Historical Archives & Public Figures

Sir Francis Walsingham

Great Britain

c. 1532 – 1590 (58 years old)

Elizabeth I's ruthless Principal Secretary and 'Spymaster', who built Europe's first modern intelligence network and exposed the Babington Plot to save the Queen.

London, United Kingdom

36 Full Record →

Humanitarian & Peace

38

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Bernardino de Sahagun

Spain

c. 1499 – 1590 (91 years old)

Franciscan friar and visionary linguist acclaimed as the 'First Anthropologist of the Americas', who spent sixty years documenting Nahua culture, religion, and botany in the twelve-volume bilingual Florentine Codex.

Mexico City, Mexico

38 Full Record →

Military

3

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Ali ibn Tamim al-Soussi

علي بن تميم السوسي

Morocco

c. 1530 – 1590 (~60 years old)

Saadian military architect and governor who supervised the construction of the monumental eight-kilometer rammed-earth (pisé) walls and defensive bastions of Taroudant, which survive intact today.

Taroudant, Morocco

3 Full Record →

Religion

3

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Michael Baius

Michel De Bay / Michael Baius

Belgium

1513 – 1589 (76 years old)

Influential theologian and Chancellor of the University of Leuven who represented the Low Countries at the Council of Trent and developed Augustinian theological doctrines on grace and human nature.

Leuven, Belgium

3 Full Record →

Literature & Poetry

4

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Christophe Plantin

France

c. 1520 – 1589 (69 years old)

Renaissance printer and publisher whose Antwerp printing house, the Officina Plantiniana (De Gulden Passer), became the largest and most technologically advanced printing house in sixteenth-century Europe.

Antwerp, Belgium

4 Full Record →

Arts & Music

1,269

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Paolo Veronese

Paolo Caliari

Italy

1 – 1588 (60 years old)

Venetian Renaissance master of illusionistic grandeur, luminous color, and monumental festive banquets.

Venice, Italy

1,269 Full Record →

Military Leaders & Strategists

34

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Alvaro de Bazan

Álvaro de Bazán y Guzmán, Marqués de Santa Cruz

Spain

1526 – 1588 (61 years old)

Greatest admiral in Spanish history who never lost a battle across a fifty-year naval career, commanded the reserve galleys at the Battle of Lepanto, and conquered the Azores at Ponta Delgada.

Viso del Marques (Ciudad Real), Spain

34 Full Record →

Military Leaders & Strategists

42

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Qi Jiguang

戚继光

China

1528 – 1588 (59 years old)

Ming dynasty military general and strategist who eradicated the Wokou pirate scourge along China's southeastern coast, invented the Mandarin Duck military formation, and refortified the Great Wall.

Penglai (Shandong), China

42 Full Record →

Military Leaders & Strategists

42

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Qi Jiguang (General Qi)

戚繼光

China

1528 – 1588 (59 years old)

Ming dynasty general and military engineer who eradicated wokou coastal piracy, invented the Mandarin Duck tactical formation, and reinforced the Great Wall.

Penglai (Yantai), China

42 Full Record →

Statesmanship & Statesmen

45

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Hai Rui

海瑞

China

1514 – 1587 (73 years old)

Legendary Ming dynasty official from Hainan renowned for uncompromising honesty, land reforms protecting peasants, and submitting his coffin memorial to the Jiajing Emperor.

Haikou (Hainan), China

45 Full Record →

Military

3

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Kilij Ali Pasha (Uchali)

علج علي باشا (قليج علي)

Italy

1519 AD – 1587 (68 years old)

Calabrian-born Grand Admiral of the Ottoman Navy who captured Tunis from the Spaniards in 1569 and co-commanded the historic 1574 conquest of La Goulette, rebuilding the Ottoman Mediterranean fleet.

Istanbul (Tophane), Turkey

3 Full Record →

Monarchs, Kings & Royalty

28

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Alvaro I of Kongo

Álvaro I Nimi a Lukeni lua Mvemba

Congo

c. 1530 CE – 1587 (57 years old)

Manikongo (King) of the Kingdom of Kongo who reclaimed his throne from the devastating Jaga invasions with Portuguese assistance and Europeanized Kongo's royal court ceremonies.

Mbanza Kongo, Angola

28 Full Record →

Monarchs, Kings & Royalty

32

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Mary, Queen of Scots

Mary Stuart (Mairi Stiùbhart)

Scotland

1542 – 1587 (44 years old)

Queen of Scotland and Queen Consort of France whose tragic life, imprisonment, and execution made her an immortal romantic martyr.

London, United Kingdom

32 Full Record →

Prophets & Divine Messengers

4

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Antoine Perrenot de Granvelle

France

1517 – 1586 (69 years old)

Powerful cardinal and minister of state who served Emperor Charles V and King Philip II, becoming the first Archbishop of Mechelen and Primate of the Netherlands during the turbulent eve of the Dutch Revolt.

Besançon, France

4 Full Record →

Literature & Poetry

37

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Pierre de Ronsard

France

1524 – 1585 (61 years old)

Acclaimed as the 'Prince of Poets' and leader of the French Renaissance Pléiade, renowned for 'Mignonne, allons voir si la rose' and Sonnets pour Hélène.

La Riche (Tours), France

37 Full Record →

Arts & Music

40

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Thomas Tallis

Great Britain

c. 1505 – 1585 (80 years old)

Father of English church music who composed through four turbulent Tudor monarchies, immortalized by his 40-part choral masterpiece 'Spem in alium'.

Greenwich, Great Britain

40 Full Record →

Science

4

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Rembert Dodoens

Belgium

1517 – 1585 (67 years old)

Flemish Renaissance physician and botanist whose 1554 Cruydeboeck became one of the most widely translated botanical compendiums in world history, establishing botanical classification based on plant properties.

Leiden, Netherlands

4 Full Record →

Literature & Poetry

7

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Sidi Lakhdar Ben Khlouf

سيدي لخضر بن خلوف

Algeria

1494 – 1585 (lived to ~125 in tradition) (91 years old)

Patron saint and epic warrior-poet who fought against the Spanish invasion at the Battle of Mazagran in 1558 and composed the foundational poems of Algerian Melhoun.

Sidi Lakhdar (Mostaganem), Algeria

7 Full Record →

Public Figures & Cultural Luminaries