Major Events
- Jan 28 By Edict of Orleans French persecution of Huguenots is suspended
- Jul 2 Menas, Emperor of Ethiopia, defeats a revolt in Emfraz
- Jul 12 "Trinity Church" (now Saint Basil's Cathedral) is consecrated in Moscow, Russia, built to commemorate defeat of the Mongols at battle of Kazan
- Jul 12 Diego de Lando, Bishop of Yucatan, burns on a large pyre Maya religious objects and most of the last surviving books of bark outside the Franciscan convent of Maní
- Aug 19 Mary Queen of Scots arrives in Leith, Scotland to assume the throne after spending 13 years in France
- Sep 9 Conference of Poissy: Religious theologians gathered by Catherine de' Medici
- Sep 23 King Philip II of Spain forbids Spanish settlements in Florida
- Oct 18 Fourth Battle of Kawanakajima: Takeda Shingen defeats Uesugi Kenshin in the climax of their ongoing conflict
- Nov 29 Lofland subjects himself on Sigismund August II of Poland
- Dec 21 Antoine Perrenot de Granvelle, Archbishop of Mechelen, made Cardinal
Francis BaconMore People Born in 1561
Who Died in 1561
- Jan 31 Bairam Khan, Great Mughal General, regent for Akbar
- Jan 31 Menno Simons, Dutch priest and vicar whose followers are named the Mennonites, dies at around 65
- Feb 26 Jorge de Montemayor, Spanish writer
- Mar 4 Carlo Carafa, Italian cardinal, dies at 41
- Mar 25 Conrad Lycosthenes, French-born German philosopher and encyclopedist (b. 1518)
More 1561 Deaths
Famous Weddings in 1561
- Aug 24 William I of Orange (28) weds for a second time to Anna, Duchess of Saxony (16); divorce in 1571
Michelangelo
Elizabeth I
Philip II of Spain
Suleiman the Magnificent