Events of 1586

• June 16 - Mary Queen of Scots recognizes Philip II of Spain as her heir.
• July 6 - The Treaty of Berwick is signed between Queen Elizabeth I of England and King James VI of Scotland.
• September 22 - Battle of Zutphen: Spanish troops defeat the Dutch rebels and their English allies.
• November 19 - Henry Barrow, English Puritan and Separatist, is imprisoned.
• December 17 - The reign of Emperor Ogimachi of Japan ends and Emperor Go-Yozei ascends to the throne of Japan.

Undated

• Toyotomi Hideyoshi becomes grand minister of Japan.
• William Harrison becomes canon of Windsor.
• Luis Barahona de Soto publishes Primera parte de la Angélica.
• William Camden publishes Britannia.
• Simon Stevin, a Dutch mathematician, demonstrates that two objects of different weight fall with the same speed.
• St. Augustine, Florida, and Santo Domingo in the modern day Dominican Republic are plundered and burned by English sea captain Sir Francis Drake.
• Jacobus Gallus composes his motet O magnum mysterium.
• Caesar Baronius publishes a new edition of Roman martyrology.
• The first HMS Vanguard is launched in England.
• English explorer Thomas Cavendish begins his circumnavigation of the globe.

Births

• January 20 - Johann Schein, German composer (d. 1630)
• April 17 - John Ford, English dramatist and poet (d. 1640)
• April 30 - Saint Rose of Lima, Peruvian saint (d. 1617)
• July 1 - Claudio Saracini, Italian composer (d. 1630)
• July 5 - Thomas Hooker, Connecticut colonist (d. 1647)
• July 7 - Thomas Howard, 21st Earl of Arundel, English courtier (d. 1646)
• August 14 - William Hutchinson, founder of Rhode Island (d. 1642)
• October 9 - Archduke Leopold V of Austria, regent of Tyrol (d. 1632)
• December 6 - Niccolo Zucchi, Italian astronomer and physicist (d. 1670)
• date unknown
• Johann Valentin Andrea, German theologian (d. 1654)
• Pau Claris i Casademunt, Catalan ecclesiastic (d. 1641)
• Giles Fletcher, English poet (d. 1623)
• Gerard de Malynes, English merchant (d. 1641)
• John Mason, English explorer (d. 1635)
• Jacob Praetorius, German composer and organist (d. 1651)
• David HaLevi Segal, Polish rabbi (d. 1667)

See also 1586 births.

Deaths

• January 25 - Lucas Cranach the Younger, German painter (b. 1515)
• March 20 - Richard Maitland, Scottish statesman and historian (b. 1496)
• March 24 - Margaret Clitherow, English Catholic saint and martyr (b. 1556)
• April 8 - Martin Chemnitz, Lutheran reformer (b. 1522)
• May 5 - Henry Sidney, Lord Deputy of Ireland (b. 1529)
• May 9 - Luis de Morales, Spanish religious painter (b. 1510)
• June 28 - Primoz Trubar, Slovenian Protestant reformer (b. 1508)
• July 12 - Edward Sutton, 4th Baron Dudley (b. 1525)
• September 18 – Ottavio Farnese, Duke of Parma (b. 1521)
• September 20
• Sir Anthony Babington, English Catholic conspirator (executed) (b. 1561)
• Chidiock Tichborne, English conspirator and poet (executed) (b. 1558)
• September 21 - Antoine Perrenot de Granvelle, French church leader (b. 1517)
• October 17 - Sir Philip Sidney, English poet, courtier, and soldier (mortally wounded in battle) (b. 1554)
• December 12 – Stefan Batory, King of Poland (b. 1533)
• date unknown
• Philips van der Aa, Dutch statesman
• Andrea Gabrieli, Italian composer (b. 1510)

See also 1586 deaths.