1564 CE

Battle of Angol in Chile: Spanish Conquistador Lorenzo Bernal del Mercado defeats and kills the toqui Illangulién. In India Akbar, ruler of the Mughal Empire, defeats the rebellious governor of Malwa, Abdullah Khan Uzbeg. The defeat comes the day after the Imperial Army's arrival at Indore, now in the Indian state of Madhya Pradesh. Spanish Conquistador Miguel López de Legazpi sails from Mexico. Later, he will conquer the Philippine Islands, founding Manila.

In the 1560s, the 16th century.

Geopolitics & Diplomacy

  • August 1 – Judge Francisco Ceinos becomes the new Viceroy of New Spain upon the death of Luís de Velasco.source
  • 3 September – António de Noronha becomes viceroy of India (until 1568)Indiasource
  • October 30 – The Duchy of Savoy signs the Treaty of Lausanne with the Swiss canton of Bern and relinquishes all claims to the canton of Vaud.source
  • 21 November – Peace treaty between Sweden and Russia, to last for seven years.Swedensource
  • December 3 – Ivan the Terrible, Tsar of all the Russias, sends his government a letter of abdication, ostensibly because of embezzlement and treason by the aristocracy and the clergy. Ivan leaves Moscow and moves to the city of Alexandrovskaya Sloboda, taking with him the relics of the palace and most of his royal court, until being persuaded to return in February on the promise that he will have absolute power.source
  • December 7 – King Charles IX of France agrees to the terms of a treaty with the cantons of Switzerland, agreeing for French payment of debts owed to the Swiss for loans made to Charles's father, King Henri II.source
  • approx. date – Idris Alooma starts to rule the Kanem-Bornu Empire.source

Conflict & Security

  • January 26 – Livonian War – Battle of Ula: A Lithuanian surprise attack results in a decisive defeat of the numerically superior Russian forces.source
  • February 7 (11th waning of Tabodwe 925 ME) – Burmese–Siamese War: Invaders from Burma overcome the seaside defenses of the Siamese capital at Ayutthava, capturing the batteries of cannons and a set of ships sent by Portugal to help defend the kingdom.source
  • 19 February - Armistice between Sweden and Denmark-Norway in Swedish Estonia.Swedensource
  • February 20 – A group of four men assassinate the Spanish Viceroy of Peru, Diego López de Zúñiga, 4th Count of Nieva. López is succeeded temporarily by Hernando de Saavedra.source
  • February - Sweden pillage the Norwegian provinces of Jämtland, Härjedalen and Trondheim.Swedensource
  • March 25 – Battle of Angol in Chile: Spanish Conquistador Lorenzo Bernal del Mercado defeats and kills the toqui Illangulién.source
  • August 6 – In India Akbar, ruler of the Mughal Empire, defeats the rebellious governor of Malwa, Abdullah Khan Uzbeg. The defeat comes the day after the Imperial Army's arrival at Indore, now in the Indian state of Madhya Pradesh.source
  • August 14 – Sweden's Army fights a second naval battle at Öland against Denmark and captures three Danish Navy ships (Böse Lejonet, Morian, and David) and 600 men.source
  • 14 August – Swedish siege of Lyckå in Blekinge.Swedensource
  • 16 August – A proclamation issued by the Irish administration declares that all persons assisting the rebel O'Connor and his supporters are to be treated as traitors and rebels.Irelandsource
  • 24 August - Lyckå taken by the Swedes.Swedensource
  • August 28 – King Eric XIV of Sweden, who has been commanding the Swedish Army himself since the start of the Northern Seven Years' War, turns over the responsibility to Nils Boije, who captures Varberg from Denmark.source
  • September 4 – The Ronneby Bloodbath takes place in Ronneby, Denmark (now in Sweden).source
  • 4 September - Sweden takes Danish Ronneby and massacres its inhabitants dubbed the Ronneby Bloodbath.Swedensource
  • September 10 – Battle of Kawanakajima in Japan: Takeda Shingen fights the forces of Uesugi Kenshin for the final time, to a draw.source
  • November 25 – When four divisions of the Burmese Army arrive at Lamphun, 12.5 mi from Chiang Mai, Chiang Mai's defenses flee the city. Bayinnaung spares the life of King Mekuti of Lan Na, and then spends next four months administering the annexed territory.source
  • Shane O'Neill defeats Sorley Boy MacDonnell near Coleraine.Irelandsource
  • 30–31 May - First battle of Öland (1564) off the coast of Oland, during the Nordic Seven Years War (1563-1570). On the second day of the battle, the Mars was boarded by the Danish-Lubeckian navy, caught fire and then exploded, "killing most of her crew as well as 300 of the boarders. Bagge was amongst the survivors.” The Swedish fleet withdrew to repair their fleet, returning to battle in July.Swedensource

Exploration & Expansion

  • April 20 – French explorer René Goulaine de Laudonnière and a group of 300 Huguenot Protestants depart from Le Havre on three ships (L'Élisabeth, Le Faucon and Le Breton) to colonize what is now the U.S. state of Florida.source
  • June 22 – French settlers abandon Charlesfort, the first French attempt at colonizing what is now the United States, and, with the help of a relief force commanded by René Goulaine, establish Fort Caroline in Florida, near what is now the city of Jacksonville.source
  • 22 June – French settlers abandon Charlesfort, the first French attempt at colonizing the modern-day United States, and establish Fort Caroline in FloridaFrancesource
  • September 28 – English merchant Anthony Jenkinson returns to London from his second expedition to the Grand Duchy of Moscow, having gained a considerable extension of trading rights for the English Muscovy Company.source
  • November 21 – Spanish Conquistador Miguel López de Legazpi sails from Mexico. Later, he will conquer the Philippine Islands, founding Manila.source
  • The Swedish battleship Mars was finished in 1564, under instruction from master shipwright Holgerd Olsson (Master Hollinger). It was the flagship of the Swedish fleet of 38 ships, and commanded by Admiral Jakob Bagge.Swedensource

Religion & Belief

  • July 25 – Maximilian II becomes the new Holy Roman Emperor upon the death of his father, Ferdinand I. Ferdinand's son Charles succeeds his father as the new Archduke of Austria.source

Science & Discovery

  • The first recorded report is made of a "rat king".source

Crime & Justice

  • 14 August - Action of 14 August 1564Swedensource
  • A map of Sweden, attributed to Ambrosius Thoms, was completed this year. It is presumed to have been created to aid in a coup-d’etat to liberate John III (half-brother of King Erik XIV, who would become the next King of Sweden in 1569) from Gripsholm Castle. John was imprisoned there in 1563 for treason, along with his new wife, on account of their marriage, because she was the younger sister of Poland's King Sigismund II Augustus, with whom King Erik XIV was at war.Swedensource

Disasters & Accidents

  • May 31 – The Swedish warship Mars, flagship of the Swedish Navy, catches fire while fighting against the navy of Denmark in the battle of Öland off of the coast of the island of the same name in the Baltic Sea, and sinks along with its crew of 350 sailors and 450 soldiers it had been transporting. The wreckage of the ship will go undiscovered for 447 years until being found on August 19, 2011.source
  • 27 September – Lyckås and Avaskär are burned by the Swedes who then evacuate Blekinge.Swedensource

Culture & Society

  • June - Wedding between Princess Cecilia of Sweden and Christopher II, Margrave of Baden-Rodemachern.Swedensource
  • October 10 – Lucrezia Di Siena, the first well-known female actress in Europe, begins her career by signing a contract with the Commedia dell'arte theatre company in Rome.source
  • The first Scottish Psalter is published.source

Births

  • February 15 – Galileo Galilei, Italian astronomer and physicist (died 1642)source
  • February 26 (baptized) – Christopher Marlowe, English dramatist and poet (died 1593)source
  • 7 March – Pierre Coton, Jesuit (died 1626)Francesource
  • March 20 – Thomas Morton, English bishop (died 1659)source
  • 2 April – William Bathe, Jesuit priest and linguist (died 1614)Irelandsource
  • April 26 (baptized) – William Shakespeare, English dramatist and poet (died 1616)source
  • April 30 – Francis Hay, 9th Earl of Erroll, Scottish noble (died 1631)source
  • April – Henry Percy, 9th Earl of Northumberland (died 1632)source
  • May 27 – Margherita Gonzaga, Duchess of Ferrara, Italian noble, patron of the arts (died 1618)source
  • 4 June – Ahmad Sirhindi, Indian Islamic scholar, (died 1624)Indiasource
  • June 12 – John Casimir, Duke of Saxe-Coburg (died 1633)source
  • August 18 – Federico Borromeo, Cardinal Archbishop of Milan (died 1631)source
  • September 24 – William Adams, English navigator and samurai (died 1620)source
  • September 28 – Sibylla of Anhalt, Duchess consort of Württemberg (1593-1608) (died 1614)source
  • October 15 – Henry Julius, Duke of Brunswick-Lüneburg (1589-1613) (died 1613)source
  • October 26 – Hans Leo Hassler, German composer and organist (died 1612)source
  • November 22 – Henry Brooke, 11th Baron Cobham, English peer and traitor (died 1618)source
  • Elizabeth, called Isabella, was born to John III and Catherine Jagiellon, during their imprisonment in Gripsholm Castle. She died at the age of two, also during their imprisonment, which lasted until 1567.Swedensource

Deaths

  • January 9 – Margaret Howard, Duchess of Norfolk (born 1540)source
  • 9 February – Manus O'Donnell, clan chief.Irelandsource
  • February 18 – Michelangelo, Italian artist, architect and sculptor (born 1475)source
  • February 19 – Francisco Coutinho III, Count of Redondo and the Viceroy of Portuguese India, dies and is succeeded by João de Mendonça Furtadosource
  • March 27 – Lütfi Pasha, Albanian-born Ottoman statesman, juridical scholar and poet of slave origin (born c. 1488)source
  • April 9 – Georg Hartmann, German instrument maker (born 1489)source
  • April – Pierre Belon, French naturalist (born 1517)source
  • May 2 – Cardinal Rodolfo Pio da Carpi, Italian humanist and patron of the arts (born 1500)source
  • May 27 – John Calvin, French Protestant reformer (born 1509)source
  • 27 May – John Calvin, theologian, principal developer of the system later called Calvinism (born 1509)Francesource
  • June 24 – Rani Durgavati, Indian queen (born 1524)source
  • 24 June – Rani Durgavati (born 1524).Indiasource
  • July 24 (Full moon of Wagaung 926 ME) – In Burma (now Myanmar), Min Sekkya becomes the new King of Arakan when his half-brother, King Min Saw Hla, dies at age 31 after a long illness.source
  • July 25 – Ferdinand I, Holy Roman Emperor (born 1503)source
  • August 10 – Miyoshi Nagayoshi, Japanese samurai and daimyō (born 1522)source
  • September - Klas Kristersson Horn, part of the Swedish NavySwedensource
  • October 6 – Guido Ascanio Sforza di Santa Fiora, Italian Catholic cardinal (born 1518)source
  • October 15 – Andreas Vesalius, Flemish anatomist (born 1514)source