1546 In Literature

• July 17 – Peter Faber, appointed by Pope Paul III to act as a peritus on behalf of the Holy See at the Council of Trent, arrives in Rome; exhausted by his journey; he dies a fortnight later.
• unknown date – Francisco de Moraes visits Paris for the second time, obtaining inspiration for his Palmerin d'Angleterre.

Prose

• Sir John Prise of Brecon (anonymously) – Yn y lhyvyr hwnn (first book printed in Welsh)
• François Rabelais – Le Tiers Livre

Drama

• Sperone Speroni – Canace (published)

Poetry

• See 1546 in poetry

• March 27 – Johannes Piscator, German theologian (died 1625)
• May 21 – Madeleine de l'Aubespine, French poet and patron (died 1596)
• October 5 – Cyriakus Schneegass, German Lutheran pastor, composer and music theorist (died 1597)
• unknown dates
  • Philippe Desportes, French poet (died 1606)
  • Pierre de La Primaudaye, French Protestant writer (died 1619)
  • Veronica Franco, Venetian poet and courtesan (died 1591)
  • Daniel Adam z Veleslavína, Czech lexicographer, publisher and writer (died 1599)

• February 18 – Martin Luther, German theologian and reformer, 62
• April 7 – Friedrich Myconius, German Lutheran theologian, 55
• August 1 – Peter Faber, French Jesuit theologian, 40
• August 3 – Étienne Dolet, French humanist writer and printer, 37 (executed for heresy)