Explore 133 historical events from 1550–1559.
Anthony Browne was Sheriff of Surrey and of Kent in 1580. The heir to a great estate in Sussex, he predeceased his father by four months. Aside from his own progeny, his sister Mar…
Anthony Browne, Sheriff of Surrey and Kent (died 1592)
Mary Wriothesley, Countess of Southampton, previously Mary Browne, became the wife of Henry Wriothesley, 2nd Earl of Southampton, at the age of thirteen and the mother of Henry Wri…
Mary Wriothesley, Countess of Southampton, Lady of English peer and others (died 1607)
Isabella Feltria della Rovere was an Italian princess from the House of della Rovere. Through her marriage to Niccolò Bernardino Sanseverino, she became a princess of Bisignano. Sh…
Isabella Feltria della Rovere, Italian noblewoman (died 1619)
Paolo Sarpi, O.S.M. was an Italian Servite friar and Catholic priest who was a notable historian, scientist, canon lawyer, polymath, and statesman active on behalf of the Venetian …
Paolo Sarpi, Italian writer (died 1623)
Haji Muhammad Naushāh Ganj Bakhsh was a Punjabi Muslim Sufi poet, saint and scholar from Phalia in Punjab. He was the founder of the Naushahiah branch of the Qadiriyya Sufi order, …
Muhammad Qadiri, Founder of the Naushahia branch of the Qadri order (died 1654)
John Leland or Leyland was an English poet and antiquary.
John Leland, English poet and historian (born 1502)
Sebastian Münster was a German cartographer and cosmographer. He also was a Christian Hebraist scholar who taught as a professor at the University of Basel. His well-known work, th…
Sebastian Münster, German cartographer and cosmographer (born 1488)
Dr Alexander Barclay was a poet and clergyman of the Church of England, probably born in Scotland.
Alexander Barclay, English poet and author (born 1476)
Antonio de Mendoza was a Spanish colonial administrator who was the first viceroy of New Spain, serving from 14 November 1535 to 25 November 1550, and the second viceroy of Peru, f…
Antonio de Mendoza, Spanish politician, 1st Viceroy of New Spain (born 1495)
Hermann of Wied was the Archbishop-Elector of Cologne from 1515 to 1546.
Hermann of Wied, German archbishop (born 1477)
Lavinia Fontana was an Italian Mannerist painter active in Bologna and Rome. She is best known for her successful portraiture, but also worked in the genres of mythology and religi…
Lavinia Fontana, Italian painter and educator (died 1614)
The National University of San Marcos is a public research university located in Lima, the capital of Peru. In the Americas, it is the first officially established and the oldest c…
National University of San Marcos, the oldest university in the Americas, is founded in Lima, Peru
William Camden was an English antiquarian, historian, topographer, and herald, best known as author of Britannia, the first chorographical survey of the islands of Great Britain an…
William Camden, English historian and topographer (died 1623)
Thomas Drury was an English government informer, messenger and swindler, who is noted for having been one of the main people responsible for accusations of heresy, blasphemy, and …
Thomas Drury, English government informer and swindler (died 1603)
Martin Anton Delrio SJ was a Dutch Jesuit theologian. He studied at numerous institutions, receiving a master's degree in law from Salamanca in 1574. After a period of political se…
Martin Delrio, Belgian occultist and theologian (died 1601)
Henry III of France was King of France from 1574 until his assassination in 1589 and, as Henry of Valois, King of Poland and Grand Duke of Lithuania from 1573 to 1575. Before he ca…
Henry III of France (died 1589)
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)
Shin Saimdang was a Korean artist, writer, calligraphist, and poet, who lived during the Joseon period. She was born in Gangneung, Gangwon Province. Her birth home, Ojukheon, which…
Shin Saimdang, South Korean poet and calligraphist (born 1504)
Domenico di Pace Beccafumi was an Italian Renaissance-Mannerist painter active predominantly in Siena. He is considered one of the last undiluted representatives of the Sienese sch…
Domenico di Pace Beccafumi, Italian painter (born 1486)
Gregory Cromwell, 1st Baron Cromwell was an English nobleman. He was the only son of the Tudor statesman Thomas Cromwell and Elizabeth Wyckes.
Gregory Cromwell, 1st Baron Cromwell, English politician (born 1514)
Sir John Wallop, KG was an English soldier and diplomat who belonged to an old Hampshire family from the village of Farleigh Wallop.
John Wallop, English soldier and diplomat (born 1490)
Margaret Leijonhufvud or Margareta Eriksdotter was Queen of Sweden from 1536 to 1551 by marriage to King Gustav I. She played a political role as the advisor and intermediary to he…
Margaret Leijonhufvud, queen of Gustav I of Sweden (born 1516)
The Order of Knights of the Hospital of Saint John of Jerusalem, commonly known as the Knights Hospitaller, is a Catholic military order. It was founded in the crusader Kingdom of …
The Knights Hospitaller surrendered the Castello of Gozo to the Ottoman Empire following a brief siege, leading to the…
Helsinki, until about 1930 known in English by its Swedish name of Helsingfors, is the capital and most populous city in Finland. It is on the shore of the Gulf of Finland and is t…
The city of Helsinki, Finland (belonging to Sweden at the time) is founded by King Gustav I of Sweden