This article contains information about the literary events and publications of 1556.
Events
*''Unknown dates''
**The first
printing press
A printing press is a mechanical device for applying pressure to an inked surface resting upon a print medium (such as paper or cloth), thereby transferring the ink. It marked a dramatic improvement on earlier printing methods in which the ...
in
India
India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...
is introduced by
Jesuits
, image = Ihs-logo.svg
, image_size = 175px
, caption = ChristogramOfficial seal of the Jesuits
, abbreviation = SJ
, nickname = Jesuits
, formation =
, founders = ...
at
Saint Paul's College, Goa
St. Paul's College was a Jesuit school, and later college, founded circa 1542 by saint Francis Xavier, at Old Goa. It was once the main Jesuit institution in the whole of Asia. It housed the first printing press in India, having published the firs ...
.
**The first written evidence of
Yakshagana
Yakshagaana is a traditional theatre, developed in Dakshina Kannada, Udupi, Uttara Kannada, Shimoga and western parts of Chikmagalur districts, in the state of Karnataka and in Kasaragod district in Kerala that combines dance, music, dialogue, ...
dance-drama is found on an inscription at the
Lakshminarayana Temple, Hosaholalu in India.
**
Augustus, Elector of Saxony
Augustus (31 July 152611 February 1586) was Elector of Saxony from 1553 to 1586.
First years
Augustus was born in Freiberg, the youngest child and third (but second surviving) son of Henry IV, Duke of Saxony, and Catherine of Mecklenburg. He con ...
, establishes a royal state library in
Dresden
Dresden (, ; Upper Saxon: ''Dräsdn''; wen, label= Upper Sorbian, Drježdźany) is the capital city of the German state of Saxony and its second most populous city, after Leipzig. It is the 12th most populous city of Germany, the fourth ...
, predecessor of the
Saxon State and University Library Dresden
The Saxon State and University Library Dresden (full name in german: Sächsische Landesbibliothek – Staats- und Universitätsbibliothek Dresden), abbreviated SLUB Dresden, is located in Dresden, Germany. It is both the regional library (german: ...
.
New books
Prose
*
Georg Bauer
Georgius Agricola (; born Georg Pawer or Georg Bauer; 24 March 1494 – 21 November 1555) was a German Humanist scholar, mineralogist and metallurgist. Born in the small town of Glauchau, in the Electorate of Saxony of the Holy Roman Empire ...
– ''
De re metallica''
*
John Ponet
John Ponet (c. 1514 – August 1556), sometimes spelled John Poynet, was an English Protestant churchman and controversial writer, the bishop of Winchester and Marian exile. He is now best known as a resistance theorist who made a sustained at ...
– ''A Short Treasure of Politic Power''
Poetry
*
Pierre de Ronsard
Pierre de Ronsard (; 11 September 1524 – 27 December 1585) was a French poet or, as his own generation in France called him, a " prince of poets".
Early life
Pierre de Ronsard was born at the Manoir de la Possonnière, in the village of ...
– ''Les Hymnes''
Births
*
March 7 –
Guillaume du Vair, French lawyer and philosopher (died
1621
Events
January–March
* January 12 – Şehzade Mehmed, the 15-year old half-brother of Ottoman Sultan Osman II, is put to death by hanging on Osman's orders. Before dying, Mehmed prays aloud that Osman's reign as Sultan be rui ...
)
*
April 27 –
François Béroalde de Verville
François Béroalde de Verville (27 April 1556 – 19–26 October 1626) was a French Renaissance novelist, poet and intellectual. He was born in Paris, the son of Matthieu Brouard (or Brouart), called "Béroalde", a professor of Agrippa ...
, French novelist and poet (died
1626
Events
January–March
* January 7 – Polish-Swedish War: Battle of Wallhof in Latvia – Gustavus Adolphus, King of Sweden, defeats a Polish army.
* January 9 – Peter Minuit sails from Texel Island for America's Ne ...
)
*
July 25
Events Pre-1600
* 306 – Constantine I is proclaimed Roman emperor by his troops.
* 315 – The Arch of Constantine is completed near the Colosseum in Rome to commemorate Constantine I's victory over Maxentius at the Milvian Bridge. ...
(baptised) –
George Peele, English dramatist and poet (died
1596)
*
August 10
Events Pre-1600
* 654 – Pope Eugene I elected to succeed Martinus I.
* 955 – Battle of Lechfeld: Otto I, Holy Roman Emperor
Otto I (23 November 912 – 7 May 973), traditionally known as Otto the Great (german: Otto der Gro ...
–
Philipp Nicolai
Philipp Nicolai (10 August 1556 – 26 October 1608) was a German Lutheran pastor, poet, and composer. He is most widely recognized as a hymnodist.
Biography
Philipp Nicolai was born at Mengeringhausen in Waldeck, Hesse, Germany where his ...
, German poet and composer (died
1608
Events
January–June
*January – In the Colony of Virginia, Powhatan releases Captain John Smith.
*January 2 – The first of the Jamestown supply missions returns to the Colony of Virginia with Christopher Newport commanding ...
)
*
November 15
Events Pre-1600
* 655 – Battle of the Winwaed: Penda of Mercia is defeated by Oswiu of Northumbria.
* 1315 – Growth of the Old Swiss Confederacy: The Schweizer Eidgenossenschaft ambushes the army of Leopold I in the Battle of Mo ...
–
Jacques Davy Duperron
Jacques Davy Duperron (15 November 1556 – 6 December 1618) was a French politician and Roman Catholic cardinal.
Family and Education
Jacques Davy du Perron was born in Saint-Lô in Normandy, into the Davy family, of the Norman minor nobility ...
, French poet, cardinal and politician (died
1618
Events
January–June
* February 26 – Osman II deposes his uncle Mustafa I as Ottoman sultan (until 1622).
* March 8 – Johannes Kepler discovers the third law of planetary motion (after some initial calculations, he soon ...
)
*
November 25
Events Pre-1600
*571 BC – Servius Tullius, king of Rome, celebrates the first of his three triumphs for his victory over the Etruscans.
*1034 – Máel Coluim mac Cináeda, King of Scots, dies. His grandson, Donnchad, son of Bethó ...
(baptised) –
John Heminges
John Heminges (bapt. 25 November 1566 – 10 October 1630) was an actor in the King's Men, the playing company for which William Shakespeare wrote. Along with Henry Condell, he was an editor of the First Folio, the collected plays of Shakespeare ...
, English actor and editor of the
First Folio
''Mr. William Shakespeare's Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies'' is a collection of plays by William Shakespeare, commonly referred to by modern scholars as the First Folio, published in 1623, about seven years after Shakespeare's death. It is cons ...
(died
1630
Events
January–March
* January 2 – A shoemaker in Turin is found to have the first case of bubonic plague there as the plague of 1630 begins spreading through Italy.
* January 5 – A team of Portuguese military advisers ...
)
*''Unknown date'' –
John Paul Nazarius, Italian theologian (died
1645
Events
January–March
* January 3 – The Long Parliament adopts the '' Directory for Public Worship'' in England, Wales, Ireland and Scotland, replacing the Book of Common Prayer (1559). Holy Days (other than Sundays) are not ...
)
Deaths
*
April 26
Events Pre-1600
* 1336 – Francesco Petrarca (Petrarch) ascends Mont Ventoux.
*1348 – Czech king Karel IV founds the Charles University in Prague, which was later named after him and was the first university in Central Europe.
* 1 ...
–
Valentin Friedland
Valentin Friedland (14 February 149026 April 1556), also called Valentin Troitschendorf (or Trozendorf or Trotzendorf or Trocedorfius) after his birthplace, was an eminent German scholar and educationist of the Reformation. Friedland was a friend o ...
, German scholar and teacher (born
1490
Year 1490 ( MCDXC) was a common year starting on Friday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar.
Events
January–December
* January 4 – Anne of Brittany announces that all those who ally themselves with the ...
)
*
May 7
Events Pre-1600
* 351 – The Jewish revolt against Constantius Gallus breaks out after his arrival at Antioch.
* 558 – In Constantinople, the dome of the Hagia Sophia collapses, twenty years after its construction. Justinian I imm ...
–
Hieronymus Andreae
Hieronymus Andreae, or Andreä, or Hieronymus Formschneider, (died 7 May 1556) was a German woodblock cutter ("formschneider"), printer, publisher and typographer closely associated with Albrecht Dürer. Andreae's best known achievements includ ...
, German printer and publisher (date of birth unknown)
*
July 31 –
Ignatius of Loyola
Ignatius of Loyola, S.J. (born Íñigo López de Oñaz y Loyola; eu, Ignazio Loiolakoa; es, Ignacio de Loyola; la, Ignatius de Loyola; – 31 July 1556), venerated as Saint Ignatius of Loyola, was a Spanish Catholic priest and theologian, ...
, Spanish theologian, founder of the Jesuits (born
1491)
*
October 21
Events Pre-1600
*1096 – A Seljuk Turkish army successfully fights off the People's Crusade.
*1097 – First Crusade: Crusaders led by Godfrey of Bouillon, Bohemund of Taranto, and Raymond IV, Count of Toulouse, begin the Siege of A ...
–
Pietro Aretino
Pietro Aretino (, ; 19 or 20 April 1492 – 21 October 1556) was an Italian author, playwright, poet, satirist and blackmailer, who wielded influence on contemporary art and politics. He was one of the most influential writers of his time and a ...
, Italian satirist (born
1492
Year 1492 ( MCDXCII) was a leap year starting on Sunday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar.
1492 is considered to be a significant year in the history of the West, Europe, Christianity, Islam, Judaism, Spain, and the N ...
)
*
October 31
Events Pre-1600
* 475 – Romulus Augustulus is proclaimed Western Roman Emperor.
* 683 – During the Siege of Mecca, the Kaaba catches fire and is burned down.
* 802 – Empress Irene is deposed and banished to Lesbos. Co ...
–
Johannes Sleidanus, Luxembourgeois historian (born
1506
__NOTOC__
Year 1506 ( MDVI) was a common year starting on Thursday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar.
Events
January–June
* January 14 – The classical statue of ''Laocoön and His Sons'' is uneart ...
)
*
November 14
Events Pre-1600 1601–1900
*1680 – German astronomer Gottfried Kirch discovers the Great Comet of 1680, the first comet to be discovered by telescope.
*1770 – James Bruce discovers what he believes to be the source of the Nile.
...
–
Giovanni della Casa
Giovanni della Casa (28 June 1503 – 14 November 1556), was a Florentine poet, writer on etiquette and society, diplomat, and inquisitor. He is celebrated for his famous treatise on polite behavior, '' Il Galateo overo de’ costumi'' (1558). Fr ...
, Florentine poet (born
1503)
*
December 23
Events Pre-1600
* 484 – The Arian Vandal Kingdom ceases its persecution of Nicene Christianity.
* 558 – Chlothar I is crowned King of the Franks.
* 583 – Maya queen Yohl Ik'nal is crowned ruler of Palenque.
* 962 &ndas ...
–
Nicholas Udall, English dramatist (born
1504
__NOTOC__
Year 1504 (Roman numerals, MDIV) was a leap year starting on Monday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar.
Events
January–June
* January 1 – Kingdom of France, French troops of King Louis XII ...
)
*''Unknown dates''
**
Fuzûlî, Ottoman poet and philosopher (born c.1483)
**
Oddur Gottskálksson
Oddur Gottskálksson (1495/1496 – 1556) was the translator of the first book printed in Icelandic, the New Testament.
Oddur was born in Hólar where his father, Gottskálk grimmi Nikulásson was bishop. After his father died in 1520, Oddur ...
, Icelandic translator (born 1514/1515)
[Daisy L. Neijmann ''A History of Icelandic Literature'', p. 177.]
References
{{Year in literature article categories
*
Years of the 16th century in literature