1690 – 1700s

Events in the 1690s 3

• 1659 – 1695 Henry Purcell English Baroque composer The greatest English composer of the Baroque era, known for his opera Dido and Aeneas and his mastery of vocal writing.
• 1694 – 1778 Voltaire French philosopher and writer Voltaire was a leading Enlightenment thinker who defended freedom of speech, religion, and reason.
• 1699 Treaty of Karlowitz -- territorial retreat begins The Treaty of Karlowitz (26 January 1699) ends the Great Turkish War (1683-1699) and is the first major Ottoman territorial concession in Europe. Hungary, Transylvania and Slavonia go to Austria; Podolia to Poland; the Morea (Peloponnese) to Venice. The treaty establishes the pattern of the 18th and 19th centuries: Ottoman military defeat followed by territorial concession, followed by partial recovery, followed by further defeat. Karlowitz marks the moment when the Ottoman Empire definitively shifts from expanding power to defensive empire.