- Feb 26 Erik XIV, King of Sweden (1560-69), dies of arsenic poisoning at 43
- May 8 Viglius ab Aytta Zuichemus, lawyer/President (Raad van State), dies
- Aug 12 Thomas Smith, English diplomat and scholar (b. 1513)
- Oct 7 George Gascoigne, English poet
- Nov 19 Matsunaga Hisahide, Japanese warlord (b. 1510)
- Nov 29 Cuthbert Mayne, English catholic saint, executed for high treason by being hung, drawn and quartered (b. 1543)
- Dec 18 Anna, duchess of Saxon/wife of prince Willem of Orange, dies at 32