1563

August 13: The Northern Seven Years' War begins as Denmark declares war on Sweden

Template:C16 year in topic Year 1563 (MDLXIII) was a common year starting on Friday of the Julian calendar.

Events

January–March

• January 2 (January 2, 1562 O.S., January 11, 1563 N.S.) – The convocation of bishops and clerics of the Church of England is opened at St Paul's Cathedral in London by the Dean of the Arches, Robert Weston to agree upon the wording of what will become the Thirty-nine Articles, with the assembly adopting all but three of the Forty-two Articles promulgated during the reign of King Edward VI in 1553. The conference lasts for three months before agreeing upon the Articles to be submitted for further modification.
• January 25 – In Italy, Instituto Bancario San Paolo di Torino, a constituent of the major financial group Sanpaolo IMI, is founded.<ref>Il progetto Mappa Storica, Intesa Sanpaolo</ref>
• February 1 – Sarsa Dengel succeeds his father Menas as Emperor of Ethiopia at age 14.<ref>James Bruce, Travels to Discover the Source of the Nile, vol. 4 (J. Ruthven, 1790) p.97</ref><ref>Template:Cite book</ref>
• February 18 – Francis, Duke of Guise, is assassinated while besieging Orléans by Jean de Poltrot.<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref>
• March 19 – The Edict of Amboise is signed at the Château d'Amboise by Catherine de' Medici, acting as regent for her son Charles IX of France, having been negotiated between the Huguenot Louis, Prince of Condé, and Anne, duc de Montmorency, Constable of France. It accords some toleration to the Huguenots, especially to aristocrats.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> It officially ends the first phase of the French Wars of Religion,<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> and the combined Huguenot and royal armies then march north to besiege the English in Le Havre.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>

April–June

• April 5 – The English galleon ship HMS Grehound strikes a sandbar off of the coast of Rye, East Sussex and sinks with all hands in the English Channel, including the Admiral of the Narrow Seas, John Malyn.<ref>N.A.M. Rodger, The Safeguard of the Sea: A Naval History of Britain, Volume 1: 660 to 1649 (Penguin, 1997) p.198</ref>
• April 10 – Royal assent is given by Queen Elizabeth of England to parliamentary approval of multiple laws, including the Highways Act 1562 (requiring all householders in a parish to provide six days labor per year on building highways); the Poor Act 1562 (providing for fines for persons who refuse to contribute to a fund for relief of the poor); the Supremacy of the Crown Act 1562 (making refusal to swear allegiance to the monarch punishable as treason); and the Witchcraft Act 1562 (limiting the death penalty for witchcraft to cases where a defendant caused another person's death)
• April 23 – The cornerstone is laid for the construction of El Escorial, the royal palace for the monarch of Spain.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Construction will not be finished for 21 more years, with completion on September 13, 1584.
• May 5 (3rd day of 4th month, Eiroku 6) – The Battle of Yudokoru takes place in Japan at the Inaba Province (now the eastern Tottori Prefecture), as Takanobu Takeda defeats the shogun Toyokazu Yamana.
• May 25 – Elizabeth College, Guernsey is founded, by order of Queen Elizabeth I of England.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>
• May 30 – At Bornholm, the Danish fleet fires on the Swedish navy, leading to a Danish defeat and precipitating the Northern Seven Years' War.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>
• June 4 – The Parliament of Scotland passes the Witchcraft Act, making both the practice of witchcraft, and the act of consulting with witches, punishable by burning at the stake.<ref>Lizanne Henderson, Witchcraft and Folk Belief in the Age of Enlightenment: Scotland, 1670-1740 (Palgrave Macmillan UK, 2016) p.329</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

July–September

• July 28 – The English surrender Le Havre to the French after a siege.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
• August 13 – Northern Seven Years' War: Denmark–Norway and the Free City of Lübeck declare war against the Kingdom of Sweden.
• August 18 – Merchants from the Bungo Province destroy the Portuguese settlement in Yokoseura, Japan
• September 4 – Northern Seven Years' War: King Frederick II of Denmark, advancing from Halland, takes Old Älvsborg from Sweden.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>

October–December

• October 7 – Giovanni Battista Lercari is elected as the new Doge of the Republic of Genoa.
• November 9 – The Army of Sweden, under the command of King King Erik XIV, suffers a severe defeat in the Battle of Mared against the Army of Denmark, commanded by King Frederik II.<ref>Battle of Mared, 9 November 1563, by J. Rickard, HistoryofWar.org, July 24, 2007</ref> In the battle, near what is now the city of Oskarström in Sweden, the Swedes suffer at least 2,500 casualties. The Swedish Army is able to retreat and rebuild, but the Danes plunder the village of Övraby, which is never rebuilt.
• November 11 – The Council of Trent amends existing Roman Catholic canon law to deter unannounced marriages. In order for a marriage to be recognized by the Church, the names of the bridge and groom are to be announced publicly in a chapel during Mass, and registered with the parish priests of both parties.
• December 4 – The Council of Trent (which had opened on December 13, 1545) officially closes.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> It reaffirms all major Roman Catholic doctrines, and declares the Deuterocanonical books of the Old Testament to be canonical, along with the rest of the Bible. Chapter 1, Session 24, promulgates the decree Tametsi, stipulating that for a marriage to be valid, consent (the essence of marriage) as expressed in the vows has to be given publicly before witnesses, one of whom has to be the parish priest.

Births

Emperor Wanli

Saint Francis Caracciolo

• January – Penelope Blount, Countess of Devonshire, English noblewoman (d. 1607)<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>
• January 6
  • Johann Christoph von Westerstetten, German bishop (d. 1637)<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>
  • Martin Becanus, Belgian Jesuit priest (d. 1624)<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>
• January 19 – Leonhard Hutter, German theologian (d. 1616)<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>
• January 29 – William Slingsby, English army officer (d. 1634)<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
• January 30 – Franciscus Gomarus, Dutch theologian (d. 1641)<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>
• March 5 – John Coke, English politician (d. 1644)<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
• March 29 – Sir Miles Sandys, 1st Baronet, English politician (d. 1645)<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>
• April 15 – Guru Arjan Dev, fifth Sikh leader (d. 1606)<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>
• May 9 – Frederick IV of Fürstenberg, German noble (d. 1617)<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>
• June 1 – Robert Cecil, 1st Earl of Salisbury, English statesman and spymaster (d. 1612)<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>
• June 4 – George Heriot, Scottish goldsmith and philanthropist (d. 1624)<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>
• July 19 – Lamoral, 1st Prince of Ligne (d. 1624)<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>
• September 4 – Wanli Emperor of China (d. 1620)<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>
• September 15 – Elisabeth of Anhalt-Zerbst, Electress of Brandenburg (d. 1607)<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>
• September 18 – Agnes of Limburg-Styrum, Abbess of Elten, Vreden, Borghorst and Freckenhorst (d. 1645)<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>
• September 27 – Thomas Freke, English politician (d. 1633)<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
• September 30 – Enno III, Count of East Frisia, Count of Ostfriesland from 1599 to 1625 from the Cirksena family (d. 1625)<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>
• October 4 – Dorothea of Saxony, Duchess of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel (d. 1587)<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>
• October 13 – Francis Caracciolo, Italian Catholic priest (d. 1608)<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>
• October 14 – Jodocus Hondius, Flemish artist (d. 1633)<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>
• October 28 – Berlinghiero Gessi, Italian Catholic cardinal (d. 1639)<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
• October 30 – Sophie of Brunswick-Lüneburg, Margrave of Brandenburg-Ansbach and Brandenburg-Kulmbach, Duchess of Hunters Village (d. 1639)<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>
• November 5 – Countess Anna of Nassau (d. 1588)<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>
• November 8 – Henry II, Duke of Lorraine (d. 1624)<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>
• November 19 – Robert Sidney, 1st Earl of Leicester, English statesman (d. 1626)<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>
• November 20 – Sophie of Württemberg, German noble (d. 1590)<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>
• November 28 – Hosokawa Tadaoki, Japanese daimyō (d. 1646)
• December 2 – Mutio Vitelleschi, Italian Superior General of the Society of Jesus (d. 1645)<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>
• December 19 – Lord William Howard, English nobleman (d. 1640)<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>
• December 20 – Juan Fernandez Pacheco, 5th Duke of Escalona, Spanish noble and diplomat (d. 1615)<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>
• date unknown
  • Charles Blount, 1st Earl of Devonshire (d. 1606)<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>
  • Louise Bourgeois Boursier, French Royal midwife (d. 1636)<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref>
  • John Dowland, English composer (d. 1626)<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>
  • Michael Drayton, English poet (d. 1631)<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>
  • Scipione Gentili, Italian legal scholar (d. 1616)<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
  • Anna Guarini, Italian virtuoso singer (d. 1598)<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>
  • Hosokawa Gracia, Japanese noblewoman (d. 1600)<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>
  • Heo Nanseolheon, Korean poet (d. 1589)<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>
  • Marcin Kazanowski, Polish nobleman (d. 1636)<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>
  • Zygmunt Kazanowski, Polish nobleman (d. 1634)<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>
  • Robert Naunton, English politician and writer (d. 1635)<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
  • Pedro Fernandes de Queirós, Portuguese seaman and explorer (d. 1614)<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
  • Mariana de Jesús Torres, Spanish nun and mystic (d. 1635)<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>
  • Joshua Sylvester, English poet (d. 1618)<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>
  • Jean Titelouze, French organist and composer (d. 1633)<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>
  • Yi Su-gwang, Korean scholar (d. 1628)<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>
  • Henri, Duke of Joyeuse, French general (d. 1608)<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>

Deaths

Francis, Duke of Guise

Sebastian Castellio

• January 4 – Elisabeth of Hesse, Countess Palatine of Zweibrücken, later Countess Palatine of Simmern (b. 1503)<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>
• February 1 – Emperor Menas of Ethiopia (fever) (b. 1559)<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>
• February 4 – Wilhelm von Brandenburg, Archbishop of Riga (b. 1498)<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>
• February 24 – Francis, Duke of Guise, French soldier and politician (shot) (b. 1519)<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>
• March 2 – Ercole Gonzaga, Spanish Catholic cardinal (b. 1505)<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
• March 17 – Girolamo Seripando, Italian Catholic cardinal (b. 1493)<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
• March 19 – Arthur Brooke, English poet<ref>Template:Cite ODNB</ref>
• March 24 – Hosokawa Harumoto, Japanese military leader (b. 1514)
• March 28 – Heinrich Glarean, Swiss music theorist (b. 1488)<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>
• April 15 – Bernhard VIII, Count of Lippe (b. 1527)<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>
• April 30 – Henry Stafford, 1st Baron Stafford, English baron (b. 1501)<ref>Template:Cite ODNB</ref>
• May 21 – Martynas Mažvydas, author of the first printed book in Lithuanian (b. 1510)<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>
• June 10 – William Paget, 1st Baron Paget, English statesman (b. 1506)<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>
• June 24 – Prince Yuri of Uglich (b. 1532)<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>
• August 11 – Bartolomé de Escobedo, Spanish composer (b. 1500)<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
• August 18 – Étienne de La Boétie, French judge and writer (b. 1530)<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>
• August 30 – Wolfgang Musculus, German theologian (b. 1497)<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>
• September 17 – Henry Manners, 2nd Earl of Rutland, English soldier (b. 1526)<ref>Template:Cite ODNB</ref>
• October 31 – Anthony Kitchin, British bishop (b. 1471)<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
• November
  • John Bale, English churchman (b. 1495)<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
  • Ioan Iacob Heraclid, ruler of Moldavia (b. 1511)<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>
• December 1 – Yi Gwang-sik, Korean politician and general (b. 1493)
• December 29
  • Sebastian Castellio, French theologian (b. 1515)<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref>
  • Thomas Naogeorgus, German playwright (b. 1508)<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>
• date unknown
  • Odet de Selve, French diplomat (b. c. 1504)<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>