Directory

1643 CE

First English Civil War: First Battle of Middlewich – Roundheads (Parliamentarians) rout the Cavaliers (Royalist supporters of King Charles I) at Middlewich in Cheshire. The Westminster Assembly of theologians ("divines") and parliamentarians is convened at Westminster Abbey with the aim of restructuring the Church of England. Dutch expedition to Valdivia: The Dutch end their occupation of Valdivia in Chile.

Geopolitics & Diplomacy

  • May 14 – Louis XIV succeeds his father Louis XIII as King of France at age 4. His rule will last until his death at age 76 in 1715, a total of 72 years, which will be the longest reign of any European monarch in recorded history.source
  • May 19 – The New England Confederation is formed as a military alliance between Massachusetts Bay Colony, Plymouth Colony, Saybrook Colony (Connecticut), and New Haven Colony.source
  • November 14 – Empress Meishō abdicates and Emperor Go-Kōmyō accedes to the throne of Japan.source
  • An Calbhach mac Aedh Ó Conchobhair Donn, The Ó Conchubhair Donn, Chief of the Name of the Clan Ó Conchubhair, is popularly inaugurated as the last King of Connacht in Ireland.source

Conflict & Security

  • March 13 – First English Civil War: First Battle of Middlewich – Roundheads (Parliamentarians) rout the Cavaliers (Royalist supporters of King Charles I) at Middlewich in Cheshire.source
  • March 18 – Irish Confederate Wars: Battle of New Ross – English troops defeat those of Confederate Ireland.source
  • May 19 – Thirty Years' War: Battle of Rocroi: The French defeat the Spanish at Rocroi in France.source
  • June 30 – First English Civil War: Battle of Adwalton Moor – Royalists gain control of Yorkshire.source
  • July 5 – First English Civil War: Battle of Lansdowne – Royalists gain a pyrrhic victory over the Parliamentarians near Bath, Somerset.source
  • July 13 – First English Civil War: Battle of Roundway Down – Henry Wilmot, newly created Baron Wilmot, commanding Royalist cavalry, wins a crushing victory over Parliamentarian Sir William Waller.source
  • September 6 – Battle of Mongiovino: The forces of the Grand Duchy of Tuscany, led by Mattias de' Medici, defeated the Papal forces commanded by Taddeo Barberini.source
  • September 20 – First English Civil War: First Battle of Newbury – A strategic Parliamentarian victory is made over Royalist forces who are led personally by King Charles.source
  • November 24 – Thirty Years' War: Battle of Tuttlingen – France is defeated by forces of the Holy Roman Empire.source
  • December 12 – Swedish Field Marshal Lennart Torstensson's forces enter Danish territory in Holstein, beginning the Torstenson War.source
  • December 13 – First English Civil War: At the Battle of Alton in Hampshire, the Parliamentarians defeat the Royalists.source

Exploration & Expansion

  • January 21 – Abel Tasman sights the island of Tonga.source
  • February 6 – Abel Tasman sights the Fiji Islands.source
  • May 20 – Dutch expedition to Valdivia: The Dutch fleet (led by Hendrik Brouwer) is spotted off Carelmapu in Chile, soon afterwards landing nearby and plundering the fort and village.source
  • August 24 – Dutch expedition to Valdivia: A Dutch fleet establishes a new colony in the ruins of Valdivia in southern Chile.source
  • October 28 – Dutch expedition to Valdivia: The Dutch end their occupation of Valdivia in Chile.source
  • December 25 – Christmas Island in the Indian Ocean is sighted and named by Captain William Mynors of the British East India Company ship Royal Mary.source
  • December 28 – Dutch expedition to Valdivia: The failed Dutch expedition arrives back at Recife in Dutch Brazil.source

Religion & Belief

  • July 1 – The Westminster Assembly of theologians ("divines") and parliamentarians is convened at Westminster Abbey with the aim of restructuring the Church of England.source
  • Paul de Chomedey, Sieur de Maisonneuve, places the first Mount Royal Cross atop Mount Royal above Montreal.source
  • Jean Bolland publishes the first two volumes of the Acta Sanctorum (in Antwerp). This is the beginning of the Bollandists' work.source

Technology & Infrastructure

  • April 1 – Åmål, Sweden, is granted its city charter.source

Science & Discovery

  • Roger Williams, co-founder of Rhode Island, publishes A Key into the Language of America.source
  • Evangelista Torricelli invents the mercury barometer.source

Crime & Justice

  • April 28 – Francisco de Lucena, former Portuguese Secretary of State, is beheaded after being convicted of treason.source
  • Baden-Baden is pillaged by the French.source

Culture & Society

  • The first professional book publisher to use printing press in Norway is established in Oslo.source
  • Miyamoto Musashi begins to dictate The Book of Five Rings (Go Rin No Sho) to his student; he will complete it in 1645, just before his death.source

Births

  • January 7 (O.S.) – Sir Samuel Grimston, 3rd Baronet, English politician (d. 1700)source
  • January 24 – Charles Sackville, 6th Earl of Dorset, English poet and courtier (d. 1706)source
  • February 15 – García Felipe de Legazpi y Velasco Altamirano y Albornoz, Spanish Catholic prelate, Bishop of Tlaxcala (d. 1706)source
  • March 4 – Fran Krsto Frankopan, Croatian baroque poet, nobleman and politician (d. 1671)source
  • March 23 – Mary of Jesus de León y Delgado, Spanish Dominican lay sister and mystic (d. 1731)source
  • May 7 – Stephanus Van Cortlandt, first native-born mayor of New York City (d. 1700)source
  • July 29 – Henri Jules, Prince of Condé (d. 1709)source
  • September 5 – Sir William Portman, 6th Baronet, English politician (d. 1690)source
  • September 14 – Jeremiah Dummer, American silversmith (d. 1718)source
  • September 17 – Francis Howard, 5th Baron Howard of Effingham, English peer (d. 1694)source
  • September 18 – Gilbert Burnet, Scottish philosopher and historian (d. 1715)source
  • September 27 – Solomon Stoddard, pastor of the Congregationalist Church in Northampton, Massachusetts (d. 1729)source
  • November 16 – Jean Chardin, French jeweller, traveller (d. 1713)source
  • December 28 – Salomon van Til, theologian of the Dutch Reformed Church (d. 1713)source

Deaths

  • January 20 – Henry Danvers, 1st Earl of Danby, English noble (b. 1573)source
  • February 6 – (17 Dhu al-Qadah 1052 AH) In India, the first ceremony at the nearly-complete Taj Mahal in Agra, the Mughal Emperor Shah Jahan observes the 12th anniversary of the death of his wife, Mumtaz Mahal, and opens the structure to thousands of mourners.source
  • February 15 – Countess Juliane of Nassau-Siegen, Landgravine of Hesse-kassel (b. 1587)source
  • March 1 – Girolamo Frescobaldi, Italian composer (b. 1583)source
  • April 13 – Margherita Farnese, Benedictine nun (b. 1567)source
  • July 12 – François Duquesnoy, Flemish Baroque sculptor in Rome (b. 1597)source
  • August – Anne Hutchinson, English Puritan preacher (b. 1591)source
  • September 15 – Richard Boyle, 1st Earl of Cork, Irish politician (b. 1566)source
  • October 8 – The Shunzhi Emperor of China is crowned at five years old, 17 days after the death of his father and the decision of the Deliberative Council of Princes and Ministers.source
  • November 3 – Paul Guldin, Swiss astronomer and mathematician (b. 1577)source
  • November 14 – Henry Hastings, 5th Earl of Huntingdon, English noble (b. 1586)source
  • November 15 – Tachibana Muneshige, Japanese samurai and soldier (b. 1567)source
  • December 8 – John Pym, English statesman (b. 1583)source
  • December 30 – Giovanni Baglione, Italian painter and historian of art (b. 1566)source