1648 CE

The year 1648 has been suggested as possibly the last time in which the overall human population declined, coming towards the end of a broader period of global instability which included the collapse of the Ming dynasty and the Thirty Years' War, the latter of which ending in 1648 with the Peace of Westphalia.

In the 1640s, the 17th century.

Geopolitics & Diplomacy

  • January 17 – By a vote of 141 to 91, England's Long Parliament passes the Vote of No Addresses, breaking off negotiations with King Charles I, and thereby setting the scene for the second phase of the English Civil War.source
  • 17 January – the Long Parliament passes the Vote of No Addresses, breaking off negotiations with King Charles I and thereby setting the scene for the Second English Civil War.Englandsource
  • January 20 – France's Royal Council votes to create the Académie royale after accepting the proposal of Martin de Charmois.source
  • January 30 – The Dutch and the Spanish sign the Peace of Münster, ending the Eighty Years' War. The Spanish Empire recognizes the Dutch Republic of United Netherlands as a sovereign state (governed by the House of Orange-Nassau and the States General), which was previously a province of the Spanish Empire. The treaty is ratified by the Netherlands on May 15.source
  • 2 May – The Parliament of England passes an act against blasphemy.Englandsource
  • 2 May – The Parliament of Scotland votes in favour of war with England on behalf of the King.Englandsource
  • May 15 – The Peace of Münster is ratified by both the United Netherlands and the Spanish Empire.source
  • August 8 – Mehmed IV (1648–1687) succeeds Ibrahim I (1640–1648), as Ottoman Emperor.source
  • 27 August – Second English Civil War: Thomas Fairfax takes Colchester for Parliament.Englandsource
  • 15 September–27 November – Second English Civil War: Parliamentary Commissioners and the King negotiate the Treaty of Newport at Newport, Isle of Wight.Englandsource
  • October 24 – Signing of the Treaties of Münster and Osnabrück concludes the Peace of Westphalia, ending the Thirty Years' War. Rulers of the Imperial States can personally convert to Protestant, Catholic or Calvinist. Ecclesiastical property is restored to the status of 1624, with the minorities of each of the three recognized faiths granted toleration of worship, and there is general recognition of exclusive sovereignty, including that of the Dutch Republic and Switzerland. France and Sweden gain territory, and the latter is granted an indemnity. However, France remains at war with Spain until 1659. Prisoners of war should be released and allowed to return to their homelands without ransom after hostilities end.source
  • October 24 – Signing of the Treaties of Münster and Osnabrück conclude the Peace of Westphalia, ending the Thirty Years' War. Rulers of the Imperial States have powers to decide their state religion, Protestant, Catholic, or Calvinist, with the minorities of each of those faiths granted toleration of worship, and there is general recognition of exclusive sovereignty, including that of the Dutch Republic and Switzerland. France and Sweden gain territory, and the latter is granted an indemnity. However, France remains at war with Spain until 1659.Swedensource
  • October 31 – A treaty is signed between the Arabs and the Portuguese. The terms include a provision that the Portuguese should build fortresses at Kuriyat, Dibba Al-Hisn (Sharjah) and Muttrah (Oman).source
  • November 11 – France and the Netherlands agree to divide the Caribbean island of Saint Martin between them.source
  • 5 December – majority of the House of Commons votes in favour of accepting the Treaty of Newport.Englandsource
  • 6 December – Pride's Purge: Troops of the New Model Army under the command of Colonel Thomas Pride (and under the orders of General Ireton) arrest or exclude Presbyterian members of the Long Parliament who are not supporters of the Army's Grandees or Independents, creating the Rump Parliament which on 13 December annuls the Treaty of Newport.Englandsource

Conflict & Security

  • January 26 – The Khmelnytsky Uprising in Ukraine, at the time part of the Republic of Both Nations (Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth), begins as Bohdan Khmelnytsky becomes Hetman of the Cossacks.source
  • March – Murrough O'Brien, 1st Earl of Inchiquin changes sides and declares for the King.Irelandsource
  • April 19 – First Battle of Guararapes: The Portuguese army defeats the Dutch army, in the north of Brazil.source
  • 30 April – Royalists capture Berwick and Carlisle.Englandsource
  • May 16 – England's Commonwealth Army massacres 70 Cornish royalists at Penzance, leading to a rebellion against England's Parliamentarians.source
  • 16 May – Parliamentarians massacre 70 Cornish royalists at Penzance, leading to a local rising which is put down in The Gear Rout.Englandsource
  • 17 May – Battle of ZusmarshausenFrancesource
  • June 1 – The Roundheads defeat the Cavaliers at the Battle of Maidstone in the Second English Civil War.source
  • 16 July–19 July – The Battle of Prague takes place in the Thirty Years' War. The west bank of Prague (including Prague Castle) is occupied and looted by Swedish armies.Swedensource
  • July 19 – The last major battle of the Thirty Years' War, the Battle of Prague ends in a Swedish victory after three days of fighting over the army of Bohemia. The troops loot the Prague Castle and steal many of Bohemia's most valuable artifacts.source
  • August 16 – The Imam of Oman, Nasir bin Murshid, dispatches an army to recapture Muscat from Portuguese occupiers, who eventually surrender the town on January 23, 1650.source
  • August 20 – The French Army, under the command of the Prince of Condé, defeats the Spaniards at the Battle of Lens. Upon learning of the victory, Cardinal Mazarin orders the arrest of the members of the Fronde Parlementaire, leading to an insurrection in Paris.source
  • September 12 – At the Battle of Stirling in Scotland, the "Engagers" achieve victory over the Kirk Party.source
  • September – open breach between Owen Roe O'Neill and Confederate Council.Irelandsource
  • December 6 – "Pride's Purge" in England: Elements of the New Model Army, under the leadership of Oliver Cromwell invade London and expel a majority of the Long Parliament, resulting in the creation of the Rump Parliament.source
  • Ove Gjedde resigns as Admiral (Rigsadmiral) and settles as a feudal magnate (lensmand) at Helsingborg Castle.Denmarksource

Exploration & Expansion

  • June 20 – Russian explorer Semyon Dezhnyov departs from Srednekolymsk to begin the first recorded voyage through the Bering Strait, between Asia and North America, and arrives in September.source

Religion & Belief

  • January 15 – Manchu invaders of China's Fujian province capture Spanish Dominican priest Francisco Fernández de Capillas, torture him and then behead him. Capillas will be canonized more than 350 years later in 2000 in the Roman Catholic Church as one of the Martyr Saints of China.source
  • May 12 – Construction of the Kaunghmudaw Pagoda is completed in the Kingdom of Burma on the 6th waning of Kason, 1010, near the end of the reign of King Thalun. Hmannan Yazawinsource
  • 12 August - King Frederick III was hailed as King of Norway in Christiania.Norwaysource
  • August – The Cambridge Platform, a new, localized system of Christian church governance, is agreed upon and written down in New England.source
  • George Fox founds the Religious Society of Friends (Quakers) in England.source
  • Approximate date – a Religious Society of Friends (Quakers) begins to form around George Fox.Englandsource
  • 7–18 November – the New Model Army's General Council, convening at St Albans Abbey, debates and adopts the "Remonstrance of General Fairfax and the Council of Officers", largely drawn up by Henry Ireton, proclaiming the sovereignty of the people and calling for a trial of the King. On 20 November, a delegation of officers present the Remonstrance to Parliament.Englandsource
  • Lauritz Galte was ennobled, and given the noble family name Galtung.Norwaysource

Technology & Infrastructure

  • In India, building of the Red Fort in Shahjahanabad is completed.source

Science & Discovery

  • Nicholas Mercator is employed by University of Copenhagen.Denmarksource

Health & Medicine

  • 11 February – ordinances passed against plays; actors to be fined and theatres pulled down.Englandsource

Crime & Justice

  • February 11 – England's parliament passes stricter laws against performance of stage plays, providing for demolition of seats in theatres, imprisonment for actors and fines for spectators. The vote comes six days after the King's Men Players are arrested at the Cockpit Theatre during an illegal performance of Rollo Duke of Normandy.source
  • 1 December – the King, under arrest, is moved from the Isle of Wight to Hurst Castle on the mainland.Englandsource
  • The Dutch artist Rembrandt produces the works Rembrandt drawing at a window and Beggars at the Door.source
  • 19–22 December – the King, under arrest, is moved from Hurst Castle to Windsor.Englandsource

Climate & Environment

Culture & Society

  • January 15 – Alexis, Tsar of Russia, marries Maria Miloslavskaya, who later gives birth to two future tsars (Feodor III and Ivan V) as well as Princess Sophia Alekseyevna, the regent for Peter I.source
  • 6 July – Frederick III signs his håndfæstning, which is the most restrictive of its kind to date.Denmarksource
  • 6 July - Prince Frederick was accepted as his father's successor, and became king of both Denmark and Norway, as King Frederick III.Norwaysource
  • September – Murrough O'Brien, 1st Earl of Inchiquin welcomes the Marquis of Ormond when he returns to Ireland.Irelandsource
  • 23 November – Coronation of Frederick III.Denmarksource
  • 24 November – Coronation of Queen Sophie Amalie. By that time, the triumphal arch has already been dismantled, giving rise to various speculations and rumors, particularly relating to Corfitz Ulfeldt and his party.Denmarksource
  • Sabbatai Zevi declares himself the Messiah at Smyrna.source
  • The epic poem Padmavati is written by Alaol.source
  • Giacomo Carissimi composes Historia di Jephte, one of the first significant Latin oratorios.source

Births

  • April 4 – Grinling Gibbons, Dutch-British sculptor and wood carver known for his work in England (died 1721)source
  • April 5 – Nicolas Pasquin, early pioneer in New France (now Quebec) (died 1708)source
  • April 7 – John Sheffield, 1st Duke of Buckingham and Normanby, English statesman and poet (died 1721)source
  • 7 April – John Sheffield, 1st Duke of Buckingham and Normanby, statesman and poet (died 1721)Englandsource
  • April 8 – Charles, Count of Marsan, French noble (died 1708)source
  • April 13 – Jeanne Marie Bouvier de la Motte Guyon, French mystic (died 1717)source
  • April 26 – King Peter II of Portugal (died 1706)source
  • July 2 – Arp Schnitger, German organ builder (died 1719)source
  • July 21 – John Graham, 1st Viscount Dundee, Scottish general (died 1689)source
  • August 5 – Guichard Joseph Duverney, French anatomist (died 1730)source
  • 5 August – Guichard Joseph Duverney, anatomist (died 1730)Francesource
  • 5 September – Tage Thott, county governor, Supreme Court justice and landowner (died 1707)Denmarksource
  • September 24 – Richard Graham, 1st Viscount Preston, English politician (died 1695)source
  • October 29 – John Verelst, Dutch Golden Age painter (died 1734)source
  • November 12 – Juana Inés de la Cruz, Mexican Hieronymite nun and polymath (died 1695)source
  • November 16 – Charles Duncombe, English banker and politician (died 1711)source
  • December 23 – Robert Barclay, Scottish Quaker (died 1690)source
  • Johannes Skraastad, wood carver (died 1700).Norwaysource

Deaths

  • February 28 – Christian IV, King of Denmark and Norway (born 1577)source
  • 28 February – King Christian IV dies in his bedchamber at Rosenborg Castle where he has been moved from Frederiksborg Castle upon his own order.Denmarksource
  • 28 February – Christian IV, king of Denmark and Norway since 1588 (born 1577).Norwaysource
  • March 12 – Tirso de Molina, Spanish writer (born 1571)source
  • March 14 – Ferdinando Fairfax, 2nd Lord Fairfax of Cameron, English general (born 1584)source
  • May 20 – Wladyslaw IV Vasa, King of Poland and Grand Duke of Lithuania, dies after a reign of 15 years. The throne remains vacant for six months until Wladyslaw's younger half-brother, John II Casimir Vasa, is elected by Poland's Parliament.source
  • May 20 – King Władysław IV Vasa of Poland (born 1595)source
  • August 12 – Peter Sainthill, English politician (born 1593)source
  • August 18 – Ibrahim, Ottoman Sultan (born 1615)source
  • August 20 – Edward Herbert, 1st Baron Herbert of Cherbury, English diplomat, poet, and philosopher (born 1583)source
  • 20 August – Edward Herbert, 1st Baron Herbert of Cherbury, diplomat, poet, and philosopher (born 1583)Englandsource
  • August 25 – Joseph Calasanz, Spanish priest and founder of Piarists (born 1557)source
  • September 1 – Marin Mersenne, French mathematician (born 1588)source
  • October 11 – George I Rákóczi, Hungarian prince of Transylvania (born 1593)source
  • October 15 – Simone Cantarini, Italian painter and engraver (born 1612)source
  • November 25 – Daišan, Manchu politician (born 1583)source
  • December 17 – George Gillespie, Scottish theologian (born 1613)source
  • Emerentia Pauli, heroine of Gullberg Fortress (born year unknown)Swedensource