Christian History 1600 to 1699

1654

June 29, CUENCA (Spain) - 57 Marranos were taken to the Auto da Fe; ten were burned to death. One of them, Balthasar Lopez, announced as he was taken to the stake I don't believe in Christ even if you bind me. He had returned recently from Bayonne to persuade his nephew to return to Judaism when he was captured by the Inquisition. [88] (73)

LUBLIN (Poland) - A force comprised of Cossacks and Russians led by Peter Ivanovich offered to leave the city alone if it surrendered and paid a heavy fine. The Jews, knowing what would happen to them, paid local people to hide them. The local leaders agreed to the offer, only once they were allowed in, the local inhabitants told the Cossacks where the Jews were hiding. Two thousand were slaughtered. [88] (73)

1655

August 8, RUSSIA - The Russians took Vilna. As part of the peace settlement between Chmielniki and Czar Alexis, the east bank of the Dnieper became part of the kingdom of Moscow. The Jews of Vilna were once again subject to expulsion and murder. [88] (73)

1656

October 4, LECZYCA (Lenshitz, Poland) - During what was known as the Russo-Swedish wars, Jews from the surrounding area took refuge behind the city walls. The Polish army attacked after the local garrison fled to the castle, leaving the Jews to the mercy of the attacking forces. Between 2-3000 Jews were murdered and hundreds of Torah scrolls were destroyed, many of which had been brought to the city by the refugees. [88] (73)

1660

April 13, ANTONIO ENRIQUEZ BASURTO (Spain-Holland) - A captain in the Spanish army, poet and one of Spain's greatest comedy playwrights, he was burned in effigy after fleeing with his son to Amsterdam. When told of his burning effigy, he commented "They are welcome to it." [89] (74)

1663

December 13, MATTATHIAS CALAHORA (Poland) - A renowned physician had been accused by Friar Servatius of "blaspheming the virgin" Although there was no testimony aside from the Friars , he was tortured and burned at the stake. His ashes were dispersed to prevent him from having a proper Jewish burial. Despite this, enough of his remains were found for a burial to take place. [89] (74)

1664

May, LVOV Jews, learning about an impending attack by Jesuit seminary students and the Cathedral school, prepared a defense of the ghetto. The local official sent in the militia to ostensibly restore order. Instead, they joined the rioters, killing about 100 Jews.[89] (74) May 9, LEMBERG AND CRACOW (Poland) - Anti-Jewish riots by students and peasants resulted in damages and death in both communities. In Lemberg, the synagogue was attacked on the Sabbath and the Cantor was murdered. [89] (74)

1670

January 18, METZ (France) - Raphael Levy, a peddler, was accused of killing a Christian child for sorcery and was tortured to death. A former Jew, Paul du Vallie, son of a renowned physician, leader in the Jewish community, helped to convict him. King Louis XIV later declared it to be "judicial murder" and demanded that all such cases be brought before the king's council. [90] (75)

1675

In a single massacre in "King Philip's War" of 1675 and 1676 some "600 Indians were destroyed. A delighted Cotton Mather, revered pastor of the Second Church in Boston, later referred to the slaughter as a 'barbeque'." [SH115] (45 p. 115)

To summarize Before the arrival of the English, the western Abenaki people in New Hampshire and Vermont had numbered 12,000. Less than half a century later about 250 remained alive - a destruction rate of 98%. The Pocumtuck people had numbered more than 18,000, fifty years later they were down to 920 - 95% destroyed. The Quiripi-Unquachog people had numbered about 30,000, fifty years later they were down to 1500 - 95% destroyed. The Massachusetts people had numbered at least 44,000, fifty years later barely 6000 were alive - 81% destroyed. [SH118] (45 p. 118) These are only a few examples of the multitude of tribes living before Christian colonists set their foot on the New World. All this was before the smallpox epidemics of 1677 and 1678 had occurred. And the carnage was not over then. (8)

All the above was only the beginning of the European colonization, it was before the frontier age actually had begun. (8) A total of maybe more than 150 million Indians (of both Americas) were destroyed in the period of 1500 to 1900, as an average two thirds by smallpox and other epidemics, that leaves some 50 million killed directly by violence, bad treatment and slavery. (8)

In many countries, such as Brazil, and Guatemala, this continues even today. (8)