1626

Events

January–March

• January 7 – Polish-Swedish War: Battle of Wallhof in Latvia – Gustavus Adolphus, King of Sweden, defeats a Polish army.
• January 9 – Peter Minuit sails from Texel Island for America's New Netherland colony, with two ships of Dutch emigrants.
• February 2 – King Charles I of England is crowned, but without his wife, Henrietta Maria, who declines to participate in a non-Catholic ceremony.^[1]
• February 5 – The Huguenot rebels and the French government sign the Treaty of Paris, ending the second Huguenot rebellion.
• February 10 – Battle of Ningyuan: In Xingcheng in China, after an 8-day battle, Ming dynasty commander Yuan Chonghuan defeats the much larger force of Manchu leader Nurhaci, who dies soon after and is succeeded by Huang Taiji.
• February 11 – Emperor Susenyos of Ethiopia and Patriarch Afonso Mendes declare the primacy of the Roman See over the Ethiopian Church, and Roman Catholicism the state religion of Ethiopia.
• March 5 – The Treaty of Monzón is signed between France and Spain to end the Valtellina War and the First Genoese-Savoyard War.
• March 7 – Ambrósio I Nimi a Nkanga becomes the new monarch of Kongo (in what is now Angola) after the overthrow of Garcia I Mvemba a Nkanga, restoring the Kwilu dynasty to power.
• March 15 – Portugal declares war on Queen Nzinga of the Kingdom of Ndongo, located in what is now Angola.^[2][3]
• A dam failure causes the sudden flooding of the mining city of Potosí in present-day Bolivia leading to the death of thousands and the massive release of toxic mercury into the environment.^[4][5]

April–June

• April 25 – Thirty Years' War: Battle of Dessau Bridge – Albrecht von Wallenstein defeats Ernst von Mansfelds army.
• May 4 – Peter Minuit becomes director-general of New Netherland, for the Dutch West India Company.
• May 24 – Peter Minuit buys Manhattan from a Native American tribe (Lenape or Shinnecock) for trade goods, valued at 60 guilders ($1,143 U.S. dollars as of 2020).
• May 30 – Wanggongchang Explosion in Beijing, China: a gunpowder factory explosion destroys part of the city and kills 20,000 people.^[6]
• June 15 – King Charles I of England dissolves the English Parliament.^[7]
• June 20 – Nine Jesuit Christian missionaries, six of them Japanese and three from Spain, are executed in Japan, followed by eight Japanese converts to Christianity on July 12.
• June 28 – A 7.0 magnitude earthquake strikes Lingqiu County, in China, killing 5,200 residents.

July–September

• July 4 – The Ottoman Army halts its attempt to retake Baghdad from the Persians, after having lost it in 1624.
• July 27 – George II becomes the new Landgrave of Hesse-Darmstadt upon the death of his father, Louis V.
• August 1 – Eighty Years' War: Ernst Casimir of Nassau-Dietz retakes Oldenzaal, forcing Spain to withdraw from Overijssel.
• August 27 – Thirty Years' War: Battle of Lutter – Tilly defeats King Christian IV of Denmark's army.^[8]
• September 30 – Nurhaci, chief of the Jurchens and founder of the Qing dynasty, dies and is succeeded by his son Hong Taiji.

October–December

• November 6 (O.S.) – The ship Arms of Amsterdam arrives in Europe from New Netherland (left September 23) with the news: "They have purchased the Island Manhattes [Manhattan] from the Indians for the value of 60 guilders."^[9]
• November 18 – The new St Peter's Basilica in the Vatican is consecrated, on the 1,300th anniversary of the previous church in 326.
• December 1 – Pasha Muhammad ibn Farukh, tyrannical Governor of Jerusalem, is forced out.
• December 20 – Ferdinand II, Holy Roman Emperor and Transylvanian monarch Bethlen Gabor sign the Peace of Pressburg.

Date unknown

• 1626 influenza pandemic begins in Asia, then spreads into Europe, Africa, North America,^[10][11] and South America.^[10]
• The Würzburg and Bamberg witch trials, which will lead to the mass executions of hundreds of people until 1630/31, begin.
• Samuel de Champlain decides to build Cap tourmente (Kap toor-mont) Farm to raise livestock to provide food for settlers in Quebec, rather than depending on supplies sent from France.^[12]
• Establishment of the coastal settlement of Salem, Massachusetts.^[13]

Births

January–March

• January 9 – Armand Jean le Bouthillier de Rancé, French founder of the Trappist Order (d. 1700)
• January 13 – Johann Philipp of Hanau-Lichtenberg, German nobleman (d. 1669)
• January 25 – Edward Evelyn, British politician (d. 1692)
• February 5 – Marie de Rabutin-Chantal, marquise de Sévigné, French aristocrat and writer (d. 1696)^[14]
• February 7 – Fabian von Fersen, Swedish soldier and statesman (d. 1677)
• February 18 – Francesco Redi, Italian physician (d. 1697)
• March 3 – John Hele, English politician (d. 1661)
• March 9 – Lorentz Mortensen Angell, Norwegian merchant and landowner (d. 1697)
• March 10 – Cornelis Van Caukercken, Flemish engraver, printseller (d. 1680)
• March 12 – John Aubrey, English antiquary and writer (d. 1697)^[15]
• March 16 – Cornelius Van Steenwyk, American politician (d. 1684)
• March 21 – Peter of Saint Joseph Betancur, Spanish Catholic saint, missionary to Guatemala (d. 1667)
• March 30 – Atto Melani, Italian opera singer (d. 1714)

April–June

• April 16 – Robert Harley, English politician (d. 1673)^[16]
• April 10 – Franz Egon of Fürstenberg, German count in the Holy Roman Empire (d. 1682)
• April 23 – Maurice Henry, Prince of Nassau-Hadamar (1653–1679) (d. 1679)
• April 25 – Sigmund von Birken, German Baroque poet (d. 1681)
• May 10 – Jan Jacobszoon Hinlopen, Dutch art collector and merchant (d. 1666)
• May 12 – Louis Hennepin, Roman Catholic priest, missionary of the Franciscan Recollet Order (French (d. 1704)
• May 14 – Willem Joseph van Ghent, Dutch admiral (d. 1672)
• May 16 – Andrea Carlone, Italian painter (d. 1697)
• May 17 – Countess Palatine Eleonora Catherine of Zweibrücken, sister of King Charles X of Sweden (d. 1692)
• May 21 – Wolfgang Carl Briegel, German organist and composer (d. 1712)
• May 27 – William II, Prince of Orange (d. 1650)
• June 8 – William Wentworth, 2nd Earl of Strafford, member of England's House of Lords (d. 1695)
• June 9 – Sir John Newton, 2nd Baronet, English Member of Parliament (d. 1699)
• June 18 – John Mordaunt, 1st Viscount Mordaunt, English politician (d. 1675)
• June 29 – Jeffrey Daniel, English politician (d. 1681)

July–September

• July 15
  • Christiane Sehested, daughter of King Christian IV of Denmark, and his morganatic spouse Kirsten Munk (d. 1670)
  • Hedevig Ulfeldt, daughter of King Christian IV of Denmark and Kirsten Munk (d. 1678)
• July 17 – Henriette Marie of the Palatinate, German noble (d. 1651)
• August 1
  • Charles le Moyne de Longueuil et de Châteauguay, French colonist, interpreter (d. 1685)
  • Sabbatai Zevi, Sephardic Rabbi (d. 1676)
• August 5 – Richard Ottley, English politician (d. 1670)
• August 12 – Giovanni Legrenzi, Italian composer (d. 1690)^[17]
• September 7 – Maria Klara of Dietrichstein, German noblewoman (d. 1667)
• September 16 – Leopold Wilhelm of Baden-Baden, Imperial Field Marshal (d. 1671)
• September 27 – William Douglas, 2nd Lord Mordington, eldest son and heir of Sir James Douglas (d. 1671)
• September 28 – Elizabeth Maitland, Duchess of Lauderdale, influential British noblewoman (d. 1698)

October–December

• October 4 – Richard Cromwell, Lord Protector of England, Scotland, and Ireland (d. 1712)^[18]
• October 5 – George II, Duke of Württemberg-Montbéliard (1662–1699) (d. 1699)
• October 17 – Samuel Danforth, American Puritan minister, preacher, poet, astronomer, missionary (d. 1674)
• October 23 – Francis Marsh, Irish bishop (d. 1693)
• November 8
  • Matthew Marvin, Jr., Connecticut settler (d. 1712)
  • César-Pierre Richelet, French grammarian and lexicographer (d. 1698)
• November 30 – Cesare Pronti, Italian painter (d. 1708)
• December 8 – Queen Christina of Sweden (d. 1689)
• December 10 – George Christian, Landgrave of Hesse-Homburg (1669–1671) (d. 1677)
• December 12 – Giovanni Francesco Ginetti, nephew of Cardinal Marzio Ginetti (d. 1691)
• December 18 – William Stanhope, English politician (d. 1703)
• December 20 – Veit Ludwig von Seckendorff, German statesman (d. 1692)
• December 21 – Francis Scott, 2nd Earl of Buccleuch, son of Walter Scott (d. 1651)
• December 31 – Ladislaus, Count Esterházy, Hungarian noble (d. 1652)

Deaths

• January 2 – Maria Buynosova-Rostovskaya (b. 1590)
• January 19 – Ruqaiya Sultan Begum (b. 1542)
• January 23 – Decio Carafa, Archbishop of Naples who had previously served as papal nuncio to the Spanish Netherlands (1606–1607) and to Habsburg Spain (1607–1611) (b. 1556)
• January 24 – Samuel Argall, English adventurer and naval officer (b. 1580)
• c. January? – Patrick Galloway, Moderator of the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland (b. c. 1551)
• February 7 – William V, Duke of Bavaria (b. 1548)
• February 11 – Pietro Cataldi, Italian mathematician (b. 1552)
• February 20 – John Dowland, English composer and lutenist (b. 1563)^[19]
• February 21 – Odoardo Farnese, Italian Catholic cardinal (b. 1573)
• March 3 – William Cavendish, 1st Earl of Devonshire, England (b. 1552)
• March 10 – John Dormer, English Member of Parliament (b. 1556)
• March 19 – Pierre Coton, French Jesuit and royal confessor (b. 1564)
• April 5 – Anna Koltovskaya (b. c. 1552)
• April 9 – Francis Bacon, English scientist and statesman (b. 1561)^[20]
• April 11 – Marino Ghetaldi, Croatian mathematician and physicist (b. 1568)
• May 4 – Arthur Lake, Bishop of Bath and Wells, English bishop, Bible translator (b. 1569)
• May 17 – Joan Pau Pujol, Catalan composer (b. 1570)
• May 28 – Thomas Howard, 1st Earl of Suffolk (b. 1561)^[21]
• June 7 – Anne of Saint Bartholomew, Spanish Discalced Carmelite nun (b. 1550)
• June 16
  • Albert, Count of Nassau-Dillenburg, joint ruler of Nassau-Dillenburg 1623–1626 (b. 1596)
  • Christian, Duke of Brunswick-Lüneburg-Wolfenbüttel, German Protestant military leader (b. 1599)
• June 29 – Scipione Cobelluzzi, Italian cardinal and archivist (b. 1564)
• June 30 – Honda Tadatoki (b. 1596)
• July 13 – Robert Sidney, 1st Earl of Leicester, English statesman (b. 1563)^[22]
• July 15 – Isabella Brant, Flemish artists' model, first wife of painter Peter Paul Rubens (b. 1591)
• July 19 – Elizabeth of Denmark, Duchess of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel, German regent (b. 1573)
• July 27 – Louis V, Landgrave of Hesse-Darmstadt (b. 1577)
• August 13 – Maria of Brunswick-Lüneburg, Duchess Consort of Saxe-Lauenburg (1582–1619) (b. 1566)
• August 15 – Girolamo Asteo, Roman Catholic prelate who served as Bishop of Veroli (1608–1626) (b. 1562)
• August 23 – Francesco Cereo de Mayda, Roman Catholic prelate who served as Bishop of Lavello (1621–1626) (b. 1568)
• August 25 – Alfonso Pozzi, Roman Catholic prelate who served as Bishop of Borgo San Donnino (1620–1626) (b. 1582)
• August 28 – Isabella of Savoy, Italian noble (b. 1591)
• September 2 – Antonio Franco, Italian Catholic bishop, prelate of Santa Lucia del Mela (b. 1585)
• September 16 – Denis-Simon de Marquemont, French cardinal and archbishop (b. 1572)
• September 17 – Johann Schweikhard von Kronberg, Archbishop-Elector of Mainz from 1604 to 1626 (b. 1553)
• September 21 – François de Bonne, Duke of Lesdiguières, Constable of France (b. 1543)
• September 22 – Aodh Mac Cathmhaoil, Irish Franciscan theologian and Archbishop of Armagh (b. 1571)
• September 25 – Lancelot Andrewes, English scholar (b. 1555)^[23]
• September 26 – Wakisaka Yasuharu, Japanese warrior (b. 1554)
• September 30 – Nurhaci, Chinese chieftain (b. 1559)
• October 1 – Lady Abahai (b. 1590)
• October 2 – Diego Sarmiento de Acuña, 1st Count of Gondomar, Spanish diplomat (b. 1567)
• October 10
  • William Hockmere, English politician (b. 1581)
  • Abraham Schadaeus, German music editor (b. 1566)^[24]
• October 13 – Domingo de Oña, Roman Catholic prelate, Bishop of Gaeta (1605–1626) (b. 1560)
• October 28 – Muhammad Parviz, Mughal emperor (b. 1589)
• October 29 – Ferdinando Gonzaga, Duke of Mantua, Italian Catholic cardinal (b. 1587)
• October 30 – Willebrord Snell, Dutch astronomer and mathematician (b. 1580)
• November 21 – Anna Maria of Hesse-Kassel, countess consort of Nassau-Saarbrücke (b. 1567)
• November 25 – Edward Alleyn, English actor (b. 1566)
• November 29 – Ernst von Mansfeld, German soldier (b. c. 1580)
• December 6 – John Ernest I, Duke of Saxe-Weimar, German duke (b. 1594)
• December 8 – John Davies, English poet and politician (b. 1569)^[25]
• December 10 – Edmund Gunter, English mathematician (b. 1581)
• December 28
  • Gábor Esterházy (1580–1626), Hungarian noble (b. 1580)
  • Juraj V Zrinski, Ban of Croatia (b. 1599)

References

1. ^ Eugene M. Waith (1988). Patterns and Perspectives in English Renaissance Drama. University of Delaware Press. p. 180. ISBN 978-0-87413-325-7.
2. ^ Heywood, Linda M. (2017). Njinga of Angola: Africa's warrior queen. Cambridge, Massachusetts ; London, England: Harvard University Press. pp. 70–74. ISBN 978-0-674-97182-0.
3. ^ Irvine, Amy (15 May 2023). "Queen Nzinga: A Trailblazing African Female Leader". History Hit. Retrieved 2026-01-28.
4. ^ Gioda, Alain; Serrano, Carlos; Forenza, Ana (2002). "Les ruptures de barrages dans le monde: un nouveau bilan de Potosi (1626, Bolivie)" [Dam collapses in the world: a new estimation of the Potosi disaster (1626, Bolivia)] (in French). La Houille Blanche. 88 (4/5): 165–170. Bibcode:2002LHBl...88..165G. doi:10.1051/lhb/2002078
5. ^ Serrano Bravo, Carlos (2004). Historia de la minería andina boliviana (siglos XVI–XX) (in Spanish). Potosí, Bolivia. pp. 39, 90.
6. ^ "Solving a Mystery of 400 Years - An Explanation to the "explosion" in Downtown Beijing in the Year of 1626 - Research Paper". www.allbestessays.com. Archived 2018-09-19 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved 2018-09-19.
7. ^ "The Parliament of 1626". History of Parliament Online. Archived from the original on March 31, 2019. Retrieved 2019-03-31.
8. ^ Theodore Ayrault Dodge (1890). Gustavus Adolphus: A History of the Art of War from Its Revival After the Middle Ages to the End of the Spanish Succession War.... Houghton, Mifflin. p. 1.
9. ^ From P. Schagen letter dated November 7.
10. ^ Sen, Rajendra Kumar (1923). A Treatise on Influenza: With Special Reference to the Pandemic of 1918. p. 7.
11. ^ Annals of Medical History. P.B. Hoeber. 1933. p. 537.
12. ^ Champlain describes the construction in one of his journals.
13. ^ Rantoul, Robert S. & Chapman, William O. (1922). Old-time ships of Salem. Essex Institute. doi:10.5479/sil.81485.39088002108736
14. ^ Chevalier, Tracy (1997). Encyclopedia of the essay. London Chicago: Fitzroy Dearborn Publishers. p. 764. ISBN 9781884964305.
15. ^ John Britton (28 August 2014). A Memoir of John Aubrey. Cambridge University Press. p. 24. ISBN 978-1-108-07344-8.
16. ^ Brilliana Harley (1854). Letters of the Lady Brilliana Harley, Wife of Sir Robert Harley, of Brampton Bryan, Knight of the Bath. Camden Society. p. xx.
17. ^ David Mason Greene & Constance Green (1985). Greene's Biographical Encyclopedia of Composers. Reproducing Piano Roll Fnd. p. 140. ISBN 978-0-385-14278-6.
18. ^ Robert William Ramsey (1935). Richard Cromwell: Protector of England. Longmans, Green. p. 3.
19. ^ Diana Poulton (1 January 1982). John Dowland. University of California Press. p. 88. ISBN 978-0-520-04649-8.
20. ^ "Francis Bacon | Biography, Philosophy, & Facts". Encyclopedia Britannica. Retrieved 31 March 2019.
21. ^
22. ^ Hay, Millicent (1984). The life of Robert Sidney, Earl of Leicester (1563-1626. Washington D.C: Folger Shakespeare Library. p. 229. ISBN 9780918016706.
23. ^ Leonie James (2017). 'This Great Firebrand': William Laud and Scotland, 1617-1645. Boydell & Brewer. p. 32. ISBN 978-1-78327-219-8.
24. ^ Riemer, Otto. "Schadaeus, Abraham". Grove Music Online. Oxford University Press
25. ^ "Davies, John (1569-1626), of the Middle Temple, London and Englefield, Berks.". History of Parliament online. Archived from the original on July 23, 2021. Retrieved 5 August 2021.