Events of 1552

January–June

• January 15 – Henry II of France and Maurice of Saxony sign the Treaty of Chambord.

• February 12 – Pedro de Valdivia founds the city of Valdivia as Santa María la Blanca de Valdivia in Chile.

October 2: Ivan IV.

• February 24 – The privileges of the Hanseatic League are abolished in England.

• March – The Act of Uniformity 1552 imposes the Protestant prayerbook in England.

• March 26 – Guru Amar Das becomes the Third Sikh Guru.

• April – War breaks out between Henry II of France and Emperor Charles V. Henry invades Lorraine and captures Toul, Metz, and Verdun.

• April 16 – The city of La Imperial was founded by Pedro de Valdivia.

• May – Maurice of Saxony captures Augsburg and almost seizes Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor at Innsbruck.

July–December

• August 2

• *John Frederick, Elector of Saxony and Philipp I of Hesse, taken prisoner by Charles V in 1546, are released.

• *The Peace of Passau revokes the Augsburg Interim of 1548 and promises religious freedom to the Protestant princes.

• October 2 – The Khanate of Kazan falls to troops of Ivan IV of Russia.

• September – In Hungary, Eger is defended against the Turks.

Eustachi.

Undated

• In the Persian Gulf, the Ottoman Empire Red Sea Fleet attacks the Portuguese stronghold of Hormuz but fails to capture it.

• Spain's Bartolomé de Las Casas publishes his attack on colonial practices in the New World, A Short Account of the Destruction of the Indies.

• In Italy, Bartolomeo Eustachi makes important discoveries on the structure of the ear and heart.

• Christ's Hospital and Shrewsbury School are founded by Royal Charter of Edward VI.

• The foundation of Leeds Grammar School

Births

• February 1 – Edward Coke, English colonial entrepreneur and jurist (d. 1634)

• February 8 – Agrippa d'Aubigné, French poet and soldier (d. 1630)

• February 19 – Melchior Klesl, Austrian statesman and cardinal (d. 1630)

• February 28 – Joost Bürgi, Swiss clockmaker and mathematician (d. 1632)

• April 15 – Pietro Cataldi, Italian mathematician (d. 1626)

• June 18 – Gabriello Chiabrera, Italian poet (d. 1637)

• July 18 – Rudolf II, Holy Roman Emperor (d. 1612)

• August 24 – Lavinia Fontana, Italian painter (d. 1614)

• September 22 – Tsar Vasili IV of Russia (d. 1612)

• October 6 – Matteo Ricci, Italian Jesuit missionary to China (d. 1610)

• December 29 – Henri I de Bourbon, prince de Condé (d. 1588)

• December 30 – Simon Forman, English occultist and astrologer (d. 1611)

• date unknown

• *Hans von Aachen, German mannerist painter (d. 1615)

• *Thomas Aufield, English Catholic martyr (d. 1585)

• *Jean Bertaut, French poet (d. 1611)

• *Richard Hakluyt, English author, editor and translator (b. c. 1552 or 1553; d. 1616)

• *Philemon Holland, English translator (d. 1637)

• *Francisco Goméz de Sandoval y Rojas, Duke of Lerma, Spanish politician (d. 1625)

• *Dom Justo Takayama, Japanese daimyo (d. 1615)

• *Jean Hotman, Marquis de Villers-St-Paul, French diplomat (d. 1636)

• *Jack Ward, English pirate (d. 1622)

Deaths

• January 10 – Johann Cochlaeus, German humanist and controversialist (b. 1479)

• January 22 – Edward Seymour, 1st Duke of Somerset, English politician (b. 1509)

• February 26 – Heinrich Faber, German composer (b. 1500)

• April 18 – John Leland, English historian (b. 1502)

• June 10 – Alexander Barclay, British poet (b. 1476)

• August 15 – Hermann of Wied, German Catholic archbishop (b. 1477)

• October 14 – Oswald Myconius, Swiss Protestant reformer (b. 1488)

• October 17 – Andreas Osiander, German Protestant theologian (b. 1498)

• December 2 – Francis Xavier, Spanish Jesuit missionary (b. 1506)

• December 20 – Katharina von Bora, wife of Martin Luther (b. 1499)

• date unknown

• *Sebastian Münster, German cartographer and cosmographer (b. 1488)

• *Philippe Verdelot, French composer (b. 1475)

• *Edward Edward Wotton, English zoologist (b. 1492)