1651 CE

Charles II is crowned King of Scots at Scone (his first crowning). At the Battle of Inverkeithing in Scotland, the English Parliamentarian New Model Army, under Major-General John Lambert, defeats a Scottish Covenanter army acting on behalf of Charles II, led by Sir John Brown of Fordell. English Civil War: at the Battle of Inverkeithing in Scotland, the English Parliament's New Model Army defeats a Scottish army loyal to Charles II.

In the 1650s, the 17th century.

Geopolitics & Diplomacy

  • January 24 – Parliament of Boroa in Chile: Spanish and Mapuche authorities meet at Boroa, renewing the fragile peace established at the parliaments of Quillín, in 1641 and 1647.source
  • 14 February–18 June – a diplomatic team headed by Oliver St John and Walter Strickland is sent to The Hague to negotiate an alliance between the English Commonwealth and the Dutch Republic, in which they are unsuccessful.Englandsource
  • 28 October – Tender of Union: Parliament issues a declaration that England and Scotland should be incorporated into a single commonwealth.Englandsource
  • October – An English diplomatic team, headed by Oliver St John, goes to The Hague to negotiate an alliance between the Commonwealth of England and the Dutch Republic.source
  • Queen Christina declared her wish to abdicate in favor of her cousin, but is convinced not to.Swedensource

Conflict & Security

  • 23 January – Leopold William, as Captain-General of the Army of Flanders, prohibits all military governors, commanders or officers from levying any taxes or exactions on their own initiative.Belgiumsource
  • January - Edmund Ludlow lands in Ireland as lieutenant-general of horse and second-in-command to Henry Ireton.Irelandsource
  • 3 February – Pierre de Bex, former mayor of Liège, arrested for conspiring against the stateBelgiumsource
  • May 12 – General Marcin Kalinowski of Poland wins the Battle of Kopychyntsi against Zaporozhian Cossacks forces under the command of Asand Demka during the Khmelnytsky Uprising in what is now Ukraine.source
  • June 17 – Franco-Spanish War (1635–1659); A squadron of Spanish galleys under John Joseph of Austria capture the French galleon Lion Couronné off Formentera, Balearic Islands, Spain.source
  • June 30 – After three days of fighting in the Battle of Berestechko in Ukraine, one of the biggest land battles of the 17th century, with some 205,000 troops in the field, the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth Army defeats the Zaporozhian Cossacks.source
  • 11 July – The dispute between Corfitz Ulfeldt and Dina Winhofers culminates with the latter's execution. Ulfeldt and his family secretly leave Copenhagen on 4 July.Denmarksource
  • July 20 – At the Battle of Inverkeithing in Scotland, the English Parliamentarian New Model Army, under Major-General John Lambert, defeats a Scottish Covenanter army acting on behalf of Charles II, led by Sir John Brown of Fordell.source
  • 20 July – English Civil War: at the Battle of Inverkeithing in Scotland, the English Parliament's New Model Army defeats a Scottish army loyal to Charles II.Englandsource
  • August 13 – The troops of King Charles II of Scotland force the retreat of English Commonwealth troops at the Battle of Warrington Bridge, the last victory of Scotland over England in battle.source
  • August 28 – The "Onfall of Alyth takes place in the Scottish town of the same name when most of the members of Scotland's governing body, the Committee of States, are betrayed to English invaders. The Earl of Leven, the Earl of Crawford, the Earl Marischal, Lord Nairne and other prominent people are captured and imprisoned in the Tower of London.source
  • August 28 – The Battle of Upton is fought at Upton-upon-Severn in England, where Scottish invaders commanded by Major General Edward Massey are defeated by the English Parliamentarians led by John Lambert. The retreat of the Scots clears the way for the successful English attack at Worcester.source
  • September 1 – The siege of Dundee ends with the English Parliamentarian army, under General Monck, decisively defeating Covenanters in the last battle of the Wars of the Three Kingdoms in Scotland.source
  • September 3 – Charles II of England is defeated in the Battle of Worcester, the last major battle of the English Civil War, and forced to flee.source
  • 3 September – English Civil War: Battle of Worcester – Charles II, leading a largely Scottish army, is defeated in the last main battle of the war and begins his escape northwards.Englandsource
  • October 16 – Prince Charles of the House of Stuart escapes from England to find refuge in France.source
  • October 27 - siege of Limerick: Hugh Dubh O'Neill surrenders Limerick after part of the English Royalist garrison mutinies. The soldiers are permitted to march unarmed to Galway but some leaders are executed.Irelandsource
  • November 3 – The Manx Rebellion of 1651 comes to an end as the Countess of Derby surrenders the Isle of Man to the forces of Oliver Cromwell in return for a guarantee of safe passage for herself, her family and her servants, off of the island.source
  • November 24 – In China, Qing dynasty forces led by Shang Kexi capture the city of Guangzhou from the Southern Ming and then carry out a massacre of the population, killing as many as 70,000 people over 11 days ending on December 5.source
  • December 17 – Castle Cornet in Guernsey, the last stronghold which had supported the King in the Third English Civil War, surrenders.source
  • The Keian Uprising fails in Japan.source
  • The Queen's favorite Magnus Gabriel De la Gardie loses favor with the monarch.Swedensource

Exploration & Expansion

  • 8 October – City of Liège prohibits the sending of packets by the riverboat recently established in Maastricht rather than the two merchant boats already established in LiègeBelgiumsource
  • 15–16 October – Escape of Charles II to Fécamp in France from Shoreham in the coal boat Surprise.Englandsource

Religion & Belief

  • 28 February – Philip IV prohibits the dissemination or defence of the doctrines condemned by Pope Urban VIII in the 1642 bull In eminentiBelgiumsource
  • March 6 – The town of Kajaani is founded by Count Per Brahe the Younger.source
  • 20 March – Archduke Leopold Wilhelm of Austria lays the foundation stone of the new Capuchin church in Brussels, designed by Fr Charles of Brussels.Belgiumsource
  • 23 March – Brussels Privy Council issues a proclamation on behalf of Philip IV prohibiting his subjects from contributing to the building of Protestant churches in Dutch territoryBelgiumsource
  • 27 March – Proclamation in Liège revaluing 16-sou coins at 12 sous and prohibiting foreign copper coinsBelgiumsource
  • 26 May – Council of Brabant issues a decree regulating the production, distribution and consumption of aqua vitae in the Duchy of BrabantBelgiumsource
  • 12 October – Maximilian Henry of Bavaria installed as Prince-Bishop of LiègeBelgiumsource
  • December – the Fifth Monarchists emerge as a separate sect when a group of preachers including Christopher Feake, John Rogers and John Simpson meet in London and, disillusioned by the apparent failure of Parliament to further the "Godly Revolution", agree a programme of action to support their objectives, including active resistance to the government.Englandsource
  • The Madanmohan-jiu Temple is built at Samta (India), a village in the Howrah district of West Bengal.source
  • The House of the Holy Ghost in Copenhagen is turned over to the Church of the Holy Ghost.Denmarksource

Economy & Finance

  • May 21 – The Sovereign Military Order of Malta purchases the Caribbean islands of Saint Barthélemy, Saint Christopher, Saint Croix and Saint Martin from the France's Compagnie des Îles de l'Amérique. The Order will sell the islands in 1665 to the French West India Company.source
  • National Board of Trade (Sweden) is foundedSwedensource

Technology & Infrastructure

  • The first coffee house in England is opened in Oxford, indicative of their increasing popularity in Europe.source
  • Work begins on a new Capuchin priory and church in Brussels.Belgiumsource
  • Work begins on the Thurn and Taxis family chapel in the Church of Our Lady of Victories at the SablonBelgiumsource
  • First coffee house in England opens, in Oxford.Englandsource
  • Cornelius Vermuyden constructs the first Denver Sluice, an important component in drainage of The Fens.Englandsource

Science & Discovery

  • William Gilbert's A New Philosophy of Our Sublunar World is published posthumously. It theorises that the fixed stars are not all the same distance from Earth, and that the force of magnetism holds the planets in orbit around the Sun.Englandsource
  • William Harvey describes organ formation in the developing embryo in De Generatione.Englandsource

Health & Medicine

  • April 7 – Shunzhi, Emperor of China, announces in an imperial edict that he will purge corruption from government.source
  • October 14 – Laws are passed in Massachusetts, forbidding poor people from adopting excessive styles of dress.source
  • National law of hotels states that all hotels must have at least three bedrooms excluding that of the proprietor.Swedensource

Crime & Justice

  • 22 February – Pierre de Bex, former mayor of Liège, executed in LiègeBelgiumsource
  • 1 December - The Vardø witch trials starts.Norwaysource
  • 22 December – Prohibition in Liège of the making, selling or carrying of pocket-sized firearms or daggersBelgiumsource
  • Jérôme Duquesnoy the Younger, Statue of St UrsulaBelgiumsource

Disasters & Accidents

  • 12 May – City of Antwerp prohibits the auctioning of paintings by those not registered to the Guild of St LukeBelgiumsource

Climate & Environment

  • February 22 – St. Peter's Flood: A first storm tide in the North Sea strikes the coast of Germany, drowning thousands. The island of Juist is split in half, and the western half of Buise is probably washed away.source
  • March 4 – St. Peter's Flood: Another storm tide in the North Sea strikes the Netherlands, flooding Amsterdam.source

Culture & Society

  • January 1 – Charles II is crowned King of Scots at Scone (his first crowning).source
  • 1 January – Charles II is crowned King of Scotland at Scone.Englandsource
  • 3 February – Muggletonianism inaugurated.Englandsource
  • March 15 – Prince Aisin Gioro Fulin attains the age of 13 and becomes the Shunzhi Emperor of China, which had been governed by a regency since the death of his father Hong Taiji in 1643.source
  • April 25 – Thomas Hobbes publishes his magnum opus, the political tract Leviathan, in England.source
  • May - Hannibal Sehested was sentenced to resigning as Governor-General of Norway and surrendering all his private property in Norway to the crown.Norwaysource
  • 29 July - Gregers Krabbe was appointed Governor-General of Norway.Norwaysource
  • 24 November – City of Liège issues regulations on hunting, fishing, and keeping pigeonsBelgiumsource
  • Kunstkammeret ("Royal Art Cabinet") is mentioned for the first time.Denmarksource
  • The Lycée Stendhal was foundedFrancesource
  • Château de Maisons was completedFrancesource

Births

  • February 2 or 1950 – William Phips, first royal governor of the Province of Massachusetts Bay (died 1695)source
  • February 9 – Procopio Cutò, French entrepreneur (died 1727)source
  • February 25 – Quirinus Kuhlmann, German Baroque poet and mystic (died 1689)source
  • March 4 – John Somers, 1st Baron Somers, Lord Chancellor of England (died 1716)source
  • 22 March – Leo Ulfeldt, nobleman (died 1716 in Austria)Denmarksource
  • April 21 – Blessed Joseph Vaz, Apostle of Ceylon (died 1711)source
  • April 30 – Jean-Baptiste de la Salle, French educational reformer (died 1719)source
  • July 12 – Margaret Theresa of Spain (died 1673)source
  • August 6 – François Fénelon, Archbishop of Cambrai, France (died 1715)source
  • August 6 – Carl Gustav Rehnskiöld, Swedish Field Marshal (died 1722)source
  • 18 August – François Noël, Jesuit missionary (died 1729)Belgiumsource
  • August – William Dampier, buccaneer, sea captain, author and scientific observer (died 1715)Englandsource
  • September 5 – William Dampier, English explorer (died 1715)source
  • September 16 – Engelbert Kaempfer, German physician and traveler (died 1716)source
  • September 26 – Francis Daniel Pastorius, German founder of Germantown, Pennsylvania (died 1720)source
  • November 12 – Juana Inés de la Cruz, Mexican nun, writer and poet (died 1695)source
  • December 28 – Johann Krieger, German composer and organist (died 1735)source
  • Carl Gustav Rehnskiöld, field marshal (died 1722)Swedensource

Deaths

  • 6 January (burial) – Jacob Franquart (born 1582/3), artistBelgiumsource
  • January – Thomas Greene, Colonial governor of Maryland (born 1609)source
  • 9 February - Herman Krefting, ironworks pioneer (born 1592).Norwaysource
  • March 26 – The Spanish ship San José, loaded with silver, is pushed south by strong winds; it wrecks on the coast of southern Chile, and its surviving crew is killed by indigenous Cuncos.source
  • April 7 – Lennart Torstensson, Swedish Field Marshal, Privy Councillour and Governor-General (born 1603)source
  • June 8 – Tokugawa Iemitsu, Japanese shōgun (born 1604)source
  • 7 July – Dina Vinhofvers, silk worker and accuser of Corfitz Ulfeldt (born 1620)Denmarksource
  • August 8 – Countess Amalie Elisabeth of Hanau-Münzenberg, regent of Hesse-Kassel (born 1602)source
  • August 20 – Jeremi Wiśniowiecki, Polish nobleman (born 1612)source
  • September 2 – Kösem Sultan, regent of the Ottoman Empire (born 1590)source
  • September 2 – Kösem Sultan is assassinated by her daughter-in-law, Turhan Sultan.source
  • September 12 – William Hamilton, 2nd Duke of Hamilton, Scottish nobleman (born 1616)source
  • September 27 – Maximilian I, Elector of Bavaria (born 1573)source
  • October 15 – James Stanley, 7th Earl of Derby (born 1607)source
  • October 25 – Saint Job of Pochayiv, Ukrainian Orthodox Christian saint (born 1551)source
  • November 26 – Henry Ireton, English Civil War leader (born 1611)source
  • 26 November – Henry Ireton, Civil War leader, of plague (born 1611)Englandsource
  • December 15 – Virginia Centurione Bracelli, Italian saint (born 1587)source