This article contains information about the literary events and publications of1594.

• c. February – TheShakespeare playTitus Andronicus is the first to be published, anonymously in London. His poemThe Rape of Lucrece is published after May.
• Spring – The London theaters reopen after two years of general inactivity due to thebubonic plague epidemic of 1592–94. Many actors who used to beLord Strange's Men form a new company, theLord Chamberlain's Men, under the patronage ofHenry Carey, 1st Baron Hunsdon,Lord Chamberlain of England at the time.
• April 6 andApril 9 – Members ofQueen Elizabeth's Men and Sussex's Men perform the earlyKing Leir atthe Rose Theatre in London.
• May 14 – The reorganizedAdmiral's Men begin performances withChristopher Marlowe'sThe Jew of Malta.
• October – The first firmly recorded performance ofMarlowe'sThe Tragicall History of the Life and Death of Doctor Faustus is given by the Admiral's Men withEdward Alleyn in the title role.
• Christmas – Students ofGray's Inn in London performThe Maske of Proteus and the Adamantine Rock beforeQueen Elizabeth. Written by Francis Davison with music byThomas Campion, it is probably the first stagedmasque in England.^[1]
• December 28 – Shakespeare'sThe Comedy of Errors is performed at Gray's Inn.
• unknown date –Franciscus Gomarus becomes professor of theology atLeiden University.

• SirJohn Davys –The Seamans Secrets
• Richard Hooker –Of the Lawes of Ecclesiastical Politie
• Thomas Nashe –The Unfortunate Traveller

• Anonymous
  • The Famous Victories of Henry V (first recorded)
  • A Knack to Know an Honest Man
  • Selimus published
  • The Taming of a Shrew (published)
  • The True Tragedy of Richard III (published)
• Samuel Daniel –Cleopatra
• Lope de Vega –El maestro de danzar (The Dancing Master)
• Robert Greene (published)
  • Friar Bacon and Friar Bungay
  • Orlando Furioso
• Thomas Lodge and Robert Greene –A Looking Glass for London (published)
• Thomas Lodge –The Wounds of Civil War (published)
• John Lyly –Mother Bombie (published)
• Christopher Marlowe (k. 1593)
  • Edward II (earliest known edition)
  • The Massacre at Paris (earliest edition, undated, probable year)
  • (withThomas Nashe?) –Dido, Queen of Carthage (published)
• William Shakespeare:
  • The Comedy of Errors (performed)
  • Titus Andronicus (published)
• Robert Wilson –The Cobbler's Prophecy (published)

• Richard Barnfield –The Affectionate Shepherd
• George Chapman –The Shadow of Night
• William Shakespeare –The Rape of Lucrece
• Thomas Storer –Life and Death of Cardinal Wolsey
• Henry Willobie –Willobie His Avisa

• January 24 –Pierre de Marca, French historian and bishop (died1662)
• March 25 –Maria Tesselschade Visscher, Dutch poet (died1649)
• September 30 –Antoine Gérard de Saint-Amant, French poet (died1661)
• Unknown date –John Spelman, English historian (died1643)

• c.February 7 –Barnabe Googe, English poet (born1540)
• April 29 –Thomas Cooper, English lexicographer, controversialist and bishop (born c. 1517)
• May 30 –Bálint Balassi, Hungarian lyric poet (born1554)
• June 3 –John Aylmer, English constitutionalist, translator and bishop (born1521)
• July –Girolamo Mei, Italian historian (born1519)
• c.July 16 –Thomas Kyd, English dramatist (born1558)^[2]
• November 29 –Alonso de Ercilla, Spanish noble, soldier and epic poet (born1533)

• 1594 in literature
• Years of the 16th century in literature

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