Year 1572 (MDLXXII)
Year 1572 was a leap year starting on Tuesday of the Julian calendar.
Events
January–March
January 16 – Thomas Howard, 4th Duke of Norfolk, is tried for treason due to his involvement in the Ridolfi plot aimed at restoring Catholicism in England. He is executed on June 2.
February 13 – Elizabeth I of England issues a proclamation revoking all commissions due to the frauds they had fostered.
February 19 – Harrow School is founded with a royal charter from Queen Elizabeth I of England.
February 28 – In present-day Rajasthan, India, Maharana Pratap is crowned as the new Rana of Mewar following the death of his father, Udai Singh II.
March 2 – Mem de Sá, the Portuguese Governor-General of Brazil, dies after 14 years in office and is succeeded by Lourenço da Veiga.
March 11 – Pope Pius V issues the papal bull Supremi omnipotentis Dei, granting an indulgence that reduces 50 days of punishment in the afterlife for Roman Catholics reciting the penitential psalms.
March 28 – Queen Elizabeth I of England summons a new Parliament that assembles on May 4.
April–June
April 1 – Capture of Brielle: The Sea Beggars, Netherlandish Calvinist rebels, capture the port city of Brielle, sparking uprisings in Holland and Zeeland against Spanish Habsburg rule.
May 13 – Pope Gregory XIII succeeds Pope Pius V as the 226th pope.
June 14 – In the Battle of Kizaki, Shimazu Yoshihiro leads a mere 300 men to defeat the 3,000-strong Ito clan of Itō Yoshisuke.
June 25 – The Sea Beggars capture the city of Gorkum, leading to the imprisonment of several Roman Catholic priests.
July–September
July 4 – Haarlem’s city council votes to join the Dutch Revolt against King Philip II of Spain. He orders an army north under Don Fadrique to conquer the rebelling cities.
July 9 – The Sea Beggars hang 19 imprisoned Roman Catholic priests, known as the Martyrs of Gorkum, at Brielle.
July 11 – Humphrey Gilbert leads 1,500 English volunteers on an expedition to assist the Sea Beggars.
July 19 – The Wanli Emperor of China ascends the throne at the age of nine, ruling for 48 years.
July 29–August 2 – In the Battle of Molodi, a large Crimean Tatar–Ottoman army invading Russia is routed.
August 18 – Huguenot King Henry III of Navarre marries Margaret of Valois in a bid to reconcile Protestants and Catholics in France.
August 24 – During the St. Bartholomew’s Day massacre, Catholics in Paris murder thousands of Protestants, orchestrated by King Charles IX and supported by Catherine de Medici.
September 19 – The Siege of Mons concludes with the Spanish Army recapturing Valenciennes from the Dutch Huguenots.
September 24 – Túpac Amaru and other Inca nobles are executed in Cuzco on orders from the Spanish Viceroy, Francisco de Toledo.
October–December
October 2 – The Spanish Fury at Mechelen: The Catholic population of Mechelen surrenders and sings Catholic psalms, but the Duke of Alba allows his troops to rampage for three days.
October 20 – During the Eighty Years’ War, the Spanish Tercios relieve the siege of Goes.
November 9 – The Siege of Sancerre begins, with Huguenot forces holding out for nearly eight months.
November 14 – The Spanish Army massacres residents in the Belgian city of Zutphen.
November 22 – Nearly all of Naarden’s 3,000 residents are massacred by the Spanish Army.
December 10 – For administrative reasons, the Kingdom of Portugal divides its colony of Brazil into two, with one governor-general in Rio de Janeiro and the other in Bahia.
December 11 – The Duke of Alva begins the Siege of Haarlem, lasting until July 13, 1573.
Date Unknown
- The last independent remnant of the Inca Empire, the Neo-Inca State in Vilcabamba, is conquered by Spain.
- Girolamo Mercuriale writes De morbis cutaneis, the first scientific tract on dermatology.
- Imaginary numbers are defined by Rafael Bombelli.
- Portugal’s national epic, Os Lusíadas, by Luís de Camões is published.
- Georg Braun begins publication of his urban atlas, Civitates orbis terrarum.
Births
- January 7 – Antoine de Gaudier, French Jesuit writer (d. 1622)
- January 11 – Elizabeth Wriothesley, Countess of Southampton, English countess (d. 1655)
- January 22 – John Donne, English poet and soldier (d. 1631)
- February 1 – Ellen Marsvin, Danish noble (d. 1649)
- February 14 – William Cooke, English politician (d. 1619)
- February 27 – Francis II, Duke of Lorraine (d. 1632)
- February 29 – Edward Cecil, 1st Viscount Wimbledon, English viscount (d. 1638)
- March 4 – István Esterházy, Hungarian noble (d. 1596)
- March 10 – Tommaso Caracciolo, Field Marshal of Spanish forces in the Thirty Years’ War (d. 1631)
- March 20 – Otto III, Duke of Brunswick-Harburg (d. 1641)
- April 4 – William Strachey, English writer (d. 1621)
- April 14 – Adam Tanner, Austrian Jesuit professor (d. 1632)
- May 20 – John Davenant, English Anglican bishop (d. 1641)
- May 25 – Maurice, Landgrave of Hesse-Kassel, German musician (d. 1632)
- June 8 – Honorat de Porchères Laugier, French writer (d. 1653)
- June 10 – Henry II, Count of Reuss-Gera (d. 1635)
- June 11 – Ben Jonson, English dramatist (d. 1637)
- July 16 – Teimuraz I, Prince of Mukhrani, Georgian prince (d. 1625)
- July 25 – Theodorus Schrevelius, Dutch writer (d. 1649)
- August 6 – Fakhr-al-Din II, Ottoman Emir of Chouf (d. 1635)
- September 11 – Daniyal, Royal Prince of the Timurids (d. 1604)
- September 27 – Francis van Aarssens, Dutch diplomat (d. 1641)
- September 30 – Denis-Simon de Marquemont, French cardinal (d. 1626)
- October 27 – Marie Elisabeth of France (d. 1578)
- November 4 – William Whitmore, English politician (d. 1648)
- November 7 – Johannes Saeckma, Dutch magistrate (d. 1636)
- November 8 – John Sigismund, Elector of Brandenburg (d. 1619)
- November 23 – Albret Skeel, Danish State Admiral (d. 1639)
- November 25 – Daniel Sennert, German physician (d. 1637)
- December 1 – Vilem Slavata of Chlum, Czech nobleman (d. 1652)
- December 20 – Edward Russell, 3rd Earl of Bedford (d. 1627)
- December 22 – Juan López de Agurto de la Mata, Spanish prelate (d. 1637)
- December 27 – Johannes Vodnianus Campanus, Czech humanist (d. 1622)
Deaths
- January 22 – Henry VI, Burgrave of Plauen (b. 1536)
- January 26 – Pierre de Monte, French Grandmaster of the Knights Hospitaller (b. 1499)
- February 21 – Cho Shik, Korean Confucian scholar (b. 1501)
- February 23 – Pierre Certon, French composer (b. c. 1510)
- February 26 – Pedro Agustín, Spanish bishop (b. 1512)
- February 28 – Aegidius Tschudi, Swiss historian (b. 1505)
- February 28 – Catherine of Austria, Queen of Poland (b. 1533)
- February 28 – Udai Singh II, King of Mewar (b. 1522)
- March 2 – Mem de Sá, Governor-General of Brazil (b. c. 1500)
- March 10 – William Paulet, 1st Marquess of Winchester (b. c. 1483)
- March 27 – Girolamo Maggi, Italian Renaissance man (b. c. 1523)
- April 2 – Elisabeth of Brunswick-Lüneburg (b. 1494)
- May 1 – Pope Pius V (b. 1504)
- May 11 – Moses Isserles, Polish rabbi (b. 1530)
- June 2 – Thomas Howard, 4th Duke of Norfolk (executed) (b. 1536)
- June 9 – Jeanne d’Albret, Queen of Navarre (b. 1528)
- June 28 – Johannes Goropius Becanus, Dutch humanist (b. 1519)
- July 5 – Longqing Emperor of China (b. 1537)
- July 7 – King Sigismund II Augustus of Poland (b. 1520)
- July 9 – John of Cologne, Dutch martyr (b. 1510)
- July 9 – Martyrs of Gorkum (b. Dutch nationality)
- July 25 – Isaac Luria, Jewish Kabbalist (b. 1534)
- August 20 – Miguel López de Legazpi, Spanish conquistador (b. 1502)
- August 24 – Gaspard de Coligny, French leader (b. 1519)
- August 24 – Charles de Téligny, French soldier (b. 1535)
- August 26 – Pierre de la Ramée, French scholar (b. 1515)
- September – Denis Lambin, French scholar (b. 1520)
- September 19 – Archduchess Barbara of Austria (b. 1539)
- September 24 – Túpac Amaru, last of the Incas
- September 30 – Francis Borgia, Italian Jesuit saint (b. 1510)
- October 24 – Edward Stanley, 3rd Earl of Derby (b. 1508)
- October 25 – Cosimo Bartoli, Italian writer (b. 1503)
- October 29 – John Erskine, Earl of Mar (b. unknown)
- November 9 – Al-Mutahhar, Imam of Yemen (b. 1503)
- November 12 – Henry of Stolberg, German nobleman (b. 1509)
- November 23 – Agnolo di Cosimo (Bronzino) (b. 1503)
- November 24 – John Knox, Scottish reformer (b. 1513)
- December 2 – Ippolito II d’Este, Italian cardinal (b. 1509)
- December 12 – Loredana Marcello, Venetian dogaressa (b. unknown)
- December 22 – François Clouet, French miniaturist (b. c. 1510)
- December 23 – Johann Sylvan, Reformed theologian (executed; date of birth unknown)
Date Unknown
- Andrzej Frycz Modrzewski, Polish scholar (b. 1503)
- Francisco de Moraes, Portuguese author (b. 1500)
- Yasumi Naomasa, Japanese commander
- Stanisław Zamoyski, Polish nobleman (b. 1519)
- Probable – Christopher Tye, English composer (b. 1505)