January–June

• January 15 – Henry II of France and Maurice, Elector of Saxony, sign the Treaty of Chambord.
• February 12 – Pedro de Valdivia founds the Chilean city of Valdivia, as Santa María la Blanca de Valdivia.
• February 24 – The privileges of the Hanseatic League are abolished in England.
• March – The Act of Uniformity imposes the Protestant Book of Common Prayer on England.
• March 26 – Guru Amar Das becomes the Third Sikh Guru.
• April – War breaks out between Henry II of France and Emperor Charles V. Henry invades the Duchy of Lorraine, and captures Toul, Metz and Verdun.
• April 11 – Metz Cathedral is consecrated.
• April 16 – Pedro de Valdivia founds the city of La Imperial, Chile.
• May – Maurice, Elector of Saxony, captures Augsburg, and almost seizes Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor at Innsbruck, leading to the suspension of the Council of Trent.

July–December

• July – In Hungary, Drégely Castle is attacked by the Ottoman Empire. Captain Szondy and c. 140 soldiers in the castle die, after 4 days of fighting against 8,000 Turkish raiders.
• August 2
  • John Frederick, Elector of Saxony and Philipp I of Hesse, taken prisoner by Charles V in 1546, are released.
  • The Peace of Passau revokes the Augsburg Interim of 1548, and promises religious freedom to the Protestant princes.
• September – In Hungary, captain István Dobó commands the breaking of the Siege of Eger, led by Kara Ahmed Pasha of the Ottoman Empire.
• September 24 – The Debatable Lands on the border of England and Scotland are divided between the two kingdoms by a commission creating the Scots' Dike in an unsuccessful attempt to halt lawlessness here, but giving both countries their modern borders.
• October 2 – The Khanate of Kazan falls to troops of Ivan IV of Russia.

Date unknown

• In the Persian Gulf, the Ottoman Empire Red Sea Fleet attacks the Portuguese stronghold of Hormuz, but fails to capture it.^[1]
• Spain's Bartolomé de Las Casas publishes his attack on colonial practices in the New World, A Short Account of the Destruction of the Indies.^[2]
• In Italy, Bartolomeo Eustachi completes his Tabulae anatomicae, presenting his discoveries on the structure of the inner ear and heart,^[3] although, for fear of the Inquisition, it will not be published until 1714.
• King Edward VI of England founds 35 grammar schools by royal charter,^[4] including Shrewsbury; Leeds Grammar School is also established.

Births

• January 14 – Alberico Gentili, Italian jurist (d. 1608)
• January 22 – Walter Raleigh, English explorer (d. 1618)
• February 1 – Edward Coke, English colonial entrepreneur and jurist (d. 1634)
• February 8 – Agrippa d'Aubigné, French poet and soldier (d. 1630)
• February 19 – Melchior Klesl, Austrian statesman and cardinal (d. 1630)
• February 20 – Sengoku Hidehisa, Japanese daimyō (d. 1614)
• February 25 – Magdalene of Lippe, Countess of Lippe by birth, and by marriage Landgravine of Hesse-Darmstadt (d. 1587)
• February 28 – Joost Bürgi, Swiss clockmaker and mathematician (d. 1632)
• March 1 – Anna of Cleves, Duchess of Jülich-Cleves-Berg by birth and by marriage Countess Palatine of Neuburg (d. 1632)
• March 18 – Polykarp Leyser the Elder, German theologian (d. 1610)
• March 20 – Christoph, Count of Hohenzollern-Haigerloch (d. 1592)
• April 20 – Frederick IV of Liegnitz, German noble (d. 1596)
• May 8 – Petrus Ryff, Swiss scientist (d. 1629)
• May 12 – Edmund Bowyer, English politician (d. 1627)
• June 2 – Raja Wodeyar I, King of Mysore (d. 1617)
• June 8 – Gabriello Chiabrera, Italian poet (d. 1638)
• June 17 – John George of Ohlau, Duke of Oława and Wołów (1586-1592) (d. 1592)
• June 29 – Elizabeth Spencer, Baroness Hunsdon, English baroness (d. 1618)
• July 18 – Rudolf II, Holy Roman Emperor (d. 1612)
• July 22
  • Anthony Browne, Sheriff of Surrey and Kent (d. 1592)
  • Mary Wriothesley, Countess of Southampton, Lady of English peer and others (d. 1607)
• August 14 – Paolo Sarpi, Italian writer (d. 1623)
• August 21 – Muhammad Qadiri, Founder of the Naushahia branch of the Qadri order (d. 1654)
• August 24 – Lavinia Fontana, Italian painter (d. 1614)
• September 12 – André Schott, Brabantian Jesuit priest, academic, linguist, translator, editor (d. 1629)
• September 20 – Lorenz Scholz von Rosenau, German botanist (d. 1599)
• September 21 – Barbara Longhi, Italian painter (d. 1638)
• September 22 – Tsar Vasili IV of Russia (d. 1612)
• September 27 – Flaminio Scala, Italian playwright and stage actor (d. 1624)
• October 6 – Matteo Ricci, Italian Jesuit missionary to China (d. 1610)
• October 11 – Tsarevich Dmitry Ivanovich of Russia, Grand Prince of Moscow (d. 1553)
• October 18
  • Elisabeth of Saxony, Countess Palatine of Simmern (d. 1590)
  • Francis Cherry, English diplomat (d. 1605)
• October 23 – Odet de Turnèbe, French dramatist (d. 1581)
• October 28 – Simón de Rojas, Spanish saint (d. 1624)
• December 18 – Ahmad Ibn al-Qadi, Moroccan writer, judge and mathematician (d. 1616)
• November 20 – Gilbert Talbot, 7th Earl of Shrewsbury, English politician and Earl (d. 1616)
• November 26 – Seonjo of Joseon, King of Joseon (d. 1608)
• December 27 – William Cavendish, 1st Earl of Devonshire, English politician and Earl (d. 1626)
• December 29 – Henri I de Bourbon, prince de Condé (d. 1588)
• December 31 – Simon Forman, English occultist and astrologer (d. 1611)
• date unknown
  • Hans von Aachen, German mannerist painter (d. 1615)
  • Thomas Aufield, English Catholic martyr (d. 1585)
  • Jean Bertaut, French poet (d. 1611)
  • Philemon Holland, English translator (d. 1637)
  • Prince Masahito, Japanese prince (d. 1586)
  • Lady Saigō, Japanese concubine (d. 1589)
  • Dom Justo Takayama, Japanese daimyo (d. 1615)
  • Jean Hotman, Marquis de Villers-St-Paul, French diplomat (d. 1636)
  • Cvijeta Zuzorić, Croatian poet (d. 1648)
• probable
  • Miguel de Benavides, Spanish clergyman and sinologist (d. 1605)
  • Francisco Goméz de Sandoval y Rojas, Duke of Lerma, Spanish politician (d. 1625)

Deaths

• January 3 – Henry of the Palatinate, bishop of Utrecht (b. 1487)
• January 10 – Johann Cochlaeus, German humanist and controversialist (b. 1479)
• January 22 – Edward Seymour, 1st Duke of Somerset, English politician (b. 1509)
• February 6 – Henry V, Duke of Mecklenburg (b. 1479)
• February 20 – Anne Parr, Countess of Pembroke, English countess (b. 1515)
• February 26 – Heinrich Faber, German composer (b. 1500)
• March 29 – Guru Angad, Indian religious leader (b. 1504)
• April 19 – Olaus Petri, Swedish clergyman (b. 1493)
• April 18 – John Leland, English historian (b. 1502)
• April 21 – Petrus Apianus, German astronomer (b. 1495)
• May 26 – Sebastian Münster, German cartographer and cosmographer (b. 1488)
• June 10 – Alexander Barclay, British poet (b. 1476)
• July 9 – György Szondy, Hungarian soldier
• August 15 – Hermann of Wied, German Catholic archbishop (b. 1477)
• September 23 – Barbara of Brandenburg-Ansbach-Kulmbach, Landgravine of Leuchtenberg (b. 1495)
• October 14 – Oswald Myconius, Swiss Protestant reformer (b. 1488)
• October 17 – Andreas Osiander, German Protestant theologian (b. 1498)
• November 10 – Günther XL, Count of Schwarzburg (b. 1499)
• December 3 – Francis Xavier, Spanish Jesuit missionary and saint (b. 1506)
• December 20 – Katharina von Bora, wife of Martin Luther (b. 1499)

References