"Be of good comfort, and play the man, Master Ridley; we shall this day light such a candle, by God's grace, in England, as I trust shall never be put out."

- English religious reformer Hugh Latimer to fellow reformer Nicholas Ridley,
shortly before they were both burned at the stake for heresy, October 1555.



"Bear righteousness and the Way on a shoulder of iron,
Write with a peppery hand."

- Death poem of Chinese court official Yang Jisheng,
composed on the evening before his execution,
November 11, 1555.

In the year AD 1555...


These people were born in 1555:


These people died in 1555:

  • Pope Marcellus II, succeeded by Pope Pope Paul IV.
  • Genoese statesman and admiral Andrea Doria.
  • Chinese court official Yang Jisheng, executed for attempting to expose the corrupt activities of powerful court official Yan Song.
  • Chinese admiral Zhang Jing, executed by the Jiajing emperor for corruption, after allegedly delaying his campaign against the Japanese pirates in order to secure personal profits.
  • Ōuchi clan chief vassal Sue Harukata, killed in the Battle of Miyajima.
  • German minerologist Georgius Agricola.
  • Italian humanist scholar Polydore Vergil.
  • French mathematician Oronce Finé.
  • English religious reformer John Hooper, burned at the stake for heresy as part of the Marian persecutions.
  • English translator of the Bible John Rogers, burned at the stake for heresy as part of the Marian persecutions.
  • English religious reformer Laurence Saunders, burned at the stake for heresy as part of the Marian persecutions.
  • English translator of the Bible Rowland Taylor, burned at the stake for heresy as part of the Marian persecutions.
  • English religious reformer John Bradford, burned at the stake for heresy as part of the Marian persecutions.
  • English religious reformer Hugh Latimer, burned at the stake for heresy as part of the Marian persecutions.
  • English religious reformer Nicholas Ridley, burned at the stake for heresy as part of the Marian persecutions.


1554 - 1555 - 1556

16th century

How they were made

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