1579

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political events

The Union of Arras created in January unites Low Country Walloons (Catholics) with those of Hainaut and Artois, but the Union of Utrecht created January 23 joins Dutch patriots to the north in opposition to the hated Spaniards (see 1578). This final division of the former Netherlands establishes the United Provinces and marks the birth of the Dutch Republic. The Dutch insurgents sign a military alliance with England.

England's lord chancellor Sir Nicholas Bacon dies at London February 20 at age 68, having worked to undermine Europe's Catholic powers while maintaining the relatively moderate Protestantism of the English Church.

Irish patriot James (Fitzmaurice) Fitzgerald comes ashore in County Munster in July with a small force of Italians and Spaniards to support a rebellion against English Protestantism (see 1556). Backed by Pope Gregory XIII and Spain's Felipe II, they fail to gain the support of Fitzmaurice's cousin Gerald Fitzgerald, 14th (or 15th) earl of Desmond, but when Fitzmaurice is killed in August Desmond takes over and appeals to the Irish lords to join in the defense of Catholicism against the English Protestants (see 1580).

The Ottoman grand vizier Mehmed Sokollu is assassinated at Constantinople the night of October 11 at age 74. He has antagonized many people by opposing the war with Venice and last year's war with Persia.

exploration, colonization

Russian adventurer Timofeyevich Yermak leads an expedition to conquer Siberia from the Tatars, whose warlord Kuchum controls the vast region; Russian pioneers begin moving into Siberia (see 1584).

Conquistador Gonzalo Jiménez de Quesada dies of leprosy at Mariquita in New Granada February 16 at age 83 (approximate).

Francis Drake puts in for repairs June 17 at a point north of what later will be called San Francisco and claims possession of New Albion for Elizabeth (see 1769; Cabrillo, 1542; Cook, 1778).

commerce

Scotland enacts a law "for Punishment of the Strong and Idle Beggars, and Relief of the Poor and Impotent" (see 1551; 1601).

religion

Transylvanian Unitarian preacher-theologian Ferenc Dávid is tried on charges of being a blasphemous innovator, found guilty, and sentenced to life imprisonment (see 1769). He dies in prison at Deva, Wallachia, November 15 at age 69.

literature

Nonfiction: The pamphlet "Vindiciae contra Tyrannos" is published anonymously (probably by Theodore de Bèze). An attack on absolutism, it declares that rulers must be accountable to the people but insists that only magistrates may resist the king. De Juri Begni apud Scotos by Scottish humanist George Buchanan, now 73, confutes absolutism with the argument that kings exist only by the will of the people. Written for the instruction of his royal pupil, who will become England's James I, Buchanan's work justifies tyrannicide and states that the obligation of subjects to their king is conditioned on the performance of that king in the duties of his office. Lives of the Noble Grecians and Romans by the Greek biographer Plutarch of the 1st to 2nd century A.D. appears in an English translation from the French of Jacques Amyot, 66, by Sir Thomas North, 44, who will add additional Lives in 1595. North's work will influence Elizabethan poets and provide material for playwrights.

Poetry: The Shepheardes Calendar by English poet Edmund Spenser, 27, who secures a place in the earl of Leicester's household and dedicates the work to Leicester's nephew Philip Sidney, 24, who is also a poet.

crime

Francis Drake captures the Spanish galleon Nuestra Señora de la Concepcion March 1, her captain San Juan de Anton sustains an arrow wound, her crew surrenders with almost no bloodshed, and Drake takes command of her cargo—400,000 pesos worth of gold, silver, flour, and other goods (see commerce, 1580).

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