Explore 75 historical events from 1640–1649.
George Jeffreys, 1st Baron Jeffreys was a Welsh judge and politician. He became notable during the reign of King James II, rising to the position of Lord Chancellor. His conduct as…
George Jeffreys, 1st Baron Jeffreys, British judge (died 1689)
Sidney Godolphin, 1st Earl of Godolphin, was a British Tory statesman. He was a Privy Councillor and Secretary of State for the Northern Department before he attained real power as…
Sidney Godolphin, 1st Earl of Godolphin, English politician (died 1712)
Tobias Hume was a Scottish composer, viol player and soldier.
Tobias Hume, Scottish soldier, viol player, and composer (born 1569)
Miyamoto Musashi was a Japanese swordsman, strategist, artist, and writer who became renowned through stories of his unique double-bladed swordsmanship and undefeated record in hi…
Miyamoto Musashi, Japanese samurai (born 1584)
The term Cavalier was first used to describe cavalrymen, and later by Roundheads as a term of abuse for the wealthier royalist supporters of Charles I of England and his son Charle…
Scottish Royalist forces under Lord Montrose defeat Covenanter forces under John Urry
The Yangzhou Massacre refers to the mass killing of people in Yangzhou, China, in May, 1645. Commanded by the Manchu prince Dodo, following the collapse of the Ming dynasty, Qing d…
Yangzhou massacre: The ten day massacre of the residents of the city of Yangzhou, part of the Transition from Ming to Qi
The English Civil War or Great Rebellion was a series of civil wars and political machinations between Royalists and Parliamentarians in the Kingdom of England from 1642 to 1651. P…
English Civil War: Battle of Naseby: Twelve thousand Royalist forces are beaten by fifteen thousand Parliamentarian sold
Shi Kefa, courtesy names Xianzhi and Daolin, was a government official and calligrapher who lived in the late Ming dynasty. He was born in Xiangfu and claimed ancestry from Daxing …
Shi Kefa, Chinese general and calligrapher (born 1601)
Gabriël Grupello was a Flemish Baroque sculptor who produced religious and mythological sculptures, portraits and public sculptures. He worked in Flanders, France and Germany. He w…
Gabriël Grupello, Flemish Baroque sculptor (died 1730)
The transition from Ming to Qing, also known as the Manchu conquest of China or Ming-Qing transition, was a decades-long period of conflict between the Qing dynasty, established by…
Transition from Ming to Qing: The Chongzhen Emperor, the last Emperor of Ming China, commits suicide during a peasant re
William Salmon was an English empiric doctor and a writer of medical texts. He advertised himself as a "Professor of Physick". Salmon held an equivocal place in the medical communi…
William Salmon, English medical writer (died 1713)
Henrietta of England was the youngest child of King Charles I of England and Henrietta Maria of France. She was Duchess of Orléans through her marriage to Philippe I, Duke of Orléa…
Henrietta Anne Stuart, Princess of Scotland, England and Ireland (died 1670)
The Chongzhen Emperor, temple name Ming Sizong, personal name Zhu Youjian, courtesy name Deyue, was the 17th and last emperor of the Ming dynasty. He reigned from 1627 to 1644. "Ch…
Chongzhen Emperor of China (born 1611)
The Ming dynasty, officially the Great Ming, was an imperial dynasty of China that ruled from 1368 to 1644, following the collapse of the Mongol-led Yuan dynasty. The Ming was the …
Ming general Wu Sangui forms an alliance with the invading Manchus and opens the gates of the Great Wall of China at Sha
The Restoration War between Portugal and Spain began with the Portuguese revolution of 1640 and ended with the Treaty of Lisbon in 1668, bringing a formal end to the Iberian Union.…
Portuguese Restoration War: Portuguese and Spanish forces both claim victory in the Battle of Montijo
The Manchus are a Tungusic East Asian ethnic group native to Manchuria in Northeast Asia. They are an officially recognized ethnic minority in China and the people from whom Manchu…
Manchu regent Dorgon defeats rebel leader Li Zicheng of the Shun dynasty at the Battle of Shanhai Pass, allowing the Man
The English Civil War or Great Rebellion was a series of civil wars and political machinations between Royalists and Parliamentarians in the Kingdom of England from 1642 to 1651. P…
English Civil War: Bolton Massacre by Royalist troops under the command of James Stanley, 7th Earl of Derby
The Qing dynasty, officially the Great Qing, also known as the Qing Empire or Qing China, was a Manchu-led imperial dynasty of China and an early modern empire in East Asia which e…
The Qing dynasty's Manchu forces led by the Shunzhi Emperor take Beijing during the collapse of the Ming dynasty
The transition from Ming to Qing, also known as the Manchu conquest of China or Ming-Qing transition, was a decades-long period of conflict between the Qing dynasty, established by…
Ming–Qing transition: The Ming dynasty of China fell when the Chongzhen Emperor committed suicide during a peasant rebel
The transition from Ming to Qing, also known as the Manchu conquest of China or Ming-Qing transition, was a decades-long period of conflict between the Qing dynasty, established by…
Ming–Qing transition: Ming general Wu Sangui allowed the invading Manchu to cross the Great Wall of China (pictured), en
The Manchus are a Tungusic East Asian ethnic group native to Manchuria in Northeast Asia. They are an officially recognized ethnic minority in China and the people from whom Manchu…
Manchu regent Dorgon (depicted) defeated rebel leader Li Zicheng of the Shun dynasty at the Battle of Shanhai Pass, allo
The English Civil War or Great Rebellion was a series of civil wars and political machinations between Royalists and Parliamentarians in the Kingdom of England from 1642 to 1651. P…
English Civil War: Royalist troops stormed and captured the Parliamentarian stronghold of Bolton, leading to a massacre
The First English Civil War took place in England and Wales from 1642 to 1646, and forms part of the 1639 to 1653 Wars of the Three Kingdoms. An estimated 15% to 20% of adult males…
First English Civil War: Prince Maurice abandoned his siege of Lyme Regis in Dorset after learning of the approach of a
The Thirty Years' War, fought primarily in Central Europe between 1618 and 1648, was one of the most destructive conflicts in European history. An estimated 4.5 to 8 million soldie…
Thirty Years' War: French forces under the duc d'Enghien decisively defeat Spanish forces at the Battle of Rocroi, marki