- Feb 2 Giovanni Perluigi da Palestrina, Italian composer, dies at 68
- Apr 29 Thomas Cooper, English bishop, lexicographer, and writer
- May 4 Paul Buys, Grand Pensionary of Holland, dies at 62
- May 31 Tintoretto, Italian Mannerist painter and notable exponent of the Renaissance school, dies at 75
- Jun 3 John Aylmer, English political theorist (b. 1521)
- Jun 3 Michel Renichon, Dutch priest, executed
- Jun 14 Orlandus Lassus, Flemish composer (Prophet sybillarum), dies at about 61 [birthdate uncertain]
- Jul 10 Paulo Bellasio, composer, dies at 40
- Jul 24 John Boste, Catholic saint and martyr (b. 1544)
- Oct 16 William Allen, English cardinal/founder seminary of Douai, dies at 62
- Nov 22 Martin Frobisher, English privateer, explorer (Canada) and later vice-admiral who helped defeat the Spanish Armada, dies aged between 55 and 59
- Dec 5 Gerardus Mercator, Flemish geographer and cartographer (introduced the term atlas, added meractor lines to aid navigation by sea, Mercator 1569 world map), dies at 82