1558

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political events

Calais falls January 20 to François de Lorraine, 2nd duc de Guise, after 211 years in English hands (see Guise, 1557). Guise goes on to capture Guines and Ham, expelling the English and forcing England to give up hope of conquering France (see 1564).

The Battle of Gravelines July 13 ends in victory for Spanish forces commanded by the 35-year-old Lamoral, comte d'Egmont, over the French army of Paul des Thermes (see 1557; Cateau-Cambrésis, 1559).

The former Holy Roman Emperor Charles V eats eel pie at the monastery of Yuste in early September, suffers indigestion for 3 weeks, and dies September 21 at age 58. His son will return to Spain from the Netherlands next year and reign until 1598 as Felipe II.

England's glorious Elizabethan age begins as Mary Tudor dies suddenly of smallpox at London November 17 at age 42; being childless, she is succeeded by her half sister Elizabeth, now 25. Daughter of Henry VIII by the late Anne Boleyn, the new queen makes it clear that she intends to rule more than in name only: "I am but one body, naturally considered, though by [God's] permission a Body Politic to govern." Her accession raises hopes that Elizabeth will put an end to the persecution of Protestants that has wracked the country and bring peace between Catholics and Protestants, but England is militarily weak and in difficult economic straits, and the new queen's advisers urge her to effect an alliance through marriage either with France or Spain. Her sole secretary and principal adviser is Sir William Cecil, 38, and despite his opposition, she immediately makes her friend (and possibly her lover) Robert Dudley, now 27, master of the horse. Catholics call her the "bastard queen" and regard her as a usurper, but Elizabeth will reign until 1603 in a golden period of English arts and letters.

Vietnam's Nguyen family gains control of the southern part of the country, which it will rule from Hue until about 1620 (see 1545; 1673).

commerce

The city of Hamburg establishes a bourse that vies with the exchange set up at Antwerp in 1531 (see Amsterdam, 1619).

science

English astrologer and mathematician John Dee succeeds Robert Recorde as technical adviser to the Muscovy Company and invents two compasses for master pilots. Now 31, Dee is asked to name a propitious day for Elizabeth's coronation. He will practice astrology and read horoscopes in the court of England's new queen, will give her lessons in the mystical interpretation of his writings, but will also give instructions and advice to pilots and navigators exploring the New World.

Physician-astronomer-mathematician Fernelius (Jean Fernel) dies at Fontainebleau April 26 at age 60 (approximate).

religion

Franciscan friar Marcos de Niza dies in New Spain March 25 at age 62 (approximate), having claimed to have seen the "Seven Golden Cities of Cibola." Reginald Cardinal Pole dies of double quartan ague at Lambeth Palace, Surrey, November 17 at age 58 a few hours after the death of Queen Mary.

literature

England's new queen Elizabeth confirms a charter of incorporation drawn up last year for the Stationers' Company, a guild for bookbinders, booksellers, illuminators, printers, scriveners, and other men engaged in the book trade. Its members have volunteered to limit control of print exclusively to about 97 London freemen and to exclude provincial competitors. The former queen, Mary Tudor, and her husband, Philip, encouraged the guild as a way to suppress "seditious and heretical" books. The guild members leap at the chance to enjoy a lucrative monopoly, and Elizabeth will use it, ironically, to suppress Catholic books. The Stationers receive the right to search the premises of printers and booksellers and seize works that are considered seditious or were printed illegally.

Nonfiction: First Blast of the Trumpet Against the Monstrous Regiment of Women by Scottish clergyman John Knox, now 53, says, "The nobility both of England and Scotland are inferior to brute beasts, for they do that to women which no male among the common sort of beasts can be proved to do with their females; that is, they reverence them, and quake at their presence; they obey their commandments, and that against God . . . God hath revealed to some in this our age that it is more than a monster in nature that a woman should reign and bear empire above man." Knox fled to the Continent at Mary Tudor's accession in 1553 and has been at Geneva since 1556, meeting occasionally with John Calvin.

art

Painting: The Fall of Icarus by Pieter Brueghel; Supper at Emmaus and Feast in the House of the Pharisee by Paolo Veronese; Portrait of Amilcare, Minerve, and Asdrubale Anguissola and Self-Portrait by Sofonisba Anguissola.

agriculture

Carrots, cabbage, cauliflower, parsnips, and turnips come into England with Flemish weavers fleeing the persecution of Spain's Felipe II (year approximate).

food and drink

Clear soy sauce will be brewed for the first time in the next 10 years in the Japanese village of Noda Shimofusa west of Edo. Soy sauce up to now has been a paste-like product (see Kikkoman, 1630).

population

London's population reaches 200,000, four times its 1400 level (see 1603).

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