1574

October 3: The Relief of Leiden.

Year 1574 (MDLXXIV) was a common year starting on Friday of the Julian calendar.

Events

December: Murad III becomes Ottoman Emperor.

January–March

• January 22 – Mohammed II becomes the new Sultan of Morocco upon the death of his father, Abdallah al-Ghalib.
• January 27 – At Agra, Bhagwant Das becomes the new Maharaja of the Kingdom of Amber in what is now India's state of Uttar Pradesh, upon the death of his grandfather, the Raja Bharmal.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>
• January 29 – Off of the coast of the Netherlands, the Battle of the Scheldt is fought between the Spanish Fleet and a combined Dutch and English fleet of ships. The Spanish Navy loses 15 ships and 1,200 men are killed, wounded or captured.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>
• February – The fifth War of Religion against the Huguenots begins in France.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite book</ref>
• March 2 – Swedish troops attack Wesenberg Castle in Estonia and lose at least 1,000 men in attempting to capture it from the Russian Army.<ref name=Peterson>Gary Dean Peterson, Warrior Kings of Sweden: The Rise of an Empire in the Sixteenth and Seventeenth Centuries (McFarland, 2007) pp. 91-93</ref>
• March 17 – Within the Swedish Army, a fight between Scottish and German mercenaries is fought. By the end of the battle, several hundred Scots are dead, compared to 30 Germans.<ref name=Peterson/>

April–June

• April 14 – Battle of Mookerheyde: Spanish forces under Sancho de Avila defeat the rebel forces of Louis of Nassau, who is killed.<ref name="Edwards1960">Template:Cite book</ref>
• April – The fort of Narnala in the Deccan falls to the Ahmadnagar Sultanate, and with it the Berar sultanate is annexed by Ahmadnagar.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>
• May 30 – On the death of King Charles IX of France of a tubercular condition at the Château de Vincennes, he is succeeded by his brother King Henry of Poland, who becomes King Henry III of France. His mother, Catherine de' Medici, acts as Regent, until Henry arrives from Poland.<ref name="Buisseret1972">Template:Cite book</ref>
• June 10
  • Construction of The White Tower begins in the Czech Republic.<ref name="Bílá věž1">History of the White Tower</ref>
  • Manila, Philippines gains cityhood.

July–September

• July 12 – Selim II, Sultan of the Ottoman Empire, launches the attempt to reclaim Tunis from control of the Holy Roman Empire with more than 250 warships and 100,000 troops, and to restore North Africa to Muslim control.<ref name=KMS>Template:Cite book</ref>
• July 13 – In Berlin, John George, Elector of Brandenburg, orders the founding of the Evangelisches Gymnasium zum Grauen Kloster, which remains 450 years later as one of the most prestigious preparatory schools in Germany.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>
• July 26 – Kılıç Ali Pasha begins construction of an Ottoman fortress on the coastline of Morocco, directly across Andalusia in mainland Spain.
• August 24 – The Tunisian port of La Goulette falls to Ottoman troops after six weeks.<ref name=Garcés>María Antonia Garcés, Cervantes in Algiers: A Captive's Tale (Vanderbilt University Press, 2005) p.220</ref>
• August 30 – Guru Ram Das becomes the fourth of the Sikh gurus.
• September 13 – The last Holy Roman Imperial defenders surrender Tunis to the Ottoman General Cığalazade Yusuf Sinan Pasha.<ref name=Garcés/>
• September – A plot to assassinate John III of Sweden is discovered, headed by Charles de Mornay and implicating Charles Dancay, Hogenskild Bielke, Gustaf Banér, Pontus De la Gardie, Princess Elizabeth of Sweden, Princess Cecilia of Sweden, and Duke Charles.<ref name="tegenborg2010">Karin Tegenborg Falkdalen (2010). Vasadöttrarna ['The Vasa Daughters']. Falun: Historiska Media. Template:ISBN (In Swedish)</ref>

October–December

• October 3 – The city of Leiden, besieged by the Spanish, is relieved by a Sea Beggars fleet under Louis Boisot.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
• November 22 – The Juan Fernández Islands in the South Pacific Ocean are discovered by Spanish sailor Juan Fernández.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>
• November 29 – Limahong and Juan de Salcedo quarrel during the Battle of Manila.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>
• December 15 – Selim II, the 50-year-old Sultan of the Ottoman Empire, is killed after becoming drunk, falling, and fracturing his skull on the floor of the Topkapi Palace.<ref name=Darke>Diana Darke, The Ottomans: A Cultural Legacy (Thames & Hudson, 2022) p.145</ref>
• December 22 – Prince Murad bin-Selim of the Ottoman Empire completes the murders, by strangulation, of his four younger brothers, Süleyman, Abdüllah, Osman, and Cihangir.<ref name=Darke/>
• December 27 – Murad III, eldest son of Selim II, is formally enthroned as the Ottoman Sultan after eliminating his other brothers as rival claimants to the throne.<ref name=Darke/>

Undated

• Prince El-Mirza of Kakheti is defeated in his bid for the throne by his half-brother, Alexander II.
• The Liturgical Battle royal between the Reformation and Counter Reformation begins in Sweden, and continues until the Uppsala Synod of 1593.
• La Alameda, Seville, is laid out in Spain, as Europe's first public garden.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>

Births

Pope Innocent X

Anne of Denmark

• January 17 – Robert Fludd, English Rosicrucian and Paracelsian physicist (d. 1637)<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref>
• February 17 – Pedro Téllez-Girón, 3rd Duke of Osuna, Spanish nobleman and politician (d. 1624)<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>
• March 4 – Carl Gyllenhielm, Swedish soldier and politician (d. 1650)<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>
• March 5 – William Oughtred, English mathematician and Anglican minister (d. 1660)<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>
• March 7 – John Wilbye, English composer (date of baptism) (d. 1638)<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>
• April 27 – Philip Rubens, Flemish lawyer and older brother to painter Peter Paul Rubens (d. 1611)<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
• May 6 – Pope Innocent X (d. 1655)<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>
• May 14
  • Daniel Dumonstier, French artist (d. 1646)<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>
  • Francesco Rasi, Italian composer, singer, instrumentalist, poet (d. 1621)<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>
• June 13 – Juan Alonso de Solis y Mendoza, Spanish Catholic prelate, Bishop of Puerto Rico (1635–1640) (d. 1640)<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>
• June 13 – Wilhelm Kettler, Duke of Courland (d. 1640)
• June – Richard Barnfield, English poet (d. 1627)<ref>Template:Cite ODNB</ref>
• July 1 – Joseph Hall, English bishop and satirist (d. 1656)<ref>Template:Cite ODNB</ref>
• July 2 – Dorothea Maria of Anhalt, Duchess consort of Saxe-Weimar (1602–1605) (d. 1617)<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>
• July 10 – Clara Maria of Pomerania-Barth, German noble (d. 1623)<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>
• July 23 – Balthasar I Moretus, Flemish printer (d. 1641)<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>
• August 2 – Sir Richard Beaumont, 1st Baronet, English politician (d. 1631)<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
• August 7 – Robert Dudley, styled Earl of Warwick, English explorer and geographer (d. 1649)<ref>Template:Cite ODNB</ref>
• August 28 – Frederick IV, Duke of Brunswick-Lüneburg (1636–1648) (d. 1648)<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>
• August 30 – Albert Szenczi Molnár, Hungarian translator (d. 1634)<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>
• September 6 – Luis Sotelo, Spanish Franciscan friar who died as a martyr in Japan (d. 1624)
• September 18 – Claudio Achillini, Italian philosopher, theologian, mathematician, poet, jurist (d. 1640)<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>
• September 29 – Ludovic Stewart, 2nd Duke of Lennox, Scottish nobleman and politician (d. 1624)<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>
• September – Thomas Gataker, English clergyman and theologian (d. 1654)<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>
• October 25 – François de Sourdis, French Catholic cardinal (d. 1628)<ref>Template:Cite book</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
• November 4 – Erycius Puteanus, Dutch humanist, philologist (d. 1646)<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>
• November 5 – Charlotte de La Marck, French duchess (d. 1594)<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>
• November 10 – Archduchess Maria Christina of Austria, Austrian archduchess (d. 1621)<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>
• November 30 – Frederick of Solms-Rödelheim, imperial chamberlain, war and Obrist (d. 1649)<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>
• December 8 – Maria Anna of Bavaria, Archduchess of Inner Austria (d. 1616)<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>
• December 10 – Mikołaj Łęczycki, Polish Jesuit (d. 1653)<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>
• December 12
  • Adam Wenceslaus, Duke of Cieszyn (d. 1617)<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>
  • Anne of Denmark, queen of James VI of Scotland (d. 1619)<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>
• December 15 – Samuel Besler, Polish composer (d. 1625)<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>
• date unknown
  • John Day, English dramatist (d. 1640)<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>
  • Wilhelm Kinsky, Bohemian nobleman (d. 1634)<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>
  • Claudio Pari, Sicilian composer<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
  • Feng Menglong, Chinese poet (d. 1645)<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>

Deaths

Charles IX of France

Pedro Menendez de Aviles

Sultan Selim II

• January 26 – Martin Helwig, German cartographer of Silesia (b. 1516)<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>
• January 30 – Damião de Góis, Portuguese philosopher (b. 1502)<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>
• March 4 – Anna II, Princess-Abbess of Quedlinburg, German noblewoman, reigning from 1516 until her death (b. 1504)<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>
• March 27 – Takeda Nobutora, Japanese warlord (b. 1494)<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
• April 14 – Louis of Nassau, Dutch general (b. 1538)<ref name="Edwards1960"/>
• April 17 – Joachim Camerarius, German classical scholar (b. 1500)<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>
• April 21 – Cosimo I de' Medici, Grand Duke of Tuscany (b. 1519)<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
• April 30 – Joseph Boniface de La Molle, Provençale lover of Marguerite de Valois (b. 1530)
• May 14 – Guru Amar Das, third Sikh Guru (b. 1479)
• May 3 – Giovanni Ricci, Italian Catholic cardinal (b. 1498)<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
• May 30 – King Charles IX of France (b. 1550)<ref name="Buisseret1972"/>
• June 12 – Renée of France, French princess (b. 1510)<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
• June 14 – John III the Terrible, Voivode of Moldavia (b. 1521)<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>
• June 26 – Gabriel, comte de Montgomery, captain of the Scottish Guard of Henry II of France (b. 1530)<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>
• June 27 – Giorgio Vasari, Italian painter and architect (b. 1511)<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>
• July 26 – Birgitte Gøye, Danish county administrator, lady in waiting, landholder and educator (b. 1511)<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>
• August 23 – Ebussuud Efendi, Ottoman Grand Mufti (b. 1490)<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>
• August 27 – Bartolomeo Eustachi, Italian anatomist
• September 1 – Louis, Count of Stolberg, German noble (b. 1505)<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>
• September 4 – Charles de Mornay, Swedish (originally French) court official, diplomat and royal favorite (b. 1514)<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
• September 15 – Margaret of France, Duchess of Berry (b. 1523)<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>
• September 17 – Pedro Menéndez de Avilés, Spanish admiral and explorer (b. 1519)<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>
• September 26 – Elisabeth of Anhalt-Zerbst, Abbess of Gernrode and Frose, Countess of Barby-Mühlingen (b. 1545)
• September 28 – Guidobaldo II della Rovere, Duke of Urbino, Italian condottiero (b. 1514)<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>
• October 1 – Maarten van Heemskerck, Dutch painter (b. 1498)<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
• November 23 – John III, Count of Nassau-Saarbrücken, German noble (b. 1511)<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>
• November 28 – Georg Major, German Protestant theologian (b. 1502)<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>
• December 4 – Georg Joachim Rheticus, German mathematician and cartographer (b. 1514)<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
• December 12 – Selim II, Ottoman Sultan (b. 1524)<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>
• December 25 – Charles, Cardinal of Lorraine (b. 1524)<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
• date unknown
  • Hans Eworth, Flemish painter (b. 1520)<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>
  • Martin de Goiti, Spanish conquistador