Events January–March January 14 – In the Battle of the Lines of Elvas, fought near the small city of Elvas in Portugal during the Portuguese Restoration War, the Spanish Army under the command of Luis Méndez de Haro suffers heavy casualties, with over 11,000 of its nearly 16,000 soldiers killed, wounded or taken prisoner; the smaller Portuguese force of 10,500 troops, commanded by André de Albuquerque Ribafria (who is killed in the battle) suffers less than 900 casualties. January 24 – Pierre Corneille's Oedipe premieres in Paris. January 27 – The third and final session of the Parliament of the Commonwealth of England, Scotland and Ireland is opened by Lord Protector Richard Cromwell, with Chaloner Chute as the Speaker of the House of Commons, with 567 members. "Cromwell's Other House", which replaced the House of Lords during the last years of the Protectorate, opens on the same day, with Richard Cromwell as its speaker. January 31 – Giovanna De Grandis is arrested in Rome and charged with trafficking the lethal Aqua Tofana poison. On February 2, she implicates the mastermind of the poisoners, Gironima Spana, starting the case of the Spana Prosecution that eventually leads to the arrest and trial of 40 people. February 2 – Jan van Riebeeck produces the first South African wine, at the Cape of Good Hope. February 11 – The Assault on Copenhagen by Swedish forces is beaten back, with heavy losses. February 16 – The first known cheque (400 pounds) is written. March 1 – In exile in the Netherlands while plotting the restoration of the monarchy to England, Scotland and Ireland, Charles, son of the late King Charles I appoints seven royalists (including six from the "Sealed Knot" group to a "Great Trust and Commission" to make plans for a post-restoration government. The Great Trust is led by Charles's trusted advisor, Edward Hyde. March 9 – Sir Lislebone Long is elected as the Speaker of the House of Commons by the Third Protectorate Parliament after Chaloner Chute becomes seriously ill. Long serves only six days before dying on March 16. Chute remains Speaker but dies on April 14 and is replaced by Thomas Bampfield. March 11 – Prince Dara Shikoh, who had been the heir apparent to the throne of the Mughal Empire in India until the overthrow of his father, Shah Jahan, makes a stand near Ajmer to fight the armies sent