1613 CE

Workers in a sandpit in the Dauphiné region of France discover the skeleton of what is alleged to be a 30-foot tall man (the remains, it is supposed, of the giant Teutobochus, a legendary Gallic king who fought the Romans). After getting an official proclamation that he is the French Governor of New France, explorer Samuel de Champlain begins exploration of the area westward from Quebec, traveling along the Ottawa River. Keichō embassy: Hasekura Tsunenaga departs Japan in the Date Maru with a Japanese diplomatic mission to the Holy See, scheduled to first travel to Acapulco in New Spain, with a goal of concluding an agreement between Tokugawa Ieyasu and the East India Company, permitting English merchants to live and trade in Japan.

In the 1610s, the 17th century.

Geopolitics & Diplomacy

  • January 20 – King James I of England successfully mediates the Treaty of Knäred between Denmark and Sweden.source
  • 20 January – The Treaty of Knäred is signed, officially ending the Kalmar War.Denmarksource
  • March 3 (February 21 O.S.) – An assembly of the Russian Empire elects Mikhail Romanov Tsar of Russia, ending the Time of Troubles. The House of Romanov will remain a ruling dynasty until 1917.source
  • July 20 (July 30 N.S.) – The first American-grown tobacco, produced in the British colony of Virginia, arrives in England after being dispatched 22 days earlier by John Rolfe.source
  • Sultan Agung of Mataram takes the throne of the kingdom of Mataram in Java.source
  • Incorporation of the enlarged County Londonderry, incorporating County Coleraine.Irelandsource
  • Incorporation of the town of Coleraine by charters (25 March and 28 June).Irelandsource
  • Arthur Chichester, Lord Deputy of Ireland, is created 1st Baron Chichester of Belfast. Belfast is constituted a municipal corporation, comprising a Sovereign, twelve burgesses and a commonalty, with the privilege of sending two representatives to the Parliament of England. The first Sovereign appointed is Thomas Vesey, and the first representatives to parliament are Sir John Blennerhasset, Baron of the Exchequer of Ireland, and George Trevillian.Irelandsource

Conflict & Security

  • 20 January - The Kalmar War ends.Norwaysource
  • March 29 – Burmese soldiers, tunneling under the walls of the Portuguese colonial fortress at Syriam (now Thanlyin), bring down a section of the walls and sack the city. Portuguese Governor Filipe de Brito e Nicote and rebel Burmese General Natshinnaung are captured, and executed by impalement on April 9.source
  • May 14 – The ruler of the principality of Martaban, Binnya Dala, surrenders to the armies of King Anaukpetlun of Burma.source
  • May 14 – The city of Hanthawaddy (now Bago) is restored as the capital of Burma by King Anaukpetlun, who relocates the government from Ava (now Inwa).source
  • May 23 – War of the Montferrat Succession: The defenders of the Italian city of Nizza Monferrato successfully resist a nine-day siege by the troops of Charles Emmanuel I, Duke of Savoy.source
  • 2 August - The Gjerpen Trial begins.Norwaysource
  • August 29 – The Sicilians under de Aragon defeat the trade fleet of the Ottoman Empire, ending the Battle of Cape Corvo.source
  • November 30 – King Anaukpetlun of Burma sends an army of 4,000 troops to drive the Siamese occupiers from the Tenasserim coast.source
  • December 26 – The Burmese Army defeats the Siamese Army at Tavoy. The city is now part of Myanmar as Dawei.source

Exploration & Expansion

  • January 11 – Workers in a sandpit in the Dauphiné region of France discover the skeleton of what is alleged to be a 30-foot tall man (the remains, it is supposed, of the giant Teutobochus, a legendary Gallic king who fought the Romans).source
  • March 29 – Explorer Samuel de Champlain becomes the first unofficial Governor of New France in Canada.source
  • May 27 – After getting an official proclamation that he is the French Governor of New France, explorer Samuel de Champlain begins exploration of the area westward from Quebec, traveling along the Ottawa River.source
  • June 28 (July 8 N.S.) – From Jamestown, John Rolfe makes the first shipment to England of tobacco grown in Virginia, dispatching it on the ship The Elizabeth. The tobacco arrives in England after a voyage of three weeks.source
  • October 28 – Keichō embassy: Hasekura Tsunenaga departs Japan in the Date Maru with a Japanese diplomatic mission to the Holy See, scheduled to first travel to Acapulco in New Spain, with a goal of concluding an agreement between Tokugawa Ieyasu and the East India Company, permitting English merchants to live and trade in Japan.source
  • December 26 – The Date Maru, carrying the Japanese diplomatic mission commanded Hasekura Tsunenaga, reaches North America, sighting Cape Mendocino on the California coast.source
  • Near Jamestown, Virginia, Sir Thomas Dale starts a settlement called Bermuda City, which later becomes part of Hopewell, Virginia.source

Religion & Belief

  • July 28 – Gregor Richter, the chief pastor of Görlitz, denounces Jacob Boehme as a heretic, in his Sunday sermon.source
  • December 27 – Mateo Leal de Ayala becomes the new Governor of Rio de la Plata y Paraguay, covering what will become the nations of Argentina, Chile and Paraguay. He succeeds Diego Marín de Negron, who was poisoned on July 26.source
  • St. Michael's Church, Anjuna was constructed in Anjuna, GoaIndiasource
  • King James I commissions George Calvert, Sir Humphrey Wynch, Sir Charles Cornwallis and Sir Roger Wilbraham to investigate Catholic grievances in Ireland. They report that conformity should be enforced more strictly, Catholic schools be suppressed, and bad priests removed and punished.Irelandsource

Technology & Infrastructure

  • February 24 – King Anaukpetlun of Burma blockades the Portuguese port at Syriam with 80 warships and 3,000 men, then sets about to tunnel into the city.source
  • March 27 – The first English child is born in what will become Canada at Cuper's Cove, Newfoundland to Nicholas Guy.source
  • September 29 – The New River is opened, to supply London with drinking water from Hertfordshire.source
  • Jhansi Fort was built by Raja Vir Singh Deo of Orchha; construction work continued till 1618.Indiasource
  • Dutch forces established a factory (trading post) at PalakolluIndiasource
  • British forces established a factory (trading post) at SuratIndiasource
  • Defense works at the city of Chaul were expandedIndiasource
  • Construction of Bhangarh Fort in Rajasthan was completedIndiasource
  • Plantation of Ulster: Derry reincorporated under that name by charter (29 March) and its reconstruction as a walled planned city, under the auspices of The Honourable The Irish Society, begins.Irelandsource

Science & Discovery

  • Ole Worm returns to Denmark joining the University of Copenhagen.Denmarksource
  • Poet Ganesa, son of Gopal Das, wrote Jatakalankara, a brief Sanskrit treatise comprising one hundred twenty-five slokas on predictive Hindu astrologyIndiasource

Health & Medicine

  • A locust swarm destroys La Camarque, France.source

Crime & Justice

  • April 13 – Samuel Argall captures Algonquian princess Pocahontas in Passapatanzy, Virginia, to ransom her for some English prisoners held by her father, Chief Powhatan. She is brought to Henricus as a hostage.source
  • 21 August - The Gjerpen Trial ends. Several priests and two students were found guilty of secretly support Catholicism. They were convicted to loss of benefice and inheritance, and were instructed to leave the country. One of the convicted was Christoffer Hjort.Norwaysource
  • October 21 – Gabriel Bathory, ruler of the Principality of Transylvania, is removed from office by vote of the nobles meeting at Gyulafehérvár (now Alba Iulia in Romania). Bathory refuses to vacate the palace at the Transylvanian capital at Várad, (now Oradea in Romania), and is murdered on October 27.source

Disasters & Accidents

  • June 29 – Fire destroys London's famed Globe Theatre, during a performance of Shakespeare's Henry VIII.source

Culture & Society

  • February 14 – Elizabeth, daughter of King James I of England, marries Elector Frederick V of the Palatinate.source
  • May 12 – Mikhail Romanov arrives in Moscow to begin his reign as Tsar of Russia, after having been elected on March 3.source
  • October 23 – Gabriel Bethlen is elected as the new Prince of Transylvania.source
  • November 3 – English royal favourite Robert Carr is created 1st Earl of Somerset.source
  • December 26 – The Earl of Somerset marries Frances Howard, following the September 25 annulment of her marriage to Robert Devereux, 3rd Earl of Essex; the event is the inspiration for John Donne's Eclogue.source
  • Construction of the Tomb of Akbar the Great was completedIndiasource

Births

  • January 15 – Giovanni Pietro Bellori, Italian art historian (died 1696)source
  • January 21 – George Gillespie, Scottish theologian (died 1648)source
  • February 24 – Mattia Preti, Italian painter (died 1699)source
  • March 12 – André Le Nôtre, French landscape and garden designer (died 1700)source
  • March 24 – Antonia of Württemberg, princess, literary figure, patron and Christian Kabbalist (died 1679)source
  • March 28 – Empress Dowager Xiaozhuang, concubine of Qing dynasty ruler Hong Taiji (died 1688)source
  • April 1 – Charles de Saint-Évremond, French soldier and writer (died 1703)source
  • April 7 – Gerrit Dou, Dutch painter (died 1675)source
  • July 15 – Gu Yanwu, Chinese philologist and geographer (died 1682)source
  • August 7 – William Frederick, Prince of Nassau-Dietz, Dutch stadtholder (died 1664)source
  • September 15 – François de La Rochefoucauld, French writer (died 1680)source
  • October 19 – Charles of Sezze, Italian Franciscan friar and saint (died 1670)source
  • November 25 – Philip VII, Count of Waldeck-Wildungen (1638–1645) (died 1645)source
  • 8 December – Frederik Thuresen, businessman (died 1675)Denmarksource
  • December 23 – Carl Gustaf Wrangel, Field Marshal of Sweden (died 1676)source
  • François de La Rochefoucauld, writer (died 1680)Francesource
  • Amar Singh Rathore, a Rajput nobleman affiliated with the royal house of Marwar, and a courtier of the Mughal emperor Shah Jahan, on 11 DecemberIndiasource
  • Richard Bellings, lawyer and Confederate politician (died 1677)Irelandsource

Deaths