The 1550s

Explore 44 historical events from 1550–1559.

1554

Gaspara Stampa, Italian poet (born 1523)

Gaspara Stampa was an Italian poet. She is considered to have been the greatest woman poet of the Italian Renaissance, and she is regarded by many as the greatest Italian woman po…

Gaspara Stampa, Italian poet (born 1523)

1551 475 years ago

Barbara Radziwiłł, queen of Poland (born 1520)

Barbara Radziwiłł was Queen of Poland and Grand Duchess of Lithuania as the second wife of Sigismund II Augustus, the last male monarch of the Jagiellon dynasty. Barbara, already w…

Barbara Radziwiłł, queen of Poland (born 1520)

1550

Tabinshwehti, Burmese king (born 1516)

Tabin-shwë-hti, also called Black Tongue (လျှာနက်မင်း), was King of Burma from 1530 to 1550, and the founder of the First Toungoo Empire. His military campaigns (1534–1549) created…

Tabinshwehti, Burmese king (born 1516)

1550

Jean, Cardinal of Lorraine (born 1498)

Jean de Lorraine was the third son of the ruling Duke of Lorraine, and a French cardinal, who was archbishop of Reims (1532–1538), Lyon (1537–1539), and Narbonne (1524–1550), bisho…

Jean, Cardinal of Lorraine (born 1498)