1648
The year 1648 has been suggested as possibly the last time in which the overall human population declined, coming towards the end of a broader period of global instability which included the collapse of the Ming dynasty and the Thirty Years' War, the latter of which ending in 1648 with the Peace of Westphalia.
Events
January–March
- January 15
- * Manchu invaders of China's Fujian province capture Spanish Dominican priest Francisco Fernández de Capillas, torture him and then behead him. Capillas will be canonized more than 350 years later in 2000 in the Roman Catholic Church as one of the Martyr Saints of China.
- * Alexis, Tsar of Russia, marries Maria Miloslavskaya, who later gives birth to two future tsars as well as Princess Sophia Alekseyevna, the regent for Peter I.
- January 17 - By a vote of 141 to 91, England's Long Parliament passes the Vote of No Addresses, breaking off negotiations with King Charles I, and thereby setting the scene for the second phase of the English Civil War.
- January 20 - France's Royal Council votes to create the Académie royale after accepting the proposal of Martin de Charmois.
- January 26 - The Khmelnytsky Uprising in Ukraine, at the time part of the Republic of Both Nations, begins as Bohdan Khmelnytsky becomes Hetman of the Cossacks.
- January 30 - The Dutch and the Spanish sign the Peace of Münster, ending the Eighty Years' War. The Spanish Empire recognizes the Dutch Republic of United Netherlands as a sovereign state, which was previously a province of the Spanish Empire. The treaty is ratified by the Netherlands on May 15.
- February 11 - England's parliament passes stricter laws against performance of stage plays, providing for demolition of seats in theatres, imprisonment for actors and fines for spectators. The vote comes six days after the King's Men Players are arrested at the Cockpit Theatre during an illegal performance of Rollo Duke of Normandy.
- February 28 - King Christian IV of Denmark and Norway dies after a reign of almost 60 years without having named a successor. The Rigsraadet and the Estates of the Realm will debate the matter for more than four months before deciding on July 6 to select Christian's oldest surviving son to become King Frederick III.
- March 31 - A major earthquake strikes Van in Ottoman Armenia.
April–June
- April 19 - First Battle of Guararapes: The Portuguese army defeats the Dutch army, in the north of Brazil.
- May 12 - Construction of the Kaunghmudaw Pagoda is completed in the Kingdom of Burma on the 6th waning of Kason, 1010, near the end of the reign of King Thalun. Hmannan Yazawin
- May 15 - The Peace of Münster is ratified by both the United Netherlands and the Spanish Empire.
- May 16 - England's Commonwealth Army massacres 70 Cornish royalists at Penzance, leading to a rebellion against England's Parliamentarians.
- May 20 - Wladyslaw IV Vasa, King of Poland and Grand Duke of Lithuania, dies after a reign of 15 years. The throne remains vacant for six months until Wladyslaw's younger half-brother, John II Casimir Vasa, is elected by Poland's Parliament.
- June 1 - The Roundheads defeat the Cavaliers at the Battle of Maidstone in the Second English Civil War.
- June 20 - Russian explorer Semyon Dezhnyov departs from Srednekolymsk to begin the first recorded voyage through the Bering Strait, between Asia and North America, and arrives in September.
July–September
- July 19 - The last major battle of the Thirty Years' War, the Battle of Prague ends in a Swedish victory after three days of fighting over the army of Bohemia. The troops loot the Prague Castle and steal many of Bohemia's most valuable artifacts.
- August 8 - Mehmed IV succeeds Ibrahim I, as Ottoman Emperor.
- August 16 - The Imam of Oman, Nasir bin Murshid, dispatches an army to recapture Muscat from Portuguese occupiers, who eventually surrender the town on January 23, 1650.
- August 20 - The French Army, under the command of the Prince of Condé, defeats the Spaniards at the Battle of Lens. Upon learning of the victory, Cardinal Mazarin orders the arrest of the members of the Fronde Parlementaire, leading to an insurrection in Paris.
- August - The Cambridge Platform, a new, localized system of Christian church governance, is agreed upon and written down in New England.
- September 12 - At the Battle of Stirling in Scotland, the "Engagers" achieve victory over the Kirk Party.
October–December
- October 24 - Signing of the Treaties of Münster and Osnabrück concludes the Peace of Westphalia, ending the Thirty Years' War. Rulers of the Imperial States can personally convert to Protestant, Catholic or Calvinist. Ecclesiastical property is restored to the status of 1624, with the minorities of each of the three recognized faiths granted toleration of worship, and there is general recognition of exclusive sovereignty, including that of the Dutch Republic and Switzerland. France and Sweden gain territory, and the latter is granted an indemnity. However, France remains at war with Spain until 1659.
- October 31 - A treaty is signed between the Arabs and the Portuguese. The terms include a provision that the Portuguese should build fortresses at Kuriyat, Dibba Al-Hisn and Muttrah.
- November 11 - France and the Netherlands agree to divide the Caribbean island of Saint Martin between them.
- December 11 - "Pride's Purge" in England: Elements of the New Model Army, under the leadership of Oliver Cromwell invade London and expel a majority of the Long Parliament, resulting in the creation of the Rump Parliament.
Date unknown
- In India, building of the Red Fort in Shahjahanabad is completed.
- The epic poem Padmavati is written by Alaol.
- Sabbatai Zevi declares himself the Messiah at Smyrna.
- George Fox founds the Religious Society of Friends in England.
- The Dutch artist Rembrandt produces the works Rembrandt drawing at a window and Beggars at the Door.
- Giacomo Carissimi composes Historia di Jephte, one of the first significant Latin oratorios.
Births
January–March
- January 1 - Matthijs Wulfraet, Dutch painter
- January 14 - Clara Elisabeth von Platen, German noblewoman
- February 1 - Elkanah Settle, English poet and playwright
- February 23 - Arabella Churchill, English mistress of James II of England
- February 26 - George Albert II, Count of Erbach-Fürstenau, held the fiefs of Fürstenau
- March 2 - John Hales, English politician
- March 5 - David Caspari, German Lutheran theologian
- March 7 - Charles-Amador Martin, Canadian Catholic priest
- March 12 - Charles de Sévigné, French baron
- March 13 - Anne Henriette of Bavaria, Duchess of Guise
- March 31 - Sebastiaen van Aken, Flemish painter
April–June
- April 4 - Grinling Gibbons, Dutch-British sculptor and wood carver known for his work in England
- April 5 - Nicolas Pasquin, early pioneer in New France
- April 7 - John Sheffield, 1st Duke of Buckingham and Normanby, English statesman and poet
- April 8 - Charles, Count of Marsan, French noble
- April 9 - Henri de Massue, Marquis de Ruvigny, 1st Earl of Galway, French soldier and diplomat
- April 13 - Jeanne Marie Bouvier de la Motte Guyon, French mystic
- April 16 - Antoine de Pas de Feuquières, French soldier
- April 20 - Maurice Bocland, English Member of Parliament
- April 23 - Philip Verheyen, Flemish physician
- April 26 - King Peter II of Portugal
- May 12 - Philip Foley, English politician
- May 14 - René de Froulay de Tessé, French Marshal and diplomat
- May 15 - William, Landgrave of Hesse-Rotenburg
- May 23 - Johan Teyler, Dutch painter
- May 24 - Albert V, Duke of Saxe-Coburg
- June 18 - Petrus Houttuyn, Dutch botanist
July–September
- July 2 - Arp Schnitger, German organ builder
- July 19 - Jakub Kresa, Czech mathematician
- July 21 - John Graham, 1st Viscount Dundee, Scottish general
- July 25 - Joseph Anthelmi, French ecclesiastical historian
- July 30 - Anne Marie Thérèse de Lorraine, Abbess of Remiremont
- August 5 - Guichard Joseph Duverney, French anatomist
- August 9 - Johann Michael Bach, German composer
- August 11 - Jeremiah Shepard, American Puritan minister and the youngest son of Thomas Shepard
- August 14 - Alphonse Henri, Count of Harcourt, French noble
- August 22
- * Gerard Hoet, Dutch painter
- * Tsarevich Dmitry Alexeyevich of Russia, first son and heir of Tsar Alexis of Russia
- August 30 - Jean-Baptiste Morvan de Bellegarde, French Jesuit
- September 2 - Magdalena Sibylle of Saxe-Weissenfels, German noblewoman
- September 3 - Sarah Cloyce, American accused of witchcraft
- September 6 - Johann Schelle, German composer
- September 10 - Nicolas Desmarets, Controller-General of Finances under Louis XIV of France
- September 14
- * Louis Nicolas le Tonnelier de Breteuil, French noble
- * Caspar Neumann, German professor and clergyman
- September 24 - Richard Graham, 1st Viscount Preston, English politician
- September 27
- * Charles Gustav of Baden-Durlach, German general
- * Michelangelo Tamburini, Italian Jesuit Superior General
October–December
- October 3 - Élisabeth Sophie Chéron, French musician
- October 6 - Henrietta Catharina, Baroness von Gersdorff, German noblewoman; poet
- October 13 - Françoise Madeleine d'Orléans, French princess
- October 19 - Domenico Viva, Italian Jesuit theologian
- October 22 - Aleijda Wolfsen, Dutch Golden Age painter
- October 29 - John Verelst, Dutch Golden Age painter
- November 12
- * Louis-Hector de Callière, French politician
- * Juana Inés de la Cruz, Mexican Hieronymite nun and polymath
- November 15 - Juan María de Salvatierra, Italian Jesuit priest and missionary
- November 16 - Charles Duncombe, English banker and politician
- November 24 - Humphrey Humphreys, British bishop
- November 27 - Petrus Codde, Dutch cleric, first Old Catholic bishop
- December 5 - Charles François d'Angennes, Marquis de Maintenon, French nobleman, Caribbean buccaneer
- December 6 - Leonard Goffiné, German Catholic priest and writer
- December 15 - Gregory King, English statistician
- December 20 - Tommaso Ceva, Italian Jesuit mathematician from Milan
- December 23 - Robert Barclay, Scottish Quaker