* 1703 – Lorenzo Ricci, Italian religious leader, 18th Superior General of the Society of Jesus ( d. 1775 )

He succeeded to the throne in 1703 on the abdication of his brother Mustafa II ( 1695 – 1703 ).

* Alexander V of Imereti ( c. 1703 / 4 – 1752 )

* 1703 – Lancelot Addison, English chaplain ( b. 1632 )

They were considered a Catholic innovation, not widely practiced until the 18th century, and were opposed vigorously in worship by a number of Protestant Reformers, including Martin Luther ( 1483 – 1546 ), John Calvin ( 1509 – 1564 ) and John Wesley ( 1703 – 1791 ).

He was the son of sultan Ahmed III ( 1703 – 30 ) and succeeded his brother Mustafa III ( 1757 – 74 ) on January 21, 1774.

Early collections of English ballads were made by Samuel Pepys ( 1633 – 1703 ) and in the Roxburghe Ballads collected by Robert Harley, 1st Earl of Oxford and Mortimer ( 1661 – 1724 ).

The first Icelandic census took place in 1703, following upon the first Danish census of 1700 – 1701.

:* John Churchill, Marquess of Blandford ( 1686 – 1703 ), elder son of the 1st Duke, died unmarried

* 1642 – Johann Christoph Bach, German composer ( d. 1703 )

* 1703 – Ferdinand Konščak, Croatian explorer ( d. 1759 )

* 1703 – Portugal and England sign the Methuen Treaty which gives preference to Portuguese imported wines into England.

He overcame the opposition, and went to learn from François Boucher ( 1703 – 1770 ), the leading painter of the time, who was also a distant relative.

Carte de la Guyane françoise et l ' isle de Cayenne effectuée en 1793 par Jacques-Nicolas Bellin ( 1703 – 1772 ) un cartographe affecté au ministère de la Marine française.

* 1633 – Samuel Pepys, English naval administrator and man of letters, posthumously famous as a diarist ( d. 1703 )

* 1703 – Shah Waliullah, Islamic Scholar and Reformer ( d. 1762 )

* 1664 – Mustafa II, Ottoman Sultan ( d. 1703 )

* 1703 – Gilbert Tennent, Irish-born religious leader ( d. 1764 )

* 1703 – In Edo ( now Tokyo ), 46 of the Forty-seven Ronin commit seppuku ( ritual suicide ) as recompense for avenging their master's death.

* 1703 12 February – The Archduke Charles was proclaimed king of Castile and Aragon in Vienna.

* September 1-Jean-François Séguier, French astronomer and botanist ( born 1703 )

Jean François Séguier ( 25 November 1703 – 1 September 1784 ) was a French astronomer and botanist from Nîmes.

* 1625 – Jean Herauld Gourville, French adventurer ( d. 1703 )

* 1703 – The Man in the Iron Mask, French prisoner ( Eustache Dauger )

* 1643 – Jean Chardin, French explorer ( d. 1703 )

* 1672 – Nicolas de Grigny, French organist and composer ( d. 1703 )

He followed up this minor success ( the French governor surrendered in the face of overwhelming force ) with a failed attempt to capture Guadeloupe in 1703, although he did significant economic damage before retreating.

* April 1 – Charles de Saint-Évremond, French soldier and writer ( d. 1703 )

* July 10 – Jean Herauld Gourville, French adventurer ( d. 1703 )

* January 12 – Charles Perrault, French folklorist ( d. 1703 )

* August 5 – Charles Clémencet, French historian ( b. 1703 )

* March 21 – Jacques-Nicolas Bellin, French cartographer ( b. 1703 )

* September 2 – Antoine Deparcieux, French mathematician ( b. 1703 )

In 1703 French settlers in Mobile established the first organized Mardi Gras celebration tradition in what was to become the United States.

* September 8 – Nicolas de Grigny, French organist and composer ( d. 1703 )

Over twenty editions were issued between 1703 and 1741, including editions in French, English, Dutch and German.

François Boucher () ( 29 September 1703 – 30 May 1770 ) was a French painter, a proponent of Rococo taste, known for his idyllic and voluptuous paintings on classical themes, decorative allegories representing the arts or pastoral occupations, intended as a sort of two-dimensional furniture.

Spanish and French attacks destroyed New Providence in 1703, creating a stronghold for pirates, and it became a thorn in the side of British merchant trade through the area.

The decision was condemned by several French bishops ; by Louis Antoine de Noailles, Archbishop of Paris ; by the theological faculties at Leuven, Douai, and eventually Paris ; and, finally, in 1703, by Pope Clement XI.

Shortly after the Peace of Ryswick ( 1697 ), the English and Germans abolished the pike and introduced ring bayonets ; and plates of them are given in Surirey de St. Remy's Mémoires d ' Artillerie, published in Paris in that year ; but owing to a military cabal they were not issued to the French infantry until 1703, using a spring-loaded locking system to prevent the bayonet from accidentally separating from the musket.

Allying himself with the French against the Habsburgs, his campaign against Tyrol in 1703 did not have success and his plans were then frustrated by the disastrous defeat at the Battle of Blenheim in 1704.

In the 18th century, the Methuen Treaty of 1703 imposed high duties on French wine.

In 1688, 1703 and 1707 the French entered the duchy and inflicted brutalities and sufferings upon the inhabitants.

By now Marshal Villeroi had replaced Boufflers as commander in the Spanish Netherlands, but although Marlborough was able to take Bonn, Huy, and Limbourg in 1703, continuing Dutch hesitancy prevented him from bringing the French to a decisive battle.

Port became very popular in England after the Methuen Treaty of 1703, when merchants were permitted to import it at a low duty, while war with France deprived English wine drinkers of French wine.

At the start of the 18th century, the region suffered during the War of the Spanish Succession when French troops occupied Malle in 1703.