1556 in literature
# 1556 in literature

This article contains information about the literary events and publications of 1556.

## Events

* Unknown dates
   * The first printing press in India is introduced by Jesuits at Saint Paul's College, Goa.
   * The first written evidence of Yakshagana dance-drama is found on an inscription at the Lakshminarayana Temple, Hosaholalu in India.
   * Augustus, Elector of Saxony, establishes a royal state library in Dresden, predecessor of the Saxon State and University Library Dresden.

## New books

### Prose

* Georg Bauer – De re metallica
* John Ponet – A Short Treasure of Politic Power

### Poetry

* Pierre de Ronsard – Les Hymnes

## Births

* March 7 – Guillaume du Vair, French lawyer and philosopher (died 1621)
* April 27 – François Béroalde de Verville, French novelist and poet (died 1626)
* July 25 (baptised) – George Peele, English dramatist and poet (died 1596)
* August 10 – Philipp Nicolai, German poet and composer (died 1608)
* November 15 – Jacques Davy Duperron, French poet, cardinal and politician (died 1618)
* November 25 (baptised) – John Heminges, English actor and editor of the First Folio (died 1630)
* Unknown date – John Paul Nazarius, Italian theologian (died 1645)

## Deaths

* April 26 – Valentin Friedland, German scholar and teacher (born 1490)
* May 7 – Hieronymus Andreae, German printer and publisher (date of birth unknown)
* July 31 – Ignatius of Loyola, Spanish theologian, founder of the Jesuits (born 1491)
* October 21 – Pietro Aretino, Italian satirist (born 1492)
* October 31 – Johannes Sleidanus, Luxembourgeois historian (born 1506)
* November 14 – Giovanni della Casa, Florentine poet (born 1503)
* December 23 – Nicholas Udall, English dramatist (born 1504)
* Unknown dates
   * Fuzûlî, Ottoman poet and philosopher (born c.1483)
   * Oddur Gottskálksson, Icelandic translator (born 1514/1515)
