Events of 1581

• January 16 – The English Parliament outlaws Roman Catholicism.
• April 4 – After circumnavigating the world, Sir Francis Drake is knighted by Elizabeth I.
• July 26 – The Northern Netherlands (Union of Utrecht) proclaim their independence from Spain in the Act of Abjuration. They abjure loyalty to Philip II of Spain as their sovereign, and appoint Francois, Duke of Anjou as the new sovereign of the Netherlands.
• August 28 – The army of king Stefan Batory of Poland begins its siege of the Russian garrison of Pskov

Undated

• Robert Browne and his Brownist companions are obliged to leave England and go to Middelburg, in the Netherlands (See Congregational church).
• Russia begins the conquest of Siberia.
• A mercenary army of Sweden under Pontus de la Gardie captures Narva from Russia.
• The Chancellor of Ming Dynasty China, Chief Grand Secretary Zhang Juzheng, imposes the Single Whip Reform, by which taxes are assessed on properties recorded in the land census and paid in silver as the accepted medium of exchange.

Births

• January 4 – James Ussher, Anglo-Irish priest and scholar (d. 1656)
• February 17 – Fausto Poli, Italian Catholic priest (d. 1653)
• March 16 – Pieter Corneliszoon Hooft, Dutch historian (d. 1647)
• April 24 – Vincent de Paul, French Priest (d. 1660)
• October 9 – Claude Gaspard Bachet de Méziriac, French mathematician (d. 1638)
• October 21 – Domenico Zampieri, Italian painter (d. 1641)
• date unknown
  • Gasparo Aselli, Italian physician (d. 1626)
  • Jeremias Drexel, Jesuit writer of devotional literature
  • Edmund Gunter, English mathematician (d. 1621)
  • Jean du Vergier de Hauranne, French monk who introduced Jansenism into France (d. 1643)
  • Charles Malapert, Belgian Jesuit writer (d. 1630)
  • Łukasz Opaliński , Polish nobleman (d. 1654)
  • Thomas Overbury, English poet and essayist (d. 1613)
  • Johannes Rudbeckius, bishop at Västerås (d. 1646)
  • Choghtu Khong Tayiji, ruler of the Khalkha Mongols (d. 1637)
• probable
  • Juan Ruiz de Alarcón, Mexican dramatist (d. 1639)
  • Sisto Badalocchio, Italian painter and engraver (d. 1647)

Deaths

• April 25 – Okabe Motonobu, Japanese warrior
• May 31 – Jan Kostka , Polish noble (b. 1529)
• June 2 – James Douglas, 4th Earl of Morton, regent of Scotland (b. 1525)
• July 11 – Peder Skram, Danish senator and naval officer (b. 1500)
• July 22 – Richard Cox, English bishop (b. 1500)
• August 21 – Sakuma Nobumori, Japanese retainer and samurai (b. 1527)
• August – King Mayadunne, Sri Lanka (b. 1504)
• September 1 – Guru Ram Das, fourth Sikh Guru (b. 1534)
• September 30 – Hubert Languet, French diplomat and reformer (b. 1518)
• October 9 – Saint Louis Bertrand, Spanish missionary to Latin America, patron saint of Colombia (b. 1526)
• October 23 – Michael Neander, German mathematician and astronomer (b. 1529)
• November 7 – Richard Davies, Welsh bishop and scholar (b. c. 1505)
• December 1
  • Edmund Campion, English Jesuit (martyred) (b. 1540)
  • Ralph Sherwin, English Catholic saint (martyred) (b. 1550)
• date unknown
  • Christopher Báthory, prince of Transylvania (b. 1530)
  • Bernal Díaz del Castillo, Spanish conquistador (b. c. 1492)
  • Guillaume Postel, French linguist (b. 1510)
  • Nicholas Sanders, English Catholic propagandist (b. 1530)