Year 1574 (MDLXXIV) was a common year starting on Friday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. Events January–June February 23 – The fifth War of Religion against the Huguenots begins in France. April 14 – Battle of Mookerheyde: Spanish forces under Sancho de Avila defeat the rebel forces of Louis of Nassau, who is killed. 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 – Manila, Philippines gains cityhood. July–December August 30 – Guru Ram Das becomes the fourth of the Sikh gurus. 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 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 – Murad III succeeds Selim II, as Ottoman Sultan. 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. Births January 17 – Robert Fludd, English Rosicrucian and Paracelsian physicist (d. 1637) February 17 – Pedro Téllez-Girón, 3rd Duke of Osuna, Spanish nobleman and politician (d. 1624) March 4 – Carl Gyllenhielm, Swedish soldier and politician (d. 1650) March 5 – William Oughtred, English mathematician and Anglican minister (d. 1660) March 7 – John Wilbye, English composer (date of baptism) (d. 1638) April 27 – Philip Rubens, Flemish lawyer and older brother to painter Peter Paul Rubens (d. 1611) May 6 – Pope Innocent X (d. 1655) May 14 Daniel Dumonstier, French artist (d. 1646) Francesco Rasi, Italian composer, singer, instrumentalist, poet (d. 1621) June 13 – Juan Alonso de Solis y