1595
1595 was a common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar and a common year starting on Wednesday of the Julian calendar. As of the start of 1595, the Gregorian calendar was 10 days ahead of the Julian calendar.
Events
January–June
- January - Mehmed III succeeds Murad III, as sultan of the Ottoman Empire.
- January 17 - During the French Wars of Religion, Henry IV of France declares war on Spain.
- April 8 - Combined Taungoo–Lan Na armies break the rebel Thado Dhamma Yaza's siege of Taungoo, in modern-day Myanmar.
- May 18 - The Treaty of Teusina brings to an end the Russo-Swedish War.
- May 24 - The Nomenclator of Leiden University Library appears, the first printed catalog of an institutional library.
- June 9 - Battle of Fontaine-Française: Henry IV of France defeats the Spanish, but is nearly killed due to his rashness.
July–December
- July 21 - A Spanish expedition led by navigator and explorer Álvaro de Mendaña de Neira makes the first European landing in Polynesia, on the Marquesas Islands.
- July 23 - The Spanish raid Cornwall, England.
- August 23 - Battle of Calugareni: The Wallachians, led by Michael the Brave, accomplish a great tactical victory against the vast army of the Turks, led by Sinan Pasha.
- August 28 - Sir Francis Drake and Sir John Hawkins depart from England, on their final voyage to the Spanish Main, which ends in both of their deaths.
- September 2 - Battle of the Lippe : Spanish cavalry, led by Cristóbal de Mondragón, defeat combined forces of the Dutch Republic and England led by Philip of Nassau, on the banks of the river Lippe in Germany.
- October 26 - Battle of Giurgiu: Michael the Brave, led by Transylvanian Prince Sigismund Báthory, again defeats the Turkish army led by Sinan Pasha, pushing them on the east side of the Danube.
- December 9 - Probable first performance of William Shakespeare's Richard II in London.
- December 14 - Sultan Murad, 4th son of Emperor Akbar of the Mughal Empire invades Ahmednagar Sultanate which is defended by Chand Bibi.
Date unknown
- The Austrians incite a rebellion against the Ottomans in Bulgaria.
- The Riksdag of the Estates at Söderköping in Sweden elects the Lutheran Duke Charles as the country's regent, in place of Sigismund III Vasa, King of Poland and Sweden.
- Sir Walter Raleigh travels up the Orinoco River, in search of the fabled city of El Dorado.
- Probable first performance of William Shakespeare's plays Romeo and Juliet and A Midsummer Night's Dream in London.
- Many sugar plantations in São Tomé are destroyed by a large slave uprising
Births
January–June
- January 15 - Henry Carey, 2nd Earl of Monmouth, English politician
- January 22 - George Rudolf of Liegnitz, Polish noble
- January 23 - Herman Fortunatus, Margrave of Baden-Rodemachern
- February 9 - Hedwig of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel, Duchess consort of Pomerania
- March 19 - Carlo de' Medici, Italian Catholic cardinal
- March 21 - Ferdinando Ughelli, Italian Cistercian monk and church historian
- March 23 - Bevil Grenville, English royalist soldier
- April 5 - John Wilson, English composer
- April 6
- * Henri II d'Orléans, Duke of Longueville, Prince of France
- * Pieter de Molijn, Dutch painter
- April 12 - Miles Hobart, English politician
- April 30
- * Anne Lykke, Danish noble
- * Henri II de Montmorency, French nobleman and military commander
- May 1 - Lars Kagg, Swedish count and military Officer
- May 3 - Aloysius Gottifredi, Italian Jesuit
- June 9 - King Wladislaus IV of Poland
- June 10 - Aegidius Gelenius, German heraldist
- June 13
- * John Holles, 2nd Earl of Clare, English politician and Earl
- * Jan Marek Marci, Bohemian physician and scientist
- June 19 - Guru Har Gobind, the Sixth Sikh Guru
- June 24 - Ulderico Carpegna, Italian Catholic cardinal
July–December
- July 1 - Albrycht Stanisław Radziwiłł, Polish nobleman
- July 3 - John Gurdon, English politician
- July 4 - Félix Castello, Spanish artist
- July 9 - Anna Amalia of Baden-Durlach, Regent of Nassau-Saarbrücken
- July 10 - Charles Drelincourt, French Protestant divine
- July 31 - Philipp Wolfgang, Count of Hanau-Lichtenberg
- August 29 - Joachim Ernest, Duke of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Plön
- August 31 - Georges Fournier, French Jesuit mathematician and geographer
- October 18 - Lucas van Uden, Dutch painter
- October 30 - Gaj Singh of Marwar, Raja of Marwar Kingdom
- November 11 - Martin Bauzer, Gorizian Jesuit priest and writer
- November 13 - George William, Elector of Brandenburg
- November 18
- * Niklaus Dachselhofer, Swiss politician
- * Pietro Desani, Italian painter
- December 1 - Robert Sidney, 2nd Earl of Leicester, English politician
- December 3 - Henry Ley, 2nd Earl of Marlborough, English politician
- December 4 - Jean Chapelain, French poet and critic during the Grand Siècle
- December 5 - Henry Lawes, English musician and composer
- December 7 - Injo of Joseon, sixteenth king of the Joseon dynasty in Korea
- December 11 - Heo Mok, Korean politician, poet and scholar
- December 14 - Arthur Wilson, English writer
- December 27 - Bohdan Khmelnytsky, hetman of Ukraine
Date unknown
- Thomas Carew, English poet
- Miles Corbet, English Puritan politician
- Jean Desmarets, French writer
- Henry Herbert, English official
- Lars Kagg, Swedish soldier and politician
- Thomas May, English poet and historian
- Bartholomaeus Nigrinus, Polish Rosicrucian
- Pocahontas, Algonquian princess
- Mikołaj Potocki, Polish politician
- Robert Sempill the younger, Scottish writer
- Cornelius Vermuyden, Dutch engineer
Probable
- Dirck van Baburen, Dutch painter
- Albrycht Stanisław Radziwiłł, Lithuanian chancellor
Deaths
- January 2 - Barbara of Brandenburg, Duchess of Brieg, German princess
- January 15 - Murad III, Ottoman Sultan
- January 24 - Ferdinand II, Archduke of Austria, regent of Tyrol and Further Austria
- February - William Painter, English translator
- February 20 - Archduke Ernest of Austria, Governor of the Spanish Netherlands
- February 21 - Robert Southwell, Jesuit priest and poet
- April 25 - Torquato Tasso, Italian poet
- May 4 - Hugues Loubenx de Verdalle, Cardinal and 52nd Grandmaster of the Knights Hospitaller
- May 14 - Wolfgang, Duke of Brunswick-Grubenhagen
- May 19 - John Frederick II, Duke of Saxony
- May 25
- * Valens Acidalius, German critic and poet
- * Philip Neri, Italian Roman Catholic priest and saint
- June 23 - Louis Carrion, Flemish humanist and classical scholar
- June 26 - Magnus, Duke of Östergötland, Swedish prince
- July 10 - Udai Singh of Marwar, Ruler of Marwar
- July 23 - Thoinot Arbeau, French priest and author
- August 24 - Thomas Digges, English astronomer
- August 26 - Antonio, Prior of Crato, claimant to the throne of Portugal
- September 3 - Philip of Nassau, Count of Nassau
- September 4 - Jeremias II of Constantinople
- October 15 - Faizi, Indo-Persian poet and scholar
- October 18 - Álvaro de Mendaña de Neira, Spanish navigator and explorer
- October 19 - Philip Howard, 20th Earl of Arundel, English nobleman
- October 23 - Louis Gonzaga, Duke of Nevers, Italian-French dignitary and diplomat
- November 4 - Francesco Cattani da Diacceto, Bishop of Fiesole
- November 5 - Luis Barahona de Soto, Spanish poet
- November 12 - John Hawkins, English shipbuilder and trader
- November 23 - Clara of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel, Abbess of Gandersheim and Duchess of Brunswick-Grubenhagen
- December 11 - Philipe de Croÿ, Duke of Aerschot
- December 14 - Henry Hastings, 3rd Earl of Huntingdon
- date unknown
- * Grzegorz Branicki, Polish noble
- * Helena Antonia, court dwarf
- * Turlough Luineach O'Neill, Irish chief of Tyrone
- * Robert Sempill, Scottish ballad-writer
- * Thomas Whythorne, English author and musician