1553
December	Birth of Henry of Navarre at the castle of Pau in Béarn. Parents: Jeanne d'Albret and Anthony of Bourbon, Duke of Vendôme.
1554
July	Marriage of Mary Tudor to Philip (later Philip II of Spain.
1557
June	England declares war against France.
1558
January    April	French forces under François Duke of Guise take Calais. François, the Dauphin of France, marries Mary Stuart, Queen of Scots.
November	Death of Mary Tudor. Succession of her half-sister Elizabeth I.
1559
April    July	Peace of Cateau-Cambrésis and the end of the Habsburg-Valois conflict. Death of Henry II as the result of a tournement accident. Succession of his son François II. The Guises take control of governmental affairs.
1560
February-March     December	The Conspiracy of Amboise fails to oust the Guises from power. Death of François II. Succession of his brother Charles IX. Catherine de' Medici becomes Regent.
1562
January	Edict of St.-Germain (also known as the Edict of January). A measure of limited toleration for the Huguenots.
March	The Massacre at Vassy. Beginning of the French civil-religious wars of the sixteenth century.
1563
February    March	Assassination of François Duke of Guise.  Edict of Amboise. Limited toleration to the Huguenots.
1564
April    May	Anglo-French peace at Troyes. Death of Jean Calvin.
1565
June	Conference of Bayonne. Meeting of Charles IX and Catherine de' Medici with Elizabeth, wife of Philip II.
July	Marriage of Mary Stuart to her cousin Henry Stuart, Lord Darnley.
1567
September	Huguenot conspiracy of Meaux leads to the second civil-religious war.
1568
March	Edict of Longjumeau confirms the Edict of Amboise. End of the second civil-religious war.
August	Third civil-religious war begins.
1570
February    November	Papal Bull Regnans in Excelsis excommunicates Elizabeth I. Charles IX marries Elizabeth of Austria.
1571
October	Naval battle of Lepanto.
1572
June    August	Death of Jeanne d'Albret. Marriage of Henry of Navarre and Marguerite of Valois in Paris. Attempted assassination of Admiral Coligny.
October	Saint Bartholomew's Day Massacre.
1573
July	Edict of Boulogne. End of fourth civil-religious war.
1574
May	Death of Charles IX. Sucession of Henry III who had previously been elected King of Poland.
August	Beginning of the fifth civil-religious war.
1575
February	Coronation of Henry III.
1576
February    May	Henry of Navarre becomes head of the Huguenot faction. Edict of Beaulieu. End of the civil war; Huguenots receive favorable terms.
1577
March-September     September	Sixth civil-religious war. Peace of Bergerac followed by the Edict of Poitiers. Some modification made in the Edict of Beaulieu (May, 1576).
1579
January	The Union of Utrecht of the seven northern provinces of the Netherlands.
1580
November	The Peace of Fleix ends the seventh civil-religious war in France.
1581
July	Northern Netherlands renounce their allegiance to Spain.
1584
July	Assassination of William of Orange. Succession of his son Maurice of Nasseau.
December	The Guises and Philip II form League of Joinville against Huguenots.
1585
February	Henry III of France refuses the sovereignty of the Netherlands.
July	Treaty of Nemours imposed on Henry III by the Duke of Guise and the Catholic League. Previously won edicts of pacification voided.
September	Papal Bull bars succession of Henry of Navarre to the French throne.
1586	War of the three Henrys in France (Henry III, Henry of Navarre, Henry of Guise)
1587
February    April    August	Execution of Mary Stuart, Queen of Scots, at Fotheringhay Castle. English expedition under Drake attacks Cadiz. Return of the Earl of Leicester to England following the failure of his expedition to the Netherlands.
1588
May    July-August    December	Barricade fighting in Paris. Henry III forced to flee. Defeat of the Spanish Armada against England. Assassination of Henry of Guise and Cardinal Louis of Guise at Blois.
1589
January    April    August	Death of Catherine de' Medici. Peace between Henry III and Henry of Navarre. Assassination of Henry III by Jacques Clément at Saint-Cloud. Henry of Navarre claims the Crown of France.
November	Cardinal of Bourbon recognized by the Parlement of Paris as king, under the title of Charles X.
1590
March	Henry of Navarre wins the battle of Ivry against the armies of the Catholic League led by the Duke of Mayenne.
September	Alexander of Parma, Spanish Commander, launches major attack against Henry of Navarre.
1591	English and German troops assist Henry of Navarre in his struggle for the French throne.
1593
January	Meeting of the Estates-General. Attempt of Philip II to place a Spanish Infanta on the French throne.
July	Henry of Navarre converts to Roman Catholicism.
1594
February    March	Coronation of Henry of Navarre as Henry IV at Cathedral of Chartres. Henry IV enters Paris. Departure of Spanish troops from the city.
1595
January    September	Henry IV declares war against Spain. Pope Clement VIII grants absolution to Henry IV.
1596
January    June-July	Collapse of the Catholic League. English sack of Cadiz.
1598
March    April	Surrender of the Duke of Mercoeur, last of the League nobles. The Edict of Nantes grants political and religious privileges to the Huguenots.
May	Peace of Vervins with Spain. Restoration of all conquests to France.
September	Death of Philip II and succession of his son Philip III.
1599
December	Annulment of the marriage of Henry IV and Marguerite of Valois.
1600
December	Marriage in France of Henry IV and Marie de' Medici. (Proxy marriage had taken place in Tuscany in October).
1601
January	Treaty of Lyon between France and the Duchy of Savoy. France makes minor territorial gains.
September	Birth of the Dauphin Louis (later Louis XIII).
1602
July	Execution in Paris of Charles Duke of Biron, Marshal of France, for treason.
1603
March	Death of Elizabeth I. James VI of Scotland succeeds to the English throne.
1604
August	Treaty of London ends Anglo-Spanish War.
1608
July	Founding of Quebec on the banks of the St. Lawrence by Samuel de Champlain.
1609
March	Death of the childless John William (the Simple) Duke of Clèves, Berg, and Jülich, thereby leaving a number of claimants to a disputed succession. Concern of Henry IV that the Austrian Habsburbs might seize this opportunity to strengthen their position on France's eastern frontier.
April	The Twelve-Year Truce between the United Provinces and Philip III.
1610
April	Treaty of Brusol (an offensive and defensive alliance) between Henry IV and Charles-Emmanuel, Duke of Savoy.
May	Assassination of Henry IV in Paris by François Ravaillac.