1661 CE

Leaders of the indigenous Taiwanese villages in the plains and mountains of the Dutch-ruled island begin surrendering to the Chinese forces led by Koxinga and agreeing to hunt down and execute Dutch people on the island. General Zheng Chenggong of China takes control of most of the island of Taiwan from the Dutch East India Company and proclaims the Kingdom of Tungning, with himself as the ruler. The Indian city of Quilon (now Kollam in the Kerala state), ruled by Portugal since 1498, is captured by the Dutch East India Company.

In the 1660s, the 17th century.

Geopolitics & Diplomacy

  • 10 January – The decision to introduce absolute monarchy from the previous year enters into effect.Denmarksource
  • 12 January – The State College proposes a comprehensive codification of Danish law, later resulting in the Danish Code of 1683.Denmarksource
  • January 29 – The Rokeby baronets, a British nobility title is created.source
  • 14 February - A common Supreme Court is established for Denmark-Norway.Norwaysource
  • May 8 – The "Cavalier Parliament", the longest serving Parliament in British history, is opened following the first parliamentary elections since the restoration of the monarchy in 1660. The first session of the House of Commons and the House of Lords lasts until June 30 and then reopens on November 20. The Cavalier Parliament continues meeting, without new elections, until being dissolved on January 24, 1679.source
  • June 14 – General Zheng Chenggong of China takes control of most of the island of Taiwan from the Dutch East India Company and proclaims the Kingdom of Tungning, with himself as the ruler.source
  • June 23 – The "Marriage Treaty" is signed between representatives of King Charles II of England and King João IV of Portugal, providing a military alliance between the two kingdoms and a marriage between Charles of the House of Stuart and João's daughter Catherine of the House of Braganza on May 21, 1662. The treaty also sets the transfer of Portuguese territory in India (at Bombay) and in North Africa (Tangier) to England as well as military aid from England to Portugal.source
  • 23 June – Charles II signs a marriage treaty with Portugal. He will marry Catherine of Braganza; as part of the dowry, Portugal cedes Bombay and Tangier to England and grants free trade with Brazil and the East Indies.Englandsource
  • July 1 – The war between the empires of Russia and Sweden is ended with the signing of the Treaty of Cardis in what is now the Estonian city of Kärde. Russia returns those portions of Livonia and Ingria that it had taken earlier from Sweden.source
  • August 6 – Portugal and the Dutch Republic sign the Treaty of The Hague, whereby the Dutch Republic's South American colony of Nieuw-Holland is sold to Portugal for the equivalent of roughly 63,000 kg of gold, and incorporated into Brazil. The territory includes much of what will later become the Brazilian states of Ceará, Maranhão, Paraíba, Pernambuco and Rio Grande do Norte. Among the major Dutch settlements lost are Mauritsstad (Recife), Fort Schoonenborch (Fortaleza), Nieuw-Amsterdam (Natal), and Frederikstadt (João Pessoa).source
  • 7 August - The Sovereignty Act was signed by the estates of the realm, turning Norway into an absolute monarchy.Norwaysource
  • 20 December – Parliament passes the Corporation Act 1661 restricting public office to members of the Church of England.Englandsource
  • The Earldom of Drogheda is created in the Peerage of Ireland.Irelandsource
  • The Legal Deposit Act is passed, requiring the then established National Library of Sweden to collect copies of all printed works in Swedish.Swedensource

Conflict & Security

  • January 6 – The Fifth Monarchists, led by Thomas Venner, unsuccessfully attempt to seize control of London; George Monck's regiment defeats them.source
  • 6 January – the Fifth Monarchists unsuccessfully attempt to seize control of London. George Monck's regiment defeats them.Englandsource
  • February 14 – George Monck’s regiment becomes The Lord General's Regiment of Foot Guards in England (which later becomes the Coldstream Guards).source
  • 14 February – George Monck's regiment becomes The Lord General's Regiment of Foot Guards (which later becomes the Coldstream Guards).Englandsource
  • March 23 – General Zheng Chenggong of China, known as "Koxinga" leads an invasion of the island of Taiwan, at the time under the control of the Dutch East India Company (VOC), bringing 25,000 soldiers and sailors on hundreds of boats to claim the territory.source
  • April 7 – The siege of Fort Zeelandia, the Dutch East India Company (VOC) headquarters on the Chinese island of Taiwan (near modern Taoyuan City) is started by Koxinga and his invading force from China.source
  • May 17 – Leaders of the indigenous Taiwanese villages in the plains and mountains of the Dutch-ruled island begin surrendering to the Chinese forces led by Koxinga and agreeing to hunt down and execute Dutch people on the island.source
  • June 3 – Pye Min, younger brother of King Pindale Min of Burma, leads a bloody coup d'etat and ascends the throne. Pindale Min and his family (including his primary wife, a son and a grandson) are drowned in the Chindwin River. Pye Min reigns until 1672.source
  • June 28 – The innovative Lincoln's Inn Fields Theatre opens in London with the first system for interchangeable scenery on a stage in the British Isles, and a production of William Davenant's opera The Siege of Rhodes.source
  • 30 July – Sedition Act makes it high treason to plot death or injury to, or war against, the king, but requires the evidence of at least two witnesses for a conviction.Englandsource
  • November 4 – Polish and Lithuanian forces, led by King Jan II Kazimierz (who is also the Grand Duke of Lithuania) defeat the Russian Army at the Battle of Kushliki.source
  • December 21 – General Wu Sangui of China arrives in Burma with 20,000 troops and demands that the Burmese surrender Yongli, the last of the Ming dynasty rulers of Southern China before the Qing dynasty consolidated its rule. Burma's King Pye Min hands Yongli over to General Wu on January 15, and Yongli is subsequently executed.source
  • December 24 – The Indian city of Quilon (now Kollam in the Kerala state), ruled by Portugal since 1498, is captured by the Dutch East India Company.source
  • On March 30, the Siege of Fort Zeelandia on the Taiwan main island beginsChinasource
  • Møgeltønderhus is granted to Count Hans von Schack who demolishes most of it and builds the current Schackenborg Castle.Denmarksource

Exploration & Expansion

  • March — Koxinga's fleet set sail from Kinmen with hundreds of junks of various sizes, with roughly 25,000 soldiers and sailors aboard. They arrived at Penghu the next day and attack Dutch forces shortly afterChinasource
  • September - Iver Krabbe is appointed Steward of Norway.Norwaysource
  • October 31 – Köprülüzade Fazıl Ahmed Pasha is appointed as the new Grand Vizier of the Ottoman Empire at the request of his late father, the Grand Vizier Köprülü Mehmed Pasha, serving under the Sultan Mehmed IV for 15 years and continuing the Köprülü family dynasty whose members will serve as Viziers until 1711.source
  • Market towns are given a monopoly on trade and crafts.Denmarksource

Religion & Belief

  • 30 January – the bodies of Oliver Cromwell, Henry Ireton, John Bradshaw and Thomas Pride are exhumed and subjected to a posthumous execution. Oliver Cromwell's head (with the others') is placed on a spike above the Palace of Westminster.Englandsource
  • March 9 – Following the death of his mentor, Cardinal Jules Mazarin, who had been Minister of State since before the birth of King Louis XIV, King Louis, now 22, starts to rule independently without need for a regent.source
  • April 23 (May 3 N.S.) – King Charles II of England, Scotland, and Ireland is crowned in Westminster Abbey.source
  • 23 April – Charles II of England, Scotland and Ireland is crowned King in Westminster Abbey. A new St Edward's Crown is made for the occasion.Englandsource
  • April 23 – Charles II of England, Ireland and Scotland receives his second crowning, in Westminster Abbey.Irelandsource
  • May 11 – The Indian city and territory of Bombay is ceded by Portugal to England in accordance with the dowry of King Joao IV of Portugal for the marriage of his daughter Catherine to King Charles II of England.source
  • October 6 – Guru Har Krishan becomes eighth of the ten Sikh gurus, and at age 5 the youngest, following the death of his father Guru Har Rai.source
  • 7 October – Guru Har Krishan becomes the eighth Sikh guru, Guru JiIndiasource
  • December – convocations at Canterbury and York complete the new Anglican Prayer Book (imposed by law in 1662).Englandsource
  • The Thirteen Offices are eliminated (and eunuch Wu Liangfu executed) by Oboi and the other regents in March 1661.Chinasource
  • The Book of Kells is presented to Trinity College Dublin.Irelandsource
  • The Bishopric of Limerick in the Church of Ireland is combined with Ardfert and Aghadoe to form the united bishopric of Limerick, Ardfert and Aghadoe, Edward Synge being the first bishop.Irelandsource

Economy & Finance

  • The first modern bank notes are issued in Stockholm, Sweden.source
  • The Stockholms Banco becomes the first European bank to print banknotes. The background to this was that Sweden, at this time, had the world's heaviest coins, copper coins that were cumbersome (up to 20 kg –).Swedensource

Technology & Infrastructure

  • 19 April – the Post Office introduces post marks.Englandsource
  • 4 June – The so-called Demarcation Line around Copenhagen is introduced when it is prohibited to build in the zone between the city's Fortification Ring and The Lakes.Denmarksource
  • Fort Frederiksborg is built on the Danish Gold Coast.Denmarksource
  • Construction of the Rosendal Manor started.Norwaysource
  • The construction of Munkholmen fort is finished.Norwaysource

Health & Medicine

  • Great Clearance in China: evacuation of Guangdong is required.source

Crime & Justice

  • January 30 – The body of Oliver Cromwell is exhumed and subjected to a posthumous execution in London, along with those of John Bradshaw and Henry Ireton.source
  • September 5 – Nicolas Fouquet, the Superintendent of Finances for France, is arrested in Nantes and charged with embezzlement of the state treasury. Spared the death penalty by a jury, Fouquet spends the rest of his life in prison until his death in 1680.source
  • The witch trial against Florence Newton.Irelandsource

Disasters & Accidents

  • Hedwig Eleonora buys the Drottningholm Palace a year after her role as Queen of Sweden ended, but it burnt to the ground on 30 December that same year. She engaged the architect Nicodemus Tessin the Elder to design and rebuild the castle.Swedensource

Culture & Society

  • January – The Royal Horse Guards is founded. It is discontinued in 1866.Denmarksource
  • March 28 - Erik Dahlbergh receives royal privilege to compose the series of illustrations titled Suecia antiqua et hodierna.Swedensource
  • June 1 – At Edinburgh, the public execution of Presbyterian minister James Guthrie, followed by Captain William Govan, takes place at the Mercat Cross at Parliament Square, days after both have been convicted of treason for their roles in the execution of King Charles I. The heads are severed from the corpses and displayed on spikes in the square.source
  • 23 June – Bombay is given to Charles II of England as the marriage portion of Catherine of Portugal.Indiasource
  • 24 June – The Coat of arms of Copenhagen is granted to the city by the king in appraisal of its citizens' efforts in repelling the Swedish siege and attack on the city the previous year. An accompanying royal letter of privilege also introduced various privileges which, however remained of relatively minor importance. The city is also granted the fief Roskilde (Bidstrup estate).* September – Corfitz Ulfeldt and Leonora Christina are released from their imprisonment at Hammershus on the island of Bornholm.Denmarksource
  • 28 June – Lisle's Tennis Court in Lincoln's Inn Fields, London is opened as a playhouse.Englandsource
  • 1 October – a yacht race from Greenwich to Gravesend between King Charles and James, Duke of York makes the sport fashionable.Englandsource
  • December 16 – Abraham Cowley's comedy The Cutter of Coleman Street premieres at the Lincoln's Inn Fields Playhouse in London as a production of the Duke's Company.source
  • The Paris Opera Ballet establishedFrancesource
  • Jacob Maschius poetry book, Norwegia religiosa is published for the first time.Norwaysource

Births

  • 27 February – Johannes Møller, educator and writer (died 1725)Denmarksource
  • March 25 – Paul de Rapin, French historian (died 1725)source
  • April 16 – Charles Montagu, 1st Earl of Halifax, English poet and statesman (died 1715)source
  • April 21 – Georg Joseph Kamel, Jesuit missionary and botanist (died 1706)source
  • April 23 – Issachar Berend Lehmann, German-Jewish banker, Court Jew in Hanover (died 1730)source
  • May 3 – Antonio Vallisneri, Italian scientist (died 1730)source
  • 11 May – Niels Knagenhielm, civil servant, land owner and non-fiction writer (died 1737).Norwaysource
  • July 15 – Pierre Le Moyne d'Iberville, French founder of the colony of Louisiana (died 1706)source
  • August 15 – King Sukjong of Joseon (died 1720)source
  • October 11 – Melchior de Polignac, French diplomat and cardinal (died 1742)source
  • November 1 – Louis, Grand Dauphin, eldest son and heir of Louis XIV of France (died 1711)source
  • November 6 – King Charles II of Spain (died 1700)source
  • November 15 – Christoph von Graffenried, Swiss settler in America (died 1743)source
  • November 28 – Edward Hyde, 3rd Earl of Clarendon, British Governor of New York and New Jersey (died 1723)source
  • 28 November – Edward Hyde, 3rd Earl of Clarendon, Governor of New York and New Jersey (died 1723)Englandsource
  • December 5 – Robert Harley, 1st Earl of Oxford and Earl Mortimer, English statesman (died 1724)source
  • December 18 – Christopher Polhem, Swedish scientist and inventor (died 1751)source
  • Christian Heinrich, Margrave of Brandenburg-Bayreuth-KulmbachGermanysource

Deaths

  • 27 January – Axel Mowat, admiral and land owner (born 1592).Norwaysource
  • February 5 – Shunzhi Emperor of China (born 1638)source
  • February 5 – The Shunzhi Emperor of the Chinese Qing Dynasty dies, and is succeeded by his 7-year-old son the Kangxi Emperor.source
  • February 7 – Shah Shuja, who was deprived of his claim to the throne of the Mughal Empire by his younger brother Aurangzeb, then fled to Burma, is killed by Indian troops in an attack on his residence at Arakan.source
  • 8 March Guru Har Rai seventh Sikh guru dies (born 1630)Indiasource
  • March 9 – Cardinal Mazarin, French cardinal and statesman (born 1602)source
  • April 4 – Alexander Leslie, 1st Earl of Leven, Scottish soldier(born c. 1580)source
  • April 7 – William Brereton, English soldier and politician (born 1604)source
  • 16 April – Joachim Gersdorff dies suddenly, giving rise to rumours that he has been poisoned. His wife Øllegaard Huitfeld and a maidservant are convicted of murder.Denmarksource
  • May 27 – Archibald Campbell, 1st Marquess of Argyll, Scottish dissenter (beheaded) (born 1607)source
  • May 27 – The Marquess of Argyll, one of the first of the Scottish-born people sentenced to death as a regicide for his role in the conviction and execution of King Charles I of England and Scotland in 1649, is beheaded at the Tolbooth Prison in Edinburgh using the "Scottish Maiden," almost immediately after his conviction of collaboration with the government of Oliver Cromwell. His head is then placed on a spike outside the prison.source
  • June 6 – Martino Martini, Italian Jesuit missionary (born 1614)source
  • August 7 – Benedetta Carlini, Italian mystic (born 1590)source
  • August 7 – Jin Shengtan, Chinese editor, writer and critic (born 1608)source
  • August 16 – Thomas Fuller, English churchman and historian (born 1608)source
  • October 6 – Guru Har Rai, Sikh guru (born 1630)source
  • December 14 – Prince Murad Bakhsh, younger brother of the Mughal Emperor Aurangzeb, is executed at Gwailor Fort on order of his brother.source
  • Shunzhi Emperor dies, probably of smallpox. The seven-year-old Kangxi Emperor ascends the throne and the Four Regents, previously nominated in Shunzhi's will, begin rule as regents.Chinasource