1563
Year 1563 was a common year starting on Friday of the Julian calendar.
Events
January–March
- January 11 - The convocation of bishops and clerics of the Church of England is opened at St Paul's Cathedral in London by the Dean of the Arches, Robert Weston to agree upon the wording of what will become the Thirty-nine Articles, with the assembly adopting all but three of the Forty-two Articles promulgated during the reign of King Edward VI in 1553. The conference lasts for three months before agreeing upon the Articles to be submitted for further modification.
- January 25 - In Italy, Instituto Bancario San Paolo di Torino, a constituent of the major financial group Sanpaolo IMI, is founded.
- February 1 - Sarsa Dengel succeeds his father Menas as Emperor of Ethiopia at age 14.
- February 18 - Francis, Duke of Guise, is assassinated while besieging Orléans by Jean de Poltrot.
- March 19 - The Edict of Amboise is signed at the Château d'Amboise by Catherine de' Medici, acting as regent for her son Charles IX of France, having been negotiated between the Huguenot Louis, Prince of Condé, and Anne, duc de Montmorency, Constable of France. It accords some toleration to the Huguenots, especially to aristocrats. It officially ends the first phase of the French Wars of Religion, and the combined Huguenot and royal armies then march north to besiege the English in Le Havre.
April–June
- April 5 - The English galleon ship HMS Grehound strikes a sandbar off of the coast of Rye, East Sussex and sinks with all hands in the English Channel, including the Admiral of the Narrow Seas, John Malyn.
- April 10 - Royal assent is given by Queen Elizabeth of England to parliamentary approval of multiple laws, including the Highways Act 1562 ; the Poor Act 1562 ; the Supremacy of the Crown Act 1562 ; and the Witchcraft Act 1562
- April 23 - The cornerstone is laid for the construction of El Escorial, the royal palace for the monarch of Spain. Construction will not be finished for 21 more years, with completion on September 13, 1584.
- May 5 - The Battle of Yudokoru takes place in Japan at the Inaba Province, as Takanobu Takeda defeats the shogun Toyokazu Yamana.
- May 25 - Elizabeth College, Guernsey is founded, by order of Queen Elizabeth I of England.
- May 30 - At Bornholm, the Danish fleet fires on the Swedish navy, leading to a Danish defeat and precipitating the Northern Seven Years' War.
- June 4 - The Parliament of Scotland passes the Witchcraft Act, making both the practice of witchcraft, and the act of consulting with witches, punishable by burning at the stake.
July–September
- July 28 - The English surrender Le Havre to the French after a siege.
- August 13 - Northern Seven Years' War: Denmark–Norway and the Free City of Lübeck declare war against the Kingdom of Sweden.
- August 18 - Merchants from the Bungo Province destroy the Portuguese settlement in Yokoseura, Japan
- September 4 - Northern Seven Years' War: King Frederick II of Denmark, advancing from Halland, takes Old Älvsborg from Sweden.
October–December
- October 7 - Giovanni Battista Lercari is elected as the new Doge of the Republic of Genoa.
- November 9 - The Army of Sweden, under the command of King King Erik XIV, suffers a severe defeat in the Battle of Mared against the Army of Denmark, commanded by King Frederik II. In the battle, near what is now the city of Oskarström in Sweden, the Swedes suffer at least 2,500 casualties. The Swedish Army is able to retreat and rebuild, but the Danes plunder the village of Övraby, which is never rebuilt.
- November 11 - The Council of Trent amends existing Roman Catholic canon law to deter unannounced marriages. In order for a marriage to be recognized by the Church, the names of the bridge and groom are to be announced publicly in a chapel during Mass, and registered with the parish priests of both parties.
- December 4 - The Council of Trent officially closes. It reaffirms all major Roman Catholic doctrines, and declares the Deuterocanonical books of the Old Testament to be canonical, along with the rest of the Bible. Chapter 1, Session 24, promulgates the decree Tametsi, stipulating that for a marriage to be valid, consent as expressed in the vows has to be given publicly before witnesses, one of whom has to be the parish priest.