Events

• January 16 - Grand Duke Ivan IV of Muscovy becomes the first Tsar of Russia.
• January 28 - Edward VI succeeds his father Henry VIII as King of England.
• February 20 - Edward VI of England is crowned at Westminster Abbey
• March 31 - Henry II succeeds his father Francis I as King of France
• April 24 - Battle of Mühlberg - Emperor Charles V defeats the forces of the Schmalkaldic League under the Elector John Frederick of Saxony.
• September 10 - Battle of Pinkie. An English army under the Duke of Somerset, Protector of England, defeats a Scottish army under James Hamilton, 2nd Earl of Arran, the Regent. The English seize Edinburgh.
• First printed book in the Lithuanian language. Author - Martynas Mazvydas.
• Increased immigration of Huguenots to Kent, especially Canterbury
• Chambre Ardente established in Paris

Births

• September 14 - Johan van Oldenbarnevelt, Dutch statesman
• September 29 - Miguel de Cervantes, Spanish writer (d. 1616)
• Marc Antonio Ingegneri, Italian composer, teacher of Monteverdi
• Manuel Mendes, Portuguese composer

Deaths

• January 28 - King Henry VIII of England
• March 31 - King Francis I of France (b. 1494)