1579

Years: 1576 1577 1578 - 1579 - 1580 1581 1582
Decades: 1540s 1550s 1560s - 1570s - 1580s 1590s 1600s
Centuries: 15th century - 16th century - 17th century

January 6 - The Union of Atrecht united the southern Netherlands under the Duke of Parma, governor in the name of king Philip II of Spain.
January 23 - The Union of Utrecht united the northern Netherlands in a confederation called the United Provinces. William I of Orange becomes Stadtholder, and the Duc d'Anjou, younger brother of Henry III of France is invited to become hereditary sovereign.
March - Capture of Maastricht by the Spanish under Parma.
June 17 - Sir Francis Drake, during his circumnavigation of the world, lands in what is now California, which he claims for Queen Elizabeth I. With an English claim here and in Newfoundland, it becomes the basis for English colonial charters which will claim all land from the Atlantic to the Pacific, from "sea to sea." Drake's claim is called "Nova Albion" (meaning, New England), and subsequent maps will show all lands north of New Spain and New Mexico under this name.

July 13 - Arthur Dee, English physician and alchemist (died 1651)
August 1 - Luís Vélez de Guevara, Spanish dramatist and novelist (died 1644)
December 9 - Martin de Porres, Peruvian monk and saint (died 1639)
Jacob Astley, 1st Baron Astley of Reading, royalist commander in the English Civil War (died 1652)
François de Bassompierre, French courtier (died 1646)
Guido Bentivoglio, Italian cardinal (died 1644)
Thomas Dempster, Scottish scholar and historian (died 1625)
December - John Fletcher, English writer (died 1625)
Andreas Gryphius, German lyric poet and dramatist (died 1664)
Tokugawa Hidetada, Japanese shogun (died 1632)
Johannes Meursius, Dutch classical scholar and antiquary (died 1639)
Janusz Radziwill, Polish nobleman (died 1620)
Henri, duc de Rohan (died 1638)
Franz Snyders, Flemish painter (died 1657)
Richard Whitbourne, English colonist (died 1628)

February 20 - Nicholas Bacon, English politician (born 1509)
June 25 - Hatano Hideharu, Japanese samurai (born 1541)
June 30 - Mehmed Pasha Sokolovic, Turkish Janissary (born 1505)
August 5 - Stanislaus Hosius, Polish cardinal (born 1504)
November 15 - Francis David, Hungarian religious reformer (born 1510)
November 21 - Thomas Gresham, English merchant and financier (born 1519)
December 21 - Vicente Masip, Spanish painter
Giovanni Battista Adriani, Italian historian
John Stuart, 4th Earl of Atholl
Henry Balnaves, Scottish politician and religious reformer (born 1512)
Diego de Landa, Bishop of the Yucatán (born 1524)
François de Montmorency, French nobleman (born 1530)
Katarzyna Ostrogska, Polish noblewoman (born 1560)
Gonzalo Jimenez de Quesada, Spanish explorer (born 1509)
Hieronim Jarosz Sieniawski, Polish nobleman
Mehmed Sokollu, Grand Vizier of Suleyman the Magnificent and Selim II (born 1505)
Hans Staden, German adventurer
William Whittingham, English Biblical scholar and religious reformer (born 1524)

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