1563
| Years: 1560 1561 1562 - 1563 - 1564 1565 1566 | |
| Decades: 1530s 1540s 1550s - 1560s - 1570s 1580s 1590s | |
| Centuries: 15th century - 16th century - 17th century | |
Events
- February 1 - Sarsa Dengel succeeds his father Menas as Emperor of Ethiopia
- February 18 - The Duke of Guise is assassinated while besieging Orléans
- March - Peace of Amboise. Negotiated between the Prince of Condé and Anne de Montmorency, it accords some toleration to the Huguenots, especially to aristocrats. The combined Huguenot and royal armies then march north to besiege the English in Le Havre
- July 28 - The English surrender Le Havre to the French after a siege.
- December 4 - Official closing of the Council of Trent (opened December 13, 1545)
Births
- January 30 - Franciscus Gomarus, Dutch theologian (died 1641)
- March 5 - John Coke, English politician (died 1644)
- June 1 - Robert Cecil, 1st Earl of Salisbury (died 1612)
- November 8 - Henry I, Duke of Lorraine (died 1624)
- November 19 - Robert Sidney, 1st Earl of Leicester (died 1626)
- December 19 - Lord William Howard (died 1640)
- Francis Stewart Hepburn, 1st Earl of Bothwell, nephew of James Hepburn (died 1612)
- Charles Blount, 1st Earl of Devon (died 1606)
- John Dowland, English composer (died 1626)
- Michael Drayton, English poet (died 1631)
- Wanli Emperor, of the Ming dynasty (died 1620)
- Scipione Gentili, Italian legal scholar (died 1616)
- Anna Guarini, Italian virtuoso singer (died 1598)
- Jodocus Hondius, Flemish artist (died 1633)
- Hosokawa Gracia, Japanese noblewoman (died 1600)
- Leonhard Hutter, German Lutheran theologian (died 1616)
- Adam Kazanowski, Polish-Lithuanian nobleman (died 1636)
- Marcin Kazanowski, Polish nobleman (died 1636)
- Zygmunt Kazanowski, Polish nobleman (died 1634)
- Robert Naunton, English politician and writer (died 1635)
- Joshua Sylvester, English poet (died 1618)
- Jean Titelouze, French organist (died 1633)
Deaths
- February 1 - Emperor Menas of Ethiopia (fever) (born 1559)
- February 24 - Francis, Duke of Guise, French Catholic military and political leader (shot) (born 1519)
- March 24 - Hosokawa Harumoto, Japanese head of Hosokawa clan (born 1514)
- March 28 - Heinrich Glarean, Swiss music theorist (born 1488)
- June 6 - Ikeda Nagamasa, Japanese kokujin and military commander (born 1519)
- June 9 - William Paget, 1st Baron Paget, English statesman (born 1506)
- August 11 - Bartolomé de Escobedo, Spanish composer (born 1500)
- August 18 - Étienne de La Boétie, French judge and writer (born 1530)
- September 17 - Henry Manners, 2nd Earl of Rutland (born 1526)
- December 29 - Sebastian Castello, rector of the College of Geneva (born 1515)
- Odet de Selve, French diplomat
- Elizabeth Seymour, English noblewoman (born 1513)