Events January–June February – The Sinhalese abandon the siege of Colombo, capital of Portuguese Ceylon. February 9 – The sudden death of Álvaro de Bazán, 1st Marquis of Santa Cruz, in the midst of preparations for the Spanish Armada, forces King Philip II of Spain to re-allocate the command of the fleet. April 14 (April 4 Old Style) – Christian IV becomes king of Denmark–Norway, upon the death of his father, Frederick II. May 12 – Day of the Barricades in Paris: Henry I, Duke of Guise seizes the city, forcing King Henry III to flee. May 28 – The Spanish Armada, with 130 ships and 30,000 men, begins to set sail from the Tagus estuary, under the command of the Duke of Medina Sedonia and Juan Martínez de Recalde, heading for the English Channel (it will take until May 30 for all of the ships to leave port). July–December July – King Henry III of France capitulates to the Duke of Guise, and returns to Paris. July 31 – The first engagement between the English and Spanish fleets (off of Plymouth) results in a victory for the English, under command of Lord Howard of Effingham and Sir Francis Drake. August 2 – The English fleet defeats the Spanish fleet, off the Isle of Portland. August 6 (July 29 Old Style) – Battle of Gravelines: The Spanish Armada is defeated by the English naval force off the coast of Gravelines, in the Spanish Netherlands (modern France). August 7 – The English fleet defeats the Spanish fleet off the coast of Flanders. August 8–9 – The Spanish are unable to reach the coast of Flanders, to meet up with the army of the Duke of Parma. The Duke of Medina Sidonia decides to return to Spain. August 12 – The fleeing Spanish fleet sails past the Firth of Forth, and the English call off their pursuit. Much of the Spanish fleet is destroyed by storms, as it sails for home around Scotland and Ireland. October 7 – The first biography of Nicolaus Copernicus (d.1543) is completed by Bernardino Baldi. December 5 – The Order of Augustinian Recollects is formally recognised as a separate province from the Order of Saint Augustine, an event later known as the Día de la Recolección or Day of Recollection. December 23 – Henry III of France strikes his ultra-Catholic enemies, having the Duke of Guise and