Explore 131 historical events from 1560–1569.
Lelio Francesco Maria Sozzini, often known in English by his Latinized name Laelius Socinus, was an Italian Renaissance humanist and theologian, and, alongside his nephew Fausto So…
Lelio Sozzini, Italian Protestant theologian (born 1525)
Gottfried "Götz" von Berlichingen zu Hornberg, also known as Götz of the Iron Hand, was a German (Franconian) Imperial Knight (Reichsritter), mercenary and poet. He was born around…
Götz von Berlichingen, German knight and poet (born 1480)
Katharina Schütz Zell was an Alsatian Protestant reformer and writer during the Protestant Reformation. She was one of the first Protestant women to marry a clergyman. Katharina li…
Katharina Zell, German Protestant reformer (born 1497)
In architecture, a steeple is a tall tower on a building, topped by a spire and often incorporating a belfry and other components. Steeples are very common on Christian churches an…
The steeple of St Paul's, the medieval cathedral of London, is destroyed in a fire caused by lightning, and is never reb
Mary, Queen of Scots, also known as Mary Stuart or Mary I of Scotland, was Queen of Scotland from 14 December 1542 until her forced abdication on 24 July 1567.
Mary, Queen of Scots, aged 18, returns to Scotland after spending 13 years in France.
William the Silent or William the Taciturn, more commonly known in the Netherlands as William of Orange and in the Dutch National anthem as Willem van Nassau, was the leader of the…
Willem of Orange marries duchess Anna of Saxony.
On 19 August 1561, the 18-year-old Mary, Queen of Scots, returned to Scotland from France following the death of her husband Francis II of France the previous winter. On 2 Septembe…
Entry of Mary, Queen of Scots into Edinburgh, a spectacular civic celebration for the Queen of Scotland, marred by…
The Colloquy at Poissy was a religious conference which took place in Poissy, France, in 1561. Its object was to effect a reconciliation between the Catholics and Protestants (Hugu…
The ultimately unsuccessful Colloquy of Poissy opens in an effort to reconcile French Catholics and Protestants.
Count John VII the Middle of Nassau-Siegen, German: Johann VII. der Mittlere Graf von Nassau-Siegen, official titles: Graf zu Nassau, Katzenelnbogen, Vianden und Diez, Herr zu Beil…
John VII, Count of Nassau-Siegen, German count and military theorist (died 1623)
The Battles of Kawanakajima were a series of battles fought in the Sengoku period of Japan between Takeda Shingen of Kai Province and Uesugi Kenshin of Echigo Province from 1553 t…
Fourth Battle of Kawanakajima: Takeda Shingen defeats Uesugi Kenshin in the climax of their ongoing conflicts.
Anna of Württemberg was a German princess, member of the House of Württemberg, and by her two marriages duchess of Oława-Wołów and Legnica.
Anna of Württemberg, German princess (died 1616)
Luis de Góngora y Argote was a Spanish Baroque lyric poet and a Catholic priest at Córdoba Cathedral. Góngora and his lifelong rival, Francisco de Quevedo, are widely considered th…
Luis de Góngora, Spanish cleric and poet (died 1627)
Maria of the Palatinate, also known as Anna Maria, was a Swedish princess and Duchess of Södermanland by marriage, the first wife of the future King Charles IX of Sweden. She died …
Maria of the Palatinate-Simmern (died 1589)
Jacopo Peri was an Italian composer, singer, and instrumentalist of the late Renaissance and early Baroque periods. He wrote what is considered the first opera, the mostly lost Daf…
Jacopo Peri, Italian singer and composer (died 1633)
Thomas Howard, 1st Earl of Suffolk,, of Audley End House in the parish of Saffron Walden in Essex, and of Suffolk House near Westminster, a member of the House of Howard, was the s…
Thomas Howard, 1st Earl of Suffolk (died 1626)
Johan Philip Lansberge was a Flemish Calvinist Minister, astronomer and Mathematician. His name is sometimes written Lansberg, and his first name is sometimes given as Philip or J…
Philippe van Lansberge, Dutch astronomer and mathematician (died 1632)
Sir Gervase Helwys, also known as Jervis Yelwys, was a Lieutenant of the Tower of London found guilty of complicity in the murder of Sir Thomas Overbury and hanged in 1615. The sca…
Gervase Helwys, English murderer (died 1615)
Hernando Arias de Saavedra, commonly known as Hernandarias, was a soldier and politician of criollo ancestry. He was the first person born in the Americas to become a governor of a…
Hernando Arias de Saavedra, Paraguayan-Argentinian soldier and politician (died 1634)
Jan Amor Tarnowski was a Polish nobleman, knight, military commander, military theoretician, and statesman of the Crown of the Kingdom of Poland. He was Grand Crown Hetman from 152…
Jan Tarnowski, Polish noble and statesman (born 1488)
Old St Paul's Cathedral was the cathedral of the City of London that, until the Great Fire of 1666, stood on the site of the present St Paul's Cathedral. Built in 1087 and from 125…
The spire of Old St Paul's Cathedral in London was destroyed by fire
The Cathedral of Vasily the Blessed, commonly known as Saint Basil's Cathedral, is a Russian Orthodox church on Red Square in the historic centre of Moscow. It is one of the most p…
Saint Basil's Cathedral (pictured), located in Red Square, Moscow, was consecrated.
The Ottoman Navy or the Imperial Navy, also known as the Ottoman Fleet, was the naval warfare arm of the Ottoman Empire. It was established after the Ottomans first reached the sea…
The Ottoman naval forces inflict a defeat on a Spanish fleet in the battle of Djerba
The Treaty of Edinburgh was a treaty drawn up on 5 July 1560 between the Commissioners of Queen Elizabeth I of England with the assent of the Scottish Lords of the Congregation, a…
The Treaty of Edinburgh is signed by Scotland and England.
The Catholic Church, also called the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with an estimated 1.28 to 1.41 billion baptized members worldwide as of 2026. It consis…
The Catholic Church is overthrown and Protestantism is established as the national religion in Scotland.