1570s in England

Events from the 1570s in England.

Incumbents

Monarch – Elizabeth I

Events

1570
- 25 February – Pope Pius V excommunicates Queen Elizabeth I of England with the papal bull Regnans in Excelsis^[1] which is affixed to the door of Old St Paul's Cathedral in London on 24 May.
- Florentine banker Roberto di Ridolfi devises the Ridolfi plot to assassinate Elizabeth and replace her with the Catholic Mary, Queen of Scots.
- Whitechapel Bell Foundry known to be in existence in London. By 2017, when it closes its premises in Whitechapel, it will be the oldest manufacturing company in Great Britain.^[2]
- The home and library of John Dee at Mortlake begin to serve as an informal prototype English academy for gentlemen with scientific interests.^[3]
- Approximate date – Thomas Tallis composes his 40-part motet Spem in alium.
1571
- 23 January – the Royal Exchange officially opened by Queen Elizabeth.^[4]
- April – Treason Act forbids criticism of the monarchy.^[5]
- May – All papal bulls declared treasonable by Act of Parliament.^[5]
- 25 June
  - An Act Against Usury permits moneylending at interest rates not exceeding 10%.^[6]
  - Queen Elizabeth's Grammar School, Horncastle, is founded in Lincolnshire.
- 27 June – Establishment of Jesus College "within the City and University of Oxford of Queen Elizabeth's foundation" by Welsh cleric and lawyer Hugh Price.^[7]
- 25 July – The Free Grammar School of Queen Elizabeth of the Parishioners of the Parish of Saint Olave in the County of Surrey is established in Tooley Street, London.
- 29 August – Ridolfi plot discovered.^[5] On 7 September Thomas Howard, 4th Duke of Norfolk, is arrested for his part in the conspiracy.
- The first Pro forma bill is introduced, symbolising Parliament's authority over its own affairs.^[8]
- Burford School is established in Oxfordshire.
1572
- 13 February – Harrow School is founded by local landowner John Lyon under royal charter.^[9]
- May – Hexhamshire is annexed to Northumberland.
- 2 June – Thomas Howard, 4th Duke of Norfolk, is executed for treason for his part in the Ridolfi plot to restore Catholicism in England.^[10]
- 11 July – Humphrey Gilbert leads 1500 English volunteers on an expedition to assist the Dutch Sea Beggars in their struggle against Spanish Habsburg rule.^[10]
- Formation of 'Thomas Morgan's Company of Foot', a group of 300 volunteers from the London Trained Bands to assist the Dutch, origin of the Buffs (Royal East Kent Regiment).^[11]
- Vagabonds Act, part of the Tudor Poor Laws, prescribes punishment for rogues. This includes actors' companies lacking formal patronage.
- Publication of a revised version of the Bishops' Bible.
1573
- 24 March – Queen Elizabeth's Grammar School for Boys established in Barnet at the petition of Robert Dudley, 1st Earl of Leicester.^[12]
- 17 April – English troops capture Edinburgh Castle.^[5]
- 18 December – Francis Walsingham becomes Secretary of State.^[5]
- Humphrey Gilbert produces his proposal for The erection of an achademy in London for educacion of her Maiestes wardes, and others the youth of nobility and gentlemen [sic].
1574
- 18 August – Treaty of Bristol settles commercial disputes with Spain.^[5]
- The Queen grants freedom to any remaining villeins on crown lands, ending serfdom in England.^[13]
- Construction of Longleat House completed.^[5]
1575
- March – Spain opens the port of Antwerp to English traders, in return for Queen Elizabeth agreeing to stop aiding Dutch rebels against Spanish rule.^[5]
- 7 July – Raid of the Redeswire: Sir John Carmichael of Scotland defeats Sir John Forster of England in a border skirmish which will be the last battle between the two kingdoms.
- 26 July – Edmund Grindal succeeds Matthew Parker as Archbishop of Canterbury.
- 14 November – Elizabeth declines an offer of rule over the Netherlands.^[5]
- Christopher Saxton publishes his County Atlas of England and Wales.^[5]
- William Byrd and Thomas Tallis are granted a royal monopoly for the publication of most types of music.
1576
- 8 February – Peter Wentworth is imprisoned for speaking in Parliament against royal interference in its affairs.
- 11 August – Explorer Martin Frobisher discovers Frobisher Bay whilst searching for the Northwest Passage.^[1]
- December – James Burbage opens London's second permanent public playhouse (and the first to have a substantial life), The Theatre, in Shoreditch.^[5]
- The following schools are founded in Kent:
  - Dartford Grammar School, by William d'Aeth, Edward Gwyn and William Vaughn.
  - Sutton Valence School, by William Lambe.
- William Lambarde's Perambulation of Kent (completed 1570) is published, first of the English county histories.
- Composer Thomas Whythorne writes a Booke of songs and sonetts with longe discourses sett with them, an early example of autobiographical writing in English.
1577
- June – Edmund Grindal suspended for refusing to suppress Puritanism.^[5]
- 6 July – 'Black Assize' in Oxford results in an outbreak of epidemic typhus killing around three hundred in the city.^[14]
- 29 November – Catholic seminary priest Cuthbert Mayne is hanged, drawn and quartered at Launceston, Cornwall, for treason, first of the Douai Martyrs.^[5]
- 13 December – Francis Drake leaves Plymouth aboard the Pelican with four other ships and 164 men on an expedition against the Spanish along the Pacific coast of the Americas which will become a circumnavigation.^[5]
1578
- 11 June – Humphrey Gilbert is granted letters patent to establish a colony in North America.^[15]
- 19 November – Humphrey Gilbert and Walter Raleigh set out from Plymouth leading an expedition to establish a colony in North America; forced to turn back six months later.^[5]
- December – Publication of John Lyly's didactic prose romance Euphues: the Anatomy of Wyt, originating the ornate prose style known as Euphuism.
1579
- 23 April – The English College, Rome, is established for the training of Roman Catholic priests to serve in England.^[10]
- 17 June – Drake claims New Albion on the Pacific coast of North America for England.^[10]
- June – Humphrey Gilbert sails in an unsuccessful attempt to intercept Spanish forces sailing to support the Second Desmond Rebellion in Ireland.
- 17 August – Eastland Company chartered to trade with Scandinavia and the Baltic Sea states.
- Publication of Edmund Spenser's poetry The Shepheardes Calender, anonymously.^[10]

Births

1570
- 22 January – Robert Bruce Cotton, politician (died 1631)
- 13 April – Guy Fawkes, Gunpowder Plot conspirator (hanged 1606)
- 28 November – James Whitelocke, judge (died 1632)
- John Cooper, composer and lutenist (died 1626)
- John Farmer, composer (died 1601)
- Simon Grahame, Scottish-born adventurer (died 1614)
1571
- ? March – Barnabe Barnes, poet (died 1609)
- Henry Ainsworth, Nonconformist clergyman and scholar (died 1622)
- William Bedell, Anglican churchman (died 1642)
- Charles Butler, beekeeper and philologist (died 1647)
- Bartholomew Gosnold, lawyer and explorer (died 1607)
- Thomas Storer, poet (died 1604)
- Thomas Wintour, Gunpowder Plot conspirator (hanged 1606)
1572
- 22 January – John Donne, writer and prelate (died 1631)
- c. 3 March – Robert Catesby, leader of the Gunpowder Plot (killed 1605)
- 11 June – Ben Jonson, dramatist (died 1637)
- John Floyd, Jesuit (died 1649)
- James Mabbe, scholar and poet (died 1642)
1573
- 15 July – Inigo Jones, architect (died 1652)
- 7 October – William Laud, Archbishop of Canterbury (died 1645)
- Richard Johnson, romance writer (died 1659)
- John Kendrick, merchant (died 1624)
1574
- 7 March (bapt.) – John Wilbye, composer (died 1638)
- June – Richard Barnfield, poet (died 1627)
- 1 July – Joseph Hall, bishop and satirist (died 1656)
- 7 August – Robert Dudley, styled Earl of Warwick, explorer and geographer (died 1649)
- 4 September – Thomas Gataker, clergyman and theologian (died 1654)
1575
- 5 March – William Oughtred, mathematician (died 1660)
- 14 August – Robert Hayman, poet (died 1629)
- Edmund Bolton, historian and poet (died 1633)
- Lionel Cranfield, 1st Earl of Middlesex, successful London merchant (died 1645)
- William Parker, 4th Baron Monteagle (died 1622)
- Arbella Stuart, Duchess of Somerset (died 1615)
- Cyril Tourneur, dramatist (died 1626)
1576
- October – Thomas Weelkes, composer and organist (died 1626)
- 7 October – John Marston, writer (died 1634)
- 12 October – Thomas Dudley, Governor of Massachusetts Bay Colony (died 1652)
- William Ames, Protestant philosopher (died 1633)
- Possible date – John Carver, first governor of Plymouth Colony (died 1621)
1577
- 8 February – Robert Burton, scholar (died 1640)
- 9 July – Thomas West, 3rd Baron De La Warr, governor of Virginia (died 1618)
- 11 August (bapt.) – Barnaby Potter, Bishop of Carlisle (died 1642)
- 20 November (bapt.) – Samuel Purchas, travel writer (died 1626)
- Robert Cushman, Plymouth Colony settler (died 1625)
- William Noy, lawyer and politician (died 1634)
- Henry Somerset, 1st Marquess of Worcester (died 1646)
1578
- 2 March – George Sandys, traveller (died 1644)
- 1 April – William Harvey, physician (died 1657)
- 16 May – Everard Digby, Gunpowder Plot conspirator (hanged 1606)
- 24 August – John Taylor, "The Water Poet" (died 1653)
- Thomas Coventry, 1st Baron Coventry, lawyer (died 1640)
- Francis Manners, 6th Earl of Rutland (died 1632)
- Ambrose Rookwood, Gunpowder Plot conspirator (hanged 1606)
1579
- 13 July – Arthur Dee, physician and alchemist (died 1651)
- 20 December (bapt.) – John Fletcher, playwright (died 1625)
- Jacob Astley, 1st Baron Astley of Reading, royalist commander in the English Civil War (died 1652)

Deaths

1571
- 12 February – Nicholas Throckmorton, diplomat and politician (born 1515)
- 1 June – John Story, Catholic lawyer, politician and martyr (executed) (born 1504)
- 23 September – John Jewel, bishop (born 1522)
1572
- January – Robert Pattison, actor (born c. 1535)
- 10 March – William Paulet, 1st Marquess of Winchester (born c. 1483)
- 2 June – Thomas Howard, 4th Duke of Norfolk (executed) (born 1536)
- 24 October – Edward Stanley, 3rd Earl of Derby, politician (born 1508)
- Christopher Tye, composer and organist (born 1505)
1573
- 12 January – William Howard, 1st Baron Howard of Effingham, Lord High Admiral (born 1510)
- 14 May (bur.) – Richard Grafton, merchant and printer (born c. 1506/7 or 1511)
- 29 July – John Caius, physician (born 1510)
- Late – Reginald Wolfe, printer (year of birth unknown)
1574
- circa 7 November – Robert White, composer (born 1538)
1575
- 17 May – Matthew Parker, Archbishop of Canterbury (born 1504)
- 14 July – Richard Taverner, Bible translator (born 1505)
1576
- 22 September – Walter Devereux, 1st Earl of Essex (born 1541)
1577
- 12 August – Thomas Smith, scholar and diplomat (born 1513)
- 7 October – George Gascoigne, poet (born c. 1525)
- 29 November – Cuthbert Mayne, recusant Catholic priest and martyr, canonised (executed) (born 1543)
1578
- 7 March – Lady Margaret Douglas, Countess of Lennox, member of the royal family, diplomat (born 1515)
- 29 March – Arthur Champernowne, admiral (born 1524)
- 20 June – Thomas Doughty, explorer (executed) (year of birth unknown)
- 27 July – Jane Lumley, translator (born 1537)
- 4 August – Thomas Stucley, adventurer (born 1525)
- December – Nicholas Heath, Archbishop of York and Lord Chancellor (born 1501)
1579
- 20 February – Nicholas Bacon, politician (born 1509)
- 20 May – Isabella Markham, courtier (born 1527)
- 10 June – William Whittingham, Biblical scholar and religious reformer (born 1524)
- 21 November – Thomas Gresham, merchant and financier (born 1519)

References

^ ^a ^b Penguin Pocket On This Day. Penguin Reference Library. 2006. ISBN 0-14-102715-0.
^ "500 Years of History". Whitechapel Bell Foundry. Retrieved 5 November 2010.
^ French, Peter J. John Dee. pp. 60, 171–2.
^ "Chambers' Book of Days, January 23rd". Archived from the original on 24 December 2007. Retrieved 23 December 2007.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g ^h ⁱ ^j ^k ^l ^m ⁿ ^o Palmer, Alan; Palmer, Veronica (1992). The Chronology of British History. London: Century Ltd. pp. 156–159. ISBN 0-7126-5616-2.
^ Halio, Jay L. (2000). Understanding The Merchant of Venice: A Student Casebook. Greenwood. pp. 123–5. ISBN 9780313310119.
^ Hibbert, Christopher, ed. (1988). The Encyclopædia of Oxford. London: Macmillan. p. 198. ISBN 0-333-39917-X.
^ "The Library of Parliament's research tool for finding information on legislation". Library of Parliament. 28 January 2010. Archived from the original on 2 February 2010. Retrieved 28 January 2010.
^ Tyerman, Christopher (2000). A History of Harrow School. Oxford University Press. pp. 8–17. ISBN 0-19-822796-5.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e Williams, Hywel (2005). Cassell's Chronology of World History. London: Weidenfeld & Nicolson. pp. 226–229. ISBN 0-304-35730-8.
^ Beckett, Ian (2003). Discovering English County Regiments. Shire. p. 52. ISBN 978-0-747-80506-9.
^ "The Charter". Barnet: Queen Elizabeth's SChool. Retrieved 15 April 2022.
^ "Serfdom". 1902 Encyclopedia. Retrieved 7 April 2023.
^ The Nuttall Encyclopædia. 1907.
^ Letters Patent to Sir Humfrey Gylberte June 11, 1578, from the Avalon Project

[Pocket_On_This_Day-1] Penguin Pocket On This Day. Penguin Reference Library. 2006. ISBN 0-14-102715-0.

[2] "500 Years of History". Whitechapel Bell Foundry. Retrieved 5 November 2010.

[3] French, Peter J. John Dee. pp. 60, 171–2.

[4] "Chambers' Book of Days, January 23rd". Archived from the original on 24 December 2007. Retrieved 23 December 2007.

[CBH-5] ^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g ^h ⁱ ^j ^k ^l ^m ⁿ ^o Palmer, Alan; Palmer, Veronica (1992). The Chronology of British History. London: Century Ltd. pp. 156–159. ISBN 0-7126-5616-2.

[6] Halio, Jay L. (2000). Understanding The Merchant of Venice: A Student Casebook. Greenwood. pp. 123–5. ISBN 9780313310119.

[7] Hibbert, Christopher, ed. (1988). The Encyclopædia of Oxford. London: Macmillan. p. 198. ISBN 0-333-39917-X.

[8] "The Library of Parliament's research tool for finding information on legislation". Library of Parliament. 28 January 2010. Archived from the original on 2 February 2010. Retrieved 28 January 2010.

[9] Tyerman, Christopher (2000). A History of Harrow School. Oxford University Press. pp. 8–17. ISBN 0-19-822796-5.

[Cassell's_Chronology-10] Williams, Hywel (2005). Cassell's Chronology of World History. London: Weidenfeld & Nicolson. pp. 226–229. ISBN 0-304-35730-8.

[Beckett-11] Beckett, Ian (2003). Discovering English County Regiments. Shire. p. 52. ISBN 978-0-747-80506-9.

[12] "The Charter". Barnet: Queen Elizabeth's SChool. Retrieved 15 April 2022.

[13] "Serfdom". 1902 Encyclopedia. Retrieved 7 April 2023.

[14] The Nuttall Encyclopædia. 1907.

[15] Letters Patent to Sir Humfrey Gylberte June 11, 1578, from the Avalon Project

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