Directory

1613 CE

Workers in a sandpit in the Dauphiné region of France discover the skeleton of what is alleged to be a 30-foot tall man (the remains, it is supposed, of the giant Teutobochus, a legendary Gallic king who fought the Romans). (February 21 O.S.) – An assembly of the Russian Empire elects Mikhail Romanov Tsar of Russia, ending the Time of Troubles. The House of Romanov will remain a ruling dynasty until 1917. After getting an official proclamation that he is the French Governor of New France, explorer Samuel de Champlain begins exploration of the area westward from Quebec, traveling along the Ottawa River.

Geopolitics & Diplomacy

  • January 20 – King James I of England successfully mediates the Treaty of Knäred between Denmark and Sweden.source
  • March 3 (February 21 O.S.) – An assembly of the Russian Empire elects Mikhail Romanov Tsar of Russia, ending the Time of Troubles. The House of Romanov will remain a ruling dynasty until 1917.source
  • July 20 (July 30 N.S.) – The first American-grown tobacco, produced in the British colony of Virginia, arrives in England after being dispatched 22 days earlier by John Rolfe.source
  • Sultan Agung of Mataram takes the throne of the kingdom of Mataram in Java.source

Conflict & Security

  • March 29 – Burmese soldiers, tunneling under the walls of the Portuguese colonial fortress at Syriam (now Thanlyin), bring down a section of the walls and sack the city. Portuguese Governor Filipe de Brito e Nicote and rebel Burmese General Natshinnaung are captured, and executed by impalement on April 9.source
  • May 14 – The ruler of the principality of Martaban, Binnya Dala, surrenders to the armies of King Anaukpetlun of Burma.source
  • May 14 – The city of Hanthawaddy (now Bago) is restored as the capital of Burma by King Anaukpetlun, who relocates the government from Ava (now Inwa).source
  • May 23 – War of the Montferrat Succession: The defenders of the Italian city of Nizza Monferrato successfully resist a nine-day siege by the troops of Charles Emmanuel I, Duke of Savoy.source
  • July 26 – Diego Marín de Negron, the Spanish Governor of Rio de la Plata y Paraguay, is assassinated by poisoning at his palace in Buenos Aires.C. Antonio Zinny, History of the governors of the Argentine provinces from 1810 to the present (Editoriales Huemul, 1941) p.105source
  • August 29 – The Sicilians under de Aragon defeat the trade fleet of the Ottoman Empire, ending the Battle of Cape Corvo.source
  • November 30 – King Anaukpetlun of Burma sends an army of 4,000 troops to drive the Siamese occupiers from the Tenasserim coast.source
  • December 26 – The Burmese Army defeats the Siamese Army at Tavoy. The city is now part of Myanmar as Dawei.source

Exploration & Expansion

  • January 11 – Workers in a sandpit in the Dauphiné region of France discover the skeleton of what is alleged to be a 30-foot tall man (the remains, it is supposed, of the giant Teutobochus, a legendary Gallic king who fought the Romans).source
  • March 29 – Explorer Samuel de Champlain becomes the first unofficial Governor of New France in Canada.source
  • May 27 – After getting an official proclamation that he is the French Governor of New France, explorer Samuel de Champlain begins exploration of the area westward from Quebec, traveling along the Ottawa River.source
  • June 28 (July 8 N.S.) – From Jamestown, John Rolfe makes the first shipment to England of tobacco grown in Virginia, dispatching it on the ship The Elizabeth. The tobacco arrives in England after a voyage of three weeks.source
  • October 28 – Keichō embassy: Hasekura Tsunenaga departs Japan in the Date Maru with a Japanese diplomatic mission to the Holy See, scheduled to first travel to Acapulco in New Spain, with a goal of concluding an agreement between Tokugawa Ieyasu and the East India Company, permitting English merchants to live and trade in Japan.source
  • December 26 – The Date Maru, carrying the Japanese diplomatic mission commanded Hasekura Tsunenaga, reaches North America, sighting Cape Mendocino on the California coast.source
  • Near Jamestown, Virginia, Sir Thomas Dale starts a settlement called Bermuda City, which later becomes part of Hopewell, Virginia.source

Religion & Belief

  • July 28 – Gregor Richter, the chief pastor of Görlitz, denounces Jacob Boehme as a heretic, in his Sunday sermon.source
  • December 27 – Mateo Leal de Ayala becomes the new Governor of Rio de la Plata y Paraguay, covering what will become the nations of Argentina, Chile and Paraguay. He succeeds Diego Marín de Negron, who was poisoned on July 26.source

Technology & Infrastructure

  • February 24 – King Anaukpetlun of Burma blockades the Portuguese port at Syriam with 80 warships and 3,000 men, then sets about to tunnel into the city.source
  • March 27 – The first English child is born in what will become Canada at Cuper's Cove, Newfoundland to Nicholas Guy.source
  • September 29 – The New River is opened, to supply London with drinking water from Hertfordshire.source

Health & Medicine

  • A locust swarm destroys La Camarque, France.source

Crime & Justice

  • April 13 – Samuel Argall captures Algonquian princess Pocahontas in Passapatanzy, Virginia, to ransom her for some English prisoners held by her father, Chief Powhatan. She is brought to Henricus as a hostage.source
  • October 21 – Gabriel Bathory, ruler of the Principality of Transylvania, is removed from office by vote of the nobles meeting at Gyulafehérvár (now Alba Iulia in Romania). Bathory refuses to vacate the palace at the Transylvanian capital at Várad, (now Oradea in Romania), and is murdered on October 27.source

Disasters & Accidents

  • June 29 – Fire destroys London's famed Globe Theatre, during a performance of Shakespeare's Henry VIII.source

Culture & Society

  • February 14 – Elizabeth, daughter of King James I of England, marries Elector Frederick V of the Palatinate.source
  • May 12 – Mikhail Romanov arrives in Moscow to begin his reign as Tsar of Russia, after having been elected on March 3.source
  • October 23 – Gabriel Bethlen is elected as the new Prince of Transylvania.source
  • November 3 – English royal favourite Robert Carr is created 1st Earl of Somerset.source
  • December 26 – The Earl of Somerset marries Frances Howard, following the September 25 annulment of her marriage to Robert Devereux, 3rd Earl of Essex; the event is the inspiration for John Donne's Eclogue.source

Births

  • January 15 – Giovanni Pietro Bellori, Italian art historian (d. 1696)source
  • March 12 – André Le Nôtre, French landscape and garden designer (d. 1700)source
  • March 24 – Antonia of Württemberg, princess, literary figure, patron and Christian Kabbalist (d. 1679)source
  • March 28 – Empress Dowager Xiaozhuang, concubine of Qing dynasty ruler Hong Taiji (d. 1688)source
  • April 1 – Charles de Saint-Évremond, French soldier and writer (d. 1703)source
  • April 18 – Philip Wharton, 4th Baron Wharton, English soldier (d. 1696)source
  • July 15 – Gu Yanwu, Chinese philologist and geographer (d. 1682)source
  • August 7 – William Frederick, Prince of Nassau-Dietz, Dutch stadtholder (d. 1664)source
  • August 24 – Bartholomew Holzhauser, German priest, founder of a religious community, visionary, writer of prophecies (d. 1658)source
  • September 15 – François de La Rochefoucauld, French writer (d. 1680)source
  • October 13 – Luisa de Guzmán, Duchess of Braganza, queen consort of Portugal (d. 1666)source
  • October 19 – Charles of Sezze, Italian Franciscan friar and saint (d. 1670)source
  • November 25 – Philip VII, Count of Waldeck-Wildungen (1638–1645) (d. 1645)source
  • December 11 – Amar Singh Rathore, Rajput nobleman affiliated with the royal house of Marwar (d. 1644)source

Deaths

  • January 2 – Salima Sultan Begum, Empress of the Mughal Empire (b. 1539)source
  • January 28 – Thomas Bodley, English diplomat and library founder (b. 1545)source
  • March 2 – Rudolph Snellius, Dutch linguist and mathematician (b. 1546)source
  • March 16 – Ikeda Terumasa, Japanese daimyō (b. 1565)source
  • July 2 – Bartholomaeus Pitiscus, German astronomer and mathematician (b. 1561)source
  • July 30 – Henry Julius, Duke of Brunswick-Lüneburg (b. 1564)source
  • August 7 – Thomas Fleming, English judge (b. 1544)source
  • September 8 – Carlo Gesualdo, Italian composer (b. 1566)source
  • September 14 – Thomas Overbury, English poet and essayist (murdered) (b. 1581)source
  • October 9 – Henry Constable, English poet (b. 1562)source
  • October 11 – John Petre, 1st Baron Petre, English politician (b. 1549)source
  • October 27 – Gabriel Báthory, Prince of Transylvania (b. 1589)source
  • November 26 – Henry Berkeley, 7th Baron Berkeley, English politician (b. 1534)source
  • December 7 – Simon VI, Count of Lippe, imperial count and ruler of the County of Lippe (Germany) since 1563 (b. 1554)source