Directory

1588 CE

The Spanish Armada, with 130 ships and 30,000 men, begins to set sail from the Tagus estuary, under the command of the Duke of Medina Sedonia and Juan Martínez de Recalde, heading for the English Channel (it will take until May 30 for all of the ships to leave port). The English fleet defeats the Spanish fleet, off the Isle of Portland. (July 29 Old Style) – Battle of Gravelines: The Spanish Armada is defeated by the English naval force off the coast of Gravelines, in the Spanish Netherlands (modern France).

Geopolitics & Diplomacy

  • July 15 – At Rouen, King Henry III of France gives in to the latest demands of the Catholic League and the Duke of Guise, and signs the Edict of Union, agreeing not to allow French Protestants to participate in government, in return for being able to return to Paris.source

Conflict & Security

  • January 24 – War of the Polish Succession: The Battle of Pitschen takes place at Pitschen (modern Byczyna in Poland) with Polish and Lithuanian troops commanded by the Polish hetman Jan Zamoyski defending against an invading Austrian force commanded by Maximilian III, Archduke of Austria. After his army is routed, Archduke Maximilian surrenders and is taken as a prisoner of war, and will be held for more than a year until his release is compelled by the intervention of Pope Sixtus V.source
  • February 18 – In modern-day Sri Lanka, the siege of Colombo by King Rajasinha I of Sitawaka ends when Portuguese Admiral Pedro Teixeira arrives with a fleet of 80 ships and frees the capital of Portuguese Ceylon. King Rajasinha and his troops flee back to his capital at Seethawakapura.source
  • May 12 – Day of the Barricades in Paris: Henry I, Duke of Guise seizes the city, forcing King Henry III to flee.source
  • August 8 (July 29 Old Style) – Battle of Gravelines: The Spanish Armada is defeated by the English naval force off the coast of Gravelines, in the Spanish Netherlands (modern France).source
  • August 19 (August 9 Old Style) – Speech to the Troops at Tilbury by Queen Elizabeth I.source
  • September 1 – The Ganja Fortress in modern-day Azerbaijan is captured by Ottoman general Serdar Ferhad Pasha.source
  • September 13 – Dutch General Charles III de Croÿ captures the German city of Bonn in the Electorate of Cologne.source
  • November 13 – Dutch Republic and English forces capture Bergen op Zoom, a fortress in the Spanish Netherlands, after a siege of 41 days.source

Exploration & Expansion

  • May 28 – The Spanish Armada, with 130 ships and 30,000 men, begins to set sail from the Tagus estuary, under the command of the Duke of Medina Sedonia and Juan Martínez de Recalde, heading for the English Channel (it will take until May 30 for all of the ships to leave port).source
  • June 18 – Sailing across the South Atlantic Ocean towards England, near the end of their voyage around the world, Thomas Cavendish and his East India Company fleet stumble across the Portuguese-controlled island of Saint Helena. While Saint Helena has been under the control of Portugal for 80 years, England had been unaware of its existence.source
  • June 19 – Twenty days after departing from Spain, the Spanish Armada receives a foreshadowing of disaster to come during the summer as a storm scatters part of the fleet, postponing the invasion. Alonso de Guzmán y Sotomayor, Duke of Medina Sidonia and commander of the Spanish expedition, returns the fleet to the port of Coruna for repairs, and writes a letter to King Philip, urging him to abandon plans for invasion of England, and to reach an honorable settlement, but the King refuses. The Spanish expedition resumes on July 21.source
  • July 31 – The first engagement between the English and Spanish fleets (off Plymouth) results in a victory for the English, under command of Lord Howard of Effingham and Sir Francis Drake.source
  • August 2 – The English fleet defeats the Spanish fleet, off the Isle of Portland.source
  • August 7 – The English fleet defeats the Spanish fleet off the coast of Flanders.source
  • August 9 – The Duke of Medina Sidonia, commander of the Spanish Armada, decides to return the fleet to Spain after two days of trying to reach the coast of Flanders to meet up with the army of the Duke of Parma.source
  • August 12 – The fleeing Spanish Armada sails past the Firth of Forth, and the English call off their pursuit, entirely avoiding the storm which destroys most of the Spanish fleet as it attempts to round Scotland and the west coast of Ireland.source
  • September 9 – English captain Thomas Cavendish completes his circumnavigation in a record time of 781 days, returning to Plymouth more than two years after setting off on July 21, 1586. The previous record had been 1,018 days by the expedition of Sir Francis Drake from 1577 to 1580. By the time of his return, Cavendish has only his flagship, Desire, after having started with two other vessels (the warship Content and the 40-ton supply ship Hugh Gallant).source
  • The Armada Portrait of Elizabeth I of England is created, to celebrate the English defeat of the Spanish Armada, and to assert the strength of Elizabeth herself.source

Religion & Belief

  • January 22 – Pope Sixtus V issues the papal bull Immensa aeterni Dei, a major reorganization of the Roman Curia creating 15 congregations of cardinals, including the Congregation of the Index Librorum Prohibitorum, the Church list of forbidden books; the Congregation of the Inquisition; and the Congregation of the Vatican Press.source
  • March 20 – The ascension of Shah Abbas I as Emperor in Iran, of the Safavid Empire, is made official on the first day of the New Year on the Zoroastrian Calendar. Abbas has ruled since October 16, 1587.source
  • December 5 – The Order of Augustinian Recollects is formally recognised as a separate province from the Order of Saint Augustine, an event later known as the Día de la Recolección or Day of Recollection.source
  • December 23 – Henry III of France strikes his ultra-Catholic enemies, having the Duke of Guise and his brother, Louis II de Lorraine, cardinal de Guise, killed, and holding the Cardinal de Bourbon a prisoner. As a result, large parts of France reject Henry III as their king, forcing him to side with Henry of Navarre.source

Science & Discovery

  • October 7 – The first biography of Nicolaus Copernicus (d.1543) is completed by Bernardino Baldi.source

Crime & Justice

  • August 29 (8th day of the 7th month, Tensho 16) – In Japan, the Chancellor of the Realm, Toyotomi Hideyoshi, issues an edict for the katanagari (the :sword hunt), the confiscation of swords from any persons thought to be opposed to his rule.source

Disasters & Accidents

  • November 15 – The English Navy ship Great Spaniard, formerly the Spanish Armada ship San Salvador until its capture on August 1, sinks off of the coast of England's Isle of Purbeck, with the loss of 23 of the 57 crew. The survivors are rescued by an English man-o-war boat.source

Culture & Society

  • William Morgan's Welsh translation of the Bible is published.source

Births

  • January 6 – Elizabeth Stanley, Countess of Huntingdon, English noblewoman and writer (d. 1633)source
  • February 2 – Georg II of Fleckenstein-Dagstuhl, German nobleman (d. 1644)source
  • March – Johann Heinrich Alsted, German theologian (d. 1638)source
  • May 13 – Ole Worm, Danish physician and antiquary (d. 1654)source
  • June 11 – George Wither, English poet and satirist (d. 1667)source
  • July 7 – Wolrad IV, Count of Waldeck-Eisenberg (1588–1640) (d. 1640)source
  • September 1 – Henri, Prince of Condé (d. 1646)source
  • September 8 – Marin Mersenne, French theologian (d. 1648)source
  • September 13 – Edward Vaux, 4th Baron Vaux of Harrowden, English baron (d. 1661)source
  • October 16 – Luke Wadding, Irish Franciscan friar and historian (d. 1657)source
  • October 17 – Matthias Gallas, Austrian soldier (d. 1647)source
  • December 10 – Isaac Beeckman, Dutch philosopher and scientist (d. 1637)source
  • December 15 – Adolf Frederick I, Duke of Mecklenburg-Schwerin (1592–1628 and again 1631–1658) (d. 1658)source
  • December 24 – Constance of Austria, Queen of Poland (d. 1631)source

Deaths

  • February 9 – Álvaro de Bazán, 1st Marquis of Santa Cruz, Spanish admiral (b. 1526)source
  • February 9 – The sudden death of Álvaro de Bazán, 1st Marquis of Santa Cruz, in the midst of preparations for the Spanish Armada, forces King Philip II of Spain to re-allocate the command of the fleet.source
  • February 24 – Johann Weyer, Dutch physician and occultist (b. 1515)source
  • April 4 – Christian IV becomes king of Denmark–Norway, upon the death of his father, Frederick II.source
  • April 4 – King Frederick II of Denmark (b. 1534)source
  • April 19 – Paolo Veronese, Italian painter (b. c. 1528)source
  • June 18 – Robert Crowley, London stationer (b. 1517)source
  • July 17 – Mimar Sinan, Ottoman architect (b. 1489)source
  • August 6 – Josias I, Count of Waldeck-Eisenberg, Count of Waldeck-Eisenberg (1578-1588) (b. 1554)source
  • September 4 – Robert Dudley, 1st Earl of Leicester, English politician (b. 1532)source
  • September 25 – Tilemann Heshusius, German Gnesio-Lutheran theologian (b. 1527)source
  • October 1 – Edward James, English Catholic martyr (executed at Chichester)source
  • October 2 – Bernardino Telesio, Italian philosopher and natural scientist (b. 1509)source
  • December 24 – Louis II, Cardinal of Guise, French Catholic cardinal (b. 1555)source