1674 CE

England and the Netherlands sign the Treaty of Westminster, ending the Third Anglo-Dutch War. Its provisions come into effect gradually (see November 10). Third Anglo-Dutch War: Battle of Ronas Voe – The English Royal Navy captures the Dutch East India Company ship Wapen van Rotterdam in Shetland. Shivaji Maharaj is crowned as Chatrapati Shivaji Maharaj of the Maratha Empire at Raigad Fort in India.

Geopolitics & Diplomacy

January 15 – The Earl of Arlington, a member of the English House of Commons, is impeached on charges of popery, but the Commons rejects the motion to remove him from office, 127 votes for and 166 against.source
February 19 – England and the Netherlands sign the Treaty of Westminster, ending the Third Anglo-Dutch War. Its provisions come into effect gradually (see November 10).source
April 26 – In the Netherlands, the jurisdiction of Willem, Prince of Orange, Stadtholder of Holland (on the west coast, including Amsterdam and Rotterdam) and Zeeland (southwest coast, including Middelburg, Zeeland), increases in the Dutch Republic as his followers in the inland States of Utrecht (Utrecht, Gelderland and Overijssel) designate him as the hereditary stadtholder. In 1689, he becomes the King of England in addition to his role as the Stadtholder of the Netherlands.source
November 10 – As provided in the Treaty of Westminster of February 19, the Dutch Republic cedes its colony of New Netherland to England. This includes the colonial capital, New Orange, which is returned to its English name of New York. The colonies of Surinam, Essequibo and Berbice remain in Dutch hands.source

Conflict & Security

January 7 – In the Chinese Empire, General Wu Sangui leads troops into the Giuzhou province, and soon takes control of the entire territory without a loss.source
March 14 – Third Anglo-Dutch War: Battle of Ronas Voe – The English Royal Navy captures the Dutch East India Company ship Wapen van Rotterdam in Shetland.source
April 24 – In India, Shivaji Bhonsale, the Chhatrapati of the Maratha Empire, captures the Kenjalgad Fort in what is now the Maharashtra state.source
July 7 – The Messina revolt against Spanish rule begins on the island of Sicily as the Italian residents besiege the palace of the Spanish Captain-General and drive out the Spanish garrison.source
August 1 – The 1674 derecho causes a catastrophic impact in Western Europe. In the Netherlands, the derecho causes over 1,050 deaths and devastates cities such as Utrecht and Amsterdam.source
August 11 – The French army under Prince Louis, Grand Condé fights the Dutch–Spanish–Imperial army under William III of Orange at Seneffe in a very bloody, but inconclusive battle.source
September 27 – French Navy Commander Jean-Baptiste de Valbelle arrives at Sicily during the Messina revolt to help the Messinese expel the last Spanish defenders, taking the fort at Faro in the harbor entrance.source
October 4 – The Battle of Entzheim takes place in France with 35,000 Holy Roman Empire troops and 22,000 French defenders during the Franco-Dutch War, with the forces fighting near Entzheim south of Strasbourg. While the battle is inconclusive, the outnumbered French win a strategic victory by keeping the Germans from entering French territory. Most of the former battlefield now lies beneath the Strasbourg International Airport.source
October 27 – The town of Grave surrenders to a Dutch army after a difficult siege.source

Exploration & Expansion

July 4 – A Dutch fleet under Cornelis Tromp Captures the island of Noirmoutier on the French coast. For nearly three weeks, the Dutch occupied the French island and the Dutch fleet captured many French ships in the meantime. The whole coastline from Brest to Bayonne was in turmoil, and French forces gathered to prevent the Dutch from landing. On 23 July the island of Noirmoutier was however abandoned after the Dutch blew up the castle and demolished the coastal batteries.source

Economy & Finance

January 2 – The French West India Company is dissolved after less than 10 years.source
The first Dutch West India Company is dissolved.source

Health & Medicine

April 10 – In the Ahom kingdom in what is now the northeastern Indian state of Assam, Chamaguriya Khamjang Konwar is installed by the Chief Minister, the Borbarua Debera, as the figurehead King of Ahom. He takes the regnal name Suhung and makes plans to have Debera killed. On April 30, Debera, having learned of the King's intentions, succeeds in having the royal physician poison Suhung's medicine, and installs another ruler.source

Crime & Justice

October 15 – The Torsåker witch trials begin in the Torsåker Parish in Sweden, with over 100 men and women accused of witchcraft and the abduction of children. On June 1, 1675, the mass beheading of the 71 people convicted takes place at Häxberget, 65 of whom are women. The others are two men and four boys.source

Culture & Society

January 19 – The tragic opera Alceste, by Jean-Baptiste Lully, is performed for the first time, presented by the Paris Opera company at the Theatre du Palais-Royal in Paris.source
May 21 – John III Sobieski is elected by the nobility, as King of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth (to 1696).source
June 6 – Shivaji Maharaj is crowned as Chatrapati Shivaji Maharaj of the Maratha Empire at Raigad Fort in India.source
June 12 – The British East India Company arranges a commercial treaty with the Maratha Empire after Henry Oxenden, the company's deputy governor, meets Emperor Shivaji for his recent coronation.source
October 4 – A second coronation is held by the Maratha Empire for the Chhatrapati Shivaji Bhonsle, after the Vedic priest Nischal Puri Goswami decides that the June 18 coronation was "held under inauspicious stars".source

Births

January 12 – Alexis Simon Belle, French portrait painter (d. 1734)source
January 15 – Prosper Jolyot de Crébillon, French writer (d. 1762)source
January 24 – Thomas Tanner, English bishop and antiquarian (d. 1735)source
March – Jethro Tull, English agriculturist (d. 1741)source
June 3 – Matthias Buchinger, German artist (d. 1740)source
July 12 – Abigail Williams, American accuser in the Salem witch trials (d. 1765)source
July 17 – Isaac Watts, English hymnist (d. 1748)source
August 2 – Philippe II, Duke of Orléans, regent of France (d. 1723)source
August 16 – Catharine Trotter Cockburn, English novelist, dramatist and philosopher (d. 1749)source
August 19 – František Maxmilián Kaňka, Czech architect (d. 1766)source
December 25 – Thomas Halyburton, Scottish theologian (d. 1712)source
Spencer Compton, 1st Earl of Wilmington, Prime Minister of Great Britain (d. 1743)source
Jeremiah Clarke, English baroque composer (suicide 1707)source

Deaths

January 5 – Ebba Brahe, Swedish countess, landowner, and courtier (b. 1596)source
March 15 – Edward Digges, English barrister and colonist, Colonial Governor of Virginia (b. 1620)source
March 23 – Henry Cromwell, 4th son of Oliver Cromwell and Elizabeth Bourchier (b. 1628)source
June 25 – Sir Orlando Bridgeman, 1st Baronet, of Great Lever (b. 1606)source
June 25 – Mauritia Eleonora of Portugal, Princess of Portugal and countess consort of Nassau-Siegen (b. 1609)source
July 30 – Francisco Ignacio Alcina, Jesuit missionary and historian (b. 1610)source
August 8 – Maeda Toshitsugu, Japanese daimyō of the early Edo period (b. 1617)source
September 12 – Nicolaes Tulp, Dutch anatomist and politician (b. 1593)source
September 17 – Sukjong of the Joseon Dynasty, age 13, becomes the new Emperor of Korea upon the death of his father, the Emperor Hyeonjong. Sukjong reigns for more than 45 years until his death on July 12, 1720.source
September 17 – Hyeonjong of Joseon, 18th monarch of the Korean Joseon Dynasty (b. 1641)source
September 27 – Robert Arnauld d'Andilly, French writer (b. 1589)source
October 2 – George Frederick of Nassau-Siegen, officer in the Dutch Army (b. 1606)source
October 12 – Jeremias van Rensselaer, Dutch colonial governor (b. 1632)source
December 9 – Edward Hyde, 1st Earl of Clarendon, English statesman and historian (b. 1609)source