| ca. 1500–1650 | 1665–1683 |
| – Consolidation of serfdom in eastern Europe | – Jean-Baptiste Colbert applies mercantilism to France |
| 1533–1584 | 1670 |
| – Reign of Ivan the Terrible in Russia | – Charles II agrees to re-Catholicize England in secret agreement with Louis XIV |
| 1589–1610 | ca. 1680–1750 |
| – Reign of Henry IV in France | – Construction of absolutist palaces |
| 1598–1613 | 1682 |
| – Time of Troubles in Russia | – Louis XIV moves court to Versailles |
| 1620–1740 | 1682–1725 |
| – Growth of absolutism in Austria and Prussia | – Reign of Peter the Great in Russia |
| 1642–1649 | 1683–1718 |
| – English civil war, which ends with execution of Charles I | – Habsburgs push the Ottoman Turks from Hungary |
| 1643–1715 | 1685 |
| – Reign of Louis XIV in France | – Edict of Nantes revoked in France |
| 1653–1658 | 1688–1689 |
| – Military rule in England under Oliver Cromwell (the Protectorate) | – Glorious Revolution in England |
| 1660 | 1701–1713 |
| – Restoration of English monarchy under Charles II | – War of the Spanish Succession |