Events from the year 1596 in France
Incumbents
Monarch – Henry IV
Events
Siege of Calais
Tract of alliance between England, France and the United Netherlands
Births
31 March – René Descartes, French philosopher (died 1650 in Sweden) 6 June – Michel Particelli d'Emery (died 1650) 5 November – Charles II, Duke of Elbeuf, nobleman (died 1657) 11 November – Catherine Henriette de Bourbon (died 1663)
Deaths
19 February – Blaise de Vigenère, diplomat, cryptographer, translator and alchemist (born 1523) 5 May – Catherine de Montpensier, politically active duchess (born 1552) 3 October – Florent Chrestien, satirist and poet (born 1541) 1 November – Pierre Pithou, lawyer and scholar (born 1539)
Full date missing
Jean Bodin, philosopher and politician (born 1530) Madeleine de l’Aubespine, aristocrat and writer (born 1546)