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Contents: political eventshuman rights, social justice exploration, colonization religion education literature art tobacco architecture, real estate food and drink |
Henry Stuart, Lord Darnley, is found murdered February 10 at Kirk o'Field, Edinburgh, and Mary, Queen of Scots, is suspected of complicity in her 21-year-old husband's death (see 1566). She is kidnapped April 24 by James Hepburn, 31, 4th earl of Bothwell, who forces himself upon her and then marries her in a Protestant church at Edinburgh May 15. Mary's adviser John Leslie, 39, a Roman Catholic bishop, accuses Bothwell of having seduced the queen, and the marriage provokes a rebellion by Scottish noblemen, who desert the queen at Carberry Hill in June, force her to dismiss Bothwell, and make her sign an abdication in favor of her 13-month-old son, who is proclaimed James VI of Scotland July 24. The young king will be raised at Stirling Castle by the earl and countess of Mar (see 1568).
Irish chieftain Shane O'Neill comes to grief at the hands of the MacDonnells after being defeated by the O'Donnells at Letterkenny (see 1565); taking flight, he throws himself on the mercy of his enemies near Cushenden in County Antrim, where he is killed June 2 at age 36, either in a brawl or by premeditated treachery.
Former English lord chancellor Richard Rich, 1st Baron Rich, dies at Rochford, Essex, June 12 at age 71 (approximate), having retired for reasons of health in 1551.
Spain's Felipe II sends 20,000 troops to the Lowlands. Led by Fernando, duque de Alva, they capture Antwerp as the Lowlanders prepare for a struggle to gain independence from Spain (see 1560; 1568).
Huguenot leader Louis I de Bourbon, 1st Prince de Condé, breaks with the French court again in July (see Peace of Amboise, 1563). Alarmed at Catherine de' Medici's dealings with Spain and frustrated in his ambition to become lieutenant general of the kingdom, he directs another attack on Paris, but Catholic troops under the constable of Montmorency defeat his forces November 10 at St. Dénis, outside the capital. The constable, now 74, is killed in the battle, but Condé withdraws and obtains support from German mercenaries (see 1568).
John Hawkins joins two African kings in besieging an inland African town, takes 470 slaves as booty, and sells them to Spanish colonists in America (see 1562; 1568).
Portuguese troops under the command of Mem de Sá destroy the 12-year-old Hugenot colony at Rio de Janeiro, capture the French colonists, and put them to the sword (see 1565).
Caracas is founded in a verdant valley discovered by Columbus in 1498 and later called "little Venice" (Venezuela). Conquistador Francisco Fajardo founded a settlement there in 1560, natives launched a series of attacks to drive out the colonists, the Spanish governor ordered complete subjection of the Indians, and an expeditionary force headed by Diego de Losada, 56, overcomes Toromaima resistance July 25, reestablishing the settlement (see commerce [Caracas Company], 1728).
On the False and True Unity of God the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit (De falsa et ver unius Dei Patris, Filii et Spiritus Sancti) by Transylvanian theologian Ferenc Dávid, 57, challenges Trinitarian views and denies that prayers should be addressed to Christ. Dávid has been influenced by the writings of the late Michael Servetus and Laelius Socinus (see human rights, 1568).
Rugby School is founded in England's east Warwickshire (see sports, 1823).
Chin's new Ming dynasty emperor Lung Ching confers posthumous honors on the late scholar-statesman Wang Yangming, making him a marquis with a name that means "Completion of Culture" (see 1529). Wang's neo-Confucian philosophy will spread throughout China over the next 150 years and have great influence on Japanese thinking as well.
Painting: The Wedding Banquet (Peasant Wedding), The Land of Cockaigne, The Conversion of Saul, and Adoration of the Kings in the Snow by Pieter Brueghel; The Martyrdom of St. Laurence by Titian.
"I can boast of having been the first in France who brought the seed of this plant [tobacco], who sowed it, and named the plant in question herbe Angoulmoisine," writes André Thevet in Les Singularités dela France antartique, autrement nommée Amérique (see 1556). "Since then a certain individual, who never made any voyage, has given it his name, some ten years after my return" (see Nicot, 1561).
Andrea Palladio completes the Rotonda (Villa Capra) outside Vicenza.
Antwerp's sugar refining industry moves to Amsterdam following the capture of Antwerp by Fernando, duque de Alva.
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