1561

Millennium:	2nd millennium
Centuries:	15th century – 16th century – 17th century
Decades:	1530s 1540s 1550s – 1560s – 1570s 1580s 1590s
Years:	1558 1559 1560 – 1561 – 1562 1563 1564

1561 in topic:
Subjects: Archaeology – Architecture – Art –
Literature – Music – Poetry – Science
Leaders: State leaders – Colonial governors
Category: Establishments – Disestablishments
Births – Deaths – Works

Kawanakajima.

Year 1561 (MDLXI) was a common year starting on Wednesday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar.

Events of 1561

June 4 – St. Paul's Cathedral in London is badly damaged by fire and the spire is destroyed after being struck by lightning.
July – Killing of the hated encomendero Pedro de Avendaño and two other Spaniards triggered the Second Great Rebellion of the Mapuche in the Arauco War.
August 19 – Mary, Queen of Scots, is denied passage through England after returning from France. She arrives at Leith, Scotland on August 19.
September – The Protestant reformer, John Knox has a three-day debate in Maybole, Ayrshire, Scotland with Quintin Kennedy, commendator of Crossraguel Abbey, on transubstantiation. The result was inconclusive but Kennedy was fighting a losing battle against the tide of the Reformation which had been confirmed by the Scottish government in 1560.
October 18 – Fourth Battle of Kawanakajima: Takeda Shingen defeats Uesugi Kenshin in the climax of their ongoing conflicts.

The Edict of Orleans suspends the persecution of the Huguenots.
Kingston Grammar School is founded.
The first Calvinists settle in England after fleeing Flanders.
Madrid is declared the capital of Spain by Philip II.
Ruy López develops modern techniques of chess playing in Spain.
Sweden conquers Livonia (modern Estonia).
Michelangelo Buonarroti finishes Santa Maria degli Angeli e dei Martiri in Rome.
Saint Basil's Cathedral in Moscow (started in 1534) is finished.
Pensacola, the first European settlement in North America, and its support fleet are both destroyed by a hurricane. Two survivors manage to walk the long, arduous journey to Mexico City. The city is not re-settled until 1698.
Between 1561 and 1670 3,229 witches are executed in southwestern Germany, most by burning.

January 6 – Thomas Fincke, Danish mathematician and physicist (d. 1656)
January 22 – Sir Francis Bacon, English philosopher, scientist, and statesman (d. 1626)
June – Samuel Harsnett, Archbishop of York (d. 1631)
July 11 – Luís de Góngora y Argote, Spanish poet (d. 1627)
July 17 – Jacopo Corsi, Italian composer (d. 1602)
August 4 – John Harington, courtier, inventor and writer (d. 1612)
August 20 – Jacopo Peri, Italian composer (d. 1633)
August 24 – Thomas Howard, 1st Earl of Suffolk (d. 1626)
August 25 – Philippe van Lansberge, Dutch astronomer (d. 1632)
September 10 – Hernando Arias de Saavedra, Spanish colonial governor (d. 1634)
September 29 – Adriaan van Roomen, Belgian mathematician (d. 1615)
October 27 – Mary Sidney, English writer, patroness and translator (d. 1621)
December 7 – Kikkawa Hiroie, Japanese politician (d. 1625)
December 9 – Edwin Sandys, English founder of the colony of Virginia (d. 1629)
date unknown – Stephen Bachiler, non-conformist minister and pioneer settler of New England (d. 1656)

January 31
- Menno Simons, Anabaptist religious leader and Mennonite founder (b. 1496)
- Bairam Khan, Turcoman noble and poet (assassinated)
February 26 – Jorge de Montemayor, Spanish writer (b. 1520)
March 25 – Conrad Lycosthenes, humanist and encyclopedist (b. 1518)
May 16 – Jan Tarnowski, Polish nobleman (b. 1488)
June 6 – Ridolfo Ghirlandaio, painter (b. 1483)
July 19 – Henry Lauder, Lord St Germains, Lord Advocate of Scotland
September 1 – Edward Waldegrave, English policitian and recusant
October 27 – Lope de Aguirre, Basque rebel and conquistador (b. 1510)
November 11 – Hans Tausen, Danish reformer (b. 1494)
date unknown
- Claude Garamond, French publisher (b. 1480)
- Ijuin Tadaaki, Japanese nobleman (b. 1520)
probable – Luis de Milán, Spanish composer (b. 1500)