January–March •
January 4 – The
stratovolcano Mount Parker in the Philippines has a major eruption. •
January 14 –
The Battle of Malacca concludes with the
Dutch East India Company ending
Portuguese control of Malacca. •
January 18 – The
Junta de Braços (council of Estates) of the
Principality of Catalonia, led by
Pau Claris, accepts the proposal to establish the
Catalan Republic under French protection. •
February 16 – King
Charles I of England gives his assent to the
Triennial Act 1640, reluctantly committing himself to parliamentary sessions of at least fifty days, every three years. •
March 7 – King Charles I of England decrees that all Roman Catholic priests must leave England by April 7 or face being arrested and treated as traitors. •
March 22 – The trial for high treason begins for
Thomas Wentworth, 1st Earl of Strafford, director of England's
Council of the North. •
March 27 • The
Battle of Pressnitz begins between the Holy Roman Empire and Sweden. • The
Siege of São Filipe begins in the Azores as the Portuguese Navy fights to drive the Spanish out. After almost 11 months, the Portuguese prevail on March 4, 1642.
April–June •
April 7 – The deadline for Catholic priests to leave England expires. Among those who refuse to leave,
Ambrose Barlow and
William Ward become
martyrs. Barlow surrenders on Easter Sunday, April 25, and is hanged on September 10; he will be canonized as a saint in 1970. Ward is caught on July 15 and executed on July 26. •
April 15 –
Aegidius Ursinus de Vivere is appointed by
Pope Urban VIII to be the Roman Catholic Church's Patriarch of Jerusalem. •
April 21 – England's House of Commons votes 204 to 59 in favor of the conviction for treason and the execution of the Earl of Strafford, and the House of Lords acquiesces. King Charles refuses to give the necessary royal assent. •
April 25 – The
Battle of Songjin begins in the modern-day North Korean city of
Kimch'aek, at the time part of the Chinese Empire controlled by the
Ming dynasty. The Ming, led by General
Wu Sangui, defeat the
Qing rebels. •
April 30 – In Morocco, rebel leader and secessionist
Sidi al-Ayachi is assassinated. •
May 3 – The
Protestation of 1641 is passed by England's Parliament, requiring all officeholders to swear an oath of allegiance to
King Charles I and to the
Church of England. •
May 7 – England's House of Lords votes, 51 to 9, in favor of the execution of the Earl of Strafford for treason. In fear for his own safety, King Charles I signs Strafford's death warrant on May 10. •
May 11 – The
Long Parliament in England passes the "Act against Dissolving Parliament without its own Consent". •
May 12 –
Thomas Wentworth, 1st Earl of Strafford, former director of England's
Council of the North, is publicly beheaded in London in front of a crowd of thousands of people. •
May 24 –
Providence Island in the Caribbean, settled by English Puritans and a haven for English pirates off the coast of modern-day
Colombia, is captured in a joint operation of the Spanish Navy in an attack led by Don Francisco Díaz Pimienta, and the Portuguese Navy led by the Count of Castel-Melhor Sousa. The expedition takes 770 prisoners, 380 slaves and a fortune in plundered gold and silver. •
June 1 – In Paris, representatives of
Portugal and
France sign a treaty of alliance. •
June 2 – Bavarian and Spanish troops capture the town of
Bad Kreuznach during the
Thirty Years' War, 17 months after it had been taken in a French and Saxon attack. •
June 12 • In India, in the modern-day
Rajasthan state, the Mughal Grand Vizier
Abu'l-Hasan Asaf Khan is killed in a battle in
Bundi against the armies of
Nurpur, commanded by the
Raja Jagat Singh. The elaborate
Tomb of Asif Khan is constructed at
Lahore (modern Pakistan) on orders of the Mughal Emperor
Jahangir. • The
Treaty of The Hague is signed between representatives of the
Dutch Republic and the
Kingdom of Portugal as a 10-year truce and alliance. •
June 29 – The
Battle of Wolfenbüttel takes place between a combined Swedish and French force against the Holy Roman Empire, with the Swedish-French Army driving back an Imperial assault.
July–September •
July 5 – In England, the
Long Parliament abolishes the Court of
Star Chamber. •
July 12 – Portugal and the
Dutch Republic sign a
Treaty of Offensive and Defensive Alliance at The Hague. The treaty is not respected by both parties, and as a consequence has no effect in the Portuguese colonies (
Brazil and
Angola) that are under Dutch rule. •
August 10 – Charles I of England signs the
Treaty of London ending the
Bishops' Wars between England and Scotland. •
September 14 – The
Treaty of Péronne is signed between
Honoré II, Prince of Monaco and
France's King
Louis XIII, guaranteeing the Grimaldi family the right to rule
Monaco in return for the principality becoming a French protectorate. •
September 18 • In Germany, the
Siege of Dorsten by the
Holy Roman Empire ends after nine weeks with the surrender of the
Landgraviate of Hesse-Kassel after the Hessians suffer 1,350 casualties. • In France, the siege of
Bapaume ends with the surrender of the fortress by its Spanish occupiers. •
September 23 – The English ship
Merchant Royal sinks off
Cornwall along with its cargo of of gold and 18 of its 58 crew. More than 380 years later, treasure seekers will still not have located the wreckage.
October–December •
October 2 – Scottish politician
John Campbell takes office as
Lord Chancellor of Scotland and is given the title of the Earl of Loudoun by
Charles I in his capacity as
King of Scotland. •
October 23 –
Irish Rebellion of 1641 breaks out: Irish Catholic gentry, chiefly in
Ulster, revolt against the English administration and Scottish settlers in Ireland. •
October 24 – The Irish rebel Sir
Felim O'Neill of Kinard issues the
Proclamation of Dungannon. •
November 4 –
Battle of Cape St Vincent: A Dutch fleet, with
Michiel de Ruyter as third in command, beats back a Spanish-Dunkirker fleet off the coast of Portugal. •
November 22 – By a vote of 159 to 148, the
Long Parliament of England passes the
Grand Remonstrance, with 204 specific objections to
King Charles I's absolutist tendencies, and calling for the King to expel all Anglican bishops from the House of Lords. •
December 1 – The English Parliament presents the Grand Remonstrance to King Charles, who makes no response to it until Parliament has the document published and released to the general public. •
December 7 – The bill for the
Militia Ordinance is introduced by
Arthur Haselrig, an anti-monarchist member of the House of Commons, proposing for the first time to allow Parliament to appoint its own military commanders without royal approval. King Charles, concerned that the legislation would allow parliament to create its own army, orders Haselrig arrested for treason. Parliament passes the Militia Ordinance on March 15. •
December 16 –
Pope Urban VIII announces the creation of 12 new cardinals of the Roman Catholic Church. •
December 23 – King Charles replies to the Grand Remonstrance and refuses the demand for the removal of bishops from the House of Lords. Rioting breaks out in Westminster after the King's refusal is announced, and the 12 Anglican bishops stop attending meetings of the Lords. •
December 27 – According to a journalist who witnesses the events,
John Rushworth, the term "
roundhead" is first used to describe supporters of the English Parliament who have challenged the authority of the monarchy. Rushworth writes later that during a riot on the 27th, one of the rioters, David Hide, draws his sword and, describing the short haircuts of the anti-monarchists, says that he would "cut the throat of those round-headed dogs that bawled against bishops." •
December 30 – At the request of King Charles,
John Williams, the Anglican
Archbishop of York joins with 11 other bishops in disputing the legality of any legislation passed by the House of Lords during the time that the bishops were excluded. The House of Commons passes a resolution to have the 12 bishops arrested. King Charles, in turn, issues an order on January 3 to have
five members of the House of Commons arrested for treason.
Date unknown • The Norwegian city of
Kristiansand is founded by King
Christian IV of Denmark-Norway. • The
Dutch found a trading colony on
Dejima, near
Nagasaki, Japan. • The
Massachusetts Bay Colony adopts a law making witchcraft a capital crime. •
Moses Amyraut's ''De l'elevation de la foy et de l'abaissement de la raison en la creance des mysteres de la religion'' is published. •
René Descartes'
Meditations on First Philosophy is originally published. • The town of
Falun,
Sweden is given city rights by
Queen Kristina. • A massive
epidemic breaks out in northern and central China, just three years before the fall of the
Ming dynasty. It races south down along the
Grand Canal of China and the densely populated settlements there, from the northern terminus at Beijing, to the fertile
Jiangnan region. In some local areas and towns it wipes out 90% of the local populace. == Births ==