1593 CE
"Dutch church libel" bills posted in London threaten Protestant refugees from France and the Netherlands, alluding to Christopher Marlowe's plays. English dramatist Thomas Kyd is arrested over the "Dutch church libel". "Atheist" literature found in his home is claimed to be Marlowe's. The Battle of Belleek takes place at County Fermanagh in Ireland as an English expeditionary force led by Henry Bagenal defeats Irish troops commanded by the Lord of Fermanagh.
Geopolitics & Diplomacy
Conflict & Security
- January 25 – Siamese King Naresuan, in combat on elephant back, kills Burmese Crown Prince Mingyi Swa on Monday, Moon 2 Waning day 2, Year of the Dragon, Chulasakarat 954, reckoned as corresponding to January 25, 1593, of the Gregorian calendar, and commemorated as Royal Thai Armed Forces Day.source
- February 2 – Battle of Piątek: Polish forces led by Janusz Ostrogski are victorious.source
- February 8 – Siege of Pyongyang (1593): A Japanese invasion is defeated in Pyongyang by a combined force of Korean and Ming troops.source
- February 12 – Battle of Haengju: Korea defeats Japan.source
- April 18 – Anglo-Spanish War: Naval Battle of Blaye in the Gironde estuary sees a Spanish victory over the blockading English fleet, allowing the Spanish to relieve the French Catholic garrison of Blaye.source
- June 7 – Battle of Salbertrand in Piedmont: Victory of François de Bonne, Duke of Lesdiguières, over the Spanish of Rodrigue Alvarez of Toledo, allies of Charles Emmanuel I, Duke of Savoy.source
- June 22 – Battle of Sisak in Croatia: The Habsburgs defeat the Ottoman Empire.source
- July 29 – The Long Turkish War breaks out in Hungary between the Habsburgs and the Ottomans.source
- August 24 – After losing the Battle of Sisak two months earlier, the Ottoman Empire attacks the Austrian fortress guarding the city and breaks through its walls with cannon fire, forcing its surrender on August 30.source
- September 10 – With no fortress or troops to defend Croatia, Ottoman General Mehmed Pasha captures the city of Sisak. Selânikî Mustafa Efendi, Tarih-i Selânikî (Türk Tarih Kurumu, 1999)source
- October 11 – The Battle of Belleek takes place at County Fermanagh in Ireland as an English expeditionary force led by Henry Bagenal defeats Irish troops commanded by the Lord of Fermanagh.source
- October 24 – Supposed date of the event described in the 1593 transported soldier legend.source
- October 28 – The Siege of Coevorden begins as the Spanish Army attempts to retake a fortress captured a year earlier by the Dutch Republic and the Kingdom of England.source
- December 6 – The Battle of Dryfe Sands takes place in Scotland at Annandale, between rival clans as John Maxwell leads Clan Maxwell, aided by Clan Grierson and Clan Pollock, in an invasion of the lands of Clan Johnstone, led by Sir James Johnstone. With their defense aided by Clan Scott and Clan Graham, the Johnstone clan wins the battle, but only 160 of the 600 defenders survive the fight.source
- December 27 – Spanish Jesuit priest Gregorio Céspedes becomes the first Christian missionary to Korea, arriving at Busan to begin his ministry in the Buddhist kingdom of Joseon. Céspedes is able to enter Korea by coming with the Japanese invasion force of General Toyotomi Hideyoshi.source
- Khwaja Usman takes shelter in Goyghor Mosque after the Afghan rebellion against the Subahdar of Mughal Bengal, Man Singh I.source
Exploration & Expansion
- Irish pirate queen Grace O'Malley meets with Queen Elizabeth I of England at Greenwich.source
Religion & Belief
- March 7 (February 25 Old Style) – The Uppsala Synod discontinues; the Liturgical Struggle between the Swedish Reformation and Counter-Reformation ends in Sweden.source
- July 25 – As he promised in January, Henry IV of France abjures Protestantism at the Basilica of Saint-Denis. Legend attributes to him the saying Paris vaut bien une messe ("Paris is well worth a mass").source
- August 3 – Poland's council of nobles, the Sejm, grants permission to King Sigismund III Vasa and his wife, Queen consort Anne, to travel to Sweden to claim the Swedish crown.source
- Robert Bellarmine's Disputationes de Controversiis Christianae Fidei adversus hujus temporis Haereticos concludes publication in Ingolstadt.source
- c. 1593–1604 – According to John Warwick Montgomery, the Rosicrucian manifestos are initially composed by Tobias Hess, in anticipation of the opening of the vault in 1604, according to Simon Studion's apocalyptic timetable.source
- Henry Constable's Spirituall Sonnettes are written.source
- The parish of Laukaa was founded.source
Science & Discovery
- March 14 – The Pi Day, giving the most digits of pi when written in mm/dd/yyyy format, (i.e. 3.141593, 3/14/1593) occurs, as realized later. During 1593 Flemish mathematician Adriaan van Roomen is working on the most accurate calculation of pi up to that time and arrives at 16 decimal places of pi using the polygon approximation method), and publishes it in his treatise Ideae mathematicae pars prima (Antverpiae, 1593).source
Crime & Justice
- January 27 – The Roman Inquisition opens the seven-year trial of scholar Giordano Bruno.source
- May 12 – English dramatist Thomas Kyd is arrested over the "Dutch church libel". "Atheist" literature found in his home is claimed to be Marlowe's.source
- May 18 – A warrant for the arrest of Christopher Marlowe is issued. On May 20 he presents himself to the Privy Council.source
- May 30 – Christopher Marlowe is stabbed to death in a dispute over a bill at a lodging house in Deptford.source
Disasters & Accidents
- May 5 – "Dutch church libel" bills posted in London threaten Protestant refugees from France and the Netherlands, alluding to Christopher Marlowe's plays.source
Culture & Society
- After April – William Shakespeare's poem Venus and Adonis probably becomes his first published work, printed in London from his own manuscript. In his lifetime it will be his most frequently reprinted work: at least nine times.source
Births
- January 10 – Prince Maurice of Savoy, Catholic cardinal and Prince of Savoy (d. 1657)source
- February 24 – Henry de Vere, 18th Earl of Oxford, English noble (d. 1625)source
- March 1 – Franz Wilhelm von Wartenberg, German Catholic cardinal (d. 1661)source
- March 25 – Jean de Brébeuf, French Jesuit missionary who travelled to Canada in 1625 (d. 1649)source
- April 3 – George Herbert, Welsh-born English poet (d. 1633)source
- April 13 – Thomas Wentworth, 1st Earl of Strafford, English statesman (d. 1641)source
- May 2 – Catherine de' Medici, Governor of Siena, Italian princess (d. 1629)source
- May 19 – Jacob Jordaens, Flemish painter (d. 1678)source
- June 22 – Sir John Gell, 1st Baronet, Parliamentarian politician and military figure in the English Civil War (d. 1671)source
- July 8 – Artemisia Gentileschi, Italian painter (d. 1656)source
- July 8 – Peter Sainthill, English politician (d. 1648)source
- August 9 – Izaak Walton, English writer (d. 1683)source
- November 25 – Alain de Solminihac, French bishop and beatified person (d. 1659)source
- December 11 – Sir William Airmine, 1st Baronet, English politician (d. 1651)source
Deaths
- January 8 – Mingyi Swa, Burmese crown prince (b. 1558)source
- January 11 – Scipione Gonzaga, Italian Catholic cardinal (b. 1542)source
- February 6 – Emperor Ōgimachi of Japan (b. 1517)source
- March 8 – Paul Luther, German scientist (b. 1533)source
- March 23 – Henry Barrowe, English Puritan and separatist (b. 1550)source
- April 6 – John Greenwood, English Puritan and separatist (hanged) (b. 1556)source
- April 24 – William Harrison, English clergyman (b. 1534)source
- May 30 – Christopher Marlowe, English poet and playwright (murdered) (b. 1564)source
- July 11 – Giuseppe Arcimboldo, Italian painter (b. 1526)source
- September 5 – Andreas von Auersperg, Carniolan noble and military commander in the battle of Sisak (b. 1556)source
- September 25 – Henry Stanley, 4th Earl of Derby, English nobleman, diplomat and politician (b. 1531)source
- October 25 – Gómez Pérez Dasmariñas, Spanish colonial administrator (murdered) (b. 1519)source
- November 11 – Albert, Count of Nassau-Weilburg (b. 1537)source
- November 20 – Hans Bol, Flemish artist (b. 1534)source