16th century in poetry

Works published

• Hamzah Fansuri writes in the Malay language.
• The compilation of Romances de los Señores de Nueva España, a collection of Aztec poetry.

  Births and deaths

England

• John Skelton
• George Gascoigne
• Sir Walter Raleigh
• Edmund Spenser
• Sir Philip Sidney
• Christopher Marlowe
• William Shakespeare
• John Donne
• Ben Jonson
• Robert Herrick
• George Herbert
• Young William

  France

• Jean Molinet, French poet, chronicler, and composer
• Olivier de la Marche, French poet and author
• Clément Marot
• Marguerite de Navarre
• Bonaventure des Périers
• Louise Labe
• Maurice Sceve
• Pierre de Ronsard
• Joachim du Bellay
• Jean de Sponde
• Jean de la Ceppede
• Agrippa d'Aubigne
• François de Malherbe

  French-language Swiss

• Théodore-Agrippa d'Aubigné
• Simon Goulart

  Germany

• Erasmus Alberus
• Johann Valentin Andreae
• Johann Beltz
• Sebastian Brant
• Conrad Celtis
• Nikolaus Decius
• Johann Fischart
• Hans Folz
• Sebastian Franck
• Konrad Gesner
• Johann Heermann
• Nikolaus Herman
• Mathias Holtzwart
• Anna Ovena Hoyer
• Ulrich von Hutten
• Georg List
• Ambrosius Lobwasser
• Martin Luther
• Philipp Melanchthon
• Thomas Müntzer
• Philipp Nicolai
• Martin Opitz
• Jakob Regnart
• Adam Reusner
• Bartholomäus Ringwaldt
• Hans Sachs
• Paulus Schede Melissus
• Johann Hermann Schein
• Johannes Secundus
• Friedrich Spee von Langenfeld
• Paul Speratus
• Josua Stegmann
• Georg Rodolf Weckherlin
• Michael Weisse
• Diederich von dem Werder
• Christoff Wirsung
• Julius Wilhelm Zincgref
• Georgius Agricola

  German-language Swiss

• Nicholas Manuel

  Italy

• Benedetto Cariteo
• Teofilo Folengo
• Lodovico Ariosto, also a Latin poet
• Torquato Tasso
• Pietro Bembo, Cardinal and influential critic
• Vittoria Colonna
• Gaspara Stampa, woman poet
• Antonio Sebastiano Minturno, writer and poet

  Japan

• Arakida Moritake 荒木田守武, the son of Negi Morihide, and a Shinto priest; said to have excelled in waka, renga, and in particular haikai
• Hosokawa Fujitaka 細川藤孝, also known as Hosokawa Yūsai 細川幽斎, a Sengoku period feudal warlord who was a prominent retainer of the last Ashikaga shōguns; father of Hosokawa Tadaoki, an Oda clan senior general; after the 1582 Incident at Honnō-ji, he took the Buddhist tonsure and changed his name to "Yūsai"; but he remained an active force in politics, under Shōguns Toyotomi Hideyoshi and Tokugawa Ieyasu
• Satomura Shokyu 里村昌休, Japanese leading master of the linked verse renga after the death of Tani Sobuko in 1545
• Sōgi 宗祇, Japanese Zen monk who studied waka and renga poetry, then became a professional renga poet in his 30s
• Tani Soyo 谷宗養, renga poet; a rival of Satomura Joha; son of Tani Sobuko
• Yamazaki Sōkan 山崎宗鑑, pen name of Shina Norishige, renga and haikai poet, court calligrapher for Shōgun Ashikaga Yoshihisa; became a secluded Buddhist monk following the shōgun's death in 1489

  Latin

• Battista Spagnoli, Italian
• Giovanni Pontano, Italian
• Michael Marullus, Italian
• Jacopo Sannazaro, Italian
• Andrea Navagero, Italian
• Girolamo Fracastoro, Italian
• Marcantonio Flaminio, Italian
• Marco Girolamo Vida, Italian
• Conrad Celtis, German
• Salmon Macrin, French
• Joannes Secundus, Dutch
• Lodovico Ariosto, Italian who also published poetry in Italian
• Joachim Du Bellay, Frenchman who also published poetry in French
• Jan Kochanowski, Pole who also published poetry in Polish
• Maciej Kazimierz Sarbiewski, Polish Jesuit and poet
• Jacob Balde, German Jesuit and poet

  Mexico

• Ayocuan Cuetzpaltzin wise man, poet, white eagle from Tecamachalco
• Cacamatzin, tlatoani of Texcoco and poet
• Tecayehuatzin of Huexotzinco, poet and philosopher
• Temilotzin, born in Tlatelolco and Tlatoani of Tzilacatlan
• Xicotencatl I tlatoani of Tizatlan

  Netherlands

• Barlaeus, also known as Kaspar van Baerle
• Suster Bertken
• Anna Bijns
• Adriaen Valerius
• Joost van den Vondel, Dutch writer considered the most prominent Dutch poet and playwright of the 17th century

  Ottoman Empire

• Bâkî
• Fuzûlî
• Hayâlî
• Necati
• Selim II, sultan and poet
• Suleyman the Magnificent
• Tashcali Yahya Bey
• Ruhi-i Bagdadi
• Nef'i
• Seyhulislam Yahya
• Pir Sultan Abdal

  Persian language

• Sheikh Bahaii, Scientist, architect, philosopher, and poet
• Vahshi Bafghi

  Poland

• Biernat of Lublin
• Mikolaj Rej
• Jan Kochanowski
• Mikolaj September Szarzynski
• Sebastian Grabowiecki
• Sebastian Fabian Klonowic
• Szymon Szymonowic
• Daniel Naborowski
• Kasper Miakskowski

  Portugal

• Garcia de Resende
• Gil Vicente, poet and playwright
• Francisco de Sá de Miranda
• Bernardim Ribeiro
• Cristovao Falcao
• Luís de Camões
• Diogo Bernardes, brother of Frei Agostinho da Cruz
• Frei Agostinho da Cruz, brother of Diogo Bernardes
• Francisco Rodrigues Lobo
• Antonio de Ferreira
• Mellin de Saint Gelais

  Slovakia

• Martin Rakovský
• Ján Silván
• Pavel Kyrmezer
• Vavřinec Benedikt z Nudožer
• Ján Filický
• Ján Bocatius
• Jakub Jakobeus
• Martin Bošňák
• Štefan Komodický
• Eliáš Láni
• Daniel Pribiš
• Juraj Tranovský or Tranoscius

  South Asia

• Akho, Gujarati-language poet, Vedantist and radical
• Bhalam, Gujarati-language poet
• Sant Eknath संत एकनाथ or Eknāth; the epithet "sant" संत is traditionally given to persons regarded as thoroughly saintly, Marathi-language poet and scholar
• Sant Tukaram संत तुकाराम, Marathi-language poet
• Krishnadevaraya, king of the Vijayanagara empire and Sanskrit-language poet
• Annamacharya శ్రీ తాళ్ళపాక అన్నమాచార్య, mystic saint composer of the 15th century, widely regarded as the Telugu-language pada kavita pitaamaha ; husband of Tallapaka Tirumalamma
• Molla, also known as "Mollamamba", both popular names of Atukuri Molla Telugu-language poet who wrote Telugu Ramayan; a woman
• Potana, born Bammera Pothana, Telugu-language poet best known for his translation of the Bhagavata Purana from Sanskrit; the book is popularly known as Pothana Bhagavatham
• Habba Khatun
• Meerabai , alternate spelling: Meera, Mira, Meera Bai; Hindu poet-saint, mystical poet whose compositions, extant version of which are in Gujarati and a Rajasthani dialect of Hindi, remain popular throughout India
• Gosvāmī Tulsīdās तुलसीदास, also known as "Tulasī Dāsa" and "Tulsidas" Awadhi poet and philosopher

  Spain

• Juan Boscán
• Garcilaso de la Vega
• Diego Hurtado de Mendoza
• Hernando de Acuña
• Baltasar del Alcázar
• Francisco de Aldana
• Gutierre de Cetina
• Cristóbal de Castillejo
• Luis de León
• San Juan de la Cruz
• Alonso de Ledesma
• Lope de Vega, playwright and poet
• Fernando de Herrera
• Luis Barahona de Soto
• Pedro de Espinosa
• Francisco de Rioja
• Francisco de Medrano
• Alonso de Ercilla

  Other

• Jeong Cheol, Korean poet
• Hwang Jin-i, Korean poet
• Judah Leone Modena, also known as: Leon Modena or Yehudah Aryeh Mi-modena, a rabbi, orator, scholar, teacher and poet
• Israel ben Moses Najara, Hebrew poet in Palestine
• Ali-Shir Nava'i, also known as "Nizām al-Din"; pen name "Navā'ī" نوایی, meaning "the weeper", Central Asian politician, mystic, linguist, painter, and poet of Chaghatai origin who was born and lived in Herat, in modern-day Afghanistan; his Chagatai language poetry has led many throughout the Turkic-speaking world to consider him the founder of early Turkic literature, and the Uzbeks claim him as their national poet

  Decades and years