Protagonists of History in International Perspective

Christian IV, king of Denmark and Norway, was a fascinating political figure of the early seventeenth century, also remembered for his cultural and entrepreneurial activity. He was a great builder, founded several new cities, and had an international reputation as a patron of the arts.

For centuries, Charles XII has mainly been seen in the context of Sweden’s national experience, yet his activities stretched across the European continent from Russia and Denmark to Germany, Austria, Poland, Ukraine, and the Ottoman Empire. Even the Dutch Republic, Britain, and France became involved diplomatically and economically.

Fernando Álvarez de Toledo, Third Duke of Alba, is one of the most formidable and controversial figures of the sixteenth century. He has been depicted as a great hero, an indefatigable defender of the Catholic faith, and a true buttress of the Spanish monarchy, but also as a terrifying man, the dark suppressor of the revolt in the Low Countries.

John Churchill, the first Duke of Marlborough, has long been regarded as one of Britain's greatest generals as well as a key English political figure in the first decade of the eighteenth century.

Was Michiel de Ruyter the greatest sea commander who ever lived? Or simply the greatest sea-commander of the 17th century?