John IV of Portugal (b. 1603)
John IV (Portuguese: João, pronounced [ʒuˈɐ̃w̃]; 19 March 1604 – 6 November 1656), nicknamed John the Restorer (Portuguese: João, o Restaurador), was the King of Portugal whose reign, lasting from 1640 until his death, began the Portuguese restoration of independence from Habsburg Spanish rule. His accession established the House of Braganza on the Portuguese throne, and marked the end of the 60-year-old Iberian Union, by which Portugal and Spain shared the same monarch.
Before becoming king, he was John II, 8th Duke of Braganza. He was the grandson of Catherine, Duchess of Braganza, a claimant to the crown during the Portuguese succession crisis of 1580. On the eve of his death in 1656, the Portuguese Empire was at its territorial zenith, spanning the globe.
1656Nov, 6
John IV of Portugal
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Events on 1656
- 23Jan
Lettres provinciales
Blaise Pascal publishes the first of his Lettres provinciales. - 30Jul
Battle of Warsaw (1656)
Swedish forces under the command of King Charles X Gustav defeat the forces of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth at the Battle of Warsaw. - 14Oct
Puritanism
Massachusetts enacts the first punitive legislation against the Religious Society of Friends (Quakers). The marriage of church-and-state in Puritanism makes them regard the Quakers as spiritually apostate and politically subversive.