April 1 – The Sea Beggars, Netherlandish Calvinist rebels, capture the port city of Brielle. This leads to a wave of uprisings in Holland and Zealand, leaving most of those provinces (with the exception of Amsterdam), under rebel control.
June 25 – The Sea Beggars capture the city Gorkum. Several Roman Catholic priests are put into a prison.
November 9 – Siege of Sancerre Catholic forces of the king lay siege to Sancerre, a Huguenot stronghold in central France. The fortified city held out for nearly eight months without bombard artillery. It was one of the last time slings were used in European history.