1556

Millennium:	2nd millennium
Centuries:	15th century 16th century 17th century
Decades:	1530s 1540s 1550s 1560s 1570s
Years:	1553 1554 1555 1556 1557 1558 1559

1556 in various calendars

Gregorian calendar	1556 MDLVI
Ab urbe condita	2309
Armenian calendar	1005 ԹՎ ՌԵ
Assyrian calendar	6306
Balinese saka calendar	1477–1478
Bengali calendar	963
Berber calendar	2506
English Regnal year	2 Ph. & M. – 3 Ph. & M.
Buddhist calendar	2100
Burmese calendar	918
Byzantine calendar	7064–7065
Chinese calendar	乙卯年 (Wood Rabbit) 4253 or 4046     — to — 丙辰年 (Fire Dragon) 4254 or 4047
Coptic calendar	1272–1273
Discordian calendar	2722
Ethiopian calendar	1548–1549
Hebrew calendar	5316–5317
Hindu calendars
- Vikram Samvat	1612–1613
- Shaka Samvat	1477–1478
- Kali Yuga	4656–4657
Holocene calendar	11556
Igbo calendar	556–557
Iranian calendar	934–935
Islamic calendar	963–964
Japanese calendar	Kōji 2 (弘治２年)
Javanese calendar	1475–1476
Julian calendar	1556 MDLVI
Korean calendar	3889
Minguo calendar	356 before ROC 民前356年
Nanakshahi calendar	88
Thai solar calendar	2098–2099
Tibetan calendar	阴木兔年 (female Wood-Rabbit) 1682 or 1301 or 529     — to — 阳火龙年 (male Fire-Dragon) 1683 or 1302 or 530

January 23: Shaanxi earthquake, devastation kills 830,000 in China.

Year 1556 (MDLVI) was a leap year starting on Wednesday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar.

Events

January–June

• January 16 – Charles I, having already abdicated as Holy Roman Emperor, resigns the Kingdom of Spain in favour of his son, Philip II, and retires to a monastery.
• January 23 – The Shaanxi earthquake, the deadliest earthquake in history, occurs with its epicenter in Shaanxi province, China; 830,000 people may have been killed.
• February 5 – Truce of Vaucelles: Fighting temporarily ends between France and Spain.
• February 14
  • Akbar the Great ascends to the throne of the Mughal Empire at age 13; he will rule until his death in 1605, by which time most of the north and centre of the Indian subcontinent will be under his control.
  • Archbishop of Canterbury Thomas Cranmer is declared a heretic.
• February 22 (approx.) – Sophia Jagiellon marries Henry V, Duke of Brunswick-Lüneburg.
• March 21 – In Oxford, Thomas Cranmer is burned at the stake for treason.

July–December

• November – The Truce of Vaucelles collapses, and war resumes between Henry II of France and Philip II of Spain.
• November 5 – Second Battle of Panipat: Fifty miles north of Delhi, a Mughal army defeats the forces of Hemu, to ensure Akbar the throne of India.

Date unknown

• The kings of Spain take control of the Flanders region, including what is now the French département of Nord.
• The Plantations of Ireland are started in King's County (now County Offaly) and Queen's County (now County Laois), the earliest attempt at systematic ethnic cleansing in Ireland, by the Roman Catholic ruler Queen Mary I of England.
• Future King Prince John, younger son of King Gustav I of Sweden becomes Duke of Finland.
• Ivan the Terrible conquers Astrakhan, opening the Volga River to Russian traffic and trade.
• The Welser banking families of Augsburg lose colonial control of Venezuela.
• Lorenzo Priuli becomes Doge of Venice.
• The false Martin Guerre appears in the French village of Artigat.
• The first printing press in India is introduced by Jesuits, at Saint Paul's College, Goa.

Births

Countess Maria of Nassau

• January 8 – Uesugi Kagekatsu, Japanese samurai and warlord (d. 1623)
• January 24 – Christian Barnekow, Danish noble, explorer and diplomat (d. 1612)
• February 4 – Dorothea of Hanau-Münzenberg, German noblewoman (d. 1638)
• February 7 – Countess Maria of Nassau (d. 1616)
• February 16 – Tōdō Takatora, Japanese daimyō (d. 1630)
• February 21 – Sethus Calvisius, German calendar reformer (d. 1615)
• March 7 – Guillaume du Vair, French statesman and philosopher (d. 1621)
• March 13 – Dirck van Os, Dutch merchant (d. 1615)
• April 8 – David Hoeschel, German librarian (d. 1617)
• April 9 – Andreas von Auersperg, Carniolan noble and military commander in the battle of Sisak (d. 1593)
• April 27 – François Béroalde de Verville, French writer (d. 1626)
• May 31 – Jerzy Radziwiłł, Polish Catholic cardinal (d. 1600)
• June 6 – Edward la Zouche, 11th Baron Zouche, English politician and diplomat (d. 1625)
• June 13 – Pomponio Nenna, Italian composer (d. 1608)
• June 24
  • Victoria of Valois, French princess (d. 1556)
  • Joan of Valois, French princess (d. 1556)
• July 9 – Elizabeth Finch, 1st Countess of Winchilsea, English countess (d. 1634)
• July 22 – Otto Henry, Count Palatine of Sulzbach (d. 1604)
• July 26 – James Melville, Scottish divine and reformer (d. 1614)
• August 10 – Philipp Nicolai, German Lutheran pastor (d. 1608)
• August 16 – Bartolomeo Cesi, Italian painter (d. 1629)
• August 17 – Alexander Briant, English Jesuit martyr (d. 1581)
• September 21 – William Harris, English knight (d. 1616)
• October 18
  • Charles I, Duke of Elbeuf, French duke and nobleman (d. 1605)
  • John Dormer, Member of Parliament (d. 1626)
• October 24 – Giovanni Battista Caccini, Italian artist (d. 1613)
• October 26 – Ahmad Baba al Massufi, Malian academic (d. 1627)
• November 15 – Jacques Davy Duperron, French cardinal (d. 1618)
• November 28 – Francesco Contarini, Doge of Venice (d. 1624)
• December 5 – Anne Cecil, Countess of Oxford, English countess (d. 1588)
• December 17 – Abdul Rahim Khan-I-Khana, Indian composer (d. 1627)
• December 27 – Jeanne de Lestonnac, French saint (d. 1640)
• date unknown
  • Margaret Clitherow, English Catholic martyr (d. 1586)
  • Shibata Katsutoyo, Japanese military commander (d. 1583)
  • Ahmad Baba al Massufi, Sudanese writer and political leader (d. 1627)

Deaths

Thomas Cranmer

Saint Ignatius of Loyola

• January 8 – Anne Shelton, elder sister of Thomas Boleyn (b. 1475)
• January 27 – 2nd Mughal Emperor Humayun (b. 1508)
• February 12 – Giovanni Poggio, Italian cardinal and diplomat (b. 1493)
• February 26 – Frederick II, Elector Palatine (1544–1556) (b. 1482)
• March 21 – Thomas Cranmer, Archbishop of Canterbury (burned at the stake) (b. 1489)
• April 18
  • Luigi Alamanni, Italian poet and statesman (b. 1495)
  • John Gage, English courtier of the Tudor period (b. 1479)
• April 26 – Valentin Friedland, German scholar and educationist of the Reformation (b. 1490)
• May 4 – Luca Ghini, Italian physician and botanist (b. 1490)
• May 28 – Saitō Dōsan, Japanese warlord (b. 1494)
• June 10 – Martin Agricola, German composer (b. 1486)
• June 24 – Joan of Valois, French princess (b. 1556)
• July 31 – Ignatius of Loyola, Spanish founder of the Jesuit order and saint (b. 1491)
• August 11 – John Bell, Bishop of Worcester
• August 17 – Victoria of Valois, French princess (b. 1556)
• September – Patrick Hepburn, 3rd Earl of Bothwell, Scottish traitor (b. 1512)
• October 7 – Frederick of Denmark, Prince-bishop (b. 1532)
• October 21 – Pietro Aretino, Italian author (b. 1492)
• November 10 – Richard Chancellor, English Arctic explorer (drowned at sea) (b. c. 1521)
• November 14 – Giovanni della Casa, Italian poet (b. 1503)
• date unknown
  • Tullia d'Aragona, Italian poet, author and philosopher (b. 1510)
  • Girolamo da Carpi, Italian painter (b. 1501)
  • Fuzûlî, Turkish poet (b. 1494)
• probable
  • Brian mac Cathaoir O Conchobhair Failghe, last of the Kings of Ui Failghe
  • Jacob Clemens non Papa, Flemish composer (b. 1510)