1586
1586 was a common year starting on Wednesday of the Gregorian calendar and a common year starting on Saturday of the Julian calendar. As of the start of 1586, the Gregorian calendar was 10 days ahead of the Julian calendar.
Events
- June 16 - The deposed and imprisoned Mary, Queen of Scots, recognizes Philip II of Spain as her heir.
- July 6 - The Treaty of Berwick is signed between Queen Elizabeth I of England and King James VI of Scotland.
- July 21 - English explorer Thomas Cavendish begins the first deliberately planned circumnavigation of the globe.
- September 20–21 - Execution of the Babington Plotters: The 14 men convicted of a plot to murder Queen Elizabeth and replace her with Mary, Queen of Scots, are hanged, drawn and quartered in St Giles Field, London.
- September 22 - Battle of Zutphen: Spanish troops defeat the Dutch rebels and their English allies. English poet and courtier Sir Philip Sidney is mortally wounded.
- October 15-25 - Mary, Queen of Scots, is placed on treason trial at Fotheringhay Castle in England for complicity in the Babington Plot and sentenced to death.
- November 19 - English Separatist Puritan Henry Barrowe is imprisoned.
- December 17 - The reign of Emperor Ōgimachi of Japan ends, and Emperor Go-Yōzei ascends to the throne.
Date unknown
- Flemish mathematician Simon Stevin publishes a study showing that two objects of different weight fall with the same speed.
- St. Augustine, Florida, and Santo Domingo are plundered and burned by English sea captain Sir Francis Drake.
- Jacobus Gallus composes his motet O magnum mysterium.
- English topographer William Harrison becomes canon of Windsor.
- António da Madalena from Portugal is the first westerner to visit Angkor Wat.
- English ship Vanguard, the first Royal Navy vessel to bear this name, is launched at Woolwich.
- The cities of Voronezh, Samara, and Tyumen in Russia are founded.
Births
- January 1 - Pau Claris i Casademunt, Catalan ecclesiastic
- January 20 - Johann Hermann Schein, German composer of the early Baroque era
- January 29 - Louis Frederick, Duke of Württemberg-Montbéliard
- February 8 - Jacob Praetorius, German Baroque composer and organist
- February 15 - Jacques de Bela, French writer
- February 20 - Hachisuka Yoshishige, Japanese daimyō of the Edo period
- February 24 - Matthias Faber, German Jesuit priest, writer
- February 26 - Niccolò Cabeo, Italian Jesuit writer, theologian
- March 12 - Jean Dolbeau, French missionary
- March 28 - Domenico Massenzio, Italian baroque composer
- March 29 - Ludwig Crocius, German Calvinist minister
- April 2 - Pietro Della Valle, Italian composer
- April 4 - Richard Saltonstall, English diplomat
- April 5 - Christopher Levett, English explorer
- April 9 - Julius Henry, Duke of Saxe-Lauenburg
- April 17 - John Ford, English dramatist and poet
- April 20 - Saint Rose of Lima, Spanish colonist in Lima
- April 23 - Martin Rinkart, German clergyman and hymnist
- April 24 - Henry Hastings, 5th Earl of Huntingdon, English noble
- May 2 - Étienne de Courcelles, French scholar
- May 7 - Francesco IV Gonzaga, Duke of Mantua and Montferrat
- May 9 - Tsugaru Nobuhira, Japanese daimyō
- May 11 - Angelo Giori, Italian Catholic cardinal
- May 23 - Paul Siefert, German composer and organist
- June 24 - George John II, Count Palatine of Lützelstein-Guttenberg, German noble
- July 1 - Claudio Saracini, Italian composer
- July 5 - Thomas Hooker, prominent Puritan colonial leader
- July 6 - Thomas Trevor, English politician and judge
- July 7 - Thomas Howard, 21st Earl of Arundel, English courtier
- July 26 - Diego de Colmenares, Spanish historian
- August 14 - William Hutchinson, founder of Rhode Island
- August 17 - Johann Valentin Andrea, German theologian
- September 15 - Antoon Sanders, Dutch priest, historian
- September 29 - William Lytton, English Member of Parliament
- October 7 - Isaac Massa, Dutch diplomat
- October 9 - Leopold V, Archduke of Austria, regent of Tyrol
- October 20 - Luke Foxe, English explorer
- October 28 - Francis West, Deputy Governor of the Colony and Dominion of Virginia
- November 20 - Polykarp Leyser II, German theologian
- November 22 - Walter Erle, English politician
- November 23 - Juan Bautista de Lezana, Spanish theologian
- November 27 - Sir John Wray, 2nd Baronet, English politician
- November 28 - Sir Thomas Bowyer, 1st Baronet, English politician
- December 6 - Niccolò Zucchi, Italian astronomer and physicist
- December 14 - Georg Calixtus, German Lutheran theologian who looked to reconcile all Christendom
- December 31 - Duchess Magdalene Sibylle of Prussia, Electress of Saxony
- date unknown - John Mason, English explorer
- date unknown - Kocc Barma Fall, Senegambian philosopher
- probable
- * Giles Fletcher, English poet
- * David HaLevi Segal, Polish Jewish rabbi
Deaths
- January 18 - Margaret of Austria, regent of the Netherlands
- January 25 - Lucas Cranach the Younger, German painter
- February 11 - Augustus, Elector of Saxony
- March 1 - Amalia of Cleves, German princess and writer
- March 25 - Margaret Clitherow, English Roman Catholic nun, saint and martyr
- March 30 - Anna of Veldenz, Margrave of Baden
- April 8 - Martin Chemnitz, Lutheran reformer
- May 5 - Henry Sidney, Lord Deputy of Ireland
- May 7 - George II of Brieg, Duke of Brieg
- May 9 - Luis de Morales, Spanish religious painter
- May 29 - Adam Lonicer, German botanist
- June 1 - Martín de Azpilcueta, Spanish theologian and economist
- June 5 - Matthew Wesenbeck, Belgian jurist
- June 9 - Filippo Boncompagni, Italian Catholic cardinal
- June 28 - Primož Trubar, Carniolan Protestant reformer
- July 5 - Ludwig Lavater, Swiss Reformed theologian
- July 12 - Edward Sutton, 4th Baron Dudley
- August 1 - Richard Maitland, Scottish statesman and historian
- September 7 - Prince Masahito, member of the Japanese imperial family
- September 18 - Ottavio Farnese, Duke of Parma
- September 20
- * Sir Anthony Babington, English Catholic conspirator
- * Chidiock Tichborne, English conspirator and poet
- September 21 - Antoine Perrenot de Granvelle, French Roman Catholic cardinal
- October 1 - Adolf, Duke of Holstein-Gottorp
- October 15 - Elizabeth of Denmark, Duchess of Mecklenburg, Danish princess
- October 17 - Philip Sidney, English poet, courtier and soldier
- October 28 - John Günther I, Count of Schwarzburg-Sondershausen
- November 6 - Willem IV van den Bergh, Stadtholder of Guelders and Zutphen
- December 6 - Joachim Ernest, Prince of Anhalt
- December 12 - Stefan Batory, King of Poland
- December 30 - Luigi d'Este, Italian Catholic cardinal (b. 1538