1644

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Template:C17 year in topic Template:Year article header It is one of eight years (CE) to contain each Roman numeral once (1000(M)+500(D)+100(C)+(-10(X)+50(L))+(-1(I)+5(V)) = 1644).

Events

January–March

January 22 – The Royalist Oxford Parliament is first assembled by King Charles I of England.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>
January 26 – First English Civil War: Battle of Nantwich – The Parliamentarians defeat the Royalists, allowing them to end the 6-week siege of the Cheshire town.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>
January 30
- Dutch explorer Abel Tasman departs from Batavia in the Dutch East Indies (modern-day Jakarta in Indonesia) on his second major expedition for the Dutch East India Company, to map the north coast of Australia. Tasman commands three ships, Limmen, Zeemeeuw and Braek, and returns to Batavia at the beginning of August with no major discoveries.
- Battle of Ochmatów: Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth forces under hetman Stanisław Koniecpolski secure a substantial victory over the horde of Crimean Tatars under Tugay Bey.
February 2 – Prince of Transylvania George I Rákóczi invades Hungary to aid Sweden against the Habsburgs<ref>Czigány, István. "The 1644–1645 Campaign of György Rákóczi I." In The Princes of Transylvania in the Thirty Years War, edited by Gábor Kármán, 86–111. Leiden: Brill, 2022.</ref>
February 5 – The first livestock branding law in America is passed in Connecticut.<ref name="Hisdates1644">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation

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March 24 – Roger Williams is granted an official grant for his Rhode Island Colony from the Parliament of England, allowing the establishment of a general assembly.

April–June

April 18 – Opchanacanough leads the Powhatan Indians in an unsuccessful uprising against the English at Jamestown. Although 300 of the English colonists are slain, the settlers pursue Opchanacanough, who is imprisoned in Jamestown for the rest of his life.<ref>Edward S. Ellis, et al., The People's History of the World; Including Two Volumes on the Races of Mankind, Volume 5: United States (Chicago: The History Publishing Association, 1902) p. 127 ("The second outbreak occurred April 18th, 1644... Opechankano was taken prisoner, and died in Jamestown while a captive")</ref> This is the last such Indian rebellion in the region.
April 25 – A popular Chinese rebellion led by Li Zicheng sacks Beijing, prompting Chongzhen, the last emperor of the Ming dynasty, to commit suicide.
May 6 – Johan Mauritius resigns as Governor of Brazil.<ref name="Hisdates1644"/>
May 25 – Ming general Wu Sangui forms an alliance with the invading Manchus and opens the gates of the Great Wall of China at Shanhaiguan Pass, letting the Manchus through towards the capital Beijing.
May 26 – Battle of Montijo: The Kingdom of Portugal is victorious over Habsburg Spain, in the first major action between the two nations during the Portuguese Restoration War.
May 27 – Battle of Shanhai Pass: The Manchu Qing dynasty and Wu Sangui gain a decisive victory over Li Zicheng's Shun dynasty.
June 3 – Li Zicheng proclaims himself emperor of China.
June 6 – The invading Qing army, with the help of Ming general Wu Sangui, captures Beijing in China, marking the beginning of Manchu rule over China proper.
June 11 – During the English Civil War, Prince Rupert and his men take Liverpool Castle.<ref>"Rupert, Prince", by Charles Harding Firth, in The Dictionary of National Biography, Volume 17 (Oxford University Press, 1922) p. 408 ("Rupert returned to Wales.. Defeating the parliamentarians at Stockport, he forced his way into Lancashire, stormed Bolton on 28 May, and captured Liverpool on 11 June", quoting Ormerod, Civil War Tracts of Lancashire, p. 187)</ref> Liverpool is later reclaimed by Sir John Moore.

July–September

July 1 – Torstenson War: Battle of Colberger Heide – The Dano-Norwegian and Swedish fleets fight a naval battle off the coast of Schleswig-Holstein. The battle is indecisive but represents a minor success for the Dano-Norwegian fleet.
July 2 – English Civil War: Battle of Marston Moor – The Parliamentarians crush the Royalists in Yorkshire, ending Charles I's hold on the north of England.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>
September 1 – English Civil War: Battle of Tippermuir – Montrose defeats Lord Elcho's Covenanters, reviving the Royalist cause in Scotland.
September 2 – English Civil War: Second Battle of Lostwithiel (in Cornwall) – Charles I and the Royalists gain their last major victory.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>
September 15 – Pope Innocent X succeeds Pope Urban VIII, becoming the 236th pope.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>

October–December

October 1 – The Jews of Mogilev, Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, are attacked during Tashlikh.
November 8 – The Shunzhi Emperor, the second emperor of the Qing dynasty, is enthroned in Beijing after the collapse of the Ming dynasty as the first Qing emperor to rule over China proper.
November 23
- Battle of Jüterbog (December 3 New Style): Sweden's forces defeat those of the Holy Roman Empire.
- Areopagitica, an appeal for freedom of speech written by John Milton, is published in London.
November – The Castle of Elvas in Portugal resists a 9-day siege by the Spanish during the Portuguese Restoration War.
December 8 (December 18 New Style) – As Christina comes of age, she is made ruling queen of Sweden.
December – Bubonic plague breaks out in Edinburgh (Scotland).

Date unknown

A Spanish officer is murdered in St. Dominic's Church, Macau during mass by colonists loyal to Portugal during the Portuguese Restoration War.
Sigismund's Column is erected in Warsaw to commemorate King Sigismund III Vasa, who moved the capital of Poland from Kraków to Warsaw in 1596.
Philosopher René Descartes publishes Principia Philosophiae (Principles of Philosophy) in Amsterdam.
The opera Ormindo is first performed in Venice (music by Francesco Cavalli, and libretto by Giovanni Faustini).
The Dutch West India Company displays greater interest in profit than in colonization.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>