Events of the year "1642 in France".

Incumbents

*Monarch:

Louis XIII Louis XIII (; sometimes called the Just; 27 September 1601 – 14 May 1643) was King of France from 1610 until his death in 1643 and King of Navarre (as Louis II) from 1610 to 1620, when the crown of Navarre was merged with the French crown. ...

Events

*11-12 June: :

Henri Coiffier de Ruzé, Marquis of Cinq-Mars Henri Coiffier de Ruzé, Marquis of Cinq-Mars (; 1620 – 12 September 1642) was a favourite of King Louis XIII of France, who led the last and most nearly successful of many conspiracies against the Cardinal Richelieu, the king's powerful ...

, personal

favourite A favourite was the intimate companion of a ruler or other important person. In Post-classical Europe, post-classical and Early modern Europe, early-modern Europe, among other times and places, the term was used of individuals delegated signifi ...

of the king, and

Gaston, Duke of Orléans ''Monsieur'' Gaston, Duke of Orléans (Gaston Jean Baptiste; 24 April 1608 – 2 February 1660), was the third son of King Henry IV of France and his second wife, Marie de' Medici. As a son of the king, he was born a . He later acquired the title ...

, the king's brother, plot against

Cardinal Richelieu Armand Jean du Plessis, 1st Duke of Richelieu (9 September 1585 – 4 December 1642), commonly known as Cardinal Richelieu, was a Catholic Church in France, French Catholic prelate and statesman who had an outsized influence in civil and religi ...

, the prime minister. Cinq-Mars attempts to get support for the rebellion from

Philip IV of Spain Philip IV (, ; 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 for his patronage of the ...

but Richelieu's spy service catches him doing so and he is imprisoned and

beheaded Decapitation is the total separation of the head from the body. Such an injury is invariably fatal to humans and all vertebrate animals, since it deprives the brain of oxygenated blood by way of severing through the jugular vein and common c ...

in the

Place des Terreaux The Place des Terreaux () is a square located in the centre of Lyon, France, on the Presqu'île between the Rhône and the Saône rivers, at the foot of the hill of La Croix-Rousse in the 1st arrondissement of Lyon, 1st arrondissement. It borders ...

Lyon Lyon (Franco-Provençal: ''Liyon'') is a city in France. It is located at the confluence of the rivers Rhône and Saône, to the northwest of the French Alps, southeast of Paris, north of Marseille, southwest of Geneva, Switzerland, north ...

for high treason along with another conspirator,

François Auguste de Thou François-Auguste de Thou (24 August 1604 - 12 September 1642) was a French magistrate. He was born in Paris, the eldest son of Jacques-Auguste de Thou. In 1617, with the death of his father, he inherited the office of Master of the Bookstore. ...

. *9 September:

Reapers' War The Reapers' War (, ; , ), also known as the Catalan Revolt or Catalan Revolution, was a conflict that affected the Principality of Catalonia between 1640 and 1659, in the context of the Franco-Spanish War (1635–1659), Franco-Spanish War of 1 ...

: Siege of Perpignan:

Perpignan Perpignan (, , ; ; ) is the prefectures in France, prefecture of the Pyrénées-Orientales departments of France, department in Southern France, in the heart of the plain of Roussillon, at the foot of the Pyrenees a few kilometres from the Me ...

is conquered by Franco-Catalan forces led by

Charles de La Porte Charles de La Porte, 1st Duke of La Meilleraye (1602 in Paris – 8 February 1664 in Paris) was a French nobleman and a Marshal of France. He was marquis then duke of La Meilleraye and peer of France, baron of Parthenay and of Saint-Maixent, co ...

after a 10-month siege. *

Briare Canal The Briare Canal (, ) is one of the oldest canals in France. Its construction started in 1604. It was the first summit level canal in Europe that was built using pound locks, connecting the Rhone-Saône and Seine valleys. It is long and is pa ...

opens throughout, the first

summit level canal A summit-level canal, sometimes called a "watershed canal" or just "summit Canal", is an artificial waterway connecting two separate river valleys. The term refers to a canal that rises to cross a summit then falls down the other side. Typical ...

in Europe built using

pound lock A lock is a device used for raising and lowering boats, ships and other watercraft between stretches of water of different levels on river and canal waterways. The distinguishing feature of a lock is a chamber in a permanently fixed position i ...

Births

*6 January:

Julien Garnier Julien Garnier (born at Connerré, France, 6 January 1643; d. in Quebec, 1730) was a French Jesuit missionary to Canada, who wrote the first known dictionaries of the Seneca language. Life Garnier entered the Society of Jesus in 1660; after two y ...

, Jesuit missionary to Canada (d. 1730) *18 February:

Marie Champmeslé Marie Champmeslé (; ''née'' Desmares ; 18 February 1642 – 15 May 1698) was a French stage actress. Biography She was born in Rouen of a wealthy family; her father's name was Desmares. She made her first appearance on the stage at Rouen wit ...

, actress (d. 1698) *21 April:

Simon de la Loubère Simon de la Loubère (; 21 April 1642 – 26 March 1729) was a French diplomat to Siam (Thailand), writer, mathematician and poet. He is credited with bringing back a document which introduced Europe to Indian astronomy, the " Siamese method ...

, diplomat, writer, mathematician and poet (d. 1729) *27 April: Francisque Millet, Flemish-born landscape painter (d. 1679) *18 June: Paul Tallement the Younger, writer (d. 1712) *11 November:

André Charles Boulle André — sometimes transliterated as Andre — is the French and Portuguese form of the name Andrew and is now also used in the English-speaking world. It used in France, Quebec, Canada and other French-speaking countries, as well in Portugal ...

, cabinetmaker (d. 1732) *24 November:

Anne Hilarion de Tourville Anne-Hilarion de Costentin, Comte de Tourville (; 24 November 1642 – 23 May 1701) was a French Navy officer and nobleman who served under King Louis XIV. Born in Paris, he was made a Marshal of France in 1693. Tourville is considered by some a ...

, naval commander (d. 1701) *8 December: Nicolas Roland, priest (d. 1678) *30 December: François Roger de Gaignières, genealogist, antiquary and collector (d. 1715) * Michel Corneille the Younger, painter, etcher and engraver (d. 1708)

Deaths

*14 May: Nicolas Ysambert, theologian (b. c. 1565) *3 July:

Marie de' Medici Marie de' Medici (; ; 26 April 1575 – 3 July 1642) was Queen of France and Navarre as the second wife of King Henry IV. Marie served as regent of France between 1610 and 1617 during the minority of her son Louis XIII. Her mandate as rege ...

, queen consort and regent (b. 1573) *12 August:

, executed (b. 1620) *29 September:

René Goupil René Goupil, (15 May 1608 – 29 September 1642), was a French Jesuit lay missionary (, "given" or "one who offers himself") who became a lay brother of the Society of Jesus shortly before his death. He was the first of the eight North Ame ...

, Jesuit missionary, first of the

Canadian Martyrs The Canadian Martyrs (), also known as the North American Martyrs ( French: ''Saints martyrs canadiens'', Holy Canadian Martyrs), were eight Jesuit missionaries from Sainte-Marie among the Hurons. They were ritually tortured and killed on variou ...

(b. 1608) *1 November:

Jean Nicolet Jean Nicolet (Nicollet), Sieur de Belleborne (159829 October 1642) was a French ''coureur des bois'' noted for exploring Lake Michigan, Mackinac Island, Green Bay, and being the first European to set foot in what is now the U.S. state of Wisc ...

, explorer, drowned in Saint Lawrence River (b. 1598) *4 December:

, statesman (b. 1585)Die Zeit: "Lexikon der Geschichte". 19:194.

References

{{Year in Europe, 1642 1640s in France

Incumbents

Events

Births

Deaths

See also

References