1590s (1590–1599)

Politics and major events

Across Europe and beyond, the decade saw continuing warfare and political realignment. France moved toward stability under Henry IV, whose reign gradually ended the French Wars of Religion and produced the 1598 Edict of Nantes granting limited rights to Protestants. In Eastern Europe the death of Russia's Feodor I in 1598 marked the end of the Rurik dynasty and opened the uneasy period known as the Time of Troubles.

Warfare and international conflict

Rivals competed at sea and on land: the long struggle between Spain and its opponents persisted, with raids and naval expeditions disrupting commerce. The Netherlands pursued independence from Spanish rule, while England and the Dutch engaged in privateering and occasional joint operations against Spanish maritime power.

East Asia and the Imjin War

In East Asia the decade was dominated by the Japanese invasions of Korea (1592–1598) led by Toyotomi Hideyoshi. Those campaigns involved large armies, substantial naval engagements, and intervention by Ming China; they left lasting effects on the Korean peninsula and on East Asian diplomacy. Hideyoshi's death in 1598 largely ended the invasions.

Culture, literature and the arts

The 1590s were productive for literature, theatre and painting. In England the period saw a flowering of drama: William Shakespeare and his contemporaries were active and London theatres expanded—the Globe Theatre was built in 1599. The decade also witnessed important developments in continental art, with figures such as Caravaggio emerging in Italy.

Science and ideas

Intellectual change continued to gather momentum. Observational astronomy and natural philosophy made notable strides; Johannes Kepler published his early work proposing geometric relationships in planetary motion in 1596, part of a broader shift toward empirical and mathematical approaches to nature.

Notable people and legacy

• Prominent deaths and succession events: Christopher Marlowe (died 1593), Tsar Feodor I (died 1598), and Toyotomi Hideyoshi (died 1598) shaped cultural and political developments.
• Writers and artists who rose to prominence during the decade include William Shakespeare and Caravaggio; their work helped define early modern culture.

Overall, the 1590s bridged the late Renaissance and the early modern era: religious settlements and dynastic shifts set the stage for the seventeenth century, while exploration, commercial competition and new scientific ideas began to reshape global connections and intellectual life.