1669 CE
The first performance of the Ballet de Flore, a joint collaboration of Jean-Baptiste Lully and Isaac de Benserade is given, premiering at the Palais du Louvre in Paris. King Louis XIV finances the performance and even appears in a minor role in the production as a dancer. "The Man in the Iron Mask", a prisoner identified as "Eustache Dauger", arrives at the French fortress of Pignerol, with Bénigne Dauvergne de Saint-Mars in charge of his incarceration. The identity of the prisoner is kept secret with a mask – actually of velvet – over his face, so legends as to his true identity grow. Leopold I, Holy Roman Emperor grants the status and privileges of a university to the Jesuit Academy in Zagreb, the precursor to the modern University of Zagreb.
In the 1660s, the 17th century.
Geopolitics & Diplomacy
- July – The Hanseatic League, after 400 years of operation, holds its last official meeting, taking place at the city of Lübeck. At its height, the economic alliance of German cities had 180 members; only nine (Lübeck, Hamburg, Bremen, Danzig, Braunschweig, Cologne, Hildesheim, Osnabrück and Rostock) are represented for the final gathering. The final series of meetings had started on May 29.source
- October 19 – The Parliament of Scotland holds its first new session in six years (although two Conventions of Estates had been held briefly in 1665 and 1667). The session is opened in Edinburgh by Charles II of England in his capacity as King of Scotland.source
- The Chinese Kangxi Emperor allows coastal residents deported in the Great Clearance of 1662 to return home.source
Conflict & Security
- May 1 – the Spanish Armada de Barlovento is defeated by an English Privateer fleet led by Captain Henry Morgan during his raid on Lake Maracaibo.source
- June 22 – Roux de Marsilly, accused of plotting the assassination of King Louis XIV, is publicly tortured in Paris, France.source
- June 25 – François de Vendôme, Duke of Beaufort, disappears in battle, during the siege of Candia in Crete.source
- July 13 – Trịnh Tạc, the warlord who administers the Kingdom of Vietnam, issues an order banning all foreign vessels from entering the harbor at Hanoi, requiring to anchor no closer than the river port at Pho Hien, 35 mi down the Red River from Hanoi.source
- July 24 – During an attempt by a fleet of French Navy ships to stop the siege of Candia by bombardment of Ottoman positions on the island of Crete, the arsenal of gunpowder on the French flagship, the 56-gun warship Thérèse, catches fire and explodes. Out of 350 crew on the Thérèse, only seven survive. Demoralized, the remaining French commanders halt the bombardment and the fleet withdraws.source
- August 24 – "The Man in the Iron Mask", a prisoner identified as "Eustache Dauger", arrives at the French fortress of Pignerol, with Bénigne Dauvergne de Saint-Mars in charge of his incarceration. The identity of the prisoner is kept secret with a mask – actually of velvet – over his face, so legends as to his true identity grow.source
- September 6 – Francesco Morosini, capitano generale of the Venetian forces in the siege of Candia, surrenders to the Ottomans.source
- October 29 – Ukrainian Cossack General Mykhailo Khanenko is defeated by Petro Doroshenko at the Battle of Stebliv after attempting to wrest control of Ukraine's territory on the west side of the Dnieper River from Doroshenko.source
- November 28 – In India, the Mughal Emperor Aurangzeb learns of a rebellion of Hindu residents of in various parts of the Mathurá where he had given the order for the destruction of non-Muslim temples, with rioting in Mauza' Rewarah, Chandarkah, and Surkhrú. The Emperor's historian, Saqi Mustaid Khan, records Aurangzeb's dispatch of General Hasan 'Ali Khán to attack the rebels, and 300 of them are "sent to perdition" while the Mughals lose "many imperial soldiers". Another 250 surviving rebels are arrested. Kokilá Ját, leader of the rebels, is among the prisoners put to death a month later.source
- December 8 – The Sultanate of Bima, located on the now-Indonesian island of Sumbawa and ruled by Abu'l-Khair Sirajuddin, surrenders its authority to the Dutch East Indies Company, the VOC.source
- December 18 – The Battle of Cádiz begins off of the coast of the Spanish city as the English warship HMS Mary Rose encounters seven pirate ships from Algeria. Although none of the ships on either side are sunk, the Algerians are forced to retreat with an unknown number of casualties, and the Mary Rose loses 12 dead and 18 wounded.source
- 18 December – the Battle of Cádiz begins off of the coast of the Spanish city as English warship HMS Mary Rose encounters seven pirate ships from Algeria. Although none of the ships on either side are sunk, the Algerines are forced to retreat with an unknown number of casualties, and the Mary Rose loses 12 dead and 18 wounded. See also Action of 28–29 December 1669.Englandsource
- Shakushain's revolt breaks out in Hokkaido, Japan.source
- The Orange College of Breda is wound up.source
- Kangxi deposes his regent Oboi with help of his grandmother Grand Dowager Empress Xiaozhuang, who had raised him, and has him executed. He takes full control of the empire from this point onward.Chinasource
- Undated – Count Cosimo, grand duke of Tuscany, visits the Tower of London and gives the Yeomen Warders the nickname "Beefeaters".Englandsource
Exploration & Expansion
- July 25 – Pieter Bickel, a Lutheran pastor and a mountaineer in Austria, becomes the first person to climb to the peak of the tallest of the Southeastern Walsertal Mountains, the 8,310 foot Großer Widderstein.source
- August 17 – A group of English settlers, led by Joseph West, departs from The Downs on the ship Carolina with instructions to make the first European settlement in the modern-day U.S. state of South Carolina. After a long voyage with stops in Ireland and Barbados, the Carolina settlers arrive at Port Royal on March 17 next.source
- October 9 – The English ship Nonsuch returns to London with the first products acquired from trade around Canada's Hudson Bay, a cargo of fine furs. The bounty from the Nonsuch expedition attracts investors for the soon-to-be-chartered Hudson's Bay Company.source
- 9 October – English ship Nonsuch returns to London with the first products acquired from trade around Canada's Hudson Bay, a cargo of fine furs; the bounty attracts investors for the soon-to-be-chartered Hudson's Bay Company.Englandsource
- 26 November – navigator John Narborough sets sail from Deptford to conduct a voyage of exploration in the South Seas.Englandsource
Religion & Belief
- January 11 – Peter Talbot is appointed Roman Catholic Archbishop of Dublin and Primate of Ireland (consecrated at Antwerp 29 April (9 May New Style)).Irelandsource
- March 8 – James Lynch is appointed Roman Catholic Archbishop of Tuam (consecrated at Ghent 6 May (16 May NS)).Irelandsource
- 19 March – Christopher Wren appointed Surveyor of the King's Works.Englandsource
- April 9 – Aurangzeb, the Muslim Emperor of the Mughal Empire in India, issues a firman decree for the protection of all Hindu temples and schools in his kingdom.source
- July 9 – Oliver Plunkett is appointed Roman Catholic Archbishop of Armagh and Primate of All Ireland (consecrated at Ghent 21 November (1 December NS)).Irelandsource
- In 1669, Lanbu (1642–1679), the third holder of the Prince Jingjin title, was demoted by the Kangxi Emperor from a qinwang (first-rank prince) to a feng'en zhenguo gongChinasource
Economy & Finance
Technology & Infrastructure
Science & Discovery
- February 23 – Isaac Newton writes his first description of his new invention, the reflecting telescope.source
- 23 February – Isaac Newton writes his first description of his new invention, the reflecting telescope.Englandsource
- May 31 – Samuel Pepys stops writing his diary.source
- 31 May – Samuel Pepys records the last entry in his diary, citing poor eyesight.Englandsource
- 29 October – Isaac Newton appointed Lucasian Professor of Mathematics at the University of Cambridge.Englandsource
- Blaise Pascal's Pensées is posthumously published in Paris.source
- Phosphorus is discovered by German alchemist Hennig Brand, the first chemical element to be discovered that was not known since ancient times.source
- Jean Picard begins measurement of 1 degree of Earth's meridian arc in France.source
- One of a pair of gold sun-discs from ca. 2500–2150 BCE is found at Ballyshannon.Irelandsource
Health & Medicine
Crime & Justice
- August 25 – The day after the verdicts at the Mora witch trial in Sweden, 14 women and one man are publicly beheaded after having confessed to various crimes involving the use of "enchanted tools" on behalf of the Devil. Another 47 are convicted and taken away for a later execution.source
- poet, essayist, and art historian Zhou Lianggong holds a party at his Pavilion for Viewing Paintings in Nanjing. Later he is again accused of corruptionChinasource
- Chahar ruler Abunai showed disaffection with Manchu Qing rule, and is placed under house arrested in 1669 in Shenyang and the Kangxi Emperor gave his title to his son BorniChinasource
- The Mora witch trial is conducted.Swedensource
- The trial against the conversion of Christina Eleonora Drakenhielm.Swedensource
Disasters & Accidents
- January 2 – Pirate Henry Morgan of Wales holds a meeting of his captains on board his ship, the former Royal Navy frigate Oxford, and an explosion in the ship's gunpowder supply kills 200 of his crew and four of the pirate captains who had attended the summit.source
- July 16 – A rockfall from the Mönchsberg mountain above Salzburg in Austria kills 230 people as tons of the mountainside fall onto a neighborhood on a street, the Gstättengasse.source
- Ottoman units burn the eastern part of Kolárovo.source
Climate & Environment
- January 4 – A 5.7 magnitude earthquake strikes the city of Shamakhi in Iran (now in Azerbaijan) and kills 7,000 people. Fourteen months earlier, an earthquake in Shamakhi killed 80,000 people.source
- March 11 – Mount Etna erupts, destroying the Sicilian town of Nicolosi.source
- Famine in Bengal kills 3 million people.source
- Ove Juul was appointed Vice Governor-general of Norway under Governor-general Ulrik Fredrik Gyldenløve.Norwaysource
Culture & Society
- February 13 – The first performance of the Ballet de Flore, a joint collaboration of Jean-Baptiste Lully and Isaac de Benserade is given, premiering at the Palais du Louvre in Paris. King Louis XIV finances the performance and even appears in a minor role in the production as a dancer.source
- March 26 – a royal charter is granted to the trust established by Erasmus Smith for the provision of grammar schools in Ireland, under whichIrelandsource
- May–August – George Fox, founder of the Quakers, visits Ireland. William Penn also returns to Ireland this year.Irelandsource
- September 23 – Leopold I, Holy Roman Emperor grants the status and privileges of a university to the Jesuit Academy in Zagreb, the precursor to the modern University of Zagreb.source
- September 29 – The formal coronation of Michał Korybut Wiśniowiecki as King of Poland (and Grand Duke of Lithuania) takes place in Kraków.source
- October 15 – The University of Innsbruck is chartered in Austria by Leopold I, Holy Roman Emperor. After being reduced to a lesser function on November 29, 1781, it is rechartered in 1826.source
- December 13 – Jean Racine's five-act tragic play Britannicus is performed for the first time, premiering at the Hôtel de Bourgogne in Paris. The play continues to be performed more than 350 years later, including a 2011 version translated by Dr. Howard Rubenstein.source
- Antonio Stradivari makes his first violin in Cremona.source
- Jan Swammerdam publishes his Algemeene Verhandeling van de bloedeloose dierkens, a groundbreaking work in microscopy, as well as entomology.source
- The École des Jeunes de langues was foundedFrancesource
- The Régiment Royal–La Marine was establishedFrancesource
- Drogheda Grammar School is founded.Irelandsource
Births
- January 20 – Susanna Wesley, mother of the John and Charles Wesley, known as mother of Methodism (died 1742)source
- April 3 – Jean-Baptiste Forqueray, French musician (died 1722)source
- 17 April – Jacob B. Winslow, anatomist (died 1760 in France)Denmarksource
- May 24 – Emerentia von Düben, Swedish royal favorite (died 1743)source
- 24 May - Emerentia von Düben, royal favorite (died 1743)Swedensource
- May 26 – Sébastien Vaillant, French botanist (died 1722)source
- July 30 – Eudoxia Lopukhina, first wife of Peter the Great of Russia (died 1731)source
- 17 August – Jean-Baptiste Brutel de la Rivière, Protestant minister (died 1742)Francesource
- August 27 – Anne Marie d'Orléans, Queen of Sicily and Sardinia (died 1728)source
- August 29 – John Anstis, English herald (died 1744)source
- October 19 – Count Wirich Philipp von Daun, Austrian military leader (died 1741)source
- 20 November (probable date of baptism) – Susanna Centlivre, English poet and actress (died 1723)Englandsource
- December 16 – Arnold Boonen, Dutch portrait painter (died 1729)source
- Alessio Erardi, Maltese painter (died 1727)source
- Elżbieta Sieniawska, politically influential Polish magnate (died 1729)source
- Jiang Tingxi, Chinese painter (died 1732)source
- probable – Peter King, 1st Baron King, Lord Chancellor of England (died 1734)source
Deaths
- January 27 – Gaspar de Crayer, Flemish painter (born 1584)source
- February 3 – Catharina Questiers, Dutch poet (born 1631)source
- 9 March – Isak Lauritssøn Falck, merchant (born 1601).Norwaysource
- March 10 – John Denham, English poet (born 1615)source
- 9 May – Peder Pedersen, merchant and burgermaster (born 1608)Denmarksource
- 15 May - Margareta Brahe, controversial countess and courtier (born 1603)Swedensource
- May 16 – Pietro da Cortona, Italian artist (born 1596)source
- May 19 – The first people executed in Sweden's Mora witch trial are put to death, with seven women and one man beheaded after being convicted of "abduction of children to Satan."source
- July 29 – Josias II, Count of Waldeck-Wildungen, major general in Brunswick and co-ruler of Waldeck-Wildungen (born 1636)source
- September 10 – Henrietta Maria of France, queen of England, Scotland and Ireland (born 1609)source
- 10 September – Henrietta Maria of France, queen consort of Charles I of England (born 1609)Englandsource
- October 4 – Rembrandt Harmenszoon van Rijn, Dutch painter (born 1606)source
- October 4 – Dutch painter Rembrandt van Rijn dies at the age of 63, after completing his final known work Self-Portrait at the Age of 63. Despite his wealth, is buried in an unmarked grave in Amsterdam's Westerkerk. After 20 years, his remains are removed and destroyed in accordance with church custom.source
- October 14 – Antonio Cesti, Italian composer (born 1623)source
- October 24 – William Prynne, English Puritan leader (born 1600)source
- December 9 – Pope Clement IX (born 1600)source
- December 16 – Nathaniel Fiennes, English politician (born c. 1608)source
- December 21 – A papal conclave that will last for four months begins in Rome to select a successor to Pope Clement IX, who had died 12 days earlier. At the opening, 54 of the 70 members of the College of Cardinals are present. At least 21 Cardinals are considered for the papacy before Emilio Altieri is selected on April 29 to become Pope Clement X.source