1590s

Millennium:	2nd millennium
Centuries:	15th century – 16th century – 17th century
Decades:	1560s 1570s 1580s – 1590s – 1600s 1610s 1620s
Years:	1590 1591 1592 1593 1594 1595 1596 1597 1598 1599
Categories:	Births – Deaths – Architecture Establishments – Disestablishments

The 1590s decade ran from January 1, 1590, to December 31, 1599. It was the last full decade of the 16th century.

Events

March 14 – Battle of Ivry – Henry IV of France again defeated the forces of the Catholic League under the Duc de Mayenne.
May–August – An unsuccessful siege of Paris was laid by Henry IV of France. Henry was forced to raise the siege when the Duke of Parma came to the city's relief with a Spanish army.
May 17 – Anne of Denmark was crowned queen of Scotland.
August 18 – John White, the governor of the Colony of Roanoke, returned from a supply trip to England, and he found his settlement deserted.
September 15 – Pope Urban VII succeeded Sixtus V.
December 5 – Pope Gregory XIV succeeded Urban VII.
Coptic Pope Gabriel VIII succeeded Yoannis XIV.
Orthodox Patriarch of Alexandria Meletius I succeeded Silvester.
Toyotomi Hideyoshi united Japan.
In the Seven-Year War, Japan, under Hideyoshi, invaded Korea in 1592 and 1598.
The Wanli Emperor of the Ming Dynasty in China began to neglect court affairs and granted his court eunuchs unprecedented power by allowing their bureaus the privilege to collect federal taxes from the provinces of China. Court eunuch leaders of the Directorate of Ceremonial would act as virtual, de facto dictators of the state, such as Wei Zhongxian in the 1620s.