Calendar year
February 8:Mary, the former Queen of Scotland , is executed for conspiring to assassinate Queen Elizabeth of England. October 31:Leiden University Library is opened. 1587 (MDLXXXVII ) was acommon year starting on Thursday of theGregorian calendar and acommon year starting on Sunday of theJulian calendar , the 1587th year of theCommon Era (CE) andAnno Domini 2nd millennium , the 87th year of the16th century , and the 8th year of the1580s decade. As of the start of 1587, the Gregorian calendar was 10 days ahead of the Julian calendar, which remained in localized use until 1923.
Calendar year
January 7 – SirWalter Raleigh appointsJohn White to be the Governor of theRoanoke Colony , to be established later in the year by English colonists onRoanoke Island off the coast of the modern-day U.S. state ofNorth Carolina .[ 1] January 14 – In Japan,Chancellor of the Realm Toyotomi Hideyoshi endsPortugal's control of the port ofNagasaki after six years. Omura Sumitada had leased the fishing village to Portuguese Jesuits on August 15, 1580.[ 2] February 5 (1st waxing of Tabaung 948 ME) – King Nanda of Burma appoints his eldest son and heir apparent,Minye Kyawswa II , as Viceroy of Ava, later part of upper Burma, with a capital atInwa (located in the modern-day Mandalay Region of Myanmar).February 8 –Mary, Queen of Scots , the monarch of Scotland from 1542 to 1567, is beheaded in front of 300 witnesses atFotheringhay Castle , seven days after the signing of adeath warrant by her cousin,Queen Elizabeth of England . Mary has been convicted of treason for her role in theBabington Plot , a conspiracy to overthrow the English government and to assassinate Elizabeth.[ 3] February 12 – A period of exceptionally severe cold begins in western Europe and lasts until February 24.[ 4] February 27 –Sir Anthony Cope , a member of the English Parliament, is imprisoned in theTower of London after presenting a Puritan revision of the AnglicanBook of Common Prayer John Puckering .[ 5] March 6 – In west Africa,Álvaro II Nimi a Nkanga becomes the new ruler of the Kingdom of Kongo, with a capital atSão Salvador in what becomes the city of M'banza-Kongo in the northern part of the Republic of Angola, and including parts of the Republic of the Congo and the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Alvaro II claims the throne upon the dath of his father,Álvaro I Nimi a Lukeni lua Mvemba .March 15 – English sailor SirFrancis Drake accepts a privateering commission fromQueen Elizabeth to disrupt shipping routes in order to slow supplies from Italy and Andalucia to Lisbon, to trouble enemy fleets in their home ports, to capture Spanish treasure ships and to attack the Spanish Armada if it were to sail for England. On 12 April, his fleet sails from Plymouth.April 20 (14th waxing of Kason 949 ME) –Burmese–Siamese War (1584–1593) : Burma's siege ofAyutthaya (now inThailand ), capital of the Ayutthaya Kingdom, fails after six months as the troops of Burma's KingNanda Bayin begin their withdrawal.[ 6] April 29 –Singeing the King of Spain's Beard Francis Drake leads a raid in theBay of Cádiz , sinking or capturing at least 30 ships of the Spanish fleet, delaying by a year the sailing of theSpanish Armada for England.May 8 – The second expedition to establish an English colony atRoanoke Island in North America departs from England with two ships, supplies, and 121 people under the command of John White.[ 7] May 19 –John Davis sets out fromDartmouth, Devon , for a third attempt to find theNorthwest Passage .June 8 – Sir Francis Drake captures Portuguese carrack theSão Filipe , laden with treasure from the Indies, off the Azores. Its cargo is valued at £108,000 (equivalent to £33,315,429 in 2023),[ 8] [ 9] June 11 (Tensho 15, 6th day of 5th month) – Most ofKyushu is surrendered toToyotomi Hideyoshi by Yoshihisa Shimazu, 32 days after Hideyoshi'ssiege of Kagoshima began (on the 3rd day of the 4th month). Hideyoshi follows on July 24 (19th day of the 6th month of Tensho 15) with an order banishing all European Christian missionaries from the province.June 20 –Gabriel VIII becomes the new Pontiff of the Coptic Christian Church in Egypt, being enthroned as Pope Gabriel VIII and filling a vacancy that had existed for nine months since the death of Pope John XIV of Alexandria. Gabriel will reign until his death on May 14, 1603.July 22 –Roanoke Colony : A group of English settlers arrive onRoanoke Island offNorth Carolina , to re-establish the deserted colony.[ 10] August 18 – According to legend,Saul Wahl is named king of Poland; he is deposed the following day.[ 11] August 19 –Polish andLithuanian nobles electSigismund III Vasa , King of Sweden, as the ruler of the after the death in December of the previous King of Poland and Duke of Lithuania,Stephen Báthory .[ 12] August 22 – A small group of nobles who oppose Sigismund Vasa as King vote to proclaimMaximilian III, Archduke of Austria , as ruler of thePolish–Lithuanian Commonwealth , a decision supported by thePrimate of Poland ,Stanisław Karnkowski . The divide begins theWar of the Polish Succession .[ 13] August 27 – Governor John White leaves theRoanoke Colony to get more supplies fromEngland .September 9 – In theBurgundian Netherlands (part of modern-dayBelgium ), the faculty at theUniversity of Leuven publishes a condemnation of the 34 propositions drawn up by theJesuit scholarMichel Baius , leading to a campaign by traditional Belgian Catholics against the Jesuits.[ 14] September 22 – The coronation ofVincenzo Gonzaga asDuke of Mantua in Italy takes place.September 28 – AtGremi in the modern-dayRepublic of Georgia ,King Alexander II ofKakheti signs an oath of allegiance toFeodor I , theTsar of all Russia .[ 15] A severe famine breaks out inMing dynasty China. The Rose (theatre) , the first onBankside in London, is built byPhilip Henslowe and functioning by the year's end.Pope Sixtus V establishes thecanon law office of 'Promoter of the Faith' (promotor fidei ), popularly known as the "Devil's advocate " (advocatus diaboli ).[ 22] Thechapbook Historia von D. Johann Fausten Johann Spies inFrankfurt , is the first published version of theFaust story. Everard Digby 'sDe Arte Natandi , the first treatise onswimming in England, is published.St. Dominic's Church, Macau is established.Hailuoto , an island in theBothnian Bay , is separated from the grand parish of Saloinen into an independent parish.[ 23] [ 24] Jan Pieterszoon Coen Gabriel Gustafsson Oxenstierna Hans van Steenwinckel the Younger January 2 –Anders Arrebo , Danish writer (d.1637 )January 5 –Xu Xiake , Chinese adventurer and geographer (d.1641 )January 6 –Gaspar de Guzmán, Count-Duke of Olivares , Spanish politician (d.1645 )January 8 January 12 –John Winthrop , English Puritan lawyer (d.1649 )February 1 –Pál Esterházy , Hungarian noble (d.1645 )February 3 –Dorothea Hedwig of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel , Princess of Anhalt-Zerbst (d.1609 )February 20 –Emanuel Sueyro , Dutch historian, translator, spymaster (d.1629 )February 26 –Stefano Landi , Italian composer (d.1639 )March 17 –David Lindsay, 1st Lord Balcarres , Scottish politician and noble (d.1642 )April 1 –Sir John Mill, 1st Baronet , English politician (d.1648 )April 2 –Virginia Centurione Bracelli , Italian saint (d.1651 )April 18 –Sir Charles Morrison, 1st Baronet , Member of the Parliament of England (d.1628 )April 26 April 28 –Krzysztof Ossoliński , Polish nobleman (d.1645 )April 29 –Sophie of Saxony, Duchess of Pomerania (d.1635 )April 30 –Éléonore de Bourbon , Dutch princess (d.1619 )May 7 –Richard Newport, 1st Baron Newport , English politician (d.1651 )May 8 –Victor Amadeus I, Duke of Savoy (d.1637 )May 17 –Esaias van de Velde , Dutch painter (d.1630 )May –Esaias van de Velde ,Dutch landscape painter (died1630 )[ 26] May 26 –Susan de Vere, Countess of Montgomery , English noblewoman (d.1628 )June 2 –Willem Bontekoe , skipper in the Dutch East India Company (d.1657 )June 5 –Robert Rich, 2nd Earl of Warwick , English colonial administrator and admiral (d.1658 )June 11 –Sir Thomas Jervoise , English politician (d.1654 )June 15 –Gabriel Gustafsson Oxenstierna , Swedish statesman (d.1640 )June 21 –Kaspar von Barth , German philologist and writer (d.1658 )June 24 July 4 –Magdalene of Bavaria , Consort of Wolfgang William, Count Palatine of Neuburg (d.1628 )August 16 –Khusrau Mirza , Mughal prince (d.1622 )August 18 –Virginia Dare , Virginia colony settlerAugust 23 –Johann Friedrich, Count Palatine of Sulzbach-Hilpoltstein (1614–1644) (d.1644 )August 28 –Christian William of Brandenburg , administrator of bishoprics of Magdeburg and Halberstadt (d.1665 )September 1 –Gómez Suárez de Figueroa, 3rd Duke of Feria , Spanish general (d.1634 )September 3 – CountessJuliane of Nassau-Siegen , Landgravine of Hesse-kassel (d.1643 )September 18 –Francesca Caccini , Italian composer[ 27] September 19 October 8 –Thomas Howard, 1st Earl of Berkshire , English politician (d.1669 )October 17 –Nathan Field , English dramatist and actor (d.1620 )October 18 –Philippe-Charles, 3rd Count of Arenberg (d.1640 )October 19 –Thomas Dacres , English politician (d.1668 )October 22 –Joachim Jungius , German mathematician and philosopher (d.1657 )[ 28] October 23 –Sir Gilbert Gerard, 1st Baronet of Harrow on the Hill , English politician (d.1670 )November 3 –Samuel Scheidt , German composer (d.1653 )[ 29] November 17 November 25 –Sir Gervase Clifton, 1st Baronet , English politician (d.1666 )December 13 –Emmanuel Stupanus , Swiss physician (d.1664 )December 19 –Dorothea Sophia, Abbess of Quedlinburg Abbey (1618–1645) (d.1645 )December 30 –Simon VII, Count of Lippe -Detmold (1613–1627) (d.1627 )date unknown Juraj Drašković Mary, Queen of Scots Ralph Sadler Godfried van Mierlo Francesco I de' Medici, Grand Duke of Tuscany January 31 –Juraj Drašković , CroatianRoman Catholic cardinal (b.1525 )January –Thomas Seckford , English official (b.1515 ) February 8 –Mary, Queen of Scots (executed) (b.1542 )[ 31] February 9 –Vincenzo Ruffo , Italian composer (b.1510 )February 13 –Dorothea of Saxony , Duchess of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel (b.1563 )February 22 –Sophie of Brandenburg-Ansbach , princess of Brandenburg-Ansbach (b.1535 )February 26 –Magdalene of Lippe , Countess of Lippe by birth, and Landgravine of Hesse-Darmstadt (b.1552 )March 15 –Caspar Olevian , German theologian (b.1536 )[ 32] March 30 –Ralph Sadler , English statesman (b.1507 )April 10 –Henry III, Duke of Münsterberg-Oels (b.1542 )April 11 –Thomas Bromley , English lord chancellor (b.1530 )April 8 –John Foxe , English author (b.1516 )[ 33] April 14 –Edward Manners, 3rd Earl of Rutland (b.1549 )April 16 –Anne Seymour, Duchess of Somerset (b. c.1510 )[ 34] May 9 –Jakob Schegk , German physician (b.1511 )May 17 –Gotthard Kettler , Duke of Courland and Semigallia (b.1517 )May 29 –Ignatius Ni'matallah , Syriac Orthodox patriarch of Antioch (b.c. 1515 )[ 35] June 11 –Ōtomo Sōrin , Japanese Christian daimyō (b.1530 )June 15 –Frederick II, Duke of Holstein-Gottorp (b.1568 )June 23 –Ōmura Sumitada , Japanese Christian daimyō (b.1533 )July 7 –Joachim of Zollern , Titular Count of Hohenzollern (b.1554 )July 28 –Godfried van Mierlo , DutchDominican friar and bishop (b.1518 )August 14 –Guglielmo Gonzaga, Duke of Mantua (b.1538 )August 29 –Vincenzo Bellavere , Italian composer (b. c.1540 )[ 36] September 3 –Henry Cheyne, 1st Baron Cheyne , English politician and baron (b.1540 )September 9 –George Douglas (martyr) , Scottish secular priest and martyr (b.c.1540 )[ 37] September 19 –Jacobus Pamelius , Belgian bishop (b.1536 )[ 38] October 19 –Francesco I de' Medici, Grand Duke of Tuscany (b.1541 )October 20 –Anne de Joyeuse , Duke of Joyeuse, French commander, (b.1560 )November 1 –Alfonso d'Este, Lord of Montecchio , Italian nobleman (b.1527 )November 10 –Abe Motozane , Japanese warlord (b.1513 )November 13 –Hai Rui , Ming Dynasty "model official" (b.1514 )December 11 –Andreas Gaill , German jurist and statesman (b.1526 )date unknown probable –George Whetstone , English writer (b.1544 )^ Andrew Lawler,The Secret Token: Myth, Obsession, and the Search for the Lost Colony of Roanoke ^ Charles Boxer,The Great Ship 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