CalendarZ

  1. Home
  2. On This Day
  3. September
  4. 17
  5. Battle of Breitenfeld (1631)

Events on September 17 in history

Battle of Breitenfeld (1631)
1631Sep, 17

Sweden wins a major victory at the Battle of Breitenfeld against the Holy Roman Empire during the Thirty Years' War.

The Battle of Breitenfeld (German: Schlacht bei Breitenfeld; Swedish: Slaget vid Breitenfeld) or First Battle of Breitenfeld (in older texts sometimes known as Battle of Leipzig), was fought at a crossroads near Breitenfeld approximately 8 km north-west of the walled city of Leipzig on 17 September (Gregorian calendar), or 7 September (Julian calendar, in wide use at the time), 1631. It was the Protestants' first major victory of the Thirty Years War.

The victory confirmed Sweden's Gustavus Adolphus of the House of Vasa as a great tactical leader and induced many Protestant German states to ally with Sweden against the German Catholic League, led by Maximilian I, Elector of Bavaria, and the Holy Roman Emperor Ferdinand II.

References

Choose Another Date

Events on 1631

  • 25Feb

    Cardinal Richelieu

    François de Bassompierre, a French courtier, is arrested on Richelieu's orders.
  • 18May

    John Winthrop

    In Dorchester, Massachusetts, John Winthrop takes the oath of office and becomes the first Governor of Massachusetts.
  • 20May

    Sack of Magdeburg

    The city of Magdeburg in Germany is seized by forces of the Holy Roman Empire and most of its inhabitants massacred, in one of the bloodiest incidents of the Thirty Years' War.
  • 17Jun

    Taj Mahal

    Mumtaz Mahal dies during childbirth. Her husband, Mughal emperor Shah Jahan I, will spend the next 17 years building her mausoleum, the Taj Mahal.
  • 20Jun

    Baltimore, County Cork

    The sack of Baltimore: The Irish village of Baltimore is attacked by Algerian pirates.