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The 1570s

600 sourced entries across 10 years, inside the 16th century. Each year below opens its own page; the lines under it are that year’s highest-ranked entries.

1570 CE58 entries

  • March 28 – The ambassador of the Ottoman Sultan Selim II goes before the governing Council of the Venetian Republic and requests that Venice surrender the island of Cyprus. The Council rejects the demand and prepares to go to war with the Ottoman Empire.
  • July 22 – The siege of Nicosia by the Ottoman Empire begins in Cyprus and lasts for seven weeks.
  • August 8 – The Peace of Saint-Germain ends the Third War of Religion in France. Again, the Huguenots are promised religious freedom and political autonomy.

1571 CE58 entries

  • March 18 – The Order of the Knights of Saint John transfers the capital of Malta, from Birgu to Valletta.
  • June 3 – Following the Battle of Bangkusay Channel, the conquest of the Kingdom of Maynila is complete; Spanish Conquistador Miguel López de Legazpi makes Manila a city, and the capital of the Philippines.
  • August 29 – Liliw, Laguna, Philippines is founded by Gat Tayaw, followers and residents as a municipality of Laguna.

1572 CE62 entries

  • February 28 – In what is now the Rajasthan state in India, Maharana Pratap is crowned as the new Rana of Mewar at the Kingdom's capital at Udaipur after the death of his father, Udai Singh II.
  • March 28 – Queen Elizabeth I of England summons a new Parliament, which assembles on May 4.
  • August 18 – Huguenot King Henry III of Navarre marries Margaret of Valois, sister of King Charles and daughter of Catherine de' Medici, in a supposed attempt to reconcile Protestants and Catholics in France.

1573 CE63 entries

  • February 2 – The Wanli Era begins in Ming dynasty China on the first New Year after 9-year-old Zhu Yijun ascends the throne.
  • July 11 – The Edict of Boulogne is signed by Charles IX of France, granting limited rights to Huguenots, and ending the Fourth War of Religion in France.
  • August 27 – Oda Nobunaga drives the 15th Ashikaga shōgun Ashikaga Yoshiaki out of Kyoto, effectively destroying the Ashikaga shogunate, and historically ending the Muromachi and Sengoku periods. The Azuchi–Momoyama period of Japan begins.

1574 CE52 entries

  • April – The fort of Narnala in the Deccan falls to the Ahmadnagar Sultanate, and with it the Berar sultanate is annexed by Ahmadnagar.
  • September – A plot to assassinate John III of Sweden is discovered, headed by Charles de Mornay and implicating Charles Dancay, Hogenskild Bielke, Gustaf Banér, Pontus De la Gardie, Princess Elizabeth of Sweden, Princess Cecilia of Sweden, and Duke Charles.
  • November 22 – The Juan Fernández Islands in the South Pacific Ocean are discovered by Spanish sailor Juan Fernández.

1575 CE60 entries

  • June 28 – Battle of Nagashino: Oda Nobunaga defeats Takeda Katsuyori in Japan's first modern battle.
  • July 26 – Edmund Grindal succeeds Matthew Parker as Archbishop of Canterbury.
  • October 10 – Battle of Dormans: Catholic forces under Henry I, Duke of Guise defeat the Protestants, capturing Philippe de Mornay among others.

1576 CE71 entries

  • 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.
  • July 12 – The Mughal Empire annexes Bengal after defeating the Bengal Sultanate at the Battle of Rajmahal.
  • December – James Burbage opens the first permanent public playhouse in Britain, The Theatre.

1577 CE53 entries

  • February 12 – The "Perpetual Edict", providing for the removal of Spanish troops from what is now the Netherlands, is signed in the city of Marche-en-Famenne in the Spanish Netherlands (now Belgium) by the Spanish Governor-General, Don Juan de Austria and representatives of the Dutch rebellion. The Perpetual Edict will last only five months, before Don Juan begins new attacks on the rebels.
  • June 29 – Mehmed II Giray becomes the new Khan of Crimea for the Ottoman Empire, after the death of his father, Devlet I Giray, from a plague.
  • December 13 – Francis Drake leaves Plymouth, England, aboard the Pelican, with four other ships and 164 men, on an expedition against the Spanish, along the Pacific coast of the Americas, which will become his circumnavigation.

1578 CE60 entries

  • August 4 – Sebastian, King of Portugal is killed in the Battle of Alcácer Quibir in North Africa while fighting the Saadi Sultanate. Sebastian's elderly uncle, Cardinal Henry, is named as the heir to the throne, initiating a succession crisis in Portugal.
  • October 21 – Battle of Wenden: The Russians are defeated by the Swedes, who proceed to take Polotsk.
  • November 19 – Humphrey Gilbert and Walter Ralegh set out from Plymouth in England, leading an expedition to establish a colony in North America. They will be forced to turn back six months later.

1579 CE63 entries

  • October 5 – At Banda Aceh, on the island of Sumatra in what is now Indonesia, Alauddin Mansur Syah becomes the new Sultan of Aceh upon the death of Sultan Zainul Abidin.
  • October 11 – Sokollu Mehmed Pasha, Grand Vizier of the Ottoman Empire for more than 14 years, is assassinated in Constantinople.
  • December 25 – In France, Protestant French troops under the command of Matthieu Merle, make a surprise attack on the Roman Catholic cathedral in the village of Mende during Mass, and kill 400 civilians.