1560 – 1570s

Events in the 1560s 22

• 1453 – 1566 The Golden Age (1453–1566) The Ottoman golden age spans from the conquest of Constantinople to the death of Suleiman the Magnificent -- 113 years in which the empire reaches its maximum extent and cultural zenith. Mehmed II consolidates the Balkans and Anatolia. Selim I (1512-1520) doubles the empire's size in eight years, conquering Persia, Egypt and Syria and assuming the caliphate. Suleiman I (1520-1566) campaigns from Vienna to the Persian Gulf, builds the greatest legal and architectural programme in Ottoman history, and presides over a court of extraordinary sophistication. At his death the empire controls more territory than any state since Rome.
• 1475 – 1564 Michelangelo Renaissance / Mannerism · Italy Michelangelo (March 6, 1475 – February 18, 1564) was a sculptor, painter and architect who created the Sistine Chapel ceiling, the statue of David and St. Peter's Basilica dome — perhaps the greatest artistic output in history.
• 1481 – 1566 Antonio de Cabezón Spanish Renaissance keyboard composer Antonio de Cabezón was the greatest Spanish keyboard composer of the Renaissance. Despite being blind from birth, he served as court musician to Philip II and composed sophisticated tientos and variations.
• 1490 – 1562 Adrian Willaert Franco-Flemish composer Adrian Willaert founded the Venetian school of composition as maestro di cappella at St Mark's Basilica. His innovations in chromatic harmony and double-choir writing were highly influential.
• 1490 – 1562 Claudin de Sermisy French Renaissance composer Claudin de Sermisy was one of the most prominent composers at the French royal court whose chansons helped define the Parisian chanson style of the early 16th century.
• 1495 – 1560 Nicolas Gombert Franco-Flemish Renaissance composer Nicolas Gombert was a pupil of Josquin who developed a dense, imitative polyphonic style that dominated European sacred music in the mid-16th century.
• 1500 – 1561 Luis Milán Spanish Renaissance composer Luis Milán was a Spanish nobleman and vihuela player whose El maestro was the first published collection of solo vihuela music and one of the earliest printed collections of lute music.
• 1507 – 1568 Jacques Arcadelt Franco-Flemish madrigal composer Jacques Arcadelt was one of the pioneers of the Italian madrigal whose early collections were enormously popular and helped establish the genre as the dominant secular form.
• 1515 – 1565 Cipriano de Rore Franco-Flemish madrigal composer Cipriano de Rore was one of the most innovative composers of the mid-16th century whose chromatic madrigals profoundly influenced later composers including Monteverdi.
• 1520 – 1566 Suleiman the Magnificent -- the apex Suleiman I (1520-1566) is the longest-reigning and most celebrated Ottoman sultan. He campaigns personally on thirteen major military expeditions, capturing Belgrade (1521), Rhodes (1522), defeating Hungary at Mohács (1526), besieging Vienna (1529) and campaigning repeatedly against Persia. He codifies Ottoman law so comprehensively that his own subjects call him Kanuni (the Lawgiver). His chief architect Sinan builds over 300 structures including the Süleymaniye Mosque in Istanbul and the Selimiye in Edirne. His court -- dominated by his wife Roxelana and his grand vizier Ibrahim Pasha -- is one of the most sophisticated in the world.
• 1525 – 1569 Pieter Bruegel the Elder Renaissance · Netherlands Pieter Bruegel the Elder (c. 1525 – September 9, 1569) was a Flemish Renaissance painter celebrated for his vivid scenes of peasant life and landscapes. The Hunters in the Snow is among his most beloved works.
• 1561 – 1633 Jacopo Peri Italian composer Jacopo Peri was a Florentine composer whose Euridice of 1600 is considered the earliest opera to have survived intact. He was a central figure in the invention of the new dramatic style.
• 1562 – 1621 Jan Pieterszoon Sweelinck Dutch Renaissance composer Jan Pieterszoon Sweelinck was the greatest Dutch composer of the late Renaissance whose keyboard fantasias and variations bridged Renaissance and Baroque styles and deeply influenced German organ music.
• 1563 – 1626 John Dowland English lutenist and composer John Dowland was the greatest lutenist-composer of the Renaissance whose melancholic ayres and lute pieces were famous throughout Europe. His Flow my Tears became an international sensation.
• 1564 – 1642 Galileo Galilei Astronomer, physicist, and father of observational astronomy Galileo Galilei was an Italian polymath whose work in astronomy, physics, and the scientific method fundamentally reshaped humanity's understanding of the universe. He built and refined the telescope to reveal the moons of Jupiter, the phases of Venus, and the true nature of the Milky Way, providing powerful evidence for the Copernican, Sun-centered model of the solar system. His insistence on empirical observation over inherited authority brought him into direct conflict with the Roman Catholic Church, culminating in his 1633 trial by the Inquisition and years of house arrest. Despite this persecution, his final work on motion and mechanics laid essential groundwork for Newtonian physics, earning him lasting recognition as one of the founders of modern science.
• 1564 – 1616 William Shakespeare English playwright and poet Shakespeare created plays and sonnets that remain central to world literature, exploring universal themes of human nature.
• 1566 – 1839 Wars & Stagnation (1566–1839) The period from Suleiman's death to the Tanzimat reforms spans 273 years of gradual but accelerating decline punctuated by moments of recovery. The failed siege of Vienna (1683) marks the definitive end of Ottoman expansion in Europe; the Treaty of Karlowitz (1699) begins the long territorial retreat. Russia emerges as the empire's most dangerous enemy, fighting six wars and pushing the Ottoman frontier steadily south. The Janissaries -- once the empire's elite force -- become a conservative political force that murders reforming sultans. The empire earns its 19th-century epithet: 'the sick man of Europe.'
• 1566 – 1613 Carlo Gesualdo Italian Renaissance composer Carlo Gesualdo was an Italian prince and composer notorious for his intensely chromatic madrigals and his personal life. His harmonic language was far ahead of his time.
• 1567 – 1643 Claudio Monteverdi Father of opera Italian composer who bridged the Renaissance and Baroque eras. His opera L'Orfeo (1607) is one of the earliest operas still regularly performed.
• 1568 – 1648 Eighty Years' War Dutch Revolt against Spain The Dutch provinces fought for independence from Spanish rule.
• 1568 – 1634 Adriano Banchieri Italian Renaissance composer and theorist Adriano Banchieri was a Benedictine monk, composer and theorist whose comic madrigal comedies and theoretical writings were important contributions to late Renaissance music.
• 1569 Mercator projection Accurate global sea routes become possible In 1569, Flemish cartographer Gerardus Mercator published his world map using a new cylindrical projection that preserved angles, making it ideal for maritime navigation. For the first time, sailors could plot straight-line compass bearings across any part of the ocean. The Mercator projection remains the standard navigational map today and represented a decisive advance in the mathematical understanding of the Earth's surface.