THE WORLD OF DANIEL DEFOE AND MOLL
FLANDERS
| 1660 | Daniel Defoe is born in London, the son of James Foe, a candle merchant and butcher of Flemish descent. The monarchy, overthrown by Oliver Cromwell during the English Civil Wars earlier in the century, is restored, and Charles II ascends the throne. |
| 1665 | Bubonic plague breaks out in London, killing as many as 75,000 of the city’s 450,000 inhabitants. |
| 1666 | The Great Fire of London destroys much of the city. |
| 1671 | Barred from attending Oxford or Cambridge because he is a Dissenter (as Protestants not conforming to the doctrines of the Church of England were known), Defoe enters Reverend Charles Morton’s academy to prepare for the Presbyterian ministry. Under Morton, who later will become the first vice president of Harvard College, he receives an excellent education, but he does not enter the ministry. |
| c.1682 | Defoe establishes himself as a merchant, trading in hosiery, tobacco, wine, and other goods. His business dealings take him to several European countries, where he acquires knowledge of many languages. |
| 1684 | Defoe marries Mary Tuffley, daughter of a prosperous Dissenter merchant who brings with her a substantial dowry. The couple will have eight children, and the marriage will last until Defoe’s death forty-seven years later. |
| 1685 | Defoe takes part in the Monmouth Rebellion, which seeks to overthrow King James II, a Roman Catholic and intolerant of Dissenters, and put the Duke of Monmouth, an illegitimate son of Charles II and supporter of the Dissenters, |
| on the throne. The rebellion gains some popular support but fails, and many of the rebels are executed. | |
| 1688 | In the so-called Glorious Revolution, William III of Orange and his wife, Mary, overthrow King James II. Defoe writes many pamphlets in support of the Protestant monarchs and becomes a favorite of the couple. |
| 1692 | Defoe is £17,000 in debt and declares bankruptcy. |
| 1697 | Defoe publishes his first full-length book, An Essay upon Projects, a series of innovative proposals for improving English life; he also becomes a secret agent for William III, gathering intelligence for the crown. |
| 1701 | Defoe’s The True-Born Englishman, a satirical response to sentiment against Dutch-born King William III, is published ; in the poem Defoe humorously reminds the English of their varied ancestry. |
| 1702 | Defoe falls out of political favor when King William dies and Queen Anne and her Tory government, intolerant of Dissenters, assume power. Defoe publishes his ironic pamphlet The Shortest Way with the Dissenters. |
| 1703 | Defoe is arrested for publishing The Shortest Way with the Dissenters and appears in the pillory for three days in London. He also serves five months in Newgate Prison; he will draw on his experience in Newgate in Moll Flanders. While Defoe is incarcerated, his businesses collapse. |
| 1704 | Defoe begins to write and edit The Review, a highly influential political journal that he will publish until 1713. |
| 1705 | As a government agent working for Robert Harley, a moderate Tory minister, Defoe begins making trips north through England to Scotland to assess public opinion for the Act of Union uniting the two countries. |
| 1707 | The Act of Union is passed. |
| 1713 | Defoe’s political enemies have him imprisoned again briefly for a satiric tract mocking the impending Hanoverian Succession to the English throne. |
| 1714 | George I ascends the throne, and the Whigs, favorable to Defoe and other Dissenters, regain power. |
| 1715 | The first volume of The Family Instructor, the most popular of Defoe’s many books of moral instruction, is published. |
| 1719 | The Life and Strange Surprising Adventures of Robinson Crusoe is published and immediately becomes widely popular. |
| 1722 | Defoe publishes three fictional works: Moll Flanders, 14 Journal of the Plague Year, and Colonel Jack. |
| 1724 | Defoe publishes his final novel, The Unfortunate Mistress: Roxana, and returns to nonfiction with the publication of the first volume of his three-volume A Tour Through the Whole Island of Great Britain. |
| 1726 | Defoe’s Political History of the Devil is published, as is Gulliver’s Travels, by Jonathan Swift. |
| 1731 | Defoe dies in a London boardinghouse in April. |