1661 - Political Events

Political Events

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).