Explore 118 historical events from 1550–1559.
Margaret of Valois, popularly known as Queen Margot, was Queen of Navarre from 1572 to 1599 and Queen of France from 1589 to 1599 as the consort of Henry IV of France and III of Na…
Margaret of Valois, Queen of France (died 1615)
Archduke Ernest of Austria was an Austrian prince, the son of Maximilian II, Holy Roman Emperor, and Maria of Spain.
Archduke Ernest of Austria (died 1595)
Peter Street was an English carpenter and builder in London. He built the Fortune Playhouse and the Globe Theatre, two significant establishments in the history of the stage in Eng…
Peter Street, English carpenter and builder (died 1609)
Giovanni Bernardi, also known as Giovanni da Castel Bolognese and as Giovanni da Castelbolognese, was an Italian gem engraver and medallist who was born in Castel Bolognese, Italy.…
Giovanni Bernardi, Italian sculptor and engraver (born 1495)
Wolf Huber was an Austrian- German painter, printmaker, and architect, who worked in Passau, Germany for most of his life as a leading member of the Danube school.
Wolf Huber, Austrian painter, printmaker and architect (born 1485)
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)
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.
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)
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)
John Leland or Leyland was an English poet and antiquary.
John Leland, English poet and historian (born 1502)
Sebastian Münster was a German cartographer and cosmographer. He also was a Christian Hebraist scholar who taught as a professor at the University of Basel. His well-known work, th…
Sebastian Münster, German cartographer and cosmographer (born 1488)
Dr Alexander Barclay was a poet and clergyman of the Church of England, probably born in Scotland.
Alexander Barclay, English poet and author (born 1476)
Antonio de Mendoza was a Spanish colonial administrator who was the first viceroy of New Spain, serving from 14 November 1535 to 25 November 1550, and the second viceroy of Peru, f…
Antonio de Mendoza, Spanish politician, 1st Viceroy of New Spain (born 1495)
Hermann of Wied was the Archbishop-Elector of Cologne from 1515 to 1546.
Hermann of Wied, German archbishop (born 1477)
The National University of San Marcos is a public research university located in Lima, the capital of Peru. In the Americas, it is the first officially established and the oldest c…
National University of San Marcos, the oldest university in the Americas, is founded in Lima, Peru