Year by year · 17th century

1602

1602 in world history: 7 events, 7 births, 6 deaths, 1 state founded and 1 that came to an end. 1,056 recorded states existed that year.

Events

  1. 20 March

    Dutch East India Company is founded

    The States General granted the VOC a monopoly on Dutch trade in Asia. Financed by publicly traded shares, it could wage war, make treaties and found colonies, and dominated the spice trade.

    Dutch East India Company

  2. 15 May

    Bartholomew Gosnold names Cape Cod

    English navigator Bartholomew Gosnold reached the Massachusetts peninsula and named it for the abundant cod his crew caught there. His voyage was an early English exploration of New England.

    England

  3. 3 June

    The English navy defeats a Spanish fleet at Sesimbra Bay

    In the Anglo-Spanish War, an English force under Richard Leveson and William Monson met Spanish galleys and a carrack at Sesimbra Bay in Portugal, sinking two galleys and capturing the carrack. It was the last expedition Queen Elizabeth I sent to Spain.

    Anglo-Spanish WarCarrack

  4. 8 November

    The Bodleian Library opens in Oxford

    Sir Thomas Bodley's refounded library opened to scholars at Oxford with about 2,000 books. It became one of Europe's great research libraries, now holding over 13 million printed items.

    Oxford

  5. Battle

    L'Escalade

    L'Escalade was a surprise night attack on Geneva on 11–12 December 1602 by troops of Charles Emmanuel I, Duke of Savoy, who tried to scale the city walls with ladders.

ProfileState913 states with a known seat in 1602Open the atlas at 1602 →

In the profiles

  • Dutch EmpireThe States-General merges rival traders into the VOC with quasi-sovereign powers
  • Dutch RepublicThe Dutch East India Company (VOC) is founded

Born in 1602 7

Died in 1602 6

States founded 1

States that came to an end 1

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Cite this page
APA
The Epoch Institute. (2026). 1602. In The Epoch Institute, Year by Year. https://the-epoch-institute.org/years/1602
MLA
“1602.” The Epoch Institute, Year by Year, The Epoch Institute, 2026, https://the-epoch-institute.org/years/1602. Accessed .
Chicago
The Epoch Institute. “1602.” The Epoch Institute, Year by Year. 2026. https://the-epoch-institute.org/years/1602.
Harvard
The Epoch Institute (2026) ‘1602’, The Epoch Institute, Year by Year. Available at: https://the-epoch-institute.org/years/1602 (Accessed: ).