1685 - Definition and Overview

Events

• February 6 - James Stuart, Duke of York becomes King James II of England and Ireland and King James VII of Scotland.
• February 18 - Fort St. Louis is established by a Frenchman at Matagorda Bay thus forming the basis for France's claim to Texas.
• June 20 - Monmouth Rebellion: James Scott, 1st Duke of Monmouth, illegitimate son of King Charles II of England, Scotland and Ireland declares himself King and heir to his father's Kingdoms as James II of England and Ireland and James VII of Scotland, after already forming his own army and campaigning against his uncle.
• July 6 - Monmouth Rebellion: The Battle of Sedgemoor between the armies of King James II of England and rebel forces under Monmouth. Monmouth's army is defeated and the Duke himself is captured shortly after the battle.
• July 15 - The Duke of Monmouth is executed at Tower Hill
• October 18-19 - Louis XIV declares the Edict of Fontainebleau, which revokes the Edict of Nantes and declares Protestantism illegal.

• Adam Baldrigde founds a pirate base in St Mary Island in the Madagascar

Births

• February 23 - George Frideric Handel, composer
• March 12 - George Berkeley, Philosopher (d. 1753)
• March 21 - Johann Sebastian Bach, German composer
• April 15 - Empress Catherine I of Russia
• October 1 - Charles VI, Holy Roman Emperor
• October 26 - Domenico Scarlatti, composer

Deaths

• February 6 - King Charles II of England, Scotland and Ireland
• February 11 - David Teniers III, Flemish painter.
• July 15 - James Scott, 1st Duke of Monmouth (beheaded).
• Emperor Go-Sai of Japan