- Mar 19 Lieven van der Maude [Livius Ammonius], South Netherland poet and Carthusian monk, dies at 70
- Mar 21 Thomas Cranmer, English reformer, Archbishop of Canterbury (1533-55), burned at stake at 66
- Apr 18 Luigi Alamanni, Italian poet (Flora, Antigone), dies at 61
- May 28 Saitō Dōsan, Japanese daimyo (b. 1494?)
- Jun 10 Martin Agricola [M Sore], German composer/cantor, dies
- Jul 31 Saint Ignatius of Loyola, Spanish knight from a Basque noble family, hermit, priest, theologian and co-founder of the Society of Jesus (Jesuit) religious order, dies in Rome at about 65
- Aug 25 David Jorisz, Flemish glass blower/sect leader, dies at about 54
- Oct 31 John Sleidanus, German humanist/historian (Commentary), dies at 50
- Nov 10 Richard Chancellor, English explorer, dies in shipwreck off Scotland
- Nov 14 Giovanni Della Casa, Italian poet (Galateo), dies at 53
- Dec 23 Nicholas Udall, English playwright (wrote the 1st comedy in English "Ralph Roister Doister"), dies at about 52
Assassination
Drug Overdose
Gunshot Wound
Murder
Plane Crash
Suicide