1590s

The 1590s refers to the decade spanning 1590 through 1599, a period of political consolidation, continued religious conflict, and expanding global connections in the early modern era. In Europe, the Dutch Revolt against Spanish rule continued to erode Habsburg hegemony in the Low Countries, while Henry IV of France solidified royal authority and issued the Edict of Nantes in 1598, granting limited religious toleration to Huguenots. The Iberian Union, in which the Spanish crown ruled Portugal and its overseas empire, shaped colonial and military decisions across the Atlantic and Asia.

In Asia, Japan’s campaigns under Toyotomi Hideyoshi culminated in the Imjin War in Korea (1592–1598), with Ming China providing support to Korean kingdoms; Hideyoshi’s death in 1598 ended major invasions and set the stage for a new Japanese political order. In Ming China, ongoing fiscal and social adjustments accompanied continued trade networks across Asia, even as population pressures and regional conflicts influenced governance.

Across the Atlantic world, European colonization and missionary activity intensified, with coastal trading posts strengthening Atlantic connections and colonial ventures expanding in the Americas. Indigenous peoples and colonial powers interacted within a rapidly changing economic and political landscape, often marked by disruption and conflict.

Culture and science in the 1590s reflected late Renaissance patronage and religious currents. English drama flourished, with playwrights such as William Shakespeare producing influential works during this period. In science, there was a broad revival of observational inquiry and a growing emphasis on navigation, cartography, and printing, laying groundwork for later breakthroughs in the 17th century. The decade thus bridged late medieval political patterns with early modern state-building and global exchange.