Explore 160 historical events from 1590–1599.
The Action of Faial or the Battle of Faial Island was a naval engagement that took place on 22–23 June 1594 during the Anglo-Spanish War in which the large and richly laden 2,000-t…
The Action of Faial, Azores
The Portuguese Empire, c. 1415 to 1999, was the first and longest lasting of the European colonial empires. Initiated during the Age of Discovery, at one point territories included…
Portuguese forces under the command of Pedro Lopes de Sousa begin an unsuccessful invasion of the Kingdom of Kandy…
Groningen is the capital city and main municipality of Groningen province in the Netherlands. Dubbed the "capital of the north", Groningen is the largest city as well as the econom…
The Dutch city of Groningen defended by the Spanish and besieged by a Dutch and English army under Maurice of Orange,…
John Haynes, also sometimes spelled Haines, was a colonial magistrate and one of the founders of the Connecticut Colony. He served one term as governor of the Massachusetts Bay Col…
John Haynes, English-American politician, 1st Governor of the Colony of Connecticut (died 1653)
Gottfried Heinrich Graf zu Pappenheim was a German field marshal of the Holy Roman Empire in the Thirty Years' War. A supporter of the Catholic League, he was mortally wounded duri…
Gottfried Heinrich Graf zu Pappenheim, Bavarian field marshal (died 1632)
Francesco Manelli (Mannelli) was a Roman Baroque composer, particularly of opera, and a theorbo player. He is most well known for his collaboration with fellow Roman composer Bened…
Francesco Manelli, Italian theorbo player and composer (died 1667)
Thomas Cooper was an English bishop, lexicographer, theologian, and writer.
Thomas Cooper, English bishop, lexicographer, and theologian (born 1517)
Jacopo Robusti, best known as Tintoretto, was an Italian Renaissance painter of the Venetian school. His contemporaries both admired and criticised the speed with which he painted …
Tintoretto, Italian painter and educator (born 1518)
John Aylmer was an English bishop, constitutionalist and a Greek scholar.
John Aylmer, English bishop and scholar (born 1521)
Roderigo Lopes was a Portuguese physician who served as a physician-in-chief to Queen Elizabeth I of England from 1581 until his death by execution, having been found guilty of plo…
Rodrigo Lopez, physician of Queen Elizabeth I (born 1525)
Jacob Kroger, was a German goldsmith who worked for Anne of Denmark in Scotland and stole her jewels.
Jacob Kroger, German goldsmith, hanged in Edinburgh for stealing the jewels of Anne of Denmark
Orlando di Lasso was a composer of the late Renaissance. The chief representative of the mature polyphonic style in the Franco-Flemish school, Lasso stands with William Byrd, Giova…
Orlande de Lassus, Flemish composer and educator (born 1532)
Niels Kaas was a Danish politician who served as Chancellor of Denmark from 1573 until his death. He was influential in the negotiation of the Peace of Stettin and in the upbringin…
Niels Kaas, Danish politician, Chancellor of Denmark (born 1535)
Paolo Bellasio was an Italian composer and organist of the late Renaissance. He is generally considered to be a member of the Roman School, though unusually for the group he seems …
Paolo Bellasio, Italian organist and composer (born 1554)
John Boste is a saint in the Catholic Church, and one of the Forty Martyrs of England and Wales.
John Boste, English martyr and saint (born 1544)
Thomas Kyd was an English playwright, the author of The Spanish Tragedy, and one of the most important figures in the development of Elizabethan drama.
Thomas Kyd, English playwright (born 1558)
Philip II, sometimes known in Spain as Philip the Prudent, was King of Spain from 1556, King of Portugal from 1580, and King of Naples and Sicily from 1554 until his death in 1598.…
Philip II of Spain recognized the sovereign rights of the principalía, local Philippine nobles and chieftains who had co
The Anglo-Spanish War (1585–1604) was an intermittent conflict between Habsburg Spain and the Kingdom of England that was never formally declared. It began with England's military …
Anglo-Spanish War: During the Action of Faial, an English attempt to capture a Portuguese carrack, reputedly one of the
James VI and I was King of Scotland as James VI from 24 July 1567, and King of England and Ireland as James I from the union of the Scottish and English crowns on 24 March 1603, un…
King James VI of Scotland held a masque at the baptism of Prince Henry, his first child.
Thomas Kyd was an English playwright, the author of The Spanish Tragedy, and one of the most important figures in the development of Elizabethan drama.
London playwright Thomas Kyd is arrested and tortured by the Privy Council for libel
Thomas Kyd was an English playwright, the author of The Spanish Tragedy, and one of the most important figures in the development of Elizabethan drama.
Playwright Thomas Kyd's accusations of heresy lead to an arrest warrant for Christopher Marlowe
The Battle of Sisak was fought on 22 June 1593 between Ottoman Bosnian forces and a combined Christian army from the Habsburg lands, mainly the Kingdom of Croatia and Inner Austria…
Battle of Sisak: Allied Christian troops defeat the Ottomans
Geertruidenberg is a city and municipality in the province North Brabant in the south of the Netherlands. The city, named after Saint Gertrude of Nivelles, received city rights in …
The Dutch city of Geertruidenberg held by the Spanish, capitulates to a besieging Dutch and English army led by Maurice
Henry IV, also known by the epithets Good King Henry or Henry the Great, was King of Navarre from 1572 and King of France from 1589 to 1610. He was the first monarch of France from…
Henry IV of France publicly converts from Protestantism to Roman Catholicism.