1657
Events
January–March
- January 8 - Miles Sindercombe and his group of disaffected Levellers are betrayed in their attempt to assassinate Oliver Cromwell by blowing up the Palace of Whitehall in London and are arrested.
- January 29 - Rule of the Major-Generals in England is abolished.
- February 4 - Resettlement of the Jews in England: Oliver Cromwell gives Antonio Fernandez Carvajal the assurance of the right of Jews to remain in England.
- February 23 - In England, the Humble Petition and Advice offers Lord Protector Cromwell the crown.
- March 2 - The Great Fire of Meireki in Edo, Japan, destroys most of the city and damages Edo Castle, killing an estimated 100,000 people.
- March 23 - Anglo-Spanish War : By the Treaty of Paris, France and England form an alliance against Spain; England will receive Dunkirk.
April–June
- April 20
- * Anglo-Spanish War - Battle of Santa Cruz de Tenerife: English Admiral Robert Blake attempts to seize a Spanish treasure fleet.
- * The Jews of New Amsterdam are granted freedom of religion, as full citizens.
- May 8 - Lord Protector Cromwell confirms his refusal of the crown of England, preferring the title "Lord Protector".
- June 1
- * King Frederick III of Denmark signs a manifesto, de facto declaring war on Sweden.
- * The first eleven Quaker settlers arrive in New Amsterdam, and are allowed to practice their faith.
July–September
- July 13 - Following his refusal to take the oath of allegiance to Oliver Cromwell, English army leader John Lambert is ordered to resign his commissions.
- August 20 - The ship Les Armes d'Amsterdam arrives at Quebec, New France. Among the passengers is Michel Mathieu Brunet dit Lestang, colonist, explorer and co-discoverer of modern-day Green Bay, Wisconsin, and ancestor of the Brunet, Lestang and Carisse families of North America.
- September 19 - Brandenburg and Poland sign the Treaty of Wehlau.
- September 24 - The first autopsy and coroner's jury verdict in the Colony of Maryland are recorded.
- September - Shah Jahan becomes ill, allowing his son to take control of the Mughal Empire.
October–December
- October 1 - Treaty of Raalte: William III, Prince of Orange is no longer stadtholder of Overijssel.
- October 3 - French troops occupy Mardyck.
- November 6 - Brandenburg and Poland sign the Treaty of Bromberg.
- November 10 - Christina, former Queen regnant of Sweden, has Gian Rinaldo Monaldeschi killed in her presence, at the Palace of Fontainebleau.
- December 27 - The Flushing Remonstrance is signed in New Amsterdam, at the site of the future Flushing Town Hall in New York City.
Date unknown
- The Accademia del Cimento is founded in Florence, Italy.
- England's first chocolate house is opened in London and introduction of tea in England while coffee is introduced to France.
- Christiaan Huygens writes the first book to be published on probability theory, De ratiociniis in ludo aleae.
- Andreas Gryphius' drama Katharina von Georgien is published in Breslau.
- Thomas Middleton's tragedy Women Beware Women is published posthumously in London.
Births
January 1 - Charles FitzCharles, 1st Earl of Plymouth, illegitimate son of King Charles II of England January 4 - Sébastien Rale, French missionary January 6 - William Bowes, English politician January 11 - Elizabeth van der Woude, Dutch writer January 17 - Pieter van Bloemen, Flemish painter January 18 - Henry Casimir II, Prince of Nassau-Dietz, Stadholder of Friesland and Groningen January 21 - Francesco Cupani, Italian naturalist January 26 - William Wake, Archbishop of Canterbury January 29 - Francis Moore, English physician and astrologer February 10 - George Carpenter, 1st Baron Carpenter, English Army general February 11 - Bernard Le Bovier de Fontenelle, French scientist and man of letters February 21 - Blaise Gisbert, French Jesuit rhetorician and critic February 24 - Clopton Havers, English physician February 25 - Agathe de Saint-Père, French-Canadian business entrepreneur and inventor March 1 - Samuel Werenfels, Swiss theologian March 6 - Auguste Magdalene of Hessen-Darmstadt, German noblewoman and poet March 18 - Giuseppe Ottavio Pitoni, Italian composer March 19 - Jean Leclerc, Swiss theologian and biblical scholar March 20 - Luigi Omodei, Italian Catholic cardinal March 24 - Arai Hakuseki, Japanese politician and writer April 16* Thomas Fairfax, 5th Lord Fairfax of Cameron, English politician * Otto Friedrich von der Groeben, Prussian traveller, soldier and author May 8 - Martino Altomonte, Italian painter May 14 - Sambhaji, Maratha ruler May 25 - Henri-Pons de Thiard de Bissy, French Catholic priest, bishop and cardinal June 10 - James Craggs the Elder, English politician June 14 - Sir William Blackett, 1st Baronet, of Newcastle-upon-Tyne, English politician June 17 - Louis Ellies Dupin, French ecclesiastical historian July 8 - Abraham de Peyster, New Amsterdam/New York politician July 11 - King Frederick I of Prussia July 12 - Friedrich Wilhelm III, Duke of Saxe-Altenburg July 14 - William Cheyne, 2nd Viscount Newhaven, English politician July 18 - Simon Digby, 4th Baron Digby, English politician July 24* Theodorus Janssonius van Almeloveen, Dutch classical scholar * Jean Mathieu de Chazelles, French hydrographer July 25 - Philipp Heinrich Erlebach, German composer August 7 - Henri Basnage de Beauval, French historian and lexicographer August 9 - Pierre-Étienne Monnot, French sculptor August 18* Ferdinando Galli-Bibiena, Italian architect and painter * Antonio Margil, Spanish Franciscan missionary in North and Central America September 14 - Sir Charles Blois, 1st Baronet, English politician September 17* Dudley Cullum, English politician and baronet * Pieter Schuyler, acting governor of the province of New York and army colonel September 21 - Sultan Muhammad Akbar, Mughal prince September 27 - Sofia Alekseyevna of Russia, Russian regent September 29 - Heinrich of Saxe-Weissenfels, Count of Barby, German prince October 2 - Guillaume Baudry, gunsmith and gold and silversmith in Lower Canada October 4 - Francesco Solimena, Italian painter October 8 - Wigerus Vitringa, Dutch painter October 26 - Philipp, Duke of Saxe-Merseburg-Lauchstädt, German nobleman November 6 - Joseph Denis, Canadian Rėcollet priest November 12 - Anna Dorothea, Abbess of Quedlinburg November 16 - Juliane Louise of East Frisia, Princess of East Frisia November 26* William Derham, English clergyman and natural philosopher * Michael Bernhard Valentini, German naturalist November 28 - Philip Prospero, Prince of Asturias, heir apparent to the Spanish throne December 2 - Franz Anton, Count of Hohenzollern-Haigerloch December 8 - Changning, prince of the Qing dynasty December 14 - Edmund Dunch, English Whig politician December 15* Michel Richard Delalande, French composer * Louis Thomas, Count of Soissons, Count of Soissons and Prince of Savoy December 23* Hannah Duston, Massachusetts Puritan mother of 8, taken captive during King William's War * Josiah Franklin, English-born American businessman, father of Benjamin Franklin December 28 - Domenico Rossi, Swiss-Italian architectDeaths
January 24 - Claude, Duke of Chevreuse February 2 - Nicole, Duchess of Lorraine, French noble February 7 - Cesare Dandini, Italian painter February 8 - Laura Mancini, French court beauty February 10 - Sebastian Stoskopff, French painter February 19 - Jean Riolan the Younger, French anatomist March - Edward Hopkins, colonial Connecticut politician March 7 - Hayashi Razan, Japanese neo-Confucianist scholar March 10 - Barthold Nihus, Roman Catholic priest April ? - Richard Lovelace, English Cavalier poet April 2* Ferdinand III, Holy Roman Emperor * Jean-Jacques Olier, French Catholic priest April 29 - Sophie Elisabeth Pentz, daughter of Christian IV of Denmark May 7 - Nabeshima Katsushige, Japanese daimyō May 9 - William Bradford, Governor of Plymouth Colony May 10 - Gustav Horn, Count of Pori, Swedish soldier and politician May 16 - Andrzej Bobola, Polish Jesuit missionary June 3 - William Harvey, English physician June 26 - Tobias Michael, German composer and cantor July 17 - Eleonore Marie of Anhalt-Bernburg, Duchess consort of Mecklenburg-Güstrow August 6 - Bohdan Khmelnytsky, Ukrainian Cossack Hetman August 14 - Giovanni Paolo Lascaris, Italian 57th Grandmaster of the Knights Hospitaller August 19 - Frans Snyders, Flemish painter August 7 - Robert Blake, British admiral August 29 - John Lilburne, English dissenter September 1 - Arnold Vinnius, Dutch lawyer September 7 - Arvid Wittenberg, Swedish field marshal and statesman September 13 - Jacob van Campen, Dutch artist September 23 - Joachim Jungius, German mathematician and philosopher September 27 - Olimpia Maidalchini, politically active Roman noble October 4 - Prince Maurice of Savoy, Catholic cardinal and Prince of Savoy October 23 - Domenico Massenzio, Italian baroque composer November 5 - Charles II, Duke of Elbeuf, French noble November 10 - Anders Bille, Danish general November 18 - Luke Wadding, Irish Franciscan friar and historian November 20 - Sir Hugh Cholmeley, 1st Baronet, English politician December 5 - Johan Oxenstierna, Swedish count and statesman December 24 - Philippe Le Sueur de Petiville, French poet date unknown - Willem Bontekoe, Dutch sea captain