1580s

The 1580s decade ran from January 1, 1580, to December 31, 1589.

Millennium:	2nd millennium
Centuries:	15th century 16th century 17th century
Decades:	1560s 1570s 1580s 1590s 1600s
Years:	1580 1581 1582 1583 1584 1585 1586 1587 1588 1589
Categories:	Births Deaths By country By topic Establishments Disestablishments

Events[edit]

1580

January–June[edit]

• January 31 – Henry, King of Portugal dies with no direct heirs, precipitating a succession crisis.
• March 1 – Michel de Montaigne signs the preface to his most significant work, Essays. They are published later this year.
• March 25 – Iberian Union: King Philip II of Spain becomes King of Portugal under the name Philip I, following the death without heirs of King Henry of Portugal, in a personal union of the crowns, thus maintaining Portuguese independence (in Europe and throughout the Portuguese Empire). The Philippine Dynasty rule lasts until 1640.
• April 6 – The Dover Straits earthquake occurs.^[1]
• May – The Lipizzan stud is established by Charles II, Archduke of Austria.
• June – England signs a commercial treaty with the Ottoman Empire.^[2]
• June 11 – Juan de Garay founds Buenos Aires.
• June 25 – The Book of Concord, a collection of Lutheran confessional documents, is published.

July–December[edit]

• July 12 – The Ostrog Bible, the first complete printed Bible translation into a Slavic language (Old Church Slavonic), is first printed at Ostroh in the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth (modern-day Ukraine) by Ivan Fyodorov.
• August 25 – Battle of Alcântara: Spanish armies, led by Fernando Álvarez de Toledo, defending the claim of King Philip II of Spain to the Portuguese throne, defeat the armies of Portuguese claimant António, Prior of Crato.
• September 26 – Francis Drake returns to Plymouth, England from his voyage of circumnavigation (westabout) on the Golden Hind,^[3] the second completed in a continuous voyage, and the first under its original commander.

Date unknown[edit]

• The Billy Mitchell volcano, on the island of Bougainville, undergoes a catastrophic eruption (VEI 6).
• The first session of the Jewish Vaad (Council of Four Lands) is held in Lublin, Poland; 70 delegates of Jewish local qahals meet to discuss taxation, and other issues important to Jewish communities.
• The Old City of Zamość is established in Poland, by Jan Zamoyski.
• Jesuit missionaries arrive at the court of Akbar, ruler of the Mughal Empire.^[4]
• A group of English merchants gains the right to trade in Ottoman territory, in return for supplying the sultan with iron, steel, brass and tin for his war with Persia.

1581[edit]

January–June[edit]

• March 18 – The Parliament of England’s Act against Reconciliation to Rome imposes heavy fines, for practising Roman Catholicism.^[5]
• March 25 – Iberian Union: Philip II of Spain is crowned Philip I of Portugal.
• April 4 – Following his circumnavigation of the world, Francis Drake is knighted by Elizabeth I of England.^[3]

July–December[edit]

• July 14 – English Jesuit Edmund Campion is arrested.
• July 26
  • The Northern Netherlands (Union of Utrecht) proclaim their independence from Spain in the Act of Abjuration, abjuring loyalty to Philip II of Spain as their sovereign, and appointing Francois, Duke of Anjou, as the new sovereign of the Netherlands; public practice of Roman Catholicism is forbidden.
  • Capture of Breda: Spanish troops take Breda by surprise.
  • A meteorite makes landfall in Thuringia, Holy Roman Empire.^[6]
• August 28 – The army of King Stephen Báthory of Poland begins its siege of the Russian garrison of Pskov.
• Summer (probable) – Yermak begins the Russian conquest of the Khanate of Sibir, with a band of 1,636 men.
• September – A mercenary army of Sweden, under Pontus De la Gardie, captures Narva from Russia.
• October 10 – King Bayinnaung, who created the largest empire in mainland southeast Asia, dies at age 65.
• October 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.
• November 4 – Jean de la Cassière is restored as Grandmaster of the Knights Hospitaller, by Pope Gregory XIII.
• December 1 – Execution in England of the Jesuit priest Edmund Campion for treason.^[7]

Date unknown[edit]

• The Knights Hospitaller depose Jean de la Cassière as Grandmaster, and appoint Mathurin Romegas.
• The Ming Dynasty Chancellor of China, Chief Grand Secretary Zhang Juzheng, imposes the Single Whip Reform, by which taxes are assessed on properties recorded in the land census, and paid in silver, as the accepted medium of exchange.
• Oda Nobunaga invades Iga Province.
• The Trier witch trials begin.
• John Dee practices angel magic with Barnabas Saul, but with no success.
• Guru Arjan Dev becomes the fifth Guru of Sikhs, succeeding his father Guru Ram Das.
• The last Bishop of Meissen, John IX of Haugwitz, resigns his office in the wake of the Reformation.

1582[edit]

January–June[edit]

• January 15 – Russia cedes its conquered areas in Livonia (Northern Latvia and Southern Estonia), to the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth.
• February 10 – François, Duke of Anjou, arrives in the Netherlands, where he is personally welcomed by William the Silent.
• February 24 – Pope Gregory XIII implements the Gregorian Calendar.
• March 9 – Scryer Edward Kelley arrives at John Dee’s house in London. They practice angelic magic together and Dee develops the Enochian language.^[8]

1583[edit]

January–June[edit]

• January 18 – François, Duke of Anjou, attacks Antwerp.
• February 4 – Gebhard Truchsess von Waldburg, newly converted to Calvinism, formally marries Agnes von Mansfeld-Eisleben, a former canoness of Gerresheim, while retaining his position as Archbishop-Elector of Cologne.
• March 10 – The Queen Elizabeth’s Men troupe of actors is ordered to be founded in England.
• May – Battle of Shizugatake in Japan: Shibata Katsuie is defeated by Toyotomi Hideyoshi, who goes on to commence construction of Osaka Castle.
• May 22 – Ernest of Bavaria is elected as Roman Catholic Archbishop of Cologne, in opposition to Gebhard Truchsess von Waldburg. The opposition rapidly turns into armed struggle, the Cologne War within the Electorate of Cologne, beginning with the Destruction of the Oberstift.

July–December[edit]

• July 25 – Cuncolim Revolt: The first documented battle of India’s independence against a European colonial ruler is fought by the Desais of Cuncolim in Goa, against the Portuguese.
• August 5 – Sir Humphrey Gilbert, on the site of the modern-day city of St John’s, Newfoundland, claims the island of Newfoundland on behalf of England, marking the beginning of the British Empire.
• August 19 – Petru Cercel enters Bucharest, and becomes Prince of Wallachia.
• December 17 – Cologne War: The Siege of Godesberg (begun on November 18) concludes, when Catholic forces under Prince-elector-archbishop Ernest of Bavaria capture the strategic position, from defenders of the Calvinist convert Gebhard Truchsess von Waldburg.

Date unknown[edit]

• The world’s oldest, intact, still-surviving amusement park, Dyrehavsbakken, is founded north of Copenhagen.
• The Bunch Of Grapes Pub is built on Narrow Street, London.^[9] Referred to by Charles Dickens in Our Mutual Friend as “The Six Jolly Fellowship Porters”, it still stands in the 21st century, much rebuilt and renamed The Grapes.

1584[edit]

January–June[edit]

• January–March – Archangelsk is founded as New Kholmogory in northern Russia, by Ivan the Terrible.
• January 11 – Sir Walter Mildmay is given a royal licence to found Emmanuel College, Cambridge.^[10]
• March 18 (N.S. March 28) – Ivan the Terrible, ruler of Russia since 1533, dies; he is succeeded as Tsar by his son, Feodor.
• May 17 – The conflict between Toyotomi Hideyoshi and Tokugawa Ieyasu culminates in the Battle of Nagakute.
• June 1 – With the death of the Duc d’Anjou, the Huguenot Henry of Navarre becomes heir-presumptive to the throne of France.
• June 4 – Walter Raleigh sends Philip Amadas and Arthur Barlowe to explore the Outer Banks of Virginia (now North Carolina), with a view to establishing an English colony; they locate Roanoke Island.^[11]
• June 11 – Walk (modern-day Valka and Valga, towns in Latvia and Estonia respectively), receive city rights from Polish king Stefan Bathory.

July–December[edit]

• July – The Siege of Antwerp^[12] begins.
• July 5 – The Maronite College is established in Rome, Papal States.
• July 10 – William I of Orange is assassinated.
• September 17 – Ghent falls into the hands of Alexander Farnese, governor of the Spanish Netherlands.^[13]
• December – The Treaty of Joinville is signed secretly between the French Catholic League and Spain.

Date unknown[edit]

• Ratu Hijau becomes queen regnant of the once Malay Pattani Kingdom.
• Belgian cartographer and geographer Abraham Ortelius features Ming Dynasty-era Chinese carriages with masts and sails, in his atlas Theatrum Orbis Terrarum; concurrent and later Western writers also take note of this peculiar Chinese invention.
• This year, according to Italian heretic Jacopo Brocardo, is regarded as an apocalyptic inauguration of a major new cycle.

1585[edit]

January–June[edit]

• January – The Netherlands adopts the Gregorian calendar.
• February – The Spanish seize Brussels.
• April 24 – Pope Sixtus V succeeds Pope Gregory XIII, as the 227th pope.
• May 19 – Spain seizes English ships in Spanish ports,^[5] precipitating the Anglo-Spanish War (1585–1604).

July–December[edit]

• July 7 – The Treaty of Nemours forces King Henry III of France to capitulate to the demands of the Catholic League, triggering the Eighth War of Religion (also known as the War of the Three Henrys) in France.
• August 8 – English explorer John Davis enters Cumberland Sound in Baffin Island, in his quest for the Northwest Passage.
• August 14 – Queen Elizabeth I of England agrees to establish a protectorate over the Netherlands.^[5]
• August 17
  • Fall of Antwerp: Antwerp is captured by Spanish forces under the Prince of Parma, who orders Protestants to leave the city. As a result, over half of the 100,000 inhabitants flee to the northern provinces. Furthermore, upon hearing of the capture of Antwerp, a relief fleet sent to raise the siege instead blockades the Scheldt River, preventing any and all ships from reaching Antwerp for two centuries. This effectively destroys Antwerp’s position as an important trade city and de facto capital of the Dutch provinces. Its position is taken over by various northern cities, most prominently Amsterdam.
  • A first group of colonists sent by Sir Walter Raleigh, under the charge of Ralph Lane, lands in the New World to create Roanoke Colony on Roanoke Island, off the coast of North Carolina. This group will depart the following June.^[5]
• August 20 – The Treaty of Nonsuch is signed, committing England to support the Dutch Revolt, thus entering the Eighty Years’ War.^[2]
• November 28 – Anglo-Spanish War: Santiago, Cape Verde is captured by Francis Drake.

Date unknown[edit]

• Invasion of Shikoku: Toyotomi Hideyoshi seizes the island of Shikoku from Chōsokabe Motochika.
• The Kingdom of Luba is founded.
• History of chocolate in Spain: First recorded commercial importation of chocolate to Europe, from Veracruz in Mexico to Seville in Spain.^[14]

1586[edit]

• June 16 – The deposed and imprisoned Mary, Queen of Scots, recognizes Philip II of Spain as her heir.
• July 6 – The Treaty of Berwick is signed between Queen Elizabeth I of England and King James VI of Scotland.^[15]
• July 21 – English explorer Thomas Cavendish begins the first deliberately planned circumnavigation of the globe.^[16]
• September 20–21 – Execution of the Babington Plotters: The 14 men convicted of a plot (uncovered on July 17) to murder Queen Elizabeth and replace her with Mary, Queen of Scots, are hanged, drawn and quartered (the first seven being disembowelled before death) in St Giles Field, London.^{[17][page needed]}
• September 22 – Battle of Zutphen: Spanish troops defeat the Dutch rebels and their English allies. English poet and courtier Sir Philip Sidney is mortally wounded.
• October 15–25 – Mary, Queen of Scots, is placed on treason trial at Fotheringhay Castle in England for complicity in the Babington Plot and sentenced to death.^[15]
• November 19 – English Separatist Puritan Henry Barrowe is imprisoned.
• December 17 – The reign of Emperor Ōgimachi of Japan ends, and Emperor Go-Yōzei ascends to the throne.

Date unknown[edit]

• Flemish mathematician Simon Stevin publishes a study showing that two objects of different weight fall with the same speed.
• St. Augustine, Florida, and Santo Domingo (modern day Dominican Republic) are plundered and burned by English sea captain Sir Francis Drake.
• Jacobus Gallus composes his motet O magnum mysterium.
• English topographer William Harrison becomes canon of Windsor.
• António da Madalena from Portugal is the first westerner to visit Angkor Wat.
• English ship Vanguard, the first Royal Navy vessel to bear this name, is launched at Woolwich.
• The cities of Voronezh, Samara, and Tyumen in Russia are founded.

1587[edit]

January–June[edit]

• February 1 – Queen Elizabeth I of England signs the death warrant of her cousin Mary, Queen of Scots, after Mary is implicated in a plot to murder Elizabeth. Seven days later, on the orders of Elizabeth’s privy council, Mary is beheaded at Fotheringhay Castle.^[18]
• February 12–24 – Period of exceptionally severe cold in western Europe.^[19]
• April 29 – Singeing the King of Spain’s Beard: On an expedition against Spain, English privateer Sir Francis Drake leads a raid in the Bay of Cádiz, sinking at least 23 ships of the Spanish fleet.
• May 19 – John Davis sets out from Dartmouth, Devon, for a third attempt to find the Northwest Passage.

July–December[edit]

• July 22 – Roanoke Colony: A group of English settlers arrive on Roanoke Island off of North Carolina, to re-establish the deserted colony.^[20]
• August 18 – According to legend, Saul Wahl is named king of Poland; he is deposed the following day.^[21]
• August 19 – Polish and Lithuanian nobles elect Sigismund III Vasa as their king.^[22]
• August 27 – Governor John White leaves the Roanoke Colony to get more supplies from England.
• October 1 – Shāh ‘Abbās I “The Great” succeeds as Shahanshah of Iran.^[23]
• October 18 – Landing of the first Filipinos: The first Filipinos in North America land in Morro Bay, near San Luis Obispo in modern-day California.
• October 20 – Battle of Coutras: Huguenot forces under Henry of Navarre defeat Royalist forces under Anne de Joyeuse, favorite of King Henry; Joyeuse is killed.
• October 31 – Leiden University Library opens its doors, after its founding in 1575.

Date unknown[edit]

• Toyotomi Hideyoshi becomes Daijō-daijin of Japan and concludes the Kyūshū Campaign with the Siege of Kagoshima at which most of Kyushu is surrendered to him; he banishes European Christian missionaries from the province.
• A severe famine breaks out in Ming dynasty China.
• The Rose (theatre) is founded in London by Philip Henslowe.
• The chapbook Historia von D. Johann Fausten, printed by Johann Spies in Frankfurt, is the first published version of the Faust story.
• Everard Digby’s De Arte Natandi, the first treatise on swimming in England, is published.
• St. Dominic’s Church, Macau is established.

1588[edit]

January–June[edit]

• February – The Sinhalese abandon the siege of Colombo, capital of Portuguese Ceylon.
• February 9 – The sudden death of Álvaro de Bazán, 1st Marquis of Santa Cruz, in the midst of preparations for the Spanish Armada, forces King Philip II of Spain to re-allocate the command of the fleet.
• April 14 (April 4 Old Style) – Christian IV becomes king of Denmark–Norway, upon the death of his father, Frederick II.
• May 12 – Day of the Barricades in Paris: Henry I, Duke of Guise seizes the city, forcing King Henry III to flee.
• May 28 – The Spanish Armada, with 130 ships and 30,000 men, begins to set sail from the Tagus estuary, heading for the English Channel (it will take until May 30 for all of the ships to leave port).

July–December[edit]

• July – King Henry III of France capitulates to the Duke of Guise, and returns to Paris.
• July 31 – The first engagement between the English and Spanish fleets (off of Plymouth) results in a victory for the English, under command of Lord Howard of Effingham and Sir Francis Drake.
• August 2 – The English fleet defeats the Spanish fleet, off the Isle of Portland.
• August 6 (July 29 Old Style) – Battle of Gravelines: The Spanish Armada is defeated by the English naval force off the coast of Gravelines, in the Spanish Netherlands (modern France).
• August 7 – The English fleet defeats the Spanish fleet off the coast of Flanders.
• August 8–9 – The Spanish are unable to reach the coast of Flanders, to meet up with the army of the Duke of Parma. The Duke of Medina Sidonia decides to return to Spain.
• August 12 – The fleeing Spanish fleet sails past the Firth of Forth, and the English call off their pursuit. Much of the Spanish fleet is destroyed by storms, as it sails for home around Scotland and Ireland.
• October 7 – The first biography of Nicolaus Copernicus (d.1543) is completed by Bernardino Baldi.
• December 5 – The Order of Augustinian Recollects is formally recognised as a separate province from the Order of Saint Augustine, an event later known as the Día de la Recolección or Day of Recollection.
• December 23 – Henry III of France strikes his ultra-Catholic enemies, having the Duke of Guise and his brother, Louis II, Cardinal of Guise, killed, and holding the Cardinal de Bourbon a prisoner. As a result, large parts of France reject Henry III as their king, forcing him to side with Henry of Navarre.

Unknown[edit]

• William Morgan’s Welsh translation of the Bible is published.^[24]
• The Armada Portrait of Elizabeth I of England is created, to celebrate the English defeat of the Spanish Armada, and to assert the strength of Elizabeth herself.

1589[edit]

January–June[edit]

• War of the Three Henrys: In France, the Catholic League is in rebellion against King Henry III, in revenge for his murder of Henry I, Duke of Guise in December 1588. The King makes peace with his old rival, the Huguenot Henry of Navarre, his designated successor, and together they besiege Paris.
• January 26 – Job is elected as the first Patriarch of Moscow and All Russia.
• February 26 – Valkendorfs Kollegium is founded in Copenhagen, Denmark.
• April 13 – An English Armada, led by Sir Francis Drake and Sir John Norreys, and largely financed by private investors, sets sail to attack the Iberian Peninsula’s Atlantic coast,^[25] but fails to achieve any naval advantage.

July–December[edit]

• August 1 – King Henry III of France is stabbed by the fanatical Dominican friar Jacques Clément (who is immediately killed).
• August 2 – Henry III of France dies. His army is thrown into confusion and an intended attack to retake Paris is abandoned. Henry of Navarre succeeds to the throne as King Henry IV of France, but is not recognized by the Catholic League, who acclaim the imprisoned Charles, Cardinal de Bourbon, as the rightful King of France, Charles X.
• August 20 – King James VI of Scotland, the future James I of England, contracts a proxy marriage with the 14-year-old Anne of Denmark at Kronborg. The formal ceremony takes place on November 23 at the Old Bishop’s Palace in Oslo.
• September 21 – Battle of Arques: King Henry IV of France’s forces defeat those of the Catholic League, under Charles of Lorraine, Duke of Mayenne (younger brother of Henry I, Duke of Guise).
• November 1 – Henry IV of France is repulsed in an attempt to capture Paris from the Catholic League.
• December 25 (Christmas Day) – The monks of the Pechenga Monastery, the northernmost in the world, are massacred by Swedes, led by a Finnish peasant chief, in the course of the Russo-Swedish War.

Date unknown[edit]

• San Luigi dei Francesi, Rome, is completed by Domenico Fontana.
• Hiroshima is founded, by the Japanese warlord Mōri Terumoto.
• The Hofbräuhaus is founded, by William V, Duke of Bavaria, in Munich.

Births[edit]

1580

• January 8 – Jens Hermansson Juel, Danish governor of Norway (d. 1634)
• January 12
  • Jan Baptist van Helmont, Flemish chemist (d. 1644)
  • Alexander Ruthven, Scottish earl (d. 1600)
• January 20 – Stefano Amadei, Italian painter (d. 1644)
• January 29 – Willem Isaacsz Swanenburg, Dutch engraver (d. 1612)
• January 30 – Gundakar, Prince of Liechtenstein, court official in Vienna (d. 1658)
• January – John Smith, English explorer and Virginia settler (d. 1631)
• February – John Digby, 1st Earl of Bristol, English diplomat (d. 1653)
• February 1 – Francis Fane, 1st Earl of Westmorland, English noble (d. 1629)
• February 2 – Jens Bjelke, Norwegian noble (d. 1659)
• February 22 – Charles de l’Aubespine, marquis de Châteauneuf, French diplomat and government official (d. 1653)
• February 24 – Matthias Hoe von Hoenegg, German theologian (d. 1645)
• February 28
  • Orazio Giustiniani, Italian Catholic cardinal (d. 1649)
  • Giovanni Srofenaur, Italian musician (d. 1634)
• March 31 – Bogislaw XIV, Duke of Pomerania (d. 1637)
• April 8
  • Augusta of Denmark, Duchess Consort of Holstein-Gottorp (1596-1616) (d. 1639)
  • William Herbert, 3rd Earl of Pembroke, English noble, courtier and patron of the arts (d. 1630)
• April 18 – (baptism) Thomas Middleton, English playwright (d. 1627)
• April 24 – Miguel Avellán, Spanish Catholic prelate, Auxiliary Bishop of Toledo from 1633 (d. 1650)
• May 5
  • Johann Faulhaber, German mathematician (d. 1635)
  • Richard Webb, English settler in America (d. 1665)
• May 6 – Charles Gonzaga, Duke of Mantua and Montferrat, French noble (d. 1637)
• May 14 – Bassam Al-Soukaria, Lebanese army commander (d. 1667)
• May 30 – Fadrique de Toledo, 1st Marquis of Villanueva de Valdueza, Spanish noble and admiral (d. 1634)
• June 6 – Godefroy Wendelin, Flemish astronomer (d. 1667)
• June 9 – Daniel Heinsius, Dutch scholar (d. 1655)
• June 12 – Adriaan van Stalbemt, Flemish Baroque painter (d. 1662)
• June 14 – Elisabeth Magdalena of Pomerania, German duchess (d. 1649)
• June 26
  • Gaspar de Borja y Velasco, Spanish Catholic cardinal (d. 1645)
  • Peter Claver, Spanish Jesuit priest (d. 1654)
• July 5 – Carlo Contarini, Doge of Venice (d. 1656)
• July 6 – Johann Stobäus, German composer (d. 1646)
• July 10 – Humphrey Chetham, English merchant (d. 1653)
• July 18 – Giovanni Giacomo Semenza, Italian painter (d. 1638)
• July 29 – Francesco Mochi, Italian early-Baroque sculptor (d. 1654)
• August 2 – Prince Jeongwon, Korean prince (d. 1619)
• August 19 – Pierre Vernier, French mathematician (d. 1637)
• September 4 – George Percy, English explorer (d. 1632)
• September 14
  • Francisco de Quevedo, Spanish writer (d. 1645)
  • Robert Gordon of Straloch, Scottish cartographer (d. 1661)
• September 15
  • Charles Annibal Fabrot, French lawyer (d. 1659)
  • Thomas Fanshawe, English politician (d. 1631)
• September 17 – Countess Charlotte Brabantina of Nassau, Belgian noble (d. 1631)
• September 24 – Elisabeth of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg, Duchess consort of Pomerania (d. 1653)
• October 8 – Gábor Esterházy (1580–1626), Hungarian noble (d. 1626)
• October 12 – Hortensio Félix Paravicino, Spanish preacher and poet from the noble house of Pallavicini (d. 1633)
• October 20 – Peter Crüger, German astronomer and mathematician (d. 1639)
• October 30 – Armand-Nompar de Caumont, duc de La Force, Marshal of France (d. 1675)
• November 9 – Johannes Narssius, Dutch physician and poet (d. 1637)
• December 1 – Nicolas-Claude Fabri de Peiresc, French astronomer (d. 1637)
• December 4
  • Samuel Argall, English adventurer and naval officer (d. 1626)
  • Nabeshima Katsushige, Japanese daimyō (d. 1657)
• date unknown
  • Philipp Clüver, German geographer and historian (d. 1623)
  • Francesco Fontana, Italian lawyer and astronomer (d. 1656)
  • Dirk Hartog, Dutch ship’s captain and explorer (d. 1621)
  • Jean Jannon, Swiss-born typefounder (d. 1658)
  • Robert Killigrew, English courtier, politician, ambassador and knight (d. 1633)
  • Willebrord Snellius, Dutch astronomer and mathematician (d. 1626)
  • Raphael Sobiehrd-Mnishovsky, Bohemian lawyer and writer (d. 1644)
  • Pierre Vernier, French mathematician and instrument inventor (d. 1637)
  • Krzysztof Zbaraski, Polish nobleman (d. 1627)
  • George Calvert, 1st Baron Baltimore, English politician and colonizer (d. 1623)
• probable
  • William Brabazon, 1st Earl of Meath, English noble (d. 1651)
  • Edward Fairfax, English translator (d. 1635)
  • Frans Hals, Dutch painter (d. 1666)
  • Alexander Leslie, 1st Earl of Leven, Scottish soldier (d. 1661)
  • Benjamin, Duke of Soubise, French Huguenot leader (d. 1642)
  • Adriana Basile, Italian composer (d. 1640)

1581

• January 4 – James Ussher, Anglo-Irish priest and scholar (d. 1656)
• January 6 – Countess Palatine Dorothea of Simmern, Princess consort of Anhalt-Dessau (d. 1631)
• January 30 – Christian, Margrave of Brandenburg-Bayreuth (1603–1655) (d. 1655)
• February 17 – Fausto Poli, Italian Catholic prelate and cardinal (d. 1653)
• March 16 – Pieter Corneliszoon Hooft, Dutch historian (d. 1647)
• April 24 – Vincent de Paul, French Roman Catholic priest who dedicated himself to serving the poor (d. 1660)
• May 4 – Arnold Möller, German calligrapher (d. 1655)
• May 21 – Robert More, English politician (d. 1626)
• May 22 – Archduchess Gregoria Maximiliana of Austria, Austrian archduchess (d. 1597)
• June 21 – Edward Barrett, 1st Lord Barrett of Newburgh, English politician (d. 1645)
• June 27 – Louis Günther I, Count of Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt (1630–1646) (d. 1646)
• July 18 – Pier Luigi Carafa, Italian Catholic cardinal (d. 1655)
• July 20 – Isidoro Bianchi, Italian painter (d. 1662)
• July 25 – Brian Twyne, English archivist (d. 1644)
• August 5 – Hedwig of Denmark, Danish princess (d. 1641)
• August 15 – Jeremias Drexel, Jesuit writer of devotional literature and a professor of the humanities and rhetoric (d. 1638)
• September 21 – Simon Archer, English politician (d. 1662)
• September 27 – Juan Damián López de Haro, Spanish Catholic bishop of Puerto Rico (d. 1648)
• October 9 – Claude Gaspard Bachet de Méziriac, French mathematician (d. 1638)
• October 21 – Domenico Zampieri, Italian painter (d. 1641)
• November 1 – William Hockmere, English politician (d. 1626)
• November 11 – Edward Popham, English politician (d. 1641)
• November 18 – Carlo I Cybo-Malaspina, marquisate of Massa (d. 1662)
• November 26 – Frederick, Duke of Schleswig-Holstein-Sønderburg-Norburg (d. 1658)
• December 17 – Walter Davison, English poet (d. 1600)
• December 26 – Philip III, Landgrave of Hesse-Butzbach (1609–1643) (d. 1643)
• December 27 – Jean Chalette, French painter (d. 1643)
• date unknown
  • Gasparo Aselli, Italian physician (d. 1626)
  • Jeremias Drexel, German Jesuit writer of devotional literature
  • Edmund Gunter, English mathematician (d. 1626)
  • Jean du Vergier de Hauranne, French monk who introduced Jansenism into France (d. 1643)
  • Charles Malapert, Belgian Jesuit writer (d. 1630)
  • Łukasz Opaliński (1581–1654), Polish nobleman (d. 1654)
  • Thomas Overbury, English poet and essayist (d. 1613)
  • Johannes Rudbeckius, bishop at Västerås (d. 1646)
  • Choghtu Khong Tayiji, ruler of the Khalkha Mongols (d. 1637)
• probable
  • Juan Ruiz de Alarcón, Mexican dramatist (d. 1639)
  • Sisto Badalocchio, Italian painter and engraver (d. 1647)

1582

• January 6
  • Alonso de Contreras, Spanish privateer and writer (d. 1641)
  • Jaroslav Borzita of Martinice, Bohemian noble (d. 1649)
• January 7 – Magdalene of Brandenburg, Landgravine consort of Hesse-Darmstadt (1598–1616) (d. 1616)
• January 26 – Giovanni Lanfranco, Italian painter (d. 1647)
• January 28 – John Barclay, Scottish satirist and Latin poet (d. 1621)
• January 30 – George II, Duke of Pomerania (d. 1617)
• February 8 – Matthias Bernegger, German philologist (d. 1640)
• February 17 – George, Duke of Brunswick-Lüneburg (d. 1641)
• February 22 – John Ratcliffe, English politician and soldier (d. 1627)
• March 15
  • Daniel Featley, English theologian and controversialist (d. 1645)
  • Deodat del Monte, Flemish painter, architect (d. 1644)
• March 22 – John Williams, Welsh clergyman and political advisor to King James I (d. 1650)
• March 31 – Duchess Sophie of Prussia, Duchess consort of Courland (1609–1610) (d. 1610)
• April 8 – (bapt.) Phineas Fletcher, English poet (d. 1650)
• April 11 – Justus de Harduwijn, Dutch Catholic priest and poet (d. 1636)
• May 1 – Marco da Gagliano, Italian composer of the early Baroque era (d. 1643)
• May 5 – John Frederick, Duke of Württemberg (1608–1628) (d. 1628)
• June 26 – Johannes Schultz, German composer (d. 1653)
• June 28 – William Fiennes, 1st Viscount Saye and Sele, English nobleman and politician (d. 1662)
• July 27 – Sir John Isham, 1st Baronet, English Member of Parliament (d. 1651)
• August 11 – Sabina Catharina of East Frisia, Countess of Rietberg (1586–1618) (d. 1618)
• August 17 – John Matthew Rispoli, major Maltese philosopher of great erudition (d. 1639)
• August 26 – Humilis of Bisignano, Italian Franciscan friar and saint (d. 1637)
• August 27 – Maria Amalia of Nassau-Dillenburg, German noble (d. 1635)
• August 28
  • Taichang Emperor, of the Ming Dynasty of China (d. 1620)
  • Hans Meinhard von Schönberg, German military commander (d. 1616)
• September 25 – Archduchess Eleanor of Austria (d. 1620)
• September 26 – Eitel Frederick von Hohenzollern-Sigmaringen, German Catholic cardinal (d. 1625)
• October 2 – Augustus, Count Palatine of Sulzbach, Count Palatine of Neuburg (1614–1632) (d. 1632)
• October 17 – Johann Gerhard, Lutheran church leader (d. 1637)
• October 19 – Dmitri Ivanovich, Russian Tsarevich (d. 1591)
• October 21 – Johan Ernst van Nassau-Siegen, Dutch general (d. 1617)
• October 22 – Francesco Piccolomini, Italian Jesuit (d. 1651)
• November 2 – Elizabeth Jane Weston, English Czech poet (d. 1612)
• November 21 – François Maynard, French poet (d. 1646)
• November 27 – Pierre Dupuy, French historian (d. 1651)
• November 30 – Anselm Casimir Wambold von Umstadt, Archbishop of Mainz (d. 1647)
• December 10 – William Chappell, Irish bishop (d. 1649)
• December 16 – Robert Bertie, 1st Earl of Lindsey, English adventurer and soldier (d. 1642)
• December 23 – Severo Bonini, Italian composer (d. 1663)
• date unknown
  • Giovanni Francesco Abela, Maltese writer (d. 1655)
  • Giulio Alenio, Italian Jesuit missionary (d. 1649)
  • Gregorio Allegri, Italian composer (d. 1652)
  • John Bainbridge, English astronomer (d. 1648)
  • Richard Corbet, English poet and bishop (d. 1635)
  • William Juxon, Archbishop of Canterbury (d. 1663)
  • Thomas Moulson, Lord Mayor of London (d. 1638)
  • David Teniers the Elder, Flemish painter (d. 1649)
  • Francis Windebank, English politician (d. 1646)
  • Jacomina de Witte, politically influential Dutch woman (d. 1661)
  • Jakub Zadzik, Polish nobleman and diplomat (d. 1642)
• probable – Sigismondo d’India, Italian composer (d. 1629)

1583

• January 8 – Simon Episcopius, Dutch theologian (d. 1643)
• January 12 – Niccolò Alamanni, Greek-born Roman antiquarian (d. 1626)
• January 31 – Peter Bulkley, English and later American Puritan (d. 1659)
• February 4 – John Ley, English priest (d. 1662)
• February 17 – Johann Heinrich Alting, German Lutheran theologian (d. 1644)
• February 23 – Jean-Baptiste Morin, French mathematician (d. 1656)
• March 3 – Edward Herbert, 1st Baron Herbert of Cherbury, English diplomat, poet, and philosopher (d. 1648)
• April 4 – Franciscus Quaresmius, Italian writer and orientalist (d. 1650)
• April 8 – Nikolaus, Count Esterházy, Hungarian noble (d. 1645)
• April 10 – Hugo Grotius, Dutch philosopher and writer (d. 1645)
• May 1 – Orazio Grassi, Italian Jesuit priest, architect and scientist (d. 1654)
• May 10 – Fernando Afán de Ribera, duke of Alcalá de los Gazules, Spanish diplomat (d. 1637)
• May 26 – Susanna Hall, Daughter of William Shakespeare (d. 1649)
• June 16 – Axel Oxenstierna, Lord High Chancellor of Sweden (d. 1654)
• June 20 – Jacob De la Gardie, Swedish soldier and statesman (d. 1652)
• June 22 – Joachim Ernst, Margrave of Brandenburg-Ansbach (1603–1625) (d. 1625)
• June 27 – Christopher von Dohna, German politician and scholar (d. 1637)
• July 2 – Dodo Knyphausen, German soldier (d. 1636)
• July 9 – John, Prince of Schleswig-Holstein, Danish prince (d. 1602)
• July 20 – Alban Roe, English Benedictine martyr (d. 1642)
• July 22 – Jacobus Trigland, Dutch theologian (d. 1654)
• August 19 – Daišan, Manchu politician (d. 1648)
• August 21
  • Denis Pétau, French Jesuit theologian (d. 1652)
  • Eleanor of Prussia, Electress consort of Brandenburg (d. 1607)
• August 26 – Adam, Count of Schwarzenberg, German politician (d. 1641)
• August 31 – Richard Harrison, English politician (d. 1655)
• September 23 – Christian II, Elector of Saxony from 1591 to 1611 (d. 1611)
• September 24 – Albrecht von Wallenstein, Austrian general (d. 1634)
• September 29 – John VIII, Count of Nassau-Siegen (1623–1638) (d. 1638)
• September – Girolamo Frescobaldi, Italian composer (d. 1643)
• October 22 – Laurens Reael, Dutch admiral (d. 1637)
• November 10 – Anthony Günther, Count of Oldenburg (d. 1667)
• November 15 – Théophile Raynaud, French theologian (d. 1663)
• November 17 – Archduke Maximilian Ernest of Austria, Austrian archduke (d. 1616)
• November 24 – Juan Martínez de Jáuregui y Aguilar, Spanish poet (d. 1641)
• December 25 – Orlando Gibbons, English composer (d. 1625)
• date unknown
  • Hendrick Jacobszoon Lucifer, Dutch pirate and buccaneer (d. 1627)
  • John Beaumont, English poet (d. 1627)
  • Bonaventura Elzevir, Dutch printer (d. 1652)
  • Stanisław Lubomirski, Polish nobleman (d. 1649)
  • Philip Massinger, English dramatist (d. 1640)
  • Hayashi Razan, Japanese neo-Confucianist scholar (d. 1657)
• probable
  • Alexander Henderson, Scottish theologian (d. 1646)
  • Nzinga, warrior sovereign queen of Ndongo and Matamba (d. 1663)
  • Aurelian Townshend, English poet (d. 1643)

1584

• January 1 – Charles de Lorme, French physician (d. 1678)
• January 7 – Karan Singh II, Maharana of Mewar (d. 1628)
• January 29 – Frederick Henry, Prince of Orange (d. 1647)
• February 9 – Francesco Maria Richini, Italian architect (d. 1658)
• February 12 – Caspar Barlaeus, Dutch polymath (d. 1648)
• February 18 – Philippe de Carteret II, son of Philippe de Carteret I (1552– (d. 1643)
• February 19 – Angelo Nardi, Italian painter (d. 1664)
• February 26 – Albert VI of Bavaria (d. 1666)
• March 15 – Philip, Duke of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Glücksburg (d. 1663)
• March 22 – Grégoire de Saint-Vincent, Flemish Jesuit and mathematician (d. 1667)
• March 26 – John II, Count Palatine of Zweibrücken (d. 1635)
• March 29 – Ferdinando Fairfax, 2nd Lord Fairfax of Cameron, English parliamentary general (d. 1648)
• April 6 – Bridget de Vere, Countess of Berkshire, English countess (d. 1630)
• April 10 – Sibylle Elisabeth of Württemberg, Duchess consort of Saxony (d. 1606)
• April 20 – Sir John Langham, 1st Baronet, English Member of Parliament (d. 1671)
• April 23 – Jorge de Cárdenas y Manrique de Lara, Spanish noble (d. 1644)
• April 29 – Melchior Teschner, German cantor, composer and theologian (d. 1635)
• May 17 – John Jacob Hess, Swiss minister (d. 1639)
• May 23 – Maximilian von und zu Trauttmansdorff, Austrian diplomat (d. 1650)
• May 27 – Michael Altenburg, German composer (d. 1640)
• June 6 – Yuan Chonghuan, Chinese politician, military general and writer (d. 1630)
• June 15 – Anna Sophie of Anhalt, German noblewoman (d. 1652)
• June 16 – Archduchess Maria of Austria (d. 1649)
• June 25 – Richard Strode, English politician (d. 1669)
• June 26 – Robert Cholmondeley, 1st Earl of Leinster, English politician (d. 1659)
• July 17 – Agnes of Brandenburg, Duchess of Pomerania, later Duchess of Saxe-Lauenburg (d. 1629)
• July 26 – Gaspard III de Coligny, Marshal of France (d. 1646)
• August 1 – Emanuel Scrope, 1st Earl of Sunderland, English earl (d. 1630)
• August 10 – John Casimir, Count of Erbach-Breuberg (1606–1627) (d. 1627)
• August 11 – Philip Ernest, Count of Hohenlohe-Langenburg (1610–1628) (d. 1628)
• August 13 – Theophilus Howard, 2nd Earl of Suffolk, English politician (d. 1640)
• August 28 – Richard Treat, American city founder (d. 1669)
• August 29 – Patrick Young, Scottish librarian (d. 1652)
• September 11 – Thomas van Erpe, Dutch Orientialist, cartographer (d. 1624)
• September 13 – Francis Julius of Saxe-Lauenburg, Prince (d. 1634)
• September 15 – Georg Rudolf Weckherlin, German poet (d. 1653)
• September 16 – Giulio Roma, Italian Catholic cardinal (d. 1652)
• September 17 – John Finch, 1st Baron Finch, English judge (d. 1660)
• October 10 – Philip Herbert, 4th Earl of Pembroke (d. 1650)
• November 3 – Jean-Pierre Camus, French Catholic bishop (d. 1652)
• November 10 – Catherine of Sweden, Countess Palatine of Kleeburg (d. 1638)
• November 16 – Barbara Sophie of Brandenburg, duchess consort and later regent of Württemberg (d. 1636)
• November 18 – Gaspar de Crayer, Flemish painter (d. 1669)
• December 15 – Queen Inmok, Korean royal consort (d. 1632)
• December 16 – John Selden, English jurist (d. 1654)
• December 25 – Margaret of Austria, Queen of Spain (d. 1611)
• December 27 – Philipp Julius, Duke of Pomerania (d. 1625)
• December 28 – Juan de Dicastillo, Spanish theologian (d. 1653)
• date unknown
  • William Baffin, English explorer (d. 1622)
  • Francis Beaumont, English dramatist (d. 1616)
  • Antonio Cifra, Italian composer (d. 1629)
  • Matthias Gallas, Austrian soldier (d. 1647)
  • Miyamoto Musashi, Japanese samurai, artist, philosopher (d. 1645)
  • John Hales, English theologian (d. 1656)
  • Hu Zhengyan, Chinese artist, printmaker, calligrapher and publisher (d. 1674)
  • Robert Pierrepont, 1st Earl of Kingston-upon-Hull (d. 1643)
  • Mathieu Molé, French statesman (d. 1656)
  • Herman Wrangel, Swedish soldier and politician (d. 1643)
  • Chiara Varotari, Italian Baroque painter (d. 1663)

1585

• January 5 – Carlo Emanuele Pio di Savoia, Italian Catholic cardinal (d. 1641)
• January 6 – Claude Favre de Vaugelas, Savoyard grammarian and man of letters (d. 1650)
• January 8 – Henriette Catherine de Joyeuse, Duke of Joyeuse (d. 1656)
• January 9 – Sir Richard Grosvenor, 1st Baronet, English politician (d. 1645)
• January 23 – Mary Ward, English Catholic Religious Sister (d. 1645)
• January 24 – Anna Maria of Solms-Sonnewalde, Countess consort of Hohenlohe-Langenburg (d. 1634)
• January 27 – Hendrick Avercamp, Dutch painter (d. 1634)
• January 28 – Domenico II Contarini, Doge of Venice (d. 1675)
• January 31 – Daniel Schwenter, German Orientalist (d. 1636)
• February 2
  • Judith Quiney, William Shakespeare’s youngest daughter (d. 1662)
  • Hamnet Shakespeare, William Shakespeare’s only son (d. 1596)
• February 25 – Pieter van den Broecke, Dutch merchant (d. 1640)
• March 2 – John Macias, Spanish Dominican lay brother (d. 1645)
• March 5
  • Frederick I, Landgrave of Hesse-Homburg, founder of the junior line Hesse-Homburg (d. 1638)
  • John George I, Elector of Saxony (d. 1656)
• March 6 – Francesco Cornaro, Doge of Venice (d. 1656)
• March 16 – Gerbrand Adriaensz Bredero, Dutch writer (d. 1618)
• March 22 – Krzysztof Radziwiłł, Polish nobleman (d. 1640)
• April 6 – Marzio Ginetti, Italian Catholic cardinal (d. 1671)
• April 28 – George Goring, 1st Earl of Norwich, English soldier and politician (d. 1663)
• May 1 – Sophia Olelkovich Radziwill, Polish-Lithuanian noble (d. 1612)
• May 5 – Vincenzo Carafa, Italian Jesuit priest and spiritual writer (d. 1649)
• May 6 – Guy XX de Laval, French noble (d. 1605)
• May 12 – John Oglander, English politicians (d. 1655)
• June 11 – Evert Horn, Swedish soldier (d. 1615)
• June 13 – Antonio Ruiz de Montoya, Peruvian and Paraguayan linguist (d. 1652)
• June 24 – Johannes Lippius, German theologian, philosopher, composer and music theorist (d. 1612)
• July 2 – Jean Guiton, French Huguenot ship owner (d. 1654)
• July 11
  • Nicolaus Hunnius, German theologian (d. 1643)
  • Timothy Turner, British serjeant-at-law (d. 1677)
• July 26 – Dániel Esterházy, Hungarian noble (d. 1654)
• August 3 – Sir Thomas Burdett, 1st Baronet, of Bramcote, Sheriff of Derbyshire (d. 1647)
• August 5 – Jesper Brochmand, Danish bishop (d. 1652)
• August 25 – Giovanni Biliverti, Italian painter (d. 1644)
• August 26 – Peter Lauremberg, German writer and professor (d. 1639)
• September 9 – Armand Jean du Plessis, Cardinal Richelieu, French statesman and 4th Prime Minister of France (d. 1642)
• September 15 – Ottavio Vannini, Italian painter (d. 1640)
• September 26 – Antonio Franco, Italian Catholic bishop, prelate of Santa Lucia del Mela (d. 1626)
• September 27 – John Strangways, English politician (d. 1666)
• October 4 – Anna of Tyrol, Holy Roman Empress (d. 1618)
• October 8 – Heinrich Schütz, German composer (d. 1672)
• October 10 – Sir Edward Hussey, 1st Baronet, English politician (d. 1648)
• October 11 – Johann Heermann, German poet, hymn-writer (d. 1647)
• October 15 – Louis Cappel, French Protestant churchman and scholar (d. 1658)
• October 28 – Cornelius Jansen, French bishop of Ypres and religious reformer (d. 1638)
• October – John Ball, English puritan divine (d. 1640)
• November 1
  • Jan Brożek, Polish mathematician, physician and astronomer (d. 1652)
  • Adriaan Pauw (d. 1653)
• November 2 – Rudolf von Colloredo, Austrian field marshal (d. 1657)
• November 5 – Sir John St John, 1st Baronet, English baronet (d. 1648)
• November 26 – Herman op den Graeff, Dutch bishop (d. 1642)
• November 30 – Filippo Benedetto de Sio, Italian Catholic prelate, Bishop of Boiano (1641–1651) and Bishop of Caiazzo (1623–1641) (d. 1651)
• December 3 – Matthew Wren, influential English clergyman (d. 1667)
• December 4
  • John Cotton, clergyman in England and the American colonies, founder of Boston (d. 1652)
• December 13 – William Drummond of Hawthornden, Scottish poet (d. 1649)
• December 16 – Livia della Rovere, Italian noble (d. 1641)
• December 25 – Christian, Count of Waldeck-Wildungen (1588–1637) (d. 1637)
• December 31
  • Gonzalo Fernández de Córdoba, Spanish general (d. 1645)
  • Sumitomo Masatomo, Japanese businessman (d. 1652)
• date unknown
  • Zachary Boyd, Scottish religious writer (d. 1653)
  • Ambrose Barlow, Catholic priest and martyr (d. 1641)
  • Thomas Preston, 1st Viscount Tara, Irish soldier (d. 1655)
  • Lucilio Vanini, Italian free-thinker (d. 1619)
  • Alexander Whitaker, Virginia Colony religious leader (d. 1616)
  • Fang Weiyi, Chinese poet, calligrapher, painter and literature historian (d. 1668)
• probable
  • Uriel da Costa, Portuguese Jewish philosopher (d. 1640)
  • Gonzalo de Céspedes y Meneses, Spanish novelist (d. 1638)
  • Jacob Le Maire, Dutch mariner (d. 1616)

1586

• January 1 – Pau Claris i Casademunt, Catalan ecclesiastic (d. 1641)
• January 20 – Johann Hermann Schein, German composer of the early Baroque era (d. 1630)
• January 29 – Louis Frederick, Duke of Württemberg-Montbéliard (1617–1631) (d. 1631)
• February 8 – Jacob Praetorius, German Baroque composer and organist (d. 1651)
• February 15 – Jacques de Bela, French writer (d. 1667)
• February 20 – Hachisuka Yoshishige, Japanese daimyō of the Edo period (d. 1620)
• February 24 – Matthias Faber, German Jesuit priest, writer (d. 1653)
• February 26 – Niccolò Cabeo, Italian Jesuit writer, theologian (d. 1657)
• March 12 – Jean Dolbeau, French missionary (d. 1652)
• March 28 – Domenico Massenzio, Italian baroque composer (d. 1657)
• March 29 – Ludwig Crocius, German Calvinist minister (d. 1653)
• April 2 – Pietro Della Valle, Italian composer (d. 1652)
• April 4 – Richard Saltonstall, English diplomat (d. 1661)
• April 5 – Christopher Levett, English explorer (d. 1630)
• April 9 – Julius Henry, Duke of Saxe-Lauenburg (d. 1665)
• April 17 – John Ford, English dramatist and poet (d. 1640)
• April 20 – Saint Rose of Lima, Spanish colonist in Lima (d. 1617)
• April 23 – Martin Rinkart, German clergyman and hymnist (d. 1649)
• April 24 – Henry Hastings, 5th Earl of Huntingdon, English noble (d. 1643)
• May 2 – Étienne de Courcelles, French scholar (d. 1659)
• May 7 – Francesco IV Gonzaga, Duke of Mantua and Montferrat (d. 1612)
• May 9 – Tsugaru Nobuhira, Japanese daimyō (d. 1631)
• May 11 – Angelo Giori, Italian Catholic cardinal (d. 1662)
• May 23 – Paul Siefert, German composer and organist (d. 1666)
• June 24 – George John II, Count Palatine of Lützelstein-Guttenberg, German noble (d. 1654)
• July 1 – Claudio Saracini, Italian composer (d. 1630)
• July 5 – Thomas Hooker, prominent Puritan colonial leader (d. 1647)
• July 6 – Thomas Trevor, English politician and judge (d. 1656)
• July 7 – Thomas Howard, 21st Earl of Arundel, English courtier (d. 1646)
• July 26 – Diego de Colmenares, Spanish historian (d. 1651)
• August 14 – William Hutchinson, founder of Rhode Island (d. 1642)
• August 17 – Johann Valentin Andrea, German theologian (d. 1654)
• September 15 – Antoon Sanders, Dutch priest, historian (d. 1664)
• September 29 – William Lytton, English Member of Parliament (d. 1660)
• October 7 – Isaac Massa, Dutch diplomat (d. 1643)
• October 9 – Leopold V, Archduke of Austria, regent of Tyrol (d. 1632)
• October 20 – Luke Foxe, English explorer (d. 1635)
• October 28 – Francis West, Deputy Governor of the Colony and Dominion of Virginia (d. 1634)
• November 20 – Polykarp Leyser II, German theologian (d. 1633)
• November 22 – Walter Erle, English politician (d. 1665)
• November 23 – Juan Bautista de Lezana, Spanish theologian (d. 1659)
• November 27 – Sir John Wray, 2nd Baronet, English politician (d. 1655)
• November 28 – Sir Thomas Bowyer, 1st Baronet, English politician (d. 1650)
• December 6 – Niccolò Zucchi, Italian astronomer and physicist (d. 1670)
• December 14 – Georg Calixtus, German Lutheran theologian who looked to reconcile all Christendom (d. 1656)
• December 31 – Duchess Magdalene Sibylle of Prussia, Electress of Saxony (d. 1659)
• date unknown – John Mason, English explorer (d. 1635)
• date unknown – Kocc Barma Fall, Senegambian philosopher (d. 1655)^[26][27]
• probable
  • Giles Fletcher, English poet (d. 1623)
  • David HaLevi Segal, Polish Jewish rabbi (d. 1667)

1587

• January 2 – Anders Arrebo, Danish writer (d. 1637)
• January 5 – Xu Xiake, Chinese adventurer and geographer (d. 1641)
• January 6 – Gaspar de Guzmán, Count-Duke of Olivares, Spanish politician (d. 1645)
• January 8
  • Jan Pieterszoon Coen, Governor-General of the Dutch East Indies (d. 1629)
  • Johannes Fabricius, Frisian/German astronomer (d. 1616)
• January 12 – John Winthrop, English Puritan lawyer (d. 1649)
• February 1 – Pál Esterházy, Hungarian noble (d. 1645)
• February 3 – Dorothea Hedwig of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel, Princess of Anhalt-Zerbst (d. 1609)
• February 20 – Emanuel Sueyro, Dutch historian, translator, spymaster (d. 1629)
• February 26 – Stefano Landi, Italian composer (d. 1639)
• March 17 – David Lindsay, 1st Lord Balcarres, Scottish politician and noble (d. 1642)
• April 1 – Sir John Mill, 1st Baronet, English politician (d. 1648)
• April 2 – Virginia Centurione Bracelli, Italian saint (d. 1651)
• April 18 – Sir Charles Morrison, 1st Baronet, Member of the Parliament of England (d. 1628)
• April 26
  • Ferdinando Gonzaga, Duke of Mantua, Italian Catholic cardinal (d. 1626)
  • Abraham van der Haagen, Dutch painter (d. 1639)^[28]
• April 28 – Krzysztof Ossoliński, Polish nobleman (d. 1645)
• April 29 – Sophie of Saxony, Duchess of Pomerania (d. 1635)
• April 30 – Éléonore de Bourbon, Dutch princess (d. 1619)
• May 7 – Richard Newport, 1st Baron Newport, English politician (d. 1651)
• May 8 – Victor Amadeus I, Duke of Savoy (d. 1637)
• May 17 – Esaias van de Velde, Dutch painter (d. 1630)
• May – Esaias van de Velde, Dutch landscape painter (died 1630)^[29]
• May 26 – Susan de Vere, Countess of Montgomery, English noblewoman (d. 1628)
• June 2 – Willem Bontekoe, skipper in the Dutch East India Company (d. 1657)
• June 5 – Robert Rich, 2nd Earl of Warwick, English colonial administrator and admiral (d. 1658)
• June 11 – Sir Thomas Jervoise, English politician (d. 1654)
• June 15 – Gabriel Gustafsson Oxenstierna, Swedish statesman (d. 1640)
• June 21 – Kaspar von Barth, German philologist and writer (d. 1658)
• June 24
  • William Arnold, American settler (d. 1676)
  • Hans van Steenwinckel the Younger, Danish architect (d. 1639)
• July 4 – Magdalene of Bavaria, Consort of Wolfgang William, Count Palatine of Neuburg (d. 1628)
• August 16 – Khusrau Mirza, Mughal prince (d. 1622)
• August 18 – Virginia Dare, Virginia colony settler
• August 23 – Johann Friedrich, Count Palatine of Sulzbach-Hilpoltstein (1614–1644) (d. 1644)
• August 28 – Christian William of Brandenburg, administrator of bishoprics of Magdeburg and Halberstadt (d. 1665)
• September 1 – Gómez Suárez de Figueroa, 3rd Duke of Feria, Spanish general (d. 1634)
• September 3 – Countess Juliane of Nassau-Dillenburg, Landgravine of Hesse-kassel (d. 1643)
• September 18 – Francesca Caccini, Italian composer^[30]
• September 19
  • Robert Sanderson, English theologian and casuist (d. 1663)
  • Mu Zeng, Chinese politician (d. 1646)
• October 8 – Thomas Howard, 1st Earl of Berkshire, English politician (d. 1669)
• October 17 – Nathan Field, English dramatist and actor (d. 1620)
• October 18 – Philippe-Charles, 3rd Count of Arenberg (d. 1640)
• October 19 – Thomas Dacres, English politician (d. 1668)
• October 22 – Joachim Jungius, German mathematician and philosopher (d. 1657)^[31]
• October 23 – Sir Gilbert Gerard, 1st Baronet of Harrow on the Hill, English politician (d. 1670)
• November 3 – Samuel Scheidt, German composer (d. 1653)^[32]
• November 17
  • Charles Lallemant, French Jesuit (d. 1674)
  • Joost van den Vondel, Dutch dramatist and poet (d. 1679)
• November 25 – Sir Gervase Clifton, 1st Baronet, English politician (d. 1666)
• December 13 – Emmanuel Stupanus, Swiss physician (d. 1664)
• December 19 – Dorothea Sophia, Abbess of Quedlinburg Abbey (1618–1645) (d. 1645)
• December 30 – Simon VII, Count of Lippe-Detmold (1613–1627) (d. 1627)
• date unknown
  • William Feilding, 1st Earl of Denbigh (d. 1643)
  • Francis Kynaston, English courtier and poet (d. 1642)^[33]
  • Yun Seondo, Korean politician and poet (d. 1671)
  • Song Yingxing, Chinese encyclopedist (d. 1666)
  • George Yeardley, English colonial administrator in America (d. 1627)

1588

• January 4 – Arnold Vinnius, Dutch lawyer (d. 1657)
• January 6 – Elizabeth Stanley, Countess of Huntingdon, English noblewoman and writer (d. 1633)
• January 20 – Francesco Gessi, Italian painter (d. 1649)
• February 2 – Georg II of Fleckenstein-Dagstuhl, German nobleman (d. 1644)
• February 15 – Benjamin Bramer, German mathematician (d. 1652)
• March 12 – Herman de Neyt, Flemish painter (d. 1642)
• March 21 – Egon VIII of Fürstenberg-Heiligenberg, Bavarian count and field-marshal (d. 1635)
• March 22 – Frederick IX, Margrave of Brandenburg, Grand Master of the Order of Saint John (d. 1611)
• March 27 – Celestyn Myślenta, Polish theologian (d. 1653)
• March 29 – Margherita Aldobrandini, Parmesan regent (d. 1646)
• March – Johann Heinrich Alsted, German theologian (d. 1638)
• April 4 – Padovanino, Italian painter (d. 1649)
• April 5 – Thomas Hobbes, English philosopher (d. 1679)
• April 15 – Claudius Salmasius, French classical scholar (d. 1653)
• April 16 – Emanuel Filibert of Savoy, Viceroy of Sicily (d. 1624)
• May 2 – Étienne Pascal, French mathematician (d. 1651)
• May 9 – Herman Hugo, Jesuit priest, writer, military chaplain (d. 1629)
• May 13 – Ole Worm, Danish physician and antiquary (d. 1654)
• May 28 – Pierre Séguier, Chancellor of France (d. 1672)
• June 3 – Julius Frederick, Duke of Württemberg-Weiltingen (1617–16135) (d. 1635)
• June 9 – Johann Andreas Herbst, German composer and music theorist (d. 1666)
• June 11 – George Wither, English poet and satirist (d. 1667)
• June 14 – Hoshina Masasada, Japanese daimyō who ruled the Ino Domain (d. 1661)
• June 30 – Giovanni Maria Sabino, Italian composer, organist and teacher (d. 1649)

• July 7 – Wolrad IV, Count of Waldeck-Eisenberg (1588–1640) (d. 1640)
• July 29 – William Spring of Pakenham, Member of Parliament (d. 1638)
• August 25 – Elizabeth Poole, English settler in Plymouth Colony (d. 1654)
• August – François de La Mothe Le Vayer, French writer (d. 1672)
• September 1 – Henri, Prince of Condé (d. 1646)
• September 8 – Marin Mersenne, French theologian (d. 1648)
• September 10 – Nicholas Lanier, English composer (d. 1666)
• September 13 – Edward Vaux, 4th Baron Vaux of Harrowden, English baron (d. 1661)
• October 7 – Sir Drue Drury, 1st Baronet, English politician (d. 1632)
• October 16 – Luke Wadding, Irish Franciscan friar and historian (d. 1657)
• November 25 – Gilbert Ironside the elder, English bishop (d. 1671)
• December 10
  • Johann von Aldringen, Austrian field marshal (d. 1634)
  • Isaac Beeckman, Dutch philosopher and scientist (d. 1637)
• December 15
  • Charles de Condren, French theologian (d. 1641)
  • Adolf Frederick I, Duke of Mecklenburg-Schwerin (1592–1628 and again 1631–1658) (d. 1658)
• December 23 – Claude Bernard, French priest (d. 1641)
• December 24 – Constance of Austria, Queen of Poland (d. 1631)

• John Danvers, English politician (d. 1655)
• John Endecott, English politician (d. 1665)
  • Robert Filmer, English political writer (d. 1653)
  • Accepted Frewen, English churchman (d. 1664)
  • Madame Ke, influential nanny of the Tianqi Emperor of China (approximately; d. 1627)
  • Francis Higginson, colonial American Puritan (d. 1630)
  • Jan Janssonius, Dutch cartographer (d. 1664)
  • Catherine de Vivonne, marquise de Rambouillet (d. 1665)
  • John Winthrop, influential Puritan in the history of Massachusetts (d. 1649)

1589

• January 8 – Ivan Gundulić, Croatian poet (d. 1638)
• January 11 – William Strode, English politician (d. 1666)
• January 28 – Francisco Ximénez de Urrea, Spanish historian (d. 1647)
• February 5
  • Honorat de Bueil, seigneur de Racan (d. 1670)
  • Esteban Manuel de Villegas, Spanish poet (d. 1669)
• February 7 – Jacob de Witt, Mayor of Dordrecht (d. 1674)
• February 8 – Peter Melander Graf von Holzappel, Protestant military leader in the Thirty Years’ War (d. 1648)
• February 18
  • Henry Vane the Elder, English politician (d. 1655)
  • Maarten Gerritsz Vries, Dutch explorer (d. 1646)
• March 1 – Thomas Middleton, English politician (d. 1662)
• March 3 – Gisbertus Voetius, Dutch theologian (d. 1676)
• March 18 – Richard Sackville, 3rd Earl of Dorset, English noble (d. 1624)
• April 16 – Nicolaes le Febure, Dutch Golden Age member of the Haarlem schutterij (d. 1641)
• April 17 – Martin Zeiler, German author (d. 1661)
• April 18 – John, Duke of Östergötland, Swedish prince (d. 1618)
• April 20 – John Casimir, Count Palatine of Kleeburg, son of John I (d. 1652)
• April 28 – Margaret of Savoy, Vicereine of Portugal (d. 1655)
• May 12 – François L’Anglois, French artist (d. 1647)
• May 28 – Robert Arnauld d’Andilly, French writer (d. 1674)
• June 9 – John of St. Thomas, Portuguese philosopher (d. 1644)
• June 16 – Albrycht Władysław Radziwiłł, Polish prince (d. 1636)
• June 20 – Giambattista Altieri, Italian Catholic cardinal (d. 1654)
• July 2 – Richard Pepys, English politician (d. 1659)
• July 3 – Johann Georg Wirsung, German anatomist (d. 1643)
• July 15 – Cornelis Bol, Flemish painter and etcher (d. 1666)
• July 16 – Sinibaldo Scorza, Italian painter (d. 1631)
• August 1 – Alexandrine von Taxis, German Imperial General Post Master (d. 1666)
• August 8 – Framlingham Gawdy, English politician (d. 1654)
• August 12
  • Domenico Fiasella, Italian painter (d. 1669)
  • Ulrich, Duke of Pomerania, Bishop of Cammin (d. 1622)
• August 15 – Gabriel Báthory, Prince of Transylvania (d. 1613)
• September 1 – Giovanni Pesaro, Doge of Venice (d. 1659)
• September 7 – August of Saxony, German prince (d. 1615)
• September 17 – Agostinho Barbosa, Portuguese bishop in Italy and writer on canon law (d. 1649)
• October 2 – Muhammad Parviz, Mughal emperor (d. 1626)
• October 7 – Maria Magdalena of Austria (d. 1631)
• October 8 – Pedro de Villagómez Vivanco, Roman Catholic prelate, Archbishop of Lima, then Bishop of Arequipa (d. 1671)
• October 24 – Giuseppe Marcinò, Italian priest, member of the Order of Friars Minor – or Capuchins (d. 1655)
• October 25 – Jan Stanisław Sapieha, Grand Hetman of Lithuania (d. 1635)
• December 21 – Otto, Count of Lippe-Brake (1621–1657) (d. 1657)

• Tsar Feodor II of Russia (d. 1605)
• Yönten Gyatso, 4th Dalai Lama
• John Bankes, Attorney General and Chief Justice to King Charles I of England (d. 1644)
• Jusepa Vaca, Spanish stage actress (d. 1653)

Deaths[edit]

1580

• January 5 – Anna Sibylle of Hanau-Lichtenberg, German noblewoman (b. 1542)
• January 18
  • Antonio Scandello, Italian composer (b. 1517)
  • Archangelo de’ Bianchi, Italian Catholic cardinal (b. 1516)
• January 31 – King Henry of Portugal (b. 1512)
• February 2 – Bessho Nagaharu, Japanese retainer (b. 1558)
• February 24 – Henry FitzAlan, 19th Earl of Arundel, English nobleman (b. 1511)
• April 20 – Francesco Alciati, Italian Catholic cardinal (b. 1522)
• May 3 – Thomas Tusser, English poet and farmer (b. c. 1524)
• May 31 – Dorothea of Denmark, Electress Palatine, Princess of Denmark, Sweden and Norway (b. 1520)
• June 10 – Luís de Camões, Portuguese poet (b. c. 1524)
• June 18 – Juliana of Stolberg, German countess (b. 1506)
• August 1 – Albrecht Giese, German politician and diplomat (b. 1524)
• August 12 – Luca Longhi, Italian painter (b. 1507)
• August 15 – Vincenzo Borghini, Italian monk (b. 1515)
• August 19 – Andrea Palladio, Italian architect (b. 1508)
• August 20 – Jerónimo Osório, Portuguese historian (b. 1506)
• August 28 – Antonín Brus z Mohelnice, Moravian Catholic archbishop (b. 1518)
• August 30 – Emmanuel Philibert, Duke of Savoy (b. 1528)
• September 19 – Catherine Brandon, Duchess of Suffolk, English noblewoman (b. 1519)
• September 20 – Honorat II of Savoy, French Navy admiral (b. 1511)
• September – Anne de Pisseleu d’Heilly, French royal mistress and cultural patron (b. 1508)
• October 1 – John II, Duke of Schleswig-Holstein-Haderslev (b. 1521)
• October 5 – Matsudaira Shigeyoshi, Japanese general (b. 1493)
• October 8 – Hieronymus Wolf, German historian (b. 1516)
• October 26 – Anna of Austria, Queen of Spain (b. 1549)
• November 3 – Jerónimo Zurita y Castro, Spanish historian (b. 1512)
• November 16 – Marie of Baden-Sponheim, German noblewoman (b. 1507
• November 30 – Richard Farrant, English composer (b. 1530)
• December 1 – Giovanni Morone, Italian Catholic cardinal (b. 1509)
• date unknown
  • Giovanni Filippo Ingrassia, Italian anatomist (b. 1545)
  • Ruy López de Segura, Spanish priest and writer on chess (b. 1530)
  • Inés de Suárez, Spanish conquistadora (b. 1507)
• possible date
  • John Heywood, English dramatist (b. 1497)
  • Robert Lindsay of Pitscottie, Scottish chronicler (b. c. 1532)

1581

• January 22 – Joos de Damhouder, Flemish jurist (b. 1507)
• February 15 – Francisco Foreiro, Portuguese Dominican theologian and biblist (b. 1523)
• March 17 – Johann Marbach, German theologian (b. 1521)
• March 19 – Francis I, Duke of Saxe-Lauenburg (b. 1510)
• April 3 – Herbert Duifhuis, Dutch minister (b. 1531)
• April 25 – Okabe Motonobu, Japanese warrior
• May 31 – Jan Kostka, Polish noble (b. 1529)
• June 2 – James Douglas, 4th Earl of Morton, regent of Scotland (b. 1525)
• July 20 – Odet de Turnèbe, French dramatist (b. 1552)
• July 11 – Peder Skram, Danish senator and naval officer (b. 1500)
• July 12 – Johannes Gigas, German theologian (b. 1514)
• July 22 – Richard Cox, English bishop (b. 1500)
• August 17 – Duchess Sabine of Württemberg, by marriage Landgravine of Hesse-Kassel (b. 1549)
• August 20 – Katharina of Hanau, Countess of Wied, German noblewoman (b. 1525)
• August – King Mayadunne of Sitawaka (b. 1501)
• September 1 – Guru Ram Das, fourth Sikh Guru (b. 1534)
• September 16 – Peter Niers, notorious German bandit (date of birth unknown)
• September 28 – Achilles Statius, Portuguese humanist (b. 1524)
• September 29 – Andreas Musculus, German theologian (b. 1514)
• September 30 – Hubert Languet, French diplomat and reformer (b. 1518)
• October 4 – Henry Wriothesley, 2nd Earl of Southampton, English earl (b. 1545)
• October 7 – Honoré I, Lord of Monaco (b. 1522)
• October 9 – Saint Louis Bertrand, Spanish missionary to Latin America, patron saint of Colombia (b. 1526)
• October 10 – King Bayinnaung of Burma (b. 1516)
• October 23 – Michael Neander, German mathematician and astronomer (b. 1529)
• November 4 – Mathurin Romegas, French rival Grandmaster of the Knights Hospitaller (b. c.1525)
• November 7 – Richard Davies, Welsh bishop and scholar (b. c. 1505)
• November 19 – Tsarevich Ivan Ivanovich of Russia (b. 1554)
• December 1
  • Martyrs and executed of Tyburn
    • Alexander Briant, English Jesuit priest and saint (b. 1556)
    • Edmund Campion, English Jesuit priest and saint (b. 1540)
    • Ralph Sherwin, English Roman Catholic priest and saint (b. 1550)
• December 11 – Maria of Austria, Duchess of Jülich-Cleves-Berg, daughter of Emperor Ferdinand I (b. 1531)
• December 21 – Jean de la Cassière, French-born Maltese 51st Grandmaster of the Knights Hospitaller (b. 1502)
• date unknown
  • Christopher Báthory, prince of Transylvania (b. 1530)
  • Guillaume Postel, French linguist (b. 1510)
  • Agatha Streicher, German physician (b. 1520)
  • Nicholas Sanders, English Catholic propagandist (b. 1530)

1582

• January 23 – Jean Bauhin, French physician (b. 1511)
• January 26 – Thomas Platter, Swiss humanist scholar (b. 1499)
• February 18 – Sakuma Nobumori, Japanese retainer and samurai (b. 1527)
• March 14 – Elisabeth of Hesse, Electress Palatine by marriage (1576-1582) (b. 1539)
• March 18 – Juan Jauregui, attempted assassin of William I of Orange (b. 1562)
• March 22 – Daniel Brendel von Homburg, Roman Catholic archbishop (b. 1522)
• March 29 – Philip de’ Medici, Italian noble, Grand Prince of Tuscany (b. 1577)
• April 3 – Takeda Katsuyori, Japanese daimyō of Takeda Clan (b. 1546)
• April 16 – Oyamada Nobushige, Japanese samurai (b. 1545)
• April 21 – Francisco de Toledo, Spanish soldier and politician (b. 1515)
• May 3 – Giorgio Mainerio, Italian composer (b. 1530)
• May 5 – Charlotte of Bourbon, Princess consort of Orange, married to William I of Orange (b. 1547)
• June 13 – Matteo Tafuri, Italian alchemist (b. 1492)
• June 21
  • Oda Nobunaga, Japanese daimyō of the Oda Clan (b. 1534) (forced suicide)
  • Oda Nobutada, Japanese samurai, oldest son of Nobunaga (b. 1557) (forced suicide)
  • Anayama Nobukimi, Japanese military commander (b. 1541)
• June 23 – Shimizu Muneharu, Japanese military commander (b. 1537)
• July 2 – Akechi Mitsuhide, Japanese samurai and warlord (b. 1528)
• July 3 – James Crichton, Scottish scholar (b. 1560)
• July 7 – Kawajiri Hidetaka, Japanese samurai (b. 1527)
• July 17 – Jacques Peletier du Mans, French mathematician (b. 1517)
• September 23 – Louis, Duke of Montpensier (b. 1513)
• September 28 – George Buchanan, Scottish humanist scholar (b. 1506)
• October 4 – Teresa of Ávila, Spanish Carmelite nun, poet and saint (b. 1515)
• October 21 – Laurent Joubert, French physician (b. 1529)
• November 21 – Diego, Prince of Asturias, Portuguese prince (b. 1575)
• December 11 – Fernando Álvarez de Toledo, 3rd Duke of Alba, Spanish general (b. 1507)
• date unknown
  • Wu Cheng’en, Chinese novelist and poet of the Ming dynasty
  • Hans Hendrik van Paesschen, Flemish architect (b. 1510)
  • Zhang Juzheng, Ming dynasty official (b. 1525)
  • Takeda Nobukado, Japanese samurai (b. 1529)
  • Sen Soulintha, Laotian king of Lan Xang (b. 1511)

1583

• January 7 – Maria of Saxony, Duchess of Pomerania (b. 1515)
• January 22 – Antoinette de Bourbon, French noblewoman (b. 1493)
• January 28 – Pier Francesco Orsini, Italian condottiero and art patron (b. 1523)
• February 27 – Richard Madox, English explorer (b. 1546)
• March 24 – Hubert Goltzius, Dutch Renaissance painter-engraver (b. 1526)
• March 28 – King Magnus of Livonia (b. 1540)
• April – Lucas David, Prussian historian (b. 1503)
• April 17 – Ogasawara Nagatoki, Japanese daimyō (b. 1519)
• May 6 – Zacharias Ursinus, German theologian (b. 1534)
• May 23 – Günther XLI, Count of Schwarzburg-Arnstadt (b. 1529)
• June 6 – Nakagawa Kiyohide, Japanese military commander (b. 1556)
• June 9 – Thomas Radclyffe, 3rd Earl of Sussex, Lord-Lieutenant of Ireland (b. 1525)
• June 14 – Shibata Katsuie, Japanese military commander (b. 1522)
• June – Babullah of Ternate, Sultan of Ternate (b. 1528)
• July 1 – Sakuma Morimasa, Japanese samurai and warlord (beheaded) (b. 1554)
• July 6 – Edmund Grindal, Archbishop of Canterbury (b. 1519)
• August 22 – Marcantonio Maffei, Italian archbishop and cardinal (b. 1521)
• September 9 – Humphrey Gilbert, English explorer (b. c. 1537)
• September 16 – Catherine Jagiellon, queen of John II of Sweden (b. 1526)
• September 27 – Elisabeth Plainacher, Austrian alleged witch (b. 1513)
• October 22 – Louis VI, Elector Palatine (b. 1539)
• November 11 – Gerald FitzGerald, 14th Earl of Desmond, Irish rebel (b. c. 1533)
• November 24 – René de Birague, French cardinal and chancellor (b. 1506)
• December 16 – Ivan Fyodorov, Russian printer
• December 23 – Nicolás Factor, Spanish artist (b. 1520)
• December 31 – Thomas Erastus, Swiss theologian (b. 1524)
• date unknown
  • Giocangga, chieftain of the Jurchens (b. 1526)
  • Andrey Kurbsky, Russian writer (b. 1528)
  • Oda Nobutaka, Japanese samurai (b. 1558)

1584

• January 4 – Tobias Stimmer, Swiss painter and drawer (b. 1539)
• January 11 – Bernal Díaz del Castillo, Spanish constiquador (b. 1496)
• January 15 – Martha Leijonhufvud, politically active Swedish noble (b. 1520)
• February 18 – Antonio Francesco Grazzini, Italian writer (b. 1503)
• February 19 – Anna de’ Medici, Tuscan princess (b. 1569)
• March 10 – Thomas Norton, English politician and writer (b. 1532)
• March 18 – Tsar Ivan IV of Russia (b. 1530)
• May 10 – Luigi Cornaro, Italian Catholic cardinal (b. 1517)
• March 12 – Kasper Franck, German theologian (b. 1543)
• May 18 – Ikeda Tsuneoki, Japanese daimyō and military commander (in battle) (b. 1536)
• May 25 – Prospero Spani, Italian sculptor (b. 1516)
• June 10 – François, Duke of Anjou (b. 1555)
• June 13 – János Zsámboky, Hungarian scholar (b. 1531)
• July – Francis Throckmorton, conspirator against Queen Elizabeth I of England (b. 1554)
• July 10 – William I of Orange (assassinated) (b. 1533)
• July 12 – Steven Borough, English explorer (b. 1525)
• July 14 – Balthasar Gérard, French assassin of William I of Orange (b. 1557)
• July 23 – John Day, English Protestant printer (b. 1522)
• August 22 – Jan Kochanowski, Polish writer (b. 1530)
• October – Colin Campbell, 6th Earl of Argyll, Scottish nobleman and politician (b. 1541)
• November 3 – Charles Borromeo, Italian Roman Catholic cardinal and saint (b. 1538)
• November 17 – Eric II, Duke of Brunswick-Lüneburg (b. 1528)
• December 26 – Giovanni Francesco Commendone, Italian Catholic cardinal (b. 1523)
• date unknown
  • Jan Borukowski, royal secretary of Poland (b. 1524)
  • Yi I of Joseon, Korean Confucian scholar (b. 1536)
  • Elena Anguissola, Italian painter and nun (b. c. 1532)
  • Mikołaj “the Red” Radziwiłł, Polish magnate (b. 1512)
  • Carolus Sigonius, Italian humanist (b. 1524)
  • Francisco de Toledo, Count of Oropesa, viceroy of Peru (b. 1515)
  • Michal Wisniowiecki, prince at Wiśniowiec (b. 1529)
• probable – James Balfour of Pittendreich, Scottish judge and politician

1585

• January 16 – Edward Clinton, 1st Earl of Lincoln, English admiral (b. 1512)
• February 6 – Edmund Plowden, English legal scholar (b. 1518)
• February 13 – Alfonso Salmeron, Spanish Jesuit biblical scholar (b. 1515)
• March 10 – Rembert Dodoens, Flemish physician and botanist (b. 1517)
• April 3 – Thomas Goldwell, English ecclesiastic (b. 1501)
• April 22 – Henry of Saxe-Lauenburg, Prince-Archbishop of Bremen, Prince-Bishop of Osnabrück and Paderborn (b. 1550)
• April 10 – Pope Gregory XIII (b. 1502)^[34]
• May 15 – Niwa Nagahide, Japanese warlord (b. 1535)
• June 4 – Muretus, French humanist (b. 1526)
• June 18 – Jacques, Duke of Nemours, French nobleman and soldier (b. 1531)
• June 21 – Henry Percy, 8th Earl of Northumberland, English nobleman and conspirator, suicide (b. 1532)
• June 19 – Francisco de Holanda, Portuguese artist (b. 1517)
• June 22 – Simon Sulzer, Swiss theologian (b. 1508)
• July 6 – Thomas Aufield, English Catholic martyr (b. 1552)
• July 28 – Francis Russell, 2nd Earl of Bedford, English nobleman, soldier and politician (b. 1527)
• c. July? – Shimon Lavi, Sephardi kabbalist (b. 1486)
• August 5 or August 6 – Yermak Timofeyevich, Cossack leader and explorer of Siberia
• September 6 – Luca Cambiasi, Italian painter (b. 1527)
• October 1 – Anne of Denmark, Electress of Saxony (b. 1532)
• October 19 – Johannes Crato von Krafftheim, German humanist and physician (b. 1519)
• October 29 – Özdemiroğlu Osman Pasha, Ottoman (Turkish) grand vizier (b. 1526)
• November 2 – Tachibana Dōsetsu, Japanese daimyō (b. 1513)
• November 23 – Thomas Tallis, English composer (b. c. 1510)
• November 28 – Hernando Franco, Spanish composer (b. 1532)
• December – Pierre de Ronsard, French poet (b. 1524)
• December 4 – John Willock, Scottish reformer (b. c. 1515)
• December 22 – Vittoria Accoramboni, Italian noblewoman (b. 1557)
• approx. date – Qiu Zhu, Chinese painter
• date unknown
  • Taqi ad-Din Muhammad ibn Ma’ruf, Turkish scientist (b. 1526)
  • Stanisław Lubomirski, Polish nobleman
  • Nguyễn Bỉnh Khiêm, Vietnamese administrator, educator, poet, sage and later a saint of the Cao Dai religion (d. 1491)

1586

• January 18 – Margaret of Austria, regent of the Netherlands (b. 1522)
• January 25 – Lucas Cranach the Younger, German painter (b. 1515)
• February 11 – Augustus, Elector of Saxony (b. 1526)
• March 1 – Amalia of Cleves, German princess and writer (b. 1517)
• March 25 – Margaret Clitherow, English Roman Catholic nun, saint and martyr (b. 1556)
• March 30 – Anna of Veldenz, Margrave of Baden (b. 1540)
• April 8 – Martin Chemnitz, Lutheran reformer (b. 1522)
• May 5 – Henry Sidney, Lord Deputy of Ireland (b. 1529)
• May 7 – George II of Brieg, Duke of Brieg (1547–1586) (b. 1523)
• May 9 – Luis de Morales, Spanish religious painter (b. 1510)
• May 29 – Adam Lonicer, German botanist (b. 1528)
• June 1 – Martín de Azpilcueta, Spanish theologian and economist (b. 1491)
• June 5 – Matthew Wesenbeck, Belgian jurist (b. 1531)
• June 9 – Filippo Boncompagni, Italian Catholic cardinal (b. 1548)
• June 28 – Primož Trubar, Carniolan Protestant reformer (b. 1508)
• July 5 – Ludwig Lavater, Swiss Reformed theologian (b. 1527)
• July 12 – Edward Sutton, 4th Baron Dudley (b. 1525)
• August 1 – Richard Maitland, Scottish statesman and historian (b. 1496)
• September 7 – Prince Masahito, member of the Japanese imperial family (b. 1552)
• September 18 – Ottavio Farnese, Duke of Parma (b. 1521)
• September 20
  • Sir Anthony Babington, English Catholic conspirator (executed) (b. 1561)
  • Chidiock Tichborne, English conspirator and poet (executed) (b. 1558)
• September 21 – Antoine Perrenot de Granvelle, French Roman Catholic cardinal (b. 1517)
• October 1 – Adolf, Duke of Holstein-Gottorp (b. 1526)
• October 15 – Elizabeth of Denmark, Duchess of Mecklenburg, Danish princess (b. 1524)
• October 17 – Philip Sidney, English poet, courtier and soldier (b. 1554)
• October 28 – John Günther I, Count of Schwarzburg-Sondershausen (b. 1532)
• November 6 – Willem IV van den Bergh, Stadtholder of Guelders and Zutphen (b. 1537)
• December 6 – Joachim Ernest, Prince of Anhalt (b. 1536)
• December 12 – Stefan Batory, King of Poland (b. 1533)
• December 30 – Luigi d’Este, Italian Catholic cardinal (b. 1538

1587

• January 31 – Juraj Drašković, Croatian Roman Catholic cardinal (b. 1525)
• January – Thomas Seckford, English official (b. 1515)
• February 8 – Mary, Queen of Scots (executed) (b. 1542)^[35]
• February 9 – Vincenzo Ruffo, Italian composer (b. 1510)
• February 13 – Dorothea of Saxony, Duchess of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel (b. 1563)
• February 22 – Sophie of Brandenburg-Ansbach, princess of Brandenburg-Ansbach (b. 1535)
• February 26 – Magdalene of Lippe, Countess of Lippe by birth, and Landgravine of Hesse-Darmstadt (b. 1552)
• March 15 – Caspar Olevian, German theologian (b. 1536)
• March 30 – Ralph Sadler, English statesman (b. 1507)
• April 10 – Henry III, Duke of Münsterberg-Oels (b. 1542)
• April 11 – Thomas Bromley, English lord chancellor (b. 1530)
• April 8 – John Foxe, English author (b. 1516)^[36]
• April 14 – Edward Manners, 3rd Earl of Rutland (b. 1549)
• April 16 – Anne Seymour, Duchess of Somerset (b. c. 1510)^[37]
• May 9 – Jakob Schegk, German physician (b. 1511)
• May 17 – Gotthard Kettler, Duke of Courland and Semigallia (b. 1517)
• June 11 – Ōtomo Sōrin, Japanese Christian daimyō (b. 1530)
• June 15 – Frederick II, Duke of Holstein-Gottorp (b. 1568)
• June 23 – Ōmura Sumitada, Japanese Christian daimyō (b. 1533)
• July 7 – Joachim of Zollern, Titular Count of Hohenzollern (b. 1554)
• July 28 – Godfried van Mierlo, Dutch Dominican friar and bishop (b. 1518)
• August 14 – Guglielmo Gonzaga, Duke of Mantua (b. 1538)
• August 29 – Vincenzo Bellavere, Italian composer (b. c. 1540)
• September 3 – Henry Cheyne, 1st Baron Cheyne, English politician and baron (b. 1540)
• September 19 – Jacobus Pamelius, Belgian bishop (b. 1536)
• October 19 – Francesco I de’ Medici, Grand Duke of Tuscany (b. 1541)
• November 1 – Alfonso d’Este, Lord of Montecchio, Italian nobleman (b. 1527)
• November 10 – Abe Motozane, Japanese warlord (b. 1513)
• December 13 – Hai Rui, Ming Dynasty “model official” (b. 1514)
• December 11 – Andreas Gaill, German jurist and statesman (b. 1526)
• date unknown
  • Dudley Fenner, English Puritan divine (b. c. 1558)
  • Jan Tarło, Polish nobleman (b. 1527)
• probable – George Whetstone, English writer (b. 1544)

1588

• January 17 – Qi Jiguang, Chinese general (b. 1528)
• February 9 – Álvaro de Bazán, 1st Marquis of Santa Cruz, Spanish admiral (b. 1526)
• February 24 – Johann Weyer, Dutch physician and occultist (b. 1515)
• March 3 – Henry XI of Legnica, Duke of Legnica (b. 1539)
• March 5 – Henri, Prince of Condé (b. 1552)
• March 10 – Theodor Zwinger, Swiss scholar (b. 1533)
• April 4 – King Frederick II of Denmark (b. 1534)
• April 19 – Paolo Veronese, Italian painter (b. c. 1528)
• May 5 – Giorgio Biandrata, Italian physician (b. 1515)
• May 12 – Peter Monau, German physician (b. 1551)
• June 5 – Anne Cecil, Countess of Oxford, English countess (b. 1556)
• June 7 – Philip II, Margrave of Baden-Baden (b. 1559)
• June 10 – Valentin Weigel, German theologian (b. 1533).
• June 13 – Countess Anna of Nassau (b. 1563)
• June 18 – Robert Crowley, London stationer (b. 1517)
• July 17 – Mimar Sinan, Ottoman architect (b. 1489)
• August 6 – Josias I, Count of Waldeck, Count of Waldeck-Eisenberg (1578-1588) (b. 1554)
• August 8 – Alonso Sánchez Coello, Spanish painter (b. c. 1531)
• August 12 – Alfonso Ferrabosco the elder, Italian composer (b. 1543)
• August 30 – Margaret Ward, English saint (birthdate unknown)
• August 31 – Juliana of Nassau-Dillenburg, Dutch prince (b. 1546)
• September 3 – Richard Tarlton, English actor (b. 1530)
• September 4 – Robert Dudley, 1st Earl of Leicester, English politician (b. 1532)
• September 25 – Tilemann Heshusius, German Gnesio-Lutheran theologian (b. 1527)
• September 26 – Amias Paulet, Governor of Jersey (b. 1532)
• October 1 – Edward James, English Catholic martyr (executed at Chichester)^[38]
• October 2 – Bernardino Telesio, Italian philosopher and natural scientist (b. 1509)
• November 1 – Jean Daurat, French poet and scholar (b. 1508)
• December 19 – Esther Handali, Ottoman businessperson
• December 23 – Henry I, Duke of Guise, French Catholic leader (b. 1550)
• December 24 – Louis II, Cardinal of Guise, French Catholic cardinal (b. 1555)
• date unknown
  • Diego Durán, Dominican friar and historian in colonial Mexico (b. c. 1537).^[39]
  • John Field, British Puritan clergyman and controversialist (b. 1545)
  • Sonam Gyatso, 3rd Dalai Lama, the first Dalai Lama to use the title (b. 1543)^[40]
  • Plautilla Nelli, Italian painter (b. 1524)
  • Edwin Sandys, English prelate (b. 1519)
  • Kenau Simonsdochter Hasselaer, Dutch war heroine (b. 1526)

1589

• January 5 – Catherine de’ Medici, queen of Henry II of France (b. 1519)
• January 18 – Magnus Heinason, Faroese naval hero (b. 1545)
• February 19 – Philothei, Greek Orthodox religious sister, martyr and saint (b. 1522)
• March 2 – Alessandro Farnese, Italian cardinal (b. 1530)
• March 3 – Johannes Sturm, German educator (b. 1507)
• March 22 – Lodovico Guicciardini, Italian historian (b. 1521)
• March 23 – Marcin Kromer, Prince-Bishop of Warmia (b. 1512)
• April 26 – Benedict the Moor, Italian Franciscan friar and saint (b. 1526)
• May 3 – Julius, Duke of Brunswick-Lüneburg (b. 1528)
• May 17 – Charles II, Lord of Monaco (b. 1555)
• May 20 – Anna Maria of Brandenburg-Ansbach, German princess (b. 1526)
• July 1 – Lady Saigō, Japanese concubine (b. 1552)
• July 16 – Petrus Peckius the Elder, Dutch jurist, writer on international maritime law (b. 1529)
• July 29 – Maria of the Palatinate-Simmern, Duchess consort of Södermanland (1579-1589) (b. 1561)
• August 1 – Jacques Clément, French assassin of Henry III of France (b. 1567)
• August 2 – King Henry III of France (b. 1551)
• September 16 – Michael Baius, Flemish theologian (b. 1513)
• September 19 – Jean-Antoine de Baïf, French poet (b. 1532)
• October 1 – William Darrell of Littlecote, English politician (b. 1539)
• October 15 – Jacopo Zabarella, Italian philosopher (b. 1532)
• November 15 – Philipp Apian, German mathematician and medic (b. 1531)
• December 10 – Henry Compton, 1st Baron Compton, English politician (b. 1544)
• December 12 – Francisco Balbi di Correggio, Italian soldier in the service of Spain during the Siege of Malta (b. 1505)

• • Pietro de’ Mariscalchi, Italian painter (b. 1520)
  • Tansen, Indian musician (b. 1506)
  • Heo Nanseolheon, Korean poet (b. 1563)
  • Charles Dançay, French diplomat (b. 1510)