Culture & Society in the 16th century

371 sourced entries, 1500 CE to 1599 CE, oldest first. Also see Culture & Society across every century or everything else in the 16th century.

• 1500May 8 – The first guide to distilling of liquor is published, Liber de arte distillandi de simplicibus by Hieronymus Brunschwig.source
• 1501May 10 – The formal coronation of King Shwenankyawshin of Burma takes place at his capital in Inwa in the Mandalay Region on the 9th waning of Kason, 863 ME.source
• 1501May 15 – Harmonice Musices Odhecaton, the first printed collection of polyphonic music, is published by Ottaviano Petrucci in Venice.source
• 1501October 2 – Spanish princess Catherine of Aragon arrives in England and arrives at Plymouth. Although she will later become the wife of King Henry VIII in 1509, she initially arrives to marry Henry's older brother, Arthur, Prince of Wales.source
• 1501November 14 – Arthur, Prince of Wales, marries the Spanish princess Catherine of Aragon.source
• 1501December 12 – Grand Duke Aleksandras Jogailaitis, Grand Duke of Lithuania becomes the King of Poland as Aleksander I Jagiellończyk.source
• 1501Martin Luther enters the University of Erfurt.source
• 1501Michelangelo returns to his native Florence, to begin work on the statue David.source
• 1502April 14 – The formal coronation of Ivan the Great as Grand Prince of Moscow (encompassing most of the Russian people's territory) to reflect that he is the nation's sole ruler. Ivan had been co-ruler of Moscow from 1449 to 1462, ruler from 1462 to 1471 and 1490 to 1498, and co-ruler with his eldest son (Ivan the Young, 1471-1490) and his grandson, Dmitry Ivanovich from 1498 onward.source
• 1502September 29 – Anne of Foix-Candale is proclaimed Queen of Hungary upon her marriage to Vladislaus II, King of Hungary and Bohemia, at a ceremony in Székesfehérvár.source
• 1502Wittenberg University is founded.source
• 1502The King's School, Macclesfield, England, is founded by Sir John Percyvale.source
• 1502Wilhelm Bombast moves to Villach with his son, Paracelsus.source
• 1503May 24 – The coronation of Moctezuma II as ruler of the Aztec Empire takes place at the Aztec capital of Tenochtitlan, part of modern-day Mexico City.source
• 1503October – Earliest record of Leonardo da Vinci working on a portrait of Lisa del Giocondo, probably the Mona Lisa, in Florence.source
• 1504February 18 – The investiture of Prince Henry of England as Prince of Wales and Earl of Chester takes place.source
• 1504September 8 – Michelangelo's sculpture of David is unveiled in Florence.source
• 1504Raphael paints The Marriage of the Virgin, which exemplifies some major principles of High Renaissance art.source
• 1504Aldus Manutius publishes his edition of Demosthenes in Venice.source
• 1505February 7 – During a visit to Windsor Castle as guests of King Henry VII of England, Philip the Handsome, Duke of Burgundy, plays a game of tennis against Thomas Grey, 2nd Marquess of Dorset in the first recorded use of tennis rackets. A year later, a chronicler notes that on the 7th of February, "the kynge of Castelle played w the Rackete and gave the marques xv".source
• 1505May 1 – Christ's College, Cambridge, England, is re-founded, receiving its charter from Lady Margaret Beaufort.source
• 1505June 19 – Zhu Houzhao, the 13-year-old son of the late Hongzhi Emperor of Ming Dynasty China, is enthroned as the Zhengde Emperor upon his father's death.source
• 1505June 27 – The future King Henry VIII repudiates his engagement to Catherine of Aragon, at his father's command.source
• 1506Leonardo da Vinci completes most of his work on the Mona Lisa.source
• 1507January 24 – Sigismund I the Old is formally crowned King of Poland, at a ceremony in Kraków.source
• 1507April 25 – Martin Waldseemüller publishes his Cosmographiae Introductio ("Introduction to Universal Cosmography") and accompanying wall map, the first to show the Americas as a separate continent, naming them in honour of Amerigo Vespucci, his friend and idol.source
• 1507June 28 – Ferdinand II is welcomed by Louis XII of France at the Italian city of Savona in a spectacular ceremony, and the two monarchs begin a series of meetings on the division of the Italian kingdoms between France and Spain.source
• 1507December 21 – Princess Mary of England, the 11-year-old daughter of King Henry VII, is betrothed to the 7-year-old Duke of Burgundy.source
• 1507The Aztec New Fire ceremony is held for the last time (according to Bernardino de Sahagún).source
• 1508March 5 – La Cassaria by Ludovico Ariosto, the first Italian language comedy, is premiered at Ferrara.source
• 1508March 13 – The oldest annual foot race in Europe, the "Red Hose Race", is run for the first time, taking place in Scotland at Carnwath, Lanarkshire.source
• 1508June 4 – The coronation of Prince Lajos as the designated successor to his father, King Vladislaus II of Hungary, takes place in Székesfehérvár.source
• 1508July 27 – The process of removing the former layers of paint on the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel is completed, and Michelangelo begins the next phase of marking the surface for painting.source
• 1508November 1 – At the age of 16, Prince Wolfgang of the House of Ascania becomes the new ruler of the German principality of Anhalt-Köthen, succeeding his father Waldemar VI. In 1521, he will meet Martin Luther and, in 1525, will introduce the Reformation to his principality, making Anhalt-Köthen only the second nation (after the Electorate of Saxony) to officially adopt Protestantism.source
• 1509June 11 – Henry VIII marries Catherine of Aragon.source
• 1509June 11 – Luca Pacioli's De divina proportione, concerning the golden ratio, is published in Venice, with illustrations by Leonardo da Vinci.source
• 1509June 24 – King Henry VIII and Queen Consort Catherine of Aragon are crowned.source
• 1509Royal Grammar School, Guildford, England, is founded under the will of Robert Beckingham.source
• 1509Queen Elizabeth's Grammar School, Blackburn, England, is founded as a grammar school for boys.source
• 1510January 23 – An 18-year-old Henry VIII jousts anonymously at Richmond, Surrey and draws applause, before revealing his identity.source
• 1510January 31 – Catherine of Aragon gives birth to her first child, and the first known child of King Henry VIII, a stillborn daughter.source
• 1511April 9 – St John's College, Cambridge, England, founded by Lady Margaret Beaufort, receives its charter.source
• 1511July 29 – Henry VIII of England's flagship, the Mary Rose, is launched from Portsmouth.source
• 1511August 14 – In Rome, the completed first half of Michelangelo's painting of Biblical scenes on the Sistine Chapel ceiling is unveiled for a select group of patrons and church officials. The viewing is open to the public the next day.source
• 1511Erasmus publishes his most famous work, The Praise of Folly (Laus stultitiae).source
• 1512July 23 – Sten Sture the Younger is elected new Regent of Sweden, replacing Eric Trolle.source
• 1512November 1 – The ceiling of the Sistine Chapel, painted by Michelangelo, is exhibited to the public for the first time.source
• 1512The word masque is first used to denote a poetic drama.source
• 1513July 22 – Christian II becomes King of Denmark-Norway.source
• 1513October 21 – The coronation of James V, 17 months old, as King of Scotland takes place in the Chapel Royal at Stirling Castle.source
• 1514May 15 – The earliest printed edition of Saxo Grammaticus' 12th century Scandinavian history Gesta Danorum, edited by Christiern Pedersen from an original found near Lund, is published as Danorum Regum heroumque Historiae, by Jodocus Badius in Paris.source
• 1514July 20 – King Christian II is crowned King of Norway in Oslo. This coronation will be the last in Norway for 304 years until the crowning of King Karl III Johan in 1818.source
• 1514August 13 – Mary Tudor, sister of King Henry VIII, is married by proxy to France's King Louis XII in accordance with the August 7 peace treaty.source
• 1514October 9 – King Louis XII marries Mary Tudor (sister of King Henry VIII) at Abbeville, as part of the Kingdom of England's peace with France.source
• 1514November 5 – Mary Tudor is formally crowned as the Queen consort of France.source
• 1514Albrecht Dürer makes his famous engraving Melencolia I.source
• 1515March 3 - Mary Tudor, sister of King Henry VIII of England and widow of King Louis XII of France, is secretly married to the Duke of Suffolk in the presence of the new King of France, Francois.source
• 1515May 13 – Mary Tudor, Queen of France, and Charles Brandon, 1st Duke of Suffolk, are officially married at Greenwich (near London).source
• 1515July 2 – Manchester Grammar School is endowed by Hugh Oldham, the first free grammar school in England.source
• 1515July 22 – At the First Congress of Vienna, a double wedding takes place to cement agreements. Louis, only son of King Vladislaus II of Hungary, marries Mary of Austria, granddaughter of Maximilian I, Holy Roman Emperor; and Mary's brother, Archduke Ferdinand, marries Vladislaus' daughter, Anna.source
• 1515August 12 – Isabella of Austria is crowned as Queen consort of Denmark and Norway after her marriage to King Christian II is ratified.source
• 1516Gillingham School is founded, the oldest in Dorset, England.source
• 1516c. December – Thomas More's most famous work, Utopia, completed this year, is published in Leuven (in Latin).source
• 1516The predecessor of the Royal Mail, known as the Master of the Posts, is established by Henry VIII of England.source
• 1517May 10 – The coronation of Queen Consort Claude of France, wife of King Francis I, takes place at the Basilica of St Denis with Cardinal Philippe de Luxembourg performing the ceremony.source
• 1517October 31 – Martin Luther publishes his 95 Theses (posting them on the door of the Wittenberg Castle Church), and begins the Protestant Reformation. This story is possibly apocryphal.source
• 1517December 6 – Bona Sforza of Italy, daughter of the late Duke of Milan, Gian Galeazzo Sforza, marries King Sigismund of Poland by proxy at Naples, then begins a three month journey to Kraków to assume the throne.source
• 1518April 26 – Martin Luther makes the first public defense of his views at a gathering of the Roman Catholic order of Augustinians, at what becomes known as the Heidelberg Disputation at a lecture hall at Heidelberg in the Electoral Palatinate in Germany. While there, he is challenged to a theological debate by Johann Eck, the German leader of the anti-Reformation movement.source
• 1518May 19 – In Venice, Renaissance artist Tiziano Vecellio, known as "Titian", unveils his painting Assumption of the Virgin, to the public.source
• 1519June 27 – The Leipzig Debate begins at the Pleissenburg lecture hall in the German city of Leipzig in Saxony, as Martin Luther defends his ideas on the Protestant Reformation against challenges by Johann Eck, the German leader of the anti-Reformation movement. While there, he is challenged to a theological debate by Johann Eck, the German leader of the anti-Reformation movement. The debate lasts until July 15 and gains new followers to Luther's theology.source
• 1519St. Olaf's Church, Tallinn is completed in Estonia.source
• 1520March 10 – Thomas Howard, 3rd Duke of Norfolk becomes England's new Lord Deputy of Irelandsource
• 1520June 7 – King Henry VIII of England and King Francis I of France meet at the famous Field of the Cloth of Gold.source
• 1520October 23 – Charles V is crowned King of Germany in Aachen.source
• 1520November 1 – Christian II is crowned king of Sweden in Nikolai Church. The coronation is followed by a three-day feast in Stockholm.source
• 1520Aleksandra Lisowska (Roxelana) is given as a gift to Suleiman I on the occasion of his accession to the throne.source
• 1521March 31 – The First Mass in the Philippines is held.source
• 1522March 31 – Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor, turns over control of the Duchy of Württemberg from the Duke Ulrich to the Emperor's brother, the Archduke Ferdiand of Austria.source
• 1522August 3 – Lord Erskine is appointed by Margaret Tudor, regent of Scotland, to be the "keeper" of Margaret's 10-year-old son, King James V, who is to remain within the confines of Erskine's home at Stirling Castle.source
• 1522September 21 – Luther Bible: Martin Luther's translation of the Bible's New Testament into Early New High German from Greek, Das newe Testament Deutzsch, is published in Germany, selling thousands in the first few weeks.source
• 1522The third edition of Erasmus's Greek Textus Receptus of the New Testament, Novum Testamentum (with parallel Latin text), is published in Basel.source
• 1523March 26 – Frederick I is provisionally declared as King of Denmark by Danish nobles at Viborg, although loyalists at Copenhagen refuse to recognize his claim to the throne.source
• 1523April 15 – Sir Thomas More, noted for being a Catholic social philosopher and author of the 1516 novel Utopia, is appointed by King Henry VIII as the Speaker of the English House of Commons for the first parliamentary session since 1515. He serves until the Parliament adjourns on August 15.source
• 1523c. July – Martin Luther's translation of the Pentateuch into German (Das allte Testament Deutsch) is published by Melchior Lotter Jr. in Wittenberg.source
• 1524August 5 – Two days before his coronation in Denmark, Frederick I is elected King of Norway.source
• 1524August 7 – The coronation of Frederick I of Denmark takes place in Copenhagen.source
• 1525January 21 – The Anabaptist Movement is born when Conrad Grebel, Felix Manz, George Blaurock, and about a dozen others baptize each other in the home of Manz's mother on Neustadt-Gasse, Zürich, breaking a thousand-year tradition of church-state union.source
• 1525March 20 – In the German town of Memmingen, the pamphlet The Twelve Articles: The Just and Fundamental Articles of All the Peasantry and Tenants of Spiritual and Temporal Powers by Whom They Think Themselves Oppressed is published, the first human rights related document written in Europe.source
• 1525April 10 – Albert, Duke of Prussia commits Prussian Homage.source
• 1525June 13 – Martin Luther marries ex-nun Katharina von Bora. The painter Lucas Cranach the Elder is one of the witnesses.source
• 1525June 18 – Henry VIII of England appoints his six-year-old illegitimate son Henry FitzRoy Duke of Richmond and Somerset.source
• 1525August 13 – The coronation of Sophie of Pomerania as Queen consort of Denmark takes place in Copenhagen, a little more than a year after her husband's coronation as King Frederick I. She is granted Lolland and Falster, the castles in Kiel and Plön, and several villages in Holstein for her income.source
• 1526March 10 – Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor and King of Spain, marries Princess Isabella of Portugal at the Alcázar of Seville palace in Spain.source
• 1526June 9 – Emperor Go-Nara ascends to the throne of Japan.source
• 1526October 24 – The Bohemian Diet elects Archduke Ferdinand of the House of Habsburg as the King of Bohemia.source
• 1526December 17 – At Pozsony in western Hungary (now Bratislava in Slovakia), the Diet elects the Archduke Ferdinand as the King of Hungary.source
• 1527February 24 – Ferdinand of the House of Habsburg is formally crowned as King of Bohemia at Pressburg (now Bratislava in Slovakia).source
• 1527June 17 – The Protestant Reformation begins in Sweden. The Riksdag of the Estates in Västerås adopts Lutheranism as the state religion, in place of Roman Catholicism. This results in the confiscation of church property and dissolution of Catholic convents in accordance with the Reduction of Gustav I of Sweden.source
• 1527June 22 – Jakarta, modern-day capital of Indonesia, is founded as Jayakarta.source
• 1527November 3 – Archduke Ferdinand of Austria is formally crowned as the King of Hungary at the Basilica of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary at Székesfehérvár.source
• 1528August 4 – The "Peace of St. Ambrose" is signed in Milan at the Basilica of Sant'Ambrogio, bringing an end to the civil strife between the Milanese nobility and the local merchants.source
• 1528October 13 – Cardinal Thomas Wolsey founds a college in his birthplace of Ipswich, England, which becomes the modern-day Ipswich School (incorporating institutions in the town dating back to 1299).source
• 1528Chateau Fontainebleau in France is begun.source
• 1528St George's Chapel in Windsor Castle is completed.source
• 1529April 19 – Diet of Speyer: A group of rulers (German: Fürst) and independent cities (German: Reichsstadt) protest the reinstatement of the Edict of Worms, beginning the Protestant movement.source
• 1529June 21 – King Henry VIII and Queen consort Catherine of Aragon appear in person before the Blackfriars court, with Catherine making a pathetic display before the court and her husband, and the king making a speech about his uneasiness about his marriage.source
• 1529September 8 – The city of Maracaibo, Venezuela is founded by Ambrosius Ehinger.source
• 1530March 23 – The Tribute of the Maltese Falcon, an agreement by the Grand Master of the Order of St John of Jerusalem to pay an annual tribute to the Charles V, King of Sicily, in return for an order granting the Knights full rulership of Tripoli and the islands of Malta and Gozo, is reached. The transfer of ownership takes place on October 26, 1550, although Tripoli is conquered by the Ottomans on August 15, 1551.source
• 1530July 4 – King François of France marries Eleanor of Austria, daughter of King Philip the Handsome of Castile and widow of King Manuel I of Portugal.source
• 1530First complete edition of the 'Zürich Bible', Huldrych Zwingli's translation into German printed by Christoph Froschauer, is published.source
• 1531June 24 – The city of San Juan del Río, Mexico, is founded.source
• 1531September 16 – (5th waxing of Thadingyut 893 ME) In Burma (now Myanmar), the formal coronation of General Min Pa as King Min Bin of Arakan takes place in the Arakan capital, Mrauk U.source
• 1531September 24 – At the age of 35, King Gustav I Vasa of Sweden is married for the first time, taking Catherine of Saxe-Lauenburg as his bride on her 18th birthday.source
• 1531The University of Sarajevo is founded by Gazi Husrev-beg based on Sufi philosophy.source
• 1532February 12 – The Deceived Ones (Gl'ingannati), a stage comedy written collectively by the Accademia degli Intronati in Siena, makes its debut as part of the festivities of the Italian city's annual carnival.source
• 1532September 1 – Anne Boleyn is created Marquess of Pembroke by her fiancé, King Henry VIII of England.source
• 1532Pantagruel is published by François Rabelais.source
• 1532Stamford School is founded in England by William Radcliffe.source
• 1533January 25 – King Henry VIII of England formally but secretly marries Anne Boleyn, who becomes his second queen consort.source
• 1533June 1 – Cartagena, Colombia, is founded by Pedro de Heredia.source
• 1533September 7 – Anne Boleyn, the second wife of King Henry VIII of England gives birth to a daughter, at Greenwich, a little more than three months after she and Henry were married. The King's second daughter, Elizabeth, will become the reigning monarch of England 25 years later and rule for more than 44 years.source
• 1533October 28 – The 14-year olds Henry, Duke of Orléans – the future King Henry II of France – and Catherine de' Medici are married at the Église Saint-Ferréol les Augustins in Marseille.source
• 1533December 3 – Ivan IV succeeds his father Vasili III as Grand Prince of Muscovy at the age of three; he will rule in Russia until his death in 1584.source
• 15331533–1534 – Sultan Suleiman the Magnificent makes the Ruthenian harem girl Roxelana his legal wife.source
• 1534July 4 – The Election of Christian III, as King of Denmark, takes place in the town of Rye.source
• 1534July 20 – Cambridge University Press is given a Royal Charter by Henry VIII of England, and becomes the first of the privileged presses.source
• 1534September 24– The first of Brazil's capitancias, the Capitancy of Pernambuco, is established for Pernambuco.source
• 1534Gargantua is published by François Rabelais.source
• 1535January 18 – Lima, now the capital of Peru, is founded by Francisco Pizarro, as Ciudad de los Reyes.source
• 1535February 27 – George Joye publishes his Apologye in Antwerp, to clear his name from the accusations of William Tyndale.source
• 1535December 28 – James Atkenhead, the envoy of Scotland's King James V, leaves Scotland to travel to France to evaluate Mary of Bourbon, daughter of Charles, Duke of Vendôme, as a prospective queen consort. After the evaluation, and a personal visit by King James to France, the Scottish monarch decides to return to his plan to marry Madeline of Valois, daughter of King Francois of France.source
• 1536January 6 – The Colegio de Santa Cruz de Tlatelolco, the oldest European school of higher learning in the Americas, is established by Franciscans in Mexico City.source
• 1536May 14 – Thomas Cranmer declares Henry VIII's marriage to Anne Boleyn to be null and void.source
• 1536May 30 – Henry VIII of England marries Jane Seymour.source
• 1536June 24 – San Juan Bautista del Teul is founded by Cristóbal de Oñate in New Spain.source
• 1536November 13 – Robert Aske meets with royal delegates at York, including the Duke of Norfolk and negotiates the return of the homes of Catholic monks and nuns, as well as a safe passage for Aske and several Catholic representatives for a meeting with King Henry VIII.source
• 1536November 26 – At the Château de Blois, the marriage contract between King James V of Scotland and King Francois of France to arrange the marriage of James to Francois' daughter Madeline, is signed despite the reluctance of the French monarch to send his daughter to an unhealthy climate.source
• 1536The first edition of John Calvin's Institutes of the Christian Religion, a seminal work of Protestant systematic theology, is published in Basel.source
• 1537March 12 – Recife is founded by the Portuguese, in Brazil.source
• 1537August 12 – The coronation of Christian III as King of Denmark and King of Norway takes place at Copenhagen.source
• 1538April 6 – In India, Sher Shah Suri, who had been the Mughal Empire's Governor of the Bihar Subah province, declares the founding of the Sur Empire and crowns himself as Emperor in a ceremony at Delhi.source
• 1538May 9 – Mary of Guise is wed by proxy to King James V of Scotland, while she is at the Château de Châteaudun and he is in London, with neither of the two seeing each other.source
• 1538May 10 – In India Mahmud Khan, 11-year-old the nephew of the late Sultan Bahadur Shah, is enthroned as Mahmud Shah III, Sultan of Gujarat.source
• 1538July 17 – The betrothal ceremony of 12-year-old Princess Elisabeth, niece of Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor to the 17-year-old Prince Sigismund II Augustus, son of King Sigismund of Poland (who is also the Grand Duke of Lithuania) and heir to the throne, takes place in Innsbruck. The two are married five years later on May 5, 1543.source
• 1538September 18 – Ştefan V Lăcustă of the Bogdan-Musat dynasty in Romania is appointed as the new Prince of Moldavia by the Ottoman Sultan Suleiman, replacing uncle, Petru Rareș.source
• 1538October 28 – The first university of the New World, the Universidad Santo Tomás de Aquino, is founded on the island of Hispaniola in Santo Domingo.source
• 1538Michelangelo starts work on the Piazza del Campidoglio on the Capitoline Hill in Rome.source
• 1539February 9 – The first horse race is held at Chester Racecourse, the oldest still in use in England.source
• 1539May 25 – The inaugural declaration of the Protestant Reformation takes place in Leipzig (now part of Germany) with Martin Luther present, as Duke Henry IV pledges to adopt Lutheranism as the official religion of make the Duchy of Saxony.source
• 1539October 4 – Henry VIII contracts to marry Anne of Cleves.source
• 1539December 27 – Anne of Cleves arrives in England in fulfillment of the October 4 contract for marriage to King Henry VIII and the payment of a dowry of 100,000 florins to her brother. Anne and Henry are married 10 days later, but the marriage is annulled on July 12.source
• 1539The first edition of the Calvinist Genevan Psalter is published.source
• 1540January 6 – King Henry VIII marries Anne of Cleves, his fourth Queen consort; the marriage lasts six months.source
• 1540July 9 – English King Henry VIII's marriage to Anne of Cleves, his fourth Queen consort, is annulled.source
• 1540December 16 – Honoré I, Lord of Monaco reaches the age of 19 and after the future principality of Monaco had been administered by regents for more than 18 years.source
• 1541February 19 – Petru Rareș becomes the Prince of Moldavia for a second time, overthrowing the Voivode Alexandru Cornea at Suceava (now in Romania) at the direction of the Ottoman Sultan Suleiman.source
• 1541November 1 – King Henry VIII of England is first informed of that the Queen consort, Catherine Howard, has been having an affair with Thomas Culpeper.source
• 1542September 4 – The earliest recorded Preston Guild Court is held in Lancashire, England, in the modern sequence, which lasts unbroken until 1922.source
• 1543March 15 – James Hamilton, 2nd Earl of Arran, is elected by the Scottish Parliament as the Regent for the infant Mary Queen of Scots.source
• 1543July 12 – King Henry VIII of England marries Catherine Parr. It is Henry's sixth and last marriage and Catherine's third. Princess Elizabeth attends the wedding. This month, the Parliament of England passes the Third Succession Act, restoring the Princesses Mary and Elizabeth, Henry's daughters, to the line of succession to the English throne.source
• 1543September 9 – Mary Stuart is crowned the Queen of Scots in Stirling at the age of nine months old.source
• 1543The Lighthouse of Genoa is completed in present form.source
• 1544January 13 – At Västerås, the estates of Sweden swear loyalty to King Gustav Vasa and to his heirs, ending the traditional electoral monarchy in Sweden. Gustav subsequently signs an alliance with the Kingdom of France.source
• 1544July 20 – Albert, Duke of Prussia signs a deed granting land for creation of the University of Königsberg.source
• 1544November 24 – Rüstem Opuković Pasha, son-in-law of the Sultan Suleiman the Magnificent, is appointed as the new Grand Vizier of the Ottoman Empire, replacing Hadım Suleiman Pasha.source
• 1545May 27 – Prince Jalal Khan, the second son of the late Sher Shah Suri, is crowned as the new King of the Suri Empire and takes the regnal name of Islam Shah Suri.source
• 1545August 16 – The elaborate Tomb of Sher Shah Suri is completed in Sasaram, three months after Sher Shah's death, in what is now India's Bihar state.source
• 1546November 4 – Christ Church, Oxford, is refounded as a college by Henry VIII of England under this name.source
• 1546December 19 – Trinity College, Cambridge, is founded by Henry VIII of England.source
• 1547January 8 – The first Lithuanian-language book, a Catechism (Katekizmo paprasti žodžiai, Simple Words of Catechism), is published in Königsberg by Martynas Mažvydas.source
• 1547April 4 – Catherine Parr, widow of King Henry VIII of England, secretly marries Thomas Seymour, 1st Baron Seymour of Sudeley.source
• 1547June 4 – Maurice, Duke of Saxony is formally raised to the status of the Elector.source
• 1547November 5 – Catherine Parr, the former Queen consort of England and widow of King Henry VIII, publishes her book The Lamentation of a Sinner.source
• 1548April 1 – Sigismund II Augustus succeeds his father, Sigismund I the Old, as King of Poland and Grand Duke of Lithuania.source
• 1548September 13 – Archduke Maximilian of Austria, is married to his first cousin, Maria of Spain, at the arrangement of Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor, Maria's father and Maximilian's uncle. Charles, who also serves as King of Spain, makes the arrangement in order to have the couple serve as his regents while he travels to Germany.source
• 1548October 1 – Archduke Maximilian and Princess Maria, who married 18 days earlier, become the co-regents of Spain as King Charles V departs for Germany to administer the affairs of the Holy Roman Empire. They serve until Prince Philip, the first regent, returns from battle on July 12, 1551.source
• 1548October 31 – At the first sejm of King Sigismund II Augustus of Poland, deputies demand that the king renounce his wife Barbara Radziwiłł.source
• 1548John Dee starts to study at the Old University of Leuven.source
• 1549January 4 – Gaspare Grimaldi Bracelli begins a two-year term as the Doge of the Republic of Genoa in Italy, succeeding Benedetto Gentile Pevere.source
• 1549January 19 – Maha Chakkraphat is crowned as the King of Siam after having been installed on the throne in 1548 by Maha Thammaracha of Burma.source
• 1549March 29 – The city of Salvador da Bahia, Brazil's first capital, is founded by Tome de Sousa.source
• 1549April 23 – In County Wicklow in Ireland, Phelim O'Toole is granted a pardon by the King for unspecified offenses.source
• 1549September 29 – Shimazu Takahisa, the ruling daimyo of Japan's Satsuma Province, welcomes the Jesuit party of Francis Xavier.source
• 1549Excerpta antiqua is published by Hervagius at Basel, Switzerland.source
• 1549Maidstone Grammar School is founded in England by Edward Seymour, Duke of Somerset.source
• 1549Peter Canisius starts the Counter-Reformation in Bavaria.source
• 1550March 12 – Acapulco is founded by 30 families sent from Mexico City.source
• 1550March 29 – Sherborne School in England is refounded by King Edward VI.source
• 1550June 12 – The city of Helsinki (now in Finland but known as Helsingfors in Sweden at this time) is founded by King Gustav I of Sweden.source
• 1550The first grammatical description of the French language is published by Louis Maigret.source
• 1551April 4 – Ferdinand I, Holy Roman Emperor, issues an edict to reduce tensions among the three major ethnic groups in the Kingdom of Hungary, with an administration to have equal representation of for ethnic Hungarians, Slovaks and Germans.source
• 1551May 12 – The National University of San Marcos is founded in Lima in the Viceroyalty of Peru, being the first officially established university in the Americas.source
• 1551June 11 – With the approval of the Ottoman Sultan Suleiman the Magnificent, Prince Ilie's brother Ștefan VI Rareș becomes the new Prince of Moldavia.source
• 1551July 12 – The regency over the Kingdom of Spain by Archduchess Maria and her husband, Archduke Maximilian of Austria, ends after almost three years when Maria's brother Crown Prince Philip returns to Madrid. Philip resumes his role as regent for King Charles I, the father of both Maria and Philip; Maria and Maximilian had served during the absence of both the King and the Crown Prince starting on October 1, 1548.source
• 1551September 21 – The Royal and Pontifical University of Mexico is founded in Mexico City (Mexico), being the second officially established university in the Americas.source
• 1551October 11 – John Dudley, Earl of Warwick, de facto Lord Protector of the Kingdom of England, is created Duke of Northumberland.source
• 1551The new edition of the Genevan psalter, Pseaumes octantetrois de David, is published, with Louis Bourgeois as supervising composer, including the first publication of the hymn tune known as the Old 100th.source
• 1552King Edward VI of England founds 35 grammar schools by royal charter, including Shrewsbury; Leeds Grammar School is also established.source
• 1553May 25 – Lady Jane Grey, a 16-year-old first cousin of King Edward VI of England, marries Lord Guildford Dudley, son of the Duke of Northumberland, who has engineered the marriage.source
• 1553June 21 – Under threats from the Duke of Northumberland, the devise by King Edward to make Jane Grey the heir to the throne is signed by over 100 prominent persons.source
• 1553August 3 – Queen Mary I of England arrives in London from East Anglia.source
• 1553The xiii Bukes of Eneados of the famose Poete Virgill, the first complete translation of any major work of classical antiquity into one of the English languages, is published in London.source
• 1554January 12 (10th waxing of Tabodwe 915 ME) – Bayinnaung is crowned king of the Burmese Taungoo Dynasty at his new capital at Pegu, after a previous coronation on January 11, 1551, and takes the regnal name of Thiri Thudhamma Yaza.source
• 1554January 25 – São Paulo, Brazil, is founded.source
• 1554April 12 – Mary of Guise becomes Regent of Scotland.source
• 1555March 25 – Valencia, Venezuela, is founded by Captain Alonso Díaz Moreno.source
• 1555May 1 – Foundation of St John's College, Oxford, England, to teach Catholic theology.source
• 1555William Annyas becomes the Mayor of Youghal, Ireland, the first Jew to hold such a position in Ireland.source
• 1555Orlande de Lassus' first book of madrigals is published, in Antwerp.source
• 1555Establishment in England of the following grammar schools: Boston Grammar School, Gresham's School at Holt, Norfolk (founded by Sir John Gresham) and Ripon Grammar School (re-foundation).source
• 1556June 14 – Lorenzo Priuli becomes the new Doge of the Venetian Republic.source
• 1556The first printing press in India is introduced by Jesuits, at Saint Paul's College, Goa.source
• 1556Future King Prince John, younger son of King Gustav I of Sweden becomes Duke of Finland.source
• 1557May 4 – The Stationers' Company, officially the Worshipful Company of Stationers and Newspaper Makers, is granted a royal charter and a monopoly on the English publishing industry. For the next 150 years, the Stationers will regulate and censor the printing industry until the passage of the Copyright Act 1710 on April 10, 1710.source
• 1557June 10 – The New Testament of the Geneva Bible, a Protestant Bible translation into English (produced under the supervision of William Whittingham, and printed in Roman type), is published in Geneva.source
• 1557The following schools are founded in England:source
• 1558February 2 – The University of Jena is founded in Thuringia, Germany.source
• 1558April 24 – Mary, Queen of Scots, marries Francis, Dauphin of France, at Notre-Dame de Paris.source
• 1558John Knox's attack on female rulers, The First Blast of the Trumpet Against the Monstruous Regiment of Women, is published anonymously from Geneva.source
• 1558Queen Elizabeth I of England grants rest and refreshment to pilgrims and travellers who pass by the Holy Well Spring at Malvern in England.source
• 1559June 22 – King Philip II of Spain and the 14-year-old Elisabeth of Valois are married in Spain, having married by proxy in January.source
• 1559June 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.source
• 1559July 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.source
• 1559September 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.source
• 1559The University of Geneva is founded by John Calvin.source
• 1560The complete Geneva Bible is published.source
• 1560Solihull School is founded in the West Midlands of England.source
• 1561February 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.source
• 1561June 29 – Erik XIV is crowned King of Sweden.source
• 1561September 2 – The Entry of Mary, Queen of Scots into Edinburgh, a civic celebration for the Queen of Scotland, is marred by religious controversy.source
• 1561William 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.source
• 1561The 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.source
• 1561Merchant Taylors' School is founded in the City of London by Sir Thomas White, Sir Richard Hilles, Emanuel Lucar, and Stephen Hales.source
• 1562January 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.source
• 1562February 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.source
• 1562June 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.source
• 1562Dudley Grammar School is established, and Gresham's School is granted a royal charter, in England.source
• 1562Giacomo 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.source
• 1563January 25 – In Italy, Instituto Bancario San Paolo di Torino, a constituent of the major financial group Sanpaolo IMI, is founded.source
• 1563April 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.source
• 1563May 25 – Elizabeth College, Guernsey is founded, by order of Queen Elizabeth I of England.source
• 1564October 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.source
• 1564The first Scottish Psalter is published.source
• 1565March 1 – The city of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, is founded as São Sebastião do Rio de Janeiro by Estácio de Sá.source
• 1565May 2 – Huntingdon Grammar School is established in England.source
• 1565July 29 – The widowed Mary, Queen of Scots, marries her half-cousin Henry Stuart, Lord Darnley, at Holyrood Palace in Edinburgh, in a Catholic ceremony.source
• 1565August 6 – Sark, in the Channel Islands, is granted as a fief by Elizabeth I of England to Hellier de Carteret, Seigneur of Saint Ouen.source
• 1565John Beddoes School is founded at Presteigne, Wales.source
• 1565Herlufsholm School is founded at Næstved, Denmark.source
• 1565Bungay Grammar School is established in England.source
• 1566October 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.source
• 1566November 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.source
• 1566December 17 – The baptism of Prince James, son of Mary Queen of Scots, takes place at Stirling Castlesource
• 1567February 4 – Prince Zhu Zaiji, son of the Jiajing Emperor, ascends the throne of Ming dynasty China as the Longqing Emperor.source
• 1567May 15 – Mary, Queen of Scots, marries the Earl of Bothwell, under duress.source
• 1567July 29 – James VI is crowned at Stirling.source
• 1567September 9 – At a dinner, the Duke of Alba arrests Lamoral, Count of Egmont and Philip de Montmorency, Count of Horn for treason.source
• 1567December 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.source
• 1567Rugby School, one of the oldest public schools in England, is founded.source
• 1569September 28 – The first complete printed Bible in a Spanish translation (La Biblia), made by Casiodoro de Reina, is published in Basel.source
• 1569November 9 – The Rising of the North begins in England as the Earl of Westmorland and the Earl of Northumberland, both Catholic nobles, set off from Brancepeth Castle in County Durham with 700 men, in hopes of overthrowing Queen Elizabeth I and placing the Catholic Mary, Queen of Scots, on the English throne.source
• 1570October 3 – Princess Anna of Austria arrives in Spain to become the Queen Consort of Spain as the bride of her uncle King Philip of Spain, whom she had married by proxy on May 4. Having traveled through the Netherlands, she asks King Philip to spare the life of the rebel Floris of Montmorency, but the King arranges the strangulation of Floris on October 14.source
• 1571April 2 – Dumbarton Castle is recaptured from Lord Fleming by the forces of Matthew Stewart, 4th Earl of Lennox, the Regent for King James VI of Scotland.source
• 1571June 25 – Queen Elizabeth's Grammar School, Horncastle, is founded in Lincolnshire, England.source
• 1571June 27 – Jesus College is established "within the City and University of Oxford of Queen Elizabeth's foundation" in England, by Welsh cleric and lawyer Hugh Price.source
• 1571July 25 – St Olave's Grammar School is founded in Tooley Street, London.source
• 1571December 24 – Henry XI, Duke of the German Duchy of Liegnitz (now part of Poland), who had increased the Duchy's debts from 80,000 thalers to 700,000 thalers over 11 years, attempts to get the representatives of the Congress of Estates to pledge their own goods and valuables as collateral for refinancing the debt. When the representatives of the different parts of the Duchy refuse, he has them jailed until they agree to pay taxes for 10 percent of the debt owed.source
• 1572February 19 – Harrow School is founded, with a royal charter from Queen Elizabeth I of England.source
• 1572August 18 – Huguenot King Henry III of Navarre marries Margaret of Valois, sister of King Charles and daughter of Catherine de' Medici, in a supposed attempt to reconcile Protestants and Catholics in France.source
• 1572Portugal's national epic Os Lusíadas by Luís de Camões is first published.source
• 1573February 2 – The Wanli Era begins in Ming dynasty China on the first New Year after 9-year-old Zhu Yijun ascends the throne.source
• 1573May 16– The Henry, Duke of Anjou, son of the late King Henry II of France is elected to the throne of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth by the Polish nobility, after being nominated on May 11.source
• 1573November 15 – Santa Fe, Argentina, is founded by Juan de Garay.source
• 1573December 3 – The French Duke of Anjou, recently elected as King Henry of Poland, departs from Metz with an entourage of 1,200 people, arriving at Kraków on February 18.source
• 1573Queen Elizabeth's Grammar School for Boys, Barnet, England, is formed.source
• 1574July 13 – In Berlin, John George, Elector of Brandenburg, orders the founding of the Evangelisches Gymnasium zum Grauen Kloster, which remains 450 years later as one of the most prestigious preparatory schools in Germany.source
• 1574December 27 – Murad III, eldest son of Selim II, is formally enthroned as the Ottoman Sultan after eliminating his other brothers as rival claimants to the throne.source
• 1574La Alameda, Seville, is laid out in Spain, as Europe's first public garden.source
• 1575February 8 – William I of Orange founds Leiden University.source
• 1575June 24 – William the Silent, Prince of Orange, marries Charlotte of Bourbon.source
• 1575The seat of the Audiencia Real in Chile moves from Concepción to Santiago.source
• 1576May 1 – Stephen Báthory, the Hungarian Prince of Transylvania, is crowned king of Poland.source
• 1576November 1 – Coronation of Rudolf II, Holy Roman Emperor.source
• 1576December – James Burbage opens the first permanent public playhouse in Britain, The Theatre.source
• 1576An early example of autobiography is written in English, by Thomas Whythorne.source
• 1576The following schools are founded in England:source
• 1576Konstanty Wasyl Ostrogski founds Ostroh Academy, the first university-level school in Eastern Europe.source
• 1577May 28 – The Bergen Book, better known as the Solid Declaration of the Formula of Concord, one of the Lutheran confessional writings, is published. The earlier version, known as the Torgau Book (1576), had been condensed into an Epitome; both documents are part of the 1580 Book of Concord.source
• 1577June 13 – Mirza Salman Jaberi is appointed as the new Grand Vizier of Persia by Shah Ismail II, replacing Mirza Shokrollah Isfahani.source
• 1577September 8 – (11th waning of Tawthalin 939 ME) Min Phalaung, King of Arakan in what is now northern Myanmar and southern Bangladesh on the Bay of Bengal, enters his new palace in dedication ceremonies at the capital at Mrauk U.source
• 1577Casiodoro de Reina publishes his "Declaracion, o confesion de fe", the first and only Spanish confession of faith in the post Reformation period.source
• 1578March 20 – James Douglas, 4th Earl of Morton, the last of the regents for King James VI of Scotland, resigns after having served as regent since November 24, 1572.source
• 1578April 27 – The Duel of the Mignons claims the lives of two favorites of Henry III of France, and two favourites of Henry I, Duke of Guise.source
• 1579October 19 – King James VI of Scotland makes his ceremonial entry into Edinburgh to assume the throne at the age of 13, after being declared to have reached the age of majority. Scotland had been ruled by regents since 1567, when James was declared king.source
• 1580May – The Lipizzan stud is established by Charles II, Archduke of Austria.source
• 1580June 25 – The Book of Concord, a collection of Lutheran confessional documents, is published.source
• 1580July 24 – Portuguese succession crisis of 1580: António, Prior of Crato, a grandson of the late King Manuel by Manuel's second son, the Duke of Beja is proclaimed King of Portugal by his supporters in the city of Santarém, and popular acclamation follows in Lisbon and other locations. Portugal's parliament, the Cortes, refuses to acknowledge Antonio and he is defeated 32 days later at Alcântara.source
• 1581October 15 – Ballet Comique de la Reine, the first narrative ballet, devised by Louise of Lorraine, wife of Henry III of France, and choreographed by Balthasar de Beaujoyeulx, opens in its first performance at the court of Catherine de' Medici, in the Louvre Palace in Paris, as part of the wedding celebrations for Marguerite of Lorraine.source
• 1582January 2 – The University of Würzburg is refounded.source
• 1582February 10 – François, Duke of Anjou, arrives in the Netherlands, where he is personally welcomed by William the Silent.source
• 1582March – The New Testament of the Douai Bible, the translation into English by Father Gregory Martin from Latin of the New Testament, for use in the Roman Catholic Church, is published. Martin had started his work on October 16, 1578.source
• 1582April 14 – King James VI of Scotland signs a charter creating the Tounis College, which becomes the University of Edinburgh.source
• 1582November 29 – Ten years before he begins writing his first known plays, William Shakespeare, 18 years old, marries pregnant 26-year-old Anne Hathaway in England.source
• 1582December 9 (Julian) (December 19 Gregorian) – France discards the Julian Calendar at the end of the day and adopts the Gregorian Calendar at midnight. Sunday, December 9 is followed the next day in France by Monday, December 20.source
• 1582The earliest reference is made to the publishing of private newspapers in Beijing.source
• 1583January 1 – The Duchy of Savoy adopts the Gregorian Calendar, replacing the Julian Calendar.source
• 1583March 10 (February 28 O.S.) – The Queen Elizabeth's Men troupe of actors is founded in England by order of Queen Elizabeth to Edmund Tilney, the royal Master of the Revels.source
• 1583May 28 – The first installment of the translation by Jurij Dalmatin of the Bible into the Slovene language, Bibilija, tu je vse svetu pismu stariga inu noviga testamenta (The Bible, featuring the complete Old and New Testaments), is published in Wittenberg.source
• 1583August 19 – Petru Cercel enters Bucharest, and becomes Prince of Wallachia.source
• 1583September 4 – King James VI of Scotland orders a gift to Colonel William Stewart in recognition of Stewart's rescue of the King from prison. Colonel Stewart is presented with some of the jewels of Mary, Queen of Scots (the King's mother).source
• 1583October 14 – In Scotland, the University of Edinburgh holds its first classes, accepting more than 80 students as "Tounis College". In continuous operation for more than 440 years, the University will have more than 41,000 students.source
• 1583October 17 – Peter the Lame becomes Prince of Moldavia (in modern-day Romania) for the third and last time, reigning until 1591.source
• 1583The world's oldest, intact, surviving amusement park, Dyrehavsbakken, is founded north of Copenhagen.source
• 1584January 11 – Sir Walter Mildmay is given a royal licence to found Emmanuel College, Cambridge in England.source
• 1584March 5 – The city of Karlstad, Sweden gaines city status by Duke Charles.source
• 1584July 5 – The Maronite College is established in Rome.source
• 1585February 21 – King Johan III of Sweden, widowed since 1583, marries Gunilla Bielke in a ceremony at Västerås, which the King's siblings refuse to attend. The coronation of Queen consort Gunilla takes place the next day. Over the next seven years, she works on changing the Catholic government's attitude towards Protestants.source
• 1585December 1 – Hadim Mesih Pasha is appointed the new Grand Vizier of the Ottoman Empire by Sultan Murad III.source
• 1587February 5 (1st waxing of Tabaung 948 ME) – King Nanda of Burma appoints his eldest son and heir apparent, Minye Kyawswa II, as Viceroy of Ava, later part of upper Burma, with a capital at Inwa (located in the modern-day Mandalay Region of Myanmar).source
• 1587August 19 – Polish and Lithuanian nobles elect Sigismund III Vasa, King of Sweden, as the ruler of the after the death in December of the previous King of Poland and Duke of Lithuania, Stephen Báthory.source
• 1587August 22 – A small group of nobles who oppose Sigismund Vasa as King vote to proclaim Maximilian III, Archduke of Austria, as ruler of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, a decision supported by the Primate of Poland, Stanisław Karnkowski. The divide begins the War of the Polish Succession.source
• 1587September 9 – In the Burgundian Netherlands (part of modern-day Belgium), the faculty at the University of Leuven publishes a condemnation of the 34 propositions drawn up by the Jesuit scholar Michel Baius, leading to a campaign by traditional Belgian Catholics against the Jesuits.source
• 1587September 22 – The coronation of Vincenzo Gonzaga as Duke of Mantua in Italy takes place.source
• 1587October 31 – Leiden University Library opens its doors, after its founding in 1575.source
• 1587December 27 – Sigismund III Vasa is formally crowned as King Zygmunt Waza of Poland and Duke of Lithuania in a coronation ceremony at Kraków.source
• 1587The Rose (theatre), the first on Bankside in London, is built by Philip Henslowe and functioning by the year's end.source
• 1587Everard Digby's De Arte Natandi, the first treatise on swimming in England, is published.source
• 1588William Morgan's Welsh translation of the Bible is published.source
• 1589January 5 – The reign of Catherine de' Medici as Countess of Auvergne ends after 64 years and she is succeeded by her grandson, Charles de Valois.source
• 1589February 26 – Valkendorfs Kollegium is founded in Copenhagen, Denmark.source
• 1589May 2 – Girolamo Bargagli's play The Pilgrim Woman is given its first performance, premiering in Florence, three years after Bargagli's death.source
• 1589November 21 – At Oslo, Patrick Vans, Lord Barnbarroch ratifies the marriage contract between King James VI of Scotland, and Anne of Denmark.source
• 1589San Luigi dei Francesi, Rome, is completed by Domenico Fontana.source
• 1589The Hofbräuhaus is founded, by William V, Duke of Bavaria, in Munich.source
• 1590July 19 – The day after his 12th birthday, Ferdinand of Habsburg becomes the new Archduke of Inner Austria (Innerösterreich) upon the death, in Graz, of his father Charles II. A regency council rules in the place of Ferdinand until 1596.source
• 1591November 19 – Queen Elizabeth I grants a royal charter founding Queen Elizabeth Grammar School, Wakefield, a boys' school; the institution, now known as Queen Elizabeth's School, later develops into an independent day school.source
• 1591November 27 – In Italy, Giovanni Giustiniani Campi is elected as the new Doge of the Republic of Genoa after a 12-day search for a successor to Battista Negrone.source
• 1591The city of Hyderabad, India, is founded by Muhammad Quli Qutb Shah.source
• 1591The first of the Conimbricenses commentaries on Aristotle, by the Jesuits of the University of Coimbra, is published.source
• 1592March 3 – Trinity College Dublin, Ireland's oldest university, is founded.source
• 1592Negotiations begin for the annulment of the childless marriage of Henry IV of France and Marguerite of Valois.source
• 1592Henry Constable's Diana, one of the first sonnet sequences in English, is published in London.source
• 1593After April – William Shakespeare's poem Venus and Adonis probably becomes his first published work, printed in London from his own manuscript. In his lifetime it will be his most frequently reprinted work: at least nine times.source
• 1594January 24 – William Shakespeare's play Titus Andronicus, is given its first performance, presented by the Admiral's Men company of players at The Rose in London.source
• 1594February 19 – The coronation of Sigismund III Vasa as King of Sweden takes place at Uppsala.source
• 1594June 11 – Philip II of Spain recognizes the rights and privileges of the local nobles and chieftains in the Philippines, which paves the way for the stabilization of the rule of the Principalía.source
• 1594August 25 – San Luis, in the Viceroyalty of Peru (now in Argentina), is founded by Luis Jufré de Loaysa y Meneses.source
• 1594August 30 – Diplomats meet at Stirling Castle for the Masque at the baptism of Prince Henry, heir to the throne of Scotland.source
• 1594December 28 – The earliest known performance of William Shakespeare's play The Comedy of Errors takes place at Gray's Inn in London, and is played by the Lord Chamberlain's Men acting company. The production is held before members of the English court on Innocents' Day as part of the Gray's Inn Christmas festivities.source
• 1594St. Paul's College is founded in Macau by Jesuits, being the first western style university in the far east.source
• 1594Tulip bulbs planted by Carolus Clusius in the Hortus Botanicus Leiden, Holland, flower for the first time.source
• 1595February 25 – The Goa state archives are established at the city of Panaji in Portuguese India (now India's Goa state) by historian Diogo do Couto.source
• 1595May 24 – The Nomenclator of Leiden University Library appears, the first printed catalog of an institutional library.source
• 1595November 9 – In India, Prince Man Singh I, Maharaja of Amber within the Mughal Empire, becomes the Mughal Governor (subahdar) of Bengal in what is now Bangladesh and the Indian state of West Bengal. He lays the foundations of a new capital of Bengal, Akbarnagar (now Rajmahal, Jharkhand state).source
• 1595December 9 – What is probably the first performance of William Shakespeare's play, Richard II, takes place in London.source
• 1595Probable first performance of William Shakespeare's plays Romeo and Juliet and A Midsummer Night's Dream in London.source
• 1595The Riksdag of the Estates at Söderköping in Sweden elects the Lutheran Duke Charles as the country's regent, in place of Sigismund III Vasa, King of Poland and Sweden.source
• 1596February 11 – Albert of Austria arrives in Brussels to begin his administration as Governor General of the Habsburg Netherlands.source
• 1596Sidney Sussex College, Cambridge, is founded.source
• 1596King Sigismund III Vasa moves the capital of Poland from Kraków to Warsaw.source
• 1597April 23 – Probable first performance of William Shakespeare's The Merry Wives of Windsor.source
• 1597April 27 – Johannes Kepler marries Barbara Muhleck.source
• 1597June 13 – The Staten-Generaal of the Dutch Republic approves a proposal for the Generaliteitscollege, a common board for the Republic's five separate navies, the Admiralty of Amsterdam, the Admiralty of Rotterdam, the Admiralty of Zeeland, the Admiralty of the Noorderkwartier and the Admiralty of Friesland.source
• 1597The first edition of Francis Bacon's Essays is published.source
• 1597Jacopo Peri writes Dafne, now recognised as the first opera.source
• 1598July 22 – William Shakespeare registers the rights to his new play, The Merchant of Venice, in the Register of the Stationers Company, under the title The Marchaunt of Venyce or otherwise called The Jewe of Venyce.source
• 1598Carnival – Jacopo Peri's Dafne, the earliest known modern opera, is premièred at the Palazzo Corsini, Florence.source
• 1598Pentecost – Calvinist congregations in Zurich introduce music into their services.source
• 1599February 20 – On Shrove Tuesday, the earliest known performance of William Shakespeare's play As You Like It is given, presented at Richmond Park for Queen Elizabeth.source
• 1599July 24 – Swedish King Sigismund III Vasa is dethroned by his uncle Duke Charles, who takes over as regent of the realm until 1604, when he becomes King Charles IX.source
• 1599September 21 – The first reported performance at the Globe Theatre in London (erected over Spring/Summer), a presentation of Shakespeare's Julius Caesar (probably new to that year), is recorded by Swiss traveller Thomas Platter the Younger.source