1701 CE

The electorate of Brandenburg–Prussia becomes the Kingdom of Prussia, as Elector Frederick III is proclaimed King Frederick I. Prussia remains part of the Holy Roman Empire. It consists of Brandenburg, Pomerania and East Prussia. Berlin is the capital. The Act of Settlement 1701, passed by the Parliament of England, becomes law. Sophia of Hanover and her Protestant descendants are next in line to the throne following Anne, the heir apparent to her brother-in-law King William III, ensuring that no Catholic will inherit the throne. Nicholas Rowe's play Tamerlane premieres at the Lincoln's Inn Fields Theatre in London; its pro-Whig views make it popular amongst supporters of King William and the Glorious Revolution.

In the 1700s, the 18th century.

Geopolitics & Diplomacy

January 18 – The electorate of Brandenburg–Prussia becomes the Kingdom of Prussia, as Elector Frederick III is proclaimed King Frederick I. Prussia remains part of the Holy Roman Empire. It consists of Brandenburg, Pomerania and East Prussia. Berlin is the capital.source
February 17 (February 6, 1700 O.S.) – The 5th Parliament of William III in England assembles. Future British Prime Minister Robert Walpole enters the House of Commons for the first time and soon makes his name as a spokesman for Whig policy.source
February: Peter met with Augustus II the Strong of Saxony in Biržai (modern-day Lithuania) and signed a treaty agreeing to continue the war against Sweden and coordinate their attacks.Russia source
February - Humphrey Mackworth becomes MP for Cardiganshire.Wales source
April 20th – Mecklenburg-Strelitz is created as a north German duchy.source
June 24 – The Act of Settlement 1701 is passed by the Parliament of England, to exclude the Catholic Stuarts from the British monarchy. Under its terms, King William III, childless, will be succeeded by Queen Mary II's sister Princess Anne and her descendants. If Anne should have no descendants, she will be succeeded by Sophia of Hanover and her descendants (hence the Hanoverian Succession in 1714).source
24 June — the Act of Settlement 1701, by the Parliament of England, becomes law; the crown of Great Britain passes to Sophia, Electress of Hanover and her Protestant descendants on the death of Princess Anne, the heiress presumptive to the throne after her brother-in-law, King William III.England source
July 24 – A French emporium named Fort Ponchartrain is founded along the west side of the Detroit River in North America, and later becomes the site of the city of Detroit.source
24 July – Foundation of a French emporium named Fort Ponchartrain (later to become Detroit).France source
August 4 – The Great Peace of Montreal is signed, ending 100 years of war between the Iroquois Confederacy and New France, and its Huron and Algonquian allies. Formerly allied with the English, the treaty assures the Iroquois will be neutral, if France and England ever resume hostilities.source
16 September (N.S.) – on the death of the deposed King James VII of Scotland in exile at the Château de Saint-Germain-en-Laye in France, his son James Francis Edward Stuart declares himself James VIII (and III of England and Ireland).Scotland source
16 September - On the death of the deposed King James II of England/VII of Scotland, his son James Francis Edward Stuart, the former Prince of Wales, is recognised by King Louis XIV of France as the rightful ruler of England, Scotland and IrelandWales source
November 11 (O.S., November 22 N.S.) – The House of Commons of England is dissolved by King William III and new elections are called for all 531 seats.source
The Peace of Montreal signed: peace treaty between the Iroquois Confederacy and the French. Considered one of the major events in Canada's history, sometimes called the "great peace."Canada source
In 1701, Peter I transferred administration of monastic landholdings and revenues to a new state body, the Monastyrskii Prikaz.Russia source

Conflict & Security

January 28 – Battle of Dartsedo: The Chinese storm the Tibetan border town of Dartsedo.source
March – The War of the Spanish Succession begins. It is an international retaliation to Louis XIV’s acceptance in 1700 of the Spanish crown on behalf of his grandson Philip of Anjou, who became Philip V, first Bourbon king of Spain. Leopold I, Holy Roman Emperor forms the Grand Alliance with Great Britain, the Netherlands, Denmark, Portugal, Savoy and Prussia. Louis XIV allies France with Spain and Bavaria.France source
April 21 – In Japan, the young daimyō Asano Naganori is ordered to commit seppuku (ritual suicide). A group of 47 samurai of his service begin planning to avenge his death.source
June 9 – Safavid troops retreat from Basra, ending a three-year occupation.source
July 1 – an equestrian statue of King William III by Grinling Gibbons is unveiled by Dublin Corporation on College Green on the 11th anniversary of the Battle of the Boyne.Ireland source
July 9 – The Battle of Carpi, the first skirmish in the War of the Spanish Succession, takes place in Italy when French troops under the command of Nicolas Catinat are attacked by Austrian forces led by Prince Eugene of Savoy.source
July 9 – Crossing of the Düna: Following his victories over Denmark and Russia in 1700, Charles XII of Sweden escalates the conflict in the Great Northern War by an invasion of Poland. The Swedes defeat the army of Saxony (then a Polish territory) at the River Dvina.Sweden source
July 19 – Crossing of the Düna: Following his victories over Denmark-Norway and Russia in 1700, Charles XII of Sweden escalates the conflict in the Great Northern War by an invasion of Poland. The Swedish defeat the army of Saxony (then in personal union with Poland) at the River Dvina.source
December 29 (O.S., January 9, 1702 N.S.) – The Battle of Erastfer takes place near what becomes Erastvere in Estonia, as a large Russian force commanded by Boris Sheremetev invades Swedish Livonia and overwhelms a smaller force led by Wolmar Anton von Schlippenbach in the first significant Russian victory in the Great Northern War.source
War of the Spanish Succession begins in Europe; spreads to North America (Queen Anne's War) in 1702.Canada source
A Danish Auxiliary Corps of 8,000 soldiers is garrisoned in Saxony, protecting the hereditary lands of August the Strong,Denmark source
On 29 December 1701 (Old Style; 9 January 1702 New Style), the Battle of Erastfer was fought. in which Russian troops led by Field Marshal Boris Sheremetev routed a numerically inferior Swedish detachment.Russia source

Exploration & Expansion

8 September - A group of Welsh Baptists, led by Thomas Griffith, land in Philadelphia on the ship "James and Mary".Wales source
The settlement that became Novozybkov was established in 1701 under the name Zybkaia, within the territory administered by the Starodub Cossack regiment.Russia source

Religion & Belief

21 June – title of Duke of Argyll in the Peerage of Scotland created in favour of Archibald Campbell.Scotland source
June - Edward Jones, Bishop of St Asaph, is suspended by Thomas Tenison, Archbishop of Canterbury, for simony and maladministration.Wales source
16 September (N.S.) — following the death of the deposed King James II of England in exile in France, his son Prince James Francis Edward Stuart becomes the new claimant to the thrones of England as King James III and Scotland as King James VIII; Louis XIV of France, the Papal States, and Philip V of Spain recognise him as the rightful heir.England source
September 18 – Laurence Hyde, 1st Earl of Rochester, sworn as Lord Lieutenant of Ireland (appointed 1700).Ireland source
2 December - Humphrey Humphreys is consecrated Bishop of Hereford; he is replaced as Bishop of Bangor in the following year by John Evans.Wales source
Opening of the Bevis Marks Synagogue in London, the oldest synagogue in the United Kingdom in continuous use.England source
Marsh's Library in Dublin is established by Narcissus Marsh (Archbishop of Dublin (Church of Ireland)) as the first public library in Ireland (architect: Sir William Robinson) with refugee French Huguenot scholar Élie Bouhéreau as its first librarian.Ireland source
Title of Marquess of Annandale in the Peerage of Scotland created in favour of William Johnstone, who is also this year Lord High Commissioner to the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland.Scotland source

Technology & Infrastructure

Detroit, Michigan founded as Fort Pontchartrain du détroit by Antoine de Lamothe Cadillac.Canada source
HMS Royal Sovereign, a 100-gun first-rate ship of the line built by Fisher Harding at Woolwich Dockyard in 1701 for the Royal Navy, is launched.England source

Science & Discovery

English agriculturalist Jethro Tull invents a drill for planting seeds in rows.source
Ole Rømer proposes the Rømer scale.Denmark source
Jethro Tull invents a drill for planting seeds in rows.England source

Crime & Justice

May 23 – Scottish-born Captain William Kidd, having been imprisoned in Boston Gaol (Massachusetts) and Newgate Prison (London) and convicted by the High Court of Admiralty of piracy and the murder of one of his crew, is hanged at Execution Dock in Wapping (London). His body suffers gibbeting over the River Thames at Tilbury Point; ballads are already spreading the legend that he has left buried treasure in the Americas.source
23 May — Scottish-born Captain William Kidd, having been imprisoned in Boston Gaol (Massachusetts) and Newgate Prison (London) and convicted by the High Court of Admiralty of piracy and the murder of one of his crew, is hanged at Execution Dock in Wapping. His body suffers gibbeting over the River Thames at Tilbury Point; ballads are already spreading the legend that he has left buried treasure in the Americas.England source
Act "for preventing wrongous Imprisonments and against undue delayes in Tryals" gives effect to habeas corpus in Scotland and confirms the power of procurators fiscal to prosecute criminal cases on behalf of the Crown.Scotland source

Disasters & Accidents

Upper gallery of the Smock Alley Theatre in Dublin collapses for the second time.Ireland source

Climate & Environment

March 14 – all illegal cargoes of grain brought from Ireland to the west of Scotland are ordered to be sunk.Ireland source
14 March – all illegal cargoes of grain brought to the west of Scotland from Ireland are ordered to be sunk.Scotland source

Culture & Society

26 April – Commodore C. T. Sehested adjourns as the first chief of the new Royal Danish Naval Academy. The institution is created with inspiration from similar institutions in the Netherlands and France.Denmark source
25 May – Christian Gyldenløve marries Dorothea Krag in Copenhagen.Denmark source
June 24 – the Act of Settlement 1701, passed by the Parliament of England, becomes law. Sophia of Hanover and her Protestant descendants are next in line to the throne following Anne, the heir apparent to her brother-in-law King William III, ensuring that no Catholic will inherit the throne.Ireland source
28 June – title of Myrton Baronetcy, of Gogar in the County of Edinburgh in the Baronetage of Nova Scotia created in favour of Andrew Myrton.Scotland source
October 9 – The Collegiate School of Connecticut (later renamed Yale University) is chartered in Old Saybrook, Connecticut.source
November 2 – King Philip V of Spain marries for the first time, to 13-year-old Maria Luisa Gabriella of Savoy, who serves as Queen Consort until her death from tuberculosis at the age of 25.source
December — Nicholas Rowe's play Tamerlane premieres at the Lincoln's Inn Fields Theatre in London; its pro-Whig views make it popular amongst supporters of King William and the Glorious Revolution.England source
December - John Hanbury marries Albina, the daughter of John Selwyn of Gloucestershire, and is elected unopposed as MP for Gloucester.Wales source
The Philharmonic Society (Academia Philharmonicorum) is established in Ljubljana, Slovenia.source
Peter I founded a navigation and mathematics school in Moscow to train future naval and military officers.Russia source
date unknown - Evan Evans begins holding Anglican services at a private house in Radnor Township, Delaware County, Pennsylvania.Wales source

Births

January 28 – Charles Marie de La Condamine, French mathematician and geographer (died 1774)source
2 March - Lewis Morris, hydrographer, antiquary, poet and lexicographer, eldest of the four famous Morris brothers of Anglesey (died 1765)Wales source
April 25 – John Bristow, English merchant, politician (died 1768)source
April 27 – Charles Emmanuel III of Sardinia, Duke of Savoy and King of Sardinia from 1730 (died 1773)source
May 18 – Charles Lennox, 2nd Duke of Richmond, English aristocrat, philanthropist and cricket patron (died 1750)source
June 22 – Nicolai Eigtved, Danish architect (died 1754)source
July 9 – Jean-Frédéric Phélypeaux, Count of Maurepas, French statesman and Count of Maurepas (died 1781)source
August 4 – Thomas Blackwell, Scottish classical scholar (died 1757)source
4 August – Thomas Blackwell, classical scholar (died 1757)Scotland source
September 22 – Anna Magdalena Bach, accomplished German singer, second wife of Johann Sebastian Bach (died 1760)source
23 September – Bredo von Munthe af Morgenstierne, civil servant, Supreme Court justice and landowner (died 1757).Norway source
October 15 – Marie-Marguerite d'Youville, Canadian saint (died 1771)source
October 15 - Marie-Marguerite d'Youville, founder of the "Grey Nuns" order; died 1771; she was beatified in 1959, the first Canadian-born saint.Canada source
October 22 – Maria Amalia, Holy Roman Empress (died 1756)source
October 24 – Jacques Legardeur de Saint-Pierre, Canadian military commander (died 1755)source
November 5 or 1702 – Pietro Longhi, Venetian painter (died 1785)source
November 27 – Anders Celsius, Swedish astronomer (died 1744)source

Deaths

January 14 - Tokugawa Mitsukuni, daimyō (born 1628)Japan source
April 4 - Guillaume Couture, diplomat in New France (born 1618).Canada source
May 23 – Captain William Kidd, Scottish privateer (born 1645)source
May 30 – Theophilus Hastings, 7th Earl of Huntingdon, 17th-century English politician and Jacobite (born 1650)source
June 2 – Madeleine de Scudéry, French writer (born 1607)source
June 9 – Philippe I, Duke of Orléans, younger son of Louis XIII of France and his wife (born 1640)source
July 5 – Pier Matteo Petrucci, Roman Catholic cardinal (born 1636)source
July 7 – William Stoughton, American judge at the Salem witch trials (born 1631)source
August 20 – Sir Charles Sedley, 5th Baronet, English playwright (born 1639)source
August 22 – John Granville, 1st Earl of Bath, English royalist statesman (born 1628)source
14 September - John Morgan, vicar of Aberconwy, writer, 38/39Wales source
September 15 – Edmé Boursault, French writer (born 1638)source
September 16 – James II of England, King of England and Ireland, and of Scotland (as James VII) (born 1633)source
September 16 – Deposed King James II of England (James VII of Scotland) dies in exile, at the Château de Saint-Germain-en-Laye in France. His supporters, the Jacobites, turn to his son James Francis Edward Stuart (later called "The Old Pretender"), whom they recognise as James VIII and III. Louis XIV of France, the Papal States, and Spain also recognise him as the rightful heir.source
16 September – King James VII of Scotland (born 1633)Scotland source
September 17 – Stanislaus Papczyński, Polish priest (born 1631)source
October 3 – Joseph Williamson, English politician (born 1633)source
November 9 – Hui-bin Jang, Korean royal consort (born 1659)source