1596 in France

Incumbents

• Monarch - Henry IV

Events

• Siege of Calais
• Tract of alliance between England, France and the United Netherlands

Births

• 31 March - René Descartes, French philosopher
• 6 June - Michel Particelli d'Émery
• 5 November - Charles II, Duke of Elbeuf, nobleman
• 11 November - Catherine Henriette de Bourbon

Deaths

• 19 February - Blaise de Vigenère, diplomat, cryptographer, translator and alchemist
• 5 May - Catherine de Montpensier, politically active duchess
• 3 October - Florent Chrestien, satirist and poet
• 1 November - Pierre Pithou, lawyer and scholar

Full date missing

• Jean Bodin, philosopher and politician
• Madeleine de l’Aubespine, aristocrat and writer