     __notoc__ year 1588 (mdlxxxviii) was a leap year starting on friday (link will display the full calendar) of the gregorian calendar and a leap year starting on monday of the 10-day slower julian calendar. == events == === january&ndash;june === * february &ndash; the sinhalese abandon the siege of colombo, capital of portuguese ceylon. * february 9 &ndash; the sudden death of Ãlvaro de bazÃ¡n, 1st marquis of santa cruz, in the midst of preparations for the spanish armada, forces king philip ii of spain to re-allocate the command of the fleet. * april 4 &ndash; christian iv becomes king of denmark upon the death of his father frederick ii. * may 12 &ndash; day of the barricades in paris: henry i, duke of guise seizes the city, forcing king henry iii to flee. * may 28 &ndash; the spanish armada, with 130 ships and 30,000 men, begins to set sail from the tagus estuary heading for the english channel (it will take until may 30 for all of the ships to leave port). === july&ndash;december === * july &ndash; king henry iii of france capitulates to the duke of guise and returns to paris. * july 31 &ndash; the first engagement between the english and spanish fleets, off plymouth, results in a victory for the english under command of lord howard of effingham and sir francis drake. * august 2 &ndash; the english fleet defeats the spanish fleet, off the isle of portland. * august 6 (july 29 old style) &ndash; battle of gravelines: the spanish armada is defeated by the english naval force off the coast of gravelines in the spanish netherlands (in modern france). * august 7 &ndash; the english fleet defeats the spanish fleet off the coast of flanders. * august 8&ndash;august 9 &ndash; the spanish are unable to reach the coast of flanders to meet up with the army of the duke of parma. the duke of medina sidonia decides to return to spain. * august 12 &ndash; the fleeing spanish fleet sails past the firth of forth, and the english call off their pursuit. much of the spanish fleet is destroyed by storms as it sails for home around scotland and ireland. * october 7 &ndash; the first biography of nicolaus copernicus (d.1543) is completed by bernardino baldi. * december 5 &ndash; the order of augustinian reco
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