Events

• January 16 - Abdication of Emperor Charles V. His son, Philip II becomes King of Spain, while his brother Ferdinand becomes Holy Roman Emperor
• January 23 - The Shaanxi Earthquake, the deadliest earthquake in history, occurs with its epicenter in Shaanxi province, China. 830,000 people may have been killed.
• February - Truce of Vaucelles - Temporary end to the fighting between France and Spain.
• February 14 - Thomas Cranmer is declared a heretic
• March 9 - Scottish nobles kill David Rizzio, the secretary to Mary I of Scotland in the queen's presence
• March 21 - In Oxford, Archbishop of Canterbury Thomas Cranmer is burned at the stake for treason.
• November - Collapse of the Truce of Vaucelles. War resumes between Henry II of France and Philip II of Spain
• November 5 - Second Battle of Panipat - Fifty miles north of Delhi, a Mogul Army defeats Hindu forces of General Hemu to ensure Akbar the throne of India.
• Lorenzo Priuli becomes Doge of Venice
• Bloody Mary establishes the Fort of Maryborough, in what is now Portlaoise, County Laois, Ireland
• The kings of Spain take control of the Flanders region, including what is now the French département of Nord
• The false Martin Guerre appears in the French village of Artigat.
• King John III of Sweden becomes ruler of Finland as Hertig Johan.
• Jellaladin Mahommed Akbar ascends to the throne of the Mughal Empire; he rules until his death in 1605
• Welser banking families of Augsburg lose colonial control of Venezuela
• Ivan the Terrible conquers Astrakhan, opening the Volga River to Russian traffic and trade

Births

• January 8 - Uesugi Kagekatsu, Japanese samurai and warlord (died 1623)
• February 21 - Sethus Calvisius, German calendar reformer (d. 1615)
• March 7 - Guillaume du Vair, French statesman and philosopher (died 1621)
• June 6 - Edward la Zouche, 11th Baron Zouche, English politician and diplomat (died 1625)
• November 15 - Jacques-Davy Duperron, French cardinal (died 1618)
• Henry Briggs, English mathematician (died 1630)
• Margaret Clitherow, English Catholic martyr (died 1586)
• Shibata Katsutoyo, Japanese military commander (died 1583)
• Nakagawa Kiyohide, Japanese military commander (died 1583)
• Ahmad Baba al Massufi, Sudanese writer and political leader
• James Melville, Scottish divine and reformer (died 1614)

See also Category: 1556 births

Deaths

• March 21 - Thomas Cranmer, Archbishop of Canterbury (burned at the stake) (born 1489)
• April 18 - Luigi Alamanni, Italian poet and statesman (b. 1495)
• June 10 - Martin Agricola, German composer (born 1486)
• July 31 - Ignatius of Loyola, Spanish founder of the Jesuit order
• November 14 - Giovanni della Casa, Italian poet (born 1503)
• December 23 - Nicholas Udall, English dramatist (born 1504)
• Archibald Douglas, 6th Earl of Angus (born 1490)
• Pietro Aretino, Italian author (born 1492)
• John Bell, Bishop of Worcester
• Patrick Hepburn, 3rd Earl of Bothwell, Scottish traitor (born 1512)
• Girolamo da Carpi, Italian painter (born 1501)
• Jacob Clemens non Papa, Flemish composer (born 1510)
• Saito Dosan, Japanese warlord (born 1494)
• Fuzuli, Turkish poet (born 1494)
• Lorenzo Lotto, Italian painter (born 1480)
• Brian mac Cathaoir O Conchobhair Failghe, last of the Kings of Ui Failghe

See also Category: 1556 deaths.

1556

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