Events from the year 1709 in France.
Incumbents Monarch – Louis XIV
Events 1 January – Battle of St. John's: French capture St. John's, capital of the British colony of Newfoundland. 6 January – Western Europe's Great Frost of 1709, the coldest period in 500 years, begins during the night, lasting three months, with its effects felt for the entire year.Pain, Stephanie. "1709: The year that Europe froze." New Scientist, 7 February 2009. In France, the Atlantic coast and Seine River freeze, crops fail, and 24,000 Parisians die. Floating ice enters the North Sea. 13 April – The Raudot Ordinance of 1709 becomes law in the French colony of New France, legalizing slavery. 11 September – Battle of Malplaquet (War of the Spanish Succession) fought near the French border: French strategic victory but tactical victory for the opposing alliance.
Births
7 February – Charles de Brosses, writer (died 1777) 24 February – Jacques de Vaucanson, engineer and inventor (died 1782) 14 April – Charles Collé, dramatist (died 1783) 7 August – Jean-Jacques Lefranc, Marquis de Pompignan, polymath (died 1784) 29 August – Jean-Baptiste-Louis Gresset, poet and dramatist (died 1777) 3 September – Joan Claudi Peiròt, Occitan writer (died 1795) 23 November – Julien Offray de La Mettrie, physician and philosopher (died 1751)
Full date unknown Jean Girardet, painter of portrait miniatures (died 1778)
Deaths 20 January – François de la Chaise, confessor of Louis XIV (born 1624) 9 February – François Louis, Prince of Conti, general (born 1664) 5 April – Roger de Piles, painter, engraver, art critic and diplomat (born 1635) 17 July – Pascal Collasse, composer (baptized 1649) 4 September – Jean-François Regnard, comic poet (born 1655) 17 October – François Mauriceau, obstetrician (born 1637) 8 December – Thomas Corneille, dramatist (born 1625) 13 December – Louis de Verjus, politician and diplomat (born 1629) 31 December – Pierre Cally, philosopher (born 1630)
Full date unknown Jean-Baptiste Boyer d’Éguilles, engraver, painter and collector (born 1650) Louise de Prie, royal governess (born 1624) Thierry Ruinart, monk (born 1657)
See also
References