January 24 – War of the Polish Succession: The Battle of Pitschen takes place at Pitschen (now Byczyna in Poland, with Polish and Lithuanian troops commanded by the Polish hetman Jan Zamoyski defending against an invading Austrian force commanded by Maximilian III, Archduke of Austria. After his army is routed, Archduke Maximilian surrenders and is taken as a prisoner of war, and will be held for more than a year until his release is compelled by the intervention of Pope Sixtus V.[2]
March 20 – The ascension of Shah Abbas I as Emperor in Iran, of the Safavid Empire, is made official on the first day of the New Year on the Zoroastrian Calendar. Abbas has ruled since October 16, 1587.[5]
March 25 – The English Army begins the recruitment of volunteers to prepare for the expected invasion by Spain. On April 10, 1593, the English Parliament will enact the first military pension, "An Acte for relief of Soudiours", providing that "forasmuch as it is agreable with Christian Charity Policy and the Honor of our Nation, that shuch as have since the 25th day of March 1588, adventured their lives and lost their limbs or disabled their bodies, or shall hereafter adventure the lives, lose their limbs or disable their bodies, in defence and service of Her Majesty and the State, should at their return be relieved and rewarded to the end that they may reap the fruit of their good deservings, and others may be encouraged to perform like endeavors..."[6]
June 18 – Sailing across the South Atlantic Ocean towards England, near the end of their voyage around the world, Thomas Cavendish and his East India Company fleet stumble across the Portuguese-controlled island of Saint Helena.[10] While Saint Helena has been under the control of Portugal for 80 years, England had been unaware of its existence.[11]
June 19 – Twenty days after departing from Spain, the Spanish Armada receives a foreshadowing of disaster to come during the summer as a storm scatters part of the fleet, postponing the invasion.[12]Alonso de Guzmán y Sotomayor, Duke of Medina Sidonia and commander of the Spanish expedition, returns the fleet to the port of Coruna for repairs, and writes a letter to King Philip, urging him to abandon plans for invasion of England, and to reach an honorable settlement, but the King refuses. The Spanish expedition resumes on July 21.
July–September
July 15 – At Rouen, King Henry III of France gives in to the latest demands of the Catholic League and the Duke of Guise, and signs the Edict of Union, agreeing to not allow French Protestants to participate in government,[13] in return for being able to return to Paris.
August 9 – The Duke of Medina Sidonia, commander of the Spanish Armada, decides to return the fleet to Spain after two days of trying to reach the coast of Flanders, to meet up with the army of the Duke of Parma.[16]
August 12 – Much of the Spanish Armada is destroyed by storms during an attempt to around Scotland and Ireland. The fleeing Spanish fleet sails past the Firth of Forth, and the English call off their pursuit, avoiding the storm entirely.[16]
August 29 (8th day of the 7th month, Tensho 16) – In Japan, the Chancellor of the Realm, Toyotomi Hideyoshi, issues an edict for the katanagari (the sword hunt), the confiscation of swords from any persons thought to be opposed to his rule.
September 9 – English captain Thomas Cavendish and a fleet of ships complete sailing around the world in a record time of 781 days, returning to Plymouth more than two years after setting off on July 21, 1586. The previous record had been 1,018 days by the expedition of Sir Francis Drake from 1577 to 1580. By the time of his return, Cavendish has only his flagship, Desire, after having started with the two other vessels, the warship Content, and the 40-ton supply ship Hugh Gallant.
November 13 – Dutch Republic and English forces capture Bergen op Zoom, a fortress in the Spanish Netherlands, after a siege of 41 days.
November 15 – The English Navy ship Great Spaniard, formerly the Spanish Armada ship San Salvador until its capture on August 1, sinks off of the coast of England's Isle of Purbeck, with the loss of 23 of the 57 crew. The survivors are rescued by an English man-o-war boat.[18]
December 5 – The Order of Augustinian Recollects is formally recognised as a separate province from the Order of Saint Augustine, an event later known as the Día de la Recolección or Day of Recollection.
December 23 – Henry III of France strikes his ultra-Catholic enemies, having the Duke of Guise and his brother, Louis II, Cardinal of Guise, killed, and holding the Cardinal de Bourbon a prisoner. As a result, large parts of France reject Henry III as their king, forcing him to side with Henry of Navarre.
The Armada Portrait of Elizabeth I of England is created, to celebrate the English defeat of the Spanish Armada, and to assert the strength of Elizabeth herself.
^Philippe Levillain, ed., The Papacy: An Encyclopedia (Routledge, 2002) p. 772
^Daniel Stone, The Polish-Lithuanian state, 1386-1795 (University of Washington Press, 2001) pp. 131–132
^Bennassar, B.; Jacquart, J.; Blayau, N.; Denis, M.; Lebrun, F. (May 11, 2005). Historia moderna (in Spanish). Ediciones AKAL. p. 379. ISBN978-84-7600-990-1. Retrieved March 6, 2024.
^The Travels of Pedro Teixeira, translated by William F. Sinclair (Hakluyt Society, 1902) p. ix
^"History and chronology in early modern Iran: The Safavid Empire in comparative perspective", by Stephen P. Blake, in Perceptions of Iran: History, Myths and Nationalism from Medieval Persia to the Islamic Republic, ed. by Ali M. Ansari (I.B. Tauris, 2013)
^Papers Illustrative of the Origin and Early History of the Royal Hospital at Chelsea (Antiposi Verlag, 2023, reprint of 1872) p.5
^"Complaint from Heaven with a Huy & crye and a petition out of Virginia and Maryland", by Josias Fendall (1676), reprinted in The American Colonies and the British Empire, 1607-1783, ed. by Steven Sarson (Taylor & Francis, 2020) p.58
^Daniel Schreier, St Helenian English: Origins, Evolution and Variation (John Benjamins Publishing, 2008)
^Max Boot, War Made New: Technology, Warfare, and the Course of History, 1500 to Today (Gotham Books, 2006) p.35
^Monjarás-Ruiz, Jesús, "Fray Diego Durán, un evangelizador conquistado", en Dimensión Antropológica, vol. 2, septiembre-diciembre, 1994, pp. 43-56. Disponible en: http://www.dimensionantropologica.inah.gob.mx/?p=1552
