- Feb 2 Giovanni Perluigi da Palestrina, Italian composer, dies at 68
- Apr 29 Thomas Cooper, English bishop, lexicographer, and writer
- May 4 Paul Buys, Grand Pensionary of Holland, dies at 62
- May 31 Tintoretto, Italian Mannerist painter and notable exponent of the Renaissance school, dies at 75
- Jun 3 John Aylmer, English political theorist (b. 1521)
- Jun 3 Michel Renichon, Dutch priest, executed
- Jun 14 Orlandus Lassus, Flemish composer (Prophet sybillarum), dies at about 61 [birthdate uncertain]
- Jul 10 Paulo Bellasio, Italian organist and late Renaissance composer, dies at 40
- Jul 24 John Boste, Catholic saint and martyr (b. 1544)
- Oct 16 William Allen, English cardinal/founder seminary of Douai, dies at 62
- Nov 22 Martin Frobisher, English privateer, explorer (Canada) and later vice-admiral who helped defeat the Spanish Armada, dies aged between 55 and 59
- Dec 5 Gerardus Mercator, Flemish geographer, globe maker, and cartographer (introduced the term atlas, added rhumb lines to aid navigation by sea, Mercator 1569 world map), dies at 82
Assassination
Drug Overdose
Gunshot Wound
Murder
Plane Crash
Suicide