1566
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A Swedish army enters the Danish county of Göinge in January under the command of Jakob Hästesko (see 1565). When villagers refuse to swear allegiance to Sweden's demented Erik XIV Vasa the Swedes burn their houses and other buildings. The Swedes renew their efforts to take the fortress of Bohus, surrounding it with an army of nearly 8,000 men and pounding it with artillery, but Daniel Rantzau launches a huge Danish raid into Vastergotland, escapes a Swedish trap, and although plague reduces his army to 2,000 actives manages to capture the Swedish commanders Charles de Mornay and Jacob Henriksson Hästesko in a skirmish (see 1568).
The Italian secretary to Mary, Queen of Scots, is seized the evening of March 9 by the earls of Morton and Lindsay, who invade Mary's supper chamber with armed men; hack David Rizzio, 33, to death with daggers; and throw his body into the courtyard at Holyrood (see 1565). The noblemen have acted on orders from Mary's husband, Lord Darnley, who is an indolent drunk (see 1567).
The first great Irish lord of Tyrconnell Manus O'Donnell dies February 9 at Lifford, County Donegal, having been deposed by his son Calvagh. Sir Henry Sidney marches to Tyrconnell and restores Calvagh's right (see 1565), but Calvagh dies in late October near Derry, and since his son Conn is a prisoner of Shane O'Neill, his half brother Hugh MacManus is made The O'Donnell (see 1567).
The former French royal mistress Diane de Poitiers, duchesse de Valentinois, dies at Anet April 22 at age 66, having held court virtually as a queen through the reign of the late Henri II.
A German army of 80,000 under Maximilian II prepares to fight the Ottoman Turks under Suleiman the Magnificent at Komon in Hungary (see 1564), but the army is stricken with typhus and the campaign abandoned.
The Ottoman sultan Suleiman the Magnificent dies September 5 at age 70 during the siege of Szigeth in Transylvania (his death is kept secret for 7 weeks from his 150,000 troops). He has reigned for 46 years. His 42-year-old son inherits the greatest and best organized empire in Europe and will reign until 1574 as Selim II, but the Ottomans now begin a long decline as the indolent Selim signs a truce with Maximilian II. Both sides retain their possessions.
Cambodia's Chan I dies after an illustrious 50-year reign in which he has built a capital at Lovek, defended his realm against the Siamese, invaded Siam, and brought peace to Cambodia. He is succeeded by his son, who will reign until 1576 as Reachea I.
China's 11th Ming emperor Jiajing (Chia-ching) dies late in the year at age 59 after a 45-year reign in which he has stabilized the government but neglected his official duties while having hundreds of officials demoted and even tortured and killed for daring to disagree with him. In recent years he has allowed some court favorites to run the government while he devoted his own time and money to patronizing Daoist alchemists in hopes that they might find a potion which could prolong his life. The court favorites have allowed Mongol tribesmen under the command of Altan Khan to raid the northwest frontier and some occasions even to besiege Beijing (Peking), while trying to deal ineffectually with frequent rebellions in the southern provinces and harassment of coastal trade by Japanese pirates. Jiajing is succeeded by his son Lung Ching, who will reign until 1572 (see 1567).
Ottoman engineers complete a stone bridge 90 feet high across the swift-moving Nereiva River in the Balkans at a place that will be called Mostar (the name means "bridge keeper"); it will survive until 1993.
Botanist-physician Leonhard Fuchs dies at Tübingen, Württemberg, May 10 at age 65 (the genus of a flowering plant will be named Fuchsia in his memory).
Calvinists ransack monasteries and churches in Antwerp, Ghent, and throughout Flanders and the northern provinces as grain prices soar following a bad harvest. Margaret of Parma, regent for the Lowlands, receives a petition April 2 demanding abolition of the Inquisition. Willem of Nassau, 33, Prince of Orange; Lamoral, comte d'Egmont, now 43; and Philip de Montmorency, 48, comte d'Hoorn, lead the protest by 300 noblemen. Margaret promises to forward their petition to her illegitimate brother Felipe of Spain, but she also raises an army (see 1567).
Felipe II cracks down on Spain's Moriscos (Moors converted to Christianity), forbidding them to speak Arabic or wear traditional dress.
Missionary and historian Bartolomé de Las Casas dies at the Dominican convent of Nuestra Señora de Atocha de Madrid July 17 at age 91, having been the first to speak out against the European oppression of West Indian natives and to call for the abolition of their enslavement.
Dominican prelate Antonio Cardinal Ghislieri, 62, wins election to succeed the late Pius IV and will reign until 1572 as Pius V.
Nonfiction: "On the Things of Yucatán" ("Relación de las cosas Yucatán") by Diego de Landa gives a vivid description of the lost Mayan civilization with a phonetic alphabet that makes it possible to decipher about one-third of Mayan hieroglyphs. Now about 42, Landa will remain in the Yucatán until his death there in 1579; his work will not be printed until 1864, and the best English translation not until 1941.
Printer-scholar Henri Etienne at Geneva publishes a Latin edition of writings by the Greek historian Herodotus along with a French version entitled "Apologie pour Hérodote" (see 1559). Now 38, he is arrested, brought to trial, and ordered to eliminate pages that have offended clergymen by showing with bitter satire how curious stories by Herodotus parallel some curious present-day stories, but his book will nevertheless go through 12 editions in the next 16 years.
Fiction: The Palace of Pleasure (60 stories) by English author William Painter, 26, who 5 years ago became a clerk of the ordnance in the Tower of London and began enriching himself at the expense of the public. A second edition containing 34 additional stories will appear next year, and a 1575 edition will add another seven to contain a total of 101; the tales will serve as the basis of many Elizabethan dramas.
Painting: The Census at Bethlehem, The Sermon of Saint John the Baptist, and The Wedding Dance by Pieter Brueghel.
Theater: Gammer Gurton's Nedle by clergyman-teacher William Stevenson, perhaps in collaboration, is performed at Christ's Church, Cambridge: "I cannot eat but little meat,/ My stomach is not good;/ But sure I think that I can drink/ With him that wears a hood./ That I go bare, take ye no care, I am nothing a-cold:/ I stuff my skin so full within/ Of jolly good ale and old./ Back and side go bare, go bare,/ Both foot and hand go cold;/ But belly, God send thee good ale enough,/ Whether it be new or old."
The That Luang stupa (temple) is completed at the Laotian capital Vien Chan (later Vientiane; year approximate). Built by Setthahthirat I to house the Emerald Buddha, it will remain the city's outstanding structure for more than 430 years.
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