Plymouth Colony
Feb 17 Myles Standish is elected as the first commander of the Plymouth Colony
Hugo Grotius Escapes
Mar 22 Dutch jurist Hugo Grotius escapes in a book chest from Loevestein Castle in the Netherlands
Mayflower Returns to England
Apr 5 Mayflower sails from Plymouth, Massachusetts on a return trip to England
- Apr 9 Spain & Netherlands 12 Year Resistant Pact ends
- Apr 15 Hugo Grotius arrives in France after escaping prison in a book chest
Francis Bacon Charged with Bribery
Apr 17 Lord Chancellor of England Francis Bacon is charged with 23 counts of bribery and corruption by a parliamentary committee on the administration of the law
- May 3 After confessing to corruption, Lord Chancellor of England Francis Bacon is sentenced to imprisonment in the Tower of London, a large £40,000 fine and banishment from court, Parliament and public office
- May 24 The Protestant Union is formally dissolved
- May 31 Former Lord Chancellor of England Francis Bacon is imprisoned for corruption in the Tower of London for 1 or 2 nights until released by King James I
- Jun 3 Dutch West India Company (WIC) receives charter for The West Indies (The Americas, Caribbean and West Africa)
- Jun 25 French government army occupies Fort St Jean d'Angély at La Rochelle
- Jul 6 Dutch governor general John Pieterszoon Coen takes Banda islands, 15,000 die
- Sep 15 Swedish troops occupy Riga
Event of Interest
Sep 21 King James I of England gives Sir William Alexander a royal charter for colonisation of Nova Scotia
Victory in Battle
Sep 28 Battle at Chocim Dniester: King Sigismund III Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth defeats an invading Ottoman Imperial army
Event of Interest
Dec 13 Emperor Ferdinand II delegates 1st anti-Reformation decree
- Dec 18 English parliament accept unanimously, Protestation
Event of Interest
Dec 25 Governor William Bradford of Plymouth Colony (now in Massachusetts) forbids game playing on Christmas Day
- Dec 30 English King James I cracks Protestation of Parliament
- Dec 31 Hungarian King Bethlen Gabor and Holy Roman Emperor Ferdinand II sign the Treaty of Mikulov