January–March •
January 11 (January 2, 1563 O.S., January 11, 1563 N.S.) – The
convocation of bishops and clerics of the Church of England is opened at
St Paul's Cathedral in
London by the
Dean of the Arches,
Robert Weston to agree upon the wording of what will become the
Thirty-nine Articles, with the assembly adopting all but three of the
Forty-two Articles promulgated during the reign of King
Edward VI in 1553. The conference lasts for three months before agreeing upon the Articles to be submitted for further modification. •
January 25 – In
Italy, Instituto Bancario San Paolo di Torino, a constituent of the major financial group
Sanpaolo IMI, is founded. •
February 1 –
Sarsa Dengel succeeds his father
Menas as
Emperor of Ethiopia at age 14. •
February 18 –
Francis, Duke of Guise, is assassinated while besieging
Orléans by
Jean de Poltrot. •
March 19 – The
Edict of Amboise is signed at the
Château d'Amboise by
Catherine de' Medici, acting as regent for her son
Charles IX of France, having been negotiated between the
Huguenot Louis, Prince of Condé, and
Anne, duc de Montmorency,
Constable of France. It accords some toleration to the Huguenots, especially to aristocrats. It officially ends the first phase of the
French Wars of Religion, and the combined Huguenot and royal armies then march north to besiege the English in
Le Havre.
April–June •
April 5 – The English galleon ship HMS
Grehound strikes a sandbar off of the coast of
Rye, East Sussex and sinks with all hands in the
English Channel, including the
Admiral of the Narrow Seas,
John Malyn. •
April 10 – Royal assent is given by Queen Elizabeth of England to parliamentary approval of multiple laws, including the
Highways Act 1562 (requiring all householders in a parish to provide six days labor per year on building highways); the
Poor Act 1562 (providing for fines for persons who refuse to contribute to a fund for relief of the poor); the
Supremacy of the Crown Act 1562 (making refusal to swear allegiance to the monarch punishable as treason); and the
Witchcraft Act 1562 (limiting the death penalty for witchcraft to cases where a defendant caused another person's death) •
April 23 – The cornerstone is laid for the construction of
El Escorial, the royal palace for the monarch of Spain. Construction will not be finished for 21 more years, with completion on September 13, 1584. •
May 5 (3rd day of 4th month,
Eiroku 6) – The Battle of Yudokoru takes place in Japan at the
Inaba Province (now the eastern
Tottori Prefecture), as Takanobu Takeda defeats the shogun Toyokazu Yamana. •
May 25 –
Elizabeth College, Guernsey is founded, by order of Queen
Elizabeth I of England. •
May 30 – At
Bornholm, the
Danish fleet fires on the
Swedish navy, leading to a Danish defeat and precipitating the
Northern Seven Years' War. •
June 4 – The
Parliament of Scotland passes the
Witchcraft Act, making both the practice of witchcraft, and the act of consulting with witches, punishable by burning at the stake.
July–September •
July 28 – The English surrender
Le Havre to the French after a siege. •
August 13 –
Northern Seven Years' War:
Denmark–Norway and the
Free City of Lübeck declare war against the
Kingdom of Sweden. •
August 18 – Merchants from the
Bungo Province destroy the Portuguese settlement in
Yokoseura, Japan •
September 4 –
Northern Seven Years' War: King
Frederick II of Denmark, advancing from
Halland, takes
Old Älvsborg from
Sweden.
October–December •
October 7 –
Giovanni Battista Lercari is elected as the new
Doge of the
Republic of Genoa. •
November 9 – The Army of Sweden, under the command of King
King Erik XIV, suffers a severe defeat in the
Battle of Mared against the Army of Denmark, commanded by
King Frederik II. In the battle, near what is now the city of
Oskarström in Sweden, the Swedes suffer at least 2,500 casualties. The Swedish Army is able to retreat and rebuild, but the Danes plunder the village of
Övraby, which is never rebuilt. •
November 11 – The Council of Trent
amends existing Roman Catholic canon law to deter unannounced marriages. In order for a marriage to be recognized by the Church, the names of the bridge and groom are to be announced publicly in a chapel during Mass, and registered with the parish priests of both parties. •
December 4 – The
Council of Trent (which had opened on
December 13,
1545) officially closes. It reaffirms all major
Roman Catholic doctrines, and declares the
Deuterocanonical books of the
Old Testament to be
canonical, along with the rest of the
Bible. Chapter 1, Session 24, promulgates the decree
Tametsi, stipulating that for a marriage to be valid, consent (the essence of marriage) as expressed in the vows has to be given publicly before witnesses, one of whom has to be the parish priest. == Births ==