| January 7 | Antonio "Michele" Ghislieri is elected Pope Pius V |
| January 7 | Michaele Ghislieri is elected Pope Pius V |
| February 13 | St. Augustine, Florida founded |
| April 5 | 200 Brussel nobles offer Margaretha of Parma a petition |
| August 20 | Iconoclasm reaches Antwerp Belgium |
| August 23 | Beeldenstorm reaches Amsterdam |
| August 23 | Land guardian Margaretha van Parma grants Calvinists rights |
| August 25 | Iconoclastic fury begins in Dutch province Utrecht |
| December 1 | Spanish king Philip II names Fernando Alvarez, duke of Alva |
