1597
| Years: 1594 1595 1596 - 1597 - 1598 1599 1600 | |
| Decades: 1560s 1570s 1580s - 1590s - 1600s 1610s 1620s | |
| Centuries: 15th century - 16th century - 17th century 1597 state leaders | |
Events
- 17 January - A court case in Guildford recorded evidence that a certain plot of land was used for playing “kreckett” (i.e., cricket) as early as 1550.
- January 24 - Battle of Turnhout. Maurice of Nassau defeats a Spanish force under Jean de Rie of Varas in the Netherlands
- February 5 - In Nagasaki, Japan, 26 people were martyred. They practiced Catholicism and were taken captive after all forms of Christianity were outlawed the previous year.
- The first opera is considered to have been written.
- Bali discovered by the Dutch explorer Cornelis Houtman
- Abbas I ends the Uzbek raids on his lands.
- Yaqob succeeds his father Sarsa Dengel as Emperor of Ethiopia
- First edition of Francis Bacon's Essays published.
Births
- January 31 - John Regis, French saint (d. 1640)
- February 24 - Vincent Voiture, French poet (died 1648)
- March 1 - Jean-Charles de la Faille, Belgian mathematician (died 1652)
- April 9 - John Davenport, Connecticut pioneer (d. 1670)
- August 21 - Roger Twysden, English antiquarian and royalist (d. 1672)
- December 23 - Martin Opitz von Boberfeld, German poet (died 1639)
- Christoval de Acuna, Spanish missionary and explorer (died 1676)
- Johan van Heemskerk, Dutch poet (died 1656)
- Giovanni Batista Hodierna, Italian astronomer (died 1660)
- Willem Kieft, Dutch merchant and director general of New Netherland (died 1647)
- Wang Wei, Chinese poet (died 1647)
Deaths
- January 29 - Elias Ammerbach, German organist (born 1530)
- February 5 - Paul Miki, Japanese Catholic saint (born 1564)
- March 11 - Henry Drummond, Scottish evangelical writer and lecturer
- June 20 - Willem Barents, Dutch navigator and explorer
- October 4 - Sarsa Dengel, Emperor of Ethiopia (born 1550)
- October 9 - Ashikaga Yoshiaki, Japanese shogun (born 1537)
- December 21 - Petrus Canisius, Dutch Jesuit (born 1521)
- James Burbage, English actor
- Luis Frois, Portuguese missionary (born 1532)
- William Hunnis, English poet
- José de Anchieta, Spanish Jesuit missionary (born 1534)
- Edward Kelley, English spirit medium (born 1555)
- Thomas Nevile, English educator
- Francesco Patrizzi, Italian philosopher and scientist (born 1529)
- Rana Pratap Singh, Indian statesman (born 1540)