Editing 1581 (section)

=== July&ndash;September ===
* [[July 11]] &ndash;  The [[Knights Hospitaller]] depose [[Jean de la Cassière]] as Grandmaster and appoint [[Romegas|Mathurin Romegas]] in his place.<ref>"An eventful year for the Order of St John in Malta", by David Dandria, ''Times of Malta'', June 19, 2011</ref>
* [[July 14]] &ndash; English [[Jesuit]] [[Edmund Campion]] is arrested.
* [[July 22]] At a meeting of the States General of the Union of Utrecht at Antwerp, the representatives vote to proclaim their independence from Spain in the [[Act of Abjuration]], abjuring loyalty to [[Philip II of Spain]] as their sovereign, and appointing [[Francois, Duke of Anjou]], as the new sovereign of the Netherlands; public practice of Roman Catholicism is forbidden.
* [[July 26]]
**The [[Act of Abjuration]] is signed at [[The Hague]] by representatives of eight Dutch provinces as a declaration of independence from Spanish rule and a secession from the [[Union of Utrecht]]. The signing confirms a decision made in a July 22 meeting of the States General in [[Antwerp]]. King Philip II of Spain refuses to acknowledge the Abjuration.
**A meteorite strikes the Earth in [[Thuringia]] in the [[Holy Roman Empire]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.meteoritehistory.info/UKIRELAND/CAT2.HTM|title=Catalogue of aërolites and Bolides, from A.D. 2 to A.D. 1860|publisher=Meteoritehistory.info|access-date=2012-03-26}}</ref>
* [[July 27]] &ndash; [[Capture of Breda (1581)|Capture of Breda]]: After a surprise attack the day before, [[Spanish Empire|Spanish troops]] under the command of [[Claude de Berlaymont]], Lord of Haultepenne, take the walled city [[Breda]] in the Netherlands. Once inside the gates, the Spanish troops overcome the defenders and carry out the massacre of 584 citizens in the "Haultepenne Fury".<ref>G. G. van der Hoeven, ''Geschiedenis der vesting Breda'' ("History of the Fortress of Breda" (Broese & Co., 1868) pp. 47-53</ref> 
* [[August 28]] &ndash; The army of King [[Stephen Báthory]] of [[History of Poland|Poland]] begins its siege of the [[History of Russia|Russian]] garrison of [[Siege of Pskov|Pskov]].
* [[September 6]] &ndash; A mercenary army of [[Sweden]], under [[Pontus De la Gardie]], captures [[Narva]] from [[Tsardom of Russia|Russia]].<ref>[https://sok.riksarkivet.se/sbl/Presentation.aspx?id=17387 "Pontus De la Gardie"], Riksarkivet</ref>
* [[September 23]] &ndash; [[Martín Enríquez de Almanza]] arrives in [[Lima]] and becomes the new [[Viceroy of Peru]], replacing [[Francisco de Toledo]], who was summoned home by King Philip II.<ref>"Portrait of an American Viceroy: Martín Enríquez, 1568–1583", by Philip Wayne Powell, in ''The Americas'' (1957) pp.1–24</ref>
* [[September 30]] &ndash; In Japan, warlord [[Oda Nobunaga]] [[Tenshō Iga War|invades the Iga Province]].<ref>Ōta Gyūichi, ''The Chronicle of Lord Nobunaga'', translated by J.S.A. Elisonas and J.P. Lamers (Brill, 2011) p.410</ref> With 42,000 troops under his command against 10,000 defenders led by Takino Jurobei, Nobunaga controls most of central Japan within eight days.