1697 CE
Conquistador Martín de Ursúa y Arizmendi and 114 soldiers arrive at Lake Petén Itzá in what is now Guatemala and begin the Spanish conquest of Guatemala with an attack on the capital of the Itza people there before moving northward to the Yucatan peninsula. The Spanish conquest of Petén, and of Yucatán, is completed with the fall of Nojpetén, capital of the Itza Maya Kingdom, the last independent Maya state. Tsangyang Gyatso is installed in Tibet as the 6th Dalai Lama in a ceremony at Lhasa, filling a vacancy that had existed since 1682.
In the 1690s, the 17th century.
Geopolitics & Diplomacy
- February 22 – Gerrit de Heere becomes the new Governor of Dutch Ceylon, succeeding Thomas van Rhee and administering the colony for almost six years until his death.source
- March 22 – Charles II of Spain issues a Royal Cedula extending to the indigenous nobles of the Spanish Crown colonies, as well as to their descendants, the preeminence and honors customarily attributed to the Hidalgos of Castile.source
- September 20 – The Treaty of Ryswick is signed by France and the Grand Alliance, to end both the Nine Years' War and King William's War. Louis XIV of France recognises William III as King of England & Scotland, and both sides return territories they have taken in battle. In North America, the treaty returns Port-Royal (Acadia) to France.source
- 20 September – the Treaty of Ryswick ends the War of the Grand Alliance; France recognises William III as King of England.Englandsource
- 20 September – The Treaty of Ryswick is signed by France and the Grand Alliance to end both the Nine Years' War and King William's War. The conflict having been inconclusive, the treaty is proposed because the combatants have exhausted their national treasuries. Louis XIV recognises William III as King of England and Scotland, and both sides return territories they have taken in battle. In North America, the treaty returns Port Royal (Nova Scotia) to France. In practice, the treaty is little more than a truce; it does not resolve any of the fundamental colonial problems, and the peace lasts only five yearsFrancesource
- The Parliament of England passes the Trade with Africa Act 1697 (An Act to settle the Trade to Africa), which end the Royal African Company's monopoly on all English trade with Africa.source
- The Manchus of the Qing dynasty conquer Outer Mongolia.source
Conflict & Security
- February 26 – Conquistador Martín de Ursúa y Arizmendi and 114 soldiers arrive at Lake Petén Itzá in what is now Guatemala and begin the Spanish conquest of Guatemala with an attack on the capital of the Itza people there before moving northward to the Yucatan peninsula.source
- March 13 – The Spanish conquest of Petén, and of Yucatán, is completed with the fall of Nojpetén, capital of the Itza Maya Kingdom, the last independent Maya state.source
- March 26 – Safavid occupation of Basra: Safavid government troops take control of Basra.source
- April 23 – As Chinese troops from the Manchu Dynasty (ruled by the Kangxi Emperor) complete their conquest of Mongolia, Galdan Boshugtu Khan, ruler of the last part of Mongolia to be conquered, the Dzungar Khanate, poisons himself, ending the resistance to conquest.source
- May 6 – General Bernard Desjean, Baron de Pointis of France carries out an attack and pillaging of the Spanish South American fort of Cartagena de Indias (now in Colombia) with 1,200 soldiers and 650 pirate mercenaries. The French attackers overwhelm the city for the next 18 days. The Baron reneges on a contract to share the wealth with the pirates, who will come back to Cartagena a second time and makes a more violent attack.source
- July 6 – A major naval battle takes place between the Republic of Venice and the Ottoman Empire with each side having 25 battleships, supplemented by smaller vessels. The Venetian Navy, under the command of Admiral Bartolomeo Contarini, suffers 71 deaths and 163 injuries, and even worse casualties in a second engagement on September 20.source
- July 27 – Mahmud Shah II, the Sultan of Johor and Pahang (now part of Malaysia) takes on full power upon the death of the regent, the Bendahara Paduka Raja. Mahmud II was only 10 years old when he became the Sultan upon the assassination of his father, Ibrahim Shah in 1685.source
- August 10 – The Siege of Barcelona ends in Spain after 52 days as Louis Joseph, Duke of Vendôme of France obtains the surrender of Barcelona from the Austrian General, Prince George of Hesse-Darmstadt.source
- September 5 (August 25 O.S.) – During the Nine Years' War, the Battle of Hudson's Bay is fought between English and French ships in Hudson Bay near what is now the Canadian province of Manitoba; The French warship Pélican captures York Factory, a trading post of the English Hudson's Bay Company.source
- 5 September – Nine Years' War: Battle of Hudson's Bay – French warship Pélican captures York Factory, a trading post of the English Hudson's Bay Company in modern-day Manitoba (Canada)Francesource
- September 11 – Battle of Zenta: Prince Eugene of Savoy crushes the Ottoman army of Mustafa II, and effectively ends Turkish hopes of recovering lost ground in Hungary.source
- October 27 – a thunderstorm ignites the arsenal at Athlone Castle.Irelandsource
- October 30 – The Nine Years' War, between France and the Grand Alliance comes to an end with the signing of the last pacts of the Peace of Ryswick in the Dutch city of Rijswijk as Leopold I of Austria accedes two days before a deadline that had been set by the other members of the Grand Alliance. The areas of the Duchy of Lorraine (Lotharingen), Freiburg im Breisgau, and Vieux-Brisach (Breisach) are returned by France to Leopold's control.source
- Christian Gyldenløve was appointed commander-in-chief of the Norwegian army.Norwaysource
Exploration & Expansion
- March 9 – Grand Embassy of Peter the Great: Tsar Peter the Great of Russia sets out to travel in Europe incognito, as Artilleryman Pjotr Mikhailov.source
- Heinrich Escher, Mayor of Zürich, introduces chocolate to Switzerland from Brussels.source
- Trade with Africa Act 1697 (An Act to settle the Trade to Africa) confirms the Royal African Company's loss of monopoly on the Atlantic slave trade, with effect from 1698.Englandsource
Religion & Belief
- January 8 – Thomas Aikenhead is hanged outside Edinburgh, becoming the last person in Great Britain to be executed for blasphemy.source
- June 2 – Augustus, Elector of Saxony converts to Roman Catholicism in order to be eligible to rule Poland.source
- June 27 – After becoming a Roman Catholic, Augustus the Strong is elected King Augustus II of Poland.source
- July 4 – A Byzantine icon, the "Weeping Madonna of Pócs", arrives in Vienna after a five-month journey following its forced removal from the Hungarian village of Pócs by order of the Holy Roman Emperor, Leopold I. It has been housed for more than 320 years in St. Stephen's Cathedral.source
- September 25 – Banishment Act, one of the penal laws, banishes all Roman Catholic ordinaries, including bishops, and regular clergy (members of religious institutions) from Ireland.Irelandsource
- October 19 – Misión Loreto, the first Roman Catholic mission on Mexico's Baja California Peninsula, is founded by Spanish missionary Juan María de Salvatierra.source
- December 2 – The first service is held in St Paul's Cathedral since rebuilding work after the Great Fire of London began.source
- 2 December – first service (to celebrate the Treaty of Ryswick) held in St Paul's Cathedral since rebuilding work after the Great Fire of London began.Englandsource
- December 8 – Tsangyang Gyatso is installed in Tibet as the 6th Dalai Lama in a ceremony at Lhasa, filling a vacancy that had existed since 1682.source
- The Roman Catholic Diocese of Blois establishedFrancesource
- Celbridge Abbey in County Kildare is built as a home by Bartholomew Van Homrigh, Lord Mayor of Dublin.Irelandsource
- The construction of Oslo Cathedral was finished.Norwaysource
Technology & Infrastructure
Science & Discovery
- January 11 – French writer Charles Perrault releases the book Histoires ou contes du temps passé (literally "Tales of Past Times", known in England as "Mother Goose tales") in Paris, a collection of popular fairy tales, including Cinderella, Puss in Boots, Red Riding Hood, The Sleeping Beauty and Bluebeard.source
Health & Medicine
- April 5 – Charles XII becomes king of Sweden at age 14 on the death of his father, Charles XI, from stomach cancer.source
- May – John Vanbrugh's comedy The Provoked Wife premières in London at Lincoln's Inn Fields Theatre.Englandsource
- Poor Act 1697 requires badging of recipients of parish welfare.Englandsource
Crime & Justice
- June 10 – The last mass execution for witchcraft in western Europe when the five Paisley witches are hanged and then burned in Scotland.source
- October 16 – The Norwegian Code, promulgated by King Christian V of Denmark-Norway in 1687, is amended to provide for torture of condemned criminals in certain capital offenses in Norway, with permission for burning with hot irons, or cutting off the prisoner's right hand while the prisoner is being transported for decapitation.source
Disasters & Accidents
Climate & Environment
- 15 May – 1697 Hertfordshire Hailstorm: violent hail storm across Hertfordshire, perhaps the most severe ever in Britain.Englandsource
- Martin Mere, England's largest lake, is drained by sir Thomas Fleetwood for farmland.source
- Great Famine of Estonia (1695–97).source
- Great Famine of 1695–1697 in Scandinavia.source
- "Seven ill years" of famine in Scotland.source
- Famine in the Scottish Borders leads to continued Scottish Presbyterian migration from Scotland to Ulster.Irelandsource
- In the spring, the disastrous Great Famine comes to an end.Swedensource
Culture & Society
- January – Charles Perrault publishes Histoires ou contes du temps passé ("Mother Goose tales") in Paris, a collection of popular fairy tales, including Cinderella, Puss in Boots, Red Riding Hood, The Sleeping Beauty and BluebeardFrancesource
- 30 June – earliest known first-class cricket match takes place, in Sussex.Englandsource
- July 28 – The opera Vénus et Adonis, composed by Henri Desmarets with libretto by Jean-Baptiste Rousseau, receives its first performance, premiering at the Théâtre du Palais-Royal in Paris.source
- October 7 – The opera Issé, composed by André Cardinal Destouches with libretto by Antoine Houdar de la Motte, premieres at the Palace of Fontainebleau in France.source
- October 24 – The first opéra-ballet, combining elements of both mediums of entertainment, is performed as L'Europe galante makes its debut at the Salle du Palais-Royal in Paris. Composed by André Campra, with libretto by Antoine Houdar de la Motte, the opera and ballet is conducted by Marin Marais.source
- November 24 – The elaborate burial of the late King Charles XI of Sweden takes place more than seven months after his April 5 death, with interment at the Riddarholmen Church on the island of Riddarholmen near Stockholm.source
- November 30 – Prince Eugene of Savoy, a field marshal within the Holy Roman Empire, purchases a large tract of land in Vienna for construction of the Belvedere Palace.source
- December 7 – Louis, Duke of Burgundy, and Marie Adélaïde of Savoy marry in the royal chapel at the Palace of Versailles in France.source
- December 11 – A ball in the Hall of Mirrors at the Palace of Versailles is held to celebrate the Duke of Burgundy and Marie Adélaïde's wedding.source
- December 14 – The coronation ceremony takes place for King Charles XII of Sweden.source
- The use of "litters" (wheelless transports that carried by four servants) increases in Europe.source
- William Dampier's A New Voyage Round the World is published in England.source
Births
- 12 January – Knud Leem, linguist (d.1774).Norwaysource
- January 30 – Johann Joachim Quantz, German flautist and composer (died 1773)source
- February 4 – James Franklin, American colonial author (died 1735)source
- February 5 – William Smellie, Scottish obstetrician and medical instructor (died 1763)source
- February 24 – Bernhard Siegfried Albinus, German anatomist (died 1770)source
- March 9 – Friederike Caroline Neuber, German actress and theatre director (died 1760)source
- April 23 – George Anson, 1st Baron Anson, British admiral (died 1762)source
- 2 May – Michael Fabritius, businessman (died 1746)Denmarksource
- June 4 – Jacob Emden, German rabbi and talmudist who championed Orthodox Judaism (died 1776)source
- August 6 – Charles VII, Holy Roman Emperor from 1742 to 1745 (died 1745)source
- August 17 – Alexander Brodie, Scottish politician (died 1754)source
- September 19 – Alexander Monro, Scottish surgeon and anatomist (died 1767)source
- October 18 – Canaletto, Italian painter from the Republic of Venice (died 1768)source
- October 26 – John Peter Zenger, German printer and journalist in New York City (died 1746)source
- November 10 – William Hogarth, English artist (died 1764)source
- 10 November – William Hogarth, artist (died 1764)Englandsource
- November 25 – Gerhard Tersteegen, German Reformed religious writer and hymnist (died 1769)source
- Helena Arnell, painter (died 1751)Swedensource
Deaths
- January 8 – Thomas Aikenhead, Scottish student (hanged) (born c. 1678)source
- January 28 – John Fenwick, English conspirator (born c. 1645)source
- March 1 – Francesco Redi, Italian physician (born 1626)source
- March 27 – Simon Bradstreet, English colonial magistrate (born 1604)source
- April 5 – King Charles XI of Sweden, King of Sweden from 1660 to 1697 (born 1655)source
- 5 April - Charles XI of Sweden dies of stomach cancer, and is succeeded by Charles XII of Sweden under the regency of his grandmother, Hedwig Eleonora.Swedensource
- April 8 – Niels Juel, Danish admiral (born 1629)source
- 8 April – Niels Juel, admiral (born 1629 in Norway).Denmarksource
- June 7 – John Aubrey, English writer and antiquarian (born 1626)source
- 7 June – John Aubrey, antiquary and memoirist (born 1626)Englandsource
- June 18 – Gregorio Barbarigo, Italian Catholic saint (born 1625)source
- June 19 – Henry Mordaunt, 2nd Earl of Peterborough, English diplomat (born 1621)source
- July 18 – António Vieira, Portuguese writer (born 1608)source
- July 27 – Tun Habib Abdul Majid, Grand Vizier of Johor (born 1637)source
- 30 July – Lorentz Mortensen Angell, merchant and landowner (born 1626).Norwaysource
- September 17 – Amcazade Köprülü Hüseyin Pasha becomes the new Grand Vizier of the Ottoman Empire in the wake of the disastrous Ottoman defeat at Zenta, replacing Grand Vizier Elmas Mehmed Pasha, who was killed in the battle by his own troops.source
- December 17 – Eleonore of Austria, Queen of Poland (born 1653)source
- December 31 – Lucas Faydherbe, Belgian sculptor and architect (born 1617)source