1574

January–March

• January 22 - Mohammed II becomes the new Sultan of Morocco upon the death of his father, Abdallah al-Ghalib.
• January 27 - At Agra, Bhagwant Das becomes the new Maharaja of the Kingdom of Amber in what is now India's state of Uttar Pradesh, upon the death of his grandfather, the Raja Bharmal.
• January 29 - Off of the coast of the Netherlands, the Battle of the Scheldt is fought between the Spanish Fleet and a combined Dutch and English fleet of ships. The Spanish Navy loses 15 ships and 1,200 men are killed, wounded or captured.
• February - The fifth War of Religion against the Huguenots begins in France.
• March 2 - Swedish troops attack Wesenberg Castle in Estonia and lose at least 1,000 men in attempting to capture it from the Russian Army.
• March 17 - Within the Swedish Army, a fight between Scottish and German mercenaries is fought. By the end of the battle, several hundred Scots are dead, compared to 30 Germans.

April–June

• April 14 - Battle of Mookerheyde: Spanish forces under Sancho de Avila defeat the rebel forces of Louis of Nassau, who is killed.
• April - The fort of Narnala in the Deccan falls to the Ahmadnagar Sultanate, and with it the Berar sultanate is annexed by Ahmadnagar.
• May 30 - On the death of King Charles IX of France of a tubercular condition at the Château de Vincennes, he is succeeded by his brother King Henry of Poland, who becomes King Henry III of France. His mother, Catherine de' Medici, acts as Regent, until Henry arrives from Poland.
• June 10
• * Construction of The White Tower begins in the Czech Republic.
• * Manila, Philippines gains cityhood.

July–September

• July 12 - Selim II, Sultan of the Ottoman Empire, launches the attempt to reclaim Tunis from control of the Holy Roman Empire with more than 250 warships and 100,000 troops, and to restore North Africa to Muslim control.
• July 13 - In Berlin, John George, Elector of Brandenburg, orders the founding of the Evangelisches Gymnasium zum Grauen Kloster, which remains 450 years later as one of the most prestigious preparatory schools in Germany.
• July 26 - Kılıç Ali Pasha begins construction of an Ottoman fortress on the coastline of Morocco, directly across Andalusia in mainland Spain.
• August 24 - The Tunisian port of La Goulette falls to Ottoman troops after six weeks.
• August 30 - Guru Ram Das becomes the fourth of the Sikh gurus.
• September 13 - The last Holy Roman Imperial defenders surrender Tunis to the Ottoman General Cığalazade Yusuf Sinan Pasha.
• September - A plot to assassinate John III of Sweden is discovered, headed by Charles de Mornay and implicating Charles Dancay, Hogenskild Bielke, Gustaf Banér, Pontus De la Gardie, Princess Elizabeth of Sweden, Princess Cecilia of Sweden, and Duke Charles.

October–December

• October 3 - The city of Leiden, besieged by the Spanish, is relieved by a Sea Beggars fleet under Louis Boisot.
• November 22 - The Juan Fernández Islands in the South Pacific Ocean are discovered by Spanish sailor Juan Fernández.
• November 29 - Limahong and Juan de Salcedo quarrel during the Battle of Manila.
• December 15 - Selim II, the 50-year-old Sultan of the Ottoman Empire, is killed after becoming drunk, falling, and fracturing his skull on the floor of the Topkapi Palace.
• December 22 - Prince Murad bin-Selim of the Ottoman Empire completes the murders, by strangulation, of his four younger brothers, Süleyman, Abdüllah, Osman, and Cihangir.
• December 27 - Murad III, eldest son of Selim II, is formally enthroned as the Ottoman Sultan after eliminating his other brothers as rival claimants to the throne.

Undated

• Prince El-Mirza of Kakheti is defeated in his bid for the throne by his half-brother, Alexander II.
• The Liturgical Battle royal between the Reformation and Counter Reformation begins in Sweden, and continues until the Uppsala Synod of 1593.
• La Alameda, Seville, is laid out in Spain, as Europe's first public garden.