Explore 189 historical events from 1550–1559.
Edward VI was King of England and Ireland from 28 January 1547 until his death in 1553. He was crowned on 20 February 1547 at the age of nine. The only surviving son of Henry VIII …
Edward VI, king of England and Ireland (born 1537)
Maurice was Duke of Saxony from 1541 to 1553, who became Prince-Elector and Arch-Marshal of the Holy Roman Empire in 1547. Through shrewd political maneuvering, skillfully exploiti…
Maurice, Elector of Saxony (born 1521)
Girolamo Fracastoro was an Italian physician, poet, and scholar in mathematics, geography and astronomy. Fracastoro subscribed to the philosophy of atomism, and rejected appeals to…
Girolamo Fracastoro, Italian physician (born 1478)
John Dudley, 1st Duke of Northumberland was an English military officer and politician, who led the government of the young King Edward VI from 1550 until 1553, and unsuccessfully …
John Dudley, 1st Duke of Northumberland, English admiral and politician, Lord President of the Council (born 1504)
Fra' Juan de Homedes y Coscón was a Spanish knight of Aragon who served as the 47th Grand Master of the Order of Malta, between 1536 and 1553.
Juan de Homedes y Coscon, 47th Grandmaster of the Knights Hospitaller (born c.1477)
Şehzade Mustafa was an Ottoman prince, son of sultan Suleiman the Magnificent and his concubine Mahidevran Hatun. Mustafa was Suleiman's oldest surviving son, governor of Manisa fr…
Şehzade Mustafa, Ottoman prince (born 1515)
Cristóbal de Morales was a Spanish composer of the Renaissance. He is generally considered to be the most influential Spanish composer before Tomás Luis de Victoria.
Cristóbal de Morales, Spanish composer (born 1500)
Lucas Cranach the Elder was a German Renaissance painter and printmaker in woodcut and engraving. He was court painter to the Electors of Saxony for most of his career, and is know…
Lucas Cranach the Elder, German painter and engraver (born 1472)
Michael Servetus was a Spanish theologian, physician, cartographer, and Renaissance humanist. He was the first European to correctly describe the function of pulmonary circulation,…
Michael Servetus, Spanish physician and theologian (born 1511)
Jacob Sturm von Sturmeck was an Alsatian statesman, one of the preeminent promoters of the Protestant Reformation in Germany.
Jacob Sturm von Sturmeck, German politician (born 1489)
Lady Jane Grey, also known as Lady Jane Dudley after her marriage, and nicknamed as the "Nine Days Queen", was an English noblewoman who was proclaimed Queen of England and Ireland…
Lady Jane Grey (pictured) was proclaimed the successor to King Edward VI of England, beginning her disputed reign as…
Mary I was Queen of England and Ireland from July 1553 and Queen of Spain as the wife of King Philip II from January 1556 until her death in 1558. She made vigorous attempts to rev…
Mary I was proclaimed Queen of England, deposing Lady Jane Grey after nine days of de facto rule.
The Siege of Kazan, also known as the Fall of Kazan, was the decisive military campaign of the Russo-Kazan Wars in 1552 that resulted in the capture of Kazan and the annexation of …
Russo-Kazan Wars: Russian troops enter Kazan.
Rudolf II was Holy Roman Emperor (1576–1612), King of Hungary and Croatia, King of Bohemia (1575–1608/1611) and Archduke of Austria (1576–1608). He was a member of the House of Hab…
Rudolf II, Holy Roman Emperor (died 1612)
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)
Barbara Longhi was an Italian painter. She was much admired in her lifetime as a portraitist, although most of her portraits are now lost or unattributed. Her work, such as her man…
Barbara Longhi, Italian painter (died 1638)
Flaminio Scala, commonly known by his stage name Flavio, was an Italian stage actor of commedia dell'arte, scenario writer, playwright, director, producer, manager, agent, and edit…
Flaminio Scala, Italian playwright and stage actor (died 1624)
Matteo Ricci was an Italian Jesuit who served in the court of Ming dynasty China and one of the founding figures of the Jesuit China missions. He created the Kunyu Wanguo Quantu, a…
Matteo Ricci, Italian priest and missionary (died 1610)
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)
Dmitry Ivanovich was the eldest son of Ivan the Terrible, the Tsar of all Russia, and as such the first Tsarevich. He died in infancy.
Tsarevich Dmitry Ivanovich of Russia, Grand Prince of Moscow (died 1553)