1603
| Years: 1600 1601 1602 - 1603 - 1604 1605 1606 | |
| Decades: 1570s 1580s 1590s - 1600s - 1610s 1620s 1630s | |
| Centuries: 16th century - 17th century - 18th century 1603 in topic: | |
Events
- March 24 - Elizabeth I of England dies and is succeeded by her cousin King James VI of Scotland, uniting the crowns of Scotland and England
- April 28 – Funeral of Elizabeth I of England in Westminster Abbey
- July 17 or July 19 - Sir Walter Raleigh arrested for treason.
- July 25 - Coronation of James I of England. By some criteria this was the start of the modern Great Britain
- November 17 - Sir Walter Raleigh goes on trial for treason in the converted Great hall of Winchester Castle
- December 22 - Mehmed III Sultan of the Ottoman Empire dies and is succeeded by his son Ahmed I.
- Johann Bayer's Uranometria, an atlas of the southern sky, is published.
- Tokugawa Ieyasu granted title of shogun from Emperor Go-Yozei of Japan and establishes the Edo or Tokugawa Shogunate in Edo, Japan. This ends the Azuchi-Momoyama period and begins the Edo period.
- Accademia dei Lincei founded
- Huguenot Pierre de Gua is granted royal permission to settle in North America
- Rebellion in Transylvania
- Plague in England
- English crush Irish rebellion. Hugh O'Neill, 2nd Earl of Tyrone surrenders.
- Yaqob deposed as Emperor of Ethiopia by Za Sellase, who appoints his cousin Za Dengel to replace him.
Births
- January 27 - Harbottle Grimston, English politician (died 1685)
- March 18 - King John IV of Portugal (died 1656)
- March 18 - Simon Bradstreet, English colonial magistrate (died 1697)
- April 19 - Michel le Tellier, French statesman (died 1685)
- July 11 - Kenelm Digby, English privateer and alchemist (died 1665)
- August 17 - Lennart Torstenson, Swedish soldier and military engineer (died 1651)
- November 16 - Augustyn Kordecki, prior of the Jasna Góra Monastery (died 1673)
- Louis Abelly, French monk and priest (died 1691)
- Adam Adami, German archbishop and diplomat
- John Ashburnham, English Member of Parliament (died 1671)
- Daniel Blagrave, English Member of Parliament (died 1668)
- Johannes Cocceius, Dutch theologian (died 1669)
- Valentin Conrart, one of the founders of the Académie française (died 1675)
- Denis Gaultier, French lutenist and composer (died 1672)
- Gysbert Japiks, Frisian writer (died 1666)
- Joseph of Cupertino, Italian saint (died 1663)
- Axel Lillie, Swedish soldier and politician (died 1662)
- Shackerley Marmion, English dramatist (died 1639)
- Aernout van der Neer, Dutch painter (died 1677)
- Adam Olearius, German scholar (died 1671)
- Alexandre de Prouville, French stateman and soldier (died 1670)
- Abel Tasman, Dutch explorer (died 1659)
- Tokugawa Yorifusa, Japanese nobleman (died 1661)
Deaths
- January 15 - Catherine Carey, Chief Lady of the Bedchamber to Elizabeth I of England
- February 23 - Andrea Cesalpino, Italian physician (born 1519)
- March 24 - Queen Elizabeth I of England, Wales, and Ireland (born 1533)
- March 25 - Ikoma Chikamasa, Japanese daimyo (born 1526)
- December 9 - William Watson, English conspirator (born 1559)
- December 10 - William Gilbert, English physician and scientist (born 1544)
- December 13 - François Viète, French mathematician (born 1540)
- December 22 - Mehmed III, Ottoman Emperor (born 1566)
- December 27 - Thomas Cartwright, English Puritan churchman (born 1535)
- Peter Binsfeld, Bishop of Trier and witch-hunter (born 1545)
- Pierre Charron, French philosopher (born 1541)
- Baldassare Donato, Italian composer and singer (born 1525)
- Edward Fenton, English navigator
- Georg Friedrich, Margrave of Brandenburg-Ansbach (born 1539)
- Ralph Lane, English explorer (born 1530)
- Philippe de Monte, Flemish composer (born 1521)
- Hugh Roe O'Donnell, Irish chieftain and rebel (born 1571)
- Grace O'Malley, Irish noblewoman and pirate (born 1530)
- Aleksander Ostrogski, Polish nobleman (born 1571)
- Krzysztof Mikolaj Piorun Radziwill, Polish nobleman (born 1547)
- Ikeda Tomomasa, Japanese kokujin and military commander (born 1544)