1578

This article is about the year 1578.

Millennium:	2nd millennium
Centuries:	15th century – 16th century – 17th century
Decades:	1540s  1550s  1560s  – 1570s –  1580s  1590s  1600s
Years:	1575 1576 1577 – 1578 – 1579 1580 1581

1578 in other calendars

Gregorian calendar	1578 MDLXXVIII
Ab urbe condita	2331
Armenian calendar	1027 ԹՎ ՌԻԷ
Assyrian calendar	6328
Bengali calendar	985
Berber calendar	2528
English Regnal year	20 Eliz. 1 – 21 Eliz. 1
Buddhist calendar	2122
Burmese calendar	940
Byzantine calendar	7086–7087
Chinese calendar	丁丑年 (Fire Ox) 4274 or 4214     — to — 戊寅年 (Earth Tiger) 4275 or 4215
Coptic calendar	1294–1295
Discordian calendar	2744
Ethiopian calendar	1570–1571
Hebrew calendar	5338–5339
Hindu calendars
- Vikram Samvat	1634–1635
- Shaka Samvat	1500–1501
- Kali Yuga	4679–4680
Holocene calendar	11578
Igbo calendar	578–579
Iranian calendar	956–957
Islamic calendar	985–986
Japanese calendar	Tenshō 6 (天正６年)
Julian calendar	1578 MDLXXVIII
Korean calendar	3911
Minguo calendar	334 before ROC 民前334年
Thai solar calendar	2120–2121

August 4: Battle of Al Kasr al Kebir.

Year 1578 (MDLXXVIII) was a common year starting on Wednesday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar.

Events

January–June

• January 31 – Battle of Gembloux: Spanish forces under Don John of Austria and Alexander Farnese defeat the Dutch. Alexander Farnese begins to recover control of the French-speaking Southern Netherlands.
• April 27 – The Duel of the Mignons claims the lives of two favorites of Henry III of France and two favourites of Henry I, Duke of Guise.
• May 31 – Martin Frobisher sails from Harwich, England to Frobisher Bay, Canada, on his third expedition.

July–December

• July – Martin Frobisher holds the first celebration of Thanksgiving by Europeans in North America on Newfoundland. He ships ore which proves to be valueless fool's gold which can only be used as road metal in London.
• August 4 – Battle of Al Kasr al Kebir in North Africa: The Moors defeat King Sebastian I of Portugal who is killed, leaving his elderly uncle, Cardinal Henry, as his heir, initiating a succession crisis in Portugal.
• August 20–September 6 – Francis Drake, during his circumnavigation of the globe, passes through the Strait of Magellan in his ship, the newly renamed Golden Hind.
• October 1 – Alessandro Farnese succeeds Don John as Spanish Governor-General of the Netherlands.
• October 21 - Battle of Wenden: The Russians are defeated by the Swedes, who proceed to take Polotsk.

Date unknown

• Battle of the Spoiling Dyke at Trumpan in northwest Scotland: the Clan MacLeod are victorious over the MacDonalds of Uist.
• The Ottoman Empire conquers Abkhazia.
• Sarsa Dengel, Emperor of Ethiopia, kills Bahr negus Yeshaq, finally ending his rebellion.
• Sonam Gyrso receives from prince Atlan Khan the title of Talaï, and becomes the third Dalai Lama of Tibet.
• Last outbreak of the sweating sickness occurs in England.

Births

• March 2 – George Sandys, English traveller (d. 1644)
• April 1 – William Harvey, English physician (d. 1657)
• April 14 – King Philip III of Spain (d. 1621)
• May 16 – Everard Digby, English conspirator (d. 1606)
• July 9 – Ferdinand II, Holy Roman Emperor (d. 1637)
• July 31 – Catharina Belgica of Nassau, regent of Hanau-Münzenberg (d. 1648)
• August 5 – Charles de Luynes, first duke of Chaulnes (d. 1621)
• August 17 – Francesco Albani, Italian painter (d. 1660)
• October 17 – Dmitry Pozharsky, Russian prince (d. 1642)
• December 2 – Agostino Agazzari, Italian composer (d. 1640)
• date unknown
  • Giambattista Andreini, Italian actor and playwright (d. 1650)
  • Yamada Arinaga, Japanese retainer of the Shimazu clan (d. 1668)
  • Benedetto Castelli, Italian scientist (d. 1643)
  • Thomas Coventry, 1st Baron Coventry, English lawyer (d. 1640)
  • Iwasa Matabei, Japanese painter (d. 1650)
  • Samuel Jordan, American colonial legislator (d. 1623)
  • Grzegorz IV Radziwiłł, Polish magnate (d. 1613)
  • François Ravaillac, killer of Henry IV of France (d. 1610)
  • Ambrose Rokewood, English Gunpowder Plot conspirator (d. 1606)
  • Francis Manners, 6th Earl of Rutland (d. 1632)
  • Horio Tadauji, Japanese daimyo (d. 1604)

Deaths

• January 5 – Giulio Clovio, Dalmatian painter (b. 1498)
• January 25 – Mihrimah Sultan, Sultan Suleiman's daughter (b. 1522)
• February 5 – Giambattista Moroni, Italian painter (b. 1510)
• March 3
  • Sebastiano Venier, Doge of Venice (b. 1496)
  • Michael Kantakouzenos Şeytanoğlu, Ottoman Greek magnate
• March 7 – Margaret Douglas, Countess of Lennox (b. 1515)
• March 29
  • Arthur Champernowne, English admiral (b. 1524)
  • Louis I, Cardinal of Guise, French cardinal (b. 1527)
• April 14 – James Hepburn, 4th Earl of Bothwell, consort of Mary, Queen of Scots (b. 1535)
• April 19 – Uesugi Kenshin, Japanese samurai and warlord (b. 1530)
• June 20 – Thomas Doughty, English explorer (executed)
• July 27 – Jane Lumley, English translator (b. 1537)
• August 4
  • King Sebastian I of Portugal (b. 1554)
  • Thomas Stucley, English adventurer (b. 1525)
  • Abu Marwan Abd al-Malik I Saadi, King of Morocco
  • Abu Abdallah Mohammed II Saadi, King of Morocco
• August 8 – Amago Katsuhisa, Japanese nobleman (b. 1553)
• August 11 – Pedro Nunes, Portuguese mathematician (b. 1502)
• September – Pierre Lescot, French architect (b. 1510)
• October 1 – Don John of Austria, military leader (b. 1547)
• December – Nicholas Heath, Archbishop of York and Lord Chancellor of England (b. 1501)
• date unknown
  • Ikeda Katsumasa, Japanese military commander (b. 1539)
  • Sabina, Duchess of Bavaria (b. 1528)