The post timorad empires that you write about were hit hard by a world order shaking crisis known as the seventeenth century general crisis. In europe, far from being associated with decline, such developments have been hailed for ushering in an age of enlightenment and rational state behavior. What we know is that it was a prolonged period of political instability across eurasia. Again, i don't have a strong argument as to what caused this piriot of crisis.