Directory

1723 CE

Christian von Wolff holds a lecture for students and the magistrates at the end of his term as a rector, as a result of which he is banned from Prussia, on a charge of atheism. Philippe II, Duke of Orléans, who had served as the Regent of France to rule for King Louis XV from 1715 until the latter's attainment of majority on February 15, is appointed by the King to serve as his Prime Minister, but dies in office less than four months later. The Peterhof Palace is opened in a formal ceremony just outside Saint Petersburg, capital of the Russian Empire.

Geopolitics & Diplomacy

  • February 15 – King Louis XV of France attains his majority on his 13th birthday, bringing an end to the regency of his cousin Philippe II, Duke of Orléans.source
  • September 1 – The Treaty of Saint Petersburg is signed in Russia, ending the Russo-Persian War (1722–1723).source
  • November 23 – The Province of Carolina charters New Bern as Newbern (the town later becomes the capital of North Carolina until Raleigh is founded).source

Conflict & Security

  • March 9 – The Mapuche Uprising begins in Chile as the indigenous Mapuche people, commanded by Toqui (war chief) Vilumilla, leading an attack against the city of Tucapel. The war lasts until February 13, 1726.source
  • March 28 – The capture of Rasht from the Persian Empire by the Russian Empire brings Rasht and the Gilan Province under Russian control.source
  • June 26 – Russo-Persian War: Baku surrenders to the Russians.source
  • October 23 – Russian Emperor Peter the Great authorizes an incentive for men of Serbia to join a new Russian Imperial Army unit, the Serbian Hussar Regiment. The Emperor sends Jovan Albanez to recruit new officers and troops with a grant of farmable land in Russia, and 1,070 take advantage of the offer over the next two years.source

Religion & Belief

  • May 30 – Johann Sebastian Bach assumed the office of Thomaskantor in Leipzig, presenting his first new cantata, Die Elenden sollen essen, BWV 75, in the St. Nicholas Church on the first Sunday after Trinity.source
  • July 12 – Christian von Wolff holds a lecture for students and the magistrates at the end of his term as a rector, as a result of which he is banned from Prussia, on a charge of atheism.source
  • September 14 – Grand Master of the Knights Hospitaller António Manoel de Vilhena lays down the first stone of Fort Manoel in Malta.source

Economy & Finance

  • August 11 – The Ostend Company is chartered by merchants and shipowners to establish trade for the Austrian Netherlands in the East Indies and West Indies. Over the next two days, 54 major investors in Antwerp purchase the shares of stock in the company.source

Technology & Infrastructure

  • The Province of Carolina incorporates Beaufort, North Carolina, as the Port of Beaufort, making it the third incorporated town in the province.source

Crime & Justice

  • January 25 – English-born pirate Edward Low intercepts the Portuguese ship Nostra Signiora de Victoria. After the Portuguese captain throws his treasure of 11,000 gold coins into the sea rather than surrendering it, Low orders the captain's brutal torture and execution, then has the rest of the Victoria crew murdered. Low commits more atrocities this year, but is not certainly heard of after the end of the year.source
  • April 1 – In Switzerland, the attempt by Major Abraham Davel to make the canton of Vaud independent of the Swiss government, is put down, one day after he and 500 men had taken control of the Vaudois capital, Lausanne. Davel is arrested, tortured and tried for treason; he is beheaded on April 24.source
  • May 27 – The Black Act 1723, intended to combat illegal hunting in Great Britain, comes into force and expands the number of crimes that are punishable by death, and remains in effect for 100 years.source

Culture & Society

  • February 4 – The Kangxi Era ends in Qing dynasty China, and the Yongzheng Era begins, with the coronation of Yinzhen, the Yongzheng Emperor.source
  • July 2 – Bach's Magnificat is first performed.source
  • July 18 – Johann Sebastian Bach leads the first performance of his cantata Erforsche mich, Gott, und erfahre mein Herz, BWV 136, in Leipzig on the eighth Sunday after Trinity.source
  • August 15 – The Peterhof Palace is opened in a formal ceremony just outside Saint Petersburg, capital of the Russian Empire.source
  • December 26 – Bach leads the first performance of Darzu ist erschienen der Sohn Gottes, BWV 40, his first Christmas Cantata composed for Leipzig.source

Births

  • January 5 – Nicole-Reine Lepaute, French astronomer, mathematician (d. 1788)source
  • February 15 – John Witherspoon, American signer of the Declaration of Independence (d. 1794)source
  • February 23 – Richard Price, Welsh philosopher (d. 1791)source
  • April 20 – Cornelius Harnett, American Continental Congressman (d. 1781)source
  • June 3 – Giovanni Antonio Scopoli, Italian-born physician, naturalist (d. 1788)source
  • June 20 – Adam Ferguson, Scottish philosopher, historian (d. 1816)source
  • June 20 – Theophilus Lindsey, English theologian (d. 1808)source
  • July 1 – Pedro Rodríguez, Count of Campomanes, Spanish statesman, writer (d. 1802)source
  • July 10 – William Blackstone, English jurist (d. 1780)source
  • July 16 – Sir Joshua Reynolds, English painter (d. 1792)source
  • September 11 – Johann Bernhard Basedow, German educational reformer (d. 1790)source
  • November 8 – John Byron, English admiral (d. 1786)source
  • November 30 – William Livingston, American politician, journalist (d. 1790)source
  • December 26 – Friedrich Melchior, baron von Grimm, German writer (d. 1807)source

Deaths

  • March 31 – Edward Hyde, 3rd Earl of Clarendon, British Governor of New York and New Jersey (b. 1661)source
  • April 5 – Johann Bernhard Fischer von Erlach, Austrian architect (b. 1656)source
  • July 26 – Robert Bertie, 1st Duke of Ancaster and Kesteven, English statesman (b. 1660)source
  • August 10 – Philippe II, Duke of Orléans, who had served as the Regent of France to rule for King Louis XV from 1715 until the latter's attainment of majority on February 15, is appointed by the King to serve as his Prime Minister, but dies in office less than four months later.source
  • August 14 – Edward Northey (barrister), British barrister and politician (b. 1652)source
  • August 21 – Dimitrie Cantemir, Moldavian linguist and scholar (b. 1673)source
  • August 23 – Increase Mather, American Puritan minister (b. 1639)source
  • August 26 – Antonie van Leeuwenhoek, Dutch scientist (b. 1632)source
  • October 10 – William Cowper, 1st Earl Cowper, Lord Chancellor of England (b. c. 1665)source
  • October 19 – Godfrey Kneller, German-born artist (b. 1646)source
  • October 28 – Christopher Vane, 1st Baron Barnard, English politician and peer (b. 1653)source
  • October 31 – Gian Gastone de' Medici becomes the new Grand Duke of Tuscany upon the death of his father Cosimo III de' Medici; he will be the state's last ruler from the House of Medici. During his reign, the state treasury is depleted and Tuscany becomes one of the poorest nations in Europe.source
  • November 19 – Antoine Nompar de Caumont, French courtier and statesman (b. 1632)source
  • December 1 – Susanna Centlivre, English dramatist, actress (b. 1669)source