1651 CE
Charles II is crowned King of Scots at Scone (his first crowning). General Marcin Kalinowski of Poland wins the Battle of Kopychyntsi against Zaporozhian Cossacks forces under the command of Asand Demka during the Khmelnytsky Uprising in what is now Ukraine. At the Battle of Inverkeithing in Scotland, the English Parliamentarian New Model Army, under Major-General John Lambert, defeats a Scottish Covenanter army acting on behalf of Charles II, led by Sir John Brown of Fordell.
Geopolitics & Diplomacy
- January 24 – Parliament of Boroa in Chile: Spanish and Mapuche authorities meet at Boroa, renewing the fragile peace established at the parliaments of Quillín, in 1641 and 1647.source
- October – An English diplomatic team, headed by Oliver St John, goes to The Hague to negotiate an alliance between the Commonwealth of England and the Dutch Republic.source
Conflict & Security
- May 12 – General Marcin Kalinowski of Poland wins the Battle of Kopychyntsi against Zaporozhian Cossacks forces under the command of Asand Demka during the Khmelnytsky Uprising in what is now Ukraine.source
- June 17 – Franco-Spanish War (1635–1659); A squadron of Spanish galleys under John Joseph of Austria capture the French galleon Lion Couronné off Formentera, Balearic Islands, Spain.source
- June 30 – After three days of fighting in the Battle of Berestechko in Ukraine, one of the biggest land battles of the 17th century, with some 205,000 troops in the field, the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth Army defeats the Zaporozhian Cossacks.source
- July 20 – At the Battle of Inverkeithing in Scotland, the English Parliamentarian New Model Army, under Major-General John Lambert, defeats a Scottish Covenanter army acting on behalf of Charles II, led by Sir John Brown of Fordell.source
- August 13 – The troops of King Charles II of Scotland force the retreat of English Commonwealth troops at the Battle of Warrington Bridge, the last victory of Scotland over England in battle.source
- August 28 – The "Onfall of Alyth takes place in the Scottish town of the same name when most of the members of Scotland's governing body, the Committee of States, are betrayed to English invaders. The Earl of Leven, the Earl of Crawford, the Earl Marischal, Lord Nairne and other prominent people are captured and imprisoned in the Tower of London.source
- August 28 – The Battle of Upton is fought at Upton-upon-Severn in England, where Scottish invaders commanded by Major General Edward Massey are defeated by the English Parliamentarians led by John Lambert. The retreat of the Scots clears the way for the successful English attack at Worcester.source
- September 1 – The siege of Dundee ends with the English Parliamentarian army, under General Monck, decisively defeating Covenanters in the last battle of the Wars of the Three Kingdoms in Scotland.source
- September 2 – Kösem Sultan is assassinated by her daughter-in-law, Turhan Sultan.source
- September 3 – Charles II of England is defeated in the Battle of Worcester, the last major battle of the English Civil War, and forced to flee.source
- October 16 – Prince Charles of the House of Stuart escapes from England to find refuge in France.source
- November 3 – The Manx Rebellion of 1651 comes to an end as the Countess of Derby surrenders the Isle of Man to the forces of Oliver Cromwell in return for a guarantee of safe passage for herself, her family and her servants, off of the island.source
- November 24 – In China, Qing dynasty forces led by Shang Kexi capture the city of Guangzhou from the Southern Ming and then carry out a massacre of the population, killing as many as 70,000 people over 11 days ending on December 5.source
- December 17 – Castle Cornet in Guernsey, the last stronghold which had supported the King in the Third English Civil War, surrenders.source
- The Keian Uprising fails in Japan.source
Religion & Belief
Economy & Finance
- May 21 – The Sovereign Military Order of Malta purchases the Caribbean islands of Saint Barthélemy, Saint Christopher, Saint Croix and Saint Martin from the France's Compagnie des Îles de l'Amérique. The Order will sell the islands in 1665 to the French West India Company.source
Technology & Infrastructure
- The first coffee house in England is opened in Oxford, indicative of their increasing popularity in Europe.source
Health & Medicine
Crime & Justice
- March 26 – The Spanish ship San José, loaded with silver, is pushed south by strong winds; it wrecks on the coast of southern Chile, and its surviving crew is killed by indigenous Cuncos.source
Climate & Environment
- February 22 – St. Peter's Flood: A first storm tide in the North Sea strikes the coast of Germany, drowning thousands. The island of Juist is split in half, and the western half of Buise is probably washed away.source
- March 4 – St. Peter's Flood: Another storm tide in the North Sea strikes the Netherlands, flooding Amsterdam.source
Culture & Society
Births
- February 2 or 1950 – William Phips, first royal governor of the Province of Massachusetts Bay (d. 1695)source
- February 11 – Anne Scott, 1st Duchess of Buccleuch, wealthy Scottish peeress (d. 1732)source
- February 25 – Quirinus Kuhlmann, German Baroque poet and mystic (d. 1689)source
- March 4 – John Somers, 1st Baron Somers, Lord Chancellor of England (d. 1716)source
- April 10 – Ehrenfried Walther von Tschirnhaus, German mathematician (d. 1708)source
- April 21 – Blessed Joseph Vaz, Apostle of Ceylon (d. 1711)source
- April 30 – Jean-Baptiste de la Salle, French educational reformer (d. 1719)source
- July 12 – Margaret Theresa of Spain (d. 1673)source
- August 6 – François Fénelon, Archbishop of Cambrai, France (d. 1715)source
- August 6 – Carl Gustav Rehnskiöld, Swedish Field Marshal (d. 1722)source
- September 1 – Nataliya Kyrillovna Naryshkina, Tsaritsa of Russia (d. 1694)source
- September 16 – Engelbert Kaempfer, German physician and traveler (d. 1716)source
- September 26 – Francis Daniel Pastorius, German founder of Germantown, Pennsylvania (d. 1720)source
- November 12 – Juana Inés de la Cruz, Mexican nun, writer and poet (d. 1695)source
Deaths
- January – Thomas Greene, Colonial governor of Maryland (b. 1609)source
- February 8 – Richard Newport, 1st Baron Newport, English politician (b. 1587)source
- April 7 – Lennart Torstensson, Swedish Field Marshal, Privy Councillour and Governor-General (b. 1603)source
- April 10 – Sir William Airmine, 1st Baronet, English politician (b. 1593)source
- August 2 – Ercole, Marquis of Baux, member of the House of Grimaldi (b. 1623)source
- August 8 – Countess Amalie Elisabeth of Hanau-Münzenberg, regent of Hesse-Kassel (b. 1602)source
- August 20 – Jeremi Wiśniowiecki, Polish nobleman (b. 1612)source
- September 2 – Kösem Sultan, regent of the Ottoman Empire (b. 1590)source
- September 12 – William Hamilton, 2nd Duke of Hamilton, Scottish nobleman (b. 1616)source
- September 18 – Henriette Marie of the Palatinate, German noble (b. 1626)source
- October 8 – Anna Catherine Constance Vasa, Polish princess, daughter of King Sigismund III Vasa (b. 1619)source
- October 15 – James Stanley, 7th Earl of Derby (b. 1607)source
- October 25 – Saint Job of Pochayiv, Ukrainian Orthodox Christian saint (b. 1551)source
- November 26 – Henry Ireton, English Civil War leader (b. 1611)source