1579
*
January 6 - The
Union of Atrecht united the southern
Netherlands under the
Duke of Parma, governor in the name of king
Philip II of Spain.
*
January 23 - The
Union of Utrecht united the northern Netherlands in a confederation called the
United Provinces.
William I of Orange becomes Stadtholder, and the
Duc d'Anjou, younger brother of
Henry III of France is invited to become hereditary sovereign.
* March - Capture of
Maastricht by the Spanish under Parma.
*
June 17 -
Sir Francis Drake, during his circumnavigation of the world, lands in what is now
California, which he claims for
Queen Elizabeth I. With an
English claim here and in
Newfoundland, it becomes the basis for English colonial charters which will claim all land from the Atlantic to the Pacific, from "sea to sea." Drake's claim is called "Nova Albion" (meaning,
New England), and subsequent maps will show all lands north of New Spain and New Mexico under this name.
*
July 13 -
Arthur Dee, English physician and alchemist (died
1651)
*
August 1 -
Luís Vélez de Guevara, Spanish dramatist and novelist (died
1644)
*
December 9 -
Martin de Porres, Peruvian monk and saint (died
1639)
*
Jacob Astley, 1st Baron Astley of Reading, royalist commander in the English Civil War (died
1652)
*
François de Bassompierre, French courtier (died
1646)
*
Guido Bentivoglio, Italian cardinal (died
1644)
*
Thomas Dempster, Scottish scholar and historian (died
1625)
* December -
John Fletcher, English writer (died
1625)
*
Andreas Gryphius, German lyric poet and dramatist (died
1664)
*
Tokugawa Hidetada, Japanese shogun (died
1632)
*
Johannes Meursius, Dutch classical scholar and antiquary (died
1639)
*
Janusz Radziwill, Polish nobleman (died
1620)
*
Henri, duc de Rohan (died
1638)
*
Franz Snyders, Flemish painter (died
1657)
*
Richard Whitbourne, English colonist (died
1628)
See also :Category: 1579 births.*
February 20 -
Nicholas Bacon, English politician (born
1509)
*
June 25 -
Hatano Hideharu, Japanese samurai (born
1541)
*
June 30 -
Mehmed Pasha Sokolovic, Turkish Janissary (born
1505)
*
August 5 -
Stanislaus Hosius, Polish cardinal (born
1504)
*
November 15 -
Francis David, Hungarian religious reformer (born
1510)
*
November 21 -
Thomas Gresham, English merchant and financier (born
1519)
*
December 21 -
Vicente Masip, Spanish painter
*
Giovanni Battista Adriani, Italian historian
*
John Stuart, 4th Earl of Atholl*
Henry Balnaves, Scottish politician and religious reformer (born
1512)
*
Diego de Landa, Bishop of the Yucatán (born
1524)
*
François de Montmorency, French nobleman (born
1530)
*
Katarzyna Ostrogska, Polish noblewoman (born
1560)
*
Gonzalo Jimenez de Quesada, Spanish explorer (born
1509)
*
Hieronim Jarosz Sieniawski, Polish nobleman
*
Mehmed Sokollu, Grand Vizier of Suleyman the Magnificent and Selim II (born
1505)
*
Hans Staden, German adventurer
*
William Whittingham, English Biblical scholar and religious reformer (born
1524)
See also :Category: 1579 deaths.
