1631
Events
April– June
April 13 – Thirty Years' War : Gustavus Adolphus of Sweden defeats an imperial garrison at the city of Frankfurt an der Oder .
May 18 – In Dorchester , Boston, John Winthrop takes the oath of office, and becomes the first Governor of Massachusetts .
May 20 – Thirty Years' War : After a two-month siege, the Imperial Army of the Holy Roman Emperor , under the command of Johann Tserclaes, Count of Tilly sacks the Protestant German city of Magdeburg , and massacres over 20,000 inhabitants . Shocked by the massacre, many Protestant states in the Holy Roman Empire decide to ally with Gustavus Adolphus of Sweden , and support his ongoing invasion.
May 28 – William Claiborne sails from England to establish a trading post on Kent Island , the first English settlement in Maryland .
May 30
June 17 – The death in childbirth of Mumtaz Mahal at Burhanpur causes her husband Shah Jahan to commission the Taj Mahal at Agra , as a mausoleum for her. Construction is started in 1632 , and finished in 1653 .
June 19 – War of the Mantuan Succession : The Treaty of Cherasco is signed, ending the War of the Mantuan Succession.
June 20 – Algerian pirates sack Baltimore, County Cork , in Ireland.
July– September
July 9 – Koca Musa Pasha , the Ottoman Governor of Egypt, arranges the murder of Emir Kitas Bey, commander of Turkish troops who had been scheduled to invade Persia.
July 16 – The city of Würzburg is taken by Gustavus Adolphus of Sweden , putting an end to the Würzburg witch trials , but not before an estimated 900 people from the city and its environs have been burned at the stake for witchcraft .
July 22 – Thirty Years' War – Battle of Werben : Tilly defeats Gustavus Adolphus of Sweden , but not decisively.
August 22 – The Treaty of Werben is signed as an alliance between Hesse-Cassel and Sweden .
August 29 – (1 Safar 1041 A.H.) Abd Allah ibn Hasan , Emir of Mecca , abdicates in favor of two successors, his son Muhammad ibn Abd Allah and his great-nephew Zayd ibn Muhsin .
August – Thirty Years' War : Running out of supplies, Tilly is forced to send his army into the Electorate of Saxony in order to secure supplies, as well as to force a reaction from John George, Elector of Saxony and Gustavus Adolphus of Sweden .
August – The Martyrs of Mombasa were a group of approximately 288 Christians, Portuguese and African, killed in Mombasa (in present-day Kenya) in August 1631 during an uprising led by Yusuf ibn al-Hasan, the Swahili sultan of Mombasa.
September 11 – Thirty Years' War : As a result of Tilly 's invasion, John George, Elector of Saxony , who has until now stayed neutral, allies with Gustavus Adolphus of Sweden , in order to drive the Imperial army out of Saxony.
September 12 – Eighty Years' War – Battle of Albrolhos : A Spanish fleet, under the command of Admiral Antonio de Oquendo , defeats a Dutch fleet off the coast of Brazil .
September 13 – Eighty Years' War – Battle of the Slaak : A Spanish fleet of 95 ships, carrying 5,500 soldiers tasked with taking over the Dutch Republic, is almost completely destroyed (with 83 ships sunk) the day after being intercepted by a Dutch fleet off of the coast of the Netherlands.
September 17 – Thirty Years' War – Battle of Breitenfeld : Tilly 's Holy Roman Imperial army is decisively defeated by Gustavus II Adolphus of Sweden, shattering the imperial army of the Holy Roman Empire , and marking the first significant victory for the Protestants in the war.
Births
John Dryden
Stanislaus Papczyński
Christoffel Pierson
Johann Heinrich Roos
January– March
January 1 or 1632 – Katherine Philips , Anglo-Welsh poet (d. 1664 )
January 2 – Anthonie van Borssom , Dutch painter (d. 1677 )
January 6 – Anne Hamilton, 3rd Duchess of Hamilton , Scottish peeress (d. 1716 )
January 12 – Hasanuddin of Gowa , 16th Ruler of The Sultanate of Gowa (d. 1670 )
January 23 – Vincent Houdry , French Jesuit preacher and writer on ascetics (d. 1729 )
February 6 – Edward Abney , English politician (d. 1727 )
February 10 – Louise of Anhalt-Dessau , Duchess suo jure of Oława and Wołów (1672–1680) (d. 1680 )
February 22 – Peder Syv , Danish historian (d. 1702 )
March 3 – Esaias Boursse , Dutch painter (d. 1672 )
March 9 – Claude-François Ménestrier , French heraldist, Jesuit, courtier (d. 1705 )
March 13 – Lodewijck Huygens , Dutch diplomat (d. 1699 )
March 16 – René Le Bossu , French critic (d. 1680 )
April– June
April 8 – Cornelis de Heem , Dutch painter (d. 1695 )
April 15
April 21 – Francesco Maidalchini , Italian Catholic cardinal (d. 1700 )
April 29 – Joseph Bridger , Colonial Governor of Virginia (d. 1686 )
May 2 – John Murray, 1st Marquess of Atholl (d. 1703 )
May 4 – William Brereton, 3rd Baron Brereton , English politician (d. 1680 )
May 10 – Flavio Chigi , Italian Catholic cardinal (d. 1693 )
May 18 – Stanislaus Papczyński , Polish priest (d. 1701 )
May 19 – Christoffel Pierson , Dutch painter (d. 1714 )
May 28 – Louis André , French Jesuit priest, missionary and translator (d. 1715 )
May 29 – Robert Paston, 1st Earl of Yarmouth , English politician, earl (d. 1683 )
June 13 – Gilbert Hay, 11th Earl of Erroll , Scottish noble (d. 1674 )
June 17 – Gauharara Begum , Mughal noblewoman (d. 1706 )
June 22 – Francis Rombouts , Dutch Mayor of New York City (d. 1691 )
June 25 – António das Chagas , Portuguese Franciscan friar and ascetical writer (d. 1682 )
June 26 – Vincenzo Albrici , Italian composer (d. 1695 )
October– December
October 1
October 3 – Sebastian Anton Scherer , German organist and composer (d. 1712 )
October 6 – Emmanuel, Prince of Anhalt-Köthen , German prince of the House of Ascania (d. 1670 )
October 12 – George Saunderson, 5th Viscount Castleton , English Member of Parliament (d. 1714 )
October 13 – Richard Hampden , English politician (d. 1695 )
October 18
October 22 – Gilles Boileau , French translator (d. 1669 )
October 26 – Leopold Karl von Kollonitsch , Hungarian Catholic cardinal (d. 1707 )
October 30 – Pierre Beauchamp , French choreographer, dancer and composer (d. 1705 )
November 4 – Mary, Princess Royal and Princess of Orange (d. 1660 )
November 10 – Daniel Harvey , English merchant and politician (d. 1672 )
November 17 – Marco d'Aviano , Italian Capuchin friar (d. 1699 )
November 21 – Catharina Questiers , Dutch poet (d. 1669 )
November 28 – Abraham Brueghel , Flemish Baroque painter (d. 1690 )
December 14 – Anne Conway , English philosopher (d. 1679 )
December 24
Deaths
Jacob Matham
John Smith
January 1 – Thomas Hobson , English carrier and origin of the phrase "Hobson's choice " (b. 1544 )
January 3 – Michelagnolo Galilei , Italian composer and lutenist, younger brother of Galileo Galilei (b. 1575 )
January 14 – Charlotte of the Palatinate , German noble (b. 1628 )
January 20 – Jacob Matham , Dutch artist (b. 1571 )
January 26 – Louis Frederick, Duke of Württemberg-Montbéliard (1617–1631) (b. 1586 )
January 30 – Sophie Hedwig of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel , duchess consort of Pomerania-Wolgast (1577–1592) (b. 1561 )
February 7 – Gabriel Harvey , English writer (b. c. 1552/3)
February 14 – Tsugaru Nobuhira , Japanese daimyō (b. 1586 )
March 24 – Philipp Dulichius , German composer (b. 1562 )
March 31 – John Donne , English writer and prelate (b. 1572 )
March 28 – Juan van der Hamen , Spanish artist (b. 1596 )
April 2 – Nicolò Contarini , Doge of Venice (b. 1553 )
April 5 – Sinibaldo Scorza , Italian painter (b. 1589 )
April 23 – Francesco Maria II della Rovere , last Duke of Urbino (b. 1549 )
May 6 – Sir Robert Cotton, 1st Baronet, of Connington , English politician (b. 1570 )
May 26 – Enrico Caterino Davila , Italian historian and diplomat (b. 1576 )
June 17 – Mumtaz Mahal , favorite wife of Shah Jahan (b. 1593 )
June 18 – Robert Payne , English politician (b. 1573 )
June 21 – John Smith (explorer) , English soldier and colonist (b. 1580 )
July 16 – Francis Hay, 9th Earl of Erroll , Scottish noble (b. 1564 )
July 19 – Cesare Cremonini , Italian philosopher (b. 1550 )
July 28 – Guillén de Castro y Bellvis , Spanish dramatist (b. 1569 )
August 3 – Kim Jang-saeng , Korean scholar and writer (b. 1548 )
August 8 – Konstantinas Sirvydas , Lithuanian religious leader (b. 1579 )
September 6 – Honda Tadamasa , Japanese daimyō (b. 1575 )
September 18 – Countess Palatine Dorothea of Simmern (b. 1581 )
September 21 – Federico Borromeo , Cardinal Archbishop of Milan (b. 1564 )
October 14 – Sophie of Mecklenburg-Güstrow , queen and regent of Denmark (b. 1557 )
October 20 – Michael Maestlin , German astronomer and mathematician (b. 1550 )
October 26 – Catherine de Parthenay , French noblewoman and mathematician (b. 1554 )
October 28 – Sir Richard Beaumont, 1st Baronet , English politician (b. 1574 )
November 1 – Archduchess Maria Maddalena of Austria (b. 1589 )
November 7 – Patrick Fleming , Irish Franciscan friar and scholar (murdered) (b. 1599 )
November 29 – Edmond Richer , French theologian (b. 1559 )
December 5 – Tommaso Caracciolo , Field Marshal of Spanish forces in the Thirty Years' War (b. 1572 )
December 7 – Johannes Hartmann , German chemist (b. 1568 )
December 9 – Liborius Wagner , German Roman Catholic priest (b. 1593 )
December 10 – Hugh Myddelton , Welsh businessman (b. 1560 )
December 23 – Michael Drayton , English poet (b. 1563 )
December 30 – Frederick Achilles, Duke of Württemberg-Neuenstadt (b. 1591 )
References
↑ Kenneth Meyer Setton (1991). Venice, Austria, and the Turks in the Seventeenth Century . American Philosophical Society. p. 50. ISBN 978-0-87169-192-7 .
↑ Reuben Aldridge Guild (1886). Footprints of Roger Williams . Tibbitts & Preston. p. 7.
↑ "Fires, Great", in The Insurance Cyclopeadia: Being an Historical Treasury of Events and Circumstances Connected with the Origin and Progress of Insurance , Cornelius Walford, ed. (C. and E. Layton, 1876) p29
↑ William R. Howell (1931). The Government of Kent County, Maryland, Historical and Descriptive . Published through the cooperation of Washington College. p. 1.
↑ "Vesuvius | Facts, Location, & Eruptions" . Encyclopædia Britannica . Retrieved April 7, 2019 .
↑ "Chocolate: or, An Indian Drinke, by Antonio Colmenero" . www.gutenberg.org . Retrieved March 4, 2025 .
↑ National Library of Wales (1942). Cylchgrawn Llyfrgell Genedlaethol Cymru . Council of the National Library of Wales. p. 51.
↑ Restoration and 18th-Century Drama . Macmillan International Higher Education. November 1, 1980. p. 60. ISBN 978-1-349-16422-6 .[ permanent dead link ]
↑ Miralpeix Vilamala, Francesc. "Joaquim Juncosa Donadeu" . Real Academia de la Historia. Retrieved November 26, 2023 .
↑ John Donne; Gary A. Stringer (1995). The Variorum Edition of the Poetry of John Donne: The epigrams, epithalamions, epitaphs, inscriptions, and miscellaneous poems . Indiana University Press. p. 202. ISBN 0-253-31812-2 .
↑ Merimee, Ernest (May 8, 2018). Revival: A History of Spanish Literature (1930) . Routledge. p. 205. ISBN 978-1-351-34931-4 .
↑ Bernard Rudden; Professor of Comparative Law Bernard Rudden (May 16, 1985). The New River: A Legal History . OUP Oxford. p. 42. ISBN 978-0-19-825497-3 .