* 1603 – Johannes Cocceius, German-Dutch theologian ( d. 1669 )

* Adrian von Mynsicht ( 1603 – 1638 ), German alchemist

Ahmed I ( Ottoman Turkish: احمد اول Aḥmed-i evvel, ) or Ahmed Bakhti ( April 18, 1590 – November 22, 1617 ) was the Sultan of the Ottoman Empire from 1603 until his death in 1617.

He succeeded his father Mehmed III ( 1595 – 1603 ) in 1603 at age 13.

Abel Janszoon Tasman (; 1603 – 1659 )

* 1603 – Michel le Tellier, French statesman ( d. 1685 )

* Principality and Duchy of Anhalt-Bernburg: 1252 – 1468 and 1603 – 1863

* Principality and Duchy of Anhalt-Köthen: 1396 – 1561 and 1603 – 1847

* Principality and Duchy of Anhalt-Dessau 1396 – 1561 and 1603 – 1863

* Principality of Anhalt-Plötzkau 1544 – 1553 and 1603 – 1665

* 1651 – Lennart Torstenson, Swedish soldier and engineer ( b. 1603 )

In early 1578, the regency was taken over by his cousin, George Frederick of Brandenburg-Kulmbach ( 1539 – 1603 ).

Blackadder II is set in England during the reign of Queen Elizabeth I ( 1558 – 1603 ), played by Miranda Richardson.

Historically, this proceeded from the labours of Jean de Launoy ( 1603 – 1678 ), " le dénicheur des saints ", and Louis Sébastien le Nain de Tillemont, who had shown the falsity of numerous lives of the saints ; while theologically it was produced by the Port Royal school, which led men to dwell more on communion with God as contrasted with the invocation of the saints.

Kanem-Bornu peaked during the reign of the outstanding statesman Mai Idris Aluma ( c. 1571 – 1603 ).

Of the famine in Povolzhie ( 1921 – 1922 ) he wrote: " That horrible famine was up to cannibalism, up to consuming children by their own parents — the famine, which Russia had never known even in Time of Troubles 1601 – 1603 ..."

The Hindu social code was later set up in Gorkha by Ram Shah ( 1603 – 36 ).

* 1603 – William Gilbert, English physicist and physician ( b. 1544 )

* 1603 – Franciscus Vieta, French mathematician ( b. 1540 )

Hamilton was made Sheriff of Linlithgow in 1600, received large grants of lands in Scotland and Ireland, was created in 1603 Baron Abercorn, and on 10 July 1606 was rewarded for his services in the matter of the union by being made Earl of Abercorn and Lord Paisley, Hamilton, Mountcastell and Kilpatrick.

The play is believed to have been written between 1603 and 1607, and is most commonly dated 1606.

The German traveler Hieronymus Megiser includes a list of Maltese words in his Thesaurus Polyglottus ( published in 1603 ), and also in his more celebrated work Propugnaculum Europae, published in 1606.

The Romans called it ’’ Portus Dubris ’’; the modern name was in use at least by the time Shakespeare wrote King Lear ( between 1603 and 1606 ), in which the town and its cliffs play a prominent role.

The play was written between 1603 and 1606 and later revised.

Other possible sources are the anonymous play King Leir ( published in 1605 ); A Mirror for Magistrates ( 1574 ), by John Higgins ; The Malcontent ( 1604 ), by John Marston ; The London Prodigal ( 1605 ); Arcadia ( 1580 – 1590 ), by Sir Philip Sidney, from which Shakespeare took the main outline of the Gloucester subplot ; Montaigne's Essays, which were translated into English by John Florio in 1603 ; An Historical Description of Iland of Britaine, by William Harrison ; Remaines Concerning Britaine, by William Camden ( 1606 ); Albion's England, by William Warner, ( 1589 ); and A Declaration of egregious Popish Impostures, by Samuel Harsnett ( 1603 ), which provided some of the language used by Edgar while he feigns madness.

Although an exact date of composition cannot be given, many academic editors of the play date King Lear between 1603 and 1606.

Facsimile of the first page of Antony and Cleopatra from the First Folio, published in 1623. Many scholars believe it was written in 1606 – 07, although some researchers argue for an earlier dating, around 1603 – 04.

The last major boundary changes occurred with the formation of County Wicklow ( 1603 – 1606 ), from lands in the north of Carlow ( which previously extended to the sea ) and most of southern Dublin.

After the dynastic union of England and Scotland in 1603 ( the so-called " Union of the Crowns "), a combined British flag was created in 1606, initially for maritime display, later restricted to the King's ships, by combining St George's Cross with the St Andrew's Cross ( the flag of Scotland ).

( 1606 ), A Mad World, my Masters, Adventures of Two Excellent Princes, Grimello's Fortunes ( 1603 ), Strange News out of Divers Countries ( 1622 ), etc.

* Charles Blount, 1st Earl of Devonshire 1603 – 1606

His son James Hamilton was created Lord Abercorn on 5 April 1603, then on 10 July 1606 he was made Earl of Abercorn and Lord of Paisley, Hamilton, Mountcastell and Kilpatrick, all in the Peerage of Scotland.

: Other titles: Lord Abercorn, in the county of Linlithgow ( Sc 1603 ) and Lord Paisley, Hamilton, Mountcashell and Kirkpatrick ( Sc 1606 )

: Other titles: Earl of Abercorn ( Sc 1606 ), Viscount Strabane ( Ir 1701 ), Viscount Hamilton ( GB 1786 ), Lord Paisley, in the county of Renfrew ( Sc 1587 ), Lord Abercorn, in the county of Linlithgow ( Sc 1603 ), Lord Paisley, Hamilton, Mountcashell and Kirkpatrick ( Sc 1606 ), Lord Hamilton of Strabane, in the county of Tyrone ( Ir 1617 ) and Baron Mountcastle, in the county of Tyrone ( Ir 1701 )

: Other titles: Marquess of Abercorn ( GB 1790 ), Marquess of Hamilton, of Strabane in the county of Tyrone ( 1868 ), Earl of Abercorn ( Sc 1606 ), Viscount Strabane ( Ir 1701 ), Viscount Hamilton ( GB 1786 ), Lord Paisley, in the county of Renfrew ( Sc 1587 ), Lord Abercorn, in the county of Linlithgow ( Sc 1603 ), Lord Paisley, Hamilton, Mountcashell and Kirkpatrick ( Sc 1606 ), Lord Hamilton of Strabane, in the county of Tyrone ( Ir 1617 ) and Baron Mountcastle, in the county of Tyrone ( Ir 1701 )

This would place the date of composition as somewhere between March 1603 and December 1606.

Whilst many scholars feel that Shakespeare used the anonymous play The True Chronicle History of King Leir ( entered into the Stationers ' Register on 8 May 1605 ), and hence must have been written between May 1605 and December 1606, others argue that the relationship between the two plays has been inverted, and The True Chronicle History of King Leir was actually written to capitalise on the success of Shakespeare's play, which was probably written in 1603 or 1604.

While the title was supposed extinct, there were two recreations, to the families of Blount and Cavendish, of a Devon Earldom ; for which see Charles Blount, 1st Earl of Devonshire ( 1603 – 1606 ) and Duke of Devonshire.

The subsidiary titles belonging to the Earl of Mar and Kellie are: Viscount of Fentoun or Fenton ( created 1606 ), Lord Erskine ( 1429 ) and Lord Erskine of Dirleton ( 1603 ), the former of which is used as a courtesy title for the eldest son and heir of the Earl.

He was one of the judges at the trials of Walter Raleigh and Lord Cobham in 1603, of Guy Fawkes in 1605, and of Henry Garnet in 1606, in each case pressing for a conviction.

After George Frederick's death in 1603, the Polish king Zygmunt Waza appointed Joachim Frederick as regent in 1605, and permitted his son, John Sigismund, to succeed him in 1611.

* 1603: Joachim Ernst

** 1603 – 1608: Joachim I / I / III Frederick ( Regent, also Duke of Brandenburg-Jägerndorf and Elector of Brandenburg )

Joachim Frederick's second marriage, on 23 October 1603, was to Eleanor of Prussia, born 12 August 1583, daughter of Albert Frederick and Marie Eleonore of Cleves.

* Joachim Sigismund of Brandenburg ( 25 July 1603 – 22 February 1625 ).

Upon George Frederick's death in 1603, the regency of the Prussian duchy passed to Joachim Frederick.

Re-united Anhalt was again divided in 1603 among Prince Joachim Ernest's sons into the lines of Anhalt-Dessau, Anhalt-Köthen, Anhalt-Plötzkau, Anhalt-Bernburg and Anhalt-Zerbst.

* 1603 – 1630 Christian I, second son of Prince Joachim Ernest of Anhalt