- Jan 15 Juan de Herrera, Spanish Renaissance architect and mathematician (El Escorial, Vallododid Cathedral), dies (b. c. 1530)
- Jan 19 Maharana Pratap, Rajput king of Mewar (1572-1597), dies of injuries sustained in a hunting accident at 56
- Jan 29 Elias Ammerbach, German organist dies at about 67
- Feb 2 Lucas van Valckenborch, Flemish painter, buried at about 61
- Feb 15 Pieter J Kies, Dutch mayor of Haarlem (1572-73), dies at about 66
- Mar 10 Petrus Forestus, Dutch physician (Willem of Orange), dies
- May 20 Dutch commander Matthijs Heldt, dies in battle
- Jun 2 Diederik Sonoy, Dutch politician, statesman and leader of the Geuzen during the Eighty Years' War, dies at 67
- Jun 9 Jose de Anchieta, Spanish saint, Jesuit poet and missionary to Brazil (founder of São Paulo and Rio de Janeiro), dies at 63
- Jun 20 Willem Barents [Barentsz], Dutch navigator and arctic explorer (Barents Sea named after him), dies at sea in the Arctic at about 47
- Jul 20 Franciscus Raphelengius, Flemish publisher (1st Arabic-Latin dictionary), dies at 58
- Oct 4 Sarsa Dengel, Emperor of Ethiopia (b. 1550)
- Oct 9 Ashikaga Yoshiaki, 15th Japanese shōgun, dies at 59
- Nov 6 Infanta Catherine Michelle of Spain [Catalina Micaela de Austria], Duchess consort of Savoy (1585-97), dies at 30
- Dec 18 Barbara Blomberg, German mistress of Emperor Charles V, mother of John of Austria, dies at 67
- Dec 21 Saint Peter Canisius, Dutch Jesuit priest, dies at 76
Assassination
Car Crash
Hanging
Killed in Action
Plane Crash
Poisoning