1580 in literature

Events

• Thomas Legge's Latin play about Richard III, Richardus Tertius, is acted by students at St John's College, Cambridge during March.

New books

• Book of Concord
• Michel de Montaigne - Essais

New drama

• Robert Garnier - Antigone
• Thomas Legge - Richardus Tertius

Poetry

• Luís Vaz de Camões - Luís Vaz de Camões
• Jan Kochanowski - Laments

Births

• June 9 - Daniel Heinsius, Dutch scholar (died 1655)
• September 17 - Francisco de Quevedo, Spanish Golden Age writer (died 1645)
• October 12 - Hortensio Félix Paravicino, Spanish poet (died 1633)
• date unknown
• Charles François d'Abra de Raconis, French theologian (died 1646)
• Thomas Adams, English dramatist (died 1653)
• Manuel de Almeida, Spanish historian (died 1646)
• Francisco de Araujo, Spanish theologian (died 1664)
• Philipp Clüver, German historian (died 1623)
• Christophe Justel, French scholar (died 1649)
• Ling Mengchu, Chinese vernacular writer (died 1644)
• Francisco Rodrigues Lobo, Portuguese poet (died 1621)
• Francisco de Lugo, Spanish theologian (died 1652)
• Thomas Middleton, English poet and dramatist (died 1627)

Deaths

• June 10 - Luís de Camões, Portuguese poet (b. c. 1524)
• August 20 - Jeronymo Osorio, Portuguese historian (b. 1506)
• November 3 - Jeronimo Zurita y Castro, Spanish historian (born 1512)
• date unknown
• Hernando de Acuña, Spanish translator (b. c. 1520)
• Sebastián de Horozco, Spanist poet and dramatist (b. 1510)
• Robert Lindsay of Pitscottie, Scottish chronicler (born c1532)
• Thomas Tusser, English poet (b. 1524)
• Hieronymus Wolf, German historian (b. 1516)
• probable - Raphael Holinshed, chronicler