"Be of good comfort, and play the man, Master Ridley; we shall this day light such a candle, by God's grace, in England, as I trust shall never be put out."
- English religious reformer Hugh Latimer to fellow reformer Nicholas Ridley,
shortly before they were both burned at the stake for heresy, October 1555.
"Bear righteousness and the Way on a shoulder of iron,
Write with a peppery hand."
- Death poem of Chinese court official Yang Jisheng,
composed on the evening before his execution,
November 11, 1555.
In the year AD 1555...
- The Peace of Augsburg is signed between Holy Roman Emperor Charles V and the Schmalkaldic League of Lutheran princes, bringing an end to the Second Schmalkaldic War and officially allowing Protestantism within the Holy Roman Empire according to the principle of Cuius regio, eius religio, or "their realm, their religion."
- The Ottoman–Safavid War of 1532–1555, fought between the Sunni Muslim Ottoman Empire under Sultan Suleiman the Magnificent and Shia Muslim Safavid Persia under Shah Tahmasp I, finally comes to an end with the Peace of Amasya, which divides Armenia, Georgia, and Kurdistan between the two empires, guarantees safe passage for Persian Shia pilgrims to Mecca, and commits the Persians to ending their practice of ritualistically cursing the first three Rashidun caliphs, the Prophet Mohammed's third wife Aisha, and other figures holy to Sunni Muslims.
- The last of the numerous Italian Wars continues between France and Spain for control of Italy. The 18-month-long Seige of Sienna comes to an end as the city state of Sienna surrenders to a combined Spanish-Florentine force, bringing an end to the Republic of Sienna's existence after more than 400 years as an independent state.
- French admiral Nicolas Durand de Villegaignon and 200 colonists found the French colony of Antarctic France at Rio de Janeiro in what is now Brazil. The colony will last for 12 years until being destroyed by the Portuguese in 1567.
- The devastating 1555 Kashmir Earthquake kills an estimated 60,000 people in Kashmir.
- In the Battle of Miyajima, Japanese warlord Mōri Motonari decisvely defeats Ōuchi forces under Ōuchi clan chief vassal Sue Harukata, bringing about the beginning of the end of the once mighty Ōuchi and signaling the rise of the Mōri clan to dominance over western Japan.
- In the Second Battle of Kawanakajima, Japanese warlord Takeda Shingen tries once again to invade the territory of his arch-rival, Uesugi Kenshin, but gives up after a series of small skirmishes when Kenshin blocks him with a large army of his own.
- In the Battle of Wangjiangjing near Jiaxing, China, Chinese admiral Zhang Jing deals the greatest defeat ever inflicted by the forces of the Ming Dynasty against the so-called "Japanese pirates," taking over 1,900 heads.
- French astrologer Nostradamus first publishes his book The Prophesies, a collections of vague predictions about the future written in a combination of French, Greek, Latin and Occitan in the form of poetic quatrains.
- Swedish chronicler Olaus Magnus first publishes his Historia de Gentibus Septentrionalibus ("A Description of the Northern Peoples"), a patriotic work of folklore and history that becomes a massive bestseller across Europe, immediately receiving translations into multiple languages and remaining the go-to source for information about the history, practices, and customs of Sweden and Scandinavia for the next several hundred years.
- Spanish Carmelite nun Saint Teresa of Ávila begins having a celebrated series of ecstatic mystical experiences, including having visions and hearing voices of Jesus Christ and angels.
These people were born in 1555:
These people died in 1555:
- Pope Marcellus II, succeeded by Pope Pope Paul IV.
- Genoese statesman and admiral Andrea Doria.
- Chinese court official Yang Jisheng, executed for attempting to expose the corrupt activities of powerful court official Yan Song.
- Chinese admiral Zhang Jing, executed by the Jiajing emperor for corruption, after allegedly delaying his campaign against the Japanese pirates in order to secure personal profits.
- Ōuchi clan chief vassal Sue Harukata, killed in the Battle of Miyajima.
- German minerologist Georgius Agricola.
- Italian humanist scholar Polydore Vergil.
- French mathematician Oronce Finé.
- English religious reformer John Hooper, burned at the stake for heresy as part of the Marian persecutions.
- English translator of the Bible John Rogers, burned at the stake for heresy as part of the Marian persecutions.
- English religious reformer Laurence Saunders, burned at the stake for heresy as part of the Marian persecutions.
- English translator of the Bible Rowland Taylor, burned at the stake for heresy as part of the Marian persecutions.
- English religious reformer John Bradford, burned at the stake for heresy as part of the Marian persecutions.
- English religious reformer Hugh Latimer, burned at the stake for heresy as part of the Marian persecutions.
- English religious reformer Nicholas Ridley, burned at the stake for heresy as part of the Marian persecutions.
1554 - 1555 - 1556
16th century
How they were made