January–March •
January 7 –
French troops, led by
Francis, Duke of Guise, take
Calais, the last continental possession of the
Kingdom of England, in the
Siege of Calais. •
January 22 – The
Livonian War begins. •
February 2 – The
University of Jena is founded in
Thuringia,
Germany. •
February 4 – (16th day of 1st month of
Eiroku 1)
Takeda Shingen becomes the
shugo (military governor) of
Shinano Province after his successful military campaign there. •
February 5 –
Arauco War:
Pedro de Avendaño, with sixty men, captures
Caupolicán (the
Mapuche Gran
Toqui), who is leading their first revolt against the
Spanish Empire (near
Antihuala), encamped with a small band of followers. •
March 8 – The city of
Pori () is founded by
Duke John on the shores of the
Gulf of Bothnia.
April–June •
April 17 – The
siege of Thionville in the Duchy of Luxembourg, is started by the French Army, led by
Francis, Duke of Guise. •
April 24 –
Mary, Queen of Scots,
marries Francis,
Dauphin of France, at
Notre Dame de Paris. •
May 3 – The Imperial Diet of
the Holy Roman Empire gives recognition to
Ferdinand as
Holy Roman Emperor, two months after his proclamation on March 14 as the successor to his brother
Charles V. •
June 13 – An armada of ships from the
Ottoman Empire, dispatched by Sultan
Suleyman the Magnificent at the request of King
Henry II of France, sails into the Bay of Naples at Italy and attacks the city of
Sorrento. •
June 23 – France is successful in the
siege of Thionville in the Duchy of Luxembourg and recovers the fortress from the Spanish Empire after an operation that began on April 17 and lasted more than two months.
July–September •
July 9 – The Ottoman Empire, with 15,000 troops and 150 warships, besieges the Spanish garrison at
Ciutadella de Menorca at Spain's Balearic Islands. When the town falls on July 17, the 3,099 surviving inhabitants are sold into slavery. •
July 13 –
Battle of Gravelines: Near the border between the
Kingdom of France and the
Spanish Netherlands,
Spanish forces led by
Lamoral, Count of Egmont, and assisted by the
English Navy, inflict a major defeat on the French forces of Marshal
Paul de Thermes. •
July 18 – The city of
Tartu, capital of the
Bishopric of Dorpat (in modern-day
Estonia) surrenders to
Russia. •
August 22 – In Spain,
Bartolomé Carranza, the
Roman Catholic Archbishop of Toledo, is arrested at
Torrelaguna on orders of the
Grand Inquisitor,
Fernando de Valdés y Salas. Carranza is brought a prisoner to
Valladolid to face accusations of
heresy. He remains in prison for eight years before being transferred to Rome for the Pope to hear his appeal.
October–December •
October 17 –
Postal history of Poland: King
Sigismund II Augustus appoints an Italian merchant living in
Kraków to organise a consolidated postal service in
Poland, the origin of
Poczta Polska. •
November 6 – On her deathbed,
Queen Mary of England designates her half-sister,
Elizabeth, as her successor. Both Mary and Elizabeth are daughters of the late
King Henry VIII. •
November 15 – The five
Canterbury Martyrs, three men and two women, are burned at the stake, becoming the last of 312 Protestants put to death for
heresy during the reign of England's last Roman Catholic ruler,
Queen Mary. Queen Mary dies two days later, bringing an end to her campaign. During the final year of Mary's reign, 49 Protestants are burned at the stake and three others die in prison while awaiting execution. •
November 17 – Queen Mary, a devout Roman
Catholic dies of uterine cancer at the age of 42, and is succeeded by her younger half-sister
Elizabeth, an adherent to the Protestant
Church of England, beginning the
Elizabethan era in British history. •
December 5 – Less than three weeks of becoming Queen of England, Elizabeth summons the members of the
English Parliament with orders to assemble at Westminster on January 23. Under Elizabeth's agenda, the Parliament is charged with restoring the laws passed at the beginning of the
English Reformation, and repealing the reforms made during the reign of Queen Mary.
Unknown •
John Knox's attack on female rulers,
The First Blast of the Trumpet Against the Monstruous Regiment of Women, is published anonymously from
Geneva. • English explorer
Anthony Jenkinson travels from Moscow to
Astrakhan and
Bukhara. He is the first Englishman to note that the
Amu Darya changed course, to start flowing into the
Aral Sea. • Queen Elizabeth I of England grants rest and refreshment to pilgrims and travellers who pass by the
Holy Well Spring at
Malvern in England.
Ongoing •
1557 influenza pandemic. == Births ==