An Outline of Important Events and Donne's Life (1572-1631)

1572 John Donne was born sometime between January 24 and June 19, the exact date is not known. He was born in London and was the third of six children to John and Elizabeth Donne. The famous poet Ben Jonson was born.

1574 The great English bishop, moral philosopher, and satirist, Joseph Hall was born.

1575 Torquato Tasso, known for his heroic epic poem Gerusalemme liberta, dealing with the capture of Jerusalem during the First Crusade, was published. He was considered the greatest poet of the late Renaissance period.

1576 Donne's father John dies. Later this year Donne's mother marries Dr. John Syminges.

1577 Donne's sister Elizabeth dies. Sir Francis Drake begins his circumnavigation of the world which ends sometime in 1580. Also, Raphael Holinshed, the popular English chronicler known for his Chronicles was published.

1578 Both Donne's sisters Mary and Katherine die.

1579 Sir Thomas North's, an English translator, translations of Plutarch was published. Edmund Spenser's Shepards' Calender also was published, it can be called the first work of the English literary Renaissance..

1580 Luiz Vaz de Cameos, Portugal's great national poet, dies. The English dramatist, John Webster, was born. Michel de Montaigne's Essais (Essays) I-II was published. These essays reflected a new literary form. These essays reflected the spirit of skepticism and a Latin classical education and treat the lives and ideals of the leading figures of this time.

1584 Donne was admitted at Hart Hall and later was absorbed into the Hertford College, Oxford. William III, known as William of Orange, was assassinated. Francis Beaumont, an English Jacobean poet and playwright, was born. Sir Walter Raleigh's (also spelled Ralegh) colonization of Virginia fails.

1585 Pierre de Ronsard, poet and chief among the French Renaissance group of poets known as La Pleide, dies.

1587 Mary Queen of Scots was executed. Christopher Marlowe's Tamburlaine (I-II) acted.

1588 The famous Spanish Armada was defeated. Donne's stepfather Dr. John Syminges dies. Donne now at Cambridge. Thomas Hobbes, an English philosopher and political theorist, best known for his publications on individual security and the social contract, was born.

1589 Donne was possibly abroad to 1591. Christopher Marlowe's Dr. Faustus was first acted.

1590 Donne's mother marries, again, to Richard Rainford. Spenser's Faerie Queene (I-III) was published. It was an imaginative vindication of Protestantism and Puritanism and a glorification of England and Queen Elizabeth. It was written in what came to be called the Spenserian stanza. Guillame du Bartas author of La Semaine, an influential poem about the creation of the world, dies.

1591 Robert Herrick, an English cleric and poet, the most original of the "sons of Ben"Jonson, was born. Sir John Harington's translation of Ariosto's, a 16th century Italian poet, Orlando furioso was published.

1592 Donne admitted to Lincoln's Inn. Montaigne dies.

1593 Donne's bother Henry dies. Christopher Marlowe also dies. George Herbert, an English religious poet, a major metaphysical poet, was born. Izaak Walton, an English biographer and author, was born. Richard Hooker's Of the Laws of Ecclesiastical Polity (I-IV) was published, even though by the time of his death were incomplete.

1594 Swan Theatre, an Elizabethan Bankside theatre in London, was built by Francis Langley. Tintoretta (by name Jacopo Robusti), a great Mannerist painter of the Venetian school and one of the most important artists of the late Renaissance period, dies.

1595 Both of Spenser's Amoretti and Epithalamion were published. Midsummer Night's Dream was first acted; also Richard II first acted. War breaks out in Ulster, one of the ancient provinces of Ireland. Raleigh's voyage to Guiana happens. Tasso dies. Thomas Carew , an English poet and first of the Cavalier song writers, was born.

1596 Donne takes part in an expedition to Cadiz. Spenser's Faerie Queene and his Four Hymns were published. The Merchant of Venice was first acted. Rene Descartes, a French mathematician, scientist, and philosopher, has been called the father of modern philosophy, was born.

1597 Donne takes part in another expedition, this time to Azores. Donne also becomes secretary to Sir Thomas Egerton, the Lord Keeper.

1598 Cecil William (better known as the first Baron Burghley), principal advisor to England's Queen Elizabeth I and master of the Renaissance statecraft, dies. Also Philip II of Spain dies.

1599 The Globe Theatre, a famous London theatre in which the plays of William Shakespreare were performed, opened and was built by Richard and Cuthbert Burbage. Oliver Cromwell, an English soldier and statesman who led English forces in the English Civil Wars, was born. Spenser dies. Julius Caesar and Henry V were first acted.

1600 Fortune Theatre, an Elizabethan public playhouse in northern London, was built by Philip Henslowe. . Rodrigo Calderon, a Spanish royal favorite to Philip III, was born. Also the future Charles I was born. Hooker dies. Giordano Bruno , an Italian philosopher, astronomer, mathematician, and occultist whose theories anticipated modern science, was burned alive in Rome because of his heretical theories. Shakespeare's Hamlet was first acted. William Gilbert, a pioneer researcher into magnetism who became the most distinguished man of science in England during the reign of Queen Elizabeth I, published his work De Magnete.

1601 Donne becomes a Member of Parliament for Brackley, Northampton. He secretly marries the niece of Egerton, Anne More. Robert Devereux, 2nd earl of Essex, was executed for treason. Twelfth Night was first acted.

1602 Donne's marriage to Anne More was made public. He was dismissed from Egerton's service for his marriage to Anne More. Bodleian Library in Oxford was opened.

1603 Peace was finally reached in Ireland. The death of Elizabeth I occurred, the accession of James I takes place. The Millenary Petition, a moderate request for changes in certain practices within the Church of England and was presented to King James I by Puritan ministers. Donne's daughter Constance was born.

1604 Donne's son John was born. Hampton Court Conference was held. It was a meeting held in response to the Millenary Petition. King James I rejected most of the demands of the Puritans. Othello was first acted.

1605 Donne travels to France and possibly Italy. His third child George is born. Bacon's Advancement of Learning was published. The Gunpowder Plot, the conspiracy of English Roman Catholics to blow up Parliament and King James I, his queen, and his oldest son, takes place and all people involved executed. Sir Thomas Browne, an English physician and author, was born. King Lear was first acted. Miguel de Cervantes , a novelists, playwright, and poet , the creator of Don Quixote (part I) published and was considered the most important figure in Spanish literature.

1606 Donne moves to Mitcham. Macbeth, Jonson's Volpone and Tourneur's Revenger's Tradegy was first acted. Rembrandt, the famous Dutch painter and a giant in the history of art, was born. Pierre Corneille, a French poet and dramatist, considered the creator of French classical tragedy, was born.

1607 Donne takes lodgings in the Strand, London. His fourth child Francis is born. Latin verses of Jonson's Volpone was published. Antony and Cleopatra was first acted. Also Coriolanus was first published. The first successful English colony founded in Virginia.

1608 Donne's fifth child Lucy was born. Robert Cecil created Earl of Salisbury, appointed Lord Treasurer. John Milton, one of the greatest poets of the English language, was born. Josuah Sylvester, an English poet-translator, translation of Du Bartas: 1st complete edition.

1609 Donne's sixth child Bridget was born. "The Expiration" was published in Ferrabosco's Ayres. Spenser's Faerie Queene:1st folio edition. Shakespeare's Sonnets was published.

1610 Donne obtains Jonson's Alchemist and Shakespeare Winters Tale were published. Galileo reports on his telescopic view of the heavens. Henry IV of France was assassinated, accession of Louis XIII.'

1611 Donne's seventh child Mary was born. His works Igatius his Conclave and The First Anniversary were published. The King'James "Authorized" Version of the Bible was published. The Tempest was first acted. Chapman's Ilaid was completed, followed by The Odyssey. Charles IX of Sweden dies, accession of Gustavus Adolphus .

1612 Donne's two Anniversaries were published. His eighth child stillborn. Prince Henry and Earl of Salisbury both die. Robert Carr, later Earl of Somerset, in favor now. The last burning of a heretic in England.

1613 Donne's ninth child Nicholas was born, but died within a year. His elegy of Prince Henry was published in Lachrymae Lachrymarum (3rd ed.). Princess Elizabeth marries Frederick Elector Palatine. Sir Thomas Overbury, an English poet and essayist, was murdered with poison. John Cleveland, the most popular poet of his time and in later times the most commonly abused metaphysical poet, was born. Richard Crashaw , an English poet known for religious verse of vibrant stylistic ornamentation and brilliant wit, was born.

1614 Donne becomes a Member of Parliament for Taunton, Somerset. Both his children, Mary and Francis die. Raleigh's History of the World was published. Webster's Duchess of Malfi was first acted. El Greco, master of Spanish painting, dies.

1615 Donne is ordained deacon and priest at St. Paul's Cathedral. He's also appointed a royal chaplain and made honorary D.D. at Cambridge. His tenth child Margaret was born. George Villiers, later Duke of Buckingham, in favor now.

1616 Donne was chosen Divine Reader at Lincoln's Inn. His eleventh child Elizabeth was born. The great William Shakespeare dies. Jonson's Works was published.

1617 Donne delivers his first sermon at St. Paul's Cross and thereafter preaches widely. His twelfth child stillborn(only seven of his children now living). His wife Anne dies in August while giving birth.

1618 The Thirty Years War begins and last until 1648. The Synod of Dort, an assembly of the reformed Church of the Netherlands that met in Dort to try to settle the disputes concerning Arminianism. Raleigh was executed, accused of treason. Bacon was appointed Lord Chancellor. Abraham Cowley, a poet and essayist who established the Pindaric ode in English literature, was born.

1619 Donne joins with Viscount Doncaster's embassy to Germany until early 1620. Kepler's De harmonice mundi was published. Inigo Jones begins the Whitehall Banqueting House, completed in 1622.

1620 The Pilgrim Fathers sail in the Mayflower and founded the Plymouth colony in New England. Bacon's Novum organum was published.

1621 Donne was appointed to the Dean of St. Paul's. Bacon is impeached as Lord Chancellor. Robert Burton, an English scholar, writer, and Anglican clergyman whose Anatomy of Melancholy is a masterpiece of style, was published. Andrew Marvell,, an English poet whose political reputation seemed to overshadow his poetry until the 20th century, was born. He was considered to be one of the best secular metaphysical poets. Jean de La Fontaine, a poet whose Fables rank among the greatest masterpieces of French literature, was also born. Philip III of Spain dies, accession of Philip IV.

1622 Two of Donne's sermons were published, followed by many others. Henry Vaughan, an Anglo- Welsh poet and mystic remarkable for the range and intensity of his spiritual intuitions, was born. Moliere, a French actor and playwright, the greatest of all writers of French comedy, was born.

1623 Donne becomes seriously sick and ill. The 1st Shakespeare Folio was published. Blaise Pascal, a French mathematician, physicist, and religious philosopher and writer who was the founder of the modern theory of probabilities, was born.

1624 Donne's Devotions upon Emergent Occasions was published. Cardinal Richelieu becomes chief minister of France.

1625 King James I dies, accession of Charles I who married Henrietta Marie of France. The plague begins to breakout. Nicholas Ferrar settles at Little Gidding in Huntingdonshire. Milton is admitted to Christ's College, Cambridge. Webster dies.

1626 Lancelot Andrewes and Bacon both die. John Aubrey, an antiquarian and writer, best known for his vivid, intimate, and sometimes acid biographical sketches of his contemporaries, was born.

1627 Donne's daughter Lucy dies. Also Sir Henry Goodyer, the Countess of Bedford, and Magdalen Lady Danvers (George Herbert's mother) all die. France has war until 1629.

1628 The Petition of Right takes place, Parliament sent to Charles I complaining of a series of breaches of the law. Buckingham was assassinated. William Harvey's discovery of the circulation of the blood was published. John Bunyan, a celebrated English minister and preacher, author of The Pilgrim's Progress, the book that was the most characteristic expression of the Puritan religious outlook, was born. Francis de Malherbe, a French poet who described himself as un excellent arranguer de syllabes and theoretician whose insistence upon strict form, restraint, and purity of diction prepared the way for French Classicism, dies.

1630 Donne's final illness begins. Prince Charles (later Prince Charles II) was born. The Great Migration to Massachusetts begins and Boston is founded.

1631 Donne dies on March 31, survived by six of his twelve children. John Dryden, an English poet, dramatist, and literary critic who so dominated the literary scene of his day that it became known as the Age of Dryden.