1620s

The 1620s decade ran from January 1, 1620, to December 31, 1629.

Significant people Antonio Maria Abbatini of Rome (c.1595–1680), composer George Abbot of England (1562–1633), Archbishop of Canterbury, held position 1611–1633 Diego Sarmiento de Acuña, 1st Count of Gondomar of Spain (1567–1626), Spanish ambassador to England-Wales Thomas Adams of England (1566–1620), publisher Niccolò Alamanni of Rome (1583–1626), Catholic priest, antiquarian, and custodian of the Vatican Library Albert VII (1559–1621), Archduke of Austria and governor (1596–1598) and Co-sovereign of the Spanish Netherlands (modern-day Belgium and Luxembourg) with Infanta Isabella Clara Eugenia of Spain, held position (as Co-sovereign) 1598–1621 William Alexander, 1st Earl of Stirling of Scotland (1570–1640), Scottish colonial organizer of Nova Scotia and Secretary for Scotland Alexander III of Imereti (1609–1660), Imeretian Prince and future King of Imereti Manuel de Almeida of Portugal (1580–1646), Jesuit Missionary and ambassador to the Emperor of Ethiopia Emilio Bonaventura Altieri of Rome (1590–1676), Catholic bishop and future Pope Giambattista Andreini of Tuscany (1576–1654), actor and playwright Giovanni Andrea Ansaldo of Genoa (1584–1638), painter Sir Samuel Argall (1580–1626), former deputy governor of Virginia and current naval officer in the English navy Abdul Hasan Asaf-Khan of Persia (?-1641), Grand Vizer of the Mughal Empire (and brother of Nur Jahan), in office c.1611–1632 Sir Thomas Aylesbury, 1st Baronet of England (1576–1657), Baronet and Surveyor of the English Royal Navy Francis Bacon of England (1561–1626), philosopher, jurist, scientist, writer, and politician; specifically Member of Parliament, Attorney General for England and Wales (1613–1617), and Lord Chancellor (1617–1621) Nathaniel Bacon of England (1585–1627), painter (not to be confused with the leader of the same name of Bacon's Rebellion) William Baffin of England (?–1622), navigator and explorer Francesco Barberini (1597–1679), seniore of Florence, Cardinal, diplomat Jakob Bartsch of Lusatia (1600–1633), astronomer François de Bassompierre of France (1579–1646), courtier and Marshal of France Robert Bellarmine (1542–1621), Italian Jesuit and Cardinal Bernard of Saxe-Weimar (1604–1639), nobleman and general Pierre de Bérulle of France (1575–1629), Cardinal and diplomat Maximilien de Béthune, duc de Sully of France (1560–1641), Favourite and minister under Henry IV and Louis XIII Andries Bicker of the Netherlands (1586–1652), administrator of the Dutch East India Company, Mayor of Amsterdam, and diplomat Willem Blaeu of the Netherlands (1571–1638), cartographer and publisher Abraham Bloemaert of the Netherlands (1566–1651), painter and printmaker Jakob Böhme of Görlitz (1575–1624), Christian mystic Juan Pablo Bonet of Spain (c.1573-1633), Catholic priest and inventor of the sign language alphabet François de Bonne, duc de Lesdiguières of France (1543–1626), Constable of France Sidonia von Borcke of Pomerania (1548–1620), noblewoman and Witch-hunt victim (as well as a figure of later legends) Federico Borromeo of Milan (1564–1631), Cardinal and Archbishop of Milan Richard Boyle, 1st Earl of Cork (1566–1643), Anglo-Irish politician William Bradford (1590–1657), Prominent Leader and Governor of the Plymouth colony, in office 1621–1633, 1635–1636, 1637–1638, 1639–1644, 1645–1657 Jean de Brébeuf of France (1593–1649), Jesuit missionary William Brewster (c.1566-1644), Puritan preacher and Plymouth leader Henry Briggs of England (1561–1630), mathematician Étienne Brûlé of France (1592?–1633), explorer John Bull of England (1562?-1628), composer and musician Karel Bonaventura Buquoy of France (1571–1621), general in the service of the Holy Roman Empire Robert Burton of England (1577–1640), scholar Estêvão Cacella of Portugal (1585–1630), Jesuit missionary Pedro Calderón de la Barca of Spain (1600–1681), playwright and poet George Calvert, 1st Baron Baltimore of England (1579–1632), nobleman, Member of Parliament, Secretary of State, and English colonizer of the North America (most notably the founder of the Province of Avalon in Newfoundland and future founder of Maryland) William Camden of England (1551–1623), historian and topographer Tommaso Campanella (1568–1639), Italian philosopher, theologian, astrologer, and poet John Carver (1576?-1621), Leader and First Governor of the Plymouth Colony, in office 1620–1621 Henry Cary, 1st Viscount Falkland of England (1575–1633), military officer, colonizer, and Lord Lieutenant of Ireland Ernst Casimir of the Netherlands (1573–1632), nobleman and military commander Aodh Mac Cathmhaoil of Ireland (1571–1626), Catholic theologian and Archbishop of Armagh Samuel de Champlain (1570?–1635), French explorer, administrator of New France, and founder of Quebec City Charles I of Gonzaga-Nevers (1580–1637), Duke of Nevers and Mantua (claim for the later supported by France) Charles Emmanuel I of Savoy (1562–1630), Duke of Savoy and Papal backed candidate to the throne of the Duchy of Mantua Ivan Cherkassky of Russia (1580?-1642), boyar and head of the Treasury, Streletsky Prikaz and Aptekarsky Prikaz, in office 1621–1622 (as Treasurer), 1622–23 (as head of the Streletsky Prikaz and Aptekarsky Prikaz) Jan Karol Chodkiewicz of Poland (1560–1621), military commander Christian the Younger of Brunswick (1599–1626), Duke of Brunswick-Lüneburg and Protestant Commander Antonio Cifra of Rome (1584–1629), composer Jan Pieterszoon Coen of the Netherlands (1587–1629), Governor-General of the Dutch East Indies Sir Edward Coke of England (1552–1634), Jurist and Member of Parliament Sir John Coke of England (1563–1644), Member of Parliament and Secretary of State Nicolò Contarini of Venice (1553–1631), politician and future Doge of Venice Diego Fernández de Córdoba, Marquis of Guadalcázar of Spain (1578–1630), nobleman and Viceroy of New Spain and Peru, in office 1612–1621 (New Spain), 1622–1629 (Peru) Gregorio Nuñez Coronel of Portugal (1548–1620), Augustinian theologian, writer, and preacher Adam de Coster of Flanders (1586–1643), painter Nathaniel Courthope of England (1585–1620), merchant navy officer Thomas Coventry, 1st Baron Coventry of England (1578–1640), Judge, Member of Parliament, and politician (specifically Soliticar General (1617–1621), Attorney General (1621–1625), and Lord Chancellor (1625–1640)) Oliver Cromwell of England (1599–1658), Member of Parliament, general, and future ruler of England-Wales, Scotland, and Ireland Sir Sackville Crowe, 1st Baronet of England (1595–1671), baronet, Treasurer of the Navy, Member of Parliament, and future ambassador Alfonso de la Cueva, marqués de Bedmar of Spain (1572–1655), diplomat and Catholic theologian Robert Cushman of England (1578–1625), Plymouth colony organizer Cyril I (1572–1638), Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople, held position in 1612, 1620–1623, 1623–1633, 1633–1634, 1634–1635, 1637–1638 Daišan of Manchuria (1583–1648), Manchurian prince (brother of Huang Taiji) and military commander Mir Damad of Persia (?–1631), philosopher John Danvers of England (1588–1655), courtier and politician Date Masamune of Japan (1567–1636), Daimyō of Sendai John Davies of England (1569–1626), lawyer, poet, and politician (specifically Attorney General of Ireland, Member of Parliament, and Judge) John Davies (AKA Mallwyd) of Wales (1567–1644), scholar, translator, and Anglican priest Dawar of India (?–1628), Mughal Prince Thomas Dekker of England (1572–1632), playwright and poet Joseph Solomon Delmedigo (1591–1655), Italian rabbi, author, physician, mathematician, and music theorist Thomas Dempster of Scotland (1579–1625), scholar and historian Robert Devereux, 3rd Earl of Essex of England (1591–1646), nobleman and military commander Kenelm Digby of England (1603–1665), courtier, diplomat, privateer, and philosopher John Donne of England (1571?–1631), Anglican priest, poet, and philosopher Michael Drayton of England (1563–1631), poet Cornelius Drebbel of the Netherlands (1572–1633), inventor Jeremias Drexel of Bavaria (1581–1638), Catholic theologian and Court Preacher at the court of Prince-Elector Maximilian I Robert Dudley of England (1574–1649), explorer and geographer Pierre Dupuy of France (1582–1651), scholar Mar Elia Shimun X, Patriarch of the Chaldean Catholic Church (Patriarchate then based in Salamas, in modern-day Iran. However a later Patriarch, Mar Shimun XIII Dinkha, broke the union with the Catholic Church, thus he and other Patriarchs of the Shimun line are sometimes list as Patriarchs of the Assyrian Church of the East), held position 1600–1653 Sir John Eliot of England (1592–1632), Vice-Admiral of Devon and Member of Parliament Mar Eliyya IX, Patriarch of the Assyrian Church of the East (Patriarchate then based in Alqosh, in modern-day Iraq), held position in 1617–1660 John Endecott (1588?–1665), founder and first governor of the Massachusetts Bay Colony Alonso Fajardo de Entenza of Spain (?-1624), governor-general of the Philippines, in office 1618–1624 Francesco Erizzo of Venice (1566–1646), diplomat and future Doge of Venice Thomas van Erpe of the Netherlands (1584–1624), Orientalist Scholar Fakhr-al-Din II (1572–1635), Lebanese prince and governor of the Ottoman province of Syria, in office (as governor) 1624–1632 Francis Fane, 1st Earl of Westmorland of England (1580–1629), nobleman and statesman John Felton of England (1595–1628), soldier and assassin of George Villiers, 1st Duke of Buckingham Nicholas Felton of England (1556–1626), academic and Anglican cleric Cardinal-Infante Ferdinand of Austria (1609–1641), nobleman, Spanish Prince (Infante), and Cardinal Ferdinand IV, Archduke of Austria (1608–1657), Habsburg Prince and future Holy Roman Emperor Domenico Fetti of Rome (1589–1623), painter Fidelis of Sigmaringen (1578–1622), Capuchin friar and Martyr William Fiennes, 1st Viscount Saye and Sele of England (1582–1662), nobleman and statesman Filaret (AKA Feodor Romanov) of Russia (1553–1633), Patriarch of Moscow and statesman, held position (as Patriarch) 1612–1629 John Fletcher of England (1579–1625), playwright John Ford of England (1586-1640?), playwright and poet Frederick of Denmark (1609–1670), Danish Prince and future King of Denmark and Norway Frederick V of the Palatinate/I of Bohemia (1596–1632), Prince-Elector of the Palatinate and King of Bohemia (a sub-state of the Holy Roman Empire), r. 1610–1623 (as Prince-Elector of the Palatinate) and r. 1619–1620 (as King of Bohemia) Frederick Ulrich (1591–1634), Duke of Brunswick-Calenberg, held position 1613–1634 Galileo Galilei of Tuscany (1564–1642), astronomer and physicist Gang Hong-rip of Korea, treasonous general who aided the Manchus Gaston, Duke of Orléans of France (1608–1660), French Prince (brother of Louis XIII) and commander of the aristocratic revolt at Les Ponts-de-Cé Artemisia Gentileschi of Rome (1593–1656), painter George William (1595–1640), Elector of Brandenburg and Duke of Prussia Johann Gerhard (1582–1637), German Lutheran theologian Hessel Gerritsz of the Netherlands (1581–1632), cartographer Orlando Gibbons of England (1583–1625), composer and organist Thomas Goffe of England (1591–1629), playwright Luis de Góngora of Spain (1561–1627), poet, playwright, and writer Roque González (1576–1628), Spanish-American Jesuit missionary and martyr Sir Ferdinando Gorges of England (1565–1647), colonial entrepreneur in North America and founder of Maine Ivan Tarasievich Gramotin of Russia (?–1638), diplomat and head of the Posolsky Prikaz, held position 1619–1626 Orazio Grassi (1583–1654), Italian mathematician, astronomer, and architect Richard Grenville of England (1600–1658), Anglo-Cornish soldier, Member of Parliament, and future Baronet and Royalist Commander