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Harmonia Time Capsule: 1638

Triple Portrait of Cardinal de Richelieu painted by Philippe de Champaigne (1602–1674)

During the year 1638, Europe was still in the midst of the Thirty Years’ War, and leaders in France and Sweden were trying to regain the upper hand. France’s Cardinal Richelieu provided money to Sweden in aid of their attack on the Habsburgs. Of course, this was not successful, and the war continued for another ten years. During this time, Sweden also established their first settlement of “New Sweden” in America, in a location now known as Delaware.

1638 was also the year that Anne Hutchinson was expelled from the Massachusetts Bay Colony. Hutchinson was a midwife whose biblical beliefs were especially popular among her fellow Puritan women. However, her ideas sometimes conflicted with those of the Puritan ministers. She was found guilty of blasphemy and “traducing the ministers” in both civil and church trials and left Boston with her husband to establish the city of Portsmouth.

In the world of music, the composer Ignazio Donati died in 1638. He is mostly known for his sacred music composed in the style of the Venetian School, which combines the forces of singers and instruments.

In 1638 Claudio Monteverdi published his eighth book of madrigals, known as Madrigali guerrieri et amorosi or Madrigals of war and love. It includes a piece for three voices that tells the story of two lovers from opposite worlds. Clorinda is a Muslim woman fighting in the Crusades against the English. Tancredi is one of the many Christian knights fighting for the city of Jersualem. These two fall in love but Tancredi accidentally kills Clorinda during a siege.

Music heard in this Time Capsule:

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