This article contains information about the literary events and publications of 1581.

Events

*January –

Francis Bacon Francis Bacon, 1st Viscount St Alban (; 22 January 1561 – 9 April 1626), also known as Lord Verulam, was an English philosopher and statesman who served as Attorney General and Lord Chancellor of England. Bacon led the advancement of both ...

takes his seat as an MP in the

Parliament of England The Parliament of England was the legislature of the Kingdom of England from the 13th century until 1707 when it was replaced by the Parliament of Great Britain. Parliament evolved from the great council of bishops and peers that advised t ...

for the Cornish pocket borough of

Bossiney Bossiney ( kw, Boskyny, meaning ''Cyni's dwelling'') is a village in north Cornwall, England, United Kingdom. It is north-east of the larger village of Tintagel which it adjoins: further north-east are the Rocky Valley and Trethevy. Until 1832 t ...

. * June 24 –

Torquato Tasso Torquato Tasso ( , also , ; 11 March 154425 April 1595) was an Italian poet of the 16th century, known for his 1591 poem ''Gerusalemme liberata'' (Jerusalem Delivered), in which he depicts a highly imaginative version of the combats between ...

's epic poem '' Jerusalem Delivered'' (''La Gerusalemme liberata'') is first published complete, a pirated edition printed in

Parma Parma (; egl, Pärma, ) is a city in the northern Italian region of Emilia-Romagna known for its architecture, Giuseppe Verdi, music, art, prosciutto (ham), Parmigiano-Reggiano, cheese and surrounding countryside. With a population of 198,292 ...

being followed by an authorized edition from

Ferrara Ferrara (, ; egl, Fràra ) is a city and ''comune'' in Emilia-Romagna, northern Italy, capital of the Province of Ferrara. it had 132,009 inhabitants. It is situated northeast of Bologna, on the Po di Volano, a branch channel of the main stream ...

, where the poet is confined in the Ospedale di Sant'Anna. Also this year, Aldus Manutius the Younger prints a selection of Tasso's lyrics and prose in Venice. ''Uncertain dates'' *Stationer Thomas Marsh publishes ''Seneca's Tragedies in English'', a collected edition of ten dramas written by

Seneca the Younger Lucius Annaeus Seneca the Younger (; 65 AD), usually known mononymously as Seneca, was a Stoic philosopher of Ancient Rome, a statesman, dramatist, and, in one work, satirist, from the post-Augustan age of Latin literature. Seneca was born in ...

(or attributed to him), translated by Jasper Heywood,

John Studley John Studley (1545?–1590?) was an English academic, known as a translator of Seneca. He contributed to the ''Seneca his tenne tragedies translated into English'' (1581), compiled by Thomas Newton and the sole printed translations of Seneca avail ...

Alexander Neville Alexander Neville ( 1340–1392) was a late medieval prelate who served as Archbishop of York from 1374 to 1388. Life Born in about 1340, Alexander Neville was a younger son of Ralph Neville, 2nd Baron Neville de Raby and Alice de Audley. He ...

Thomas Newton Thomas Newton (1 January 1704 – 14 February 1782) was an English cleric, biblical scholar and author. He served as the Bishop of Bristol from 1761 to 1782. Biography Newton was educated at Trinity College, Cambridge and was subsequently elect ...

, and Thomas Nuce. Most of the texts have been printed previously, from 1559 onward; but Newton's version of ''Thebais'' is new, and earlier printed texts of Studley's versions of ''Hercules Oetaeus'' and ''Hippolytus'', if they ever existed, have not survived. *

John Dee John Dee (13 July 1527 – 1608 or 1609) was an English mathematician, astronomer, astrologer, teacher, occultist, and alchemist. He was the court astronomer for, and advisor to, Elizabeth I, and spent much of his time on alchemy, divinatio ...

starts to write ''Libri mysteriorum I-XVIII'' (Spiritual Diaries). *First record of bookselling at No. 1,

Trinity Street, Cambridge Trinity Street (formerly the High Street) is a street in central Cambridge, England. The street continues north as St John's Street, and south as King's Parade and then Trumpington Street. The street is named after Trinity College, which is o ...

, England; it will continue to be a bookshop for at least 430 years.

New books

Church of Scotland The Church of Scotland ( sco, The Kirk o Scotland; gd, Eaglais na h-Alba) is the national church in Scotland. The Church of Scotland was principally shaped by John Knox, in the Scottish Reformation, Reformation of 1560, when it split from t ...

– '' The Second Book of Discipline'' *

William Lambarde William Lambarde (18 October 1536 – 19 August 1601) was an English antiquarian, writer on legal subjects, and politician. He is particularly remembered as the author of ''A Perambulation of Kent'' (1576), the first English county history; ''E ...

– ''Eirenarcha: or of the Office of the Justices of Peace'' * Ostrog Bible * Barnabe Riche – ''Riche his Farewell to Militarie Profession'' ' ''verie pleasaunt discourses fit for a peaceable tyme''

New drama

Edward Forsett Edward Forset (or Forsett) (1553–1630) was an English official, politician and writer, known for political works and as a playwright. Life He was the fourth son of Richard Forsett, a barrister and Member of Parliament, and his wife Margaret Va ...

– ''Pedantius'' (

Latin Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power of the ...

) *

George Peele George Peele (baptised 25 July 1556 – buried 9 November 1596) was an English translator, poet, and dramatist, who is most noted for his supposed but not universally accepted collaboration with William Shakespeare on the play ''Titus Andronicus' ...

– ''The Arraignment of Paris'' (a pastoral) *Nathaniel Woodes – ''The Conflict of Conscience''

Poetry

– '' Jerusalem Delivered''

Births

January 4 Events Pre-1600 *46 BC – Julius Caesar fights Titus Labienus in the Battle of Ruspina. * 871 – Battle of Reading: Æthelred of Wessex and his brother Alfred are defeated by a Danish invasion army. 1601–1900 *1649 – Engli ...

– James Ussher, Anglo-Irish archbishop and scholar (died

1656 Events January–March * January 5 – The First War of Villmergen, a civil war in the Confederation of Switzerland pitting its Protestant and Roman Catholic cantons against each other, breaks out but is resolved by March 7. The ...

) * March 16 –

Pieter Corneliszoon Hooft Pieter Corneliszoon Hooft (16 March 1581 – 21 May 1647) - Knight in the Order of Saint Michael - was a Dutch historian, poet and playwright who lived during the Dutch Golden Age in literature. Life Pieter Corneliszoon Hooft, often abbreviat ...

, Dutch Golden Age writer (died

1647 Events January–March * January 2 – Chinese bandit leader Zhang Xianzhong, who has ruled the Sichuan province since 1644, is killed at Xichong by a Qing archer after having been betrayed one of his officers, Liu Jinzhong. ...

) * June 18 (date of baptism) – Thomas Overbury, English poet and essayist (died

1613 Events January–June * January 11 – Workers in a sandpit in the Dauphiné region of France discover the skeleton of what is alleged to be a 30-foot tall man (the remains, it is supposed, of the giant Teutobochus, a legendary ...

) * August 15 –

Jeremias Drexel Jeremias Drexel S.J. (also known as Hieremias Drexelius or Drechsel) (August 15, 1581 – 19 April 1638) was a Jesuit writer of devotional literature and a professor of the humanities and rhetoric. He served for 23 years as court preacher in ...

, German Jesuit writer (died

1638 Events January–March * January 4 – **A naval battle takes place in the Indian Ocean off of the coast of Goa at South India as a Netherlands fleet commanded by Admiral Adam Westerwolt decimates the Portuguese fleet. **A fleet of 80 ...

) *

November 11 Events Pre-1600 * 308 – At Carnuntum, Emperor ''emeritus'' Diocletian confers with Galerius, ''Augustus'' of the East, and Maximianus, the recently returned former ''Augustus'' of the West, in an attempt to end the civil wars of the T ...

(date of baptism) –

Henry Adamson Henry Adamson (1581–1637) was a Scottish poet and historian. Adamson was the son of James Adamson, Dean of the Merchant Guildry and Provost of Perth, Scotland, baptised on 11 November 1581. Henry set out to train as a priest, after his un ...

, Scottish poet and historian (died

1637 Events January–March * January 5 – Pierre Corneille's tragicomedy ''Le Cid'' is first performed, in Paris, France. * January 16 – The siege of Nagpur ends in what is now the Maharashtra state of India, as Kok Shah, the ...

) ''Uncertain dates'' *

Christoph Helvig Christoph Helvig (1581–1617) was a German chronologist and historian, theologian and linguist. Helvig was born at Sprendlingen. In chronology he generally was a follower of Joseph Scaliger. He is mentioned by Sir Thomas Browne, and John ...

, German historian and theologian (died

1617 Events January–June * February 27 – The Treaty of Stolbovo ends the Ingrian War between Sweden and Russia. Sweden gains Ingria and Kexholm. * April 14 – Second Battle of Playa Honda: The Spanish navy defeats a Dutch f ...

) * Charles Malapert, Belgian Jesuit writer (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 ...

) * Hieronim Morsztyn, Polish poet (died

1623 Events January–March * January 21 – **Viscount Falkland, England's Lord Deputy of Ireland, issues a proclamation ordering all Roman Catholic priests to leave Ireland. The order frustrates negotiations between Protestant En ...

) ''Probable year'' * Juan Ruiz de Alarcón, Mexican dramatist (died

1639 Events January–March * January 14 – Connecticut's first constitution, the Fundamental Orders, is adopted. * January 19 – Hämeenlinna ( sv, Tavastehus) is granted privileges, after it separates from the Vanaja parish, ...

)

Deaths

* June 16 – Thomas Wilson, English rhetorician (born

1524 __NOTOC__ Year 1524 ( MDXXIV) was a leap year starting on Friday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. Events January–June * January 17 – Florentine explorer Giovanni da Verrazzano, on board '' La ...

) *

September 1 Events Pre-1600 * 1145 – The main altar of Lund Cathedral, at the time seat of the archiepiscopal see of all the Nordic countries, is consecrated. * 1173 – The widow Stamira sacrifices herself in order to raise the siege of Ancon ...

–

Guru Ram Das Guru Ram Das (Gurmukhi: ਗੁਰੂ ਰਾਮ ਦਾਸ, pronunciation: ; 24 September 1534 – 1 September 1581) was the fourth of the ten Ten Gurus of Sikhism, Gurus of Sikhism. He was born in a family based in Lahore. His birth n ...

, Sikh guru (born

1534 __NOTOC__ Year 1534 ( MDXXXIV) was a common year starting on Thursday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. Events January–June * January 15 – The Parliament of England passes the ''Act Respecting th ...

) * September 6 –

Guillaume Postel Guillaume Postel (25 March 1510 – 6 September 1581) was a French people, French linguist, astronomer, Christian Kabbalah, Christian Kabbalist, diplomat, polyglot, professor, Religious universalism, religious universalist, and writer. Born in ...

, French linguist (born

1510 Year 1510 ( MDX) was a common year starting on Tuesday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. Events January–June * January – Catherine of Aragon gives birth to her first child, a stillborn daughter. * ...

) *

September 28 Events Pre-1600 *48 BC – Pompey disembarks at Pelusium upon arriving in Egypt, whereupon he is assassinated by order of King Ptolemy XIII. * 235 – Pope Pontian resigns. He is exiled to the mines of Sardinia, along with Hippolytus ...

– Achilles Statius, Portuguese humanist writer (born

) * September 29

Andreas Musculus Andreas Musculus (also Andreas Meusel; 29 November 1514 – 29 September 1581) was a German Lutheran theologian and Protestant reformer. The name Musculus is a Latinized form of Meusel. Musculus was born in Schneeberg, "generally called only Musc ...

, German theologian (born

1514 Year 1514 (Roman numerals, MDXIV) was a common year starting on Sunday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. Events January–June * January 10 – A great fire breaks out, in the Rialto of Venice. * Marc ...

) * November 7 – Richard Davies, Welsh bishop and scholar (born c. 1505) ''Uncertain dates'' *

Georgette de Montenay Georgette de Montenay (1540–1581) was the French author of ''Emblemes ou devises chrestiennes'', published in Lyon between 1567 and 1571. Montenay has always been regarded as a lady-in-waiting to Jeanne d'Albret, the Protestant Queen of Navar ...

, French courtier and author of emblem book (born

1540 Year 1540 ( MDXL) was a leap year starting on Thursday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. Events January–June * January 6 – King Henry VIII marries Anne of Cleves, his fourth Queen consort; the ma ...

) *

Morys Clynnog Maurice Clenock ( Maurice Clenocke, Maurice Clennock; in Welsh: ''Morus Clynog'', ''Morys Clynog'', ''Morus Clynnog'', ''Morys Clynnog'') was a Welsh Roman Catholic priest and recusant exile. He was the first head of the English College, Rome. He ...

, Welsh author writing in Welsh (born c. 1525) *

Nicholas Sanders Nicholas Sanders (also spelled Sander; c. 1530 – 1581) was an English Catholic priest and polemicist. Early life Sanders was born at Sander Place near Charlwood, Surrey, one of twelve children of William Sanders, once sheriff of Surrey, who ...

, English Catholic propagandist (born

1530 Year 1530 ( MDXXX) was a common year starting on Saturday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar, the 1530th year of the Common Era (CE) and ''Anno Domini'' (AD) designations, the 530th year of the 2nd millennium, the 30t ...

)

References

{{Year in literature article categories * Years of the 16th century in literature