| January 2 | Tsar Ivan the Terrible march to Novgorod begins |
| January 4 | Spanish viceroy Alva banishes Zutphen City's only physician, Joost Sweiter, "because he is a Jew" |
| January 9 | Tsar Ivan the terrible kills 1000-2000 residents of Novgorod |
| January 23 | Earl of Moray, regent of Scotland, assassinated; civil war breaks out |
| February 25 | Pius V excommunicates Elizabeth, absolves her subjects from allegiance |
| February 28 | Anti-Portugese uprising on Ternate, Moluccas |
| March 4 | King Philip II bans foreign Dutch students |
| April 14 | Polish Calvinists/Lutherians/Hernhutters unify against Jesuits |
| April 24 | Battles between Spanish troops and followers of sultan Suleiman |
| May 10 | Czar Ivan IV becomes Protestant |
| May 20 | Egidius Coppens publishes Abraham Ortelius' "Theatrum Orbis Terrarum" |
| May 22 | 1st atlas, with 70 maps, published |
| July 25 | Battle at Arnay-le-Duc Bourgundy: Huguenots-French government army |
| August 8 | Peace of Saint-Germain-and-Laye, more freedom for huguenots |
| August 16 | King Janos Sigismund Zapolyai signs secret treaty with Maximilian II |
| November 1 | Netherlands hit by flood disaster, 1,000s killed |
| December 9 | Geuzen under Herman de Ruyter occupies Loevestein |
| December 13 | Sweden/Denmark signs Peace of Stettin |
