1559 - Political Events

Political Events

The Danish-Norwegian king Kristian III dies at Kolding January 1 at age 55 after a reign of nearly 24 years that has strengthened and enriched the realm. His cousin dies later in the month at age 79, still a prisoner as he has been since 1531; he reigned as Kristian II until he was deposed in 1523, and his 24-year-old son ascends the throne. The son will reign until 1588 as Frederik II.

England's lord keeper of the great seal Sir Nicholas Bacon, 48, begins in January to exercise his judicial authority as lord chancellor, working with the queen's secretary, William Cecil. Queen Elizabeth replies February 6 to a petition from the House of Commons: "To me it shall be a full satisfaction both for the memorial of my name, and for the glory also, if when I shall let my last breath, it be engraven upon my marble tomb, 'Here lieth Elizabeth, who reigned a virgin and died a virgin.'" Elizabeth raises her court favorite, Robert Dudley, to the privy council in April and makes him a Knight of the Garter.

Former English lord deputy (viceroy) to Ireland Sir Anthony St. Leger dies at Ulcombe, Kent, March 16 at age 62. Irish chieftain Conn O'Neill, 1st earl of Tyrone, dies at age 79 (approximate), and Queen Elizabeth settles the chieftainship on his son Shane while giving the earldom to Hugh O'Neill, whose illegitimate half-brother Matthew was murdered last year by some of Shane's followers (see 1562).

The Treaty of Cateau-Cambrésis April 3 ends the last war between the late Charles V and France and marks the finish of a 65-year-old struggle. The treaty confirms Spanish possession of the Franche-Comte and the Italian states Milan, Naples and Sicily. Emmanuel-Philibert, comte de Savoy, regains Piedmont and Savoy; Genoa regains Corsica, but France retains five fortresses, including those at Turin, Saluzzo, and Pignerol. France also retains Calais and the bishoprics of Toul, Metz, and Verdun.

Spain's Felipe II marries Elizabeth de Valois, 14, amidst great ceremony June 22 (she is the eldest daughter of Catherine de' Medici and Henri II; the Spanish will call her "Isabel de la Paz" and take her to their hearts).

France's Henri II sustains a head wound June 30 in a tournament celebrating the Treaty of Cateau-Cambrésis and his daughter's marriage. His younger sister Marguerite marries Emmanuel-Philibert, comte de Savoy, at Henri's insistence July 8. The king has worn the colors of his aging mistress Diane de Poitiers in the joust. He dies in agony July 10 at age 40, and his eldest son, still only 14, begins an 18-month reign as François II, with his uncles François de Lorraine, duc de Guise, and Charles, cardinal of Lorraine, as regents. The hunchbacked Louis de Bourbon, 29, 1st Prince de Condé, assumes leadership of the Huguenots, who find his dissolute elder brother Anthony de Bourbon unacceptable but need a princely patron (see Conspiracy of Amboise, 1560).

France's new king François II was married in early April of last year to Mary Stuart, Queen of Scots, who is heir presumptive to the throne of her cousin Elizabeth I and assumes the title Queen of England (see 1560).

Suleiman the Magnificent helps his son Selim defeat Selim's brother Bayazid at the Battle of Konya. Bayazid and his five sons flee to Persia, where Suleiman pays to have them executed.