1579

Year 1579 was a common year starting on Thursday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar.

Events of 1579

* January 6 - The Union of Atrecht unites the southern Netherlands under the Duke of Parma, governor in the name of king Philip II of Spain.
* January 23 - The Union of Utrecht unites 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 - Maastricht is captured by the Spanish under Parma.
* May 25 - Japan - Battle of Mimaomote: Doi Kiyonaga defeats the forces of Kumu Yorinobu.
* 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" ("New England"), and subsequent maps will show all lands north of New Spain and New Mexico under this name.
*Akbar abolishes jizya.
* 1579 is the year when the municipality of Boac in Marinduque, Philippines was founded.

Births

* February 9 - Johannes Meursius, Dutch classical scholar and antiquary (d. 1639)
* April 12 - François de Bassompierre, French courtier (d. 1646)
* May 2 - Tokugawa Hidetada, Japanese shogun (d. 1632)
* July 2 - Janusz Radziwiłł, Polish nobleman (d. 1620)
* July 13 - Arthur Dee, English physician and alchemist (d. 1651)
* August 1 - Luís Vélez de Guevara, Spanish dramatist and novelist (d. 1644)
* August 18 - Charlotte Flandrina of Nassau, Roman Catholic nun (d. 1640)
* August 21 - Henri, duc de Rohan (d. 1638)
* August 23 - Thomas Dempster, Scottish scholar and historian (d. 1625)
* October 4 - Guido Bentivoglio, Italian cardinal (d. 1644)
* December - John Fletcher, English writer (d. 1625)
* December 9 - Martin de Porres, Peruvian monk and saint (d. 1639)
*"date unknown"
**Jacob Astley, 1st Baron Astley of Reading, royalist commander in the English Civil War (d. 1652)
**Frans Snyders, Flemish painter (d. 1657)
**Richard Whitbourne, English colonist (d. 1628)

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Deaths

* February - Henry Balnaves, Scottish politician and religious reformer (b. 1512)
* February 20 - Nicholas Bacon, English politician (b. 1509)
* April 25 - John Stuart, 4th Earl of Atholl
* May 6 - François de Montmorency, French nobleman (b. 1530)
* June 25 - Hatano Hideharu, Japanese samurai (b. 1541)
* June 30 - Mehmed Pasha Sokolovic, Turkish Janissary (b. 1505)
* August 3 - Katarzyna Ostrogska, Polish noblewoman (b. 1560)
* August 5 - Stanislaus Hosius, Polish cardinal (b. 1504)
* October 12 - Mehmed Sokollu, Grand Vizier of Suleyman the Magnificent and Selim II (b. 1505)
* November 15 - Francis David, Hungarian religious reformer (b. 1510)
* November 21 - Thomas Gresham, English merchant and financier (b. 1519)
* December 21 - Vicente Masip, Spanish painter (b. 1506)
*"date unknown"
**Giovanni Battista Adriani, Italian historian (b. c. 1512)
**Diego de Landa, Bishop of the Yucatán (b. 1524)
**Gonzalo Jiménez de Quesada, Spanish explorer (b. 1509)
**Hieronim Jarosz Sieniawski, Polish nobleman (b. 1516)
**Hans Staden, German adventurer (b. 1525)
**William Whittingham, English Biblical scholar and religious reformer (b. 1524)

: "See also ."