Events from the year 1670 in

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

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 ...

–

Louis XIV Louis XIV (Louis Dieudonné; 5 September 16381 September 1715), also known as Louis the Great () or the Sun King (), was List of French monarchs, King of France from 14 May 1643 until his death in 1715. His reign of 72 years and 110 days is the Li ...

Events

*January – Françoise-Marguerite, daughter of

Marie de Rabutin-Chantal, marquise de Sévigné Marie de Rabutin-Chantal, marquise de Sévigné (5 February 1626 – 17 April 1696), also widely known as Madame de Sévigné or Mme de Sévigné, was a French aristocrat, remembered for her letter-writing. Most of her letters, celebrated for ...

, marries the Comte de Grignan. *1 June – At

Dover Dover () is a town and major ferry port in Kent, South East England. It faces France across the Strait of Dover, the narrowest part of the English Channel at from Cap Gris Nez in France. It lies south-east of Canterbury and east of Maids ...

, England, Louis XIV and

Charles II of England Charles II (29 May 1630 – 6 February 1685) was King of Scotland from 1649 until 1651, and King of England, Scotland and Ireland from the 1660 Restoration of the monarchy until his death in 1685. Charles II was the eldest surviving child o ...

sign the

Secret Treaty of Dover The Treaty of Dover, also known as the Secret Treaty of Dover, was a treaty between England and France signed at Dover on 1 June 1670. It required that Charles II of England would convert to the Roman Catholic Church at some future date and th ...

, ending hostilities between their kingdoms. Louis will give Charles 200,000 pounds annually. In return, Charles will relax the laws against Catholics, gradually re-Catholicize England, support French policy against the

Dutch Republic The United Provinces of the Netherlands, also known as the (Seven) United Provinces, officially as the Republic of the Seven United Netherlands ( Dutch: ''Republiek der Zeven Verenigde Nederlanden''), and commonly referred to in historiograph ...

, and convert to Catholicism himself. *14 October – The première of

Molière Jean-Baptiste Poquelin (, ; 15 January 1622 (baptised) – 17 February 1673), known by his stage name Molière (, , ), was a French playwright, actor, and poet, widely regarded as one of the greatest writers in the French language and world ...

's 5-act comédie-ballet '' Le Bourgeois gentilhomme'' is performed by his troupe with himself in the title rôle before Louis XIV and the royal court at the

Château de Chambord The Château de Chambord () in Chambord, Centre-Val de Loire, France, is one of the most recognisable châteaux in the world because of its very distinctive French Renaissance architecture which blends traditional French medieval forms with cla ...

, with incidental music by

Jean-Baptiste Lully Jean-Baptiste Lully ( , , ; born Giovanni Battista Lulli, ; – 22 March 1687) was an Italian-born French composer, guitarist, violinist, and dancer who is considered a master of the French Baroque music style. Best known for his operas ...

. *21 November – The première of

Racine Jean-Baptiste Racine ( , ) (; 22 December 163921 April 1699) was a French dramatist, one of the three great playwrights of 17th-century France, along with Molière and Corneille as well as an important literary figure in the Western traditi ...

's tragedy '' Berenice'' takes place with the Comédiens du Roi at the Hôtel de Bourgogne in Paris. *24 November – Louis XIV authorises work to commence on construction of ''

Les Invalides The Hôtel des Invalides ( en, "house of invalids"), commonly called Les Invalides (), is a complex of buildings in the 7th arrondissement of Paris, France, containing museums and monuments, all relating to the military history of France, ...

'', the veterans' hospital in Paris. *The first French settlers arrive at the

Petite Côte The Petite Côte is a stretch of coast in Senegal, running south from the Cap-Vert peninsula to the Saloum Delta, near the border with the Gambia. The northern section near Dakar contains seaside resorts such as Saly Portudal, Rufisque Rufis ...

of modern-day

Senegal Senegal,; Wolof: ''Senegaal''; Pulaar: 𞤅𞤫𞤲𞤫𞤺𞤢𞥄𞤤𞤭 (Senegaali); Arabic: السنغال ''As-Sinighal'') officially the Republic of Senegal,; Wolof: ''Réewum Senegaal''; Pulaar : 𞤈𞤫𞤲𞤣𞤢𞥄𞤲𞤣𞤭 ...

. *

Jean Picard Jean Picard (21 July 1620 – 12 July 1682) was a French astronomer and priest born in La Flèche, where he studied at the Jesuit Collège Royal Henry-Le-Grand. He is principally notable for his accurate measure of the size of the Earth, bas ...

calculates the

Earth radius Earth radius (denoted as ''R''🜨 or R_E) is the distance from the center of Earth to a point on or near its surface. Approximating the figure of Earth by an Earth spheroid, the radius ranges from a maximum of nearly (equatorial radius, den ...

to within 0.44% of the modern value.

Births

*21 August –

James FitzJames, 1st Duke of Berwick James FitzJames, 1st Duke of Berwick, 1st Duke of Liria and Jérica, 1st Duke of Fitz-James (21 August 1670 – 12 June 1734) was an Anglo-French military leader, illegitimate son of King James II of England by Arabella Churchill, sister o ...

, military leader (died 1734) *24 August –

Louis Galloche Louis Galloche (24 August 1670 – 21 July 1761) was a French painter. A student of Louis de Boullogne, his own students included François Lemoyne, Charles-Joseph Natoire and François Boucher. Life He was born in Paris, the son of Charles ...

, French painter (died 1761) *14 December –

Jean-Baptiste Dubos Jean-Baptiste Dubos (; 14 December 1670 – 23 March 1742), also referred to as l' Abbé Du Bos, was a French author. He was also a diplomat and an art critic. Life Dubos was born in Beauvais. He was educated in Paris and received a Master of Art ...

, historian (died 1742) *Full date missing ** Louis Audran, engraver (died 1712) ** François Boitard, printmaker and illustrator (died ca. 1715) ** Catherine-Charlotte de Boufflers, court official (died 1739)

Deaths

*17 January –

Jean Leurechon Jean Leurechon (c. 1591 – 17 January 1670) was a French Jesuit priest, astronomer, and mathematician, known for inventing the pigeonhole principle and naming the thermometer. Life Leurechon was born in Bar-le-Duc where his father, also named J ...

, Jesuit priest and mathematician (born 1591) *21 January **

Honorat de Bueil, seigneur de Racan Honorat de Bueil, seigneur de Racan (sometimes mistakenly listed as "marquis de Racan", although he never held this title) (5 February 1589 – 21 January 1670) was a French aristocrat, soldier, poet, dramatist and (original) member of the Aca ...

, aristocrat, soldier, poet, dramatist and original member of the Académie française (born 1589) **

Claude Duval Claude Du Vall (or Duval) (164321 January 1670) was a French highwayman in Restoration England. He came from a family of decayed nobility, and worked in the service of exiled royalists who returned to England under King Charles II. Little els ...

, highwayman, hanged in England (born 1643) *2 March –

François-Henri Salomon de Virelade François-Henri Salomon de Virelade (4 October 1620, Bordeaux – 2 March 1670, Bordeaux) was a French lawyer. He was elected the third occupant of Académie française An academy (Attic Greek: Ἀκαδήμεια; Koine Greek Ἀκαδημία ...

, lawyer (born 1620) *10 March – Ludovicus a S. Carolo, Carmelite scholar, writer, and bibliographer (born 1608) *9 April – Samuel de Sorbiere, physician, philosopher, and translator (born 1615) *28 April –

Alexandre de Prouville de Tracy Marquis Alexandre de Prouville de Tracy (c. 1596 or 1603 – 1670) was a French aristocrat, statesman, and military leader. He was the seigneur of Tracy-le-Val and Tracy-le-Mont (Picardy). Life The Marquis de Tracy first made his name as a reg ...

, aristocrat, statesman and military leader (born 1596 or 1603) *10 May –

Claude Vignon Claude Vignon (19 May 1593 – 10 May 1670) was a French painter, printmaker and illustrator who worked in a wide range of genres.Paola Pacht Bassani. "Vignon, Claude." Grove Art Online. Oxford Art Online. Oxford University Press. Web. 2 November ...

, painter (born 1593) *14 June – François Annat, Jesuit theologian (born 1590) *11 September –

Jeanne Chezard de Matel Jeanne Chézard de Matel (6 November 1596 – 1670) was a French mystic who founded the Order of the Incarnate Word and Blessed Sacrament, whose rule and constitution were approved in 1633 with the principal objective of youth education. Life Je ...

, mystic (born 1596) *28 September –

Alexander Morus Alexander Morus (or Moir or More) (25 September 1616, Castres – 28 September 1670, Paris) was a Franco-Scottish Protestant preacher. Biography More's father, born in Scotland, was a rector at a Huguenot college in the town of Castres in Langue ...

, Calvinist preacher (born 1616) *11 October – Louis Le Vau, architect (born 1612) *Full date missing – Nicolas Prévost, painter (born 1604)

References

{{Year in Europe, 1670 1670s in France

Incumbents

Events

Births

Deaths

See also

References