1603

January–June

• February 25 – Dutch–Portuguese War: the Portuguese ship Santa Catarina is seized by Dutch East India Company ships off Singapore. The first permanent Dutch trading post in Indonesia is established in Banten.
• March
• * French explorer Samuel de Champlain sails to Canada.
• * The Fulda witch trials begin.
• March 24
• * Queen Elizabeth I of England dies at Richmond Palace, and is succeeded by her cousin's son, King James VI of Scotland, uniting the crowns of Scotland and England.
• * Tokugawa Ieyasu is granted the title of shōgun from Emperor Go-Yozei, and establishes the Tokugawa shogunate in Edo, Japan. The 265-year-long Edo period begins.
• March 31 – The Nine Years War is ended by the submission of Hugh O'Neill, Earl of Tyrone, to the English Crown, and the signing of the Treaty of Mellifont.
• April 28 – The funeral of Elizabeth I of England is held in Westminster Abbey.

  July–December

• July 17 or July 19 - Sir Walter Raleigh is arrested for treason.
• July 25 - James I is crowned as King of England in Westminster Abbey. Ceremonies are limited because of plague.
• August 17 - The Accademia dei Lincei, the oldest scientific academy in the world, is founded in Rome by Federico Cesi.
• September 20 - Samuel Champlain arrives back in France.
• October - The Sangley Rebellion takes place, ending in the massacre of 20,000 Sangley Chinese in Manila.
• November - Rokugō rebellion: More than 1,000 rōnin rebel in support of their exiled lord, Onodera Yoshimichi, in Japan.
• November 17 - Sir Walter Raleigh goes on trial for treason, in the converted Great Hall of Winchester Castle. He is found guilty, but his life is spared by King James I at this time, and he is returned to imprisonment in the Tower of London.
• December 22 - Ottoman dynasty: Sultan Mehmed III of the Ottoman Empire dies, and is succeeded by his son Ahmed I.

  Ongoing events

• Russian famine of 1601–1603.

  Date unknown

• A rebellion breaks out in Transylvania.
• French Huguenot Pierre de Gua is granted royal permission to settle in North America, founding the colony of Acadia.
• Yaqob is deposed as Emperor of Ethiopia for the first time by Za Sellase, who appoints his cousin Za Dengel to replace him.
• Johann Bayer publishes the star atlas Uranometria, the first to cover the entire celestial sphere.
• The earliest of eight companies that will eventually merge to form the Kikkoman Corporation, the ubiquitous producers of soy sauce, is founded in Japan.

  Births

January–March

• January 3 - Paul Stockmann, German hymnwriter
• January 27
• * Sir Harbottle Grimston, 2nd Baronet, English lawyer and politician, Speaker in 1660
• * Humphrey Mackworth, English politician, lawyer and judge
• January 30 - David Denicke, German jurist and hymnwriter
• January - Shackerley Marmion, English dramatist
• February 2 - Louise de Bourbon, French noble
• February 7 - Friederich Stellwagen, German organ builder
• February 12 - Friedrich Wilhelm II, Duke of Saxe-Altenburg
• March 2 - Pietro Novelli, Italian painter
• March 13 - Ivan III Drašković, Croatian nobleman and soldier
• March 18 - Simon Bradstreet, English colonial magistrate
• March 21 bapt. - Samuel Luke, English politician

  April–June

• April 6 - Simon Paulli, Danish physician
• April 10 - Christian, Prince-Elect of Denmark
• April 19 - Michel le Tellier, French statesman
• April 21 - Chamaraja Wodeyar VI, King of Mysore
• April 24 - Thomas Allen, English politician
• May 18 - Herbert Croft, English churchman
• June 3 - Pietro Paolini, Italian painter
• June 17 - Joseph of Cupertino, Italian saint
• June 24 - Maria Overlander van Purmerland, Dutch noble

  July–September

• July 11
• * Sibylle Christine of Anhalt-Dessau, Princess of Anhalt-Dessau
• * Kenelm Digby, English privateer and alchemist
• July 12 - Edward Benlowes, English poet
• July 23 - Axel Lillie, Swedish soldier and politician
• July 27 - Alonso de Ovalle, Chilean priest and historian
• August 9 - Johannes Cocceius, Dutch theologian
• August 17 - Lennart Torstensson, Swedish Field Marshal, Privy Councillour and Governor-General
• August 24 - Abu al-Ghazi Bahadur, Khan of Khiva, historian
• September 10 - Henri Valois, French historian
• September 14 - John Vaughan, English judge
• September 15 - Tokugawa Yorifusa, Japanese nobleman

  October–December

• October 2 - Sir John Yonge, 1st Baronet, English politician
• October 20 - Simon de Vos, Flemish painter
• November 10 - Agneta de Graeff van Polsbroek, Dutch noble
• November 16 - Augustyn Kordecki, Polish prior of the Jasna Góra Monastery
• November 24 - John, Count of Nassau-Idstein
• December 21
• * Jean de Launoy, French historian
• * Roger Williams, English theologian and colonist

  Date unknown

• Abel Janszoon Tasman, Dutch seafarer and explorer
• Louis Abelly, French monk and priest
• Margareta Brahe, Swedish noble
• John Ashburnham, English Member of Parliament
• Daniel Blagrave, English Member of Parliament
• Valentin Conrart, one of the founders of the Académie française
• Denis Gaultier, French lutenist and composer

  Probable

• Aernout van der Neer, Dutch painter
• Alexandre de Prouville, French statesman and soldier
• William Stone, Colonial governor of Maryland

  Deaths

January–March

• January 25 - Francesco Zirano, Italian priest who was a member of the Order of Friars Minor
• February 7
• * Bartholomäus Sastrow, German politician
• * Hermann Wilken, German humanist and mathematician
• February 23
• * Andrea Cesalpino, Italian philosopher, physician, and botanist
• * Franciscus Vieta, French mathematician
• February 26 - Maria of Austria, Holy Roman Empress, spouse of Maximilian II
• March 14 - Ulrich, Duke of Mecklenburg-Güstrow
• March 22 - Robert Seton, 1st Earl of Winton, Scottish peer who supported Mary, Queen of Scots
• March 24 - Queen Elizabeth I of England
• March 25 - Ikoma Chikamasa, Japanese warlord

  April–June

• April 4 - Aegidius Hunnius, German theologian
• April 25 - George Frederick, Margrave of Brandenburg-Ansbach
• May 4
• * Juraj IV Zrinski, Count of Croatia
• * Stephan Praetorius, German theologian
• May 14 - Magnus II, Duke of Saxe-Lauenburg, German duke
• June - Baldassare Donato, Italian composer and singer
• June 2
• * Tanneke Sconyncx, Alleged Flemish witch
• * Bernard of Wąbrzeźno, Roman Catholic priest and a Benedictine monk from the Benedictine Abbey in Lubiń
• June 27 - Jan Dymitr Solikowski, Polish archbishop, writer, and diplomat

  July–September

• July 4 - Philippe de Monte, Flemish composer
• July 10 - Joan Terès i Borrull, viceroy of Catalonia
• July 11 - Richard Drake, English courtier
• July 17
• * János Jacobinus, Hungarian politician
• * Mózes Székely, Hungarian noble
• July 23 - Santi di Tito, Italian painter
• August 1 - Matthew Browne, English politician
• August 2 - John Townshend, English politician
• August 16 - Silvio Antoniano, Italian Catholic cardinal
• August 25
• * Ahmad al-Mansur, Sultan of the Saadi Dynasty
• * Jan Zborowski, Polish noble
• August 26 - Thomas Drury, English government informer and swindler
• September 1 - Barnim X, Duke of Pomerania-Stettin
• September 9 - George Carey, 2nd Baron Hunsdon, English politician
• September 19 - Matsudaira Iemoto, Japanese samurai

  October–December

• October - Ralph Lane, English explorer
• October 6 - Jakob Monau, Polish writer and linguist
• October 18 - Edward Stafford, 3rd Baron Stafford, English baron
• October 23 - Johann Wanning, Dutch composer, kapellmeister, and singer
• October 26 - Otto II, Duke of Brunswick-Harburg
• October 27 - Irina Godunova, Russian tsarina
• November 12 - John VII, Count of Oldenburg and Delmenhorst
• November 16 - Pierre Charron, French 16th-century Catholic theologian and philosopher
• November 18 - Elisabeth of Nassau-Dillenburg, Dutch countess, sister of William the Silent
• November 20 - Krzysztof Mikołaj "the Thunderbolt" Radziwiłł, Polish nobleman
• November 30 - William Gilbert, English scientist
• December 4 - Maerten de Vos, Flemish painter and draughtsman
• December 5 - George Brooke, English aristocrat
• December 8 - Girolamo Mattei, Italian Catholic cardinal
• December 9 - William Watson, English conspirator
• December 22 - Mehmed III, Ottoman Sultan
• December 27 - Thomas Cartwright, English Puritan churchman
• December 28 - John Joscelyn, English clergyman and antiquarian as well as secretary to Matthew Parker

  Date unknown

• Edward Fenton, English navigator
• Oleksander Ostrogski, Polish nobleman
• Ikeda Tomomasa, Japanese military commander
• Chen Lin, general of Ming dynasty

  Probable

• Gráinne O'Malley, Irish chieftain and pirate
• King Idris Alooma of the Kanem-Bornu Empire
• Will Kempe, English comic performer