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1667

You want a year. Fine. Let’s dissect 1667. It was a common year, apparently, starting on a Saturday if you were adhering to the Gregorian calendar, or a Tuesday if you were still stuck in the Julian mire. Ten days difference, a detail that seems insignificant until you realize how much history hinges on such discrepancies. This year, designated MDCLXVII in Roman numerals, was the 1667th year of the Common Era, the 667th of the second millennium, and a mere eight years into the 1660s. A footnote in the grander scheme, perhaps, but the events within it rippled, as they always do.

Calendar year

The concept of a year, a seemingly immutable measure of time, is a human construct. We divide it into years, decades, centuries, and millennia. 1667 falls within the second millennium, a period that saw shifts in power, scientific discovery, and the persistent, often brutal, march of human conflict. Specifically, it resides within the 17th century, a time of great upheaval and transformation across Europe and beyond. The decade of the 1660s was a crucible for many of these changes, and 1667 was no exception.

Events

The year, you insist, is a collection of events. Very well. Let's catalog the detritus:

January–March

  • January 11: Aurangzeb, the formidable monarch of the Mughal Empire, decided Rao Karan Singh was no longer fit to rule the Bikaner State. The reason? Dereliction of duty. A polite term for failing to perform, I suppose. This bit of imperial housekeeping happened in what is now Rajasthan, India.
  • January 19: The Swiss village of Anzonico met its end. An avalanche, indifferent and absolute, swept it away. Nature, unimpressed by human settlements.
  • January 27: Dresden, the capital of the Electorate of Saxony, unveiled its new theater, the Opernhaus am Taschenberg. Two thousand seats, a grand opening with Pietro Ziani's opera Il teseo. A fleeting moment of culture before the inevitable silence.
  • February 5: The Second Anglo-Dutch War continued its petty squabbles. The English warship HMS Saint Patrick, barely a year old, was captured off the English coast by Dutch vessels. Captain Robert Saunders and eight of his crew died fighting. The Dutch, with their characteristic practicality, renamed her Zwanenburg. A trophy, a name change, a minor footnote in a larger, tedious conflict.
  • February 6 (January 27 O.S.): The Treaty of Andrusovo was signed, concluding the Russo-Polish War. Poland, once a significant power, ceded eastern Ukraine, including the strategically vital city of Kiev and Smolensk, to Russia. A shift in the geopolitical landscape, a diminishing of one power and the ascent of another.
  • February 8: Following the inferno that was the Great Fire of London in 1666, the first legislative attempt at order, the Fire of London Disputes Act 1666, received royal assent. This established the Fire Court, a body tasked with untangling the inevitable chaos. It convened on February 27 and continued its work for nearly two years. A bureaucratic response to a catastrophic event.
  • February 22: Stockholm, Sweden, saw the opening of the Lejonkulan ("lion's den"), the first permanent theater in Scandinavia. Jean Magnon's Orontes en Satira graced its stage. Another flicker of artistic endeavor in a world often more concerned with survival.
  • February 25: In the Second Anglo-Dutch War again, Admiral Abraham Crijnssen of the Dutch Navy arrived in the English colony of Surinam in South America. They sailed up the Suriname River to Fort Willoughby, which surrendered after a bombardment. The Dutch Republic gained control, a cession later formalized by the Peace of Breda. Colonial possessions, a constant source of friction.
  • February 27 (February 17 O.S.): Joasaphus II was elected Patriarch of Moscow, the head of the Russian Orthodox Church. This followed the deposition of Patriarch Nikon by conservative factions unhappy with his reforms. A spiritual schism, a reflection of the temporal power struggles.
  • March 27: In what is now Canada, the explorer René-Robert Cavelier, Sieur de La Salle was released from the Society of Jesus. A curious separation.
  • March: Louis XIV of France, ever the administrator, abolished the livre parisis in favor of the more prevalent livre tournois. He also appointed Gabriel Nicolas de la Reynie as the first chief of police for Paris. Centralization, control, the hallmarks of his reign.

April–June

  • April 6: The Republic of Ragusa (modern Croatia) was shaken by an earthquake. An estimated 5,000 people perished, a sixth of the population, and the city of Dubrovnik was largely destroyed. The earth, too, has its own agenda.
  • April 27: John Milton, the blind, impoverished poet, then 58, struck a deal with London printer Samuel Simmons for his epic poem, Paradise Lost. The sum? A mere £5. A pittance for what would become a cornerstone of English literature. The first edition, published in October, sold out in eighteen months. A testament to enduring art, even in the face of financial hardship.
  • April 29–May 1: The Second Anglo-Dutch War saw a Dutch flotilla under Admiral van Ghent bombard Burntisland in Scotland's Firth of Forth. A minor skirmish, a reminder of the ongoing conflict.
  • May 8: Prince Prithviraj Singh, heir to the Maharaja Jaswant Singh of Marwar, died at 14. The official story involved a khalat, a ceremonial robe, gifted by Emperor Aurangzeb. Marwari folklore whispers of poison, a garment infused with death that penetrated the skin. A young life extinguished, shrouded in suspicion and folklore.
  • May 22: Pope Alexander VII died at 68, after a 12-year pontificate. The process of selecting a successor began.
  • May 24: The War of Devolution ignited. King Philip IV of Spain reneged on a promised dowry for his daughter Princess Maria Theresa, married to Louis XIV of France. France responded by invading the Spanish Netherlands (modern Belgium), pushing into Flanders and Franche-Comté. The war would conclude the following year, with France gaining territory. A dispute over money and pride, escalating into continental conflict.
  • June 15: Dr. Jean-Baptiste Denys performed the first human blood transfusion, using sheep's blood on a 15-year-old boy. The procedure, though initially successful, would later lead to accusations of murder after another patient died. A pioneering, yet ultimately tragic, medical endeavor.
  • June 19–24: The audacious raid on the Medway occurred. Admiral Michiel de Ruyter led a Dutch fleet into the River Medway in England, capturing Sheerness fort, raiding Chatham Dockyard, and even towing away the royal flagship, The Royal Charles. A humiliating blow to English naval pride.
  • June 20: Giulio Rospigliosi was elected Pope Clement IX by the College of Cardinals, succeeding the deceased Alexander VII. He secured an overwhelming majority of votes.
  • June 26: Louis XIV conquered Tournai, adding another strategic city to his growing domain.
  • June 27: George Villiers, Duke of Buckingham, a figure within the English Cabal ministry, surrendered himself after being charged with treason, including casting the horoscope of King Charles II. He was imprisoned in the Tower of London for four years. Political intrigue, a monarch's paranoia.

July–September

  • July 31: The Treaty of Breda officially ended the Second Anglo-Dutch War. The terms dictated that the Dutch retained Surinam in the Americas, while the English kept New Netherland (which they renamed New York) and the French regained Acadia. A redrawing of colonial maps.
  • August 5: The province of Holland in the Dutch Republic passed the "Perpetual Edict". This decree abolished the office of Stadtholder, a significant shift in the republic's governance. Other provinces soon followed suit.
  • August 10: The Siege of Lille began. This engagement, part of the War of Devolution, saw the French army swiftly overwhelm the Spanish garrison. It was the war's most significant military action.
  • August 15:
  • August 18: Paris, ever concerned with its aesthetics and functionality, enacted its first building code. New constructions were limited to eight toise (approximately 15.6 meters or 51 feet) in height, intended to prevent narrow streets from being entirely overshadowed. A nascent attempt at urban planning.
  • August 24: The Treaty of Breda officially took effect, formally concluding the conflict between England and its opponents.
  • August 25: In China, the 14-year-old Kangxi Emperor, whose reign would become one of the longest in Chinese history, formally took full power. This ended the regency of the "Four Regents" who had ruled on his behalf since he inherited the throne at age six. The ascension was hastened by the death of one of the regents, Sonin, and the perceived ambition of the others.
  • September 6: A severe storm, dubbed the "Dreadful Hurricane of 1667," struck southeast Virginia. Twelve days of rain brought down plantation homes and devastated crops. A reminder of nature's destructive power.

October–December

  • October 18: Yohannes I ascended to the throne of Ethiopia, succeeding his father, Emperor Fasilides.
  • November 2: In India, troops from the Ahom kingdom in Assam, led by General Lachit Borphukan, recaptured the city of Guwahati from the Mughal Empire after a decisive victory at Itakhuli. This marked a significant success for the Ahom forces.
  • November 25: A catastrophic earthquake struck Caucasia, claiming an estimated 80,000 lives. A devastating seismic event.
  • December 19: Emperor Aurangzeb of the Mughal Empire ordered a massive counteroffensive against the Ahom kingdom in Assam, following the loss of Guwahati. Raja Ram Singh was tasked with leading a formidable force of 36,000 infantry, 18,000 cavalry, 2,000 archers, and 40 ships. The ensuing war would last until the Ahom forces, despite being outnumbered, achieved victory in March 1671.

Date unknown

  • Following Shivaji's escape from Mughal custody, hostilities between the Marathas and the Mughals temporarily subsided. Jaswant Singh, a Mughal official, acted as an intermediary, facilitating peace proposals between Shivaji and Aurangzeb.
  • The first military campaign of Stenka Razin, a Cossack rebel leader, took place in Russia. His actions would become legendary, a symbol of peasant revolt.
  • The French army began employing grenadiers, a specialized infantry unit.
  • Robert Hooke, the polymath, demonstrated that the alteration of blood in the lungs was crucial for respiration. A fundamental insight into biological processes.
  • Isaac Newton had been diligently working on optics, acoustics, the infinitesimal calculus, mechanism, and thermodynamics. These groundbreaking investigations, though not yet published, laid the foundation for future scientific revolutions.

Births

The year 1667 brought forth individuals who would, in turn, shape the world.

  • April 29: John Arbuthnot, an English physician and writer, was born. He would later become a prominent figure in early 18th-century literary circles.
  • May 26: Abraham de Moivre, a French mathematician, entered the world. His contributions to probability theory and complex numbers would prove foundational.
  • June 18: Ivan Trubetskoy, a future Russian field marshal, was born.
  • July 2: Pietro Ottoboni, an Italian cardinal, was born.
  • July 27: Johann Bernoulli, a distinguished Swiss mathematician, was born. He hailed from a family renowned for its mathematical prowess.
  • August 11: [Anna Maria Luisa de' Medici](/Anna_Maria_Luisa_de' Medici), the last direct descendant of the illustrious Medici family of Italy, was born. Her legacy would be tied to the preservation of her family's vast artistic collection.
  • September 5: Giovanni Girolamo Saccheri, an Italian mathematician, was born. His work would inadvertently foreshadow non-Euclidean geometry.
  • September 28: Asano Naganori, a Japanese warlord, was born. His name would become forever linked to the tale of the forty-seven rōnin.
  • November 2: James Sobieski, Crown Prince of Poland, was born.
  • November 5: Christoph Ludwig Agricola, a German painter, was born.
  • November 30: Jonathan Swift, the Irish satirist and author of Gulliver's Travels, was born. A formidable literary talent emerged.
  • December 9: William Whiston, an English mathematician and theologian, was born. He would succeed Isaac Newton as Lucasian Professor of Mathematics at Cambridge.
  • December 25: [Ehrengard Melusine von der Schulenburg, Duchess of Kendal and Munster**, was born.
  • Date unknown:
    • Yaoya Oshichi, a Japanese girl whose story ended tragically with her being burned at the stake for arson, was born.
    • Anna Colbjørnsdatter, a Norwegian heroine, was born.
    • [Beinta Broberg**, notorious for her alleged involvement in the deaths of her husbands, was born.
    • Susanna Verbruggen, an English actress, was born.
    • Probable: Antonio Lotti, an Italian composer, was born.
    • Probable: Susanna Centlivre, an English actress and playwright, was born.

Deaths

The year also marked the departure of numerous figures, their absence leaving voids in their respective spheres.