January 24 – Matthias of Habsburg is appointed by his brother Rudolf II, Holy Roman Emperor, to become the Archduke of die Vorlande, the possessions of the Austrian Habsburgs in Southern Germany outside of Austria, also called Further Austria (Vorderösterreich). The appointment follows the death of their uncle, Ferdinand II. Matthias will later become Archduke of Austria (in 1608) and the Emperor in 1612.
March 20 – After a siege of 13 days, the French town of Huy (now in Belgium) is captured by the army of the Spanish Netherlands, as the General Charles de Héraugière surrenders to the Baron de la Motte. [4]
July 21 – A Spanish expedition of four ships, led by navigator and explorerÁlvaro de Mendaña de Neira, makes the first European landing in Polynesia, on the Marquesas Islands. Despite an initially good reception with the natives, fighting begins and the Mendaña ships leave after two weeks. One of the ships, the Santa Ysabel, disappears during the voyage toward the Solomon Islands.
September 8 – The first European colony in the South Seas is established as Spanish explorer Álvaro de Mendaña claims Nendö Island (one of the Solomon Islands) and claims it for Spain as the colony of Santa Cruz. Malaria, a mutiny of some of the Spanish soldiers, and a fight with the indigenous people kills 47 of the settlers, including Mendaña on October 18.
October 30 – The surviving members of Spain's Mendaña expedition to Santa Cruz, including Mendaña's widow Isabel Barreto, decide to abandon the Santa Cruz colony in the South Pacific.
November 7 – Portuguese explorer Sebastião Rodrigues Soromenho, who had departed from the Philippines on the ship San Agustin on July 5 with cargo of Asian silk, porcelain, and almost 100 passengers and crew, drops anchor at Drakes Bay in what is now the U.S. state of California. [8] He and some of his crew come ashore, where they are greeted by Native Americans. A gale in a few weeks later sinks the San Agustin, killing at least 7 people and ruining the ship's cargo. The crew salvages a launch that they had brought with them.
November 8 – The Battle of Guadalupe Island is fought between nine English Navy warships (led by Sir Francis Drake) and eight Spanish frigates off in the North Atlantic Ocean. The Spanish force wins the battle, capturing one ship and killing 45 English sailors. Both sets of ships proceed toward Puerto Rico.
November 17 – In the remodeling of the Church of Saint Sylvester in Rome, the ashes of Pope Anterus are discovered almost 1,360 years after his death. Anterus had served as Pope for six weeks before dying on January 3, 236. [10]
November 18 – The settlers of the first attempt to create a European colony in the South Pacific depart from Santa Cruz Island on three surviving ships, the San Geronimo, the San Felipe and the Santa Catalina (which disappears during the attempt to return home). Despite the lack of navigation charts, navigator Pedro Fernandes de Queirós brings the San Geronimo and the San Felipe back to Manila Bay, arriving on February 11 after 12 weeks and the deaths of 50 passengers.
November 22 – The Battle of San Juan is fought off of the island of Puerto Rico as an English fleet of 27 ships and 2,500 men, led by Francis Drake, attempts to invade the Spanish colony. In a three-day battle, the English lose at least eight ships and 400 men, including Admiral John Hawkins. Drake's fleet withdraws and attempts to conquer Panama. [11]
December 8 – A group of 80 people from the sunken ship San Agustin, are able to leave California on the launch which they had brought along, which they name the San Buenaventura. The group sails past San Francisco Bay and arrives at Chacala in Mexico on January 17. [8]
^ Donald Quataert, The Ottoman Empire, 1700-1922 (Cambridge University Press, 2000) p.90
^Michael Bormann, Beitrag zur Geschichte der Ardennen ("Contribution to the history of the Ardennes") (Lintzschen Buchhandlung, 1841) pp. 242–243
^"The Cockpit of Ulster: War along the River Blackwater 593-1603", by James O'Neill, in Ulster Journal of Archaeology (2013) p.186
^John Lothrop Motley, The History of the United Netherlands: From the Death of William the Silent to the Twelve Year's Truce, Complete (1584-1609) (1860, reprinted by Library of Alexandria, 2004)
^Jadunath Sarkar, A History of Jaipur, c. 1503-1938 (Orient Longman, 1984) p.81
^Artaud de Montor, The Lives and Times of the Popes: Including the Complete Gallery of Portraits of the Pontiffs Reproduced from Effigies (The Catholic Publication Society of America, 1911) pp. 49–50
^Thomas Maynarde, Sir Francis Drake: His Voyage, 1595, including an Account off What Took Place at San Juan de Puerto Rico (reprinted by Routledge, 2016) pp. 46-63
^Green, Toby (21 March 2019). A fistful of shells : West Africa from the rise of the slave trade to the age of revolution. Chicago. ISBN9780226644578. OCLC1051687994.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
