Directory

1644 CE

It is one of eight years (CE) to contain each Roman numeral once (1000(M)+500(D)+100(C)+(-10(X)+50(L))+(-1(I)+5(V)) = 1644).

Geopolitics & Diplomacy

  • January 22 – The Royalist Oxford Parliament is first assembled by King Charles I of England.source
  • March 24 – Roger Williams is granted an official grant for his Rhode Island Colony from the Parliament of England, allowing the establishment of a general assembly.source
  • May 6 – Johan Mauritius resigns as Governor of Brazil.source
  • June 3 – Li Zicheng proclaims himself emperor of China.source

Conflict & Security

  • January 26 – First English Civil War: Battle of Nantwich – The Parliamentarians defeat the Royalists, allowing them to end the 6-week siege of the Cheshire town.source
  • January 30 – Battle of Ochmatów: Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth forces under hetman Stanisław Koniecpolski secure a substantial victory over the army of the Crimean Khanate under Tugay Bey.source
  • February 2 – Prince of Transylvania George I Rákóczi invades Hungary to aid Sweden against the Habsburgs.source
  • April 18 – Opchanacanough leads the Powhatan Indians in an unsuccessful uprising against the English at Jamestown. Although 300 of the English colonists are slain, the settlers pursue Opchanacanough, who is imprisoned in Jamestown for the rest of his life. This is the last such Indian rebellion in the region.source
  • April 25 – A popular Chinese rebellion led by Li Zicheng sacks Beijing, prompting Chongzhen, the last emperor of the Ming dynasty, to commit suicide.source
  • May 25 – Ming general Wu Sangui forms an alliance with the invading Manchus and opens the gates of the Great Wall of China at Shanhaiguan Pass, letting the Manchus through towards the capital Beijing.source
  • May 26 – Battle of Montijo: The Kingdom of Portugal is victorious over Habsburg Spain, in the first major action between the two nations during the Portuguese Restoration War.source
  • May 27 – Battle of Shanhai Pass: The Manchu Qing dynasty and Wu Sangui gain a decisive victory over Li Zicheng's Shun dynasty.source
  • June 6 – The invading Qing army, with the help of Ming general Wu Sangui, captures Beijing in China, marking the beginning of Manchu rule over China proper, which will last until 1912.source
  • June 11 – During the English Civil War, Prince Rupert and his men take Liverpool Castle. Liverpool is later reclaimed by Sir John Moore.source
  • July 1 – Torstenson War: Battle of Colberger Heide – The Dano-Norwegian and Swedish fleets fight a naval battle off the coast of Schleswig-Holstein. The battle is indecisive but represents a minor success for the Dano-Norwegian fleet.source
  • July 2 – English Civil War: Battle of Marston Moor – The Parliamentarians crush the Royalists in Yorkshire, ending Charles I's hold on the north of England.source
  • September 1 – English Civil War: Battle of Tippermuir – Montrose defeats Lord Elcho's Covenanters, reviving the Royalist cause in Scotland.source
  • September 2 – English Civil War: Second Battle of Lostwithiel (in Cornwall) – Charles I and the Royalists gain their last major victory.source
  • October 1 – The Jews of Mogilev, Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, are attacked during Tashlikh.source
  • November 8 – The Shunzhi Emperor, the second emperor of the Qing dynasty, is enthroned in Beijing after the collapse of the Ming dynasty as the first Qing emperor to rule over China proper.source
  • November 23 – Battle of Jüterbog (December 3 New Style): Sweden's forces defeat those of the Holy Roman Empire.source
  • November – The Castle of Elvas in Portugal resists a 9-day siege by the Spanish during the Portuguese Restoration War.source

Exploration & Expansion

  • January 30 – Dutch explorer Abel Tasman departs from Batavia in the Dutch East Indies (modern-day Jakarta in Indonesia) on his second major expedition for the Dutch East India Company, to map the north coast of Australia. Tasman commands three ships, Limmen, Zeemeeuw and Braek, and returns to Batavia at the beginning of August with no major discoveries.source
  • The Dutch West India Company displays greater interest in profit than in colonization.source

Religion & Belief

  • September 15 – Pope Innocent X succeeds Pope Urban VIII, becoming the 236th pope.source

Science & Discovery

  • February 5 – The first livestock branding law in America is passed in Connecticut.source
  • Philosopher René Descartes publishes Principia Philosophiae (Principles of Philosophy) in Amsterdam.source

Health & Medicine

  • December – Bubonic plague breaks out in Edinburgh (Scotland).source

Crime & Justice

  • A Spanish officer is murdered in St. Dominic's Church, Macau during mass by colonists loyal to Portugal during the Portuguese Restoration War.source

Culture & Society

  • February 8 – Li Zicheng declares the founding of the Shun dynasty in China, with himself as emperor.source
  • November 23 – Areopagitica, an appeal for freedom of speech written by John Milton, is published in London.source
  • December 8 (December 18 New Style) – As Christina comes of age, she is made ruling queen of Sweden.source
  • The opera Ormindo is first performed in Venice (music by Francesco Cavalli, and libretto by Giovanni Faustini).source
  • Sigismund's Column is erected in Warsaw to commemorate King Sigismund III Vasa, who moved the capital of Poland from Kraków to Warsaw in 1596.source

Births

  • January 9 – Robert Gibbes, English-born landgrave in South Carolina (d. 1715)source
  • January 10 – Louis François, duc de Boufflers, Marshal of France (d. 1711)source
  • April 6 – António Luís de Sousa, 2nd Marquis of Minas, Portuguese general, governor-general of Brazil (d. 1721)source
  • April 11 – Marie Jeanne Baptiste of Savoy-Nemours, Duchess of Savoy (d. 1724)source
  • May 5 – Sir Richard Newdigate, 2nd Baronet, English landowner (d. 1710)source
  • June 2 – William Salmon, English medical writer (d. 1713)source
  • June 16 – Henrietta Anne Stuart, Princess of Scotland, England and Ireland and Duchess of Orléans (d. 1670)source
  • July 4 – Josceline Percy, 11th Earl of Northumberland, English noble (d. 1670)source
  • August 6 – Christian Ernst, Margrave of Brandenburg-Bayreuth (1655–1712) (d. 1712)source
  • August 6 – Louise de La Vallière, French mistress of Louis XIV (d. 1710)source
  • August 12 – Heinrich Ignaz Franz Biber, Bohemian composer and violinist (d. 1704)source
  • August 30 – Thomas Tufton, 6th Earl of Thanet, English politician (d. 1729)source
  • September 25 – Ole Rømer, Danish astronomer (d. 1710)source
  • December 9 – Robert Kirk, Scottish folklorist, Bible translator, Gaelic scholar (d. 1692)source

Deaths

  • January 30 – William Chillingworth, controversial English churchman (b. 1602)source
  • January 31 – Georg II of Fleckenstein-Dagstuhl, German nobleman (b. 1588)source
  • February 28 – Guru Har Gobind, the Sixth Sikh Guru (b. 1595)source
  • March 15 – Countess Louise Juliana of Nassau, Regent of Bohemia (b. 1576)source
  • April 10 – Reverend William Brewster, English Pilgrim leader (b. 1567)source
  • April 25 – Chongzhen, last Ming Emperor of China (suicide) (b. 1611)source
  • June 17 – Anne de Montafié, Countess of Clermont-en-Beauvaisis, French countess (b. 1577)source
  • July 4 – Brian Twyne, English archivist (b. 1581)source
  • July 25 – Amar Singh Rathore, Rajput nobleman affiliated with the royal house of Marwar (b. 1613)source
  • September 7 – Guido Bentivoglio, Italian statesman and historian (b. 1579)source
  • October 6 – Elisabeth of France, queen of Philip IV of Spain (b. 1602)source
  • December 23 – Sir Alexander Carew, 2nd Baronet, English politician (b. 1609)source
  • December 28 – John Bankes, Attorney General and Chief Justice to King Charles I of England (b. 1589)source
  • December 30 – Jan Baptist van Helmont, Flemish chemist (b. 1577)source