1578

Year 1578 was a common year starting on Wednesday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar.

Events of 1578

* January 31 - Battle of Gembloux: Spanish forces under Don John of Austria and Alexander Farnese defeat the Dutch. Alexander Farnese begins to recover control of the French-speaking Southern Netherlands.
* April 27 - The Duel of the Mignons claims the lives of two favorites of Henry III of France and two favourites of Henry I, Duke of Guise.
* May 31 - Martin Frobisher sails from Harwich, England to Frobisher Bay, Canada, eventually to mine fool's gold, used to pave streets in London.
* August 4 - Battle of Al Kasr al Kebir: The Moors defeat the Portuguese. King Sebastian I of Portugal is defeated and killed in North Africa, leaving his elderly uncle, Cardinal Henry, as his heir. This initiates a succession crisis in Portugal.
* October 1 - Alessandro Farnese succeeds Don John as Spanish Governor-General of the Netherlands.

Undated

* Martin Frobisher holds the first celebration of Thanksgiving by Europeans in North America at Newfoundland by the Frobisher Expedition.
* Sonam Gyrso receives from prince Atlan Khan the title of "Talaï", and becomes the third Dalai Lama of Tibet.
* Battle of Wenden: The Russians are defeated by the Swedes, who proceed to take Polotsk.
* The Ottoman Empire conquers Abkhazia.
* The sixth and so far last outbreak of the sweating sickness occurs in England.
* Emperor Sarsa Dengel of Ethiopia kills Bahr negus Yeshaq, finally ending his rebellion.

Births

* March 2 - George Sandys, English traveller (d. 1644)
* April 1 - William Harvey, English physician (d. 1657)
* April 14 - King Philip III of Spain (d. 1621)
* May 16 - Everard Digby, English conspirator (d. 1606)
* July 9 - Ferdinand II, Holy Roman Emperor (d. 1637)
* August 5 - Charles de Luynes, first duke of Chaulnes (d. 1621)
* August 17 - Francesco Albani, Italian painter (d. 1660)
* November 1 - Dmitry Pozharsky, Russian prince (d. 1642)
* December 2 - Agostino Agazzari, Italian composer (d. 1640)
*"date unknown"
**Giambattista Andreini, Italian actor and playwright (d. 1650)
**Catharina Belgica of Nassau, regent of Hanau-Münzenberg (d. 1648)
**Yamada Arinaga, Japanese retainer of the Shimazu clan (d. 1668)
**Benedetto Castelli, Italian scientist (d. 1643)
**Thomas Coventry, 1st Baron Coventry, English lawyer (d. 1640)
**Robert Cushman, Plymouth Colony settler (d. 1625)
**Iwasa Matabei, Japanese painter (d. 1650)
**Samuel Jordan, American colonial legislator (d. 1623)
**Grzegorz IV Radziwiłł, Polish magnate (d. 1613)
**François Ravaillac, killer of Henry IV of France (d. 1610)
**Ambrose Rokewood, English Gunpowder Plot conspirator (d. 1606)
**Francis Manners, 6th Earl of Rutland (d. 1632)
**Horio Tadauji, Japanese daimyo (d. 1604)

: "See also ."

Deaths

* February 5 - Giambattista Moroni, Italian painter (b. 1510)
* March 7 - Margaret Douglas, Countess of Lennox (b. 1515)
* March 29 - Arthur Champernowne, English admiral (b. 1524)
* March 29 - Louis I, Cardinal of Guise, French cardinal (b. 1527)
* April 14 - James Hepburn, 4th Earl of Bothwell, consort of Mary I of Scotland (b. 1535)
* April 19 - Uesugi Kenshin, Japanese samurai and warlord (b. 1530)
* June 20 - Thomas Doughty, English explorer (executed)
* August 4
**King Sebastian I of Portugal (b. 1554)
**Thomas Stucley, English adventurer (b. 1525)
**Abu Marwan Abd al-Malik I Saadi, King of Morocco
**Abu Abdallah Mohammed II Saadi, King of Morocco
* August 11 - Pedro Nunes, Portuguese mathematician (b. 1502)
* October 1 - Don John of Austria, military leader (b. 1547)
*"date unknown"
**Jane Lumley, English translator (b. 1537)
**Giulio Clovio, Italian painter (b. 1498)
**Cornelis Cort, Dutch engraver (b. 1536)
**Nicholas Heath, Archbishop of York and Lord Chancellor (b. 1501)
**Amago Katsuhisa, Japanese nobleman (b. 1553)
**Ikeda Katsumasa, Japanese military commander (b. 1539)
**Juraj Julije Klovic, Dalmatian painter (b. 1498)
**Pierre Lescot, French architect (b. 1510)

: "See also ."