Year 1644 (MDCXLIV) was a leap year starting on Friday (link will display the full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar (or a leap year starting on Monday of the 10-day slower Julian calendar).

Events of 1644

January - June

• January 26 - First English Civil War - Battle of Nantwich: The Parliamentarians defeat the Royalists, allowing them to end the 6-week Siege of Nantwich in Cheshire, England.
• February-August - Explorer Abel Tasman's second expedition for the Dutch East India Company maps the north coast of Australia.
• March 24 - In England, Roger Williams is granted an official charter for his Rhode Island Colony, allowing the establishment of a general assembly.
• April 19 to April 22 - Battle of Shanhai Pass: The Manchu Qing Dynasty and Wu Sangui gain a decisive victory over Li Zicheng's Shun Dynasty .
• April 25 - A popular Chinese rebellion led by Li Zicheng sacks Beijing, prompting Chongzhen, the last emperor of the Ming Dynasty, to commit suicide.
• June 3 - Li Zicheng claims himself as the emperor of China.
• June 6 - The invading Manchu army, with the help of Ming general Wu Sangui, captures Beijing, China. This marks the beginning of the Qing Dynasty (also known as the Manchu Dynasty), the last imperial dynasty of China.

July - December

July 2: Battle of Marston Moor.

• July 2 - English Civil War - Battle of Marston Moor: The Parliamentarians crush the Royalists, ending Charles I's hold on the north of England.
• September 1 - English Civil War - Battle of Tippermuir: Montrose defeats Elcho's Covenanters, reviving the Royalist cause in Scotland.
• September 2 - English Civil War - Second Battle of Lostwithiel: Charles I and the Royalist gain their last major victory.
• September 15 - Pope Innocent X succeeds Pope Urban VIII as the 236th pope.
• November - Battle of Jüterbog: Sweden's forces defeat those of the Holy Roman Empire.
• November 23 - Areopagitica by John Milton is published.

Kolumna Zygmunta is erected.

• December 9 - As Christina comes of age, she is made ruling queen of Sweden.
• December - Plague breaks out in Edinburgh.

Undated

• The opera Ormindo is first performed in Venice: music by Francesco Cavalli and libretto by Giovanni Faustini.
• Kolumna Zygmunta (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).
• During the English Civil War, Prince Rupert and his men take Liverpool Castle, which is later reclaimed by Sir John Moore.

Ongoing events

• English Civil War (1642-1649).
• Thirty Years War (1618-1648).

Births

• January 10 - Louis François, duc de Boufflers, French marshal (d. 1711)
• January 18 - John Partridge, English astrologer (d. 1708)
• April 7 - François de Neufville, duc de Villeroi, French soldier (d. 1730)
• June 16 - Henrietta Anne Stuart, Princess of Scotland, England and Ireland (d. 1670)
• August 6 - Louise de la Vallière, French mistress of Louis XIV of France (d. 1710)
• August 12 - Heinrich Ignaz Biber, Bohemian composer and violinist (d. 1704)
• September 25 - Ole Rømer, Danish astronomer (d. 1710)
• October 1 - Alessandro Stradella, Italian composer (d. 1682)
• October 2 - François-Timoléon de Choisy, French writer (d. 1724)
• October 14 - William Penn, English Quaker and founder of Pennsylvania (d. 1718)
• date unknown
  • Antonio Stradivari, Italian violin maker (d. 1737)
  • Matsuo Bash?, Japanese poet (d. 1694)

See also Category:1644 births.

Deaths

• March 15 - Louise Juliana of Nassau, Regent of Bohemia (b. 1576)
• April 10 - Reverend William Brewster, Pilgrim leader (b. 1567)
• April 25 - Chongzhen, last Ming Emperor of China (suicide) (b. 1611)
• July 29 - Pope Urban VIII (b. 1568)
• September 7 - Guido Bentivoglio, Italian statesman and historian (b. 1579)
• September 8
  • John Coke, English politician (b. 1563)
  • Francis Quarles, English poet (b. 1592)
• October 6 - Elisabeth of Bourbon, queen of Philip IV of Spain (b. 1602)
• November 6 - Thomas Roe, English diplomat (b. c.1581)
• November 10 - Luís Vélez de Guevara, Spanish writer (b. 1579)
• December 30 - Jan Baptist van Helmont, Flemish chemist (b. 1577)

See also Category:1644 deaths.

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