1558 CE

The Imperial Diet of the Holy Roman Empire gives recognition to Ferdinand as Holy Roman Emperor, two months after his proclamation on March 14 as the successor to his brother Charles V. Battle of Gravelines: Near the border between the Kingdom of France and the Spanish Netherlands, Spanish forces led by Lamoral, Count of Egmont, and assisted by the English Navy, inflict a major defeat on the French forces of Marshal Paul de Thermes. Queen Mary, a devout Roman Catholic dies of uterine cancer at the age of 42, and is succeeded by her younger half-sister Elizabeth, an adherent to the Protestant Church of England, beginning the Elizabethan era in British history.

In the 1550s, the 16th century.

Geopolitics & Diplomacy

  • December 5 – Less than three weeks of becoming Queen of England, Elizabeth summons the members of the English Parliament with orders to assemble at Westminster on January 23. Under Elizabeth's agenda, the Parliament is charged with restoring the laws passed at the beginning of the English Reformation, and repealing the reforms made during the reign of Queen Mary.source
  • Sorley Boy MacDonnell obtains lordship of the clan territory in Antrim from James MacDonald, 6th of Dunnyveg.Irelandsource

Conflict & Security

  • January 7 – French troops, led by François, Duke of Guise, take Calais, the last continental possession of the Kingdom of England, in the Siege of Calais.source
  • January 22 – The Livonian War begins.source
  • 28 January - Russian attack on Livonia starts the Livonian WarSwedensource
  • February 4 – (16th day of 1st month of Eiroku 1) Takeda Shingen becomes the shugo (military governor) of Shinano Province after his successful military campaign there.source
  • February 5 – Arauco War: Pedro de Avendaño, with sixty men, captures Caupolicán (the Mapuche Gran Toqui), who is leading their first revolt against the Spanish Empire (near Antihuala), encamped with a small band of followers.source
  • The King bans the use of oak for anything other than as building material for the royal navy.Swedensource
  • April 17 – The siege of Thionville in the Duchy of Luxembourg, is started by the French Army, led by François, Duke of Guise.source
  • 17 April to 23 July – The siege of ThionvilleFrancesource
  • June 13 – An armada of ships from the Ottoman Empire, dispatched by Sultan Suleiman the Magnificent at the request of King Henry II of France, sails into the Bay of Naples at Italy and attacks the city of Sorrento.source
  • June 23 – France is successful in the siege of Thionville in the Duchy of Luxembourg and recovers the fortress from the Spanish Empire after an operation that began on April 17 and lasted more than two months.source
  • July 9 – The Ottoman Empire, with 15,000 troops and 150 warships, besieges the Spanish garrison at Ciutadella de Menorca at Spain's Balearic Islands. When the town falls on July 17, the 3,099 surviving inhabitants are sold into slavery.source
  • July 13 – Battle of Gravelines: Near the border between the Kingdom of France and the Spanish Netherlands, Spanish forces led by Lamoral, Count of Egmont, and assisted by the English Navy, inflict a major defeat on the French forces of Marshal Paul de Thermes.source
  • 13 July – The Battle of GravelinesFrancesource
  • July 18 – The city of Tartu, capital of the Bishopric of Dorpat (in modern-day Estonia) surrenders to Russia.source
  • 1 to 8 January – The siege of Calais by the French army led by François, Duke of Guise, which ended with the capture of the English city.Francesource
  • Ibrahim Adil Shah I reign (since 1534) as king of the Bijapur Sultanate ends with his deathIndiasource
  • Ali Adil Shah I reign as 5th Bijapur Sultanate begins (until 1580)Indiasource

Exploration & Expansion

  • March 8 – The city of Pori (Björneborg) is founded by Duke John on the shores of the Gulf of Bothnia.source
  • October 17 – Postal history of Poland: King Sigismund II Augustus appoints an Italian merchant living in Kraków to organise a consolidated postal service in Poland, the origin of Poczta Polska.source
  • English explorer Anthony Jenkinson travels from Moscow to Astrakhan and Bukhara. He is the first Englishman to note that the Amu Darya changed course, to start flowing into the Aral Sea.source

Religion & Belief

  • Petrus Follingius is appointed and consecrated as Bishop of Turku, succeeding Mikael Agricola.Swedensource
  • May 3 – The Imperial Diet of the Holy Roman Empire gives recognition to Ferdinand as Holy Roman Emperor, two months after his proclamation on March 14 as the successor to his brother Charles V.source
  • August 22 – In Spain, Bartolomé Carranza, the Roman Catholic Archbishop of Toledo, is arrested at Torrelaguna on orders of the Grand Inquisitor, Fernando de Valdés y Salas. Carranza is brought a prisoner to Valladolid to face accusations of heresy. He remains in prison for eight years before being transferred to Rome for the Pope to hear his appeal.source
  • November 6 – On her deathbed, Queen Mary of England designates her half-sister, Elizabeth, as her successor. Both Mary and Elizabeth are daughters of the late King Henry VIII.source
  • November 17 – the Protestant Elizabeth I succeeds as Queen of England and Ireland upon the death of her Catholic half-sister Mary I. The Elizabethan Religious Settlement follows.Irelandsource

Culture & Society

  • February 2 – The University of Jena is founded in Thuringia, Germany.source
  • April 24 – Mary, Queen of Scots, marries Francis, Dauphin of France, at Notre-Dame de Paris.source
  • John Knox's attack on female rulers, The First Blast of the Trumpet Against the Monstruous Regiment of Women, is published anonymously from Geneva.source
  • Queen Elizabeth I of England grants rest and refreshment to pilgrims and travellers who pass by the Holy Well Spring at Malvern in England.source
  • A new order of mass, Liturgia eller Then Svenska Messordning, is published in both Latin and Swedish.Swedensource
  • Jöran Persson appointed royal secretary.Swedensource
  • Crown Prince Eric proposes to Elizabeth I of England.Swedensource

Births

  • January 16 – Jakobea of Baden, Margravine of Baden by birth, Duchess of Jülich-Cleves-Berg by marriage (died 1597)source
  • January or February – Hendrik Goltzius, Dutch painter (died 1617)source
  • 8 March - Gustaf Brahe, official (died 1615)Swedensource
  • June 15 – Margrave Andrew of Burgau, German nobleman, Cardinal, Bishop of Constance and Brixen (died 1600)source
  • July 11 – Robert Greene, English dramatist (died 1592)source
  • August 8 – George Clifford, 3rd Earl of Cumberland, English noble (died 1605)source
  • August 19 – François de Bourbon, Prince of Conti (died 1614)source
  • September 9 – Philippe Emmanuel, Duke of Mercœur, French soldier (died 1602)source
  • 9 September – Philippe Emmanuel, Duke of Mercœur, soldier and prominent member of the Catholic League (died 1602).Francesource
  • September 24 – Ralph Eure, 3rd Baron Eure, English politician (died 1617)source
  • October 12 – Maximilian III, Archduke of Austria (died 1618)source
  • October 30 – Jacques-Nompar de Caumont, duc de La Force, Marshal of France (died 1652)source
  • November 27 – Mingyi Swa, Crown Prince of Burma (died 1593)source
  • December 8 – François de La Rochefoucauld, French Catholic cardinal (died 1645)source
  • 8 December – François de La Rochefoucauld, Cardinal (died 1645)Francesource
  • December 9 – André du Laurens, French physician (died 1609)source
  • 30 December – Jacques-Nompar de Caumont, duc de La Force, a marshal of France and peer of France (died 1652)Francesource
  • Michael the Brave, Prince of Wallachia (1593–1601) (died 1601)source

Deaths

  • February 25 – Eleanor of Austria, Queen of Portugal and France (born 1498)source
  • March 25 – Marcos de Niza, French Franciscan explorer (born c. 1495)source
  • April 15 – Hurrem Sultan, Ruthenian-born wife of Suleiman the Magnificent (born c. 1500)source
  • April 20 – Johannes Bugenhagen, German reformer (born 1485)source
  • 26 April – Jean Fernel, physician (born 1497)Francesource
  • May 25 – Elisabeth of Brandenburg, Duchess of Brunswick-Calenberg-Göttingen (1525–1540) (born 1510)source
  • 23 August Joao De Bustamante, pioneer of the art of printing in India, specifically in Goa dies (born 1536).Indiasource
  • September 21 – Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor (born 1500)source
  • October 18 – Maria of Austria, queen of Louis II of Hungary (born 1505)source
  • October – Mellin de Saint-Gelais, French poet (born c. 1491)source
  • November 15 – The five Canterbury Martyrs, three men and two women, are burned at the stake, becoming the last of 312 Protestants put to death for heresy during the reign of England's Roman Catholic ruler, Queen Mary. Queen Mary dies two days later, bringing an end to her campaign. During the final year of Mary's reign, 49 Protestants are burned at the stake and three others die in prison while awaiting execution.source
  • November 17 – Reginald Pole, Cardinal Archbishop of Canterbury (born 1500)source
  • November 17 – (bur.) Hugh Aston, English composer (born 1485)source
  • November 17 – Queen Mary, a devout Roman Catholic dies of uterine cancer at the age of 42, and is succeeded by her younger half-sister Elizabeth, an adherent to the Protestant Church of England, beginning the Elizabethan era in British history.source
  • November 17 – Queen Mary I of England (born 1516)source
  • November 17 – Mary I, Queen of Ireland (born 1516)Irelandsource
  • December 16 – Thomas Cheney, Lord Warden of the Cinque Ports (born c. 1485)source
  • Ibrahim Adil Shah I, king of the Bijapur SultanateIndiasource