Editing 1656 (section)

=== April–June ===
* [[April 1]] &ndash; [[John II Casimir Vasa]], [[King of Poland]], crowns the [[Black Madonna of Częstochowa]] as Queen and Protector of Poland in the cathedral of [[Lwów]], after the miraculous saving of the [[Jasna Góra Monastery]] during the [[Deluge (history)|Deluge]], an event which changed the course of the [[Second Northern War]].  The King swears a vow, the [[Lwów Oath]], pledging to protect Poland's people from being conquered again.
* [[April 2]] &ndash; The [[Treaty of Brussels (1656)|Treaty of Brussels]] is signed, creating an alliance between [[Philip IV of Spain]] and the exiled Royalists of the [[British Isles]], led by [[Charles II of England|Charles II]].
* [[April 28]] &ndash; The [[Dutch East India Company]] ship ''[[Vergulde Draeck]]'', with 193 crew aboard and a valuable cargo is wrecked off [[Ledge Point, Western Australia]], with the loss of 118 members.  Another 75 make it to shore, with limited provisions.  The ship had been bound from the [[Cape of Good Hope]] to [[Batavia, Dutch East Indies|Batavia]] in the [[Dutch East Indies]] (now Jakarta in Indonesia). 
* [[May 7]] &ndash;  Nine days after the wreck of the ''Vergulde Draeck'', a steersman and six crew members are dispatched to Batavia to get help.  The other 68 survivors remain at Ledge Point and await rescue but are not seen again.
* [[May 12]] &ndash; The Dutch capture the city of [[Colombo]], [[Sri Lanka]], marking the start of Netherlands colonial rule of [[Dutch Ceylon]].
* [[May 17]] &ndash; In elections by the nobility of Venice for the [[Doge of Venice|Leader of the Venetian Republic]], [[Francesco Cornaro (Doge)|Francesco Cornaro]] defeats [[Bertuccio Valier]].  Cornaro dies less than three weeks later, on June 5.
* [[June 15]] &ndash; [[Bertuccio Valier]] is elected as the new [[Doge of Venice|Doge of the Venetian Republic]] in Venice.
* [[June 16]] &ndash; After a 41-day voyage, the seven-member team dispatched from the ''Vergulde Draeck'' reaches Batavia and alerts Dutch East India Company officials that the ship was wrecked on April 28.  Two rescue ships, the ''Goede Hoop'' and the ''Witte Valck'' are sent to rescue the men marooned in Western Australia.  By the time the ''Goede Hoop'' arrives, the crew find no sign of the wreckage of the ''Vergulde Draeck''.
* [[June 21]] &ndash; Poland's capital, [[Warsaw]], is recaptured by Poland's [[John II Casimir Vasa]] 11 months after the capital had fallen on July 25, 1655 to Sweden. 
* [[June 27]] &ndash; The Navy of the [[Ottoman Empire]] suffers a major defeat after two days of fighting against the navies of the Republic of [[Venetian Navy|Venice]] and of Malta in the [[Battle of the Dardanelles (1656)|Battle of the Dardanelles]], one of the Turkish straits that connects the Black Sea to the Mediterranean Sea.  Out of 98 Ottoman Turkish ships under the command of Kenan Pasha, 82 are either captured or destroyed.  Venice loses only three of its ships, but its commander, Admiral Lorenzo Marcello, is killed by a direct cannon hit to his flagship.
* [[June 29]] &ndash; The [[Treaty of Marienburg]] is signed by representatives of Sweden and of Brandenburg and Prussia to create a military alliance during the [[Second Northern War]].  King Karl X Gustav signs for Sweden and the Elector [[Frederick William, Elector of Brandenburg|Friedrich Wilhelm]] signs for Brandenburg and Prussia.