The 1620s decade ran from January 1, 1620, to December 31, 1629.

thumb|March 22, 1622: [[Jamestown massacre.]]

Significant people

  • Antonio Maria Abbatini of Rome (c.1595–1680), composer
  • George Abbot of England (1562–1633), Archbishop of Canterbury, held position 1611–1633
  • Diego Sarmiento de Acuña, conde de Gondomar of Spain (1567–1626), Spanish ambassador to England-Wales
  • Thomas Adams of England (1566–1620), publisher
  • Niccolò Alamanni of Rome (1583–1626), Catholic priest, antiquarian, and custodian of the Vatican Library
  • Albert VII (1559–1621), Archduke of Austria and governor (1596–1598) and Co-sovereign of the Spanish Netherlands (modern-day Belgium and Luxembourg) with Infanta Isabella Clara Eugenia of Spain, held position (as Co-sovereign) 1598–1621
  • William Alexander, 1st Earl of Stirling of Scotland (1570–1640), Scottish colonial organizer of Nova Scotia and Secretary for Scotland
  • Alexander III of Imereti (1609–1660), Imeretian Prince and future King of Imereti
  • Manuel de Almeida of Portugal (1580–1646), Jesuit Missionary and ambassador to the Emperor of Ethiopia
  • Emilio Bonaventura Altieri of Rome (1590–1676), Catholic bishop and future Pope
  • Giambattista Andreini of Tuscany (1576–1654), actor and playwright
  • Giovanni Andrea Ansaldo of Genoa (1584–1638), painter
  • Sir Samuel Argall (1580–1626), former deputy governor of Virginia and current naval officer in the English navy
  • Abdul Hasan Asaf-Khan of Persia (?-1641), Grand Vizer of the Mughal Empire (and brother of Nur Jahan), in office c.1611–1632
  • Sir Thomas Aylesbury, 1st Baronet of England (1576–1657), Baronet and Surveyor of the English Royal Navy
  • Francis Bacon of England (1561–1626), philosopher, jurist, scientist, writer, and politician; specifically Member of Parliament, Attorney General for England and Wales (1613–1617), and Lord Chancellor (1617–1621)
  • Nathaniel Bacon of England (1585–1627), painter (not to be confused with the leader of the same name of Bacon's Rebellion)
  • William Baffin of England (?–1622), navigator and explorer
  • Francesco Barberini (1597–1679), seniore of Florence, Cardinal, diplomat
  • Jakob Bartsch of Lusatia (1600–1633), astronomer
  • François de Bassompierre of France (1579–1646), courtier and Marshal of France
  • Robert Bellarmine (1542–1621), Italian Jesuit and Cardinal
  • Bernard of Saxe-Weimar (1604–1639), nobleman and general
  • Pierre de Bérulle of France (1575–1629), Cardinal and diplomat
  • Maximilien de Béthune, duc de Sully of France (1560–1641), Favourite and minister under Henry IV and Louis XIII
  • Andries Bicker of the Netherlands (1586–1652), administrator of the Dutch East India Company, Mayor of Amsterdam, and diplomat
  • Willem Blaeu of the Netherlands (1571–1638), cartographer and publisher
  • Abraham Bloemaert of the Netherlands (1566–1651), painter and printmaker
  • Jakob Böhme of Görlitz (1575–1624), Christian mystic
  • Juan Pablo Bonet of Spain (c.1573-1633), Catholic priest and inventor of the sign language alphabet
  • François de Bonne, duc de Lesdiguières of France (1543–1626), Constable of France
  • Sidonia von Borcke of Pomerania (1548–1620), noblewoman and Witch-hunt victim (as well as a figure of later legends)
  • Federico Borromeo of Milan (1564–1631), Cardinal and Archbishop of Milan
  • Richard Boyle, 1st Earl of Cork (1566–1643), Anglo-Irish politician
  • William Bradford (1590–1657), Prominent Leader and Governor of the Plymouth colony, in office 1621–1633, 1635–1636, 1637–1638, 1639–1644, 1645–1657
  • Jean de Brébeuf of France (1593–1649), Jesuit missionary
  • William Brewster (c.1566-1644), Puritan preacher and Plymouth leader
  • Henry Briggs of England (1561–1630), mathematician
  • Étienne Brûlé of France (1592?–1633), explorer
  • John Bull of England (1562?-1628), composer and musician
  • Karel Bonaventura Buquoy of France (1571–1621), general in the service of the Holy Roman Empire
  • Robert Burton of England (1577–1640), scholar
  • Estêvão Cacella of Portugal (1585–1630), Jesuit missionary
  • Pedro Calderón de la Barca of Spain (1600–1681), playwright and poet
  • George Calvert, 1st Baron Baltimore of England (1579–1632), nobleman, Member of Parliament, Secretary of State, and English colonizer of the North America (most notably the founder of the Province of Avalon in Newfoundland and future founder of Maryland)
  • William Camden of England (1551–1623), historian and topographer
  • Tommaso Campanella (1568–1639), Italian philosopher, theologian, astrologer, and poet
  • John Carver (1576?-1621), Leader and First Governor of the Plymouth Colony, in office 1620–1621
  • Henry Cary, 1st Viscount Falkland of England (1575–1633), military officer, colonizer, and Lord Lieutenant of Ireland
  • Ernst Casimir of the Netherlands (1573–1632), nobleman and military commander
  • Aodh Mac Cathmhaoil of Ireland (1571–1626), Catholic theologian and Archbishop of Armagh
  • Samuel de Champlain (1570?–1635), French explorer, administrator of New France, and founder of Quebec City
  • Charles I of Gonzaga-Nevers (1580–1637), Duke of Nevers and Mantua (claim for the later supported by France)
  • Charles Emmanuel I of Savoy (1562–1630), Duke of Savoy and Papal backed candidate to the throne of the Duchy of Mantua
  • Ivan Cherkassky of Russia (1580?-1642), boyar and head of the Treasury, Streletsky Prikaz and Aptekarsky Prikaz, in office 1621–1622 (as Treasurer), 1622–23 (as head of the Streletsky Prikaz and Aptekarsky Prikaz)
  • Jan Karol Chodkiewicz of Poland (1560–1621), military commander
  • Christian the Younger of Brunswick (1599–1626), Duke of Brunswick-Lüneburg and Protestant Commander
  • Antonio Cifra of Rome (1584–1629), composer
  • Jan Pieterszoon Coen of the Netherlands (1587–1629), Governor-General of the Dutch East Indies
  • Sir Edward Coke of England (1552–1634), Jurist and Member of Parliament
  • Sir John Coke of England (1563–1644), Member of Parliament and Secretary of State
  • Nicolò Contarini of Venice (1553–1631), politician and future Doge of Venice
  • Diego Fernández de Córdoba, Marquis of Guadalcázar of Spain (1578–1630), nobleman and Viceroy of New Spain and Peru, in office 1612–1621 (New Spain), 1622–1629 (Peru)
  • Gregorio Nuñez Coronel of Portugal (1548–1620), Augustinian theologian, writer, and preacher
  • Adam de Coster of Flanders (1586–1643), painter
  • Nathaniel Courthope of England (1585–1620), merchant navy officer
  • Thomas Coventry, 1st Baron Coventry of England (1578–1640), Judge, Member of Parliament, and politician (specifically Soliticar General (1617–1621), Attorney General (1621–1625), and Lord Chancellor (1625–1640))
  • Oliver Cromwell of England (1599–1658), Member of Parliament, general, and future ruler of England-Wales, Scotland, and Ireland
  • Sir Sackville Crowe, 1st Baronet of England (1595–1671), baronet, Treasurer of the Navy, Member of Parliament, and future ambassador
  • Alfonso de la Cueva, marqués de Bedmar of Spain (1572–1655), diplomat and Catholic theologian
  • Robert Cushman of England (1578–1625), Plymouth colony organizer
  • Cyril I (1572–1638), Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople, held position in 1612, 1620–1623, 1623–1633, 1633–1634, 1634–1635, 1637–1638
  • Daišan of Manchuria (1583–1648), Manchurian prince (brother of Huang Taiji) and military commander
  • Mir Damad of Persia (?–1631), philosopher
  • John Danvers of England (1588–1655), courtier and politician
  • Date Masamune of Japan (1567–1636), Daimyō of Sendai
  • John Davies of England (1569–1626), lawyer, poet, and politician (specifically Attorney General of Ireland, Member of Parliament, and Judge)
  • John Davies (AKA Mallwyd) of Wales (1567–1644), scholar, translator, and Anglican priest
  • Dawar of India (?–1628), Mughal Prince
  • Thomas Dekker of England (1572–1632), playwright and poet
  • Joseph Solomon Delmedigo (1591–1655), Italian rabbi, author, physician, mathematician, and music theorist
  • Thomas Dempster of Scotland (1579–1625), scholar and historian
  • Robert Devereux, 3rd Earl of Essex of England (1591–1646), nobleman and military commander
  • Kenelm Digby of England (1603–1665), courtier, diplomat, privateer, and philosopher
  • John Donne of England (1571?–1631), Anglican priest, poet, and philosopher
  • Michael Drayton of England (1563–1631), poet
  • Cornelius Drebbel of the Netherlands (1572–1633), inventor
  • Jeremias Drexel of Bavaria (1581–1638), Catholic theologian and Court Preacher at the court of Prince-Elector Maximilian I
  • Robert Dudley of England (1574–1649), explorer and geographer
  • Pierre Dupuy of France (1582–1651), scholar
  • Mar Elia Shimun X, Patriarch of the Chaldean Catholic Church (Patriarchate then based in Salamas, in modern-day Iran. However a later Patriarch, Mar Shimun XIII Dinkha, broke the union with the Catholic Church, thus he and other Patriarchs of the Shimun line are sometimes list as Patriarchs of the Assyrian Church of the East), held position 1600–1653
  • Sir John Eliot of England (1592–1632), Vice-Admiral of Devon and Member of Parliament
  • Mar Eliyya IX, Patriarch of the Assyrian Church of the East (Patriarchate then based in Alqosh, in modern-day Iraq), held position in 1617–1660
  • Sir Thomas Roe of England (c.1581–1644), diplomat
  • Henri de Rohan of France (1579–1638), nobleman, soldier, writer, and leader of the Huguenots.
  • William Rowley of England (1585?-1626), playwright
  • Peter Paul Rubens of Flanders (1577–1640), painter
  • Johannes Rudbeckius of Sweden (1581–1646), Lutheran bishop
  • Mulla Sadra of Persia (1571–1636), philosopher and Shiite Islamic theologian
  • Samoset (1590?–1655), Mohegan Sagamore and first Native American to encounter with the Settlers of the Plymouth Colony.
  • Sir Edwin Sandys (1561–1629), Colonial organizer of Virginia
  • George Sandys (1577–1644), English traveller, colonist, and poet
  • Lew Sapieha of Lithuania (1557–1633), Grand Chancellor of Lithuania (part of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth), in office 1589–1623
  • Johann Hermann Schein (1586–1630), German composer
  • Christoph Scheiner (1573?-1650), German Jesuit priest, physicist and astronomer
  • Wilhelm Schickard (1592–1635), German inventor and mathematician
  • Julius Schiller of Bavaria (1580–1627), astronomer
  • Heinrich Schütz of Köstritz (1585–1672), composer and organist
  • Adam von Schwarzenberg (1583–1641), nobleman and Chancellor of Brandenburg-Prussia
  • Alexander Seaton of Scotland (?–1649?), Mercenary in the Service of Denmark
  • Pierre Séguier of France (1588–1672), president and mortier in the parlement of Paris and future chancellor of France
  • Alvaro Semedo of Portugal (1585?-1658), Jesuit missionary in China
  • Juan Pérez de la Serna (1573–1631), Archbishop of Mexico, held position 1613–1627
  • Alexander Seton, 1st Earl of Dunfermline of Scotland (1555–1622), lawyer, judge, and Lord Chancellor of Scotland
  • Shahaji of Bijapur (1594–1664), Bijapurtan army chieftain
  • Shahryar of India (1605–1638), Mughal Prince and Nur Jahan's (his stepmother) candidate to the throne of India
  • Shimazu Tadatsune (1576–1638), Daimyō of Satsuma
  • Robert Shirley of England (1581–1628), traveller, adventurer, and diplomat
  • García de Silva Figueroa of Spain (1550–1624), Spanish ambassador to Persia
  • John Smith (1580?–1631), English soldier, adventurer, and leader of the colonists of Jamestown in the Virginia Colony.
  • Willebrord Snellius of the Netherlands (1580–1626), astronomer and mathematician
  • Jakub Sobieski of Poland (1590–1646), nobleman, parliamentarian, and military leader
  • Luis Sotelo of Spain (1574–1624), Franciscan friar and martyr
  • Henri de Sourdis of France (1593–1645), Archbishop of Bordeaux and military commander
  • John Speed of England (1552–1627), historian and cartographer
  • Ambrogio Spinola of Genoa (1569–1630), general in the service of Spain
  • John Spottiswoode of Scotland (1565–1639), Archbishop of St. Andrews, historian, and future Lord Chancellor of Scotland
  • Squanto (1585?–1622), assist to and interpreter for the Pilgrims of the Plymouth colony who helped them stamp out the treaty between them and the Wampanoag.
  • Myles Standish (1584–1656), English military advisor at the Plymouth Colony
  • James Stanley, 7th Earl of Derby of England (1607–1651), nobleman and future Royalist commander during the English Civil War
  • Oliver St John, 5th Baron St John of Bletso (1603–1642), English politician and future Parliamentarian Army officer
  • Nicholas Stone of England (1587–1647), sculptor and architect
  • Sir John Suckling of England (1569–1627), Member of Parliament
  • Sun Chengzong of China, Grand Secretary and Commander-in-chief of Chinese Forces
  • Joachim Swartenhondt of the Netherlands (c.1566–1627), admiral
  • Tamblot of the Philippines ( 1621–1622), indigenous Boholano babaylan (priest) and inciter of a religiously motivated uprising in Bohol
  • Alessandro Tassoni of Modena (1565–1635), poet and writer
  • Hendrick ter Brugghen of the Netherlands (1588–1629), painter
  • François Thijssen of the Netherlands (?–1638), explorer
  • Thomas Tomkins of Wales (1572–1656), Cornish-Welsh composer
  • Henri de la Tour d'Auvergne, Vicomte de Turenne of France (1611–1675), soldier and future Marshal of France
  • Sir John Trevor Jr. of Wales (1596–1673), Puritan Member of Parliament and future member of the Council of State during the Commonwealth of England
  • Sir Richard Trevor of Wales (1558–1638), landowner, soldier and politician.
  • Sir Sackville Trevor of Wales (1565–1633), Sea Captain and Member of Parliament
  • Thomas Trevor of England (1586–1656), Anglo-Welsh lawyer, Member of Parliament, and judge
  • Nicolas Trigault of France (1577–1628), Jesuit missionary in China
  • Trịnh Tùng of Vietnam (1549–1623), Trinh Lord (subnational ruler of Northern Vietnam), held position 1570–1623
  • Trịnh Tráng of Vietnam (1571–1654), Trinh Lord (subnational ruler of Northern Vietnam), held position 1623–1654
  • Johann Tserclaes, Count of Tilly (1559–1632), German nobleman and co-Supreme commander of the forces of the Holy Roman Empire
  • Uncas (c.1588–1683), Chief of the Mohegans, held position 1626–1683
  • Honoré d'Urfé of France (1568–1625), writer
  • James Ussher of Ireland (1581–1656), Anglican theologian, Archbishop of Armagh, and Primate of All Ireland
  • Bernard de Nogaret de La Valette d'Épernon of France (1592–1661), nobleman and military commander
  • Jean Louis de Nogaret de La Valette of France (1554–1642), nobleman
  • Pietro Della Valle of Rome (1586–1652), traveller
  • Anthony van Dyck of Flanders (1599–1641), painter
  • Władysław Vasa of Poland (1595–1648), Polish Prince, self-proclaimed Grand Duke of Moscow, and future King of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth
  • Sir Henry Vaughan the Elder of Derwydd, Wales (1587?–1659?), Royalist Member of Parliament
  • William Vaughan of Wales (1575–1641), colonial investor and writer
  • Salomo de Veenboer of the Netherlands (?–1620), Barbary pirate
  • Lope de Vega of Spain (1562–1635), playwright and poet
  • Diego Velázquez of Spain (1599–1660), painter
  • Horace Vere, 1st Baron Vere of Tilbury of England (1565–1635), military leader
  • Cornelius Vermuyden of the Netherlands (1590–1677), engineer
  • George Villiers, 1st Duke of Buckingham of England (1592–1628), nobleman, statesman, and military commander
  • Mutio Vitelleschi of Rome (1563–1645), Superior General of the Society of Jesus, held post 1615–1645
  • Joost van den Vondel of the Netherlands (1587–1679), writer and playwright
  • Luke Wadding of Ireland (1588–1657), Franciscan friar, historian, and founder of the Pontifical Irish College
  • Albrecht von Wallenstein of Bohemia (1583–1634), co-Supreme commander of the forces of the Holy Roman Empire
  • Edmund Waller of England (1606–1687), Member of Parliament and poet
  • Sir James Ware of Ireland (1594–1666), historian and politician
  • John Webster of England (1580–1634), playwright
  • Wei Zhongxian of China (1568–1627), Eunuch
  • Thomas Wentworth Sr., 1st Earl of Strafford of England (1593–1641), statesman (specifically Member of Parliament and future Lord deputy and lieutenant of Ireland)
  • John White of England (1575–1648), Anglican priest and colonial organizer of the Massachusetts Bay Colony (not to be confused with John White the governor of the Roanoke Colony)
  • Wilhelm (1598–1662), Duke of Saxe-Weimar, r. 1620–1662
  • John Williams of England (1582–1650), Lord Chancellor and future Archbishop of York
  • John Winthrop (1588–1649), Founder and future Governor of the Massachusetts Bay Colony (governor-elect in 1629)
  • Sir Henry Wotton of England (1568–1639), author and diplomat
  • Henry Wriothesley, 3rd Earl of Southampton of England (1573–1624), nobleman, patron of the theater, and colonial investor
  • Sir Richard Wynn of Wales (1588–1649), Baronet, courtier, and Member of Parliament
  • Xu Guangqi of China (1562–1633), Ming Dynasty bureaucrat, agricultural scientist, astronomer, and mathematician
  • Yamada Nagamasa of Japan (1590–1630), adventurer, pirate, and military commander
  • George Yeardley (1587–1627), Plantation owner and Governor of the Virginia Colony, held office in 1616–1617, 1619–1621, 1626–1627
  • Sir Henry Yelverton of England (1566–1629), Attorney General for England and Wales, in office 1617–1621
  • Yi Gwal of Korea (1587–1624), general
  • Yuan Chonghuan of China (1584–1630), military commander
  • Jakub Zadzik of Poland (1582–1642), Grand Chancellor of Poland
  • Krzysztof Zbaraski of Poland (1580–1627), nobleman and Polish-Lithuanian ambassador to the Ottoman Empire
  • Stanisław Żółkiewski of Poland (1547–1620), nobleman, military commander, and Grand Chancellor of Poland
  • Zu Dashou of China (?–1656), general

In fiction

  • The voyage of the Pilgrims, their first years of inhabitance in the New World, and the first Thanksgiving are often the subject of Thanksgiving themed specials and short films. One of the most notable examples is the episode "The Mayflower voyagers" of the 1988 mini-series This Is America, Charlie Brown, which ABC has often aired on Thanksgiving Day (except in 2006 and 2007) along with A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving. However, Thanksgiving would not become established as a national holiday until 1863 when President Abraham Lincoln proclaimed that it would be celebrated on the final Thursday in November. However, it did not become a federal holiday until 1941 by an act of legislation by the U.S. Congress.
  • The voyage and struggles of the Pilgrims have also been the subject of some pieces of literature including Of Plymouth Plantation by William Bradford, who himself was an important figure of the 1620s, and Felicia Hemans' classic poem, "The Landing of the Pilgrim Fathers."
  • The classic novel The Three Musketeers by Alexandre Dumas, père takes place in 1628. The story includes fictionalized versions of actual historical events of this year, such as the siege of La Rochelle and the assassination of the Duke of Buckingham.
  • The Angel's Command, a children's adventure novel by British writer Brian Jacques, is set in the year 1628.
  • The 1632 series, though set during the succeeding decade, features many characters, such as Louis XIII and Prime Minister Cardinal Richelieu of France, King Gustavus Adolphus of Sweden, and Holy Roman Emperor Ferdinand II, who were active during the 1620s and uses events from the 1620s and early 1630s as a backdrop, most notably the Thirty Years' War.
  • The Doctor Who audio drama The Church and the Crown takes place during the year 1626.

References