1563 in literature

This article contains information about the literary events and publications of 1563. Events February 12–14 – The French poet Pierre de Bocosel de Chastelard is twice caught hiding under the bed of Mary, Queen of Scots – at Holyrood and then at Rossend. He is arrested by the Earl of Moray on his second attempt and executed at St Andrews Castle on February 22. March 27 – As part of the English Reformation, the House of Commons passes legislation approving Bible translations into Welsh. This allows Henry Denham to publish his Welsh New Testament in 1567. c. April – A year into the French Wars of Religion, Pierre de Ronsard composes two defenses of French Catholicism against the Huguenots. On the Huguenot side, anonymous leaflets parody his "remonstrance" genre until a ban on libels is placed by Charles IX of France. April – As a hostage at Iperoig in Tupi territory, José de Anchieta composes De Beata Virgine Dei Matre (The Blessed Virgin Mary), a devotional poem that is among the early accomplishments in Brazilian literature. April 3 – From the Electoral Palatinate, Caspar Olevian reports to John Calvin that the Heidelberg Catechism will be ready "by next market day". The contributors, including Olevian, Zacharias Ursinus, and Calvin himself, are not mentioned in print, "so that the Germans would not refuse to read it." May – The Ottoman poet and historian Mustafa Âlî accepts a post in Aleppo Eyalet. On his way there he visits his mentor, Ramazanoğlu Piri Mehmet Paşa, in Adana. June 27 – Gómez Suárez de Figueroa fails to return to his native Peru from Seville. After November, he begins signing his name Garcilaso de la Vega, a step toward Inca Garcilaso de la Vega, his literary signature. August – Michel de Montaigne writes a letter to his father describing the death of his friend Étienne de La Boétie. c. September/November – In the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, Mikołaj "the Black" Radziwiłł commissions the Brest Bible from various translators, as the first complete translation into Polish.