nonconformists and Roman Catholics in his realms; this will be withdrawn the following year under pressure from the Parliament of England. March 16 – At the Synod of Jerusalem, presided over by Dositheos II of Jerusalem, the 68 bishops and representatives from the whole of Eastern Orthodox Christendom close by approving the Orthodox dogma against the challenge of Protestantism, declaring against "the falsehoods of the adversaries which they have devised against the Eastern Church" and making a goal of "reformation of their innovations and for their return to the catholic and apostolic church in which their forefathers also were." March 17 – The Third Anglo-Dutch War begins as the Kingdom of England declares war on the Dutch Republic. April–June April 8 – France declares war on the Dutch Republic, invading the country on April 29. May 2 – John Maitland becomes Duke of Lauderdale and Earl of March. June 1 – Münster and Cologne begin their invasion of the Dutch Republic; hence 1672 becomes known as het rampjaar ("the disaster year") in the Netherlands. June 7 – Third Anglo-Dutch War – Battle of Solebay: An indecisive sea battle results, between the Dutch Republic, and the joined forces of England and France. June 12 – French forces under King Louis XIV cross the Rhine into the Netherlands; the city of Utrecht is occupied by the French Army. July–September July 4 – William III of Orange is appointed Stadtholder of Holland and Zeeland. August 20 – Johan de Witt, Grand Pensionary of Holland and his brother Cornelis de Witt are killed by an Orangist mob in The Hague. September 10 – William III of Orange, Stadtholder of the Dutch Republic, dismisses nine of the regenten who lead cities in the Netherlands, after being granted authority by the States-General. September 15 – In India, Admiral Mai Nayak Bhandari of the Maratha Empire captures the island of Khanderi. September 16 – The Board of Trade is created in England by a merger of the Council of Trade and the Council of Foreign Plantations, both of which had been created by King Charles II in 1660, under the name The Board of Trade and Plantations. The Earl of Shaftesbury is appointed as the first Lord of Trade, administering the Board until its dissolution in 1676. September 26 – General Raimondo Montecuccoli, commander of the army of the Holy Roman Empire, joins forces with the Brandenburg