1660 CE
At daybreak, English Army Colonel George Monck, with two brigades of troops from his Scottish occupational force, fords the River Tweed at Coldstream in Scotland to cross the Anglo-Scottish border at Northumberland, with a mission of advancing toward London to end military rule of England by General John Lambert and to accomplish the English Restoration, the return of the monarchy to England. By the end of the day, he and his soldiers have gone 15 mi through knee-deep snow to Wooler while the advance guard of cavalry had covered 50 mi to reach Morpeth. Colonel George Monck with his regiment crosses from Scotland to England at the village of Coldstream and advances towards London in support of Parliament. James, Duke of York, as Lord High Admiral of England, proclaims that use of the newly restored Union Jack is reserved to ships of the Royal Navy and merchant ships should fly the Red Ensign.
In the 1660s, the 17th century.
Geopolitics & Diplomacy
- January 1 – At daybreak, English Army Colonel George Monck, with two brigades of troops from his Scottish occupational force, fords the River Tweed at Coldstream in Scotland to cross the Anglo-Scottish border at Northumberland, with a mission of advancing toward London to end military rule of England by General John Lambert and to accomplish the English Restoration, the return of the monarchy to England. By the end of the day, he and his soldiers have gone 15 mi through knee-deep snow to Wooler while the advance guard of cavalry had covered 50 mi to reach Morpeth.source
- 1 January – Colonel George Monck with his regiment crosses from Scotland to England at the village of Coldstream and advances towards London in support of Parliament.Englandsource
- January 6 – The Rump Parliament passes a resolution requesting Colonel Monck to come to London "as speedily as he could", followed by a resolution of approval on January 12 and a vote of thanks and annual payment of 1,000 pounds sterling for his lifetime on January 16.source
- February 26 – The Rump Parliament, under pressure from General Monck, votes to call back all of the surviving members of the group of 231 MPs who had been removed from the House of Commons in 1648 so that the Long Parliament can be reassembled long enough for a full Parliament to approve elections for a new legislative body.source
- February 27 – John Thurloe is reinstated as England's Secretary of State, having been deprived of his offices late in the previous year.source
- March 16 – The Long Parliament, after having been reassembled for the first time in more than 11 years, votes for its own dissolution and calls for new elections for what will become the Convention Parliament to make the return from republic to monarchy.source
- April 4 – The Declaration of Breda, signed by Charles Stuart, son of the late King Charles I of England, promises amnesty, freedom of conscience, and army back pay, in return for support for the English Restoration. The Declaration is read to the new parliament on May 1.source
- April 25 – The Convention Parliament, a new House of Commons for England, freely elected with no requirement for candidates to swear loyalty to the Commonwealth of England, assembles in London to work out the restoration of the monarchy.source
- May 1 – The Convention Parliament votes to welcome the Declaration of Breda and unanimously approves a resolution for England declaring that "according to the ancient and fundamental laws of this kingdom, the Government is, and ought to be, by Kings, Lords and Commons."source
- May 3 – In the Treaty of Oliva, peace is made between the Swedish Empire, the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, the Habsburgs and Brandenburg-Prussia.source
- 3 May: Treaty of Oliva: Formally ended the Second Northern War (1655–1660) with the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, where3 John II Casimir Vasa renounced his claim to the Swedish throne.Swedensource
- May 8 – In exile in the Netherlands, Prince Charles Stuart receives word that the Parliament of England has declared his elevation to the throne as King Charles II of England.source
- 8 May – Parliament declares that Charles has been lawful King of England since 1649 and invites him to return.Englandsource
- May 14 – The Irish Parliament declares Charles to be King of Ireland.source
- May 27 – The Treaty of Copenhagen is signed, marking the conclusion of the Second Northern War. Sweden returns Trøndelag to Norway, and Bornholm to Denmark.source
- May 27 – William Morice takes office as the first Secretary of State for the Northern Department in Great Britain, with responsibility for conducting foreign relations with the Netherlands, Scandinavia, Poland, Russia, and the Holy Roman Empire. Relations with France, Spain, Portugal, Switzerland, the Italian states, and the Ottoman Empire are assigned to the Secretary of State for the Southern Department. The position will eventually evolve into the office of the Foreign Secretary.source
- 27 May – The Treaty of Copenhagen is signed, marking the conclusion of the Second Northern War.Denmarksource
- 27 May - Trondhjems len was returned to Norway, following the Treaty of Copenhagen (after having been ceded to Sweden at the Treaty of Roskilde in 1658).Norwaysource
- 27 May - The Treaty of Copenhagen (1660) is signed, marking the conclusion of the Second Northern War.Swedensource
- June 1 – Mary Dyer is hanged for defying a law banning Quakers from the Massachusetts Bay Colony.source
- July – Richard Cromwell, the last Lord Protector of England during its years as a republic, leaves the British Isles quietly and goes into exile in France, taking on an alias as "John Clarke".source
- September 1 – Grigore I Ghica becomes the new Prince of Wallachia (now in Romania)source
- October 13 – The Rigsraad (High Council) of Denmark is abolished and Denmark-Norway becomes an absolute monarchy as King Frederik III is recognized by the nobility as being entitled to have his throne passed to his descendants by hereditary monarchy.source
- 14 October – A Constituent Commission set up by the king meets for the first time to embark on the task of drawing up a new constitution but unable to agree it simply decides to cancel the existing Håndfæstning and leave it to the king to write the new constitution.Denmarksource
- 8 December - Ove Bjelke became Chancellor of Norway.Norwaysource
- December 29 – The Convention Parliament is dissolved by King Charles II and elections are called for what will be called the Cavalier Parliament.source
Conflict & Security
- January 1 – At the same time, rebels within the New Model Army under the command of Colonel Thomas Fairfax take control of York and await the arrival of Monck's troops.source
- January 11 – Colonel Monck and Colonel Fairfax rendezvous at York and then prepare to proceed southward toward London. gathering deserters from Lambert's army along the way.source
- January 16 – With 4,000 infantry and 1,800 cavalry ("an army sufficient to overawe, without exciting suspicion"), Colonel Monck marches southward toward Nottingham, with a final destination of London. Colonel Thomas Morgan is dispatched back to Scotland with two regiments of cavalry to reinforce troops there.source
- January - Swedish forces laid siege the town of Halden.Norwaysource
- February 3 – General George Monck, at the head of his troops, enters London on horseback, accompanied by his principal officers and the commissioners of the Rump Parliament. Bells ring as they pass but the crowds in the streets are unenthusiastic and the troops are "astonished at meeting with so different a reception to that which they had received elsewhere during their march.".source
- 22 February - The siege of Halden ends, and the Swedish forces retreat to Bohuslen.Norwaysource
- 22 April – General John Lambert, having escaped from imprisonment in the Tower of London and attempted to rekindle the Civil War in favour of the Commonwealth by issuing a proclamation calling on all supporters of the "Good Old Cause" to rally on the battlefield of Edgehill, is recaptured at Daventry by Colonel Richard Ingoldsby.Englandsource
- May 21 – The Desormeaux caravan and 300 Iroquois die in explosion at Long Sault.source
- May 25 – King Charles II lands at Dover.source
- July 13 – (Ashadh Vadya 1 of Shaka 1582) The Battle of Pavan Khind takes place in India when a 600-member contingent of the Maratha Empire army, commanded by Baji Prabhu Deshpande, works to rescue Maratha General Shivaji, who had escaped the night before from the fort of Panhala, which was under siege by the Adilshah Sultanate. The Bijapur Sultanate, commanded by Siddi Masud with a force of 10,000 men, loses 5,000 in a fight against a vastly outnumbered contingent of Adilshah.source
- 29 August – Indemnity and Oblivion Act passes into law, granting indemnities to those who had been active in the Interregnum (other than regicides).Englandsource
- 10 September – The estates gather at Copenhagen Castle to solve the financial problems faced after the wars and Frederick plays the different estates against each other.Denmarksource
- September 14 – The 13-day long Battle of Lyubar begins at Liubar (now in Ukraine) during the Russo-Polish War between soldiers of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth against Russia and ends with a victory by Poland.source
- 10 October – The 1660 Danish state of emergency is declared by the king with the purpose of putting pressure on the nobility, a move which proves successful.Denmarksource
- December 15 – Andres Malong, a native chieftain of the town of Binalatongan (now San Carlos) in the Philippines, leads a successful revolt against the Spanish colonial administrators to liberate Pangasinan. He is proclaimed the King of Pangasinan, but the rebellion is suppressed on January 17, 1661, and Pangasinan is reconquered by February.source
- 24 December - Claus von Ahlefeldt was appointed commander-in-chief of the Norwegian army.Norwaysource
- The Expulsion of the Carib indigenous people from Martinique is carried out by French occupying forces.source
- A permanent standing army is established in Prussia.source
- Military Status: Despite the wars, the Swedish army remained one of the strongest in Europe, and the empire maintained control over the Baltic Sea (Dominium Maris Baltici).Swedensource
Exploration & Expansion
- March 31 – The war in the West Indies between the indigenous Carib people, and the French Jesuits and English people who have colonized the islands, is ended with a treaty signed at Basse-Terre at Guadeloupe at the residence of the French Governor, Charles Houël du Petit Pré.source
- May 23 – With the way cleared for his return to England, King Charles II ends his exile at the Hague in the Netherlands and departs from Scheveningen harbor on the English ship Naseby, renamed for the occasion HMS Royal Charles , as part of a fleet of English warships brought by Admiral Edward Montagu. On commemorative memorabilia in the Netherlands, the date of Charles's departure is listed as June 2, 1660, the date on the Gregorian calendar used in continental Europe but not in England.source
- 23 May (2 June N.S.) – Charles II embarks from Scheveningen on HMS Royal Charles, captained by Edward Montagu (created Earl of Sandwich two months later).Englandsource
- 25 May – Charles II lands on Dover beach and is met by Monck.Englandsource
- 11 July – The city gates of Copenhagen re-opens and trade returns to normal.Denmarksource
- 18 December – the Company of Royal Adventurers Trading to Africa is chartered; it will come to have a monopoly over the English slave trade. It is led by Duke of York.Englandsource
Religion & Belief
- January 31 – The Rump Parliament confirms the promotion of Colonel George Monck to the rank of General and he receives the commission of rank while at St Albans.source
- 19 May – the newly restored Church of England Convocation of the English Clergy canonises King Charles I as King Charles the Martyr and Saint Charles Stuart, the only saint formally canonised within the Anglican Communion.Englandsource
- August 16 – an Indemnity and Oblivion Act is sent to Ireland by Sir Paul Davys, granting indemnities to those who had been active in the Interregnum.Irelandsource
- August 19 – Dr Edward Stanley preaches a sermon in the nave of Winchester Cathedral, to commemorate the return of the Chapter, following the English Restoration.source
- September 16 – Juan Francisco Leiva y de la Cerda arrives in Mexico City as the new Viceroy of New Spain.source
- September – William Juxon appointed as Archbishop of Canterbury.Englandsource
- 13 October – Bishop Hans Svane publicly offers the Heraldry Kingdom to the annulment of the Håndfæstning, and the institution of absolute monarchy is instituted by decree.Denmarksource
- 25 October – King Charles proposes that some Presbyterian ministers become bishops to heal rifts in the Church; the plan is later abandoned.Englandsource
- First synagogue in Ireland established in Dublin.Irelandsource
Economy & Finance
- 2 August – Charles II issues a grant for two theatre companies: a King's Company under his own patronage, led by Thomas Killigrew, and a Duke's Company under the patronage of his brother, the Duke of York, led by Sir William Davenant.Englandsource
- December 18 – The Company of the Royal Adventurers into Africa, planned by Prince James, brother of King Charles II to capture persons along the coast of West Africa for resale as slaves, receives its charter. Prince James, later King James II, had started asking for investors (at 250 pounds sterling per share) starting on October 3, 1660.source
- 24 December – Tenures Abolition Act changes several types of feudal land tenure in England.Englandsource
Technology & Infrastructure
- 1 January – Samuel Pepys begins his diary.Englandsource
- January 25 - The first bridge to span the Sumida River in Tokyo, the Ryōgoku Bridge, is built to give people a means of escape from fires. (Traditional Japanese Date: Thirteenth Day of the Twelfth Month, 1659)Japansource
- June 1 – The office of Secretary of State for the Southern Department begins operations in the Kingdom of Great Britain, with responsibility for the colonies of British America in what will later become Canada and the United States, as well as for Ireland and for the Channel Islands. Sir Edward Nicholas, a former British Secretary of State, takes office as the first Southern Department secretary.source
- September 25 – Samuel Pepys has his first cup of tea (an event recorded in his diary).source
- 19 November – James, Duke of York, as Lord High Admiral of England, proclaims that use of the newly restored Union Jack is reserved to ships of the Royal Navy and merchant ships should fly the Red Ensign.Englandsource
- Flekkefjord is given town status as a ladested.Norwaysource
Science & Discovery
Health & Medicine
- January 1 – Samuel Pepys, a 36-year-old member of the Parliament of England, begins keeping a diary that later provides a detailed insight into daily life and events in 17th century England. He continues until May 31, 1669, when worsening eyesight leads him to quit. Pepys starts with a preliminary note, "Blessed be God, at the end of the last year I was in very good health, without any sense of my old pain but upon taking of cold. I lived in Axe-yard, having my wife and servant Jane, and no more in family than us three." For his first note on "January 1. 1659/60 Lords-day", he notes "This morning (we lying lately in the garret) I rose, put on my suit with great skirts, having not lately worn any other clothes but them," followed by recounting his attendance at the Exeter-house church in London.source
- Carib Expulsion: French-led ethnic cleansing removes most of the Carib population of the island of Martinique.Francesource
Crime & Justice
- March 3 – General John Lambert, who had attempted to stop the Restoration, is arrested and imprisoned in the Tower of London. He escapes on April 9 but is recaptured on April 24. Though spared the death penalty for treason in 1662, he remains incarcerated on the island of Guernsey for the rest of his life until his death at age 64 on March 1, 1684.source
- May 15 – John Thurloe is arrested for high treason, for his support of Oliver Cromwell's regime.source
- 15 May – John Thurloe is arrested for high treason.Englandsource
- June 29 – John Thurloe is released from custody.source
- 29 June – John Thurloe is released.Englandsource
- August 29 – The Indemnity and Oblivion Act, officially "An Act of Free and General Pardon, Indemnity, and Oblivion" is given royal assent. as a general pardon for everyone who had committed crimes during the English Civil War and Interregnum (with the exception of certain crimes such as murder, piracy, buggery, rape and witchcraft, and people named in the act such as those involved in the regicide of Charles I). It also said that no action was to be taken against those involved at any later time, and that the Interregnum was to be legally forgotten.source
- 13 October – the first of ten regicides of Charles I to be executed this year is hanged, drawn and quartered.Englandsource
- 11 November – imprisonment of John Bunyan in Bedford Gaol for preaching without a licence.Englandsource
Disasters & Accidents
- July 24 – The Great Fire of 1660 begins in Constantinople, capital of the Ottoman Empire (now Istanbul in Turkey), and destroys two-thirds of the city over two consecutive days, consuming 280,000 buildings and killing 40,000 people.source
- 27 August – the books of John Milton are burnt because of his attacks on King Charles II.Englandsource
- Blaise Pascal's Lettres provinciales, a defense of the Jansenist Antoine Arnauld, is ordered to be shredded and burned by King Louis XIV of France.source
- Blaise Pascal's Lettres provinciales, a defense of the Jansenist Antoine Arnauld, is ordered by the king to be shredded and burned.Francesource
Culture & Society
- February 13 – Charles XI becomes king of Sweden at the age of five, upon the death of his father, Charles X Gustavus.source
- 13 February - Charles XI of Sweden succeeds Charles X Gustav of Sweden under a regency headed by his mother Queen Dowager Hedvig Eleonora.Swedensource
- February – John Rhodes reopens the old Cockpit Theatre in London, forms a company of young actors and begins to stage plays. His production of Pericles will be the first Shakespearean performance of the Restoration era; Thomas Betterton makes his stage debut in the title role.Englandsource
- April 2 – The Merces baronets, a British nobility title is created.source
- April 23 – Charles II becomes King of England, Scotland and Ireland.Irelandsource
- May 29 – King Charles II of England arrives in London and assumes the throne, marking the beginning of the English Restoration.source
- June – George Monck, 1st Duke of Albemarle, one of the principal architects of Charles II's Restoration, is appointed Lord Lieutenant of Ireland, although represented by deputies.Irelandsource
- 17 October – Extensive celebrations pay homage to the new Heraldry King.Denmarksource
- November 28 – At Gresham College in London, twelve men, including Christopher Wren, Robert Boyle, John Wilkins, and Sir Robert Moray meet after a lecture by Wren, and decide to found "a College for the Promoting of Physico-Mathematicall Experimentall Learning" (later known as the Royal Society).source
- 28 November – at Gresham College, twelve men, including Christopher Wren, Robert Boyle, John Wilkins, and Robert Moray, meet after a lecture by Wren and decide to found "a College for the Promoting of Physico-Mathematicall Experimentall Learning" (later known as the Royal Society).Englandsource
- December 8 – The first English actress appears on the professional stage in England in a non-singing role, as Desdemona in Othello at Vere Street Theatre in London, following the reopening of the theatres (various opinions have been advanced that the actress was Margaret Hughes, Anne Marshall or Katherine Corey). Historian Elizabeth Howe notes, however, that both William Davenant and Thomas Killigrew had women in their acting companies before 1660, and that Anne Marshall might be just one of the first rather than the actual first.source
- 8 December – first English actress to appear on the professional stage in a non-singing role, as Desdemona in Othello; variously considered to be Margaret Hughes, Anne Marshall or Katherine Corey.Englandsource
- Hopkins School is founded in New Haven, Connecticut.source
- Former Queen Christina visits Sweden and unsuccessfully claims the throne.Swedensource
Births
- January 14 – Joseph Boyse, Presbyterian minister (died 1728)source
- January – Hippolyte Hélyot, French historian (died 1716)source
- February 24 – John Murray, 1st Duke of Atholl (died 1724)source
- 15 March – Olof Rudbeck the Younger, explorer, scientist (died 1740)Swedensource
- April 6 – Johann Kuhnau, German composer, organist and harpsichordist (died 1722)source
- April 16 – Hans Sloane, British physician (died 1753)source
- May 2 – Alessandro Scarlatti, Italian composer (died 1725)source
- 28 May – King George I of Great Britain, in Hanover (died 1727)Englandsource
- June 5 – Sarah Churchill, Duchess of Marlborough, British aristocrat (died 1744)source
- June 7 – King George I of Great Britain (died 1727)source
- June 17 – Jan van Mieris, Dutch painter (died 1690)source
- July 24 – Charles Talbot, 1st Duke of Shrewsbury, English politician (died 1718)source
- September – Daniel Defoe, English writer (died 1731)source
- October 20 – Robert Bertie, 1st Duke of Ancaster and Kesteven, English statesman (d.1723)source
- October 21 – Georg Ernst Stahl, German physician and chemist (died 1734)source
- 4 November – Albert Angell, civil servant, landowner and businessperson (died 1705).Norwaysource
- December 4 – André Campra, French composer (died 1744)source
- 4 December (bapt.) – André Campra, composer and conductor (died 1744)Francesource
Deaths
- February 10 – Judith Leyster, Dutch painter (born 1609)source
- February 13 – King Charles X Gustav of Sweden (born 1622)source
- 13 February - Charles X Gustav dies at the age of 37, while a Riksdag he had convened to address the military situation against Denmark was in session.Swedensource
- March 15 – Louise de Marillac, French co-founder of the Daughters of Charity (born 1591)source
- March – Philip Skippon, English soldier (born c. 1600)source
- April 6 – Michelangelo Cerquozzi, Italian painter (born 1602)source
- May 21 – Adam Dollard des Ormeaux, iconic figure in the history of New France (born 1635)source
- June 1 – Mary Dyer, English Quaker (hanged) (born c. 1611)source
- 1 June – Mary Dyer, Quaker, hanged in Boston, Massachusetts (born c. 1611)Englandsource
- June 30 – William Oughtred, English mathematician (born 1575)source
- August 6 – Diego Velázquez, Spanish painter (born 1599)source
- September 13 – Henry Stuart, Duke of Gloucester, son of Charles I (born 1640)source
- September 27 – Vincent de Paul, French saint (born 1580)source
- October 4 – Francesco Albani, Italian painter (born 1578)source
- October 13 to October 19 – Ten of the 57 "regicides" who signed the death warrant of Charles I of England in 1649 are executed over a period of one week, mostly at Charing Cross by being hanged, drawn and quartered, a process which includes being disemboweled (in some cases before they have died) and then and burned. The first to die is Thomas Harrison, a leader of the Fifth Monarchists. He is followed by John Carew (October 15); John Cook and Hugh Peter (October 16); (Adrian Scrope, John Moore, Gregory Clement and Thomas Scot) (October 17); and Daniel Axtell and Francis Hacker (October 19).source
- 5 November – Alexandre de Rhodes, Jesuit missionary (born 1591)Francesource
- 19 December – Ove Gjedde, admiral (born 1594)Denmarksource
- December 24 – Mary, Princess Royal and Princess of Orange (born 1631)source