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Year 1556 (MDLVI) was a leap year starting on Wednesday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar.

Events of 1556

January 23: Shaanxi Earthquake, devastation kills 830,000 in China.

January–June

• January 16 – Emperor Charles V abdicates. His son, Philip II becomes King of Spain, while his brother Ferdinand becomes Holy Roman Emperor.
• January 23 – The Shaanxi Earthquake, the deadliest earthquake in history, occurs with its epicenter in Shaanxi province, China: 830,000 people may have been killed.
• February
  • Truce of Vaucelles: Fighting temporarily ends between France and Spain.
  • Jellaladin Mahommed Akbar ascends to the throne of the Mughal Empire; he rules until his death in 1605.
• February 14 – Thomas Cranmer is declared a heretic.
• March 21 – In Oxford, Archbishop of Canterbury Thomas Cranmer is burned at the stake for treason.

July–December

• November – The Truce of Vaucelles collapses, and war resumes between Henry II of France and Philip II of Spain.
• November 5 – Second Battle of Panipat: Fifty miles north of Delhi, a Mogul Army defeats Hindu forces of General Hemu, to ensure Akbar the throne of India.

Undated

• Lorenzo Priuli becomes Doge of Venice.
• Mary I of England establishes the Fort of Maryborough, in what is now Portlaoise, County Laois, Ireland.
• The kings of Spain take control of the Flanders region, including what is now the French département of Nord.
• The false Martin Guerre appears in the French village of Artigat.
• King John III of Sweden becomes ruler of Finland as Hertig Johan.
• Welser banking families of Augsburg lose colonial control of Venezuela.
• Ivan the Terrible conquers Astrakhan, opening the Volga River to Russian traffic and trade.

Births

• January 8 – Uesugi Kagekatsu, Japanese samurai and warlord (d. 1623)
• February – Henry Briggs, English mathematician (d. 1630)
• February 21 – Sethus Calvisius, German calendar reformer (d. 1615)
• March 7 – Guillaume du Vair, French statesman and philosopher (d. 1621)
• June 6 – Edward la Zouche, 11th Baron Zouche, English politician and diplomat (d. 1625)
• November 15 – Jacques-Davy Duperron, French cardinal (d. 1618)
• date unknown
  • Margaret Clitherow, English Catholic martyr (d. 1586)
  • Shibata Katsutoyo, Japanese military commander (d. 1583)
  • Ahmad Baba al Massufi, Sudanese writer and political leader (d. 1627)
  • James Melville, Scottish divine and reformer (d. 1614)

Deaths

• March 21 – Thomas Cranmer, Archbishop of Canterbury (burned at the stake) (b. 1489)
• April 18 – Luigi Alamanni, Italian poet and statesman (b. 1495)
• June 10 – Martin Agricola, German composer (b. 1486)
• July 31 – Ignatius of Loyola, Spanish founder of the Jesuit order (b. 1491)
• September – Patrick Hepburn, 3rd Earl of Bothwell, Scottish traitor (b. 1512)
• October 21 – Pietro Aretino, Italian author (b. 1492)
• November 14 – Giovanni della Casa, Italian poet (b. 1503)
• December 23 – Nicholas Udall, English dramatist (b. 1504)
• date unknown
  • John Bell, Bishop of Worcester
  • Girolamo da Carpi, Italian painter (b. 1501)
  • Jacob Clemens non Papa, Flemish composer (b. 1510)
  • Saitō Dōsan, Japanese warlord (b. 1494)
  • Fuzûlî, Turkish poet (b. 1494)
  • Lorenzo Lotto, Italian painter (b. 1480)
  • Brian mac Cathaoir O Conchobhair Failghe, last of the Kings of Ui Failghe

From Wikiquote