1570s in England:

Other decades

1550s 1550s in England Events from the 1550s in England.-Incumbents:Monarch* King Edward VI * Lady Jane Grey * Queen Mary I and Philip * Queen Elizabeth I-Events:* 1550...  | 1560s 1560s in England Events from the 1560s in England.-Events:* 1560** 6 July - Treaty of Edinburgh between England, France and Scotland. The French withdraw from Scotland and recognise Elizabeth I of England.* 1561** May - St...  | 1570s | 1580s 1580s in England Events from the 1580s in England.-Events:* 1580** 6 April - Dover Straits earthquake.** June - England signs a commercial treaty with the Ottoman Empire.** 6 July - New building banned within three miles of the City of London....  | 1590s 1590s in England Events from the 1590s in England.-Events:* 1590** Publication of Edmund Spenser's poetry The Faerie Queene and his satire Mother Hubbard's Tale.** First production of William Shakespeare's play Henry VI, part 1.* 1591...

Events

• 1570
  • 25 February - Pope Pius V
    Pope Pius V
    Pope Saint Pius V , born Antonio Ghislieri , was Pope from 1566 to 1572 and is a saint of the Catholic Church. He is chiefly notable for his role in the Council of Trent, the Counter-Reformation, and the standardization of the Roman liturgy within the Latin Church...
    
     excommunicates Queen Elizabeth I of England
    Elizabeth I of England
    Elizabeth I was queen regnant of England and Ireland from 17 November 1558 until her death. Sometimes called The Virgin Queen, Gloriana, or Good Queen Bess, Elizabeth was the fifth and last monarch of the Tudor dynasty...
    
     with the papal bull Regnans in Excelsis
    Regnans in Excelsis
    Regnans in Excelsis was a papal bull issued on 25 February 1570 by Pope Pius V declaring "Elizabeth, the pretended Queen of England and the servant of crime" to be a heretic and releasing all her subjects from any allegiance to her and excommunicating any that obeyed her orders.The bull, written in...
    
    .
  • Florentine
    Florence
    Florence is the capital city of the Italian region of Tuscany and of the province of Florence. It is the most populous city in Tuscany, with approximately 370,000 inhabitants, expanding to over 1.5 million in the metropolitan area....
    
     banker Roberto di Ridolfi
    Roberto di Ridolfi
    Roberto Ridolfi was an Italian and Florentine nobleman and conspirator.Ridolfi belonged to a famous family of Florence, where he was born...
    
     devises the Ridolfi plot
    Ridolfi plot
    The Ridolfi plot was a plot in 1570 to assassinate Queen Elizabeth I of England and replace her with Mary, Queen of Scots. The plot was hatched and planned by Roberto di Ridolfi, an international banker who was able to travel between Brussels, Rome and Madrid to gather support without attracting...
    
     to assassinate Elizabeth and replace her with the Catholic Mary, Queen of Scots.
  • Whitechapel Bell Foundry
    Whitechapel Bell Foundry
    The Whitechapel Bell Foundry is a bell foundry in Whitechapel in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets, in the East End of London. The foundry is listed by the Guinness Book of Records as the oldest manufacturing company in Great Britain...
    
     known to be in existence in London
    London
    London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
    
    . By the early 21st century it will be the oldest manufacturing company in Great Britain
    Great Britain
    Great Britain or Britain is an island situated to the northwest of Continental Europe. It is the ninth largest island in the world, and the largest European island, as well as the largest of the British Isles...
    
    .
• 1571
  • 23 January - The Royal Exchange
    Royal Exchange (London)
    The Royal Exchange in the City of London was founded in 1565 by Sir Thomas Gresham to act as a centre of commerce for the city. The site was provided by the City of London Corporation and the Worshipful Company of Mercers, and is trapezoidal, flanked by the converging streets of Cornhill and...
    
     officially opened by Queen Elizabeth.
  • April - Treason Act
    Treasons Act 1571
    The Treasons Act 1570 was an Act of the Parliament of England during the reign of Queen Elizabeth I. It restored the provisions of the Treasons Act 1534, which had been passed by Parliament during the reign of her father, Henry VIII of England, and then repealed by the Treason Act 1547 at the...
    
     forbids criticism of the monarchy.
  • May - All papal bull
    Papal bull
    A Papal bull is a particular type of letters patent or charter issued by a Pope of the Catholic Church. It is named after the bulla that was appended to the end in order to authenticate it....
    
    s declared treason
    Treason
    In law, treason is the crime that covers some of the more extreme acts against one's sovereign or nation. Historically, treason also covered the murder of specific social superiors, such as the murder of a husband by his wife. Treason against the king was known as high treason and treason against a...
    
    able by Act of Parliament.
  • 28 September - Ridolfi plot discovered.
  • Harrow School
    Harrow School
    Harrow School, commonly known simply as "Harrow", is an English independent school for boys situated in the town of Harrow, in north-west London.. The school is of worldwide renown. There is some evidence that there has been a school on the site since 1243 but the Harrow School we know today was...
    
     founded.
  • The Pro forma bill is introduced.
• 1572
  • 2 June - Thomas Howard, 4th Duke of Norfolk
    Thomas Howard, 4th Duke of Norfolk
    Thomas Howard, 4th Duke of Norfolk, KG, Earl Marshal was an English nobleman.Norfolk was the son of the poet Henry Howard, Earl of Surrey. He was taught as a child by John Foxe, the Protestant martyrologist, who remained a lifelong recipient of Norfolk's patronage...
    
     is executed for treason for his part in the Ridolfi plot
    Ridolfi plot
    The Ridolfi plot was a plot in 1570 to assassinate Queen Elizabeth I of England and replace her with Mary, Queen of Scots. The plot was hatched and planned by Roberto di Ridolfi, an international banker who was able to travel between Brussels, Rome and Madrid to gather support without attracting...
    
     to restore Catholicism
    Roman Catholic Church
    The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the world's largest Christian church, with over a billion members. Led by the Pope, it defines its mission as spreading the gospel of Jesus Christ, administering the sacraments and exercising charity...
    
     in England.
  • 11 July - Humphrey Gilbert
    Humphrey Gilbert
    Sir Humphrey Gilbert of Devon in England was a half-brother of Sir Walter Raleigh. Adventurer, explorer, member of parliament, and soldier, he served during the reign of Queen Elizabeth and was a pioneer of English colonization in North America and the Plantations of Ireland.-Early life:Gilbert...
    
     leads 1500 English volunteers on an expedition to assist the Dutch
    Netherlands
    The Netherlands is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located mainly in North-West Europe and with several islands in the Caribbean. Mainland Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east, and shares maritime borders...
    
     Sea Beggars
    Geuzen
    Geuzen was a name assumed by the confederacy of Calvinist Dutch nobles and other malcontents, who from 1566 opposed Spanish rule in the Netherlands. The most successful group of them operated at sea, and so were called Watergeuzen...
    
     in their struggle against Spanish
    Spain
    Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...
    
     Habsburg
    Habsburg
    The House of Habsburg , also found as Hapsburg, and also known as House of Austria is one of the most important royal houses of Europe and is best known for being an origin of all of the formally elected Holy Roman Emperors between 1438 and 1740, as well as rulers of the Austrian Empire and...
    
     rule.
  • College of Antiquaries founded in London.
  • Vagabonds Act prescribes punishment for rogue
    Rogue (vagrant)
    A rogue is a vagrant person who wanders from place to place. Like a drifter, a rogue is an independent person who rejects conventional rules of society in favor of following their own personal goals and values....
    
    s.
• 1573
  • 17 April - English troops capture Edinburgh Castle
    Edinburgh Castle
    Edinburgh Castle is a fortress which dominates the skyline of the city of Edinburgh, Scotland, from its position atop the volcanic Castle Rock. Human habitation of the site is dated back as far as the 9th century BC, although the nature of early settlement is unclear...
    
    .
  • 18 December - Francis Walsingham
    Francis Walsingham
    Sir Francis Walsingham was Principal Secretary to Elizabeth I of England from 1573 until 1590, and is popularly remembered as her "spymaster". Walsingham is frequently cited as one of the earliest practitioners of modern intelligence methods both for espionage and for domestic security...
    
     becomes Secretary of State
    Secretary of State
    Secretary of State or State Secretary is a commonly used title for a senior or mid-level post in governments around the world. The role varies between countries, and in some cases there are multiple Secretaries of State in the Government....
    
    .
• 1574
  • 18 August - Treaty of Bristol settles commercial disputes with Spain
    Spain
    Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...
    
    .
  • Construction of Longleat House completed.
• 1575
  • March - Spain opens the port of Antwerp to English traders, in return for Queen Elizabeth agreeing to stop aiding Dutch
    Netherlands
    The Netherlands is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located mainly in North-West Europe and with several islands in the Caribbean. Mainland Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east, and shares maritime borders...
    
     rebels against Spanish rule.
  • 7 July - Raid of the Redeswire
    Raid of the Redeswire
    The Raid of the Redeswire was a border skirmish between England and Scotland on July 7, 1575 which took place at the Cheviot pass which enters Redesdale, between the English Warden of the Middle Marches; Sir John Forster, Sir George Heron, Keeper of Redesdale and the Keeper of Liddesdale as well as...
    
    : Sir John Carmichael
    Sir John Carmichael
    Sir John Carmichael, was the Keeper of Liddesdale.He was appointed warden of the Scottish West March, and was to make truce with the English Warden....
    
     of Scotland
    Kingdom of Scotland
    The Kingdom of Scotland was a Sovereign state in North-West Europe that existed from 843 until 1707. It occupied the northern third of the island of Great Britain and shared a land border to the south with the Kingdom of England...
    
     defeats Sir John Forster
    Sir John Forster
    Sir John Forster was an English military commander and Warden of the Middle Marches.-Life:Born about 1501, he was son of Sir Thomas Forster of Etherston, Northumberland, marshal of Berwick, and his wife Dorothy, daughter of Robert Ogle, 4th Baron Ogle...
    
     of England in a border skirmish which will be the last battle between the two kingdoms.
  • 26 July - Edmund Grindal
    Edmund Grindal
    Edmund Grindal was an English church leader who successively held the posts of Bishop of London, Archbishop of York and Archbishop of Canterbury during the reign of Elizabeth I of England.-Early life to the death of Edward VI:...
    
     succeeds Matthew Parker
    Matthew Parker
    Matthew Parker was Archbishop of Canterbury from 1559 until his death in 1575. He was also an influential theologian and arguably the co-founder of Anglican theological thought....
    
     as Archbishop of Canterbury
    Archbishop of Canterbury
    The Archbishop of Canterbury is the senior bishop and principal leader of the Church of England, the symbolic head of the worldwide Anglican Communion, and the diocesan bishop of the Diocese of Canterbury. In his role as head of the Anglican Communion, the archbishop leads the third largest group...
    
    .
  • 14 November - Elizabeth declines an offer of rule over the Netherlands.
  • Christopher Saxton
    Christopher Saxton
    Christopher Saxton was an English cartographer, probably born in the parish of Dewsbury, in the West Riding of Yorkshire, England around 1540....
    
     publishes his County Atlas of England and Wales.
  • William Byrd
    William Byrd
    William Byrd was an English composer of the Renaissance. He wrote in many of the forms current in England at the time, including various types of sacred and secular polyphony, keyboard and consort music.-Provenance:Knowledge of Byrd's biography expanded in the late 20th century, thanks largely...
    
     and Thomas Tallis
    Thomas Tallis
    Thomas Tallis was an English composer. Tallis flourished as a church musician in 16th century Tudor England. He occupies a primary place in anthologies of English church music, and is considered among the best of England's early composers. He is honoured for his original voice in English...
    
     are granted a royal monopoly for the publication of most types of music.
• 1576
  • 28 July - Explorer Martin Frobisher
    Martin Frobisher
    Sir Martin Frobisher was an English seaman who made three voyages to the New World to look for the Northwest Passage...
    
     discovers Frobisher Bay
    Frobisher Bay
    Frobisher Bay is a relatively large inlet of the Labrador Sea in the Qikiqtaaluk Region of Nunavut, Canada. It is located in the southeastern corner of Baffin Island...
    
     whilst searching for the Northwest Passage
    Northwest Passage
    The Northwest Passage is a sea route through the Arctic Ocean, along the northern coast of North America via waterways amidst the Canadian Arctic Archipelago, connecting the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans...
    
    .
  • December - James Burbage
    James Burbage
    James Burbage was an English actor, theatre impresario, and theatre builder in the English Renaissance theatre. He built The Theatre, the facility famous as the first permanent dedicated theatre built in England since Roman times...
    
     opens London's first permanent public playhouse
    Playhouse
    Playhouse is a common Elizabethan term for a theatre, especially those built in London such as The Globe and The Rose.It is also used as the name for theatres today:- Australia :* Dunstan Playhouse, Adelaide Festival Centre...
    
    , The Theatre
    The Theatre
    The Theatre was an Elizabethan playhouse located in Shoreditch , just outside the City of London. It was the second permanent theatre ever built in England, after the Red Lion, and the first successful one...
    
    , in Shoreditch
    Shoreditch
    Shoreditch is an area of London within the London Borough of Hackney in England. It is a built-up part of the inner city immediately to the north of the City of London, located east-northeast of Charing Cross.-Etymology:...
    
    .
• 1577
  • June - Edmund Grindal suspended for refusing to suppress Puritanism
    Puritan
    The Puritans were a significant grouping of English Protestants in the 16th and 17th centuries. Puritanism in this sense was founded by some Marian exiles from the clergy shortly after the accession of Elizabeth I of England in 1558, as an activist movement within the Church of England...
    
    .
  • 6 July - 'Black Assize
    Black Assize
    The Black Assize was a plague of Epidemic typhus that struck the town of Oxford in England on July 6, 1577. About 300 people including the chief baron and sheriff, are thought to have died as a result of the plague...
    
    ' in Oxford
    Oxford
    The city of Oxford is the county town of Oxfordshire, England. The city, made prominent by its medieval university, has a population of just under 165,000, with 153,900 living within the district boundary. It lies about 50 miles north-west of London. The rivers Cherwell and Thames run through...
    
     results in an outbreak of epidemic typhus killing around three hundred in the city.
  • 29 November - Seminary
    Seminary
    A seminary, theological college, or divinity school is an institution of secondary or post-secondary education for educating students in theology, generally to prepare them for ordination as clergy or for other ministry...
    
     priest Cuthbert Mayne
    Cuthbert Mayne
    'Saint Cuthbert Mayne was an English Roman Catholic priest and martyr of the Reformation and Counter-Reformation.- Early life :...
    
     executed for treason.
  • 13 December - Francis Drake
    Francis Drake
    Sir Francis Drake, Vice Admiral was an English sea captain, privateer, navigator, slaver, and politician of the Elizabethan era. Elizabeth I of England awarded Drake a knighthood in 1581. He was second-in-command of the English fleet against the Spanish Armada in 1588. He also carried out the...
    
     leaves on a voyage around the world.
• 1578
  • 19 November - Walter Ralegh leads an expedition to establish a colony in North America
    North America
    North America is a continent wholly within the Northern Hemisphere and almost wholly within the Western Hemisphere. It is also considered a northern subcontinent of the Americas...
    
    ; forced to turn back six months later.
• 1579
  • 17 June - Drake claims New Albion
    New Albion
    New Albion, also known as Nova Albion, was the name of the region of the Pacific coast of North America explored by Sir Francis Drake and claimed by him for England in 1579...
    
     on the Pacific Coast
    Pacific Coast
    A country's Pacific coast is the part of its coast bordering the Pacific Ocean.-The Americas:Countries on the western side of the Americas have a Pacific coast as their western border.* Geography of Canada* Geography of Chile* Geography of Colombia...
    
     of North America for England.
  • The English College
    Venerable English College, Rome
    The Venerable English College, commonly referred to as the English College, is a Roman Catholic seminary in Rome, Italy, for the training of priests for England and Wales...
    
     for the training of Roman Catholic Priests is established in Rome
    Rome
    Rome is the capital of Italy and the country's largest and most populated city and comune, with over 2.7 million residents in . The city is located in the central-western portion of the Italian Peninsula, on the Tiber River within the Lazio region of Italy.Rome's history spans two and a half...
    
    .
  • Eastland Company
    Eastland Company
    The Eastland Company, or North Sea Company, was an English crown-chartered company, founded in 1579 to foster trade with Scandinavia and Baltic Sea states. Like the better-known Russia Company, this was an attempt by the English to challenge the Hanseatic League's dominance in the commerce of...
    
     chartered to trade with Scandinavia
    Scandinavia
    Scandinavia is a cultural, historical and ethno-linguistic region in northern Europe that includes the three kingdoms of Denmark, Norway and Sweden, characterized by their common ethno-cultural heritage and language. Modern Norway and Sweden proper are situated on the Scandinavian Peninsula,...
    
     and the Baltic Sea
    Baltic Sea
    The Baltic Sea is a brackish mediterranean sea located in Northern Europe, from 53°N to 66°N latitude and from 20°E to 26°E longitude. It is bounded by the Scandinavian Peninsula, the mainland of Europe, and the Danish islands. It drains into the Kattegat by way of the Øresund, the Great Belt and...
    
     states.
  • Publication of Edmund Spenser
    Edmund Spenser
    Edmund Spenser was an English poet best known for The Faerie Queene, an epic poem and fantastical allegory celebrating the Tudor dynasty and Elizabeth I. He is recognised as one of the premier craftsmen of Modern English verse in its infancy, and one of the greatest poets in the English...
    
    's poetry The Shepheardes Calender
    The Shepheardes Calender
    The Shepheardes Calender was Edmund Spenser's first major poetic work, published in 1579. In emulation of Virgil's first work, the Eclogues, Spenser wrote this series of pastorals to begin his career. However, Spenser's models were rather the Renaissance eclogues of Mantuanus. M. Y. Hughes. Virgil...
    
    .

Births

• 1570
  • 22 January - Robert Bruce Cotton
    Robert Bruce Cotton
    Sir Robert Bruce Cotton, 1st Baronet was an English antiquarian and Member of Parliament, founder of the important Cotton library....
    
    , politician (died 1631)
  • 13 April - Guy Fawkes
    Guy Fawkes
    Guy Fawkes , also known as Guido Fawkes, the name he adopted while fighting for the Spanish in the Low Countries, belonged to a group of provincial English Catholics who planned the failed Gunpowder Plot of 1605.Fawkes was born and educated in York...
    
    , conspirator (died 1606)
  • 28 November - James Whitelocke
    James Whitelocke
    Sir James Whitelocke SL was an English judge.-Early life:He was the younger of posthumous twin sons of Richard Whitelocke, merchant, of London, by Joan Brockhurst, widow, daughter of John Colte of Little Munden, Hertfordshire. His twin-brother, William, served under Francis Drake, and fell at sea...
    
    , judge (died 1632)
  • John Cooper
    John Cooper (composer)
    John Cooper , also known as Giovanni Coprario or Coperario, was an English composer, viol player and lutenist....
    
    , composer and lutenist (died 1626)
  • John Farmer
    John Farmer (1570-1605)
    John Farmer was a composer of the English Madrigal School. He was born in England around 1570 but his exact date of birth is not known - posits a date around 1564 to 1565 based on matriculation records. Farmer was under the patronage of Earl of Oxford and dedicated his collection of canons and...
    
    , composer (died 1601)
  • Simon Grahame
    Simon Grahame
    Simon Grahame , born in Edinburgh, Scotland, led a dissolute life as a traveller, soldier, and courtier on the Continent of Europe...
    
    , adventurer (died 1614)
  • John Smyth
    John Smyth (1570-1612)
    John Smyth was an early Baptist minister of England and a defender of the principle of religious liberty. Historians consider John Smyth as a founder of the Baptist denomination.-Early life:...
    
    , Baptist minister (died 1612)
• 1571
  • Henry Ainsworth
    Henry Ainsworth
    -Life:He was born of a farming family of Swanton Morley, Norfolk. He was educated at Caius College, Cambridge, and, after associating with the Puritan party in the Church, eventually joined the Separatists....
    
    , Nonconformist clergyman and scholar (died 1622)
  • William Bedell
    William Bedell
    William Bedell was an Anglican churchman.-Early life:He was born at Black Notley in Essex, and educated at Emmanuel College, Cambridge, where he was a pupil of William Perkins. He became a fellow of Emmanuel in 1593, and took orders...
    
    , Anglican churchman (died 1642
    1642 in England
    Events from the year 1642 in the Kingdom of England.-Events:* 4 January - Charles I attempts to arrest five leading members of the Long Parliament, but they escape...
    
    )
  • Thomas Storer
    Thomas Storer
    Thomas Storer was an English poet.Storer was born in London, England around 1571, and in 1587, enrolled into Christ Church, Oxford where he would attain his degree of M.A. in 1594. Toward the latter end of that year, Storer wrote the Life and Death of Cardinal Wolsey — a piece which illustrated...
    
    , poet (died 1604)
  • Thomas Wintour
    Thomas Wintour
    Robert Wintour and Thomas Wintour , also spelt Winter, were members of the Gunpowder Plot, a failed conspiracy to assassinate King James I. Both were related to other conspirators, such as their cousin, Robert Catesby, and a half-brother, John Wintour, also joined them following the plot's failure...
    
    , Gunpowder Plot
    Gunpowder Plot
    The Gunpowder Plot of 1605, in earlier centuries often called the Gunpowder Treason Plot or the Jesuit Treason, was a failed assassination attempt against King James I of England and VI of Scotland by a group of provincial English Catholics led by Robert Catesby.The plan was to blow up the House of...
    
     conspirator (died 1606)
• 1572
  • 11 June - Ben Jonson
    Ben Jonson
    Benjamin Jonson was an English Renaissance dramatist, poet and actor. A contemporary of William Shakespeare, he is best known for his satirical plays, particularly Volpone, The Alchemist, and Bartholomew Fair, which are considered his best, and his lyric poems...
    
    , dramatist (died 1637)
  • John Donne
    John Donne
    John Donne 31 March 1631), English poet, satirist, lawyer, and priest, is now considered the preeminent representative of the metaphysical poets. His works are notable for their strong and sensual style and include sonnets, love poetry, religious poems, Latin translations, epigrams, elegies, songs,...
    
    , writer and prelate (died 1631)
  • John Floyd
    John Floyd (Jesuit)
    John Floyd was an English Jesuit, known as a controversialist. He is known under the pseudonyms Daniel à Jesu, Hermannus Loemelius, and George White John Floyd (1572 – September 15, 1649) was an English Jesuit, known as a controversialist. He is known under the pseudonyms Daniel à Jesu, Hermannus...
    
    , Jesuit (died 1649
    1649 in England
    Events from the year 1649 in England.-Incumbents:Monarch - King Charles I of England ; Interregnum-Events:* 3 January - An explosion of several barrels of gunpowder in Tower Street, London kills 67 people and destroys 60 houses....
    
    )
  • Bartholomew Gosnold
    Bartholomew Gosnold
    Bartholomew Gosnold was an English lawyer, explorer, and privateer, instrumental in founding the Virginia Company of London, and Jamestown, Virginia, United States...
    
    , lawyer and explorer (died 1607)
  • James Mabbe
    James Mabbe
    James Mabbe or Mab was an English scholar and poet, and a Fellow of Magdalen College, Oxford. He was involved in translations from Spanish, in particular of some of the work of Cervantes...
    
    , scholar and poet (died 1642
    1642 in England
    Events from the year 1642 in the Kingdom of England.-Events:* 4 January - Charles I attempts to arrest five leading members of the Long Parliament, but they escape...
    
    )
• 1573
  • 15 July - Inigo Jones
    Inigo Jones
    Inigo Jones is the first significant British architect of the modern period, and the first to bring Italianate Renaissance architecture to England...
    
    , architect (died 1652
    1652 in England
    Events from the year 1652 in the Commonwealth of England.-Events:* 19 May - First Anglo-Dutch War: Battle of Goodwin Sands fought off Dover between Lt.-Admiral Maarten Harpertszoon Tromp's 42 Dutch ships and 21 English ships divided into two squadrons, one commanded by Robert Blake and the other...
    
    )
  • 7 October - William Laud
    William Laud
    William Laud was Archbishop of Canterbury from 1633 to 1645. One of the High Church Caroline divines, he opposed radical forms of Puritanism...
    
    , Archbishop of Canterbury
    Archbishop of Canterbury
    The Archbishop of Canterbury is the senior bishop and principal leader of the Church of England, the symbolic head of the worldwide Anglican Communion, and the diocesan bishop of the Diocese of Canterbury. In his role as head of the Anglican Communion, the archbishop leads the third largest group...
    
     (died 1645
    1645 in England
    Events from the year 1645 in the Kingdom of England.-Events:* January - A group of ministers appointed by the Long Parliament draws up the Directory of Public Worship which replaces the Book of Common Prayer...
    
    )
  • Robert Catesby
    Robert Catesby
    Robert Catesby , was the leader of a group of provincial English Catholics who planned the failed Gunpowder Plot of 1605....
    
    , leader of the Gunpowder Plot
    Gunpowder Plot
    The Gunpowder Plot of 1605, in earlier centuries often called the Gunpowder Treason Plot or the Jesuit Treason, was a failed assassination attempt against King James I of England and VI of Scotland by a group of provincial English Catholics led by Robert Catesby.The plan was to blow up the House of...
    
     (died 1605)
  • Richard Johnson
    Richard Johnson (16th century)
    Richard Johnson was an English romance writer. He was baptized in London on May 4, 1573. His most famous work is The Famous Historie of the Seaven Champions of Christendom . The success of this book was so great that the author added a second and a third part in 1608 and 1616...
    
    , romance writer (died 1659
    1659 in England
    Events from the year 1659 in England.-Events:* 16 February - The first known cheque is written.* 22 April - Lord Protector Richard Cromwell disbands the Parliament of England....
    
    )
  • John Kendrick
    John Kendrick (cloth merchant)
    John Kendrick was a prosperous English cloth merchant and patron of the towns of Reading and Newbury in Berkshire....
    
    , merchant (died 1624)
• 1574
  • 7 March - John Wilbye
    John Wilbye
    John Wilbye , was an English madrigal composer. The son of a tanner, he was born at Brome, Suffolk, near Diss, and received the patronage of the Cornwallis family. It is thought that he accompanied Elizabeth Cornwallis to Hengrave Hall near Bury St...
    
    , composer (date of baptism) (died 1638)
  • June - Richard Barnfield
    Richard Barnfield
    Richard Barnfield , English poet, was born at Norbury, Staffordshire, and brought up in Newport, Shropshire.He was baptized on 13 June 1574, the son of Richard Barnfield, gentleman. His obscure though close relationship with Shakespeare has long made him interesting to scholars...
    
    , poet (died 1627)
  • 1 July - Joseph Hall, bishop and satirist (died 1656
    1656 in England
    Events from the year 1656 in the The Protectorate.-Events:* 2 April - Anglo-Spanish War: King Philip IV of Spain signs a treaty with Charles II of England for the reconquest of England.* 17 September** The Second Protectorate Parliament assembles....
    
    )
  • 7 August - Robert Dudley, styled Earl of Warwick
    Robert Dudley, styled Earl of Warwick
    Sir Robert Dudley was an English explorer and cartographer. In 1594, he led an expedition to the West Indies, of which he wrote an account. The illegitimate son of Robert Dudley, 1st Earl of Leicester, he inherited the bulk of the Earl's estate in accordance with his father's will, including...
    
    , explorer and geographer (died 1649
    1649 in England
    Events from the year 1649 in England.-Incumbents:Monarch - King Charles I of England ; Interregnum-Events:* 3 January - An explosion of several barrels of gunpowder in Tower Street, London kills 67 people and destroys 60 houses....
    
    )
  • September - Thomas Gataker
    Thomas Gataker
    Thomas Gataker was an English clergyman and theologian.-Life:He was born in London and educated at St John's College, Cambridge. From 1601 to 1611 he held the appointment of preacher to the society of Lincoln's Inn, which he resigned on accepting the rectory of Rotherhithe...
    
    , clergyman and theologian (died 1654
    1654 in England
    Events from the year 1654 in The Protectorate.-Events:* 5 April - Signing of the Treaty of Westminster ends the First Anglo-Dutch War, and the Dutch agree to observe the Navigation Acts.* 11 April - England signs a treaty of commerce with Sweden....
    
    )
• 1575
  • 5 March - William Oughtred
    William Oughtred
    William Oughtred was an English mathematician.After John Napier invented logarithms, and Edmund Gunter created the logarithmic scales upon which slide rules are based, it was Oughtred who first used two such scales sliding by one another to perform direct multiplication and division; and he is...
    
    , mathematician (died 1660
    1660 in England
    Events from the year 1660 which occurred in the Kingdom of England. This is the year of Restoration.-Events:* 1 January** Colonel George Monck with his regiment crosses from Scotland to England at the village of Coldstream and begins advance towards London in support of English Restoration.**...
    
    )
  • 14 August - Robert Hayman
    Robert Hayman
    Robert Hayman was a poet, colonist and Proprietary Governor of Bristol's Hope colony in Newfoundland.-Early life and education:...
    
    , poet (died 1629)
  • Lionel Cranfield, 1st Earl of Middlesex
    Lionel Cranfield, 1st Earl of Middlesex
    Lionel Cranfield, 1st Earl of Middlesex was a successful merchant in London, England.-Life:He was the second son of Thomas Cranfield, a mercer at London, and his wife Martha Randill, the daughter and heiress of Vincent Randill of Sutton-at-Hone, Kent. He was apprenticed in to Richard Sheppard, a...
    
    , successful London merchant (died 1645
    1645 in England
    Events from the year 1645 in the Kingdom of England.-Events:* January - A group of ministers appointed by the Long Parliament draws up the Directory of Public Worship which replaces the Book of Common Prayer...
    
    )
  • William Parker, 4th Baron Monteagle
    William Parker, 4th Baron Monteagle
    William Parker, 13th Baron Morley, 4th Baron Monteagle was an English peer, Lord of Morley, Hingham, Hockering, &c., in Norfolk, the eldest son of Edward Parker, 12th Baron Morley , and of Elizabeth Stanley, daughter and heiress of William Stanley, 3rd Baron Monteagle .When quite a youth he...
    
     (died 1622)
  • Arbella Stuart
    Arbella Stuart
    Lady Arbella Stuart was an English Renaissance noblewoman who was for some time considered a possible successor to Queen Elizabeth I on the English throne....
    
    , Duchess of Somerset (died 1615)
  • Cyril Tourneur
    Cyril Tourneur
    Cyril Tourneur was an English dramatist who enjoyed his greatest success during the reign of King James I of England. His best-known work is The Revenger's Tragedy , a play which has alternatively been attributed to Thomas Middleton.-Life:Cyril Tourneur was possibly the son of Captain Richard...
    
    , dramatist (died 1626)
  • Edmund Bolton
    Edmund Bolton
    Edmund Mary Bolton , English historian and poet, was born in 1575.-Life:Nothing is known of his family or origins, although he referred to himself as a distant relative of George Villiers. Brought up a Roman Catholic, he was educated at Trinity Hall, Cambridge. Bolton then lived in London at the...
    
    , historian and poet (died 1633)
  • Samuel Purchas
    Samuel Purchas
    Samuel Purchas , was an English travel writer, a near-contemporary of Richard Hakluyt.Purchas was born at Thaxted, Essex, and graduated at St John's College, Cambridge, in 1600; later he became a B.D., and with this degree was admitted at Oxford in 1615. In 1604 he was presented by James I to the...
    
    , travel writer (died 1626)
• 1576
  • October - Thomas Weelkes
    Thomas Weelkes
    Thomas Weelkes was an English composer and organist. He became organist of Winchester College in 1598, moving to Chichester Cathedral. His works are chiefly vocal, and include madrigals, anthems and services.-Life:Weelkes was baptised in the little village church of Elsted in Sussex on 25...
    
    , composer and organist (died 1626)
  • 7 October - John Marston
    John Marston
    John Marston was an English poet, playwright and satirist during the late Elizabethan and Jacobean periods...
    
    , writer (died 1634)
  • 12 October - Thomas Dudley
    Thomas Dudley
    Thomas Dudley was a colonial magistrate who served several terms as governor of the Massachusetts Bay Colony. Dudley was the chief founder of Newtowne, later Cambridge, Massachusetts, and built the town's first home...
    
    , Governor of Massachusetts Bay Colony
    Massachusetts Bay Colony
    The Massachusetts Bay Colony was an English settlement on the east coast of North America in the 17th century, in New England, situated around the present-day cities of Salem and Boston. The territory administered by the colony included much of present-day central New England, including portions...
    
     (died 1652
    1652 in England
    Events from the year 1652 in the Commonwealth of England.-Events:* 19 May - First Anglo-Dutch War: Battle of Goodwin Sands fought off Dover between Lt.-Admiral Maarten Harpertszoon Tromp's 42 Dutch ships and 21 English ships divided into two squadrons, one commanded by Robert Blake and the other...
    
    )
  • William Ames
    William Ames
    William Ames was an English Protestant divine, philosopher, and controversialist...
    
    , Protestant philosopher (died 1633)
  • John Carver
    John Carver
    John Carver was a Pilgrim leader. He was the first governor of Plymouth Colony and his is the first signature on the Mayflower Compact.-Mayflower:...
    
    , first governor of Plymouth Colony
    Plymouth Colony
    Plymouth Colony was an English colonial venture in North America from 1620 to 1691. The first settlement of the Plymouth Colony was at New Plymouth, a location previously surveyed and named by Captain John Smith. The settlement, which served as the capital of the colony, is today the modern town...
    
     (died 1621)
• 1577
  • 8 February - Robert Burton
    Robert Burton (scholar)
    Robert Burton was an English scholar at Oxford University, best known for the classic The Anatomy of Melancholy. He was also the incumbent of St Thomas the Martyr, Oxford, and of Segrave in Leicestershire.-Life:...
    
    , scholar (died 1640
    1640 in England
    Events from the year 1640 in the Kingdom of England.-Events:* 12 January - Thomas Wentworth becomes Lord-Lieutenant of Ireland and Earl of Strafford.* 17 January - John Finch becomes Lord Keeper of the Great Seal....
    
    )
  • 9 July - Thomas West, 3rd Baron De La Warr
    Thomas West, 3rd Baron De La Warr
    Thomas West, 3rd and 12th Baron De La Warr was the Englishman after whom the bay, the river, and, consequently, an American Indian people and U.S. state, all later called "Delaware", were named....
    
    , governor of Virginia (died 1618)
  • William Noy
    William Noy
    William Noy was a noted British jurist.He was born on the family estate of Pendrea in St Buryan, Cornwall. He left Exeter College, Oxford without taking a degree, and entered Lincoln's Inn in 1594. From 1603 until his death he was elected, with one exception, to each parliament, sitting...
    
    , jurist (died 1634)
  • Barnaby Potter
    Barnaby Potter
    Barnaby Potter was a Church of England priest, Bishop of Carlisle from 16 March 1628-9 to 1642. He was educated at The Queen's College, Oxford, where he graduated MA in 1602 and DD in 1615. He was elected a fellow in 1604 and served as Provost, 1616–1626. Although leaning towards Puritanism...
    
    , Bishop of Carlisle
    Bishop of Carlisle
    The Bishop of Carlisle is the Ordinary of the Church of England Diocese of Carlisle in the Province of York.The diocese covers the County of Cumbria except for Alston Moor and the former Sedbergh Rural District...
    
     (died 1642
    1642 in England
    Events from the year 1642 in the Kingdom of England.-Events:* 4 January - Charles I attempts to arrest five leading members of the Long Parliament, but they escape...
    
    )
• 1578
  • 2 March - George Sandys
    George Sandys
    George Sandys was an English traveller, colonist and poet.-Life:He was born in Bishopsthorpe, the seventh and youngest son of Edwin Sandys, archbishop of York. He studied at St Mary Hall, Oxford, but took no degree...
    
    , traveller (died 1644
    1644 in England
    Events from the year 1644 in the Kingdom of England.-Events:* King Charles I opens a Royalist 'parliament' at Oxford.* 26 January - First English Civil War: At the Battle of Nantwich the Parliamentarians defeat the Royalists....
    
    )
  • 1 April - William Harvey
    William Harvey
    William Harvey was an English physician who was the first person to describe completely and in detail the systemic circulation and properties of blood being pumped to the body by the heart...
    
    , physician (died 1657
    1657 in England
    Events from the year 1657 in the The Protectorate.-Events:* January - Regional military government in England abolished.* 13 March - Anglo-Spanish War: With the Treaty of Paris, France and England form an alliance against Spain....
    
    )
  • 16 May - Everard Digby
    Everard Digby
    Sir Everard Digby was a member of the group of provincial English Catholics who planned the failed Gunpowder Plot of 1605. Although he was raised in a Protestant household, and married a Protestant, Digby and his wife were converted to Catholicism by the Jesuit priest John Gerard...
    
    , conspirator (died 1606)
  • Thomas Coventry, 1st Baron Coventry
    Thomas Coventry, 1st Baron Coventry
    Thomas Coventry, 1st Baron Coventry was a prominent English lawyer, politician and judge during the early 17th century.-Education and early legal career:...
    
    , lawyer (died 1640
    1640 in England
    Events from the year 1640 in the Kingdom of England.-Events:* 12 January - Thomas Wentworth becomes Lord-Lieutenant of Ireland and Earl of Strafford.* 17 January - John Finch becomes Lord Keeper of the Great Seal....
    
    )
  • Ambrose Rokewood
    Ambrose Rokewood
    Sir Ambrose Rookwood was a member of the failed 1605 Gunpowder Plot, a conspiracy to replace the Protestant King James I with a Catholic monarch. Rookwood was born into a wealthy family of Catholic recusants, and educated by Jesuits at Flanders. His older brother became a Franciscan, and his two...
    
    , Gunpowder Plot
    Gunpowder Plot
    The Gunpowder Plot of 1605, in earlier centuries often called the Gunpowder Treason Plot or the Jesuit Treason, was a failed assassination attempt against King James I of England and VI of Scotland by a group of provincial English Catholics led by Robert Catesby.The plan was to blow up the House of...
    
     conspirator (died 1606)
  • Francis Manners, 6th Earl of Rutland
    Francis Manners, 6th Earl of Rutland
    Francis Manners, 6th Earl of Rutland, KG was an English nobleman. Despite a brief imprisonment for his involvement in the Essex Rebellion of 1601, he became prominent at the court of James I. He lived at Belvoir Castle in Lincolnshire...
    
     (died 1632)
• 1579
  • 13 July - Arthur Dee
    Arthur Dee
    Arthur Dee , the eldest son of Dr John Dee, was a physician and alchemist.He was the eldest son of John Dee, by his second wife, Jane, daughter of Bartholomew Fromond of East Cheam, Surrey, and was born at Mortlake on 13 July 1579. He accompanied his father in travels through Germany, Poland, and...
    
    , physician and alchemist (died 1651
    1651 in England
    Events from the year 1651 which occurred in the Commonwealth of England.-Events:* 17 April - English Civil War: Robert Blake's forces attack Tresco, opening a siege of the Isles of Scilly....
    
    )
  • December - John Fletcher
    John Fletcher (playwright)
    John Fletcher was a Jacobean playwright. Following William Shakespeare as house playwright for the King's Men, he was among the most prolific and influential dramatists of his day; both during his lifetime and in the early Restoration, his fame rivalled Shakespeare's...
    
    , writer (died 1625)
  • Jacob Astley, 1st Baron Astley of Reading
    Jacob Astley, 1st Baron Astley of Reading
    Jacob Astley, 1st Baron Astley of Reading was a Royalist commander in the English Civil War.-Life:He came from an established Norfolk family, and was born at Melton Constable. His first experiences of war were at the age of 18 when he joined the Islands Voyage expedition in 1597 under the Earl of...
    
    , royalist commander in the English Civil War (died 1652
    1652 in England
    Events from the year 1652 in the Commonwealth of England.-Events:* 19 May - First Anglo-Dutch War: Battle of Goodwin Sands fought off Dover between Lt.-Admiral Maarten Harpertszoon Tromp's 42 Dutch ships and 21 English ships divided into two squadrons, one commanded by Robert Blake and the other...
    
    )
  • Richard Whitbourne
    Richard Whitbourne
    Sir Richard Whitbourne was an English colonist, author and mariner.Richard Whitbourne was born near Teignmouth in Devon, England. Whilst apprenticed to a merchant adventurer of Southampton, he sailed extensively around Europe and twice to Newfoundland. He served in a ship of his own against the...
    
    , colonist (died 1628)

Deaths

• 1571
  • 12 February - Nicholas Throckmorton
    Nicholas Throckmorton
    Sir Nicholas Throckmorton was an English diplomat and politician, who was an ambassador to France and played a key role in the relationship between Elizabeth I and Mary, Queen of Scots.-Early years:...
    
    , diplomat and politician (born 1515)
  • 1 June - John Story
    John Story
    Blessed John Story , English Roman Catholic martyr, was born the son of Nicholas Story of Salisbury and educated at Hinxsey Hall, University of Oxford, where he became lecturer on civil law in 1535, being made later principal of Broadgates Hall, afterwards Pembroke College.He appears to have...
    
    , Catholic (martyred) (born 1504)
  • 23 September - John Jewel
    John Jewel
    John Jewel was an English bishop of Salisbury.-Life:He was the son of John Jewel of Buden, Devon, was educated under his uncle John Bellamy, rector of Hampton, and other private tutors until his matriculation at Merton College, Oxford, in July 1535.There he was taught by John Parkhurst,...
    
    , bishop (born 1522)
• 1572
  • January - Robert Pattison, actor(born c. 1535)
  • 10 March - William Paulet, 1st Marquess of Winchester
    William Paulet, 1st Marquess of Winchester
    Sir William Paulet was an English Secretary of State and statesman who attained several peerages throughout his lifetime: Baron St John , Earl of Wiltshire , and Marquess of Winchester .-Family origins and early career in Hampshire:William Paulet was eldest son of Sir John Paulet of...
    
     (born c. 1483)
  • 2 June - Thomas Howard, 4th Duke of Norfolk
    Thomas Howard, 4th Duke of Norfolk
    Thomas Howard, 4th Duke of Norfolk, KG, Earl Marshal was an English nobleman.Norfolk was the son of the poet Henry Howard, Earl of Surrey. He was taught as a child by John Foxe, the Protestant martyrologist, who remained a lifelong recipient of Norfolk's patronage...
    
     (born 1536)
  • 24 October - Edward Stanley, 3rd Earl of Derby
    Edward Stanley, 3rd Earl of Derby
    Edward Stanley, 3rd Earl of Derby was an English nobleman.At the age of thirteen, Edward received the titles and estates of his father, the 2nd Earl of Derby, and King Henry VIII took responsibility for bringing him up until he was of age...
    
    , politician (born 1508)
  • Richard Grafton
    Richard Grafton
    Richard Grafton , was King's Printer under Henry VIII and Edward VI. He was a member of the Grocers' Company and MP for Coventry elected 1562-63.-Under Henry VIII:...
    
    , merchant (year of birth unknown)
  • Christopher Tye
    Christopher Tye
    Christopher Tye was an English composer and organist, who studied at Cambridge University and in 1545 became a Doctor of Music both there and at Oxford.He was choirmaster of Ely Cathedral from about 1543 and also organist there from 1559...
    
    , composer and organist (born 1505)
• 1573
  • 29 July - John Caius
    John Caius
    John Caius , also known as Johannes Caius, was an English physician, and second founder of the present Gonville and Caius College, Cambridge.-Early years:...
    
    , physician (born 1510)
  • William Howard, 1st Baron Howard of Effingham
    William Howard, 1st Baron Howard of Effingham
    William Howard, 1st Baron Howard of Effingham , was the eldest son of Thomas Howard, 2nd Duke of Norfolk by his second wife, Agnes Tilney...
    
    , Lord High Admiral (born 1510)
  • Reginald Wolfe
    Reginald Wolfe
    Reginald Wolfe was a Dutch-born English Protestant printer and one of the original members of the Royal Stationers' Company....
    
    , printer (year of birth unknown)
• 1575
  • 17 May - Matthew Parker
    Matthew Parker
    Matthew Parker was Archbishop of Canterbury from 1559 until his death in 1575. He was also an influential theologian and arguably the co-founder of Anglican theological thought....
    
    , Archbishop of Canterbury
    Archbishop of Canterbury
    The Archbishop of Canterbury is the senior bishop and principal leader of the Church of England, the symbolic head of the worldwide Anglican Communion, and the diocesan bishop of the Diocese of Canterbury. In his role as head of the Anglican Communion, the archbishop leads the third largest group...
    
     (born 1504)
  • 14 July - Richard Taverner
    Richard Taverner
    Richard Taverner is best known for his Bible translation, The Most Sacred Bible whiche is the holy scripture, conteyning the old and new testament, translated into English, and newly recognized with great diligence after most faythful exemplars by Rychard Taverner, commonly known as Taverner's...
    
    , Bible translator (born 1505)
• 1576
  • 22 September - Walter Devereux, 1st Earl of Essex
    Walter Devereux, 1st Earl of Essex
    Walter Devereux, 1st Earl of Essex, KG , an English nobleman and general. From 1573 until his death he fought in Ireland in connection with the Plantation of Ulster, where he ordered the massacre of Rathlin Island...
    
     (born 1541)
• 1577
  • 12 August - Thomas Smith
    Thomas Smith (diplomat)
    Sir Thomas Smith was an English scholar and diplomat.He was born at Saffron Walden in Essex. He was educated at Queens' College, Cambridge, where he became a fellow in 1530, and in 1533 was appointed a public reader or professor. He lectured in the schools on natural philosophy, and on Greek in...
    
    , scholar and diplomat (born 1513)
  • 7 October - George Gascoigne
    George Gascoigne
    George Gascoigne was an English poet, soldier, artist, and unsuccessful courtier. He is considered the most important poet of the early Elizabethan era, following Sir Thomas Wyatt and Henry Howard, Earl of Surrey and leading to the emergence of Philip Sidney...
    
    , poet (born c. 1525)
  • 29 November - Cuthbert Mayne
    Cuthbert Mayne
    'Saint Cuthbert Mayne was an English Roman Catholic priest and martyr of the Reformation and Counter-Reformation.- Early life :...
    
    , saint (born 1543)
• 1578
  • 29 March - Arthur Champernowne
    Arthur Champernowne
    Sir Arthur Champernowne was a Vice-Admiral of the West who lived at Dartington Hall in Devon, England.-Biography:Champernowne was the second son of Sir Philip Champernowne of Modbury, Devon, whose family had lived in Devon since arriving from Cambernon in Normandy in the eleventh century as part...
    
    , admiral (born 1524)
  • 20 June - Thomas Doughty
    Thomas Doughty (explorer)
    Thomas Doughty was an English nobleman, soldier, scholar and personal secretary of Christopher Hatton. His association with Francis Drake, on a 1577 voyage to interfere with Spanish treasure fleets, ended in a shipboard trial for treason and witchcraft and Doughty's execution.Although scholars...
    
    , explorer (executed) (year of birth unknown)
  • 4 August - Thomas Stucley, adventurer (born 1525)
  • Nicholas Heath
    Nicholas Heath
    Nicholas Heath was archbishop of York and Lord Chancellor.-Life:Heath was born in London and graduated BA at Oxford in 1519. He then migrated to Christ's College, Cambridge, where he graduated BA in 1520, MA in 1522, and was elected fellow in 1524. After holding minor preferments he was appointed...
    
    , Archbishop of York and Lord Chancellor
    Lord Chancellor
    The Lord High Chancellor of Great Britain, or Lord Chancellor, is a senior and important functionary in the government of the United Kingdom. He is the second highest ranking of the Great Officers of State, ranking only after the Lord High Steward. The Lord Chancellor is appointed by the Sovereign...
    
     (born 1501)
  • Jane Lumley
    Jane Lumley
    Jane , Lady Lumley was the first person to translate Euripides into English. She was the eldest child of Henry Fitzalan, 19th Earl of Arundel , patron of the arts, and his first wife, Katherine Grey Fitzalan...
    
    , translator (born 1537)
• 1579
  • 20 February - Nicholas Bacon, politician (born 1509)
  • 21 November - Thomas Gresham
    Thomas Gresham
    Sir Thomas Gresham was an English merchant and financier who worked for King Edward VI of England and for Edward's half-sisters, Queens Mary I and Elizabeth I.-Family and childhood:...
    
    , merchant and financier (born 1519)
  • William Whittingham
    William Whittingham
    William Whittingham was an English Biblical scholar and religious reformer. Educated at Brasenose College, Oxford, he became a zealous Protestant; as such he found it prudent to flee to France when Mary I ascended the throne of England....
    
    , Biblical scholar and religious reformer (born 1524)