January 24 –War of the Polish Succession: TheBattle of Pitschen takes place at Pitschen (modernByczyna in Poland) with Polish and Lithuanian troops commanded by the Polish hetmanJan Zamoyski defending against an invading Austrian force commanded byMaximilian III, Archduke of Austria. After his army is routed, Archduke Maximilian surrenders and is taken as a prisoner of war, and will be held for more than a year until his release is compelled by the intervention of Pope Sixtus V.[2]
March 20 – The ascension ofShah Abbas I as Emperor in Iran, of the Safavid Empire, is made official on the first day of the New Year on the Zoroastrian Calendar. Abbas has ruled since October 16, 1587.[5]
March 25 – The English Army begins the recruitment of volunteers to prepare for the expected invasion by Spain. On April 10, 1593, the English Parliament will enact the first military pension, "An Acte for relief of Soudiours", providing that "forasmuch as it is agreable with Christian Charity Policy and the Honor of our Nation, that shuch as have since the 25th day of March 1588, adventured their lives and lost their limbs or disabled their bodies, or shall hereafter adventure the lives, lose their limbs or disable their bodies, in defence and service of Her Majesty and the State, should at their return be relieved and rewarded to the end that they may reap the fruit of their good deservings, and others may be encouraged to perform like endeavors..."[6]
June 18 – Sailing across the South Atlantic Ocean towards England, near the end of their voyage around the world, Thomas Cavendish and hisEast India Company fleet stumble across the Portuguese-controlled island ofSaint Helena.[10] While Saint Helena has been under the control of Portugal for 80 years, England had been unaware of its existence.[11]
June 19 – Twenty days after departing from Spain, theSpanish Armada receives a foreshadowing of disaster to come during the summer as a storm scatters part of the fleet, postponing the invasion.[12]Alonso de Guzmán y Sotomayor,Duke of Medina Sidonia and commander of the Spanish expedition, returns the fleet to the port of Coruna for repairs, and writes a letter to King Philip, urging him to abandon plans for invasion of England, and to reach an honorable settlement, but the King refuses. The Spanish expedition resumes on July 21.
July 15 – AtRouen, King Henry III of France gives in to the latest demands of theCatholic League and the Duke of Guise, and signs the Edict of Union, agreeing not to allow French Protestants to participate in government,[13] in return for being able to return toParis.
August 9 – The Duke of Medina Sidonia, commander of the Spanish Armada, decides to return the fleet to Spain after two days of trying to reach the coast of Flanders to meet up with the army of theDuke of Parma.[16]
August 12 – The fleeing Spanish Armada sails past theFirth of Forth, and the English call off their pursuit, entirely avoiding the storm which destroys most of the Spanish fleet as it attempts to round Scotland and thewest coast of Ireland.[16]
September 9 – English captain Thomas Cavendish completeshis circumnavigation in a record time of 781 days, returning toPlymouth more than two years after setting off on July 21, 1586. The previous record had been 1,018 days by the expedition of Sir Francis Drake from 1577 to 1580. By the time of his return, Cavendish has only his flagship,Desire, after having started with two other vessels (the warshipContent and the 40-ton supply shipHugh Gallant).
November 13 – Dutch Republic and English forces captureBergen op Zoom, a fortress in the Spanish Netherlands, after a siege of 41 days.
November 15 – The English Navy shipGreat Spaniard, formerly the Spanish Armada shipSan Salvador until its capture on August 1, sinks off of the coast of England'sIsle of Purbeck, with the loss of 23 of the 57 crew. The survivors are rescued by an Englishman-o-war boat.[18]
December 5 – The Order of Augustinian Recollects is formally recognised as a separate province from the Order of Saint Augustine, an event later known as theDía de la Recolección orDay of Recollection.
December 23 – Henry III of France strikes his ultra-Catholic enemies, having the Duke of Guise and his brother,Louis II, Cardinal of Guise, killed, and holding theCardinal de Bourbon a prisoner. As a result, large parts of France reject Henry III as their king, forcing him to side withHenry of Navarre.
TheArmada Portrait ofElizabeth I of England is created, to celebrate the English defeat of the Spanish Armada, and to assert the strength of Elizabeth herself.
^Philippe Levillain, ed.,The Papacy: An Encyclopedia (Routledge, 2002) p. 772
^Daniel Stone,The Polish-Lithuanian state, 1386-1795 (University of Washington Press, 2001) pp. 131–132
^Bennassar, B.; Jacquart, J.; Blayau, N.; Denis, M.; Lebrun, F. (May 11, 2005).Historia moderna (in Spanish). Ediciones AKAL. p. 379.ISBN978-84-7600-990-1. RetrievedMarch 6, 2024.
^The Travels of Pedro Teixeira, translated by William F. Sinclair (Hakluyt Society, 1902) p. ix
^"History and chronology in early modern Iran: The Safavid Empire in comparative perspective", by Stephen P. Blake, inPerceptions of Iran: History, Myths and Nationalism from Medieval Persia to the Islamic Republic, ed. by Ali M. Ansari (I.B. Tauris, 2013)
^Papers Illustrative of the Origin and Early History of the Royal Hospital at Chelsea (Antiposi Verlag, 2023, reprint of 1872) p.5
^"Complaint from Heaven with a Huy & crye and a petition out of Virginia and Maryland", by Josias Fendall (1676), reprinted inThe American Colonies and the British Empire, 1607-1783, ed. by Steven Sarson (Taylor & Francis, 2020) p.58
