Editing 1558 (section)

=== October&ndash;December ===
* [[October 17]] &ndash; [[Postage stamps and postal history of Poland|Postal history of Poland]]: King [[Sigismund II Augustus]] appoints an Italian merchant living in [[Kraków]] to organise a consolidated postal service in [[Kingdom of Poland (1385–1569)|Poland]], the origin of [[Poczta Polska]].
* [[November 6]] &ndash; On her deathbed, [[Mary I of England|Queen Mary of England]] designates her half-sister, [[Elizabeth I of England|Elizabeth]], as her successor.<ref>{{Citation |last=Neale |first=J. E. |title=Queen Elizabeth I: A Biography |date=1954 |orig-date=1934 |edition=reprint |place=London |publisher=Jonathan Cape |oclc=220518 |author-link=J. E. Neale| page=59}}</ref> Both Mary and Elizabeth are daughters of the late [[Henry VIII|King Henry VIII]].
* [[November 15]] &ndash; The five [[Canterbury Martyrs]], three men and two women, are burned at the stake, becoming the last of 312 Protestants put to death for [[heresy]] during the reign of England's last Roman Catholic ruler, [[Mary I of England|Queen Mary]].<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20140203103644/http://www.johnfoxe.org/freeman-marion.pdf "Foxe’s Marian Martyrs"], by Thomas S. Freeman, JohnFoxe.org</ref> Queen Mary dies two days later, bringing an end to her campaign. During the final year of Mary's reign, 49 Protestants are burned at the stake and three others die in prison while awaiting execution. 
* [[November 17]] &ndash; Queen Mary, a devout Roman [[Catholic Church|Catholic]] dies of uterine cancer at the age of 42, and is succeeded by her younger half-sister [[Elizabeth I of England|Elizabeth]], an adherent to the Protestant [[Church of England]], beginning the [[Elizabethan era]] in British history.
* [[December 5]] &ndash; Less than three weeks of becoming Queen of England, Elizabeth summons the members of the [[1st Parliament of Elizabeth I|English Parliament]] with orders to assemble at Westminster on January 23. Under Elizabeth's agenda, the Parliament is charged with restoring the laws passed at the beginning of the [[English Reformation]], and repealing the reforms made during the reign of Queen Mary.