1603

Updated on Sep 21, 2024

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1603 (MDCIII) was a common year starting on Wednesday (dominical letter E) of the Gregorian calendar and a common year starting on Saturday (dominical letter B) of the Julian calendar, the 1603rd year of the Common Era (CE) and Anno Domini (AD) designations, the 603rd year of the 2nd millennium, the 3rd year of the 17th century, and the 4th year of the 1600s decade. As of the start of 1603, the Gregorian calendar was 10 days ahead of the Julian calendar, which remained in localized use until 1923.

January–June

February 25 – Dutch–Portuguese War: the Portuguese ship Santa Catarina is seized by Dutch East India Company ships off Singapore. The first permanent Dutch trading post in Indonesia is established in Banten.

March – French explorer Samuel Champlain sails to Canada.

March – beginning of Fulda witch trials.

March 24

Queen Elizabeth I of England dies at Richmond Palace (having ruled since 1558) and is succeeded by her cousin's grandson, King James VI of Scotland (where he has ruled since 1567), uniting the crowns of Scotland and England.

Tokugawa Ieyasu is granted the title of shogun from Emperor Go-Yozei, and establishes the Tokugawa Shogunate in Edo, Japan. Start of the 265-year-long Edo period.

March 31 – The Nine Years War (Ireland) is ended by the submission of Hugh O'Neill, Earl of Tyrone, to the English Crown and the signing of the Treaty of Mellifont.

April 28 – The funeral of Elizabeth I of England is held in Westminster Abbey.

July–December

July 17 or July 19 – Sir Walter Raleigh is arrested for treason.

July 25 – James I is crowned as King of England in Westminster Abbey. Ceremonies are limited because of plague.

September 20 – Samuel Champlain arrives back in France.

October – Sangley Rebellion takes place, ending in the massacre of 20,000 Sangley Chinese in Manila.

November – Rokugō rebellion: More than 1,000 rōnin rebel in support of their exiled lord, Onodera Yoshimichi, in Japan.

November 17 – Sir Walter Raleigh goes on trial for treason in the converted Great Hall of Winchester Castle. He is found guilty but his life is spared by King James I at this time and he is returned to imprisonment in the Tower of London.

December 22 – Ottoman Dynasty: Sultan Mehmed III of the Ottoman Empire dies and is succeeded by his son Ahmed I.

Ongoing events

Russian famine of 1601–1603.

Date unknown

A rebellion breaks out in Transylvania.

French Huguenot Pierre de Gua is granted royal permission to settle in North America, founding the colony of Acadia.

Yaqob is deposed as Emperor of Ethiopia by Za Sellase, who appoints his cousin Za Dengel to replace him.

Johann Bayer publishes the star atlas Uranometria, the first to cover the entire celestial sphere.

The Accademia dei Lincei, the oldest scientific academy in the world, is founded in Rome by Federico Cesi.

The earliest of eight companies that would eventually merge to form the Kikkoman Corporation, the ubiquitous producers of soy sauce, is founded in Japan.