1576 CE

Sir Henry Sidney, Lord Deputy of Ireland, shires Connacht into counties Galway, Mayo, Roscommon and Sligo. The Edict of Beaulieu, negotiated by Monsieur Francois, Duke of Anjou and brother of King Henry III of France, ends the Fifth War of Religion. By the terms of the "Peace of Monsieur" that led to agreement on the Edict, freedom of worship is granted again to the Protestant Hugueonots. The Mughal Empire annexes Bengal after defeating the Bengal Sultanate at the Battle of Rajmahal.

In the 1570s, the 16th century.

Geopolitics & Diplomacy

April 25 – Documents for the Union of Delft are signed by Dutch leader Willem van Oranj to create a federation of Holland and Zeeland.source
April – Sir Henry Sidney, Lord Deputy of Ireland, shires Connacht into counties Galway, Mayo, Roscommon and Sligo.Ireland source
20 June – Sir William Drury is appointed President of Munster.Ireland source
September 1 – Ismail Mirza, who has proclaimed himself the Shah of Safavid Iran, marches into the capital at Qazvin and ascends the throne as Shah Ismail II.source
September 2 – Simeon Bekbulatovich, who has served since the previous October as the Grand Prince of All Russia after the Tsar Ivan IV ("Ivan the Terrible") had taken leave of absence from the throne, steps down as Ivan returns to Moscow. Ivan rewards Bekbulatovich with the title of Grand Prince of Tver.source
December 19 – Representatives of the nobility of the Second Estate vote in favor of outlawing Protestantism in France.source

Conflict & Security

February 5 – King Henry of Navarre, captive in France since 1572 and alive only because he converted to Catholicism, escapes to Tours and formally reverts to the Protestant faith.source
9 March – Walter Devereux, Earl of Essex, is appointed Earl Marshal of Ireland.Ireland source
March 11 – The city of Fez, part of the Saadi Sultanate in modern-day Morocco is captured by Ottoman forces led by Abd al-Malik, in an attempt to overthrow the Sultan Muhammed al-Mutawakkil and to make the Sultanate a vassal of the Ottoman Empire.source
April 14 – Ishiyama Hongan-ji War: In Japan, the Third Battle of Ishiyama begins as Oda Nobunaga sends 10,000 soldiers against the Ashikaga shogunate to capture the Honganji Temple.source
May 14 – Tahmasp I, the Shah of Safavid Iran for almost 52 years, is accidentally poisoned after being treated by the palace physician, Abu Naser Gilani. Tahmasp's death is followed by a deadly struggle for control of Iran.source
May 15 – Tahmap's son Haydar Mirza Safavi declares himself the new Safavid Shah of Iran, the day after the death of his father. Later in the day, Haydar is assassinated by members of the palace guard who are loyal to Haydar's brother, Ismail Mirza. Haydar attempts to disguise himself as a woman in the royal harem, but is discovered and beheaded.source
May 27 – An attempt by the Dutch Republic to end the Siege of Zierikzee and free the city from Spain fails after Spanish forces are tipped off about a surprise attack. Dutch Admiral Lodewijk van Boisot is killed in the battle.source
June 13 – Dutch forces withdraw to free Zierikzee, and the city is left to defend itself. The defenders then attempt negotiations with the Spanish attackers, commanded by General Cristóbal de Mondragón.source
June 18 – In the Battle of Haldighati in India, Mughal Imperial forces, led by Man Singh I of Amer, decisively defeat the Mewar Kingdom led by Maharana Pratap.source
June – the rebel sons of Richard Burke, Earl of Clanricarde, attack Athenry. They are captured and imprisoned in Dublin but escape.Ireland source
July 12 – The Mughal Empire annexes Bengal after defeating the Bengal Sultanate at the Battle of Rajmahal.source
July 25 – Rebellious Spanish troops plunder the Flemish city of Aalst and then use it as their base of operations to attack other cities.source
July 29 – The Siege of Zierikzee in the Netherlands ends with the surrender of the defenders to the Spanish Army.source
August 23 – On the island of Kyūshū in Japan, near what is now Takaharu, Miyazaki prefecture, Takahara Castle of the Itō clan is captured by 30,000 men led by the warlord Shimazu Yoshihisa, after a siege of four days.source
September 8 – The States General of the Netherlands is convened by the leaders of the States of Brabant and the County of Hainaut in order to respond to mutineering Spanish troops.source
September 10 – After a siege that has lasted a year and two days, the Spanish Army abandons its siege of the Dutch city of Woerden.source
October 20 – Spanish rebels plunder the city of Maastricht in Flanders and kill many of the civilian residents in what is later called the "Spaanse Furie" or Fury of Spain.source
November 4 – Eighty Years' War – Sack of Antwerp: In the Low Countries, mutinous Spanish soldiers sack Antwerp; after three days the city is nearly destroyed.source
November 8 – Pacification of Ghent: The States General of the Netherlands meet and unite to oppose pillaging Spanish mutineers.source
November 9 – Shah Ismail II of Iran begins the execution of all persons whom he believes are a threat to his rule, starting with his half-brothers Suleiman Mirza, Governor of Shiraz, and Mustafa Mirza. Over the next seven months, Ismail arranges the execution of six other half-brothers, Mustafa, Junayd, Mahmud, Qoli, Ahmad, and Murza.source

Exploration & Expansion

January 20 – Martín Enríquez de Almanza, Viceroy of New Spain, founds the settlement of León, in what is later the state of Guanajuato in Mexico.source
January 25 – Portuguese explorer Paulo Dias de Novais founds the settlement of São Paulo da Assumpção de Loanda on the southwestern coast of Africa, modern Luanda, capital of Angola.source
July 11 – English navigator Martin Frobisher sights Greenland.source
August 11 – English navigator Martin Frobisher, on his search for the Northwest Passage through North America, enters the bay now named after him in Canada.source

Religion & Belief

January 20 – The establishment of Roman Catholic Diocese of Macau.source
May 6 – The Edict of Beaulieu, negotiated by Monsieur Francois, Duke of Anjou and brother of King Henry III of France, ends the Fifth War of Religion. By the terms of the "Peace of Monsieur" that led to agreement on the Edict, freedom of worship is granted again to the Protestant Hugueonots.source
September 4 – In Brussels, rebels led by Jacques de Glymes of Brabant arrest the members of the Council of State that administers the city.source
September 16 – The States of Flanders convene a meeting near Ghent, where the Roman Catholic clergy, led by Martinus Rythovius, insist on measures to protect the practice of the Catholic faith in the predominantly Protestant Low Countries.source
October 26 – In Germany, Ludwig of Simmern becomes the new Elector Palatine of the Rhine 10 days after the death of his father, Frederick III, taking office at the Palatinate capital at Heidelberg as Ludwig VI.source
December 6 – Representatives of France's three estates convene at the Estates General of 1576 in Blois at the invitation of King Henri III. Of the 383 delegates, the 187 of the Third Estate (commoners) narrowly vote in favor of outlawing Protestantism and expelling Protestant pastors from the kingdom, while the 110 of the First Estate (clergy) and 86 of the Second Estate (the nobility) strongly oppose ending hostility in the name of religious tolerance.source
December 22 – Representatives of the clergy of the First Estate join the Second vote in favor of outlawing Protestantism. By January, the Edict of Beaulieu fails and the Sixth War of Religion begins later in 1577.source
The Loci Communes of Peter Martyr Vermigli (died 1562), edited by Robert le Maçon, are published in London.source
Foundation of the controversial Catholic academy Collegium Regium Stockholmense under Laurentius Nicolai in Stockholm, which provokes the Protestants.Sweden source

Health & Medicine

The 1576 Cocoliztli epidemic causes millions of deaths in the territory of New Spain, in modern-day Mexico.source

Crime & Justice

February 8 – Peter Wentworth, a Puritan M.P. of the Parliament of England, is arrested in the middle of giving an address criticizing "rumours and messages" given to suppress freedom of speech. When he says that "the devil was the first author of them, from whom proceedeth nothing but wickedness", he is interrupted and taken to the Tower of London for imprisonment.source
Sutton Valence School, by William Lambe.source
Dartford Grammar School, by William d'Aeth, Edward Gwyn and William Vaughn.source

Culture & Society

May 1 – Stephen Báthory, the Hungarian Prince of Transylvania, is crowned king of Poland.source
November 1 – Coronation of Rudolf II, Holy Roman Emperor.source
December – James Burbage opens the first permanent public playhouse in Britain, The Theatre.source
An early example of autobiography is written in English, by Thomas Whythorne.source
Konstanty Wasyl Ostrogski founds Ostroh Academy, the first university-level school in Eastern Europe.source

Births

January 5 – Anne Turner, English murderer (died 1615)source
February 2 – Alix Le Clerc, French Canoness Regular and foundress (died 1622)source
February 29 – Antonio Neri, Italian chemist (died 1614)source
March 31 – Countess Louise Juliana of Nassau, countess consort and a regent of the Palatinate (died 1644)source
May 17 – Joam Mattheus Adami, Italian Jesuit missionary (died 1633)source
May 24 – Elizabeth Carey, Lady Berkeley, English courtier (died 1635)source
July 3 – Duchess Anna of Prussia, Electress consort of Brandenburg and Duchess consort of Prussia (died 1625)source
October 6 – Roger Manners, 5th Earl of Rutland, eldest surviving son of John Manners (died 1612)source
October 7 – John Marston, English writer (died 1634)source
October 12 – Thomas Dudley, Governor of Massachusetts Bay Colony (died 1653)source
October 30 – Enrico Caterino Davila, Italian historian and diplomat (died 1631)source
October – Thomas Weelkes, English composer and organist (died 1626)source
November 18 – Philipp Ludwig II, Count of Hanau-Münzenberg (1580–1612) (died 1612)source
December 20 – Saint John Sarkander, Moravian priest (died 1620)source
Salomon de Caus, Huguenot engineer (died 1626)France source
Bucherius, Jesuit and chronological scholar (died 1665)France source
Jean Ogier de Gombauld, playwright (died 1666)France source
Approximate date – Anthony Lynch, Dominican (died after 1636)Ireland source

Deaths

January 19 – Hans Sachs, German Meistersinger (born 1494)source
February 12 – John Albert I, Duke of Mecklenburg (born 1525)source
May 14 – Tahmasp I, Shah of Persia (born 1514)source
July 2 – Josias Simler, Swiss scholar (born 1530)source
July 4 – Alonso de Solís, who was appointed by Spain as Governor of the colony of La Florida, is killed in the colonial capital at San Augustin, the modern U.S. city of St. Augustine, Florida.source
July 11 – Eleonora di Garzia di Toledo, Italian noble (died 1553)source
July 16 – Isabella de' Medici, Italian noble (died 1542)source
August 27 – Titian, Italian painter (born c. 1489)source
September 21 – Gerolamo Cardano, Italian mathematician, physician, astrologer and gambler (born 1502)source
September 22 – Walter Devereux, 1st Earl of Essex (born 1541)source
22 September – Walter Devereux, Earl of Essex, Earl Marshal of Ireland (born 1541)Ireland source
September – the Earl of Essex returns to Dublin but dies within three weeks of dysentery.Ireland source
October 12 – Maximilian II, ruler of the Holy Roman Empire and most of Central Europe since 1564, dies suddenly in Regensburg while preparing for an Imperial invasion of Poland. Maximilian's 24-year-old son Rudolf, King of the Romans as well as the King of Hungary and of Bohemia, proceeds to Vienna to assume the Imperial Throne.source
October 12 – Maximilian II, Holy Roman Emperor (born 1527)source
October 26 – Frederick III, Elector Palatine, ruler from the house of Wittelsbach (born 1515)source
November 4 – John Paulet, 2nd Marquess of Winchester (born c. 1510)source
Adam de Craponne, engineer (born 1526)France source
John III, Count of Ligny, noblemanFrance source