Timeline of Ottoman Empire Dominance (1500-1920)

Return to Timeline of Jewish History: Table of Contents

1517	Victory of (Muslim Ottoman Turk) Selim I over Egypt.
	Ottoman Muslim rulers (later) claim the title "caliph".
1520-1566	Sulayman I, "the Magnificent," rules.
ca. 1500-1800	Dominance of Safavid Shiite Muslim dynasty in Iran.
ca. 1500-1800	Dominance of Mughal Muslim dynasty in India.
1550-1619	Rabbi, preacher and biblical commentator known for his brilliant sermons calling for self improvement, Ephraim Solomon of Lunshits.
1550	Dr. Jospeh Hacohen was chased out of Genoa for practicing medicine, and soon after, all the Jews were expelled.
1553	Under the direction of Cardinal Caraffa, later Pope Paul IV, the Talmud was confiscated and publicaly burned in Rome on Rosh Hashanah, starting a wave of Talmud burning throughout Italy.
1554	Cornelio da Montalcino, a Franciscan Friar who converted to Judaism, is burned alive in Rome.
1555	In his Bull Cum Nimis Absurdum, Pope Paul IV renewed all anti-Jewish legislation and installed a ghetto in Rome. The Bull also forced Jews to wear a special cap, forbade them from owning real estate or practicing medicine on Christians. It also limited Jewish communities to only one synagogue.
1555-1631	Talmudic commentator, author of Chidushei Halachot, Samuel Eliezer Aidles, also known as "Maharsha." .
1558	In Recanti, Italy, under the protection of Pope Paul IV, Joseph Paul More, a baptized Jew, entered a synagogue on Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement, and tried to preach a conversion sermon. The congregation evicted him and a near massacre occured. Soon after, the Jews were expelled from Recanti.
1585	First known Jew to step on American soil, Joachim Gaunse (Ganz), lands on Roanoke Island.
1596-1650	Rene Descartes (scholar-philosopher): .
1564	In Brest Litovsk, the son of a wealthy Jewish tax collector, is accused of killing the family's Christian servant for ritual purposes. He is tortured and killed.
1566	Three months into his reign, Pope Pius V rejects Pope Pius IV leniency towards Jews and reinstates the restrictions of Pope Paul IV which forced Jews to wear a special cap, forbade them from owning real estate or practicing medicine on Christians. It also limited Jewish communities to only one synagogue.
1569	Brest Litovsk welcomes Jewish settlement. In 80 years the Jewish population surges from 4,000 to more than 50,000.
1586	Pope Sixtus V rejects Pope Gregory XIII policies and forbids Jews from living in the Papal states and to print the Talmud.
1587-1643	The leading Jewish composer of the late Italian Renaissance and the musical director of court of Mantua, Salamone de Rossi.
1588	England defeats the Spanish Armada, weakening Spain and decreasing the reach of the Inquisition, espcially in the Netherlands.
1590	Built of wood, the entire Jewish quarter of Posen burned while then gentile population watched and pillaged. 15 people died and 80 Torah scrolls were burned.
1591	Rabbi, encyclopedist, physician and pupil of Galileo, Jose Solomon Delmedigo wrote over 30 works in math, geometry, chemistry, mechanics, philosophy and medicine.
1592	Esther Chiera, who held considerable influence in Sultan Murad III's court, was executed because of jealousy and the Sultan's desire for her assets.
1593	Pope Clement VIII expelled Jews from all Papal states except Rome and Ancona.
1596	Official Yom Kippur services are held for the first time in Amsterdam, though not without controversy.
1603	Frei Diogo Da Assumpacao, a partly Jewish friar who embraced Judaism, was burned alive in Lisbon. His arguments against Christianity were published and gained wide popularity.
1605	A Jesuit missionary in China meets with Al T'Ien, a Chinese Jewish teacher. Thier correspondence is the basis for most known information regarding the Kaifeng Jewish community.
1605-1657	Menasseh ben Israel (Jewish scholar-mystic).
1612	The Hamburg Senate decides to officially allow Jews to live in the city on the condition there is no public worship.
1614	Vincent Fettmilch, who called himself the "new Haman of the Jews," led a raid on a Frankfurt synagogue that turned into an attack which destroyed the whole community.
1615	King Louis XIII of France decreed that all Jews must leave the country within one month on pain of death.
1615	The Guild, led by Dr. Chemnitz, "non-violently" forced the Jews from Worms.
1616	The Bishop of Speyer, with the backing of Frederick's troops, readmitted the Jews to Worms.
1616	Holland's Prince Maurice of Orange allowed each each city to decide for itself whether to admit Jews. In the towns where Jews were admitted, they would not be required to wear a badge of any sort identifying them as Jews.
1616	Jesuits arrives in Grodno, Poland and accused the Jews of blood orgies and host desecrations.
1618-1638	Thity Years War between Catholics and Protestants centers around Germany, Austria, France and the Netherlands.
1619	Shah Abbasi of the Persian Sufi Dynasty increased persecution against the Jews forcing many to outwardly practice Islam. (Many secretly practiced Judaism.).
1620	Christian Puritans begin emigrations to America.
1621	Sir Henry Finch, legal advisor to King James I, makes the first English call to restore the Jews to their homeland in his treatise The World's Great Restoration or Calling of the Jews.
1621-1663	Well-known commentator of the Shulchan Aruch and author of several other works, Shabbetai Ben Meir Hacohen.
1622-1629	Persian Jews are forced to convert to Islam.
1623-1662	Blaise Pascal (scholar).
1625	The Jews of Vienna were forced to move into a ghetto called Leopoldstadt.
1625	Pope Urban VIII forbids Roman Jews to erect gravestones.
1626-1676	Shabbatai Zvi (Jewish “messianic” leader).
1630-1703	Financier and founder of the Viennese Jewish community, Samuel Oppenheimer.
1632	Miguel and Isabel Rodreguese and five others were burned alive in front of the King and Queen of Spain after being discovered holding Jewish rites.
1632-1677	Baruch/Benedict Spinoza (scholar, converted Jew).
1636	Rhode Island grants religious liberty to Jews.
1639	More than 80 New Christians (Jews who converted to Christianity) were burned at the stake after the Inquisition caught them holding regular Jewish services in Lima, Peru.
1641-1718	Shabbtai Ben Joseph the Bass, Author of Seftai Yesharim, the first bibliography of Hebrew books and biblical commentator. He also built a printing house in 1689, despite being jailed several times, accused of printing anti-Christian material. The printing house lasted more than 150 years.
1642	The first Jewish colony in the New World is established in Recife, Brazil.
1642	Chao Ying-Cheng helped rebuild the synagogue in Kai Fen after the Yellow River flooded the area. He also served in the goverrnment and helped build schools and squashed marauding bandits.
1648	Bogdan Chmelnitzki massacres 100,000 Jews in Poland.
1648	The Treaty of Westphalia brings victory to the Protestants.
1649	In the largest Auto de Fe ever held in the New World, 109 crypto-Jews were accused of Judaizing, several were burned alive.
1649	John Casimir, upon ascending the Polish throne, negotiates a truce with Cosack leader and murderer of thousands of Jews, Bogdan Chmelnitzki.
1654	Arrival of 23 Jews from Brazil in New Amsterdam (New York, America).
1655	Dutch West India Company allows Jewish settlers to reside permanently in New Amsterdam.
1655	Jews readmitted to England by Oliver Cromwell.
1657	The first Jews gain the rights of citizens in America.
1670	Jews expelled from Vienna.

Timeline of Jewish History

3800 B.CE - 2001 BCE - The Dawn of “History”
2000 B.C.E. - 587 BCE - Context of Ancient Israelite Religion
538 BCE - 70 CE - Judaism After the Babylonian Exile
230 BCE-400 CE - Rule of Rome
70 - 500 - Rabbinic Jewish Period of Talmud Development
325 - 590 - Consolidation & Dominance of Classical Christianity
600 - 1500 - “Medieval” Period in the West
570 - 1258 - Reception & Classical Development of Muhammad's Islamic Message
1095-1258 - Crusades
1258-1500 - Further Transitions and Rebuilding of Political Islam
1291-1516 - Mamluk Rule
1517-1569 - Reformation and Post-Reformation Christian Period
1500-1920 - Dominance of Ottoman Muslim Empire in Turkey
1700-1917 - Jewish Modern and Contemporary Periods
1914-1918 - Islamic Unrest and Realignment in the Middle East
1918-1947 - British Rule in Palestine
1947-Present - Modern Israel & the Diaspora

Timeline for the History of Jerusalem - 4500 B.C.E.-Present