An introduction to the 1670s

I thought I'd try and explain the thoughts behind this blog. The late 17th century is a neglected period - which is maybe as it should be in England as it's a period when we were in the pay of the French and our great soldiers like Marlborough and the Duke of Monmouth were learning their skills in the army of France but I think from a European perspective there is a lot of potential interest in this period and it is for that reason I am putting together a number of sources to stimulate a curiosity in the 1670s.
Most people who are interested in the late 17th century are concerned mainly with the 1690s - the War of the League of Augsburg - but I think it's time to look at the earlier campaigns of Louis XIV when the matchlock and pike still reigned and armies were a patchwork quilt of different coat colours.
This image by Knotel is one of the few uniform plates he did for the late 17th century.