Births 1540

john sigismund zápolya



princess cecilia of sweden



january 18 – catherine, duchess of braganza, claimant portuguese throne in 1580 (d. 1614)
january 24 – edmund campion, english jesuit , roman catholic martyr (d. 1581)
january 28 – ludolph van ceulen, german mathematician (d. 1610)
february 12 – won gyun, korean general , admiral during joseon dynasty (d. 1597)
february 23 – hedwig of brandenburg, duchess of brunswick-wolfenbüttel (d. 1602)
february 25 – henry howard, 1st earl of northampton, english aristocrat , courtier (d. 1614)
march 1 – enrique de guzmán, 2nd count of olivares, spanish noble (d. 1607)
march 17 – bernhard vii, prince of anhalt-zerbst, german prince of house of ascania (d. 1570)
april 3 – maria de medici, italian noble (d. 1557)
april 8 – toyotomi hidenaga, japanese warlord (d. 1591)
may 9 – maharana pratap, indian warrior king, 1500s (d. 1597)
may 14

paolo paruta, italian historian (d. 1598)
bartholomäus scultetus, german mayor of görlitz, astronomer (d. 1614)


may 22 – james, duke of rothesay, scottish prince (d. 1541)
may 31 – henry cheyne, 1st baron cheyne, english politician , baron (d. 1587)
june 3 – charles ii, archduke of austria, regent of inner austria (d. 1590)
june 9 – shima sakon, japanese samurai (d. 1600)
june 11 – barnabe googe, english poet (d. 1594)
june 29 – ana de mendoza, princess of eboli, spanish countess (d. 1592)
june 30 – countess palatine elisabeth of simmern-sponheim, duchess of saxony (d. 1594)
july 7 – john sigismund zápolya, king of hungary (d. 1571)
july 11 – adolf of nassau, count of nassau, dutch soldier (d. 1568)
july 16 – alfonso carafa, italian cardinal (d. 1565)
july 19 – ludowika margaretha of zweibrücken-bitsch, spouse of count philip v of hanau-lichtenberg (d. 1569)
august 4 – sisto fabri, italian theologian (d. 1594)
august 5 – joseph justus scaliger, french protestant scholar (d. 1609)
august 25 – lady catherine grey, english noblewoman, potential successor throne (d. 1568)
september 5 – magnus, duke of holstein, prince of denmark (d. 1583)
september 9 – john vii, count of oldenburg (d. 1603)
october 1 – johann jakob grynaeus, swiss protestant clergyman (d. 1617)
november 12 – anna of veldenz, margrave of baden (d. 1586)
november 16 – princess cecilia of sweden (d. 1627)
december 8 – giovanni vincenzo gonzaga, italian catholic cardinal (d. 1591)
december 21 – thomas schweicker, german artist (d. 1602)
december 28 – charles i, duke of mecklenburg (d. 1610)
december 31 – silvio antoniano, italian catholic cardinal (d. 1603)
date unknown

andrea andreani, italian wood engraver (d. 1623)
francis drake, english sea captain, privateer, navigator, slaver, pirate , politician (d. 1596)
christopher hatton, english politician (d. 1591)
george hastings, 4th earl of huntingdon, english nobleman (d. 1604)
pierre jeannin, french statesman (d. 1622)
françois viète, french mathematician (d. 1603)
amago yoshihisa, japanese samurai , warlord (d. 1610)


probable

william byrd, english composer (d. 1623)
bernardino de mendoza, spanish military commander (d. 1604)
paschal baylon, spanish friar (d. 1592)