1556

Year 1556 was a leap year starting on Wednesday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar.

Events of 1556

[

January 23: Shaanxi Earthquake, devastation kills 830,000 in China.]

January - June

* January 16 - Emperor Charles V abdicates. His son, Philip II becomes King of Spain, while his brother Ferdinand becomes Holy Roman Emperor.
* January 23 - The Shaanxi Earthquake, the deadliest earthquake in history, occurs with its epicenter in Shaanxi province, China: 830,000 people may have been killed.
* February
**Truce of Vaucelles: Fighting temporarily ends between France and Spain.
**Jellaladin Mahommed Akbar ascends to the throne of the Mughal Empire; he rules until his death in 1605.
* February 14 - Thomas Cranmer is declared a heretic.
* March 21 - In Oxford, Archbishop of Canterbury Thomas Cranmer is burned at the stake for treason.

July - December

* November - The Truce of Vaucelles collapses, and war resumes between Henry II of France and Philip II of Spain.
* November 5 - Second Battle of Panipat: Fifty miles north of Delhi, a Mogul Army defeats Hindu forces of General Hemu, to ensure Akbar the throne of India.

Undated

* Lorenzo Priuli becomes Doge of Venice.
* Mary I of England establishes the Fort of Maryborough, in what is now Portlaoise, County Laois, Ireland.
* The kings of Spain take control of the Flanders region, including what is now the French département of Nord.
* The false Martin Guerre appears in the French village of Artigat.
* King John III of Sweden becomes ruler of Finland as Hertig Johan.
* Welser banking families of Augsburg lose colonial control of Venezuela.
* Ivan the Terrible conquers Astrakhan, opening the Volga River to Russian traffic and trade.

Births

* January 8 - Uesugi Kagekatsu, Japanese samurai and warlord (d. 1623)
* February - Henry Briggs, English mathematician (d. 1630)
* February 21 - Sethus Calvisius, German calendar reformer (d. 1615)
* March 7 - Guillaume du Vair, French statesman and philosopher (d. 1621)
* June 6 - Edward la Zouche, 11th Baron Zouche, English politician and diplomat (d. 1625)
* November 15 - Jacques-Davy Duperron, French cardinal (d. 1618)
*"date unknown"
**Margaret Clitherow, English Catholic martyr (d. 1586)
**Shibata Katsutoyo, Japanese military commander (d. 1583)
**Ahmad Baba al Massufi, Sudanese writer and political leader (d. 1627)
**James Melville, Scottish divine and reformer (d. 1614)

: "See also "

Deaths

* March 21 - Thomas Cranmer, Archbishop of Canterbury (burned at the stake) (b. 1489)
* April 18 - Luigi Alamanni, Italian poet and statesman (b. 1495)
* June 10 - Martin Agricola, German composer (b. 1486)
* July 31 - Ignatius of Loyola, Spanish founder of the Jesuit order (b. 1491)
* September - Patrick Hepburn, 3rd Earl of Bothwell, Scottish traitor (b. 1512)
* October 21 - Pietro Aretino, Italian author (b. 1492)
* November 14 - Giovanni della Casa, Italian poet (b. 1503)
* December 23 - Nicholas Udall, English dramatist (b. 1504)
*"date unknown"
**John Bell, Bishop of Worcester
**Girolamo da Carpi, Italian painter (b. 1501)
**Jacob Clemens non Papa, Flemish composer (b. 1510)
**Saitō Dōsan, Japanese warlord (b. 1494)
**Fuzûlî, Turkish poet (b. 1494)
**Lorenzo Lotto, Italian painter (b. 1480)
**Brian mac Cathaoir O Conchobhair Failghe, last of the Kings of Ui Failghe

:"See also ."