| January 16 | English parliament passes laws against Catholicism |
| January 28 | James VI signs 2nd Confession of Faith in Scotland |
| March 25 | Portugese Cortes calls Philip II king of Portugal |
| April 1 | Portugese Cortes subjects himself on Philip II |
| April 4 | Frances Drake completes circumnavigation of world |
| April 15 | Cortes van Thomar accepts Philip II as king of Portugal |
| July 14 | English jesuit Edmund Campion arrested |
| July 24 | States of Holland/Zealand recognized by Willem van Orange |
| August 2 | Leiden University names Snellius math professor |
| October 15 | Commissioned by Catherine De Medici, the 1st ballet "Ballet Comique de la Reine," is staged in Paris |
| November 7 | Queen Elizabeth I and Francois of Anjou wed |
| November 29 | Doornik surrenders to duke of Parma |
