Editing 1656 (section)

=== January–March ===
* [[January 5]] &ndash; The [[First War of Villmergen]], a civil war in the [[Old Swiss Confederacy|Confederation of Switzerland]] pitting its Protestant and Roman Catholic [[Swiss canton|cantons]] against each other, breaks out but is resolved by March 7.  The Lutheran cantons of the larger cities of Zurich, Bern and Schaffhausen battle against seven Catholic cantons of Lucerne, Schwyz, Uri, Zug, Baden Unterwalden (now Obwalden and Nidwalden) and St. Gallen.
* [[January 17]] &ndash; The [[Treaty of Königsberg (1656)|Treaty of Königsberg]] is signed, establishing an alliance between [[Charles X Gustav of Sweden]] and [[Frederick William, Elector of Brandenburg]].
* [[January 24]] &ndash; The first Jewish doctor in the [[Thirteen Colonies]] of America, [[Jacob Lumbrozo]], arrives in [[Maryland]].
* [[January 20]] &ndash; Reinforced by soldiers dispatched by the [[Viceroy of Peru]], [[Colonial Chile|Spanish Chilean]] troops defeat the indigenous [[Mapuche]] warriors in a battle at [[San Fabián de Conuco]] in what is now central Chile, turning the tide in the Spanish colonists favor in the [[Mapuche uprising of 1655|Mapuche uprising]] after more than a year.
* [[February 18]] (February 8 O.S.) &ndash; [[Battle of Golab]]: Swedish Empire troops led by [[Charles X Gustav|King Carl X Gustav]] defeat troops of the [[Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth]] commanded by General [[Stefan Czarniecki]] in the first major engagement of the [[Deluge (history)|Swedish Deluge]].
* [[February 23]] &ndash; [[London]]'s [[Lord Mayor of London|Lord Mayor]] [[Christopher Packe (politician)|Christopher Packe]] suggests to [[Oliver Cromwell]], the [[Lord Protector]] and chief executive of the [[Commonwealth of England, Scotland and Ireland]], that the monarchy should be restored with Cromwell as its King.  Cromwell declines to become King Oliver, but his right to name his successor becomes effective on May 25, 1657 with the commencement of the [[Humble Petition and Advice]].
* [[February 26]] &ndash; A rebellion of Turkish soldiers, leading to the "[[Çınar incident]]", takes place after a palace guard for Ottoman Sultan [[Mehmet IV]] turns away a representative group who had come for payment for their services during the [[Cretan War (1645–1669)|war in Crete]].  The rebellion ends with the mass killing 30 men identified by the rebels as being responsible for the non-payment.
* [[March 3]] &ndash; [[Fyodor Baykov]], the Russian Empire's first envoy to China, is admitted to the [[Forbidden City]] within [[Beijing]], after being sent by [[Alexis of Russia|Tsar Alexis]] to negotiate a trade agreement with the Emperor [[Shunzhi Emperor|Shunzi]].
* [[March 4]] &ndash; The "[[Çınar incident]]", named for the Turkish word for the [[Acer pseudoplatanus|sycamore tree]] takes place after Ottoman Sultan Mehmet IV declines the request of soldiers to have 30 named government officials put to death.  When Mehmet agrees only to dismiss the people from office, the rebels seek out the men on the list and publicly hang most of them from the cinar trees. 
* [[March 5]] &ndash; [[Zurnazen Mustafa Pasha]] is appointed as the Grand Vizier of the Ottoman Empire after persuading Mehmet IV to rescind the February 28 selection of [[Gazi Hüseyin Pasha]].  Zurnazen Mustafa's rule lasts only four hours and he is sent into exile the same day. 
* [[March 7]] &ndash; The [[First War of Villmergen]] in the Confederation of [[Switzerland]] ends with a peace agreement, mediated by France and the Duchy of Savoy, between the Protestant and Roman Catholic cantons.
* [[March 15]] &ndash; [[Battle of Jarosław (1656)|Battle of Jaroslaw]]: Almost a month after their defeat by Sweden at the Battle of Golab, Polish and Lithuanian troops commanded by [[Stefan Czarniecki]] defeat King Karl X Gustav's Swedish Army.
* [[March 23]] &ndash; Roman Catholic [[Pope Alexander VII]] issues a decree ending the [[Chinese Rites controversy]] between Jesuit missionaries (who tolerate the rites as compatible with Catholicism) and Dominican and Franciscan missionaries (who consider the Chinese rituals incompatible). The Pope rules that practices ""favorable to Chinese customs", including Confucianism and ancestor worship, can be accepted as compatible with Catholic rites.