1552

Year 1552 was a leap year starting on Friday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar.

Events of 1552

January - June

* January 15 - Henry II of France and Maurice of Saxony sign the Treaty of Chambord.
* February 12 - Pedro de Valdivia founds the city of Valdivia in Chile.

* February 24 - The privileges of the Hanseatic League are abolished in England.
* March - The Act of Uniformity 1552 imposes the Protestant prayerbook in England.
* March 26 - Guru Amar Das becomes the Third Sikh Guru.
* April - War breaks out between Henry II of France and Emperor Charles V. Henry invades Lorraine and captures Toul, Metz, and Verdun.
* May - Maurice of Saxony captures Augsburg and almost seizes Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor at Innsbruck.

July - December

* August 2
**John Frederick, Elector of Saxony and Philipp I of Hesse, taken prisoner by Charles V in 1546, are released.
**The Peace of Passau revokes the Augsburg Interim of 1548 and promises religious freedom to the Protestant princes.
* October 2 - The Khanate of Kazan falls to troops of Ivan IV of Russia.
*September - In Hungary, Eger is defended against the Turks.

Undated

* In the Persian Gulf, the Ottoman Empire Red Sea Fleet attacks the Portuguese stronghold of Hormuz but fails to capture it.
* Spain's Bartolomé de Las Casas publishes his attack on colonial practices in the "New World, A Short Account of the Destruction of the Indies".
* In Italy, Bartolomeo Eustachi makes important discoveries on the structure of the ear and heart.
* Christ's Hospital and Shrewsbury School are founded by Royal Charter of Edward VI.
* The foundation of Leeds Grammar School

Births

* February 1 - Edward Coke, English colonial entrepreneur and jurist (d. 1634)
* February 8 - Agrippa d'Aubigné, French poet and soldier (d. 1630)
* February 19 - Melchior Klesl, Austrian statesman and cardinal (d. 1630)
* February 28 - Joost Bürgi, Swiss clockmaker and mathematician (d. 1632)
* April 15 - Pietro Cataldi, Italian mathematician (d. 1626)
* June 18 - Gabriello Chiabrera, Italian poet (d. 1637)
* July 18 - Rudolf II, Holy Roman Emperor (d. 1612)
* August 24 - Lavinia Fontana, Italian painter (d. 1614)
* September 22 - Tsar Vasili IV of Russia (d. 1612)
* October 6 - Matteo Ricci, Italian Jesuit missionary to China (d. 1610)
* December 29 - Henri I de Bourbon, prince de Condé (d. 1588)
* December 30 - Simon Forman, English occultist and astrologer (d. 1611)
*"date unknown"
**Hans von Aachen, German mannerist painter (d. 1615)
**Thomas Aufield, English Catholic martyr (d. 1585)
**Jean Bertaut, French poet (d. 1611)
**Richard Hakluyt, English author, editor and translator (b. c. 1552 or 1553; d. 1616)
**Philemon Holland, English translator (d. 1637)
**Francisco Goméz de Sandoval y Rojas, Duke of Lerma, Spanish politician (d. 1625)
**Dom Justo Takayama, Japanese daimyo (d. 1615)
**Jean Hotman, Marquis de Villers-St-Paul, French diplomat (d. 1636)
**Jack Ward, English pirate (d. 1622)

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Deaths

* January 10 - Johann Cochlaeus, German humanist and controversialist (b. 1479)
* January 22 - Edward Seymour, 1st Duke of Somerset, English politician (b. 1509)
* February 26 - Heinrich Faber, German composer (b. 1500)
* April 18 - John Leland, English historian (b. 1502)
* June 10 - Alexander Barclay, British poet (b. 1476)
* August 15 - Hermann of Wied, German Catholic archbishop (b. 1477)
* October 14 - Oswald Myconius, Swiss Protestant reformer (b. 1488)
* October 17 - Andreas Osiander, German Protestant theologian (b. 1498)
* December 2 - Francis Xavier, Spanish Jesuit missionary (b. 1506)
* December 20 - Katharina von Bora, wife of Martin Luther (b. 1499)
*"date unknown"
**Sebastian Münster, German cartographer and cosmographer (b. 1488)
**Philippe Verdelot, French composer (b. 1475)
**Edward Edward Wotton, English zoologist (b. 1492)

: "See also ."