1699 CE

The Republic of Venice, Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth and Holy Roman Empire sign the Treaty of Karlowitz with the Ottoman Empire, marking an end to the major phase of the Ottoman–Habsburg wars. The treaty marks a major geopolitical shift, as the Ottoman Empire subsequently abandons its expansionism and adopts a defensive posture while the Habsburg monarchy expands its influence. June 14 – the Parliament of Ireland meets and enacts legislation to levy duties on exported woolens; to encourage the construction of parsonages; to oblige landowners to plant and conserve trees; and to prevent Roman Catholics from becoming solicitors. The Treaty of Preobrazhenskoye, negotiated by Johann Patkul, is signed at a palace of the Tsar of Russia Peter the Great, and representatives of Augustus the Strong, Elector of Saxony, King of Poland and Elector of Saxony to provide for the partition of Swedish Empire between Saxony, the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, the Kingdoms of Denmark-Norway and the Russian Empire. The attack on Sweden, which takes place on February 22, starts the Great Northern War.

In the 1690s, the 17th century.

Geopolitics & Diplomacy

  • January 26 – The Republic of Venice, Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth and Holy Roman Empire sign the Treaty of Karlowitz with the Ottoman Empire, marking an end to the major phase of the Ottoman–Habsburg wars. The treaty marks a major geopolitical shift, as the Ottoman Empire subsequently abandons its expansionism and adopts a defensive posture while the Habsburg monarchy expands its influence.source
  • January 26–June 14 – the Parliament of Ireland meets and enacts legislation to levy duties on exported woolens; to encourage the construction of parsonages; to oblige landowners to plant and conserve trees; and to prevent Roman Catholics from becoming solicitors.Irelandsource
  • February 1 – the Parliament of England requires the disbandment of foreign troops in Ireland.Irelandsource
  • May 1 (O.S.) – A series of five student orations at the College of William & Mary precipitate the Colony of Virginia's capital moving from Jamestown to Middle Plantation, resulting in the establishment of Williamsburg.source
  • May 4 – the Parliament of England enacts legislation providing for the appointment of a commission of inquiry into the administration of forfeited estates in Ireland.Irelandsource
  • May 10 – Billingsgate Fish Market in London is sanctioned as a permanent institution by Act of Parliament.Englandsource
  • June 11 – England, France and the Dutch Republic agree on the terms of the Treaty of London (1700) (Second Partition Treaty) for Spain.source
  • June 11 – England, France and the Dutch Republic agree on the terms of the Second Partition Treaty for Spain.Englandsource
  • 11 June: France, England and the Dutch Republic agree on the terms of the Treaty of London (1700) (Second Partition Treaty) for Spain.Francesource
  • 14 September – The Treaty of Dresden is concluded, preparing the Great Northern War.Denmarksource
  • October – An edict by King Louis XIV establishes an office of police magistrate in almost every village in France, with the title of lieutenant general de police created.source
  • November 22 – The Treaty of Preobrazhenskoye, negotiated by Johann Patkul, is signed at a palace of the Tsar of Russia Peter the Great, and representatives of Augustus the Strong, Elector of Saxony, King of Poland and Elector of Saxony to provide for the partition of Swedish Empire between Saxony, the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, the Kingdoms of Denmark-Norway and the Russian Empire. The attack on Sweden, which takes place on February 22, starts the Great Northern War.source
  • The Treaty of Preobrazhenskoye is signed.Denmarksource

Conflict & Security

  • January 19 – Parliament limits the size of the country's standing army to 7,000 "native born" men. The King's Dutch Blue Guards hence cannot serve in the line. By Act of February 1, it also requires disbandment of foreign troops in Ireland.Englandsource
  • January 20 – The Parliament of England (under Tory dominance) limits the size of the country's standing army to 7,000 'native born' men; hence, King William III's Dutch Blue Guards cannot serve in the line. By an Act of February 1, it also requires disbandment of foreign troops in Ireland.source
  • March 4 – Jews are expelled from Lübeck, Germany.source
  • Gustav Wedel was appointed commander-in-chief of the Norwegian army.Norwaysource

Exploration & Expansion

  • May 1 – Pierre Le Moyne d'Iberville founds the first European settlement in the Mississippi River Valley, at Fort Maurepas (Ocean Springs, Mississippi).source
  • May 4 – the beginning of Gulliver's Travels (1726).Englandsource
  • July 26 – William Dampier's expedition to New Holland (Australia), in HMS Roebuck, reaches Dirk Hartog Island, at the mouth of what he calls Shark Bay in Western Australia, and he begins producing the first known detailed record of Australian flora and fauna.source
  • 30 September - Frederik Gabel is appointed Vice Steward of Norway.Norwaysource
  • October 3 – The Liverpool Merchant, the first slave ship to depart from the Port of Liverpool, sets sail for West Africa where it embarks hundreds of African slaves and sails for Barbados, arriving there on September 18, 1700 with 220 slaves on board.source
  • October 3 – The Liverpool Merchant, the first slave ship from the port of Liverpool in England, departs to imprison captured West Africans and transport them to the British colonies, arriving in Barbados on September 18, 1700 with 220 slaves.Englandsource
  • c. July–August – the Welsh scholar Edward Lhuyd first travels in Ireland.Irelandsource

Religion & Belief

  • April 13 – The 10th Sikh guru, Guru Gobind Singh, creates the Khalsa at Anandpur Sahib.source
  • 19 October – The funeral of Christian V takes place at Roskilde Cathedral.Denmarksource
  • Carl von Ahlefeldt replaces Christian Gyldenløve as Lord Chamberlain.Denmarksource
  • A Roman Catholic English language New Testament is probably printed in Dublin at about this date, but all copies appear to have been suppressed.Irelandsource

Economy & Finance

  • Thomas Schmertz replaces Andreas Andræ as Governor of Dannemarksnagore.Denmarksource

Technology & Infrastructure

  • June 14 – Thomas Savery demonstrates his first steam pump to the Royal Society of London.source
  • The construction of Frederiksberg Palace begins.Denmarksource
  • Castle Howard in Yorkshire, designed by Sir John Vanbrugh and Nicholas Hawksmoor, is begun. It is one of the first significant English houses to incorporate corridors in the design.Englandsource
  • The waterfall Steinsdalsfossen was formed when the river found a new race.Norwaysource

Science & Discovery

  • 20 January: Louis XIV gave the French Academy of Sciences its first rules.Francesource
  • March 31 – A total solar eclipse is visible across the southern Indian Ocean.source
  • September 23 – A total solar eclipse is visible in the northern hemisphere across Europe, the Middle East and north India.source
  • Edward Lhuyd produces the first published scientific treatment of what would now be recognized as a dinosaur, describing and naming a sauropod tooth, Rutellum implicatum found at Caswell, near Witney, Oxfordshire.Englandsource

Crime & Justice

  • July 6 – Scottish-born pirate captain William Kidd is arrested and imprisoned in Boston, Province of Massachusetts Bay, after being tricked by his former patron New York Governor Richard Coote, 1st Earl of Bellomont.source

Climate & Environment

  • January 5 – A violent earthquake damages the city of Batavia on the Indonesian island of Java, killing at least 28 people.source
  • December 10 – A major ice storm shuts down the city of Boston for a week and freezing rain brings down many tree branches and causes severe damage to orchards.source

Culture & Society

  • March 2 – The Edinburgh Gazette is first published in Scotland.source
  • March 26 – The first performance of Amadis de Grèce, an opera by French composer André Cardinal Destouches, takes place at the Académie Royale de Musique, Paris.source
  • May 10 – Billingsgate Fish Market in London is sanctioned as a permanent institution by an Act of Parliament, with the provision "that after the tenth of May, 1699, Billingsgate Market should be, every day in the week except Sunday, a free and open market for all sorts of fish, and that it should be lawful for any person to buy or sell any sort of fish without disturbance."source
  • August - A French theater company, La troupe du Roi de Suede is engaged to perform drama, opera and ballet at the Swedish royal court.Swedensource
  • October 11 – The opera Marthésie, première reine des Amazones (Marthesia, First Queen of the Amazons), composed by André Cardinal Destouches, is performed for the first time, premiering at Fontainebleau near Paris.source
  • December 3 – Baron Jacob Hop is appointed as the treasurer-general of The Hague.source
  • December 20 – Peter the Great orders the Russian New Year changed, from September 1 (the start of the Byzantine year) to January 1.source
  • The Kingo's hymnal is approved by the crown for use in Denmark–Norway.Denmarksource
  • John Blow is appointed to the newly created post of Composer to the Chapel Royal.Englandsource
  • The Académie Royale de Peinture et de Sculpture holds the first of a series of salons at the Louvre Palace.Francesource
  • Publication of The Dublin Scuffle: being a challenge sent by John Dunton, citizen of London, to Patrick Campbel, bookseller in Dublin.Irelandsource
  • Painting of the family of farmer Bjørn Frøysåk is made.Norwaysource

Births

  • January 11 – Friedrich Wilhelm Quirin von Forcade de Biaix, Royal Prussian Lieutenant General (died 1765)source
  • February 2 – Hugh MacDonald, Roman Catholic bishop, Vicar Apostolic of the Highland District of Scotland 1731–1773 (died 1773)source
  • February 17 – Georg Wenzeslaus von Knobelsdorff, painter and architect in Prussia (died 1753)source
  • March 17 – Radu Cantacuzino, 18th-century Romanian prince (died 1761)source
  • March 23 – John Bartram, American botanist (died 1777)source
  • March 25 – Johann Adolph Hasse, German composer (died 1783)source
  • May 13 – Marquis of Pombal, Prime Minister of Portugal (died 1782)source
  • May 14 – Hans Joachim von Zieten, Prussian field marshal (died 1786)source
  • May 23 – William Parks, 18th-century printer and journalist in England and Colonial America (died 1750)source
  • June 6 – Alamgir II, the fifteenth Mughal Emperor of India (died 1759)source
  • June 26 – Marie Thérèse Rodet Geoffrin, French salon holder (died 1777)source
  • 26 June: Marie Thérèse Rodet Geoffrin, salonnière (died 1777)Francesource
  • September 29 – Charles Calvert, 5th Baron Baltimore, British nobleman and Proprietary Governor of the Province of Maryland (died 1751)source
  • September 29 – Charles Calvert, 5th Baron Baltimore, English noble and Proprietary Governor of the Province of Maryland (died 1751)Englandsource
  • November 2 – Jean-Baptiste-Siméon Chardin, French painter (died 1779)source
  • November 30 – King Christian VI of Denmark (died 1746)source
  • 30 November — Christian VI of Denmark, (died 1746)Denmarksource
  • unknown - Afrosinya, serf mistress of Alexei Petrovich, Tsarevich of Russia (died 1748)Swedensource

Deaths

  • January 27 – Sir William Temple, 1st Baronet, English statesman and essayist (born 1628)source
  • February 4 – A group of 350 rebels in the Streltsy Uprising are executed in Moscow.source
  • February 6 – Joseph Ferdinand of Bavaria, son of Maximilian II Emanuel (born 1692)source
  • March 12 – Peder Griffenfeld, Danish statesman (born 1635)source
  • March 22 – William Chaloner (born 1650)source
  • March 27 – Edward Stillingfleet, British theologian and scholar (born 1635)source
  • April 21 – Jean Racine, French classic dramatist (born 1639)source
  • May 22 – James Bertie, 1st Earl of Abingdon, English nobleman (born 1653)source
  • July 2 – Hortense Mancini, favourite Italian niece of Cardinal Mazarin (born 1646)source
  • 24 July - Axel Wachtmeister, Count of Mälsåker, field marshal (born 1643)Swedensource
  • August 24 – Lucrezia Barberini, Italian noblewoman and (born 1628)source
  • August 25 – Christian V of Denmark, King of Denmark and Norway (born 1646)source
  • August 25 – Christian V, King of Denmark–Norway since 1670, dies and is succeeded by his son, Frederick IV (to 1730).source
  • 25 August – Christian V of Denmark (born 1646)Denmarksource
  • 25 August – Christian V (born 1646).Norwaysource
  • October 8 – Mary Beale, English portrait painter (born 1633)source
  • October 8 (buried) – Mary Beale, portrait painter (born 1633)Englandsource
  • Henry Every, English pirate (born 1659)source