Events from the year

1656 Events January–March * January 5 – The First War of Villmergen, a civil war in the Confederation of Switzerland pitting its Protestant and Roman Catholic cantons against each other, breaks out but is resolved by March 7. The ...

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

* Lord Protector –

Oliver Cromwell Oliver Cromwell (25 April 15993 September 1658) was an English politician and military officer who is widely regarded as one of the most important statesmen in English history. He came to prominence during the 1639 to 1651 Wars of the Three K ...

Parliament In modern politics, and history, a parliament is a legislative body of government. Generally, a modern parliament has three functions: representing the electorate, making laws, and overseeing the government via hearings and inquiries. Th ...

– Second Protectorate (starting 17 September)

Events

* 2 April – Anglo-Spanish War: King

Philip IV of Spain Philip IV ( es, Felipe, pt, Filipe; 8 April 160517 September 1665), also called the Planet King (Spanish: ''Rey Planeta''), was King of Spain from 1621 to his death and (as Philip III) King of Portugal from 1621 to 1640. Philip is remembered ...

signs a treaty with Charles II of England for the reconquest of England. * May – first performance of ''

The Siege of Rhodes ''The Siege of Rhodes'' is an opera written to a text by the impresario William Davenant. The score is by five composers, the vocal music by Henry Lawes, Matthew Locke, and Captain Henry Cooke, and the instrumental music by Charles Coleman and G ...

'', Part I, by Sir

William Davenant Sir William Davenant (baptised 3 March 1606 – 7 April 1668), also spelled D'Avenant, was an English poet and playwright. Along with Thomas Killigrew, Davenant was one of the rare figures in English Renaissance theatre whose career spanned b ...

, the first English

opera Opera is a form of theatre in which music is a fundamental component and dramatic roles are taken by singers. Such a "work" (the literal translation of the Italian word "opera") is typically a collaboration between a composer and a libr ...

(under the guise of a

recitative Recitative (, also known by its Italian name "''recitativo''" ()) is a style of delivery (much used in operas, oratorios, and cantatas) in which a singer is allowed to adopt the rhythms and delivery of ordinary speech. Recitative does not repeat ...

), in a private theatre at his home,

Rutland House Rutland House was the name of at least two London houses occupied by the Earls and Dukes of Rutland. That on Aldersgate Street was leased by playwright Sir William Davenant, who converted a room of it into a private theatre in the 1650s. That in ...

, in the

City of London The City of London is a city, ceremonial county and local government district that contains the historic centre and constitutes, alongside Canary Wharf, the primary central business district (CBD) of London. It constituted most of London f ...

. This also includes the innovative use of painted backdrops and the appearance of England's first professional

actress An actor or actress is a person who portrays a character in a performance. The actor performs "in the flesh" in the traditional medium of the theatre or in modern media such as film, radio, and television. The analogous Greek term is (), li ...

, Mrs. Coleman. * 17 September ** The

Second Protectorate Parliament The Second Protectorate Parliament in England sat for two sessions from 17 September 1656 until 4 February 1658, with Thomas Widdrington as the Speaker of the House of Commons. In its first session, the House of Commons was its only chamber; in ...

assembles. **

Miles Sindercombe Miles Sindercombe (died 13 February 1657) was the leader of a group that tried to assassinate Lord Protector Oliver Cromwell during the period of the Protectorate in 1657. Early military career Sindercombe was born in Kent and was apprenticed to ...

makes a failed assassination attempt on

. * 19 September – Anglo-Spanish War: Admiral Robert Blake destroys a Spanish treasure fleet near

Cádiz Cádiz (, , ) is a city and port in southwestern Spain. It is the capital of the Province of Cádiz, one of eight that make up the autonomous community of Andalusia. Cádiz, one of the oldest continuously inhabited cities in Western Europe, ...

. * 24 October – Quaker

James Nayler James Nayler (or Naylor; 1618–1660) was an English Quaker leader. He was among the members of the Valiant Sixty, a group of early Quaker preachers and missionaries. In 1656, Nayler achieved national notoriety when he re-enacted Christ's Palm ...

re-enacts the arrival of Jesus in Jerusalem at

Bristol Bristol () is a city, ceremonial county and unitary authority in England. Situated on the River Avon, it is bordered by the ceremonial counties of Gloucestershire to the north and Somerset to the south. Bristol is the most populous city in ...

, for which he is arrested for blasphemy.

Undated

Resettlement of the Jews in England The resettlement of the Jews in England was an informal arrangement during the Commonwealth of England in the mid-1650s, which allowed Jews to practise their faith openly. It forms a prominent part of the history of the Jews in England. It h ...

is permitted. * The only

English fifty shilling coin The English fifty shilling coin, worth 50/-, was only ever minted once, in the year 1656. It was a milled gold coin weighing and with a diameter of . Only eleven examples are known to survive. One extremely fine specimen was recorded to have been s ...

is minted. *

Adams' Grammar School Haberdashers' Adams is a grammar school for boys aged 11–18 and girls aged 16–18, located in Newport, Shropshire, offering day and boarding education. Current (2021) boarding fees are £12,144 per year and £13,644 per year for overseas stu ...

is founded in

Newport, Shropshire Newport is a constituent market town in Telford and Wrekin in Shropshire, England. It lies north of Telford, west of Stafford, and is near the Shropshire-Staffordshire border. The 2001 census recorded 10,814 people living in the town's paris ...

by London haberdasher William Adams, a native of the town. * Cromwell and his Privy Council issue an order for the founding of

Durham College Durham College of Applied Arts and Technology is located in the Durham Region of Ontario, Canada, with a campus co-located with Ontario Tech University in Oshawa, a second campus in Whitby, and community employment services in Uxbridge, Por ...

Ongoing events

* Anglo-Spanish War 1654–1660

Publications

* James Harrington's political tract ''

The Commonwealth of Oceana ''The Commonwealth of Oceana'' , published 1656, is a work of political philosophy by the English politician and essayist James Harrington (1611–1677). The unsuccessful first attempt to publish ''Oceana'' was officially censored by Lord Prote ...

''. * The

Musaeum Tradescantianum The ''Musaeum Tradescantianum'' was the first museum open to the public to be established in England. Located in South Lambeth, London, it comprised a collection of curiosities assembled by John Tradescant the elder and his son in a building c ...

catalogue (the first such in England) ''Musæum Tradescantianum: or, A Collection of Rarities, preserved at South-Lambeth neer London by John Tradescant''.

Births

* 1 January –

William Fleetwood William Fleetwood (1 January 16564 August 1723) was an English preacher, Bishop of St Asaph and Bishop of Ely, remembered by economists and statisticians for constructing a price index in his ''Chronicon Preciosum'' of 1707. Life Fleetwood w ...

, economist and statistician (died 1723) * 14 September – Thomas Baker, antiquarian (died 1746) * 29 October –

Edmond Halley Edmond (or Edmund) Halley (; – ) was an English astronomer, mathematician and physicist. He was the second Astronomer Royal in Britain, succeeding John Flamsteed in 1720. From an observatory he constructed on Saint Helena in 1676–77, H ...

, scientist (died 1742) * 17 November –

Charles Davenant Charles Davenant (1656–1714) was an English mercantilist economist, politician, and pamphleteer. He was Tory member of Parliament for St Ives (Cornwall), and for Great Bedwyn. Life He was born in London as the eldest son of Sir William Davena ...

, economist (died 1714)

Deaths

* 9 June –

Thomas Tomkins Thomas Tomkins (1572 – 9 June 1656) was a Welsh-born composer of the late Tudor and early Stuart period. In addition to being one of the prominent members of the English Madrigal School, he was a skilled composer of keyboard and consort mus ...

, composer (born 1572 in Wales) * 20 June –

Henry Bard, 1st Viscount Bellomont Henry Bard, 1st Viscount Bellomont (1616 – June 20, 1656) was a Royalist soldier and diplomat who served in the Wars of the Three Kingdoms, then as envoy from Charles II of England to Safavid Iran and the Mughal Empire, where he died in 1656 ...

, Royalist (born 1616) * 8 September – Joseph Hall, bishop and writer (born 1574) * 12 September –

Philip Stanhope, 1st Earl of Chesterfield Philip Stanhope, 1st Earl of Chesterfield (1584 – 12 September 1656) was an English nobleman, aristocrat and royalist, who was created the first Earl of Chesterfield by King Charles I in 1628. Biography Stanhope was the only son of Sir John Sta ...

, (born 1584) * October –

Stephen Bachiler Stephen Bachiler (About 1561 – 28 October 1656) was an English clergyman who was an early proponent of the separation of church and state in American Colonies. He is also known for starting such settlements as Hampton, New Hampshire. Early life ...

, clergyman (born c. 1561) * Robert Harley, statesman (born 1579)

References

{{Year in Europe, 1656 Years of the 17th century in England