1578

1571 1572 1573 1574 1575 1576 1577 1578 1579 1580

political events

Spain's Felipe II sends an army to the Lowlands under the command of his Italian cousin Alessandro Farnese, 32, who defeats a patriot army at Gemblours January 31 and takes over Spanish and Austrian forces in the region (see 1577). Felipe's wife, Anne of Austria, gives birth to a son, who will succeed to the throne as Felipe III. Felipe's half brother Don Juan de Austria dies of fever at Bouges, near Namur, October 1 at age 31, and Farnese takes command of Spanish and Austrian forces in the Lowlands (see United Provinces, 1579).

Sir Henry Sidney is recalled from Ireland after arousing popular resentment by his arbitrary taxation (see 1566). He resigned in 1571 but was reappointed lord deputy 4 years later.

Portugal's Sebastian I is killed August 4 at age 24 and his army annihilated near Ksar el-Kebir (Alcazarquivir) in northwest Africa, where he has led a crusade in defiance of warnings by Felipe II and Pope Gregory XIII. Having allied himself with the deposed Moroccan sultan al-Mutawakkil, Sebastian has landed at Tangier with 20,000 men and masses of artillery; some 50,000 Muslim infantry and cavalrymen have forced them to retreat to Laracjhe on the coast, but many, including Sebastian, are drowned while trying to cross the Wadi al-Makhazin, which is in high tide, and others surrender. The deposed sultan al-Mutawakkil is also drowned, and the ailing Sadi sultan Abd al-Malik dies the next morning after what will be remembered as the Battle of the Three Kings. The Moroccans collect massive quantities of booty, and their new sultan Mulai Ahmed gains the soubriquet Ahmed al-Mansur (Ahmad the Victorious), but the Portuguese people refuse to believe that their young king is dead. "Sebastianism" develops as a religion whose votaries believe that the king is either away on a pilgrimage or is waiting on some enchanted island for an appropriate time to return. Four pretenders will successively impersonate Sebastian and be executed, the last an Italian who speaks no Portuguese (see 1580).

Persia's Ismail II dies after a reign of less than 2 years. His oldest brother, half blind, has escaped his vengeance and will reign until 1587 as Mohammed Khudabanda. Constantinople takes advantage of the disturbances at Teheran to send Ottoman troops against the Persians.

exploration, colonization

Francis Drake navigates the Strait of Magellan in a 16-day passage, having lost four of his six ships; he renames his flagship the Golden Hinde, ravages the coasts of Chile and Peru, and continues up the coast (see 1577; crime, 1579).

Sir Martin Frobisher returns from a third expedition to North America (see 1577), but he has failed in his efforts to establish a colony on Frobisher Bay, the ores that he brings back contain no gold or silver, and he is obliged to seek other means of employment.

Queen Elizabeth grants a patent to Sir Humphrey Gilbert, 39, to "inhabit and possess at his choice all remote and heathen lands not in the actual possession of any Christian prince." Gilbert crosses the Atlantic in search of a Northwest Passage to the Indies (see 1583).

commerce

Merchant-financier Sir Thomas Gresham dies at his native London November 21 at age 60, leaving enough money to establish eight alms houses.

religion

Italian-born Jesuit Matteo Ricci, 25, embarks at Lisbon March 24 and arrives September 13 at the Portuguese outpost of Goa on the Indian subcontinent, where he continues his studies for the priesthood. He will be ordained in 1580 (see 1582).

literature

Nonfiction: Chronicles of English History to 1575 by Cheshire-born English historian-printer Raphael Holinshed, 49, continues work begun by his late employer Reginald Wolfe. Holinshed's Chronicles will be the source of plot material for historical dramas.

Fiction: Euphues, The Anatomy of Wit by English author John Lyly, 24, who writes, "Beauty—a deceitful bayte, with a deadly hooke." Lyly works as secretary to Edward de Vere, 28, 17th earl of Oxford, who is a lyric poet of considerable merit.

Poetry: The Week (La Semaine) by French poet Guillaume de Salluste, 34, seigneur du Bartas, whose Protestant ideas find little favor in France but will be widely influential in England.

art

Painting: Portrait of the Infanta Isabella Clara Eugenia and Portrait of Giorgio Julio Clovio by Sofonisba Anguissola, who has stopped with her husband, Don Fabrizio, at Rome en route from Spain to Palermo, where Don Fabrizio will die early next year.

theater, film

Italian theatrical manager and scenario writer Flaminio Scala engages the beautiful and brilliant ingénue Isabella Canali, 16, of Padua to play the female lead in his commedia dell'arte company. She meets actor Francesco Andreini and promptly marries him, they help Scala form the Compagnia dei Gelosi, and it will gain fame throughout Italy and France.

everyday life

Venetian noblewoman Bianca Capello, 30, marries Florentine banker's son Francesco de' Medici. She ran off some years ago and married one Pietro Buonaventuri of Florence against her family's will, became Francesco's mistress soon afterward, lived with him openly after her husband's murder in 1569, and has deceived Francesco into marrying her by pretending to be pregnant and then presenting him with a son who has actually been borne by a common woman of the city.

agriculture

Francis Drake tastes potatoes for the first time when he reaches Chile (see 1586).

population

China's population reaches 60 million and begins a rapid increase (see 1600).

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