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The 1590s

629 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.

1590 CE58 entries

  • March 14 – Battle of Ivry: Henry IV of France again defeats the forces of the Catholic League, under Charles, Duke of Mayenne.
  • October 16 – Saadian invasion of the Songhai Empire: An army of 20,000 troops, led by Judar Pasha is dispatched from Marrakesh in the Saadi Sultanate (now Morocco), on orders of Sultan Ahmad al-Mansur. The Saadi Army's objective is to conquer the Songhai Empire, led by the Emperor Askia Ishaq II, in North Africa, corresponding to what is now the Republic of Mali.
  • December 7 – North Berwick witch trials: Agnes Sampson is questioned by King James VI of Scotland, and confesses to practising witchcraft. She will be executed on January 28.

1591 CE72 entries

  • February 25 – Poet Edmund Spenser is granted an annual pension of 50 pounds sterling by Queen Elizabeth I of England in recognition of his publication of The Faerie Queen. The pension is paid in quarterly installments of 12s. 10d. on March 25, June 24, September 29 and December 25.
  • March 13 – Battle of Tondibi: In Mali, forces sent by the Saadi dynasty ruler of Morocco, Ahmad al-Mansur, and led by Judar Pasha, defeat the Songhai Empire, despite being outnumbered by at least five to one.
  • May 30 – Timbuktu is captured by an expedition of Arma people sent by the Saadi ruler of Morocco and led by Judar Pasha.

1592 CE62 entries

  • June 10 – The Siege of Bihać begins in the Kingdom of Croatia, by Telli Hasan Pasha (Hasan Predojević) of the Ottoman Empire. Bihać is captured on June 19 and is lost for Croatia forever.
  • July 20 – The Japanese capture the Korean capital Hanyang, causing Seonjo to request the assistance of Ming dynasty Chinese forces, who recapture the city a year later.
  • November 17 – Sigismund III Vasa becomes the new King of Sweden upon the death of his father, King John III.

1593 CE61 entries

  • May 5 – "Dutch church libel" bills posted in London threaten Protestant refugees from France and the Netherlands, alluding to Christopher Marlowe's plays.
  • May 12 – English dramatist Thomas Kyd is arrested over the "Dutch church libel". "Atheist" literature found in his home is claimed to be Marlowe's.
  • October 11 – The Battle of Belleek takes place at County Fermanagh in Ireland as an English expeditionary force led by Henry Bagenal defeats Irish troops commanded by the Lord of Fermanagh.

1594 CE66 entries

  • February 27 – The coronation of Henry IV as King of France takes place at Chartres Cathedral.
  • June 11 – Philip II of Spain recognizes the rights and privileges of the local nobles and chieftains in the Philippines, which paves the way for the stabilization of the rule of the Principalía.
  • December 15 – King Udai Singh of Marwar (now the Rajasthan and Punjab states of India and the Punjab province of Pakistan) returns to Lahore after having captured the Siwana fort.

1595 CE62 entries

  • January 28 – The Principality of Transylvania (now encompassing most of Romania) joins the Holy League alliance with the Holy Roman Empire in a war against the Ottoman Empire, as Stephen Bocskai signs a treaty at Prague on behalf of Prince Sigismund Báthory.
  • November 9 – In India, Prince Man Singh I, Maharaja of Amber within the Mughal Empire, becomes the Mughal Governor (subahdar) of Bengal in what is now Bangladesh and the Indian state of West Bengal. He lays the foundations of a new capital of Bengal, Akbarnagar (now Rajmahal, Jharkhand state).
  • December 9 – What is probably the first performance of William Shakespeare's play, Richard II, takes place in London.

1596 CE60 entries

  • February 14 – Archbishop John Whitgift begins building his hospital at Croydon.
  • March 15 – During Spain's Brittany Campaign during the Anglo-Spanish War, a Spanish ship carrying 25 soldiers invades England after arriving at Cawsand Bay in Cornwall. After starting a fire, the Spanish retreat.
  • September 20 – Diego de Montemayor founds the city of Monterrey, Mexico.

1597 CE67 entries

  • April 23 – Probable first performance of William Shakespeare's The Merry Wives of Windsor.
  • August 28 – Imjin War: Battle of Chilcheollyang – The Japanese fleet defeats the Koreans, in their only naval victory of the war.
  • October 18 – The 3rd Spanish Armada, a fleet of 140 ships, departs from the port of La Coruña with 12,634 soldiers and sailors and a plan to invade the British Isles with a landing at Falmouth in Cornwall.

1598 CE69 entries

  • September 13 – Philip III becomes the new King of Spain upon the death of his father Philip II.
  • November 10 (11th waxing of Tazaungmon 960 ME) – In what is now the Rakhine State of Myanmar, King Min Razagyi of Arakan and the rebel leader Minye Thihathu begin their assault on Pegu, the remaining portion of the Toungoo Empire in southern Burma.
  • December 16 (Keichō 3, 19th day of the 11th month, lunar calendar) – Battle of Noryang: An allied Korean and Chinese fleet under Korean Admiral Yi Sun-sin and Chinese Admiral Chen Lin defeats the Japanese navy, ending the Japanese invasions of Korea (1592–98).

1599 CE52 entries

  • July 17 – Second Dutch Expedition to East Indies: A Dutch fleet returns to Amsterdam from what is now Indonesia, carrying 600,000 pounds of pepper and 250,000 pounds of cloves and nutmeg.
  • September 21 – The first reported performance at the Globe Theatre in London (erected over Spring/Summer), a presentation of Shakespeare's Julius Caesar (probably new to that year), is recorded by Swiss traveller Thomas Platter the Younger.
  • November 10 – The Åbo Bloodbath takes place in Åbo (Turku), in modern-day Finland, which was part of Sweden at the time.