text: The following schools are founded in England:


date: January 1

section: Births

text: January 1 – Stephen Bocskay, Prince of Transylvania (d. 1606)

source_section: Births


date: February 11

text: February 11 – Johannes Wtenbogaert, Leader of the Remonstrants (d. 1644)


date: February 24

text: February 24 – Mathias, Holy Roman Emperor (d. 1619)


date: March 1

text: March 1 – Anne Howard, Countess of Arundel, English countess and poet (d. 1630)


date: March 22

text: March 22 – Casimir VI, Duke of Pomerania and Lutheran Administrator of Cammin Prince-Bishopric (d. 1605)


date: April 4

text: April 4 – Lew Sapieha, Polish-Lithuanian noble (d. 1633)


date: April 11

text: April 11 – Frederick, Count Palatine of Zweibrücken-Vohenstrauss-Parkstein (d. 1597)


date: June 28

text: June 28 – Philip Howard, 20th Earl of Arundel, English nobleman (d. 1595)


date: August 2

text: August 2 – At Colchester in England, 10 convicted Protestant heretics are burned at the stake.


date: August 16

text: August 16 – Agostino Carracci, Italian painter and graphical artist (d. 1602)


date: August 19

text: August 19 – Frederick I, Duke of Württemberg (d. 1608)


date: August 26

text: August 26 – Sibylle of Jülich-Cleves-Berg, Duchess of Jülich-Cleves-Berg by birth and by marriage Margravine of Burgau (d. 1628)


date: September 4

text: September 4 – Sophie of Mecklenburg-Güstrow, Danish-Norwegian royal consort (d. 1631)


date: September 11

text: September 11 – Joseph Calasanz, Spanish priest and founder of Piarists (d. 1648)


date: January 2

section: Deaths

text: January 2 – Pontormo, Italian painter (b. 1494)

source_section: Deaths


date: January 8

text: January 8 – Albert Alcibiades, Margrave of Brandenburg-Kulmbach ("Albert the Warlike"), Prince of Bayreuth (b. 1522)


date: April 9

text: April 9 – Mikael Agricola, Finnish scholar (b. c. 1510)


date: April 29

text: April 29 – Lautaro, Mapuche warrior (b. 1534)


date: May 18

text: May 18 – John II, Count Palatine of Simmern, Count Palatine of Simmern (1509-1557) (b. 1492)


date: June 16

text: June 16 Sebastião I is crowned as the new King of Portugal, five days after the death of his father, King João III.

source_section: Events › April–June


date: July 16

text: July 16 – Anne of Cleves, fourth queen of Henry VIII of England (b. 1515)


date: August 18

text: August 18 – Claude de la Sengle, 48th Grandmaster of the Knights Hospitaller (b. 1494)


date: September 13

text: September 13 – John Cheke, English classical scholar and statesman (b. 1514)


date: October 5

text: October 5 or October 6 – Kamran Mirza, Mughal prince (b. 1509)


date: November 17

text: November 17 (27th day of the 10th month of Kōji 3) – Prince Michihito of Japan becomes the Emperor Ōgimachi almost two months after the September 27 death of his father, the Emperor Go-Nara.

source_section: Events › October–December


date: December 6

text: December 6 – Elisabeth of Hesse, Hereditary Princess of Saxony (b. 1502)


date: December 13

text: December 13 – Niccolò Fontana Tartaglia, Italian mathematician (b. 1499)


date: December 27

text: December 27 – Queen Dangyeong, Korean royal consort (b. 1487)


date: December 5

section: Geopolitics & Diplomacy

text: December 5 – Less than three weeks of becoming Queen of England, Elizabeth summons the members of the English Parliament with orders to assemble at Westminster on January 23. Under Elizabeth's agenda, the Parliament is charged with restoring the laws passed at the beginning of the English Reformation, and repealing the reforms made during the reign of Queen Mary.


date: January 7

section: Conflict & Security

text: January 7 – French troops, led by François, Duke of Guise, take Calais, the last continental possession of the Kingdom of England, in the Siege of Calais.

source_section: Events › January–March


date: January 22

text: January 22 – The Livonian War begins.


date: February 4

text: February 4 – (16th day of 1st month of Eiroku 1) Takeda Shingen becomes the shugo (military governor) of Shinano Province after his successful military campaign there.


date: February 5

text: February 5 – Arauco War: Pedro de Avendaño, with sixty men, captures Caupolicán (the Mapuche Gran Toqui), who is leading their first revolt against the Spanish Empire (near Antihuala), encamped with a small band of followers.


date: April 17

text: April 17 – The siege of Thionville in the Duchy of Luxembourg, is started by the French Army, led by François, Duke of Guise.


date: June 13

text: June 13 – An armada of ships from the Ottoman Empire, dispatched by Sultan Suleiman the Magnificent at the request of King Henry II of France, sails into the Bay of Naples at Italy and attacks the city of Sorrento.


date: June 23

text: June 23 – France is successful in the siege of Thionville in the Duchy of Luxembourg and recovers the fortress from the Spanish Empire after an operation that began on April 17 and lasted more than two months.


date: July 9

text: July 9 – The Ottoman Empire, with 15,000 troops and 150 warships, besieges the Spanish garrison at Ciutadella de Menorca at Spain's Balearic Islands. When the town falls on July 17, the 3,099 surviving inhabitants are sold into slavery.

source_section: Events › July–September


date: July 13

text: July 13 – Battle of Gravelines: Near the border between the Kingdom of France and the Spanish Netherlands, Spanish forces led by Lamoral, Count of Egmont, and assisted by the English Navy, inflict a major defeat on the French forces of Marshal Paul de Thermes.


date: July 18

text: July 18 – The city of Tartu, capital of the Bishopric of Dorpat (in modern-day Estonia) surrenders to Russia.


date: October 17

section: Exploration & Expansion

text: October 17 – Postal history of Poland: King Sigismund II Augustus appoints an Italian merchant living in Kraków to organise a consolidated postal service in Poland, the origin of Poczta Polska.


text: English explorer Anthony Jenkinson travels from Moscow to Astrakhan and Bukhara. He is the first Englishman to note that the Amu Darya changed course, to start flowing into the Aral Sea.

source_section: Events › Unknown


date: May 3

section: Religion & Belief

text: May 3 – The Imperial Diet of the Holy Roman Empire gives recognition to Ferdinand as Holy Roman Emperor, two months after his proclamation on March 14 as the successor to his brother Charles V.


date: August 22

text: August 22 – In Spain, Bartolomé Carranza, the Roman Catholic Archbishop of Toledo, is arrested at Torrelaguna on orders of the Grand Inquisitor, Fernando de Valdés y Salas. Carranza is brought a prisoner to Valladolid to face accusations of heresy. He remains in prison for eight years before being transferred to Rome for the Pope to hear his appeal.


date: November 6

text: November 6 – On her deathbed, Queen Mary of England designates her half-sister, Elizabeth, as her successor. Both Mary and Elizabeth are daughters of the late King Henry VIII.


date: February 2

section: Culture & Society

text: February 2 – The University of Jena is founded in Thuringia, Germany.


date: April 24

text: April 24 – Mary, Queen of Scots, marries Francis, Dauphin of France, at Notre-Dame de Paris.


text: John Knox's attack on female rulers, The First Blast of the Trumpet Against the Monstruous Regiment of Women, is published anonymously from Geneva.


text: Queen Elizabeth I of England grants rest and refreshment to pilgrims and travellers who pass by the Holy Well Spring at Malvern in England.


date: January 16

text: January 16 – Jakobea of Baden, Margravine of Baden by birth, Duchess of Jülich-Cleves-Berg by marriage (d. 1597)


date: January

text: January or February – Hendrik Goltzius, Dutch painter (d. 1617)


date: March 7

text: March 7 – Johann VII, Duke of Mecklenburg-Schwerin (1576–1592) (d. 1592)


date: June 15

text: June 15 – Margrave Andrew of Burgau, German nobleman, Cardinal, Bishop of Constance and Brixen (d. 1600)


date: July 11

text: July 11 – Robert Greene, English dramatist (d. 1592)


date: August 2

text: August 2 – Herman van den Bergh, Dutch soldier in the Eighty Years' War (d. 1611)


date: August 8

text: August 8 – George Clifford, 3rd Earl of Cumberland, English noble (d. 1605)


date: August 19

text: August 19 – François de Bourbon, Prince of Conti (d. 1614)


date: September 9

text: September 9 – Philippe Emmanuel, Duke of Mercœur, French soldier (d. 1602)


date: September 24

text: September 24 – Ralph Eure, 3rd Baron Eure, English politician (d. 1617)


date: October 30

text: October 30 – Jacques-Nompar de Caumont, duc de La Force, Marshal of France (d. 1652)


date: November 27

text: November 27 – Mingyi Swa, Crown Prince of Burma (d. 1593)


date: December 8

text: December 8 – François de La Rochefoucauld, French Catholic cardinal (d. 1645)


date: December 9

text: December 9 – André du Laurens, French physician (d. 1609)


date: February 25

text: February 25 – Eleanor of Austria, Queen of Portugal and France (b. 1498)


date: March 25

text: March 25 – Marcos de Niza, French Franciscan explorer (b. c. 1495)


date: April 15

text: April 15 – Hurrem Sultan, Ruthenian-born wife of Suleiman the Magnificent (b. c. 1500)


date: April 20

text: April 20 – Johannes Bugenhagen, German reformer (b. 1485)


date: May 25

text: May 25 – Elisabeth of Brandenburg, Duchess of Brunswick-Calenberg-Göttingen (1525–1540) (b. 1510)


date: June 28

text: June 28 – Thomas Darcy, 1st Baron Darcy of Chiche, English courtier (b. 1506)


date: October 18

text: October 18 – Maria of Austria, queen of Louis II of Hungary (b. 1505)


date: October 21

text: October 21 – J. C. Scaliger, Italian scholar (b. 1484)


date: October

text: October – Mellin de Saint-Gelais, French poet (b. c. 1491)


date: November 15

text: November 15 – Gilbert Kennedy, 3rd Earl of Cassilis, Scottish politician and judge (b. 1515)


date: November 17

text: November 17 – Reginald Pole, Cardinal Archbishop of Canterbury (b. 1500)


text: November 17 – (bur.) Hugh Aston, English composer (b. 1485)


text: November 17 – Queen Mary, a devout Roman Catholic dies of uterine cancer at the age of 42, and is succeeded by her younger half-sister Elizabeth, an adherent to the Protestant Church of England, beginning the Elizabethan era in British history.


date: December 16

text: December 16 – Thomas Cheney, Lord Warden of the Cinque Ports (b. c. 1485)


date: April 3

text: April 3 – Peace of Cateau Cambrésis: After two days of negotiations, France makes peace with England and Spain, ending the Italian War of 1551–59. France gives up most of its gains in Italy (including Savoy), retaining only Saluzzo, but keeps the three Lorraine bishoprics of Metz, Toul, and Verdun, and the formerly English town of Calais.


date: May 2

text: May 2 – John Knox returns from exile to Scotland, to become the leader of the beginning Scottish Reformation.


date: May 8

text: May 8 – Queen Elizabeth I of England gives royal assent to the Act of Supremacy 1558 (requiring any person taking public or church office in England to swear allegiance to the English monarch as Supreme Governor of the Church of England) and to the Act of Uniformity 1558 (requiring all persons in England to attend Anglican services on penalty of a fine for noncompliance).


date: September 4

text: September 4 – Gorkha state is established by Dravya Shah, beating local Khadka kings, which is the origin of the current country of Nepal.


text: Oda Nobunaga wins control of his native province of Owari.

source_section: Events › Date unknown


text: The first generation of the Protestant Reformation is completed, according to some historians.


text: Margaret of Parma becomes Governor of the Netherlands, in place of her brother, King Philip II of Spain.


text: The German Duchy of Württemberg establishes a compulsory education system for boys.


date: March 23

text: March 23 – Emperor Gelawdewos of Ethiopia, defending his lands against the invasion of Nur ibn Mujahid, Sultan of Harar, is killed in battle. His brother, Menas, succeeds him as king.


date: October 24

text: October 24 – Backed by Ottoman Empire troops, the army of Wallachia defeats the boyars at the battle of Boiani. The Ottoman central government at Constantinople confirms Petru as the rightful ruler of the principality within the Empire.


date: November 5

text: November 5 – In Scotland, Crichton Castle, home of the powerful Earl of Bothwell, is besieged and captured in an attack by the Earl of Arran.


date: November 6

text: November 6 – The Ottoman Empire ends its attempt to wrest control of the island of Bahrain from Portuguese control, after a siege of Manama Castle that began on July 2.


date: August 15

text: August 15 – Led by Don Tristán de Luna y Arellano, a Spanish missionary colony of 1,500 men, on 13 ships, arrives from Vera Cruz at Pensacola Bay, founding the oldest European settlement in the mainland U.S. (St. Augustine is founded in 1565.)


date: January 15

text: January 15 – Elizabeth I of England is crowned, in Westminster Abbey.


date: February 27

text: February 27 – Queen Elizabeth I establishes the Church of England, with the Act of Uniformity 1558 and the Act of Supremacy 1558. The Oath of Supremacy is reinstated.


date: March 31

text: March 31 – The Westminster Conference 1559 opens at Westminster Hall in London with nine leading Catholic churchmen, and nine Protestant reformers of the Church of England. The conference adjourns on April 3 for Easter and never reconvenes.


date: June 11

text: June 11 – Scottish Reformation: A Protestant mob, incited by the preaching of John Knox, sacks St Andrews Cathedral.


date: July 31

text: July 31 – Pope Paul IV authorizes the creation of the University of Douai (which will later become the University of Lille).


date: October 27

text: October 27 – Frederick III is terminated from his post as Duke of Legnica on orders of Ferdinand I, Holy Roman Emperor. The Emperor Ferdinand orders Frederick placed under house arrest, and restores Frederick's son, Henry XI as Duke of Legnica.


date: December 25

text: December 25 – After a conclave of almost four months, Giovanni Angelo Medici is elected as the 224th pope, and takes the name Pope Pius IV.


text: Pope Paul IV promulgates the Pauline Index, an early version of the Index Librorum Prohibitorum.


section: Science & Discovery

text: John Calvin publishes the final edition of the Institutes of the Christian Religion.


section: Health & Medicine

text: Jean Nicot, French ambassador to Portugal, introduces tobacco to the French court in the form of snuff, and describes its medicinal properties. The active ingredient in tobacco is later named "nicotine" in his honor.


date: May 13

section: Disasters & Accidents

text: May 13 – At Basel, the body of Dutch Anabaptist leader David Joris is exhumed and burned, following his posthumous conviction of heresy.


date: September 19

section: Climate & Environment

text: September 19 – Just weeks after arrival at Pensacola, the Spanish missionary colony is decimated by a hurricane that kills hundreds, sinks five ships, with a galleon, and grounds a caravel; the 1,000 survivors divide to relocate/resupply the settlement, but suffer famine & attacks, and abandon the effort in 1561.


date: June 22

text: June 22 – King Philip II of Spain and the 14-year-old Elisabeth of Valois are married in Spain, having married by proxy in January.


date: June 30

text: June 30 – King Henry II of France participates in a jousting tournament at the Place des Vosges in Paris, where French nobles are celebrating the marriage of Princess Elisabeth to King Philip of Spain. During competition against Gabriel de Lorges, Count of Montgomery, commander of King Henry's bodyguards, the Garde Écossaise, King Henry is struck in the eye by a splinter from Montgomery's lance and fatally injured. Henry survives for 10 days without treatment until dying from sepsis.


date: July 25

text: July 25 – The Articles of Leith are signed in Edinburgh between the Protestant Lords of the Congregation and the Roman Catholic representatives of the Scottish regent, Mary of Guise, the widow of King James V, who is ruling on behalf of her daughter, the 17-year-old Mary, Queen of Scots. The Lords, who have occupied Edinburgh since June, withdraw their troops in return for the Scottish crown's agreement to not interfere with the practice of Protestantism in Scotland.


date: September 21

text: September 21 – Francis II of France is crowned at Reims. The crown is too heavy for him, and has to be held in place by his nobles.


text: The University of Geneva is founded by John Calvin.


date: January 25

text: January 25 – Aleixo de Menezes, Roman Catholic archbishop (d. 1617)


date: February 7

text: February 7 – Catherine de Bourbon, Princess of Navarre and Duchess consort of Lorraine (d. 1604)


date: February 18

text: February 18 – Isaac Casaubon, French-born classical scholar (d. 1614)


date: February 21

text: February 21 – Nurhaci, Chinese emperor (d. 1626)


date: March 16

text: March 16 – Amar Singh I, eldest son and successor of Maharana Pratap of Mewar (d. 1620)


date: March 26

text: March 26 – Wolf Dietrich Raitenau, Prince-Bishop of Salzburg (d. 1617)


date: May 4

text: May 4 – Alice Spencer, Countess of Derby, Baroness Ellesmere and Viscountess Brackley (d. 1637)


date: July 22

text: July 22 – Lawrence of Brindisi, Italian saint (d. 1619)


date: July 27

text: July 27 – Countess Palatine Barbara of Zweibrücken-Neuburg and Countess consort of Oettingen-Oettingen (d. 1618)


date: August 18

text: August 18 – Frederik van den Bergh, Dutch soldier in the Eighty Years' War (d. 1618)


date: August 24

text: August 24 or September 1556 – Sophia Brahe, Danish astronomer, horticulturalist (d. 1643)


text: September 21 – Cigoli, Italian painter (d. 1613)


date: October 12

text: October 12 or October 22 – Jacques Sirmond, French Jesuit scholar (d. 1651)


date: November 12

text: November 12 – Yaza Datu Kalaya, Crown Princess of Burma (d. 1603)


date: January

text: January – Christina Gyllenstierna, leading opponent of King Christian II of Denmark and Norway (b. 1494)


text: March 16 – Anthony St. Leger, Lord Deputy of Ireland (b. 1496)


date: June 3

text: June 3 – Elisabeth of Nassau-Siegen, German noblewoman (b. 1488)


date: July 10

text: July 10 – Francis II becomes King of France following the death of his father, Henry II. Members of the House of Guise and the new king's mother Catherine de' Medici dispute control over the kingdom.


date: September 5

text: September 5 – The papal conclave to elect a new pope opens 18 days after the death of Pope Paul IV at the Apostolic Palace in Rome with 47 of the 55 Roman Catholic cardinals present. The conclave lasts 101 days before a successor to Pope Paul is elected.


date: September 7

text: September 7 – Robert Estienne, French printer (b. 1503)


date: September 15

text: September 15 – Isabella Jagiellon, queen consort of Hungary (d. 1519)


date: September 25

text: September 25 – At the age of 12, Petru cel Tânăr (Peter the Younger) is named as the new Prince of Wallachia at the capital, Târgoviște (now in Romania) after the death of his father, Mircea the Shepherd. In response, members of Wallachian nobility (boyars) opposed to Mircea's rule launch the first of three attempts to take the throne, fighting battles at Românești, Șerpătești and Boiani.


date: October 3

text: October 3 – Ercole II d'Este, Duke of Ferrara, Italian noble (b. 1508)


date: October 4

text: October 4 – Philip III, Count of Nassau-Weilburg (b. 1504)


date: October 6

text: October 6 – William I, Count of Nassau-Siegen (b. 1487)


date: November 5

text: November 5 – Kanō Motonobu, Japanese painter (b. 1476)


date: November 18

text: November 18 – Cuthbert Tunstall, English church leader (b. 1474)


date: November 20

text: November 20 – Frances Grey, Duchess of Suffolk, English noblewoman and claimant to the throne of England (b. 1517)


text: The heresiarch Montanus first appears in Ardaban (Mysia).

source_section: Events › By topic › Religion


text: The La Mojarra Stela 1 is produced in Mesoamerica.

source_section: Events › By place › America


text: Zhu Zhi, Chinese general and politician (d. 224)


text: Ling of Han, Chinese emperor of the Han Dynasty (d. 189)


text: Zhang Zhao, Chinese general and politician (d. 236)


text: Pontianus of Spoleto, Christian martyr and saint (d. 175)


text: Dong Zhao, Chinese official and minister (d. 236)


text: Marcus Gavius Maximus, Roman praetorian prefect


text: Zhang Daoling, Chinese Taoist master (b. AD 34)


date: February 27

text: February 27 – Treaty of Berwick: Terms are agreed upon with the Lords of the Congregation in Scotland, for forces of the Kingdom of England to enter Scotland, to expel French troops defending the Regency of Mary of Guise.


date: March

text: March – Bairam Khan, the Vakil or prime minister of India's Mughal Empire, is forced to retire by the Emperor Akbar.


date: July 6

text: July 6 – The Treaty of Edinburgh is signed between England, France and Scotland, ending the Siege of Leith. The French withdraw from Scotland, largely ending the Auld Alliance between the two countries, and also ending the wars between England and its northern neighbour.


date: January 7

text: January 7 – In the Kingdom of Scotland, French troops commanded by Henri Cleutin and Captain Corbeyran de Cardaillac Sarlabous sail across the Firth of Forth from Leith, which they are occupying, and fight with the Lords of the Congregation at Pettycur Bay near Kinghorn.


date: March 17

text: March 17 – Leaders of the Amboise conspiracy, including Godefroy de Barry, seigneur de La Renaudie, make an unsuccessful attempt to storm the château of Amboise, where the young French king and queen are residing. La Renaudie is subsequently caught and executed, along with over 1,000 of his followers.


date: May 11

text: May 11 – In the Battle of Djerba, the Ottoman fleet, commanded by Piali Pasha, overwhelms a large joint European (mainly Spanish) fleet, sinking about half its ships.


date: June 12

text: June 12 (19th day of 5th month of Eiroku 3) – In Japan, Oda Nobunaga defeats Imagawa Yoshimoto in the Battle of Okehazama.


date: August 2

text: August 2 – Livonian War – Battle of Ergeme: Russians defeat the Livonian Brothers of the Sword, precipitating the dissolution of the order.


date: September 18

text: September 18 – After Robert Sempill, 3rd Lord Sempill, a Scottish Catholic, continues to resist the Scottish Reformation, the Duke of Châtellerault and the Earl of Arran commence a siege of Castle Semple at Lochwinnoch. They begin firing artillery at the castle on September 23 and destroys the gatehouse.


date: October 19

text: October 19 – The siege of Castle Semple ends after 31 days when the defenders wave the white flag of surrender.


text: The Mongols invade and occupy Qinghai.


date: March 7

text: March 7 – A Spanish-led expedition, commanded by Juan de la Cerda, 4th Duke of Medinaceli, overruns the Tunisian island of Djerba.


date: April 15

text: April 15 – Denmark–Norway buys the Estonian island of Ösel, from its last prince-bishop.


date: August 17

text: August 17 – The Scottish Reformation Parliament adopts a Protestant confession of faith and rejects papal authority, beginning the Scottish Reformation, and disestablishing Roman Catholicism in Scotland.


date: October 4

section: Economy & Finance

text: October 4 – Queen Elizabeth of England notifies the official treasurers and Lords Mayor throughout the kingdom that the existing coins will be replaced and that those in circulation are to be devalued, to be stricken with a special mark to indicate lesser worth. Treasurers are all instructed to send the coins withdrawn from circulation to be sent to the Royal Mint to be melted down for the new coins.


date: October 29

text: October 29 – Queen Elizabeth directs the minting of the first machine produced coins in the Kingdom to completely replace hammered coinage, produced manually.


date: November 8

text: November 8 – Eloy Mestrelle is given authority to commence the production of the new English coinage on machines he has brought over from France for the purpose of mass production.


section: Technology & Infrastructure

text: The oldest surviving violin (dated inside), known as the Charles IX, is made in Cremona, in northern Italy.


date: August 21

text: August 21 – A total eclipse of the sun is observable in Europe, which inspires Tycho Brahe's interest in astronomy.


text: The first scientific society, the Academia Secretorum Naturae, is founded in Naples by Giambattista della Porta.


section: Crime & Justice

text: The great age of piracy in the Caribbean starts around this time.


text: The complete Geneva Bible is published.


text: Solihull School is founded in the West Midlands of England.


date: January 17

text: January 17 – Gaspard Bauhin, Swiss botanist (d. 1624)


date: March 13

text: March 13 – William Louis, Count of Nassau-Dillenburg, Dutch count (d. 1620)


date: June 28

text: June 28 – Giovanni Paolo Lascaris, Italian Grand Master of the Knights Hospitaller (d. 1657)


date: July 1

text: July 1 – Charles III de Croÿ, Belgian noble (d. 1612)


date: July 7

text: July 7 – Margaret Clifford, Countess of Cumberland, English noblewoman and maid of honor to Elizabeth I (d. 1616)


date: August 7

text: August 7 – Elizabeth Báthory, Hungarian noblewoman and purported serial killer (d. 1614)


date: August 19

text: August 19 – James Crichton, Scottish polymath (d. 1582)


date: August 25

text: August 25 – Pak Chin, Korean naval commander (d. 1597)


date: September 4

text: September 4 – Charles I, Count Palatine of Zweibrücken-Birkenfeld (d. 1600)


date: September 19

text: September 19 – Thomas Cavendish, English naval explorer, leader of the third expedition to circumnavigate the globe (d. 1592)


date: October 10

text: October 10 – Jacobus Arminius, Dutch theologian (d. 1609)


date: November 3

text: November 3 – Annibale Carracci, Italian painter (d. 1609)


date: December 13

text: December 13 – Maximilien de Béthune, Duke of Sully, 2nd Prime Minister of France (d. 1641)


date: December 29

text: December 29 – Wolfgang Ernst I of Isenburg-Büdingen-Birstein, German count (d. 1633)


date: January 1

text: January 1 – Joachim du Bellay, French poet (b. 1522)


date: January 8

text: January 8 – Jan Łaski, Polish Protestant evangelical reformer (b. 1499)


date: January 22

text: January 22 – Wang Zhi, Chinese pirate


date: February 7

text: February 7 – Bartolommeo Bandinelli, Florentine sculptor (b. 1493)


date: February 16

text: February 16 – Jean du Bellay, French cardinal and diplomat (b. 1493)


date: March 5

text: March 5 – Pedro Pacheco de Villena, Spanish Catholic cardinal (b. 1488)


date: April 19

text: April 19 – Philip Melanchthon, German humanist and reformer (b. 1497)


date: June 11

text: June 11 – Mary of Guise, queen of James V of Scotland and regent (b. 1515)


date: June 12

text: June 12 – Imagawa Yoshimoto, Japanese daimyō (b. 1519)


date: August 7

text: August 7 – Anastasia Romanovna, Tsarina of Russia, married to Russian Tsar Ivan the Terrible (b. 1530)


date: September 8

text: September 8 – Amy Robsart, English noblewoman (b. 1532)


date: September 29

text: September 29 – Eric XIV becomes King of Sweden, upon the death of his father, Gustav Vasa.


date: December 5

text: December 5 – Charles IX succeeds his brother Francis as King of France, after Francis dies of a severe ear infection at the age of 16. Francis's mother (Mary's mother-in-law), Catherine de' Medici, becomes regent of France.


date: December 7

text: December 7 – Ernest of Bavaria, pledge lord of the County of Glatz (b. 1500)


date: April 9

text: April 9 – Ángel de Villafañe becomes the new Governor of Spanish Florida, assuming authority over the provinces of La Florida and of Punta de Santa Elena (now Parris Island in the U.S. state of South Carolina).


date: May 8

text: May 8 – Madrid is declared the capital of Spain, by Philip II.


date: June 4

text: June 4 – The nobility of Harrien-Wierland and the town of Reval (on June 6) of the Livonian Order swear allegiance to Sweden.


date: November 28

text: November 28 – The Treaty of Vilnius is concluded during the Livonian War, between the Livonian Confederation and the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth. With the treaty, the non-Danish and non-Swedish part of Livonia, with the exception of the Free imperial city of Riga, subjects itself to Polish king and Grand Duke of Lithuania, Sigismund II Augustus with the Pacta subiectionis (Provisio ducalis). In turn, Sigismund grants protection from the Tsardom of Russia, and confirms the Livonian estates' traditional privileges, laid out in the Privilegium Sigismundi Augusti.


date: December 1

text: December 1 – In the Kingdom of Kongo, Bernardo Mpemba a Nzinga overthrows his brother, King Afonso II, and becomes King Bernardo I.


date: January 31

text: January 31 – Mughal Empire General Bairam Khan is assassinated by an Afghan warrior, Mubarak Khan Lohani, while traveling through Gujarat in India.


date: March 23

text: March 23 – Lope de Aguirre, a Basque Spanish conquistador, begins a rebellion against the Spanish Crown in an attempt to take over most of Spanish South America.


date: March 29

text: March 29 – In India, the Mughal Empire Army, led by General Adham Khan defeats the Sultanate of Malwa in a battle at Sarangpur, forcing the Sultan Baz Bahadur to flee.


date: April 14

text: April 14 – The citizens of Nuremberg see what appears to be an aerial battle, followed by the appearance of a large black triangular object and a large crash (with smoke) outside the city. A news notice (an early form of newspaper) is printed on April 14, describing the event.


date: July

text: July – Arauco War: The hated encomendero Pedro de Avendaño and two other Spaniards are killed, triggering the Second Great Rebellion of the Mapuche.


date: August 19

text: August 19 – Mary, Queen of Scots, is denied passage through England after returning from France. She arrives at Leith, Scotland later the same day.


date: October 10

text: October 10 – The Siege of Moji in Japan ends with the defenders retaining their position.


date: October 18

text: October 18 – Fourth Battle of Kawanakajima: Takeda Shingen defeats Uesugi Kenshin, in the climax of their ongoing conflicts.


date: August 20

text: August 20 – English merchant Anthony Jenkinson arrives in Moscow on his second expedition to the Grand Duchy of Moscow.


text: The first Calvinists settle in England, after fleeing Flanders.


date: January 4

text: January 4 – Paolo Battista Giudice Calvi is elected as the new Doge of the Republic of Genoa, but serves for only eight months before dying in September.


date: April 17

text: April 17 – Diego López de Zúñiga, 4th Count of Nieva becomes the fourth Spanish Viceroy of Peru, administering most of South America after the death on March 30 of Andrés Hurtado de Mendoza.


date: April 19

text: April 19 – The Edict of 19 April, confirming the recent recommendation by the Estates General, is promulgated by the regency council for King Charles IX of France in an attempt to prevent a civil war between the Roman Catholic and the Protestant Huguenot citizens of France


date: July 12

text: July 12 – Saint Basil's Cathedral in Moscow (started in 1534) is finished.


date: September 28

text: September 28 – An inconclusive three day debate begins in Maybole, Ayrshire, Scotland between Protestant reformer John Knox and Quintin Kennedy, commendator of Crossraguel Abbey, on transubstantiation. The Reformation, confirmed by the Scottish government in 1560, continues.


text: January 31 – The Ordinance of Orléans suspends the persecution of the Protestant Huguenots in Kingdom of France.


date: June 25

text: June 25 – Francis Coxe, an English astrologer, is pilloried at Cheapside in London, and makes a public confession of his involvement in "sinistral and artes".


text: Ruy López de Segura develops modern techniques of chess playing in Spain.


date: June 4

text: June 4 – The spire of Old St Paul's Cathedral in the City of London catches fire and crashes through the nave roof, probably as the result of a lightning strike. The spire is not rebuilt.


text: Between 1561 and 1670, 3,229 alleged witches are executed in southwestern Germany, most by burning.


date: February 13

text: February 13 – Queen Elizabeth of England summons the Ambassador from Spain, Álvaro de la Quadra, for a private audience to ask how the Spanish government would react if she were to marry Robert Dudley, 1st Earl of Leicester, who had recently lost his wife Amy Robsart in a questionable accident.


date: June 29

text: June 29 – Erik XIV is crowned King of Sweden.


date: September 2

text: September 2 – The Entry of Mary, Queen of Scots into Edinburgh, a civic celebration for the Queen of Scotland, is marred by religious controversy.


text: William Baldwin's Beware the Cat (written early 1553), an early example of extended fiction (specifically horror fiction) in English, is published anonymously in London. This edition appears to have been suppressed, and no copies survive.


text: The Anglo-Genevan metrical psalter is published, including the Old 100th, the version of the hymn All People That on Earth Do Dwell made from Psalm 100, attributed to the probably-Scottish clergyman and biblical translator William Kethe, exiled in Geneva.


text: Merchant Taylors' School is founded in the City of London by Sir Thomas White, Sir Richard Hilles, Emanuel Lucar, and Stephen Hales.


date: January 1

text: January 1 – Thomas Walsingham, English literary patron (d. 1630)


date: March 29

text: March 29 – Santorio Santorio, Italian biologist (d. 1636)


date: June 7

text: June 7 – John VII, Count of Nassau-Siegen (d. 1623)


date: June

text: June – Samuel Harsnett, Archbishop of York (d. 1631)


date: July 11

text: July 11 – Luís de Góngora y Argote, Spanish poet (d. 1627)


date: July 24

text: July 24 – Maria of the Palatinate-Simmern, Duchess consort of Södermanland (1579–1589) (d. 1589)


date: August 24

text: August 24 – Thomas Howard, 1st Earl of Suffolk (d. 1626)


date: September 10

text: September 10 – Hernando Arias de Saavedra, Spanish colonial governor (d. 1634)


date: September 21

text: September 21 – Edward Seymour, Viscount Beauchamp, son of Edward Seymour Sr. (d. 1612)


date: October 11

text: October 11 (bapt.) – Thomas Lake, English Secretary of State to King James I (d. 1630)


date: October 27

text: October 27 – Mary Sidney, English writer, patroness and translator (d. 1621)


date: December 1

text: December 1 – Sophie Hedwig of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel, duchess consort of Pomerania-Wolgast (1577–1592) (d. 1631)


date: December 9

text: December 9 – Edwin Sandys, English founder of the colony of Virginia (d. 1629)


date: December 16

text: December 16 – Amandus Polanus, German theologian of early Reformed orthodoxy (d. 1610)


date: January 31

text: January 31 – Menno Simons, Anabaptist religious leader and Mennonite founder (b. 1496)


text: January 31 – Bairam Khan, Turkoman noble and poet (assassinated)


date: February 13

text: February 13 – Francis I, Duke of Nevers (b. 1516)


date: March 6

text: March 6 – Gonçalo da Silveira, Portuguese Jesuit missionary (b. 1526)


date: March 24

text: March 24 – Giulio d'Este, illegitimate son of Italian noble (b. 1478)


date: May 16

text: May 16 – Jan Tarnowski, Polish noble (b. 1488)


date: June 6

text: June 6 – Ridolfo Ghirlandaio, Italian painter (b. 1483)


date: July 9

text: July 9 – Sebald Heyden, German musicologist and theologian (b. 1499)


date: September 25

text: September 25 – Sehzade Bayezid, Ottoman Prince (b. 1525)


text: October 27 – Lope de Aguirre, Basque rebel and conquistador (b. 1510)


date: November 4

text: November 4 – Upon the death of his father, Diogo I Nkumbi a Mpudi, King Afonso II Mpemba a Nzinga becomes the new monarch of the Kingdom of Kongo, located in what is now the southern portion of the Democratic Republic of Congo and the northern portion of Angola. Afonso II reigns for less than a month before being overthrown by his brother, Bernardo.


date: November 7

text: November 7 – Jeanne de Jussie, Swiss nun and writer (b. 1503)


date: November 11

text: November 11 – Hans Tausen, Danish reformer (b. 1494)


date: December 10

text: December 10 – Caspar Schwenckfeld, German theologian


date: August 7

text: August 7 – The Treaty of Mozhaysk is signed between Denmark and Russia to avoid going to war against each other over the Kingdom of Livonia, now divided into Estonia and Latvia.


date: September 20

text: September 20 – The Treaty of Hampton Court, between Queen Elizabeth I of England and Huguenot leader Louis I, Prince of Condé, is signed.


date: September 22

text: September 22 – Maximilian, son of the Emperor Ferdinand I, succeeds Ferdinand as ruler of the Kingdom of Bohemia (now the Czech Republic).


date: November 20

text: November 20 – Maximilian of Bohemia is elected King of the Romans.


date: January 6

text: January 6 – Shane O'Neill of Tír Eoghain pleads his cause at the Palace of Whitehall in London, before Queen Elizabeth I of England, who recognises his status. He returns to Ireland on May 26, and resumes his rebellious activities by November.


date: February 18

text: February 18 – The siege of the Portuguese fort of Mazagan begins in Morocco as the Sultanate tries to take back control of the area from the Portuguese occupiers.


date: March 1

text: March 1 – Over 80 Huguenots are massacred by the ultra-Catholic François, Duke of Guise in Wassy-sur-Blaise, triggering the First War of Religion in France.


date: March 4

text: March 4 – Prince Abu Abdallah Mohammed II Saadi, heir to the throne of the Sultanate of Morocco, arrives at Mazagan with 100,000 troops.


date: March 24

text: March 24 – Portuguese Navy Captain Álvaro de Carvalho reaches Mazagan in Morocco with a relief force that includes 600 well-equipped troops. Another force of 1,565 volunteers arrives on March 26 from Lisbon.


date: April 2

text: April 2 – Civil war breaks out in the Kingdom of France as Louis I, Prince of Condé, leader of the Protestant Huguenots, declares war against the French Catholic rulers, in retaliation for the March 1 massacre of Vassy. Condé and Gaspard de Coligny seize control of Orléans, and other uprisings follow throughout France.


date: May 5

text: May 5 – Prince Abdullah of Morocco withdraws his troops after seeing no way to overcome Portuguese defenses at Marzagan.


date: May 28

text: May 28 – The Siege of Rouen as Claude, Duke of Aumale, leads 3,000 French government troops against the Huguenot fortress at Rouen. The siege lasts for five months. He orders a retreat in June but returns on 29 July with a larger force and heavier artillery.


date: June 17

text: June 17 Full moon of Waso 924 ME– King King Bayinnaung of Burma establishes an army garrison at Dawei in preparation for an attack against the Siamese Kingdom of Ayutthaya.


date: August 24

text: August 24 – In the French city of Bar-sur-Seine, at least 300 Huguenots are massacred by Catholic soldiers after their success in reconquering the citadel there. The killing occurs nine days after the burning alive of 94 Huguenots at Lauzerte.


date: October 4

text: October 4 – English forces under Ambrose Dudley, 3rd Earl of Warwick, land at Le Havre to aid the Huguenots against the French Crown.


date: October 26

text: October 26 – Rouen is captured by Royalist forces under King Antoine of Navarre, who is mortally wounded.


date: November 5

text: November 5 – Battle of Corrichie in Scotland: The rebellion of George Gordon, Earl of Huntly is crushed by James Stewart, 1st Earl of Moray.


date: December 19

text: December 19 – Battle of Dreux: Huguenot and Catholic forces fight a bloody battle, narrowly won by the Catholic side. The official leaders of both armies are captured in the battle.


text: Mughal Emperor Akbar conquers Malwa, and its last Sultan, Baz Bahadur, flees.


text: The Portuguese army is defeated at the Battle of Mulleriyawa, Sri Lanka, at the hand of the Sitawaka army commanded by Prince Tikiri Bandara (King Rajasinghe), leaving 1600 dead. This is considered the worst defeat the Portuguese have suffered up to this time.


date: March 15

text: March 15 – English merchant Anthony Jenkinson has an audience with Ivan the Terrible in Moscow, before departing the city on April 27 and continuing his second expedition through the Grand Duchy of Moscow to Qazvin, capital of the Safavid dynasty in Persia.


date: May 1

text: May 1 – Jean Ribault, French navigator, lands in Florida, and later establishes a Huguenot colony at Charlesfort on Parris Island, South Carolina.


date: October

text: October – Privateer John Hawkins undertakes the first of several slave trading voyages, attacking Portuguese slave ships off the West African coast and forcibly transporting the enslaved Africans onboard to Spanish colonies in the Americas to sell. Hawkins arrives at the island of Hispaniola in the Spanish West Indies, where he illicitly sells the enslaved Africans to local colonists, as his presence is technically in violation of Spanish law.


date: January 17

text: January 17 – Huguenots are recognized under the Edict of Saint-Germain.


date: January 18

text: January 18 – The Council of Trent reconvenes, after a gap of 10 years.


date: February 12

text: February 12 – After Catherine of Austria, the former Queen Consort of Portugal decides to step down as regent for her grandson, the 8-year-old King Sebastian at the age of 55, she turns the responsibility over to her late husband King João III's younger brother, Cardinal Henrique de Aviz.


date: June 10

text: June 10 – English Catholic printer Thomas Somerset is jailed at Fleet Prison "for translating an oratyon out of Frenche, made by the Cardinall of Lorraine, and putting the same without authority in prynte." On June 27, he is summoned before the Lords of the Council for a parole hearing, but is turned down because "he seamed to go about to justifye his cause" and returned to Fleet, "there to remaine until he shall have better considered of himself." He remains imprisoned for more than 19 years before finally being released on February 28, 1582.


date: July 12

text: July 12 – Fray Diego de Landa, acting Bishop of Yucatan, burns the sacred books of the Maya.


text: The Pünte at Wiltshausen, a small, hand-operated ferry, which becomes a historic monument in the late 20th century, is first recorded.


text: Fausto Sozzini publishes Brevis explicatio in primum Johannis caput, originating Socinianism.


date: August 3

text: August 3 – A severe hailstorm causes serious damage in the German town of Wiesensteig, and leads a few days later to the demand of Mayor Ulrich von Helfenstein for the arrest of several women on charges of practicing witchcraft. Six of the women are executed, the first of 63 women and men put to death after being convicted of practicing sorcery.


date: October 19

text: October 19 – La Herradura naval disaster: Twenty-five ships sink in a storm off of the coast of Spain in the bay of La Herradura, where 28 ships had been anchored to weather the elements. At least 3,000 people are killed, and perhaps as many as 5,000, while another 2,000 survivors, mostly slaves on the galleys, are able to escape to shore.


text: January 18 – Thomas Norton and Thomas Sackville's play Gorboduc is performed for the first time, before Queen Elizabeth I of England. It is the first known English tragedy, and the first English language play to employ blank verse.


date: February 6

text: February 6 – In the Mughal Empire in India, the Emperor Akbar marries Mariam-uz-Zamani, daughter of Raja Bharmal, the ruler of the Kingdom of Amber. The marriage takes place in Sambhar in what is now the state of Rajasthan, where Akbar has stopped on his way back to the Mughal capital of Agra.


date: June 14

text: June 14 – At dinner at Dunfermline Castle, Mary, Queen of Scots, displays a gold ring set with a heart shaped diamond from her collection and declares that she will send it to Queen Elizabeth of England as a gift and a possible summit conference in the future.


text: Dudley Grammar School is established, and Gresham's School is granted a royal charter, in England.


text: Giacomo Barozzi da Vignola publishes Regola delli cinque ordini d'architettura (Rules of the Five Orders of Architecture); in succeeding centuries it will become the most published book in architectural history.


date: January

text: January – Edward Blount, English publisher (d. 1632)


date: April 24

text: April 24 – Xu Guangqi, Ming Dynasty Chinese politician, agronomist, astronomer, mathematician and lay Catholic leader (d. 1633)


date: April 25

text: April 25 – Friedrich Wilhelm I, Duke of Saxe-Weimar, German noble (d. 1602)


date: April

text: April or May – Jan Pieterszoon Sweelinck, Dutch composer (d. 1621)


date: May 26

text: May 26 – James III, Margrave of Baden-Hachberg (d. 1590)


date: June 24

text: June 24 – Duke François de Joyeuse, French churchman and politician (d. 1615)


date: July 25

text: July 25 – Katō Kiyomasa, Japanese samurai (d. 1611)


date: August 17

text: August 17 (bapt.) – Hans Leo Hassler, German composer (d. 1612)


date: September 1

text: September 1 – George, Count of Nassau-Dillenburg (1607–1620) and (1620–1623) (d. 1623)


date: September 21

text: September 21 – Vincenzo Gonzaga, Duke of Mantua and Montferrat (1587–1612) (d. 1612)


date: October 4

text: October 4 – Christian Sørensen Longomontanus, Danish astronomer (d. 1647)


text: October 19 – George Abbot, Archbishop of Canterbury (d. 1633)


date: November 25

text: November 25 – Lope de Vega, Spanish poet and dramatist (d. 1635)


date: December 14

text: December 14 – Sir Lionel Tollemache, 1st Baronet, English baronet (d. 1621)


text: January – Prince Ilie II Rareş of Moldavia (b. 1531)


date: May 4

text: May 4 – Lelio Sozzini, Italian Protestant theologian (b. 1525)


date: July 1

text: July 1 – Wilhelm IV of Eberstein, German President of the Reichskammergericht (b. 1497)


date: July 23

text: July 23 – Götz von Berlichingen, German knight and mercenary (b. 1480)


date: September 5

text: September 5 – Katharina Zell, German Protestant reformer (b. 1497)


date: October 9

text: October 9 – Gabriele Falloppio, Italian anatomist (b. 1523)


date: October

text: October – George Gordon, 4th Earl of Huntly (b. 1514)


date: November 7

text: November 7 – Maldeo Rathore, Rao of Marwar (b. 1511)


date: November 12

text: November 12 – Peter Martyr Vermigli, Italian theologian (b. 1500)


date: November 17

text: November 17 – King Antoine of Navarre, father of Henry IV of France (b. 1518)


date: November 20

text: November 20 – Giovanni de' Medici, Italian Catholic cardinal (b. 1544)


date: December 7

text: December 7 – Adrian Willaert, Flemish composer (b. c. 1490)


date: December 17

text: December 17 – Eleonora di Toledo, Grand Duchess of Tuscany (b. 1522)


date: December 27

text: December 27 – Joachim of Münsterberg-Oels, Duke of Münsterberg, Duke of Oels, Count of Kladsko, Bishop of Brandenburg (b. 1503)


date: February 1

text: February 1 – Sarsa Dengel succeeds his father Menas as Emperor of Ethiopia at age 14.


date: April 10

text: April 10 – Royal assent is given by Queen Elizabeth of England to parliamentary approval of multiple laws, including the Highways Act 1562 (requiring all householders in a parish to provide six days labor per year on building highways); the Poor Act 1562 (providing for fines for persons who refuse to contribute to a fund for relief of the poor); the Supremacy of the Crown Act 1562 (making refusal to swear allegiance to the monarch punishable as treason); and the Witchcraft Act 1562 (limiting the death penalty for witchcraft to cases where a defendant caused another person's death)


date: June 4

text: June 4 – The Parliament of Scotland passes the Witchcraft Act, making both the practice of witchcraft, and the act of consulting with witches, punishable by burning at the stake.


date: February 18

text: February 18 – François, Duke of Guise, is assassinated while besieging Orléans by Jean de Poltrot.


date: May 5

text: May 5 (3rd day of 4th month, Eiroku 6) – The Battle of Yudokoru takes place in Japan at the Inaba Province (now the eastern Tottori Prefecture), as Takanobu Takeda defeats the shogun Toyokazu Yamana.


date: May 30

text: May 30 – At Bornholm, the Danish fleet fires on the Swedish navy, leading to a Danish defeat and precipitating the Northern Seven Years' War.


date: July 28

text: July 28 – The English surrender Le Havre to the French after a siege.


date: August 13

text: August 13 – Northern Seven Years' War: Denmark–Norway and the Free City of Lübeck declare war against the Kingdom of Sweden.


date: September 4

text: September 4 – Northern Seven Years' War: King Frederick II of Denmark, advancing from Halland, takes Old Älvsborg from Sweden.


date: November 9

text: November 9 – The Army of Sweden, under the command of King Eric XIV, suffers a severe defeat in the Battle of Mared against the Army of Denmark, commanded by King Frederik II. In the battle, near what is now the city of Oskarström in Sweden, the Swedes suffer at least 2,500 casualties. The Swedish Army is able to retreat and rebuild, but the Danes plunder the village of Övraby, which is never rebuilt.


date: January 11

text: January 11 (January 2, 1563 O.S., January 11, 1563 N.S.) – The convocation of bishops and clerics of the Church of England is opened at St Paul's Cathedral in London by the Dean of the Arches, Robert Weston to agree upon the wording of what will become the Thirty-nine Articles, with the assembly adopting all but three of the Forty-two Articles promulgated during the reign of King Edward VI in 1553. The conference lasts for three months before agreeing upon the Articles to be submitted for further modification.


date: March 19

text: March 19 – The Edict of Amboise is signed at the Château d'Amboise by Catherine de' Medici, acting as regent for her son Charles IX of France, having been negotiated between the Huguenot Louis I, Prince of Condé, and Anne, duc de Montmorency, Constable of France. It accords some toleration to the Huguenots, especially to aristocrats. It officially ends the first phase of the French Wars of Religion, and the combined Huguenot and royal armies then march north to besiege the English in Le Havre.


date: November 11

text: November 11 – The Council of Trent amends existing Roman Catholic canon law to deter unannounced marriages. In order for a marriage to be recognized by the Church, the names of the bride and groom are to be announced publicly in a chapel during Mass, and registered with the parish priests of both parties.


date: December 4

text: December 4 – The Council of Trent (which had opened on December 13, 1545) officially closes. It reaffirms all major Roman Catholic doctrines, and declares the Deuterocanonical books of the Old Testament to be canonical, along with the rest of the Bible. Chapter 1, Session 24, promulgates the decree Tametsi, stipulating that for a marriage to be valid, consent (the essence of marriage) as expressed in the vows has to be given publicly before witnesses, one of whom has to be the parish priest.


date: October 7

text: October 7 – Giovanni Battista Lercari is elected as the new Doge of the Republic of Genoa.


date: April 5

text: April 5 – The English galleon ship HMS Grehound strikes a sandbar off of the coast of Rye, East Sussex and sinks with all hands in the English Channel, including the Admiral of the Narrow Seas, John Malyn.


date: August 18

text: August 18 – Merchants from the Bungo Province destroy the Portuguese settlement in Yokoseura, Japan


date: January 25

text: January 25 – In Italy, Instituto Bancario San Paolo di Torino, a constituent of the major financial group Sanpaolo IMI, is founded.


date: April 23

text: April 23 – The cornerstone is laid for the construction of El Escorial, the royal palace for the monarch of Spain. Construction will not be finished for 21 more years, with completion on September 13, 1584.


date: May 25

text: May 25 – Elizabeth College, Guernsey is founded, by order of Queen Elizabeth I of England.


date: January

text: January – Penelope Blount, Countess of Devonshire, English noblewoman (d. 1607)


date: March 5

text: March 5 – John Coke, English politician (d. 1644)


date: March 29

text: March 29 – Sir Miles Sandys, 1st Baronet, English politician (d. 1645)


date: April 15

text: April 15 – Guru Arjan Dev, fifth Sikh leader (d. 1606)


date: June 1

text: June 1 – Robert Cecil, 1st Earl of Salisbury, English statesman and spymaster (d. 1612)


date: June 4

text: June 4 – George Heriot, Scottish goldsmith and philanthropist (d. 1624)


date: September 15

text: September 15 – Elisabeth of Anhalt-Zerbst, Electress of Brandenburg (d. 1607)


date: September 30

text: September 30 – Enno III, Count of East Frisia, Count of Ostfriesland from 1599 to 1625 from the Cirksena family (d. 1625)


date: October 4

text: October 4 – Dorothea of Saxony, Duchess of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel (d. 1587)


date: October 13

text: October 13 – Francis Caracciolo, Italian Catholic priest (d. 1608)


date: October 14

text: October 14 – Jodocus Hondius, Flemish artist (d. 1633)


date: October 30

text: October 30 – Sophie of Brunswick-Lüneburg, Margrave of Brandenburg-Ansbach and Brandenburg-Kulmbach, Duchess of Hunters Village (d. 1639)


date: November 19

text: November 19 – Robert Sidney, 1st Earl of Leicester, English statesman (d. 1626)


date: November 28

text: November 28 – Hosokawa Tadaoki, Japanese daimyō (d. 1646)


date: January 4

text: January 4 – Elisabeth of Hesse, Countess Palatine of Zweibrücken, later Countess Palatine of Simmern (b. 1503)


date: February 1

text: February 1 – Emperor Menas of Ethiopia (fever) (b. 1559)


date: March 2

text: March 2 – Ercole Gonzaga, Spanish Catholic cardinal (b. 1505)


date: March 17

text: March 17 – Girolamo Seripando, Italian Catholic cardinal (b. 1493)


date: March 28

text: March 28 – Heinrich Glarean, Swiss music theorist (b. 1488)


date: April 30

text: April 30 – Henry Stafford, 1st Baron Stafford, English baron (b. 1501)


date: May 21

text: May 21 – Martynas Mažvydas, author of the first printed book in Lithuanian (b. 1510)


date: June 10

text: June 10 – William Paget, 1st Baron Paget, English statesman (b. 1506)


date: June 24

text: June 24 – Prince Yuri of Uglich (b. 1532)


date: August 18

text: August 18 – Étienne de La Boétie, French judge and writer (b. 1530)


date: August 30

text: August 30 – Wolfgang Musculus, German theologian (b. 1497)


date: September 17

text: September 17 – Henry Manners, 2nd Earl of Rutland, English soldier (b. 1526)


date: October 31

text: October 31 – Anthony Kitchin, British bishop (b. 1471)


date: December 29

text: December 29 – Sebastian Castellio, French theologian (b. 1515)


date: October 30

text: 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.


date: December 3

text: 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.


date: December 7

text: 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.


text: approx. date – Idris Alooma starts to rule the Kanem-Bornu Empire.


date: January 26

text: January 26 – Livonian War – Battle of Ula: A Lithuanian surprise attack results in a decisive defeat of the numerically superior Russian forces.


date: February 7

text: 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.


date: February 18

text: February 18 (8th waxing of Tabaung 925 ME) – The Burmese–Siamese War ends with the surrender of King Maha Chakkraphat of Ayutthaya (now Thailand) to King Bayinnaung of Burma). Chhakkraphat is allowed to go into exile and his son Mahinthrathirat is installed by Bayinnaung as the vassal king of Ayutthaya.


date: February 20

text: 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.


date: March 25

text: March 25 – Battle of Angol in Chile: Spanish Conquistador Lorenzo Bernal del Mercado defeats and kills the toqui Illangulién.


date: July 2

text: July 2 In India, the Mughal Emperor Akbar departs from the capital, Agra


date: August 6

text: 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.


date: August 14

text: 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.


date: August 28

text: 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.


date: September 4

text: September 4 – The Ronneby Bloodbath takes place in Ronneby, Denmark (now in Sweden).


date: September 10

text: September 10 – Battle of Kawanakajima in Japan: Takeda Shingen fights the forces of Uesugi Kenshin for the final time, to a draw.


date: October 23

text: October 23 – King Bayinnaung of Burma leads 64,000 men, 3,600 horses and 330 elephants on an invasion of the Lan Na kingdom


date: November 25

text: 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.


date: April 20

text: 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.


date: June 22

text: 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.


date: September 28

text: 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.


date: November 21

text: November 21 – Spanish Conquistador Miguel López de Legazpi sails from Mexico. Later, he will conquer the Philippine Islands, founding Manila.


text: The first recorded report is made of a "rat king".


date: May 31

text: 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.


date: October 10

text: 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.


text: The first Scottish Psalter is published.


date: February 26

text: February 26 (baptized) – Christopher Marlowe, English dramatist and poet (d. 1593)


date: March 20

text: March 20 – Thomas Morton, English bishop (d. 1659)


date: April 30

text: April 30 – Francis Hay, 9th Earl of Erroll, Scottish noble (d. 1631)


date: April

text: April – Henry Percy, 9th Earl of Northumberland (d. 1632)


date: May 27

text: May 27 – Margherita Gonzaga, Duchess of Ferrara, Italian noble, patron of the arts (d. 1618)


date: June 12

text: June 12 – John Casimir, Duke of Saxe-Coburg (d. 1633)


date: August 18

text: August 18 – Federico Borromeo, Cardinal Archbishop of Milan (d. 1631)


date: August 24

text: August 24 – Patrick Forbes, bishop in the Church of Scotland (d. 1635)


date: September 13

text: September 13 – Vincenzo Giustiniani, Italian banker and art collector (d. 1637)


date: September 24

text: September 24 – William Adams, English navigator and samurai (d. 1620)


text: September 28 – Sibylla of Anhalt, Duchess consort of Württemberg (1593-1608) (d. 1614)


date: October 15

text: October 15 – Henry Julius, Duke of Brunswick-Lüneburg (1589-1613) (d. 1613)


date: October 26

text: October 26 – Hans Leo Hassler, German composer and organist (d. 1612)


date: December 25

text: December 25 – Nicolaus Mulerius, Dutch astronomer and medical academic (d. 1630)


date: January 9

text: January 9 – Margaret Howard, Duchess of Norfolk (b. 1540)


date: March 27

text: March 27 – Lütfi Pasha, Albanian-born Ottoman statesman, juridical scholar and poet of slave origin (b. c. 1488)


date: April 9

text: April 9 – Georg Hartmann, German instrument maker (b. 1489)


text: April – Pierre Belon, French naturalist (b. 1517)


date: May 2

text: May 2 – Cardinal Rodolfo Pio da Carpi, Italian humanist and patron of the arts (b. 1500)


text: May 27 – John Calvin, French Protestant reformer (b. 1509)


date: June 24

text: June 24 – Rani Durgavati, Indian queen (b. 1524)


date: July 24

text: 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.


date: July 25

text: 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.


date: August 1

text: August 1 – Judge Francisco Ceinos becomes the new Viceroy of New Spain upon the death of Luís de Velasco.


date: August 10

text: August 10 – Miyoshi Nagayoshi, Japanese samurai and daimyō (b. 1522)


date: October 6

text: October 6 – Guido Ascanio Sforza di Santa Fiora, Italian Catholic cardinal (b. 1518)


text: October 15 – Andreas Vesalius, Flemish anatomist (b. 1514)


date: December 6

text: December 6 – Ambrosius Blarer, influential German reformer in southern Germany and north-eastern Switzerland (b. 1492)


date: June 4

text: June 4 – The Treaty of Cebu is signed between Miguel López de Legazpi, representing Philip II of Spain, and Rajah Tupas of Cebu. This effectively creates Spanish suzerainty over Cebu.


date: September 4

text: September 4 – The Spanish fleet of Pedro Menéndez de Avilés lands in Florida to oust the French under Jean Ribault. He later destroys the French colony of Fort Caroline.


date: October 11

text: October 11 – Ottavio Gentile Oderico is elected to a two-year term as the Doge of the Republic of Genoa.


date: January 3

text: January 3 – In the Tsardom of Russia, Ivan the Terrible originates the oprichnina (repression of the boyars (aristocrats)).


date: January 23

text: January 23 – Battle of Talikota: The Vijayanagara Empire, the last Hindu kingdom in South India, is greatly weakened by the Deccan sultanates.


date: February 13

text: February 13 – Spanish Conquistador Miguel López de Legazpi lands with his troops on the shores of Cebu Island in the Philippines.


date: March 16

text: March 16 – Spanish Conquistador López de Legazpi makes a blood compact (sandugan) with Datu Sikatuna in the island of Bohol, Philippines.


date: May 18

text: May 18 – Ottoman troops land on the island of Malta, beginning the Great Siege of Malta.


date: June 17

text: June 17 – (19th day of 5th month, Eiroku 8); In Japan, Ashikaga Yoshiteru, the Ashikaga shogun, commits ritual suicide after Matsunaga Hisahide invades Kyoto.


date: August 26

text: August 26 – The Chaseabout Raid begins in Scotland as a rebellion against Mary, Queen of Scots by her half-brother, by James Stewart, 1st Earl of Moray, following her July 29 marriage to Lord Darnley.


date: August 31

text: August 31 – Chaseabout Raid: Moray and at least 1,000 of his rebels arrive in Edinburgh for a confrontation with the Scottish crown. After cannon fire from Edinburgh Castle, the rebels retreat toward England to seek help. The rebellion is ended by the end of September.


date: September 11

text: September 11 – The Knights of Malta lift the Great Siege of Malta after four months.


date: October 18

text: October 18 – Battle of Fukuda Bay: Ships belonging to the Matsura clan of Japan fail to capture a Portuguese trading carrack, in the first recorded naval battle between Japan and a European nation.


date: October 20

text: October 20 – In the Northern Seven Years' War, the Battle of Axtorna is fought in Sweden, near Falkenberg, as Daniel Rantzau of the Army of Denmark and Norway leads 7,400 troops in defeating a counterattack by over 11,000 Swedish troops led by Jacob Henriksson Hästesko.


date: November 25

text: November 25 – The army of Burma, under the command of King Bayinnaung conquers Chiang Mai, capital of the Siamese Kingdom of Lan Na, and departs on November 30.


date: December 31

text: December 31 – The Burmese Army conquers Vientiane, the main city of the kingdom of Lan Xang (now Laos).


date: December

text: December – The Mariovo and Prilep rebellion occurs, the very first recorded rebellion by the Macedonian hajduks or voivode against the Ottoman Empire.


date: August 28

text: August 28 (feast day of St. Augustine) – The Spanish fleet of Pedro Menéndez de Avilés first sights land in Florida.


date: April 27

text: April 27 – Cebu City is established as San Miguel by López de Legazpi, becoming the first Spanish settlement in the Philippines.


date: September 8

text: September 8 – St. Augustine, Florida (named after Augustine of Hippo), is established by Pedro Menéndez de Avilés, becoming the oldest surviving European settlement in the modern-day United States, and a mass of Thanksgiving is said.


date: October

text: October – The first Martello tower, the Tour de Mortella, designed by Giovan Giacomo Paleari Fratino (el Fratin), is completed as part of the Genovese defence system at Mortella (Myrtle) Point, in Upper Corsica.


text: The pencil is first documented by Conrad Gesner; it is becoming common in England.


date: March 1

text: March 1 – The city of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, is founded as São Sebastião do Rio de Janeiro by Estácio de Sá.


date: May 2

text: May 2 – Huntingdon Grammar School is established in England.


date: July 29

text: July 29 – The widowed Mary, Queen of Scots, marries her half-cousin Henry Stuart, Lord Darnley, at Holyrood Palace in Edinburgh, in a Catholic ceremony.


date: August 6

text: August 6 – Sark, in the Channel Islands, is granted as a fief by Elizabeth I of England to Hellier de Carteret, Seigneur of Saint Ouen.


text: John Beddoes School is founded at Presteigne, Wales.


text: Herlufsholm School is founded at Næstved, Denmark.


text: Bungay Grammar School is established in England.


date: January 17

text: January 17 – Mariana Navarro de Guevarra Romero, Spanish Roman Catholic nun, member of the Mercedarian Tertiaries (d. 1624)


date: May 15

text: May 15 – Hendrick de Keyser, Dutch sculptor and architect born in Utrecht (d. 1621)


date: June 2

text: June 2 – Francisco Ribalta, Spanish painter (d. 1628)


date: August 9

text: August 9 – Louis II, Count of Nassau-Weilburg (d. 1627)


date: August 16

text: August 16 – Christina, Grand Duchess of Tuscany (d. 1637)


date: August 29

text: August 29 – Agostino Ciampelli, Italian painter (d. 1630)


date: September 17

text: September 17 – Edward Fortunatus, German nobleman (d. 1600)


date: September 28

text: September 28 – Alessandro Tassoni, Italian poet and writer (d. 1635)


date: October 6

text: October 6 – Marie de Gournay, French writer (d. 1645)


date: October 12

text: October 12 – Ippolito Galantini, Italian founder of the Congregation of Christian Doctrine of Florence (d. 1619)


date: November 10

text: November 10 – Laurentius Paulinus Gothus, Swedish theologian and astronomer (d. 1646)


text: November 10 – Robert Devereux, 2nd Earl of Essex, English nobleman and politician (d. 1601)


date: November 14

text: November 14 – Petrus Bertius, Flemish theologian and scientist (d. 1629)


date: December 2

text: December 2 – Toby Caulfeild, 1st Baron Caulfeild, Northern Irish politician (d. 1627)


date: February 28

text: February 28 – John, Duke of Münsterberg-Oels and Count of Glatz (b. 1509)


date: April 2

text: April 2 – Elisabeth Parr, Marchioness of Northampton, English noble (b. 1526)


date: April 27

text: April 27 – Osanna of Cattaro, Dominican visionary and anchoress (b. 1493)


date: May 5

text: May 5 – Queen Munjeong, Korean queen (b. 1501)


date: June 17

text: June 17 – Ashikaga Yoshiteru, Japanese shogun (b. 1536)


date: June 23

text: June 23 – Turgut Reis, Ottoman naval commander (b. 1485)


date: June 25

text: June 25 – Herluf Trolle, Danish Admiral of the Fleet and co-founder of Herlufsholm School (b. 1516)


date: July 18

text: July 18 – Kat Ashley, governess of Elizabeth I of England


date: August

text: August – Jacques Buus, Flemish composer and organist (b. 1500)


date: September 11

text: September 11–20 – Cipriano de Rore, Flemish composer and teacher (b. 1515)


text: October 12 – Jean Ribault, French explorer and colonizer (b. 1520)


date: October 22

text: October 22 – Jean, Vicomte d'Aguisy Grolier de Servieres, French bibliophile (b. 1479)


date: November 25

text: November 25 – Hu Zongxian, Chinese general (b. 1512)


date: December 13

text: December 13 – Conrad Gessner, Swiss naturalist (b. 1516)


date: April 5

text: April 5 – The Compromise of Nobles is presented to Margaret of Parma, Governor of the Habsburg Netherlands, but it succeeds only in delaying the beginning of the Eighty Years' War in the Netherlands.


date: October 2

text: October 2 – Richard Onslow (Solicitor General) is elected as the Speaker of the English House of Commons by a vote of 82 to 70.


date: November 5

text: November 5 – Queen Elizabeth I of England addresses the English Parliament and champions English nationalism, asking "Was I not born in this realm? Were my parents born in any foreign country? Is there any cause I should alienate myself from being careful over this country? Is not my kingdom here?"


date: February 24

text: February 24 – In one of the first gun assassinations in Japanese (if not world) history, Mimura Iechika, the daimyō (warlord) of the Bitchū Province, is shot dead by two brothers (Endo Matajiro and Yoshijiro), sent by his rival Ukita Naoie.


date: May 13

text: May 13 – Maximilian II, Holy Roman Emperor imposes a Reichsexekution upon John Frederick II, Duke of Saxony. Augustus, Elector of Saxony is directed to carry out the order to begin the siege of the city of Gotha and John Frederick's home at the Grimmenstein Castle.


date: June 10

text: June 10 – In Znojmo (in the modern-day Czech Republic), Wilhelm von Rosenberg, commander of the Army of the Kingdom of Bohemia, begins raising an army to fight an expected invasion by the Ottoman Empire.


date: July 28

text: July 28 – John Sigismund Zápolya, uncrowned claimant to the throne of the King of Hungary, leads an invasion of Upper Hungary on the orders of Ottoman Sultan Suleiman.


date: August 6

text: August 6 – The siege of Szigetvár is begun by Suleiman the Magnificent, Sultan of the Ottoman Empire. This is the Ottoman Empire at its greatest extent.


date: October 19

text: October 19 – Gastón de Peralta, 3rd Marquess of Falces becomes the Viceroy of New Spain, replacing Francisco Ceinos. Peralta is removed from office by King Philip II after charges are made that Peralta is planning a rebellion against the crown.


date: May 1

text: May 1 – Charles IX, King of France, completes his grand tour of his kingdom, returning to Paris a little more than 27 months and 2500 mi km after his departure on January 24, 1564.


date: March 28

text: March 28 – The foundation stone of Valletta, which will become Malta's capital city, is laid by Jean Parisot de Valette, Grand Master of the Sovereign Military Order of Malta.


date: May 25

text: May 25 – King Philip II of Spain issues laws against the remaining Spanish Muslims, including a ban against use of the Arabic language, wearing of traditional Arab or Muslim clothing, a requirement that doors in their homes and buildings be kept open every Friday and on Muslim feast days (in order to verify that Muslim rituals are not observed), and forces the tearing down of public and private bathhouses (to prevent purification rites).


date: July 22

text: July 22 – Pope Pius V issues an edict to expel most prostitutes from Rome, and the Papal States. The edict is soon reversed because of the loss of revenue from the taxation of houses of prostitution.


date: July 25

text: July 25 – Feodor Stefanovich Kolychov is consecrated as the patriarch of the Russian Orthodox Church as Philip II, Metropolitan of Moscow with the approval of the Tsar Ivan the Terrible, but soon defies the Tsar. Philip will be deposed in 16 months later and put to death on December 23, 1568.


date: July 31

text: July 31 – King Philip II of Spain sends a final letter to the administrators and Catholic bishops of the Spanish Netherlands, rejecting a request to abolish ordinances treating Protestants as heretics. The decision leads to an uprising against Spain by Calvinists and ultimately to the Eighty Years War.


date: August 16

text: August 16 – The Beeldenstorm arrives at Ypres and the St Martin's Cathedral is plundered, with the library and artifiacts of Bishop Martin Rythovius burned.


date: November 23

text: November 23 – By decree of King Philip II of Spain, the content of gold in the Spanish gold escudo, is raised from 350 maravedis (equivalent to 338 centigrams) of gold to 400 (386 cg) and equivalent to 16 silver reales.


date: May 30

text: May 30 – The Augsburg Imperial Coin Edict issues from the Holy Roman Empire, authorizing a new coin, the thaler. The new unit of money, the Reichsthaler, follows standards providing that the weight should be based on one-ninth of a Cologne mark of silver (the "9 Thaler standard") with each minted coin to weigh 29.23 grams and to contain 25.96 grams of silver. The word thaler, an abbreviation for the "Joachimsthaler" minted from the silver mines at Joachimsthal (modern-day Jáchymov in the Czech Republic), is anglicized to dollar, the name of currencies in many nations.


text: Between July 19, 1566 and July 7, 1567 (during the Islamic calendar year 974 AH) – The first bridge crossing the Neretva River at Mostar in Herzegovina is completed by the Ottoman Empire. The white marble bridge becomes known as Stari Most ("Old Bridge").


date: March

text: March – The Hanseatic city of Lübeck launches the galleon Adler von Lübeck, probably the largest ship in the world at this time.


date: August 10

text: August 10 – The Beeldenstorm, also called the "Iconoclastic Fury", begins as Protestant Calvinists engage in widespread destruction of religious art in what are now the Netherlands and Belgium.


date: August 25

text: August 25 – The vandalism of the Beeldenstorm reaches Leiden.


date: October 28

text: October 28 – In Kneiphof, a city in the Duchy of Prussia (modern-day Ostrov Immanuinga Kanta in Russia), Albert, Duke of Prussia has three of the town's five councilors beheaded on charges of causing political and religious disputes with the other Prussian states. Johann Funck, Matthias Horst, and Hans Schnell are executed in the town's marketplace, while Paul Skalich and Johann Steinbach are able to flee the country.


date: October 8

text: October 8 – Catherine of the Austrian Habsburgs, Queen of consort of Poland since 1553 as wife of Sigismund II Augustus, leaves Poland to return to Austria after the failure of her marriage. She never comes back to Poland, though she remains the official queen consort until her death in 1572.


date: November 26

text: November 26 – At the Craigmillar Castle, the advisers to Mary, Queen of Scots – James Stewart, 1st Earl of Moray; Secretary of State William Maitland of Lethington; Lord Chancellor George Gordon, 5th Earl of Huntly; Archibald Campbell, 5th Earl of Argyll; and James Hepburn, 4th Earl of Bothwell – advise her to divorce her husband, Henry Stuart, Lord Darnley. She refuses and the advisers decide that Darnley must be killed.


date: December 17

text: December 17 – The baptism of Prince James, son of Mary Queen of Scots, takes place at Stirling Castle


date: January 13

text: January 13 – Maria of Brunswick-Lüneburg, Duchess Consort of Saxe-Lauenburg (1582–1619) (d. 1626)


date: January 17

text: January 17 – Anna Juliana Gonzaga, Archduchess of Austria and nun (d. 1621)


date: February 1

text: February 1 – Marie of the Incarnation, French Discalced Carmelite beatified nun and blessed (d. 1618)


date: February 2

text: February 2 – Michal Sedziwój, Polish alchemist (d. 1636)


date: March 8

text: March 8 – Carlo Gesualdo, Italian music composer (d. 1613)


date: September 1

text: September 1 – Edward Alleyn, English actor (d. 1626)


date: October 13

text: October 13 – Richard Boyle, 1st Earl of Cork, Irish politician (d. 1643)


date: November 3

text: November 3 – Charles, Count of Soissons, French prince du sang and military commander (d. 1612)


date: November 9

text: November 9 – Christian, Duke of Brunswick-Lüneburg, Prince of Lüneburt (1611–1633) (d. 1633)


date: November 21

text: November 21 – Francesco Cennini de' Salamandri, Roman Catholic cardinal (d. 1645)


date: November 25

text: November 25 – John Heminges, English actor (d. 1630)


text: November 26 – Francesco Bracciolini, Italian poet (d. 1645)


date: December 11

text: December 11 – (baptised) – Manuel Cardoso, Portuguese composer (d. 1650)


date: December 27

text: December 27 – Jan Jesenius, Slovak physician (d. 1621)


date: January 7

text: January 7 – Louis de Blois, Flemish mystical writer (b. 1506)


text: January 7 – Cardinal Michele Ghislieri is elected as the new Pope by two-thirds of the College of Cardinals, to succeed Pope Pius IV, who had died 28 days earlier on December 8. Ghislieri becomes the 225th pope, and takes the regnal name Pope Pius V.


date: March 9

text: March 9 – David Rizzio, Italian secretary of Mary, Queen of Scots (b. 1533)


date: March 26

text: March 26 – Antonio de Cabezón, Spanish composer and organist (b. 1510)


date: April 25

text: April 25 – Diane de Poitiers, mistress of King Henry II of France (b. 1499)


date: May 1

text: May 1 – Suleiman the Magnificent, the Sultan of the Ottoman Empire, begins his last campaign, departing from Constantinople at the head of one of the largest armies he has ever commanded, with a plan to attack Vienna, capital of the Holy Roman Empire. However, he dies in September.


date: May 10

text: May 10 – Leonhart Fuchs, German physician and a botanist (b. 1501)


date: July 2

text: July 2 – Nostradamus, French astrologer (b. 1503)


date: September 7

text: September 7 – Suleiman the Magnificent dies in his tent of natural causes aged 71 the day before the end of the siege of Szigetvár, and Selim II succeeds him as Sultan of the Ottoman Empire.


date: September 17

text: September 17 – Íñigo López de Mendoza, 4th Duke of the Infantado (b. 1493)


date: September 27

text: September 27 – Marco Girolamo Vida, Italian poet (b. 1490)


date: November 27

text: November 27 – Froben Christoph of Zimmern, author of the Zimmern Chronicle (b. 1519)


date: December 14

text: December 14 – René, Marquis of Elbeuf (b. 1536)


date: December 28

text: December 28 – Margaret Paleologa, Sovereign Marchioness of Montferrat (1531–1540) (b. 1510)


date: April 10

text: April 10 – Henrique I Nerika a Mpudi becomes the new ruler of the Kingdom of Kongo in what becomes the western part of the Democratic Republic of the Congo and the northern portion of Angola. Henrique succeeds his nephew, Bernardo I of Kongo.


date: July 24

text: July 24 – Mary, Queen of Scots, is forced to abdicate, and replaced by her one-year-old son James VI.


date: July 25

text: July 25 – The city of Santiago de León de Caracas is founded by Diego de Losada.


date: January 20

text: January 20 – Battle of Rio de Janeiro: Portuguese forces under the command of Estácio de Sá definitively drive the French out of Rio de Janeiro.


date: January

text: January – A Spanish force under the command of Captain Juan Pardo establishes Fort San Juan, in the Native American settlement of Joara. The fort is the first European settlement in modern-day North Carolina.


date: March 13

text: March 13 – Battle of Oosterweel: A Spanish mercenary army surprises and kills a band of rebels near Antwerp in the Habsburg Netherlands, beginning the Eighty Years' War.


date: April 9

text: April 9 – In India, the Battle of Thanesar is fought in what becomes the state of Haryana. The Mughal Emperor Akbar, with 300 men, wins a victory over more than 7,000 warriors of the Sanyasi Hindu sect. Akbar's army has two cannons, 400 rifles and 75 elephants.


date: June 15

text: June 15 – Mary, Queen of Scots, is defeated by Scottish nobles at the Battle of Carberry Hill and imprisoned in Lochleven Castle.


text: September 27 – After the 2-week Siege of Inabayama Castle, the Oda clan capture Gifu Castle from the Saitō clan in Japan.


date: September 29

text: September 29 – The Second War of Religion begins in France, when Louis I, Prince of Condé and Gaspard de Coligny fail in an attempt to capture King Charles IX and his mother at Meaux. The Huguenots do capture several cities (including Orléans), and march on Paris.


date: November 10

text: November 10 – Battle of Saint-Denis: Anne de Montmorency, 1st Duke of Montmorency, with 16,000 Royalists, falls on Condé's 3,500 Huguenots. The Huguenots surprisingly hold on for some hours before being driven off. Montmorency is mortally wounded.


text: Although sparse maritime trade existed since its founding, the Ming dynasty government of China officially revokes the haijin maritime trade ban, reinstating foreign trade with all countries except Japan.


text: King Frederick II of Denmark and Norway founds Fredrikstad in Norway.


date: October 7

text: October 7 – Bible translations into Welsh: The New Testament is first published in Welsh, in William Salesbury's translation from the Greek.


text: Construction of Villa Capra "La Rotonda" in Vicenza, designed by Andrea Palladio, begins. It will be one of the most influential designs in the history of architecture.


date: August 22

text: August 22 – The Duke of Alba is sent to the Netherlands with a strong Spanish force, to suppress unrest there. He replaces Margaret of Parma as Governor of the Netherlands. Prince William of Orange is outlawed, and Lamoral, Count of Egmont imprisoned.


date: February 10

text: February 10 – Henry Stuart, Lord Darnley, husband of Mary, Queen of Scots, is murdered at the Provost's House in Kirk o' Field, Edinburgh.


date: April 12

text: April 12 – The Earl of Bothwell is acquitted on charges of murder in the February 10 killing of Lord Darnley, the husband of Mary Queen of Scots. Upon acquittal he makes plans to become Mary's new husband.


date: April 20

text: April 20 – The Ainslie Tavern Bond is signed by a group of Scottish clerics and nobles, recommending Bothwell as an appropriate husband for Queen Mary and approving his acquittal after trial for the murder of her previous husband.


date: April 24

text: April 24 – Bothwell takes Mary prisoner at his castle at Dunbar after preventing her from traveling from her palace to Edinburgh, then rapes her.


date: May 24

text: May 24 – Sture Murders: The mentally unstable King Erik XIV of Sweden and his guards murder five incarcerated nobles at Uppsala Castle.


date: November 21

text: November 21 (10th day of 11th month, Eiroku 10) – In Japan, the Tōdai-ji Great Buddha Hall in the Nara Prefecture is destroyed after a six-month siege by Matsunaga Hisahide against Miyoshi Nagaitsu and the Miyoshi clan. Reconstruction of the temple does not take place until 140 years later in 1709.


date: February 4

text: February 4 – Prince Zhu Zaiji, son of the Jiajing Emperor, ascends the throne of Ming dynasty China as the Longqing Emperor.


date: May 15

text: May 15 – Mary, Queen of Scots, marries the Earl of Bothwell, under duress.


date: July 29

text: July 29 – James VI is crowned at Stirling.


date: September 9

text: September 9 – At a dinner, the Duke of Alba arrests Lamoral, Count of Egmont and Philip de Montmorency, Count of Horn for treason.


date: December 4

text: December 4 – Antão de Noronha, Viceroy of Portuguese India (the modern-day Indian state of Goa) issues decrees prohibiting the public performance of Hindu rituals for marriages, cremations, and sacred thread wearing. Other rules require all natives 15 or older to attend Christian religious services, upon penalty of punishment.


text: Rugby School, one of the oldest public schools in England, is founded.


date: January 4

text: January 4 – François d'Aguilon, Belgian Jesuit mathematician (d. 1617)


date: January 27

text: January 27 – Anna Maria of Hesse-Kassel, Countess Consort of Nassau-Saarbrücke (d. 1626)


date: February 12

text: February 12 – Thomas Campion, English poet and composer (d. 1620)


date: March 13

text: March 13 (bapt.) – Jacob van Heemskerk, Dutch admiral and explorer (d. 1607)


date: May 2

text: May 2 – Sebald de Weert, Dutch captain, vice-admiral of the Dutch East India Company (d. 1603)


date: May 9

text: May 9 – John George I, Prince of Anhalt-Dessau (1603–1618) (d. 1618)


text: May 15 – Claudio Monteverdi, Italian composer (d. 1643)


date: August 15

text: August 15 – Philip III, Margrave of Baden-Rodemachern (1588–1620) (d. 1620)


date: August 21

text: August 21 – Francis de Sales, Savoyard Bishop of Geneva and saint (d. 1622)


date: September

text: September – Edward Sutton, 5th Baron Dudley, English landowner (d. 1643)


date: November 1

text: November 1 – Diego Sarmiento de Acuña, 1st Count of Gondomar, Spanish diplomat (d. 1626)


date: November 7

text: November 7 – Margherita Farnese, Benedictine nun (d. 1643)


date: November 14

text: November 14 – Maurice of Nassau, Prince of Orange (d. 1625)


date: December 18

text: December 18 – Tachibana Muneshige, Japanese samurai and soldier (d. 1643)


date: January 23

text: January 23 – After 45 years' reign, the Jiajing Emperor, Zhu Houcong, dies in the Forbidden City of China.


date: February 10

text: February 10 – Henry Stuart, Lord Darnley, consort of Mary, Queen of Scots (b. 1545)


date: February 20

text: February 20 – Estácio de Sá, Portuguese officer, founder of Rio de Janeiro (b. 1520)


date: March 31

text: March 31 – Philip I, Landgrave of Hesse (b. 1504)


date: April 18

text: April 18 – Wilhelm von Grumbach, German adventurer (b. 1503)


date: April 19

text: April 19 – Michael Stifel, German mathematician (b. 1487)


text: May 2 – Marin Držić, Croatian writer (b. 1508)


date: June 2

text: June 2 – Shane O'Neill, Irish chieftain (b. 1530)


date: June 12

text: June 12 – Richard Rich, Lord Chancellor of England (b. 1496)


date: June 19

text: June 19 – Anna of Brandenburg, Duchess of Mecklenburg-Güstrow (b. 1507)


date: August 3

text: August 3 – Myeongjong of Joseon, ruler of Korea (b. 1534)


date: October 31

text: October 31 – Marie of Brandenburg-Kulmbach, Princess of Brandenburg-Kulmbach and by marriage Electress Palatine (b. 1519)


date: November 12

text: November 12 – Anne de Montmorency, 1st Duke of Montmorency, Constable of France (b. 1493)


date: November 13

text: November 13 – Pedro de la Gasca, viceroy of Peru (b. 1485)


date: February 17

text: February 17 – Treaty of Adrianople (sometimes called the Peace of Adrianople): The Habsburgs agree to pay tribute to the Ottomans.


date: November 22

text: November 22 – The second treaty of Roskilde is signed between representatives of the Kingdom of Denmark and the Kingdom of Sweden to end the Northern Seven Years' War. Sweden cedes the Duchy of Estonia (Estland) to Danish control.


text: Álvaro I succeeds his stepfather Henrique I as ruler of the Kingdom of Kongo forming the Kwilu dynasty that rules the kingdom without interruption until May 1622.


date: February 16

text: February 16 – Fernando Álvarez de Toledo, 3rd Duke of Alba, governor of the Spanish Netherlands issues an edict condemning to death those who rebel against Spanish authority to combat religious unrest.


date: February 23

text: February 23 – Akbar the Great of the Mughal Empire captures the massive Chittor Fort in northern India from the Kingdom of Mewar after the Siege of Chittorgarh that began on October 23, 1567.


date: February 28

text: February 28 – French Huguenots begin the Siege of Chartres, but fail to take the walled city after 15 days.


date: April 23

text: April 23 – Eighty Years' War: The Battle of Dahlen takes place in the Duchy of Jülich near the modern-day Rheindahlen borough in the German city of Mönchengladbach, North Rhine-Westphalia. Spanish troops, commanded by Sancho d'Avila, overwhelm a larger force of Dutch rebels led by Jean de Montigny, Lord of Villers.


date: May 13

text: May 13 – Marian civil war in Scotland: Battle of Langside – The forces of Mary, Queen of Scots, are defeated by a confederacy of Scottish Protestants under James Stewart, 1st Earl of Moray, regent of Scotland and her half-brother.


date: May 16

text: May 16 – Mary, Queen of Scots, flees across the Solway Firth from Scotland to England but on May 19 is placed in custody in Carlisle Castle on the orders of Queen Elizabeth I, her cousin.


date: May 23

text: May 23 – Battle of Heiligerlee: Troops under Louis of Nassau, brother of William the Silent, defeat a smaller loyalist force under Jean de Ligne, in an attempt to invade the Northern Netherlands. This effectively begins the Eighty Years' War.


date: June 27

text: June 27 – Ottoman pirate Kılıç Ali Pasha, formerly Italian farmer Giovanni Dionigi Galeni, is appointed as the Ottoman Beylerbey of Ottoman Algeria by the Sultan Selim II.


date: July 21

text: July 21 – Battle of Jemmingen: The main Spanish army of the Duke of Alba utterly defeats Louis of Nassau's invading army in the Northeastern Netherlands.


date: August 18

text: August 18 – The Third War of Religion begins in France, after an unsuccessful attempt by the Royalists to capture Louis I, Prince of Condé and Gaspard II de Coligny, the Huguenot leaders.


date: September 24

text: September 24 – Battle of San Juan de Ulúa (Anglo-Spanish War): In the Gulf of Mexico, a Spanish fleet forces English privateers under John Hawkins to end their campaign.


date: September 29

text: September 29 – The Swedish king Eric XIV is deposed by his half-brothers John and Charles. John proclaims himself king John III the next day.


date: October 5

text: October 5 – William the Silent invades the southeastern Netherlands.


date: October 18

text: October 18 — Ashikaga Yoshiaki is installed as Shōgun, beginning the Azuchi–Momoyama period in Japan.


date: October 20

text: October 20 – Battle of Jodoigne: Spanish forces under the Duke of Alba destroy William the Silent's rearguard and William abandons his offensive.


date: November 12

text: November 12 – Dutch rebels commanded by William the Silent defeat Spanish Habsburg troops led by Sancho d'Avila in the battle of Le Quesnoy in northern France.


date: November 27

text: November 27 – Burmese–Siamese War: Dispatched by King Bayinnaung, 55,000 Burmese troops arrive at Phitsanulok (in modern-day Thailand) and drive back the attack by armies from the Ayutthaya Kingdom (Thailand) and Lan Xang (Laos), then prepare to invade Ayutthaya to put down the rebellion by Ayutthayan King Maha Chakkraphat


date: December 24

text: December 24 – The Morisco Revolt against King Philip II of Spain begins as Aben Humeya (formerly Fernando de Válor) is proclaimed as King of the Granadan rebels.


text: The Russo-Turkish War begins in Astrakhan.


date: February 7

text: February 7 – Members of a Spanish expedition, commanded by Álvaro de Mendaña de Neira, become the first Europeans to see the Solomon Islands, landing at Santa Isabel Island.


date: January 6

text: January 6 – In the Eastern Hungarian Kingdom, the delegates of Unio Trium Nationum to the Diet of Torda convene in a session that ends on January 13, during which freedom of religion is debated.


date: January 28

text: January 28 – The Edict of Torda, Europe's first declaration of religious freedom, is adopted by the Kingdom of Hungary.


date: March 23

text: March 23 – The Peace of Longjumeau ends the Second War of Religion in France. Again Catherine de' Medici and Charles IX make substantial concessions to the Huguenots.


date: June 13

text: June 13 – Thomas Lancaster is consecrated as the Archbishop of Armagh, spiritual leader of the Church of Ireland, succeeding Archbishop Adam Loftus.


text: Polybius' Histories are first translated into English, by Christopher Watson.


date: May 2

text: May 2 – The deposed Mary, Queen of Scots, escapes from Lochleven Castle.


date: June 1

text: June 1 – A mass execution is carried out in the Spanish Netherlands at Sablon, near Brussels, as 18 persons who signed the Compromise of Nobles on April 5, 1566, are beheaded.


text: January 6 – Henri Spondanus, French historian (d. 1643)


text: January 28 – Gustav of Sweden, Swedish prince (d. 1607)


date: March 9

text: March 9 – Aloysius Gonzaga, Italian Jesuit and saint (d. 1591)


date: March 30

text: March 30 – Henry Wotton, English author and diplomat (d. 1639)


date: April 28

text: April 28 – Teodósio II, Duke of Braganza, Portuguese nobleman and father of João IV of Portugal (d. 1630)


date: May 11

text: May 11 – Christian I, Prince of Anhalt-Bernburg, German prince of the House of Ascania (d. 1630)


date: May 17

text: May 17 – Anna Vasa of Sweden, Swedish princess (d. 1625)


date: May 29

text: May 29 – Virginia de' Medici, Duchess of Modena and Reggio (d. 1615)


date: June 6

text: June 6 – Sophie of Brandenburg, Regent of Saxony (1591–1601) (d. 1622)


date: June 25

text: June 25 – Gunilla Bielke, Queen of Sweden (d. 1597)


date: September 3

text: September 3 – Adriano Banchieri, Italian composer (d. 1634)


date: October 2

text: October 2 – Marino Ghetaldi, Croatian mathematician and physicist (d. 1626)


date: October 18

text: October 18 – Henry Wallop, English politician (d. 1642)


date: November 18

text: November 18 – Augustus the Elder, Duke of Brunswick-Lüneburg, Lutheran Bishop of Ratzeburg (d. 1636)


date: January 26

text: January 26 – Lady Catherine Grey, Countess of Hertford (b. 1540)


date: March 19

text: March 19 – Elizabeth Seymour, Lady Cromwell, English noblewoman (b.c. 1518)


date: June 3

text: June 3 – Andrés de Urdaneta, Spanish explorer (b. 1508)


date: June 11

text: June 11 – Henry V, Duke of Brunswick-Lüneburg and Prince of Wolfenbüttel 1514–1568 (b. 1489)


date: July 24

text: July 24 – Carlos, Prince of Asturias, son of Philip II of Spain (b. 1545)


date: August 15

text: August 15 – Stanislaus Kostka, Polish saint (b. 1550)


date: August 21

text: August 21 – Jean Parisot de Valette, 49th Grandmaster of the Knights Hospitaller (b. 1495)


date: August 23

text: August 23 – Thomas Wharton, 1st Baron Wharton (b. 1495)


date: September 22

text: September 22 – Jöran Persson, Swedish politician (b. c. 1530) (executed)


date: September

text: September – Anna Pehrsönernas moder, influential Swedish courtier (b. year unknown)


date: October 3

text: October 3 – Elisabeth of Valois, Queen of Philip II of Spain (b. 1545)


date: October 14

text: October 14 – Jacques Arcadelt, Flemish composer (b. 1504)


date: December 23

text: December 23 – Roger Ascham, tutor of Elizabeth I of England (b. 1515)


date: December 28

text: December 28 – Ludwig III becomes the Duke of Württemberg in German Bavaria after the death of his father, Christoph.


date: July 1

text: July 1 – The Union of Lublin unites the Kingdom of Poland and the Grand Duchy of Lithuania into a single state, the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, following votes in the Assemblies of three Lithuanian provinces (Volhynia, Ukraine and Podlasie) in favour of the incorporation.


date: August 27

text: August 27 – The Grand Duchy of Tuscany is formed.


date: November 26

text: November 26 — Francisco Álvarez de Toledo becomes the new Spanish Viceroy of Peru, succeeding Lope García de Castro as the governor-general of all Spanish territory in South America.


date: March 13

text: March 13 – Battle of Jarnac: Royalist troops under Marshal Gaspard de Tavannes surprise and defeat the Huguenots under Louis I, Prince of Condé, who is captured and murdered. A substantial proportion of the Huguenot army manages to escape, under Gaspard II de Coligny.


date: May 8

text: May 8 – King Bayinnaung of Burma puts down the revolt by Setthathirath of Lan Xang (modern Laos), and ending Lan Xang's attempt to rescue Thailand's Ayutthaya Kingdom from conquest.


date: June 10

text: June 10 – German Protestant troops reinforce Coligny, near Limoges.


text: July 24 – Huguenot forces under Gaspard II de Coligny and 15-year-old Prince Henry of Navarre begin the siege of Poitiers, a Roman Catholic stronghold. The siege fails and the Huguenots depart on September 7.


date: August 2

text: August 2 – Burma invades Siam and captures Ayutthaya. Siam becomes a vassal of Burma.


date: August 24

text: August 24 – Battle of Orthez: Huguenot forces under Gabriel de Lorges, Count of Montgomery defeat Royalist forces under General Terride, in French Navarre. Catholics surrender under the condition that their lives will be spared. Huguenots agree, but then massacre the Catholics anyway.


date: September 7

text: September 7 – A Royalist army under the Duc d'Anjou and Marshal Tavannes forces Coligny to abandon the siege of Poitiers.


date: September 29

text: September 29 – Maha Thammarachathirat is installed by the Burmese Army as the vassal king of Ayutthaya.


text: October 3 – Battle of Moncontour: The Royalist forces of Gaspard de Saulx Tavannes and the Duc d'Anjou defeat Gaspard II de Coligny's Huguenots, killing 8,000 and taking 3,000 prisoner.