1556 Totally Explained

Year 1556 was a leap year starting on Wednesday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar.

Events of 1556

January - June

January 16 - Abdication of Emperor Charles V. His son, Philip II becomes King of Spain, while his brother Ferdinand becomes Holy Roman Emperor.
January 23 - The Shaanxi Earthquake, the deadliest earthquake in history, occurs with its epicenter in Shaanxi province, China: 830,000 people may have been killed.
February
- Truce of Vaucelles - Temporary end to the fighting between France and Spain.
- Jellaladin Mahommed Akbar ascends to the throne of the Mughal Empire; he rules until his death in 1605.
February 14 - Thomas Cranmer is declared a heretic
March 21 - In Oxford, Archbishop of Canterbury Thomas Cranmer is burned at the stake for treason.

July - December

November - Collapse of the Truce of Vaucelles. War resumes between Henry II of France and Philip II of Spain

November 5 - Second Battle of Panipat - Fifty miles north of Delhi, a Mogul Army defeats Hindu forces of General Hemu to ensure Akbar the throne of India.

Undated

Lorenzo Priuli becomes Doge of Venice

Mary I of England establishes the Fort of Maryborough, in what is now Portlaoise, County Laois, Ireland

The kings of Spain take control of the Flanders region, including what is now the French département of Nord

The false Martin Guerre appears in the French village of Artigat.

King John III of Sweden becomes ruler of Finland as Hertig Johan.

Welser banking families of Augsburg lose colonial control of Venezuela.

Ivan the Terrible conquers Astrakhan, opening the Volga River to Russian traffic and trade.

Births

January 8 - Uesugi Kagekatsu, Japanese samurai and warlord (died 1623)

February - Henry Briggs, English mathematician (died 1630)

February 21 - Sethus Calvisius, German calendar reformer (died 1615)

March 7 - Guillaume du Vair, French statesman and philosopher (died 1621)

June 6 - Edward la Zouche, 11th Baron Zouche, English politician and diplomat (died 1625)

November 15 - Jacques-Davy Duperron, French cardinal (died 1618)

date unknown

Margaret Clitherow, English Catholic martyr (died 1586)
Shibata Katsutoyo, Japanese military commander (died 1583)
Ahmad Baba al Massufi, Sudanese writer and political leader (died 1627)
James Melville, Scottish divine and reformer (died 1614)

� See also

Deaths

March 21 - Thomas Cranmer, Archbishop of Canterbury (burned at the stake) (born 1489)

April 18 - Luigi Alamanni, Italian poet and statesman (born 1495)

June 10 - Martin Agricola, German composer (born 1486)

July 31 - Ignatius of Loyola, Spanish founder of the Jesuit order (born 1491)

September - Patrick Hepburn, 3rd Earl of Bothwell, Scottish traitor (born 1512)

October 21 - Pietro Aretino, Italian author (born 1492)

November 14 - Giovanni della Casa, Italian poet (born 1503)

December 23 - Nicholas Udall, English dramatist (born 1504)

date unknown

John Bell, Bishop of Worcester
Girolamo da Carpi, Italian painter (born 1501)
Jacob Clemens non Papa, Flemish composer (born 1510)
Saitō Dōsan, Japanese warlord (born 1494)
Fuzûlî, Turkish poet (born 1494)
Lorenzo Lotto, Italian painter (born 1480)
Brian mac Cathaoir O Conchobhair Failghe, last of the Kings of Ui Failghe

� See also .

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