1580 CE

Miler Magrath is deposed as Roman Catholic Bishop of Down and Connor by Pope Gregory XIII for heresy, having for a decade simultaneously held bishoprics in the Protestant Church of Ireland. The Ostrog Bible, the first complete printed Bible translation into a Slavic language (Old Church Slavonic), is first printed at Ostroh in the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth (modern-day Ukraine) by Ivan Fyodorov. Battle of Glenmalure in the Second Desmond Rebellion: An Irish Catholic force made up of the Gaelic clans led by Fiach McHugh O'Byrne and James Eustace, Viscount Baltinglass of the Pale, defeat the English Army under the Lord Deputy of Ireland, Lord Grey, at the O'Byrne's mountain stronghold of Glenmalure. Francis Cosby is among the English dead.

In the 1580s, the 16th century.

Geopolitics & Diplomacy

  • March 25 – Iberian Union: King Philip II of Spain becomes King of Portugal under the name Philip I, following the death without heirs of King Henry of Portugal, in a personal union of the crowns, thus maintaining Portuguese independence (in Europe and throughout the Portuguese Empire). The Philippine Dynasty rule lasts until 1640.source
  • June 5 – In the Kingdom of Golconda (part of the modern-day Indian state of Telangana), 15-year-old Muhammad Quli Qutb Shah is proclaimed as the new Sultan upon the death of his father, Ibrahim Quli Qutb Shah Wali.source
  • June 21 (8 Cemazi ul-evvel 988 AH) – England signs a commercial treaty with the Ottoman Empire, and Sultan Murad III sends a letter to Queen Elizabeth I informing her, "Just as the merchants of Poland and France and Venice come and go, the merchants of your domain also shall bring wares to our Well-Protected Domains and take away wares." In return, Murad III is able to purchase English metals (iron, brass and tin) for his war with Iran.source
  • September 29 – Five of the seven provinces of the Dutch Republic (with the exception of Zeeland and Holland) sign the Treaty of Plessis-les-Tours, recognizing Francis, Duke of Anjou as the Republic's sovereign.source
  • October 4 – Lorenzo Suárez de Mendoza, the Spanish Count of Coruña, arrives in Mexico City to take office as the Viceroy of New Spain, administering Mexico and Central America on behalf of King Philip II.source

Conflict & Security

  • February 16 – The massacre of 20 artists at the Mardi Gras festivities, at the annual Carnaval de Romans during the festival, takes place in France at Romans-sur-Isère.source
  • March 3 – George de Lalaing, Count of Rennenberg defects from the Union of Utrecht and the Dutch Republic, and turns over the province of Groningen to King Philip II of Spain.source
  • March – Siege of Carrigafoyle Castle: English troops under Sir William Pelham take the castle from Irish and Spanish supporters of the Second Desmond Rebellion.Irelandsource
  • April 9 – English Fury at Mechelen: English and Scottish mercenaries, assisting the Dutch Republic, storm the Spanish Netherlands city of Mechelen (in modern-day Belgium), killing 60 civilians and plundering the town's houses and churches.source
  • June 9 – Rebels of the Dutch Union of Utrecht, aided by French soldiers, make a surprise attack on the Spanish Netherlands city of Diest in the Duchy of Brabant, and overwhelm the strategic location, now in Belgium, in one day.source
  • August 25 – Battle of Alcântara: Spanish armies, led by Fernando Álvarez de Toledo, defending the claim of King Philip II of Spain to the Portuguese throne, defeat the armies of Portuguese claimant António, Prior of Crato.source
  • 25 August – Battle of Glenmalure in the Second Desmond Rebellion: An Irish Catholic force made up of the Gaelic clans led by Fiach McHugh O'Byrne and James Eustace, Viscount Baltinglass of the Pale, defeat the English Army under the Lord Deputy of Ireland, Lord Grey, at the O'Byrne's mountain stronghold of Glenmalure. Francis Cosby is among the English dead.Irelandsource
  • 10 September – Italian and Spanish troops sent by Pope Gregory XIII to aid the Second Desmond Rebellion and commanded by Sebastiano di San Giuseppi land at Smerwick on the Dingle Peninsula.Irelandsource
  • 7 October–10 October – Siege of Smerwick: The Papal forces are besieged at Dún an Óir by the English Army and surrender. At least 400 are massacred on Lord Grey's orders. Walter Ralegh is present.Irelandsource
  • October 15 (5th waning of Tazaungmon 942 ME) – King Bayinnaung of Bruma dispatches a naval force of 200 ships and 8,000 soldiers to invade the Kingdom of Mrauk U (now in the Rakhine State of Myanmar), but the attempt fails after a year. Burmese troops are ordered withdrawn after Bayinnaung dies and is succeeded by his son Nanda Bayin.source
  • October 18 – The Siege of Steenwijk in the Dutch Republic is started by the Spanish Netherlands. The siege will last four months and the Spanish troops will capture Steenwijk on February 23.source
  • October 24 – The War of the Portuguese Succession comes to an end as Spanish forces crush the final Portuguese resistance in the last stronghold in mainland Portugal, Porto. For the next 60 years, Portugal will be ruled by the Kings of Spain.source
  • 4 November - Conquest of Kexholm in RussiaSwedensource
  • November 10 – Second Desmond Rebellion: The Siege of Smerwick (now Ard na Caithne in County Kerry, Ireland) ends after three days when their commander surrenders to the English. Members of a group of at least 400 freelance soldiers, and perhaps as many as 700, for the Papal States are summarily executed on orders of the English Lord Deputy of Ireland, Baron Grey de Wilton.source
  • In Southern India, Ibrahim Adil Shah II becomes the new Sultan of Bijapur upon the death of his father, Ali Adil Shah I.source
  • Ibrahim Adil Shah II becomes sultan of the Bijapur Sultanate, following the death of Ali Adil Shah IIndiasource
  • Muhammad Quli Qutb Shah becomes fifth sultan of the Qutb Shahi dynasty (and reigns until 1611)Indiasource
  • Pontus de la Gardie becomes Swedish commander, to combat the Russian war.Swedensource

Exploration & Expansion

  • June 11 – Within the Viceroyalty of Peru in South America Spanish explorer Juan de Garay founds the first permanent Spanish settlement at what is now the capital of Argentina, on the Rio de la Plata. Garay, who came on an expedition down the Paraná River from Asunción (now in Paraguay), arrives at the site of the failed Spanish settlement of Ciudad de Nuestra Señora Santa María del Buen Ayre, that had been created by Pedro de Mendoza in 1536 and abandoned in 1542. Garay names the new settlement "Santísima Trinidad" but the city eventually takes the name of the port, which he calls "Puerto de Santa María de los Buenos Aires."source
  • September 26 – Francis Drake returns to Plymouth, England from his voyage of circumnavigation (westbound) on the Golden Hind, the second completed in a continuous voyage, and the first under its original commander.source
  • The Old City of Zamość is established in Poland, by Jan Zamoyski.source

Religion & Belief

  • February 28 – Three Jesuit priests from Portuguese Goa, including Rodolfo Acquaviva, arrive in Agra on the mainland of India as guests of the Mughal Emperor, Akbar the Great, who is curious about Christianity. The Emperor grants land to the Jesuit fathers for the building of the first Roman Catholic Church in the Mughal Empire.source
  • March 1 – Michel de Montaigne signs the preface to his most significant work, Essays. They are published later this year.source
  • March 1 – Michel de Montaigne signs the preface to his most significant work, Essays. They are published later the same year.Francesource
  • 14 March – Miler Magrath is deposed as Roman Catholic Bishop of Down and Connor by Pope Gregory XIII for heresy, having for a decade simultaneously held bishoprics in the Protestant Church of Ireland.Irelandsource
  • May 29 – Stephen Báthory is formally crowned as Grand Duke of Lithuania at the Vilnius Cathedral.source
  • July 12 – The Ostrog Bible, the first complete printed Bible translation into a Slavic language (Old Church Slavonic), is first printed at Ostroh in the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth (modern-day Ukraine) by Ivan Fyodorov.source
  • August - Antonio Possevino inspect the Vadstena Abbey. During his visitation the abbey was reformed according to the latest regulations of the Catholic Church, and Katarina Bengtsdotter Gylta and her prioress swore the Tridentian oath from 1564.Swedensource
  • The first session of the Jewish Vaad (Council of Four Lands) is held in Lublin, Poland; 70 delegates of Jewish local qahals meet to discuss taxation, and other issues important to Jewish communities.source

Technology & Infrastructure

  • The Dutchman Willem de Wijk is authorized by the crown to command the Swedish mines.Swedensource

Health & Medicine

  • The 1580 influenza pandemic sweeps the world, starting in Asia and moving rapidly through Africa, Europe, and eventually the Americas. More than 10% of the population of Rome dies, and whole towns in Spain are depopulated.source
  • The so-called Spanish plague reaps victims in Sweden, mainly in Uppland. Uppsala University is temporarily closed.Swedensource

Crime & Justice

  • December 31 – James Douglas, 4th Earl of Morton, formerly the regent for King James VI of Scotland, is arrested during a meeting of Scotland's Privy Council at Holyrood on the accusation of James Stewart, Earl of Arran that the Earl of Morton had participated in the 1567 murder of Lord Darnley, husband of Mary, Queen of Scots and father of King James. Morton is taken to Dumbarton Castle and convicted of conspiracy to murder, and executed on June 2.source
  • William mac an Iarla Burke and his followers are hanged outside the walls of Galway by William Óge Martyn, High Sheriff of County Galway, in person, who, aware that the Mayor of Galway, Dominick Lynch, has a pardon for Burke, prevents the Mayor from arriving in time to stop the executions.Irelandsource
  • Walter Ball (Alderman) became Mayor of Dublin. He is notorious for imprisoning his Catholic mother (who died in jail) as part of the imposition of the Reformation in Ireland.Irelandsource

Climate & Environment

  • April 6 – The Dover Straits earthquake occurs.source
  • The Billy Mitchell volcano, on the island of Bougainville, undergoes a catastrophic eruption (VEI 6).source

Culture & Society

  • May – The Lipizzan stud is established by Charles II, Archduke of Austria.source
  • June 25 – The Book of Concord, a collection of Lutheran confessional documents, is published.source
  • July 24 – Portuguese succession crisis of 1580: António, Prior of Crato, a grandson of the late King Manuel by Manuel's second son, the Duke of Beja is proclaimed King of Portugal by his supporters in the city of Santarém, and popular acclamation follows in Lisbon and other locations. Portugal's parliament, the Cortes, refuses to acknowledge Antonio and he is defeated 32 days later at Alcântara.source

Births

  • January 12 – Jan Baptist van Helmont, Flemish chemist (died 1644)source
  • January 30 – Gundakar, Prince of Liechtenstein, court official in Vienna (died 1658)source
  • January – John Smith, English explorer and Virginia settler (died 1631)source
  • February 1 – Francis Fane, 1st Earl of Westmorland, English noble (died 1629)source
  • February – John Digby, 1st Earl of Bristol, English diplomat (died 1653)source
  • April 8 – William Herbert, 3rd Earl of Pembroke, English noble, courtier and patron of the arts (died 1630)source
  • April 18 – (baptism) Thomas Middleton, English playwright (died 1627)source
  • April 24 – Vincent de Paul, French priest and saint (died 1660)Francesource
  • May 6 – Charles Gonzaga, Duke of Mantua and Montferrat, French noble (died 1637)source
  • June 6 – Godefroy Wendelin, Flemish astronomer (died 1667)source
  • June 26 – Peter Claver, Spanish Jesuit priest (died 1654)source
  • September 4 – George Percy, English explorer (died 1632)source
  • September 14 – Francisco de Quevedo, Spanish writer (died 1645)source
  • 14 September – Robert Gordon of Straloch, cartographer, poet, musician, mathematician and antiquary (died 1661)Scotlandsource
  • December 1 – Nicolas-Claude Fabri de Peiresc, French astronomer (died 1637)source
  • December 4 – Samuel Argall, English adventurer and naval officer (died 1626)source
  • Alexander Leslie, 1st Earl of Leven, soldier (died 1661)Scotlandsource
  • Christina Natt och Dag, court official (died 1642)Swedensource

Deaths

  • January 31 – King Henry of Portugal (born 1512)source
  • January 31 – Portuguese succession crisis of 1580: The death of Henry, King of Portugal, with no direct heirs, leads to conflict between his potential successors, including King Philip II of Spain and Infanta Catherine, Duchess of Braganza.source
  • February 24 – Henry FitzAlan, 19th Earl of Arundel, English nobleman (born 1511)source
  • May 31 – Dorothea of Denmark, Electress Palatine, Princess of Denmark, Sweden and Norway (born 1520)source
  • June 10 – Luís de Camões, Portuguese poet (born c. 1524)source
  • August 19 – Andrea Palladio, Italian architect (born 1508)source
  • August 20 – Jerónimo Osório, Portuguese historian (born 1506)source
  • August 30 – Emmanuel Philibert, Duke of Savoy (born 1528)source
  • September 19 – Catherine Brandon, Duchess of Suffolk, English noblewoman (born 1519)source
  • September 20 – Honorat II of Savoy, French Navy admiral (born 1511)source
  • September – Anne de Pisseleu d'Heilly, French royal mistress and cultural patron (born 1508)source
  • October 8 – Hieronymus Wolf, German historian (born 1516)source
  • October 26 – Anna of Austria, Queen of Spain (born 1549)source
  • 27 October – Adam Gordon of Auchindoun, knight (born 1545)Scotlandsource
  • December 1 – Giovanni Morone, Italian Catholic cardinal (born 1509)source
  • Ibrahim Quli Qutb Shah Wali, ruler of Golkonda died (born 1518)Indiasource
  • Unknown date - Valborg Eriksdotter, royal mistress (born 1545)Swedensource