1603

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King James I of England/VI of Scotland, the first monarch to rule the Kingdoms of England and Scotland at the same time.

1603 (MDCIII) was a common year starting on Wednesday (dominical letter E) of the Gregorian calendar and a common year starting on Saturday (dominical letter B) of the Julian calendar, the 1603rd year of the Common Era (CE) and Anno Domini (AD) designations, the 603rd year of the 2nd millennium, the 3rd year of the 17th century, and the 4th year of the 1600s decade. Note that the Julian day for 1603 is 10 calendar days difference, which continued to be used from 1582 until the complete conversion of the Gregorian calendar was entirely done in 1929.

Events

January–June

• February 25 – Dutch–Portuguese War: the Portuguese ship Santa Catarina is seized by Dutch East India Company ships off Singapore. The first permanent Dutch trading post in Indonesia is established in Banten.
• March – French explorer Samuel Champlain sails to Canada.
• March 24
  • Queen Elizabeth I of England dies at Richmond Palace (having ruled since 1558) and is succeeded by her cousin's grandson, King James VI of Scotland (where he has ruled since 1567), uniting the crowns of Scotland and England.^[1]
  • Tokugawa Ieyasu is granted the title of shogun from Emperor Go-Yozei, and establishes the Tokugawa Shogunate in Edo, Japan. Start of the 265-year-long Edo period.
• March 31 – The Nine Years War (Ireland) is ended by the submission of Hugh O'Neill, Earl of Tyrone, to the English Crown and the signing of the Treaty of Mellifont.
• April 28 – The funeral of Elizabeth I of England is held in Westminster Abbey.

July–December

• July 17 or July 19 – Sir Walter Raleigh is arrested for treason.
• July 25 – James I is crowned as King of England in Westminster Abbey.^[1] Ceremonies are limited because of plague.
• September 20 – Samuel Champlain arrives back in France.^[2]
• October – Sangley Rebellion takes place, ending in the massacre of 20,000 Sangley Chinese in Manila.^[3]
• November 17 – Sir Walter Raleigh goes on trial for treason in the converted Great Hall of Winchester Castle.^[1] He is found guilty but his life is spared by King James I at this time and he is returned to imprisonment in the Tower of London.
• December 22 – Ottoman Dynasty: Sultan Mehmed III of the Ottoman Empire dies and is succeeded by his son Ahmed I.

Ongoing events

• Russian famine of 1601–1603.

Date unknown

• A rebellion breaks out in Transylvania.
• French Huguenot Pierre de Gua is granted royal permission to settle in North America, founding the colony of Acadia.
• Yaqob is deposed as Emperor of Ethiopia by Za Sellase, who appoints his cousin Za Dengel to replace him.
• Johann Bayer publishes the star atlas Uranometria, the first to cover the entire celestial sphere.^[4]
• The Accademia dei Lincei, the oldest scientific academy in the world, is founded in Rome by Federico Cesi.
• The earliest of eight companies that would eventually merge to form the Kikkoman Corporation, the ubiquitous producers of soy sauce, is founded in Japan.

Births

• January 21 – Shackerley Marmion, English dramatist (d. 1639)
• January 27 – Harbottle Grimston, English politician (d. 1685)
• March 18
  • Simon Bradstreet, English colonial magistrate (d. 1697)
  • King John IV of Portugal (d. 1656)
• April 10 – Christian, Prince Elect of Denmark, Danish prince (d. 1647)
• April 19 – Michel le Tellier, French statesman (d. 1685)
• June 17 – Joseph of Cupertino, Italian saint (d. 1663)
• July 11 – Kenelm Digby, English privateer and alchemist (d. 1665)
• July 23 – Axel Lillie, Swedish soldier and politician (d. 1662)
• August 9 – Johannes Cocceius, Dutch theologian (d. 1669)
• August 16 – Adam Olearius, German scholar (d. 1671)
• August 17 – Lennart Torstenson, Swedish soldier and military engineer (d. 1651)
• September 15 – Tokugawa Yorifusa, Japanese nobleman (d. 1661)
• October 10 – Abel Janszoon Tasman, Dutch seafarer and explorer (d. 1659)
• November 16 – Augustyn Kordecki, Polish prior of the Jasna Góra Monastery (d. 1673)
• December 21 – Roger Williams, English theologian and colonist (d. 1684)
• date unknown
  • Louis Abelly, French monk and priest (d. 1691)
  • John Ashburnham, English Member of Parliament (d. 1671)
  • Daniel Blagrave, English Member of Parliament (d. 1668)
  • Valentin Conrart, one of the founders of the Académie française (d. 1675)
  • Denis Gaultier, French lutenist and composer (d. 1672)
• probable
  • Aernout van der Neer, Dutch painter (d. 1677)
  • Alexandre de Prouville, French statesman and soldier (d. 1670)

Deaths

• February 7 – Hermann Wilken, German humanist and mathematician (b. 1522)
• February 23 – Andrea Cesalpino, Italian philosopher, physician, and botanist (b. 1519)
• March 24 – Queen Elizabeth I of England (b. 1533)
• March 25 – Ikoma Chikamasa, Japanese warlord (b. 1526)
• April 25 – George Frederick, Margrave of Brandenburg-Ansbach (b. 1539)
• June – Baldassare Donato, Italian composer and singer (b. 1525)
• June 27 – Jan Dymitr Solikowski, Polish archbishop, writer, and diplomat (b. 1539)
• July 4 – Philippe de Monte, Flemish composer (b. 1521)
• July 10 – Joan Terès i Borrull, viceroy of Catalonia (b. 1538)
• September 8 – George Carey, 2nd Baron Hunsdon, English politician (b. 1547)
• October – Ralph Lane, English explorer (b. 1530)
• November 16 – Pierre Charron, French philosopher (b. 1541)
• November 20 – Krzysztof Mikołaj "the Lightning" Radziwiłł, Polish nobleman (b. 1547)
• December 9 – William Watson, English conspirator (b. 1559)
• December 10 – William Gilbert, English scientist (plague) (b. 1544)
• December 13 – Franciscus Vieta, French mathematician (b. 1540)
• December 22 – Mehmed III, Ottoman Emperor (b. 1566)
• December 27 – Thomas Cartwright, English Puritan clergyman
• date unknown
  • Edward Fenton, English navigator
  • Aleksander Ostrogski, Polish nobleman (b. 1571)
  • Ikeda Tomomasa, Japanese military commander (b. 1544)
  • Chen Lin, general of Ming Dynasty
• probable
  • Gráinne O'Malley, Irish noblewoman and pirate (b. 1530)
  • King Idris Alooma of the Kanem-Bornu Empire

References