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English parliamentarian Sir Arthur Hesilrige dies in the Tower of London January 7 at age 59 (approximate). Praise-God Barebone (or Barbon) is imprisoned in the Tower November 26 for opposing the Restoration and circulating pamphlets by Marchamont Needham exposing the immorality of Charles II (see 1660); now 65, Barebone will not be released until late July of next year.
Cardinal Mazarin dies at Paris March 9 at age 58; Louis XIV, now 22, assumes full power March 10. A facetious letter deriding Mazarin's 1659 Treaty of the Pyrenées accidentally comes to light and French man of letters Charles de Marguetel, seigneur de Saint-Evremond, flees France to escape arrest. Now 47, he arrives at London, where he is welcomed by Charles II and will remain until his death in 1703 except for a 5-year stay in the Netherlands.
A treaty signed June 23 between England and Portugal provides for England to receive Tangier, Bombay (Mumbai), plus 2 million crowns, and the betrothal of Charles II to Portugal's infanta Catherine of Braganza (see 1662).
The Treaty of Cardis settles differences between Russia and Sweden, affirming the territorial agreements of last year's Treaty of Stolbova and ending the war that began in 1656. A boyar named Afanasy Ordin-Nashchyokin has founded a shipyard on the Baltic at the fortress of Czarevich-Dmitriev seized in 1656, but the terms of the treaty require Russia to give up the fortress and the shipyard, whose vessels are all destroyed under orders imposed by the treaty (see 1667).
The Ottoman grand vizier Mehmed Köprülü dies at Adrianople in Thrace October 31 at age 85 (approximate) after a 6-year reign in which he has defeated the Venetian fleet, suppressed rivals, put down insurrections, restored the central authority of the empire, expanded its Balkan holdings, and reorganized the army. His 26-year-old son Fazl Ahmed was made governor-general of Damascus last year, is appointed grand vizier November 1, and will serve with equal distinction until his death in 1676 as Fazl Ahmed Köprülü, maintaining a private force of about 1,500 mercenary soldiers (sekbans) while developing a reputation as a scholar of Islamic law and Persian literature.
China's Manchu emperor Shunzhi (Shun-chih) decrees that populations within 10 miles of the coast be evacuated to points inland; Shunzhi dies suddenly of smallpox at Beijing (Peking) February 5 at age 22 after a 16-year reign that has inaugurated the Qing (Ch'ing, or Manchu) dynasty. His ministers struggle to repel incursions by the Ming pirate leader Zheng Chenggong (Ch'eng Cheng-kung), now 37, who lands on Taiwan (Formosa) with more than 25,000 men in April and lays siege to the Dutch settlement at Fort Zelandia, where he will establish a Chinese government next year (see 1662). Shunzhi is succeeded by his third son, Xuan Ye (Hsuan Yeh), who will reign until 1722 as Kangxi (K'ang-hsi). Now 6, the new emperor will begin his personal rule in 1667, ushering in a period of cultural achievement that will surpass the greatest achievements of earlier dynasties. Jesuit scholar-missionaries will be encouraged to bring their scientific knowledge to China, which Kangxi will enlarge by adding parts of Russia and Outer Mongolia (see 1689) while extending Chinese suzerainty over Tibet (see 1673).
Cecilius Calvert appoints his son Charles, 24, governor of the Maryland colony, whose proprietary government was suspended during Oliver Cromwell's regime. Calvert will exercise strict control of the colony in the face of strong opposition and will become 3rd Baron Baltimore upon his father's death in 1675.
The Sceptical Chymist by Robert Boyle discards the Aristotelian theory that there are only four basic elements (earth, air, fire, and water) and proposes an experimental theory of the elements (see 1660). Boyle will be called the "father of chemistry" but he holds views that will encounter skepticism from later chemists, e.g., that plant life grows by transmutation of water, as do worms and insects since they are produced from the decay of plants (see Redi, 1668; Ingenhousz, 1779; Boyle's law, 1662).
Prussian-born medical professor Franciscus Sylvius (Franz de la Boë), 47, at the University of Leyden consolidates iatrochemical medical theories as a systematic school based on the principle that all phenomena of life and disease are based on chemical action, not metaphysics. Basing his ideas on the late William Harvey's 1628 discovery of the circulation of blood, Sylvius suggests that chemical imbalances consist of either an excess of acid (acidosis) or an excess of alkali (alkalosis) and propounds original ideas on the ductless glands and on the tactile senses, stating that digestion is a chemical fermentation (see Van Helmont, 1648; Prout, 1823).
Italian physician-biologist Marcello Malpighi, 33, at the University of Bologna identifies and describes the pulmonary and capillary network connecting small arteries with small veins. He has used a microscope to make discoveries that arouse hostilities among jealous colleagues, and he will leave Bologna late next year to accept a professorship at the University of Messina.
The seventh Sikh guru Har Rai dies in the Punjab at age 31 (approximate) after a 17-year reign in which missionary activity has declined while the guru devoted himself to spiritual exercises. He is succeeded by his 5-year-old son Hari Krishen, despite protests from his older brother Ram Rai, who has curried favor with the Mughal emperor Aurangzeb. Hari Krishen will be titular head of the sect until his death in 1664.
Poetry: Lute (Lutnia) by Jan Andzej Morsztyn.
Poet Antoine Girard, sieur de Saint-Amant, dies at Paris December 29 at age 67.
Painting: The Tent of Darius by Charles Le Brun, now 42, who has been commissioned by Louis XIV to create a series of subjects from the life of Alexander the Great. Le roi de soleil fancies himself a latter-day Alexander and makes Le Brun first painter to the king, giving him a huge salary.
Theater: The School for Husbands (L'Ecole des maris) by Molière 6/24 at the Palais-Royal, Paris; TheBores (Les fâcheux) by Molière 11/4 at the Palais Royal.
The Paris Opéra Ballet has its beginnings in the Royal Academy of Dance (Académie Royale de Danse) founded by Louis XIV (see 1672).
The Château Vaux-le-Vicomte is completed for France's minister of finance Nicolas Fouquet with a two-story salon. Architect Louis Le Vau has designed the structure (his Collège des Quatre-Nations is also completed this year), and landscape architect André Le Nôtre, now 48, has created its gardens. Le Nôtre will begin work next year on the gardens of Versailles.
London's Covent Garden becomes a market for fruit, vegetables, and flowers (see commerce, 1552; Theater, 1732).
Water ices go on sale for the first time at Paris under the direction of Sicilian limonadier Francesco Procopio dei Coltelli from Palermo (see 1630). Fruit-flavored ices were originated by the Chinese, who taught the art to the Persians and Arabs (see Café Procope, 1670).
Japan's Takanoshi family opens a business in food seasonings; it will develop a reputation for its soy sauce rivaling that of Kikkoman (see 1630).
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