Events from the year

1640 Events January–March * January 6 – The Siege of Salses ends almost six months after it had started on June 9, 1639, with the French defenders surrendering to the Spanish attackers. * January 17 – A naval battle over ...

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

Incumbents

Monarch A monarch is a head of stateWebster's II New College DictionarMonarch Houghton Mifflin. Boston. 2001. p. 707. Life tenure, for life or until abdication, and therefore the head of state of a monarchy. A monarch may exercise the highest authority ...

–

Charles I Charles I may refer to: Kings and emperors * Charlemagne (742–814), numbered Charles I in the lists of Holy Roman Emperors and French kings * Charles I of Anjou (1226–1285), also king of Albania, Jerusalem, Naples and Sicily * Charles I of ...

Parliament In modern politics, and history, a parliament is a legislative body of government. Generally, a modern parliament has three functions: Representation (politics), representing the Election#Suffrage, electorate, making laws, and overseeing ...

–

Short Short may refer to: Places * Short (crater), a lunar impact crater on the near side of the Moon * Short, Mississippi, an unincorporated community * Short, Oklahoma, a census-designated place People * Short (surname) * List of people known as ...

(starting 13 April, until 5 May), Royalist Long (starting 3 November)

Events

* 5 January –

fixes a

quorum A quorum is the minimum number of members of a deliberative assembly (a body that uses parliamentary procedure, such as a legislature) necessary to conduct the business of that group. According to ''Robert's Rules of Order Newly Revised'', the ...

of 40 for its proceedings to be transacted. * 12 January – Thomas Wentworth becomes

Lord-Lieutenant of Ireland Lord Lieutenant of Ireland (), or more formally Lieutenant General and General Governor of Ireland, was the title of the chief governor of Ireland from the Williamite Wars of 1690 until the Partition of Ireland in 1922. This spanned the Kingdo ...

and

Earl of Strafford Earl of Strafford is a title that has been created three times in English and British history. The first creation was in the Peerage of England in January 1640 for Thomas Wentworth, the close advisor of King Charles I. He had already succe ...

. * 17 January – John Finch becomes

Lord Keeper of the Great Seal The Lord Keeper of the Great Seal of England, and later of Great Britain, was formerly an officer of the English Crown charged with physical custody of the Great Seal of England. This position evolved into that of one of the Great Officers of Sta ...

. * 13 April – King Charles I summons the

Short Parliament The Short Parliament was a Parliament of England that was summoned by King Charles I of England on the 20th of February 1640 and sat from 13th of April to the 5th of May 1640. It was so called because of its short life of only three weeks. Aft ...

in an attempt to fund the

Second Bishops' War The second (symbol: s) is the unit of time in the International System of Units (SI), historically defined as of a day – this factor derived from the division of the day first into 24 hours, then to 60 minutes and finally to 60 seconds eac ...

against the Scottish

Covenanter Covenanters ( gd, Cùmhnantaich) were members of a 17th-century Scottish religious and political movement, who supported a Presbyterian Church of Scotland, and the primacy of its leaders in religious affairs. The name is derived from ''Covenan ...

s. * 17 April –

John Pym John Pym (20 May 1584 – 8 December 1643) was an English politician, who helped establish the foundations of Parliamentary democracy. One of the Five Members whose attempted arrest in January 1642 sparked the First English Civil War, his use ...

makes a speech attacking the King in Parliament. * 4 May –

Oliver St John Sir Oliver St John (; c. 1598 – 31 December 1673) was an English judge and politician who sat in the House of Commons from 1640-53. He supported the Parliamentary cause in the English Civil War. Early life St John was the son of Oliver St ...

calls on Parliament to outlaw

ship money Ship money was a tax of medieval origin levied intermittently in the Kingdom of England until the middle of the 17th century. Assessed typically on the inhabitants of coastal areas of England, it was one of several taxes that English monarchs cou ...

. * 5 May – the King dismisses the Short Parliament and prepares to attack

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to the ...

. * 6 May – the

Earl of Warwick Earl of Warwick is one of the most prestigious titles in the peerages of the United Kingdom. The title has been created four times in English history, and the name refers to Warwick Castle and the town of Warwick. Overview The first creation c ...

, Lord Brooke, Lord Saye, John Pym,

John Hampden John Hampden (24 June 1643) was an English landowner and politician whose opposition to arbitrary taxes imposed by Charles I made him a national figure. An ally of Parliamentarian leader John Pym, and cousin to Oliver Cromwell, he was one of th ...

, and Sir

Walter Earle Sir Walter Erle or Earle (22 November 1586 – 1 September 1665) was an English landowner and politician who sat in the House of Commons at various times between 1614 and 1648. He was a vigorous opponent of King Charles I in the Parliamentary c ...

arrested. * 20 August – a Scottish

army invades

Northumberland Northumberland () is a county in Northern England, one of two counties in England which border with Scotland. Notable landmarks in the county include Alnwick Castle, Bamburgh Castle, Hadrian's Wall and Hexham Abbey. It is bordered by land on ...

. * 28 August –

Battle of Newburn The Battle of Newburn, also known as The Battle of Newburn Ford, took place on 28 August 1640, during the Second Bishops' War. It was fought at Newburn, just outside Newcastle, where a ford crossed the River Tyne. A Scottish Covenanter army o ...

: the Covenanter army defeats the English army. * 26 October –

Treaty of Ripon The Treaty of Ripon was an agreement signed by Charles I, King of England, Scotland, and Ireland, and the Scottish Covenanters on 28 October 1640, in the aftermath of the Second Bishops' War. The Bishops' Wars were fought by the Covenanters to ...

signed between the King and the Covenanters. * 3 November – the

Long Parliament The Long Parliament was an English Parliament which lasted from 1640 until 1660. It followed the fiasco of the Short Parliament, which had convened for only three weeks during the spring of 1640 after an 11-year parliamentary absence. In Septem ...

is summoned; it will not be dissolved for 20 years. * 25 November – the Earl of Strafford imprisoned in the

Tower of London The Tower of London, officially His Majesty's Royal Palace and Fortress of the Tower of London, is a historic castle on the north bank of the River Thames in central London. It lies within the London Borough of Tower Hamlets, which is separa ...

. * 11 December – a crowd of 1,500 Londoners presents the

Root and Branch petition The Root and Branch Petition was a petition presented to the Long Parliament on December 11, 1640. The petition had been signed by 15,000 Londoners and was presented to the English Parliament by a crowd of 1,500. The petition called on Parliamen ...

to the Long Parliament, calling for the abolition of

episcopacy A bishop is an ordained clergy member who is entrusted with a position of authority and oversight in a religious institution. In Christianity, bishops are normally responsible for the governance of dioceses. The role or office of bishop is ca ...

in the

Church of England The Church of England (C of E) is the established Christian church in England and the mother church of the international Anglican Communion. It traces its history to the Christian church recorded as existing in the Roman province of Britain ...

. * 18 December –

Archbishop Laud William Laud (; 7 October 1573 – 10 January 1645) was a bishop in the Church of England. Appointed Archbishop of Canterbury by Charles I in 1633, Laud was a key advocate of Charles I's religious reforms, he was arrested by Parliament in 1640 ...

impeached for treason. * ''undated'' – Habeas Corpus Act ("An Act for the Regulating the Privie Councell and for taking away the Court commonly called the Star Chamber") passed, abolishing the

Star Chamber The Star Chamber (Latin: ''Camera stellata'') was an English court that sat at the royal Palace of Westminster, from the late to the mid-17th century (c. 1641), and was composed of Privy Counsellors and common-law judges, to supplement the judic ...

Births

* 11 January –

Sir Robert Burdett, 3rd Baronet Sir Robert Burdett, 3rd Baronet DL (11 January 1640 – 18 January 1716) was an English baronet and Tory politician. Background and education Burdett was the offspring of a Warwickshire family, who had settled also in Derbyshire.Cokayne (190 ...

, politician (died 1716) * 25 January –

William Cavendish, 1st Duke of Devonshire William Cavendish, 1st Duke of Devonshire, (25 January 164018 August 1707) was an English soldier, nobleman, and Whig politician who sat in the House of Commons from 1661 to 1684 when he inherited his father's peerage as Earl of Devonshire. H ...

, soldier and statesman (died 1707) * 6 February – William Campion, politician (died 1702) * 13 February – Richard Edgcumbe, politician (died 1688) * 29 February –

Benjamin Keach Benjamin Keach (29 February 1640 – 18 July 1704) was a Particular Baptist preacher and author in London whose name was given to Keach's Catechism. Biography Originally from Buckinghamshire, Keach worked as a tailor during his early years. ...

, Particular Baptist preacher (died 1704) * 30 March – John Trenchard, statesman (died 1695) * 19 June –

Thomas Widdrington Sir Thomas Widdrington SL (died 13 May 1664) was an English judge and politician who sat in the House of Commons at various times between 1640 and 1664. He was the speaker of the House of Commons in 1656. Life Widdrington was the son of Lew ...

, politician (died 1660) * 29 June –

Elizabeth Stanhope, Countess of Chesterfield Elizabeth Stanhope, Countess of Chesterfield (née Butler; 1640–1665) was an Irish-born beauty. She was a courtier after the Restoration at the court of Charles II of England at Whitehall. She was the second wife of Philip Stanhope, 2 ...

(died 1665) * 12 October – Sir Roger Twisden, 2nd Baronet (died 1703) * 18 October – William Stanley, Member of Parliament (died 1670) * 23 October –

Elisabeth Pepys Elisabeth Pepys (née de St Michel; 23 October 1640 – 10 November 1669) was the wife of Samuel Pepys, whom she married in 1655, shortly before her fifteenth birthday. Her father, Alexandre Marchant de St Michel, was born a French Roman Cathol ...

, née de St Michel, wife of Samuel (died 1669) * 28 October –

Streynsham Master Sir Streynsham Master (28 October 1640 – 28 April 1724) was an English colonial administrator who was one of the 17th-century pioneers of the English East India Company. He served as the Agent of Madras from 27 January 1678 to 3 July 1681, a ...

, colonial administrator (died 1724) * 5 November –

John Verney, 1st Viscount Fermanagh John Verney, 1st Viscount Fermanagh (5 November 1640 – 23 June 1717), known as Sir John Verney, 2nd Baronet, between 1696 and 1703, was an English peer, merchant and Tory politician who sat in the House of Commons from 1710 to 1717. Early life V ...

, politician and merchant (died 1717) * 17 November –

Barbara Palmer, 1st Duchess of Cleveland Barbara Palmer, 1st Duchess of Cleveland, Countess of Castlemaine (née Barbara Villiers, – 9 October 1709), was an English royal mistress of the Villiers family and perhaps the most notorious of the many mistresses of King Charles II of En ...

, née Villiers, a mistress of King Charles II (died 1709) * 7 December ''(bapt.)'' –

Fabian Stedman Fabian Stedman (1640–1713) was an English author and a leading figure in the early history of campanology, particularly in the field of method ringing. He had a key role in publishing two books ''Tintinnalogia'' (1668 with Richard Duckworth) an ...

, pioneer of

change ringing Change ringing is the art of ringing a set of tuned bells in a tightly controlled manner to produce precise variations in their successive striking sequences, known as "changes". This can be by method ringing in which the ringers commit to memor ...

(died 1713) * 13 December –

Robert Plot Robert Plot (13 December 1640 – 30 April 1696) was an English naturalist, first Professor of Chemistry at the University of Oxford, and the first keeper of the Ashmolean Museum. Early life and education Born in Borden, Kent to parents Robe ...

, naturalist (died 1696) * 14 December –

Aphra Behn Aphra Behn (; bapt. 14 December 1640 – 16 April 1689) was an English playwright, poet, prose writer and translator from the Restoration era. As one of the first English women to earn her living by her writing, she broke cultural barrie ...

, née Amis, Johnson or Cooper?, author (died 1689)

Deaths

* 14 January –

Thomas Coventry, 1st Baron Coventry Thomas Coventry, 1st Baron Coventry (157814 January 1640) was a prominent English lawyer, politician and judge during the early 17th century. Education and early legal career He entered Balliol College, Oxford, in 1592, and the Inner Temple in ...

, lawyer and judge (born 1578) * 25 January –

Robert Burton Robert Burton (8 February 1577 – 25 January 1640) was an English author and fellow of Oxford University, who wrote the encyclopedic tome ''The Anatomy of Melancholy''. Born in 1577 to a comfortably well-off family of the landed gentry, Burt ...

, scholar (born 1577) * 17 March –

Philip Massinger Philip Massinger (1583 – 17 March 1640) was an English dramatist. His finely plotted plays, including ''A New Way to Pay Old Debts'', ''The City Madam'', and '' The Roman Actor'', are noted for their satire and realism, and their politi ...

, dramatist (born 1583) * 22 March –

Thomas Carew Thomas Carew (pronounced as "Carey") (1595 – 22 March 1640) was an English poet, among the 'Cavalier' group of Caroline poets. Biography He was the son of Sir Matthew Carew, master in chancery, and his wife Alice, daughter of Sir John Rive ...

, poet (born 1595) * 28 April ''(bur.)'' –

William Alabaster William Alabaster (also Alablaster, Arblastier) (27 February 1567buried 28 April 1640) was an English poet, playwright, and religious writer. Alabaster became a Roman Catholic convert in Spain when on a diplomatic mission as chaplain. His reli ...

, poet and dramatist (born 1567) * 3 June –

Theophilus Howard, 2nd Earl of Suffolk Theophilus Howard, 2nd Earl of Suffolk, (13 August 15843 June 1640) was an English nobleman and politician. Born at the family estate of Saffron Walden, he was the son of Thomas Howard, 1st Earl of Suffolk, by his second wife, Catherine Knyvet ...

, politician (born 1584) * 20 October – John Ball, Puritan clergyman (born 1585) * 13 November –

Laurence Chaderton Laurence Chaderton (''c''. September 1536 – 13 November 1640) was an English Puritan divine, the first Master of Emmanuel College, Cambridge and one of the translators of the King James Version of the Bible. Life Chaderton was born in Lees, ...

, academic and churchman (born 1536) * 8 December –

Princess Anne Anne, Princess Royal (Anne Elizabeth Alice Louise; born 15 August 1950), is a member of the British royal family. She is the second child and only daughter of Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, and the only sister of K ...

, daughter of King Charles I (born 1637)

References

{{England year nav Years of the 17th century in England