Directory

1599 CE

Second Dutch Expedition to East Indies: A Dutch fleet returns to Amsterdam from what is now Indonesia, carrying 600,000 pounds of pepper and 250,000 pounds of cloves and nutmeg. The first reported performance at the Globe Theatre in London (erected over Spring/Summer), a presentation of Shakespeare's Julius Caesar (probably new to that year), is recorded by Swiss traveller Thomas Platter the Younger. The Åbo Bloodbath takes place in Åbo (Turku), in modern-day Finland, which was part of Sweden at the time.

Geopolitics & Diplomacy

  • November – Persian embassy to Europe (1599–1602): A diplomatic delegation from Safavid Persia, led by Hossein Ali Beg Bayat and his staff after being dispatched by the Shah Abbas the Great, arrives in Moscow as part of a mission to enlist European nations into an alliance against the Ottoman Empire. The Persians are accompanied by English adventurer Anthony Shirley, who had persuaded Shah Abbas to undertake the initiative.source

Conflict & Security

  • January 22 – Acoma Massacre: Santa Fe de Nuevo Mexico viceroy Juan de Oñate leads 70 armed Spanish soldiers against the indigenous Keres people at Aak'u (the Acoma Pueblo), near what is now Albuquerque, New Mexico. In three days, 500 Acoma men and 300 women and children are killed by the Spanish.source
  • March 12 – Robert Devereux, 2nd Earl of Essex, is appointed Lord Lieutenant of Ireland, by Queen Elizabeth I of England.source
  • April 23 – The Earl of Essex arrives in Dublin at the head of 16,000 troops, the largest army ever seen in Ireland.source
  • May 15 – Anglo-Spanish War (1585–1604): The Siege of Zaltbommel, located in the Dutch Republic, is begun by Spanish general Francisco López de Mendoza.source
  • May 16 – The Kalmar Bloodbath takes place in Kalmar, Sweden.source
  • May 29 – Essex takes Cahir Castle, supposedly the strongest in Ireland, after a short siege.source
  • July 22 – The combined Dutch and English armies successfully defend Zaltbommel after a siege of two months.source
  • August 15 – First Battle of Curlew Pass: Irish forces defeat the English.source
  • September 28 – The Earl of Essex arrives back in England, disobeying the Queen's strict orders.source
  • October 18 – Battle of Sellenberk: Michael the Brave, Prince of Wallachia, defeats the army of Andrew Báthory near Șelimbăr, leading to the first recorded unification of the Romanians.source
  • November 10 – The Åbo Bloodbath takes place in Åbo (Turku), in modern-day Finland, which was part of Sweden at the time.source
  • December 19 – The forces of Minye Thihathu II of Toungoo and his ally Min Razagyi of the Kingdom of Mrauk U end the First Toungoo Empire by capturing Pegu (modern-day Bago, Myanmar).source

Exploration & Expansion

  • July 17 – Second Dutch Expedition to East Indies: A Dutch fleet returns to Amsterdam from what is now Indonesia, carrying 600,000 pounds of pepper and 250,000 pounds of cloves and nutmeg.source

Religion & Belief

  • January 8 – The Jesuit educational plan, known as the Ratio Studiorum, is issued.source
  • February 21 – Lorenzo Sauli becomes the new Doge of the Republic of Genoa, succeeding Lazzaro Grimaldi Cebà. Sauli will serve until 1601.source
  • February 21 – At Southwark, near London on the south bank of the River Thames, the land upon which the Globe Theatre will be built is leased by Nicholas Brend to a team of investors led by William Shakespeare, Thomas Pope, actors Cuthbert and Richard Burbage, and three others.source
  • June 1 – Bishops' Ban of 1599: The Archbishop of Canterbury, John Whitgift, and the Bishop of London, Richard Bancroft order a ban on a selection of literary works, including Microcynicon: Six Snarling Satires, by Thomas Middleton.source
  • June 20 – The Synod of Diamper is convened.source
  • The Toyokuni Shrine in Kyoto and Oyama Shrine, dedicated to Maeda Toshiie, were founded.source
  • The first Capuchin friar is entombed in the Catacombe dei Cappuccini in Palermo (Sicily).source

Culture & Society

  • February 20 – On Shrove Tuesday, the earliest known performance of William Shakespeare's play As You Like It is given, presented at Richmond Park for Queen Elizabeth.source
  • July 24 – Swedish King Sigismund III Vasa is dethroned by his uncle Duke Charles, who takes over as regent of the realm until 1604, when he becomes King Charles IX.source
  • September 21 – The first reported performance at the Globe Theatre in London (erected over Spring/Summer), a presentation of Shakespeare's Julius Caesar (probably new to that year), is recorded by Swiss traveller Thomas Platter the Younger.source

Births

  • March 13 – John Berchmans, Belgian Jesuit scholastic and saint (d. 1621)source
  • March 22 – Anthony van Dyck, Flemish painter (d. 1641)source
  • March 28 – Witte de With, famous Dutch naval officer of the 17th century (d. 1658)source
  • June 1 – Elizabeth Lucretia, Duchess of Cieszyn, Duchess suo jure of Cieszyn (d. 1653)source
  • September 20 – Christian, Duke of Brunswick-Lüneburg-Wolfenbüttel, German Protestant military leader (d. 1626)source
  • September 25 – Francesco Borromini, Swiss sculptor and architect (d. 1667)source
  • October 15 – Cornelis de Graeff, Dutch mayor (d. 1664)source
  • October 28 – Marie of the Incarnation, French foundress of the Ursuline Monastery in Quebec (d. 1672)source
  • October 31 – Denzil Holles, 1st Baron Holles, English statesman and writer (d. 1680)source
  • November 11 – Ottavio Piccolomini, Austrian-Italian field marshal (d. 1656)source
  • November 11 – Maria Eleonora of Brandenburg, German princess and queen consort of Sweden (d. 1655)source
  • November 29 – Peter Heylin, English ecclesiastic and author of many polemical works (d. 1662)source
  • November 30 – Andrea Sacchi, Italian painter of High Baroque Classicism (d. 1661)source
  • December 2 – Thomas Bruce, 1st Earl of Elgin, Scottish nobleman (d. 1663)source

Deaths

  • January 13 – Edmund Spenser, English poet (b. 1552)source
  • February 8 – Robert Rollock, Scottish Presbyterian, first principal of the university of Edinburgh (b. 1555)source
  • April 10 – Gabrielle d'Estrées, mistress of King Henry IV of France (b. 1573)source
  • April 27 – Maeda Toshiie, Japanese samurai and warlord (b. 1538)source
  • May 12 – Sultan Murad Mirza, Mughal prince (b. 1570)source
  • June 2 – Philipp V, Count of Hanau-Lichtenberg (b. 1541)source
  • June 29 – Archduchess Catherine Renata of Austria, Austrian archduchess (b. 1576)source
  • July 11 – Chōsokabe Motochika, Japanese Sengoku Period daimyōsource
  • July – Kwon Yul, Korean military commander (b. 1537)source
  • August 22 – Luca Marenzio, Italian composer (b. 1553)source
  • September 11 – Beatrice Cenci, Italian noblewoman (executed for patricide) (b. 1577)source
  • November 3 – Andrew Báthory, deposed Prince of Transylvania (decapitated) (b. c. 1563)source
  • December 13 – Enrico Caetani, Italian Catholic cardinal (b. 1550)source
  • December 14 – Joan Boyle, English noble, first spouse of Richard Boyle, 1st Earl of Cork (b. 1578)source