1578 year

• The defeat of urban democracy in Arras and Valenciennes. Autumn - The Ghents executed the ardent reactionaries of Hessel and Jan de Vich, broke with the General States and entered into an alliance with Brussels and the cities of Flanders. The rebellion of the nobility of Gennegau and Artois. The battle of Gamblos. Peasant War in Flanders. Peasant uprisings in a number of northern provinces.
• The death of King Sebastian during a campaign in North Africa.
• 1578-1580 - King of Portugal Enrique.
• August 4   - the battle of El Ksar al-Kebir ( port. Batalha de Alcácer-Quibir ), also known as the “ battle of the three kings ” ( Arabic. معركة الملوك الثلاث ) - a major battle in the north of Morocco , near the city of El Ksar el -Kebir , between Tangier and Fez .
• October 21 - in the battle of Wenden, Russian troops suffered a crushing defeat from the combined Polish-Swedish forces.
• Opening of the Jesuit Academy in Vilna .
• Joining the city of Sukhum-Kale to Turkey.
• 1578-1590 - War of the Ottoman Empire with Iran .
• Abatai, an influential feudal lord of Northern Mongolia, declared himself a Lamaist, who soon went to Tibet and received from the Dalai Lama a blessing and the title of Tushetu Khan.
• Drake with a small squadron, passing through the Strait of Magellan, robbed Spanish cities along the coast of Chile and Peru.

See also: Category: Born in 1578

• April 1 - William Harvey , an English physician , physiologist and embryologist .
• Agazzari, Agostino - Italian composer.
• Albany, Francesco - Italian artist of the Bologna school .
• Webster, John - English playwright.
• Wolfgang Wilhelm - Palatine of Neuburg , Duke of Julich and Berg , father of the Elector of the Palatinate, Philip Wilhelm .
• Pozharsky, Dmitry Mikhailovich - military and political leader , head of the Second People’s Militia , who liberated Moscow from the Polish-Lithuanian invaders.
• Ravalyak, Francois - the assassin of the king of France, Henry IV .
• Ferdinand II - emperor of the Holy Roman Empire from 1619 to 1637 , king of the Czech Republic , king of Hungary .
• Philip III - king of Spain, king of Portugal and the Algarve (as Philip II) from 1598 to 1621 .
• Elsheimer, Adam - German painter .
• September 15 - Albrecht von Wallenstein , commander of the Holy Roman Empire , Generalissimo .

See also: Category: Deaths in 1578

• Venier, Sebastiano - 86th Venetian Doge in 1577/1578 .
• Gray, Maria is the younger sister of Lady Jane Gray , known as the “Queen for Nine Days,” and Katerina Gray .
• Catherine of Austria - nee Archduke of Austria , Infanta of Spain and Princess of Burgundy . Wife of King Joao III , Queen Consort of Portugal . Regent with his grandson, King Sebastian .
• John of Austria is the youngest daughter of Emperor Ferdinand I and Anna Jagiellonian , the Grand Duchess of Tuscany, the first wife of Duke Francesco I , mother of the Queen of France Maria Medici .
• Clovio, Giulio - Italian painter - miniature painter of Croatian descent.
• Cort, Cornelis is a Dutch copper engraver .
• Lesko, Pierre - French architect and sculptor.
• Moroni, Giovanni Battista - Italian artist.
• Nunis, Pedro - Portuguese mathematician .
• Piale Pasha - military and political figure of the Ottoman Empire of Croatian origin, Kapudan Pasha from 1553 to 1567 , Vizier from 1568
• Rossi, Azariah ben-Moses de - famous scientist, founder of historical criticism.
• Sebastian I is the king of Portugal and the Algarve from the Avis dynasty .
• Uesugi Kenshin is a daimyo who ruled the province of Etigo , one of the most powerful generals of the Sengoku period in Japanese history.
• Hepburn, James, 4th Earl of Bothwell - Scottish nobleman, third husband of Queen of Scotland Mary Stuart , whose marriage led to the overthrow of the Queen in 1567 .
• Juan of Austria - Spanish commander, illegitimate son of Charles V and Barbara Blumenberg, daughter of the Regensburg burghermeister .
• Mihrimah Sultan, the second child and only daughter of Roksolana (Alexandra Anastasia Lisowska) and Kanuni Sultan Suleiman.