1615 CE
John Ogilvie, a Jesuit priest, is hanged and drawn at Glasgow Cross in Scotland for refusing to pledge allegiance to King James VI of Scotland; he will be canonised in 1976, becoming the only post-Reformation Scottish saint. Japanese diplomat Hasekura Tsunenaga and his entourage become the first officials from Japan to visit Italy, and are received in Rome by Cardinal Burgecio. Japanese diplomat Hasekura Tsunenaga and his delegation are received by Pope Paul V in Rome, and present a request for trade between the Roman Catholic Church and the Japanese shogunate.
In the 1610s, the 17th century.
Geopolitics & Diplomacy
- January 30 – Japan's diplomatic mission to Europe, led by Hasekura Tsunenaga, meets with King Philip III of Spain at Madrid and presents an offer of a treaty.source
- April 21 – The Wignacourt Aqueduct is inaugurated in Malta.source
- May 6 – The Peace of Tyrnau is signed between Matthias, Holy Roman Emperor, and Gábor Bethlen.source
- June 21 – The Peace of Asti is concluded between the Spanish Empire and Savoy.source
- August 20 – Alvaro III Nimi a Mpanzu becomes the new ruler of the Kingdom of Kongo (located in southwestern Africa in what is now Angola) upon the death of his brother, Bernardo II Nimi a Nkanga.source
- September 20 – Japanese diplomat Hasekura Tsunenaga and his entourage become the first officials from Japan to visit Italy, and are received in Rome by Cardinal Burgeciosource
- 24 October – James I's Parliament of Ireland is dissolved (its third session having been held 18 April–16 May).Irelandsource
- December 18 – Francisco de Borja y Aragón becomes the new Viceroy of Peru, a colony of Spain encompassing all of Spanish language-speaking South America and what are now the nations of Peru, Argentina, Bolivia, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, Panama, Paraguay, and Uruguay.source
Conflict & Security
- 18 April – the "Native's Rebellion": Arthur Chichester, 1st Baron Chichester, Lord Deputy of Ireland, informs the Privy Council of England of a plot by Hugh McShane O'Neill, Brian Crossagh, Rory O'Cahan and Alexander McDonald to massacre Ulster planters and of the arrest of many conspirators.Irelandsource
- June 3 – The Eastern Army of Tokugawa Ieyasu and the Osaka Army of Toyotomi Hideyori clash during the Battle of Dōmyōji and the Battle of Tennōji.source
- June 4 – Forces under shōgun Tokugawa Ieyasu take Osaka Castle in Japan, beginning a period of peace which lasts nearly 250 years. Bands of Christian samurai support Ieyasu's enemies at the Battle of Osaka.source
- July 7 – In Japan, the Buke shohatto, a 19-section law setting a standard of conduct for individual warlords (daimyo) and their responsibilities to the Tokugawa shogunate, is proclaimed by the shogun Tokugawa Hidetada before the assembled daimyo at Fushimi Castle in Kyoto.source
- 31 July – Cú Chonnacht Ó Cianáin (having been racked) and five others are sentenced to hanging for their part in the insurrection.Irelandsource
- August 9 – Swedish troops led by King Gustavus Adolphus begin the siege of the Russian city of Pskov, but fail to take the fortress after 12 weeks. The siege ends on October 27.source
- October 27 – In Russia, the siege of Pskov ends with the withdrawal of Swedish Army troops. The siege is the last battle of the Ingrian War.source
- November – The Mughals under Jahangir launch the first offensive against Kajali, a border post of the Ahom kingdom.source
- December 20 – The Uskok War begins after the ports of the Holy Roman Empire on the Adriatic Sea are blockaded by the Republic of Venice, which has hired English and Dutch mercenaries.source
Exploration & Expansion
- January 1 – The New Netherland Company is granted a three-year monopoly in North American trade, between the 40th and 45th parallels.source
- February 2 – Sir Thomas Roe sets out to become the first ambassador from the court of the King of England to the Mughal Emperor Jahangir, departing from Tilbury Hope on the ship Lyon under the command of captain Christopher Newport.source
- June 2 – The first Récollet missionaries arrive at Quebec City, from Rouen, France.source
- September 17 – Los Baños, Laguna, is founded by Spanish colonists on Luzon island in the Philippines.source
- Austrian merchants receive economic privileges in the Ottoman Empire.source
- Konoike Shinroku opens an office in Osaka, and begins shipping tax-rice from western Japan to Osaka.source
Religion & Belief
- February 17 – Japan's envoy to Europe, Hasekura Tsunenaga, receives a Christian baptism by the royal chaplain, Diego de Guzmán, and receives the European name Felipe Francisco Hasekura.source
- March 10 – John Ogilvie, a Jesuit priest, is hanged and drawn at Glasgow Cross in Scotland for refusing to pledge allegiance to King James VI of Scotland; he will be canonised in 1976, becoming the only post-Reformation Scottish saint.source
- 25 April – convocation of the Church of Ireland ends, having adopted 104 Articles of Religion largely drafted by James Ussher.Irelandsource
- November 3 – Japanese diplomat Hasekura Tsunenaga and his delegation are received by Pope Paul V in Rome, and present a request for trade between the Roman Catholic Church and the Japanese shogunatesource
- Easter – Persian Safavid hordes, led by Shah Abbas the Great, kill all the monks at the David Gareja monastery complex in Georgia, and set fire to its collection of manuscripts and works of art.source
Economy & Finance
Technology & Infrastructure
Science & Discovery
Crime & Justice
- Mary Talbot, Countess of Shrewsbury, is released from the Tower of London, in recognition of her role in helping to discover the murder of Sir Thomas Overbury.source
Disasters & Accidents
- August 30 – A Spanish treasure fleet of 41 ships is struck in the Gulf of Mexico by a powerful storm that sinks the ship San Miguelsource
- November 7 – The Portuguese freighter Nossa Senhora da Luz, carrying 150 crew and a cargo of Chinese and Burmese goods, sinks in a storm near the Azores.source
Climate & Environment
- September 12 – The San Leoncio Day hurricane strikes the islands of Puerto Rico and Hispaniola.source
Culture & Society
- November 22 – Alexandru Movilă is installed as Prince of Moldavia by Poland as Prince Ștefan IX Tomșa is driven from the throne.source
- November 24 – King Louis XIII of France marries Princess Ana María Mauricia, the 14-year-old daughter of King Philip III of Spain. The two had been legally united in a marriage by proxy on October 18.source
- 24 November – Louis XIII marries Anne of AustriaFrancesource
- December 6 – In England, John Winthrop, later governor of the future Massachusetts Bay Colony, marries his second wife (of four), Thomasine Clopton, daughter of William Clopton of Castleins, near Groton, Suffolk.source
- 31 December – King Christian IV marries Kirsten Munk.Denmarksource
- The Perse School in Cambridge, England, is founded by Dr Stephen Perse.source
- The second volume of Miguel de Cervantes's Don Quixote ("El ingenioso hidalgo Don Quijote de la Mancha") is published, and is as successful as the first. Don Quixote eventually becomes the only truly famous work its author ever writes.source
- Wilson's School in Wallington, near London, is founded by Royal Charter.source
- Act makes parishes responsible for road maintenance, labourers and cottiers to supply six days free labour annually.Irelandsource
- Wedding between Catherine of Sweden, Countess Palatine of Kleeburg and John Casimir, Count Palatine of Kleeburg.Swedensource
Births
- January 6 – Richard Waldron, colonial settler, acting President of the Province of New Hampshire (died 1689)source
- 13 January - Henrik Bjelke, admiral (died 1683).Norwaysource
- January 27 – Nicolas Fouquet, French Superintendent of Finances (died 1680)source
- 27 January – Nicolas Fouquet, Superintendent of Finances (died 1680)Francesource
- January 30 – Thomas Rolfe, only child of Pocahontas and her English husband (died 1675)source
- 10 March – Hans Ulrik Gyldenløve, naval officer and illegitimate son of Christian IV (died 1645)Denmarksource
- March 13 – Pope Innocent XII (died 1700)source
- March 20 – Dara Shikoh, Indian prince (died 1659)source
- March 22 – Katherine Jones, Viscountess Ranelagh, English female scientist (died 1691)source
- April 17 – Jacques Goulet, early pioneer in New France (now Québec) (died 1688)source
- June 20 (or July 31) – Salvator Rosa, Italian painter (died 1673)source
- September 7 – John Birch, English politician (died 1691)source
- November 5 – Ibrahim, Ottoman Sultan (died 1648)source
- November 12 – Richard Baxter, English Puritan church leader (died 1691)source
- November 24 – Philip William, Elector Palatine (died 1690)source
- December 6 – Frederick Schomberg, 1st Duke of Schomberg (died 1690)source
- December 21 – Benedict Arnold, Rhode Island colonial governor (died 1678)source
- Klas Hansson Bjelkenstjerna, naval officer and civil servant (died 1662)Swedensource
Deaths
- 10 January - Gustaf Brahe, official (born 1558)Swedensource
- January 15 – Virginia de' Medici, Italian princess (born 1568)source
- February 3 or February 5 – Dom Justo Takayama, Japanese warlord (born 1552)source
- February 4 – Giambattista della Porta, Italian scholar, polymath, playwright (born 1535)source
- March 4 – Hans von Aachen, German painter (born 1552)source
- March 27 – Margaret of Valois, Queen of France (born 1553)source
- 27 March – Margaret of Valois, dowager queen of France (born 1553)Francesource
- May 15 – Henry Bromley, English politician (born 1560)source
- June 3 – Sanada Yukimura, Japanese samurai (born 1567)source
- July 26 – Alonso Pérez de Guzmán, 7th Duke of Medina Sidonia (born 1550)source
- September 25 – Arbella Stuart, English noblewoman and woman of letters (born 1575)source
- October 5 – The Spánverjavígin, the last massacre to be carried out in Iceland, begins as 14 Basque Whalers from Spain are murdered at Thingeyri while sleeping. Another 18 are killed on October 13, including Captain Martín de Villafranca. The 31 had been survivors of a shipwreck on Iceland in September.source
- November 14 – John Leveson, English politician (born 1555)source
- November 20 – Gervase Helwys, English murderer (born 1561)source
- November – Edward Wright, English mathematician and cartographer (born 1561)source
- December 2 – In the Venetian Republic, Giovanni Bembo is elected chief executive as the new Doge of Venice after the October 31 death of Marcantonio Memmo.source
- Jan Mendoses, pirate executed in CopenhagenDenmarksource
- c. August – Cú Chonnacht Ó Cianáin, rymer and insurrectionist (hanged)Irelandsource