
Early Modern
Brazilian Gold Rush (1690s): The Discovery of Minas Gerais Gold
Brazil became the world's leading gold producer for much of the 18th century, transforming its population, economy and capital and pouring wealth into Portugal and, through trade, Britain.
Early Modern
Sicily Earthquake of 1693: Val di Noto and Its Baroque Rebuilding
Dozens of towns were destroyed and roughly 54,000–60,000 people died; the region was rebuilt in a distinctive late Baroque style.
Early Modern
Battle of Zenta (1697): Prince Eugene Crushes the Ottomans
Decisive Habsburg victory; the Ottoman field army was destroyed and the sultan agreed to peace talks that produced the Treaty of Karlowitz.
Early Modern
Peter the Great's Grand Embassy (1697-1698): A Tsar in Europe
The embassy failed to build a European coalition against the Ottomans, but Peter recruited hundreds of foreign experts and returned determined to modernise Russia.
Early Modern
Streltsy Uprising of 1698: Revolt Against Peter the Great
Government troops dispersed the rebels; Peter ordered over 1,000 executions, confined Sophia as a nun and began disbanding the Streltsy.
Early Modern
Treaty of Karlowitz (1699): The Ottomans Cede Hungary
The Ottoman Empire ceded most of Hungary and Transylvania to the Habsburgs, Podolia to Poland and the Morea to Venice, its first major territorial loss in Europe.
Early Modern
Battle of Narva (1700): Charles XII Routs the Russian Army
Decisive Swedish victory; the Russian siege of Narva was broken and much of the Russian army was killed, captured or disarmed.
Early Modern
Great Northern War (1700-1721): Russia Against Sweden's Empire
Sweden lost its Baltic empire; by the Treaty of Nystad in 1721 Russia gained Livonia, Estonia, Ingria and part of Karelia and became a great power.
Early Modern
War of the Spanish Succession (1701-1714): The Fight for Spain
Philip V kept Spain and its American empire but renounced the French throne; Austria took Spain's European lands in Italy and the Netherlands, and Britain gained Gibraltar and Menorca.
Early Modern
Great Storm of 1703: The Hurricane That Struck England
An estimated 8,000-15,000 people died, most of them seamen; the Royal Navy lost 13 ships and the first Eddystone Lighthouse was destroyed.