- Jan 7 Calais, last English possession in France, retaken by French
- Jan 8 French troops under Duc de Guise occupy Calais
- Jan 9 Geneva becomes independent from Berne canton, Switzerland
- Jan 11 Westmunster Church in Middelburg destroyed by heavy storm
- Mar 5 Smoking tobacco introduced into Europe by Spanish physician Francisco Fernandes
- Apr 4 Tsar Ivan IV gives parts of North-Russia to fur traders
- May 3 Ferdinand I officially appointed Holy Roman Emperor after his brother Charles abdicated in 1556
- Jul 13 Battle of Gravelines: In France, Spanish forces led by Count Lamoral of Egmont defeat the French forces of Marshal Paul des Thermes at Gravelines
- Jul 23 Battle of Grevelingen: Lamoraal, Count of Egmont beat France
- Aug 4 1st printing of Zohar (Jewish Kabbalah)
- Aug 24 Battle of Gravelines: English fleet beats Spanish
- Oct 9 Mérida is founded in Venezuela
Event of Interest
Nov 17 Elizabeth I aged 25, ascends the English throne upon death of her half sister, Queen "Bloody" Mary
Elizabeth I
- Nov 17 The Church of England is re-established
