1674 to 1678

Literature

The Lectern (Le Lutrin). Nicolas Boileau. French. 1674/83. Mock epic poetry. Lampoons clerical pomposity and pettiness. Battle in a bookshop: ancients vs. moderns.

Society

1675. King Philip's War devastates New England as Chief Metacum rebels against a 1671 order requiring his people to pay an annual tribute of 100 pounds. Called King Philip of Potanoket by the colonists, Metacum leads the Narragansett and Wampanoag in attacks on 52 American settlements, destroying 12 or 13 of them and killing 600 of New England's finest men.

1675. England tries to suppress the coffee houses that have become gathering places for men who neglect their families to discuss business and politics over coffee.

Literature

The Country Wife. William Wycherley. British. 1675. Play. Jealous Pinchwife and credulous Sparkish lose wife and fiancee. Horner, a rumored eunuch, has access to willing wives.

Society

1676. King Philip's War in New England has ended in August with the killing in battle of Chief Metacum.

Literature

The Man of Mode, or Sir Fopling Flutter. Sir George Etherege. British. 1676. Play. Personification of dandyism. Based on real people. Loving "up" the social ladder to parity.

Phedre. Racine. French. 1677. Play. Hippolyte repulses Phedre's advances. Theseus has him destroyed, not knowing he is innocent.

Society

1678. Reports of a "Popish Plot" rock England. Titus Oates "uncovers" a plot whereby Roman Catholics are supposedly pledged to massacre Protestants, burn London, and assassinate Charles II. Dozens of Catholics are executed, and Parliament passes the Papists' Disabling Act that excludes Roman Catholics from Parliament, an act that will stand until 1829.

1678. Niagara Falls is discovered by French Franciscan missionary-explorer Louis Hennepin.

Literature

All for Love, or The World well Lost. Dryden. British. 1678. Play. Blank verse. Classical unities. Last day of Antony, Cleopatra and others who vie for the soul of Antony.

La Princesse de Cleves. Comtesse de la Fayette. French. 1678. Novel. Princess struggles to remain faithful to her husband. Reveals her passion for another to him. He dies of bitterness. Precursor of the psychological novel.

Pilgrim's Progress from This World to That which is to Come. John Bunyan. British. 1678/84. Religion. Christian flees the City of Destruction and sets out for the Celestial City beyond the wicket gate.