Events from the
1540s in
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...
.
Incumbents
*
Monarch
A monarch is a head of stateWebster's II New College DictionarMonarch Houghton Mifflin. Boston. 2001. p. 707. for life or until abdication, and therefore the head of state of a monarchy. A monarch may exercise the highest authority and power i ...
–
Henry VIII (until 28 January 1547), then
Edward VI
Edward VI (12 October 1537 – 6 July 1553) was King of England and Ireland from 28 January 1547 until his death in 1553. He was crowned on 20 February 1547 at the age of nine. Edward was the son of Henry VIII and Jane Seymour and the first E ...
*
Regent
A regent (from Latin : ruling, governing) is a person appointed to govern a state '' pro tempore'' (Latin: 'for the time being') because the monarch is a minor, absent, incapacitated or unable to discharge the powers and duties of the monarchy ...
–
Catherine, Queen Consort (starting 15 July, until 30 September 1544)
*
Lord Protector –
Edward Seymour, 1st Duke of Somerset
Edward Seymour, 1st Duke of Somerset (150022 January 1552) (also 1st Earl of Hertford, 1st Viscount Beauchamp), also known as Edward Semel, was the eldest surviving brother of Queen Jane Seymour (d. 1537), the third wife of King Henry VI ...
(starting 4 February 1547, until 11 October 1549)
*
Parliament
In modern politics, and history, a parliament is a legislative body of government. Generally, a modern parliament has three functions: representing the electorate, making laws, and overseeing the government via hearings and inquiries. Th ...
–
7th of King Henry VIII (until 24 July 1540),
8th of King Henry VIII (starting 16 January 1542, until 28 March 1544),
9th of King Henry VIII (starting 23 November 1545, until 31 January 1547),
1st of King Edward VI (starting 4 November 1547)
Events
* 1540
** January –
Shap Abbey
Shap Abbey was a religious house of the Premonstratensian order of Canons regular situated on the western bank of the River Lowther in the civil parish of Shap Rural, around from the village of Shap, in the Eden District of Cumbria, England. Th ...
and
Dunstable Priory
The Priory Church of Saint Peter, St Peter with its monastery (Dunstable Priory) was founded in 1132 by Henry I of England, Henry I for Augustinians, Augustinian Canons Regular#Canons Regular, Canons in Dunstable, Bedfordshire, England. St Pete ...
are closed down as part of the
Dissolution of the Monasteries.
** 1 January – King Henry VIII meets Anne of Cleves in person for the first time, informally at
Rochester
Rochester may refer to:
Places Australia
* Rochester, Victoria
Canada
* Rochester, Alberta
United Kingdom
*Rochester, Kent
** City of Rochester-upon-Medway (1982–1998), district council area
** History of Rochester, Kent
** HM Prison ...
.
** 2 January –
Gloucester Abbey
Gloucester Abbey was a Benedictine abbey in the city of Gloucester, England. Since 1541 it has been Gloucester Cathedral.
History Early period
A Christian place of worship had stood on the abbey site since Anglo-Saxon times. Around 681, with ...
is surrendered to the Crown as part of the Dissolution of the Monasteries.
** 6 January – King
Henry VIII marries
Anne of Cleves
Anne of Cleves (german: Anna von Kleve; 1515 – 16 July 1557) was Queen of England from 6 January to 12 July 1540 as the fourth wife of King Henry VIII. Not much is known about Anne before 1527, when she became betrothed to Francis, Duke o ...
, his fourth
Queen consort.
** 14 January –
Southwark Priory in London is surrendered to the Crown as part of the Dissolution of the Monasteries.
** 29 January –
Bolton Abbey
Bolton Abbey in Wharfedale, North Yorkshire, England, takes its name from the ruins of the 12th-century Augustinian monastery now known as Bolton Priory. The priory, closed in the 1539 Dissolution of the Monasteries ordered by King He ...
, a Yorkshire priory, is closed down as part of the Dissolution of the Monasteries.
** 16 February –
Thetford Priory
Thetford Priory is a Cluniac monastic house in Thetford, Norfolk, England. Founded in 1103 by Roger Bigod of Norfolk, Thetford was one of the most important monasteries of East Anglia.
It should not be confused with the Dominican Friary of Blac ...
is closed down as part of the Dissolution of the Monasteries.
** 23 March –
Waltham Abbey
Waltham Abbey is a town and civil parish in the Epping Forest District of Essex, within the metropolitan and urban area of London, England, north-east of Charing Cross. It lies on the Greenwich Meridian, between the River Lea in the west and ...
is the last abbey to close as part of the Dissolution of the Monasteries.
[
** April – the cathedral priories of ]Canterbury
Canterbury (, ) is a cathedral city and UNESCO World Heritage Site, situated in the heart of the City of Canterbury local government district of Kent, England. It lies on the River Stour.
The Archbishop of Canterbury is the primate of ...
and Rochester
Rochester may refer to:
Places Australia
* Rochester, Victoria
Canada
* Rochester, Alberta
United Kingdom
*Rochester, Kent
** City of Rochester-upon-Medway (1982–1998), district council area
** History of Rochester, Kent
** HM Prison ...
are transformed into secular cathedral chapters, concluding the Dissolution of the Monasteries.
** 9 July – Henry divorces Anne of Cleves.[
** 28 July – ]Thomas Cromwell
Thomas Cromwell (; 1485 – 28 July 1540), briefly Earl of Essex, was an English lawyer and statesman who served as chief minister to King Henry VIII from 1534 to 1540, when he was beheaded on orders of the king, who later blamed false char ...
is executed on order from the king on charges of treason
Treason is the crime of attacking a state authority to which one owes allegiance. This typically includes acts such as participating in a war against one's native country, attempting to overthrow its government, spying on its military, its diplo ...
in public on Tower Hill
Tower Hill is the area surrounding the Tower of London in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets. It is infamous for the public execution of high status prisoners from the late 14th to the mid 18th century. The execution site on the higher gro ...
, London. Henry marries his fifth wife, Catherine Howard
Catherine Howard ( – 13 February 1542), also spelled Katheryn Howard, was Queen of England from 1540 until 1542 as the fifth wife of Henry VIII. She was the daughter of Lord Edmund Howard and Joyce Culpeper, a cousin to Anne Boleyn (the se ...
, on the same day at Oatlands Palace
Oatlands Palace is a former Tudor and Stuart royal palace which took the place of the former manor of the village of Oatlands near Weybridge, Surrey. Little remains of the original building, so excavations of the palace took place in 1964 to ...
.
** Summer – Council of the West
The Council of the West was a short-lived administrative body established by Henry VIII of England for the government of the western counties of England (Cornwall, Devonshire, Dorset, and Somerset). It was analogous in form to the Council of the No ...
last sits.
** 17 September – Anglican Diocese of Westminster Diocese of Westminster may refer to:
* Roman Catholic Diocese of Westminster, since 1850, with seat at Westminster Cathedral
* Diocese of Westminster (Church of England)
The Diocese of Westminster was a short-lived diocese of the Church of Engl ...
created.
** Statute of Wills
The Statute of Wills (32 Hen. 8, c. 1 – enacted in 1540) was an Act of the Parliament of England. It made it possible, for the first time in post-Conquest English history, for landholders to determine who would inherit their land upon their dea ...
makes it possible to dispose of real estate
Real estate is property consisting of land and the buildings on it, along with its natural resources such as crops, minerals or water; immovable property of this nature; an interest vested in this (also) an item of real property, (more general ...
by will.
** "Big Sun Year": Great heat and drought.
** Regius Professorships endowed at the University of Cambridge
The University of Cambridge is a public collegiate research university in Cambridge, England. Founded in 1209 and granted a royal charter by Henry III in 1231, Cambridge is the world's third oldest surviving university and one of its most pr ...
.[
** Publication of ''The Byrth of Mankynde'', the first printed book in ]English
English usually refers to:
* English language
* English people
English may also refer to:
Peoples, culture, and language
* ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England
** English national ide ...
on obstetrics, and one of the first published in England to include engraved plates.
* 1541
** 18 June – by the Crown of Ireland Act, the Parliament of Ireland
The Parliament of Ireland ( ga, Parlaimint na hÉireann) was the legislature of the Lordship of Ireland, and later the Kingdom of Ireland, from 1297 until 1800. It was modelled on the Parliament of England and from 1537 comprised two cham ...
declares King Henry VIII of England and his heirs to be Kings of Ireland
Kings or King's may refer to:
*Monarchs: The sovereign heads of states and/or nations, with the male being kings
*One of several works known as the "Book of Kings":
**The Books of Kings part of the Bible, divided into two parts
**The ''Shahnameh'' ...
, replacing the Lordship of Ireland
The Lordship of Ireland ( ga, Tiarnas na hÉireann), sometimes referred to retroactively as Norman Ireland, was the part of Ireland ruled by the King of England (styled as "Lord of Ireland") and controlled by loyal Anglo-Norman lords between ...
with the Kingdom of Ireland.
** Early summer – Collyer's School opens to scholars in Horsham.
** 14 August – Anglican Diocese of Chester
The Diocese of Chester is a Church of England diocese in the Province of York covering the pre-1974 county of Cheshire and therefore including the Wirral and parts of Stockport, Trafford and Tameside.
History
Ancient diocese
Before the si ...
created.
** 3 September – the Anglican Diocese of Gloucester
The Diocese of Gloucester is a Church of England diocese based in Gloucester, covering the non-metropolitan county of Gloucestershire. The cathedral is Gloucester Cathedral and the bishop is the Bishop of Gloucester. It is part of the Province ...
is created from part of the Diocese of Worcester with John Wakeman
John Wakeman (died 1549) was an English Benedictine, the last Abbot of Tewkesbury and first Bishop of Gloucester, both posts in the English county of Gloucestershire. In the earlier part of his life he went by the name John Wiche.
Life
He was th ...
(last Abbot of Tewkesbury
The Abbey Church of St Mary the Virgin, Tewkesbury–commonly known as Tewkesbury Abbey–is located in the English county of Gloucestershire. A former Benedictine monastery, it is now a parish church. Considered one of the finest examples of Nor ...
) as first Bishop of Gloucester
The Bishop of Gloucester is the ordinary of the Church of England Diocese of Gloucester in the Province of Canterbury.
The diocese covers the County of Gloucestershire and part of the County of Worcestershire. The see's centre of governan ...
.
** Anglican Diocese of Peterborough
Anglicanism is a Western Christian tradition that has developed from the practices, liturgy, and identity of the Church of England following the English Reformation, in the context of the Protestant Reformation in Europe. It is one of the ...
formed.
** Unlawful Games Act prohibits "Several new devised Games" as part of the promotion of archery.
** Berkhamsted School
Berkhamsted School is an independent day school in Berkhamsted, Hertfordshire, England. The present school was formed in 1997 by the amalgamation of the original Berkhamsted School, founded in 1541 by John Incent, Dean of St Paul's Cathedral ...
founded by John Incent, Dean of St Paul's.
** The King's School, Canterbury
The King's School is a public school (English independent day and boarding school for 13 to 18 year old pupils) in Canterbury, Kent, England. It is a member of the Headmasters' and Headmistresses' Conference and the Eton Group. It is Britain's ...
, King's School, Chester
The King's School, Chester, is a British co-educational independent day school for children aged 4 to 18. It is one of the seven 'King's Schools' established (or re-endowed and renamed) by King Henry VIII in 1541 after the Dissolution of t ...
, The King's School, Ely
King's Ely (renamed from "The King's School" in March 2012),The School's Terms and Conditions and the Companies House registration would suggest that the School's legal name remains "The King's School, Ely" is a co-educational public school ...
, King's School, Gloucester
The King's School is a co-educational independent day school in Gloucester, in the county of Gloucestershire, England. It traces its heritage to a monastic school founded in the 11th century in the cloisters of Gloucester Cathedral. It became ...
, The King's (The Cathedral) School
Founded by King Henry VIII, The King's (The Cathedral) School is a state-funded Church of England school located in Peterborough, England.
Although for centuries a boys-only grammar school, "Kings" is now mixed and has a Junior Department in M ...
, Peterborough
Peterborough () is a cathedral city in Cambridgeshire, east of England. It is the largest part of the City of Peterborough unitary authority district (which covers a larger area than Peterborough itself). It was part of Northamptonshire until ...
, King's School, Rochester
The King's School, Rochester, is an English independent school in Rochester, Kent. It is a cathedral school and, being part of the foundation of Rochester Cathedral, the Dean of Rochester serves as chair of the school's governing body. The sc ...
and King's School, Worcester
The King's School, Worcester is an English independent day school refounded by Henry VIII in 1541. It occupies a site adjacent to Worcester Cathedral on the banks of the River Severn in the centre of the city of Worcester. It offers mixed-sex m ...
are established (or re-endowed) by Henry VIII.
** John Brooke and Sons established at Armitage Bridge
Armitage Bridge is a village approximately south of Huddersfield, in the Holme Valley, West Yorkshire, England. It is situated between Berry Brow and South Crosland and straddles the River Holme. The village has a public house, a cricket club ...
in West Yorkshire as textile manufacturers; the business will still exist in family hands into the 21st century.
* 1542
** 13 February – Catherine Howard
Catherine Howard ( – 13 February 1542), also spelled Katheryn Howard, was Queen of England from 1540 until 1542 as the fifth wife of Henry VIII. She was the daughter of Lord Edmund Howard and Joyce Culpeper, a cousin to Anne Boleyn (the se ...
, the fifth wife of Henry VIII, is executed in the Tower of London
The Tower of London, officially His Majesty's Royal Palace and Fortress of the Tower of London, is a historic castle on the north bank of the River Thames in central London. It lies within the London Borough of Tower Hamlets, which is sep ...
for adultery
Adultery (from Latin ''adulterium'') is extramarital sex that is considered objectionable on social, religious, moral, or legal grounds. Although the sexual activities that constitute adultery vary, as well as the social, religious, and legal ...
.
** 4 June – the Anglican Diocese of Bristol
The Diocese of Bristol is an ecclesiastical jurisdiction or diocese of the Church of England in the Province of Canterbury, England. It is based in the city of Bristol and covers South Gloucestershire and parts of north Wiltshire, as far east ...
is created from part of the newly formed Diocese of Gloucester
The Diocese of Gloucester is a Church of England diocese based in Gloucester, covering the non-metropolitan county of Gloucestershire. The cathedral is Gloucester Cathedral and the bishop is the Bishop of Gloucester. It is part of the Province ...
with Paul Bush as first Bishop of Bristol
A bishop is an ordained clergy member who is entrusted with a position of authority and oversight in a religious institution.
In Christianity, bishops are normally responsible for the governance of dioceses. The role or office of bishop is ...
.
** 24 August – Battle of Haddon Rig
The Battle of Hadden Rig was a battle fought about three miles east of Kelso, Scottish Borders, Kelso, in the Scottish Borders, between Scotland and England on 24 August 1542, during the reigns of King James V of Scotland and Henry VIII of Eng ...
: Scottish victory over the English.
** 4 September – earliest recorded Preston Guild
Preston () is a city on the north bank of the River Ribble in Lancashire, England. The city is the administrative centre of the county of Lancashire and the wider City of Preston local government district. Preston and its surrounding distri ...
Court in the modern sequence, which lasts unbroken until 1922.
** September – Anglican Diocese of Oxford
The Diocese of Oxford is a Church of England diocese that forms part of the Province of Canterbury. The diocese is led by the Bishop of Oxford (currently Steven Croft), and the bishop's seat is at Christ Church Cathedral, Oxford. It contain ...
formed.
** 24 November – Battle of Solway Moss: English victory over the Scots.[
** Witchcraft Act first defines ]witchcraft
Witchcraft traditionally means the use of magic or supernatural powers to harm others. A practitioner is a witch. In medieval and early modern Europe, where the term originated, accused witches were usually women who were believed to have ...
as a felony, punishable by death (repealed 1547).
** Muster rolls are compiled in the counties.
* 1543
** 11 February – Henry allies with Emperor Charles V against France
France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan area ...
.[
** March – Consolidating Act of Welsh Union: ]Parliament
In modern politics, and history, a parliament is a legislative body of government. Generally, a modern parliament has three functions: representing the electorate, making laws, and overseeing the government via hearings and inquiries. Th ...
establishes counties and regularises parliamentary representation in Wales
Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the Bristol Channel to the south. It had a population in ...
.[
** 1 July – ]Treaty of Greenwich
The Treaty of Greenwich (also known as the Treaties of Greenwich) contained two agreements both signed on 1 July 1543 in Greenwich between representatives of England and Scotland. The accord, overall, entailed a plan developed by Henry VIII of E ...
between England and Scotland (repudiated by Scotland 11 December).[
** 12 July – King Henry VIII marries his sixth and final wife, Catherine Parr, at Hampton Court Palace.]
** 4 August – three Protestant Windsor Martyrs suffer death by burning
Death by burning (also known as immolation) is an execution and murder method involving combustion or exposure to extreme heat. It has a long history as a form of public capital punishment, and many societies have employed it as a punishment f ...
.
** Thomas Tallis
Thomas Tallis (23 November 1585; also Tallys or Talles) was an English composer of High Renaissance music. His compositions are primarily vocal, and he occupies a primary place in anthologies of English choral music. Tallis is considered one ...
becomes a Gentleman of the Chapel Royal.
* 1544
** March – Third Succession Act
The Third Succession Act of King Henry VIII's reign, passed by the Parliament of England in July 1543, returned his daughters Mary and Elizabeth to the line of the succession behind their half-brother Edward. Born in 1537, Edward was the son o ...
, reinstating Princesses Mary
Mary may refer to:
People
* Mary (name), a feminine given name (includes a list of people with the name)
Religious contexts
* New Testament people named Mary, overview article linking to many of those below
* Mary, mother of Jesus, also calle ...
and Elizabeth
Elizabeth or Elisabeth may refer to:
People
* Elizabeth (given name), a female given name (including people with that name)
* Elizabeth (biblical figure), mother of John the Baptist
Ships
* HMS ''Elizabeth'', several ships
* ''Elisabeth'' (sch ...
to the line of succession to the English throne, given Royal Assent
Royal assent is the method by which a monarch formally approves an act of the legislature, either directly or through an official acting on the monarch's behalf. In some jurisdictions, royal assent is equivalent to promulgation, while in oth ...
(having been passed by Parliament in July 1543).[
** April – posthumous publication of Cardinal ]John Fisher
John Fisher (c. 19 October 1469 – 22 June 1535) was an English Catholic bishop, cardinal, and theologian. Fisher was also an academic and Chancellor of the University of Cambridge. He was canonized by Pope Pius XI.
Fisher was executed by o ...
's ''Psalmi seu precationes'' in the original and in an anonymous English translation by its sponsor, Queen Catherine Parr.
** 3 May – Edward Seymour, Earl of Hertford captures Leith
Leith (; gd, Lìte) is a port area in the north of the city of Edinburgh, Scotland, founded at the mouth of the Water of Leith. In 2021, it was ranked by ''Time Out'' as one of the top five neighbourhoods to live in the world.
The earliest ...
and Edinburgh
Edinburgh ( ; gd, Dùn Èideann ) is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 council areas. Historically part of the county of Midlothian (interchangeably Edinburghshire before 1921), it is located in Lothian on the southern shore of t ...
from Scotland,[ start of the first major campaign in the ]Rough Wooing
The Rough Wooing (December 1543 – March 1551), also known as the Eight Years' War, was part of the Anglo-Scottish Wars of the 16th century. Following its break with the Roman Catholic Church, England attacked Scotland, partly to break the ...
.
** 19 July–18 September – Italian War of 1542–1546
The Italian War of 1542–1546 was a conflict late in the Italian Wars, pitting Francis I of France and Suleiman I of the Ottoman Empire against the Holy Roman Emperor Charles V and Henry VIII of England. The course of the war saw extensive ...
: Henry VIII leads the First Siege of Boulogne
First or 1st is the ordinal form of the number one (#1).
First or 1st may also refer to:
*World record, specifically the first instance of a particular achievement
Arts and media Music
* 1$T, American rapper, singer-songwriter, DJ, and rec ...
in France.[
** ]Thomas Cranmer
Thomas Cranmer (2 July 1489 – 21 March 1556) was a leader of the English Reformation and Archbishop of Canterbury during the reigns of Henry VIII, Edward VI and, for a short time, Mary I. He helped build the case for the annulment of Henry ...
's "Exhortation and Litany
The ''Exhortation and Litany'', published in 1544, is the earliest officially authorized vernacular service in English. The same rite survives, in modified form, in the ''Book of Common Prayer''.
Background
Before the English Reformation, process ...
" is issued, the first officially authorised vernacular church service in English
English usually refers to:
* English language
* English people
English may also refer to:
Peoples, culture, and language
* ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England
** English national ide ...
.
** Second programme of construction of Device Forts
The Device Forts, also known as Henrician castles and blockhouses, were a series of artillery fortifications built to defend the coast of England and Wales by Henry VIII. Traditionally, the Crown had left coastal defences in the hands of local ...
for defence of the Solent
The Solent ( ) is a strait between the Isle of Wight and Great Britain. It is about long and varies in width between , although the Hurst Spit which projects into the Solent narrows the sea crossing between Hurst Castle and Colwell Bay t ...
is ordered.
** English coinage debased.[
* 1545
** 27 February – Scottish victory over the English at the Battle of Ancrum Moor.][
** 29 May – publication of Catherine Parr's '']Prayers or Meditations
''Prayers or Meditations'', written in 1545 by the English queen Catherine Parr, was the first book published in England by a woman under her own name and in the English language. It first appeared in print on 8 June 1545. Preceded in the previou ...
'', the first book published by an English queen under her own name, and the ''King's Primer'', another devotional work overseen by her.[ ]
** July – Italian Wars
The Italian Wars, also known as the Habsburg–Valois Wars, were a series of conflicts covering the period 1494 to 1559, fought mostly in the Italian peninsula, but later expanding into Flanders, the Rhineland and the Mediterranean Sea. The pr ...
: Attempted French invasion of the Isle of Wight
The French invasion of the Isle of Wight occurred during the Italian Wars in July 1545. The invasion was repulsed.
France had a long history of attacking the Isle of Wight, and the 1545 campaign proved to be the last time to date that the F ...
.[
** 18–19 July – Battle of the Solent between English and French fleets. On 19 July, Henry VIII's flagship, the '']Mary Rose
The ''Mary Rose'' (launched 1511) is a carrack-type warship of the English Tudor navy of King Henry VIII. She served for 33 years in several wars against France, Scotland, and Brittany. After being substantially rebuilt in 1536, she saw her ...
'', sinks.
** c.21 July – Battle of Bonchurch on the Isle of Wight
The Isle of Wight ( ) is a Counties of England, county in the English Channel, off the coast of Hampshire, from which it is separated by the Solent. It is the List of islands of England#Largest islands, largest and List of islands of England#Mo ...
: The French are defeated.
** Sir Thomas Cawarden
Sir Thomas Cawarden (died 25 August 1559) of Bletchingley, Nonsuch Park and East Horsley (Surrey) was Master of the Revels to Henry VIII of England, Edward VI, and Mary I.
Background
Thomas was the son of William Cawarden, a cloth-fuller and c ...
becomes the first Master of the Revels
The Master of the Revels was the holder of a position within the English, and later the British, royal household, heading the "Revels Office" or "Office of the Revels". The Master of the Revels was an executive officer under the Lord Chamberlain ...
to be head of an independent office.[
** ]Roger Ascham
Roger Ascham (; c. 151530 December 1568)"Ascham, Roger" in ''The New Encyclopædia Britannica''. Chicago: Encyclopædia Britannica Inc., 15th edn., 1992, Vol. 1, p. 617. was an English scholar and didactic writer, famous for his prose style, h ...
's ''Toxophilus
''Toxophilus'' is a book about longbow archery by Roger Ascham, first published in London in 1545. Dedicated to King Henry VIII, it is the first book on archery written in English.
Ascham was a keen archer and a lecturer at St John's College, C ...
'', the first book on archery written in English, is published.
** Thomas Phaer
Thomas Phaer (also spelled Phaire, Fayre, Faer, Phayre, Phayer) (c. 151012 August 1560) was an English lawyer, paediatrician, and author. He is best known as the author of ''The Boke of Chyldren'', published in 1545, which was the first b ...
's ''The Boke of Chyldren'', the first book on paediatrics
Pediatrics ( also spelled ''paediatrics'' or ''pædiatrics'') is the branch of medicine that involves the medical care of infants, children, adolescents, and young adults. In the United Kingdom, paediatrics covers many of their youth until the ...
written in English, is published.
** First published edition of Sir John Fortescue John Fortescue may refer to:
* Sir John Fortescue (judge) (c. 1394–1479), English lawyer and judge, MP for Tavistock, Totnes, Plympton Erle and Wiltshire
* Sir John Fortescue of Salden (1531/1533–1607), third Chancellor of the Exchequer of Eng ...
's ''De laudibus legum Angliae'' (written c.1471).
* 1546
** 24 April – Navy Board
The Navy Board (formerly known as the Council of the Marine or Council of the Marine Causes) was the commission responsible for the day-to-day civil administration of the Royal Navy between 1546 and 1832. The board was headquartered within the ...
established.[
** 7 June – Treaty of Ardres ends the ]Italian War of 1542–1546
The Italian War of 1542–1546 was a conflict late in the Italian Wars, pitting Francis I of France and Suleiman I of the Ottoman Empire against the Holy Roman Emperor Charles V and Henry VIII of England. The course of the war saw extensive ...
; Henry VIII promises eventual return of Boulogne to France.
** 4 November – Christ Church, Oxford, refounded as a college by Henry VIII under this name.
** 19 December – Trinity College, Cambridge
Trinity College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. Founded in 1546 by King Henry VIII, Trinity is one of the largest Cambridge colleges, with the largest financial endowment of any college at either Cambridge or Oxford. ...
, founded by Henry VIII.[
** Regius Professorship of Hebrew at the ]University of Oxford
, mottoeng = The Lord is my light
, established =
, endowment = £6.1 billion (including colleges) (2019)
, budget = £2.145 billion (2019–20)
, chancellor ...
established by Henry VIII.
* 1547
** 19 January – execution of Henry Howard, Earl of Surrey
Henry Howard, Earl of Surrey (1516/1517 – 19 January 1547), KG, was an English nobleman, politician and poet. He was one of the founders of English Renaissance poetry and was the last known person executed at the instance of King Henry VII ...
, for treason.
** 28 January – King Henry VIII dies at the Palace of Whitehall and is succeeded by his 9-year-old son Edward VI
Edward VI (12 October 1537 – 6 July 1553) was King of England and Ireland from 28 January 1547 until his death in 1553. He was crowned on 20 February 1547 at the age of nine. Edward was the son of Henry VIII and Jane Seymour and the first E ...
as King.
** 31 January – Edward Seymour becomes regent
A regent (from Latin : ruling, governing) is a person appointed to govern a state '' pro tempore'' (Latin: 'for the time being') because the monarch is a minor, absent, incapacitated or unable to discharge the powers and duties of the monarchy ...
of England.[
** 20 February – Edward VI is crowned at ]Westminster Abbey
Westminster Abbey, formally titled the Collegiate Church of Saint Peter at Westminster, is an historic, mainly Gothic church in the City of Westminster, London, England, just to the west of the Palace of Westminster. It is one of the Unite ...
.
** 4 April – Catherine Parr, widow of King Henry VIII, secretly marries Thomas Seymour, 1st Baron Seymour of Sudeley
Thomas Seymour, 1st Baron Seymour of Sudeley, KG, PC (20 March 1549) was a brother of Jane Seymour, the third wife of King Henry VIII. With his brother, Edward Seymour, 1st Duke of Somerset and Lord Protector of England, he vied for control of ...
.
** 10 September – Battle of Pinkie
The Battle of Pinkie, also known as the Battle of Pinkie Cleugh ( , ), took place on 10 September 1547 on the banks of the River Esk near Musselburgh, Scotland. The last pitched battle between Scotland and England before the Union of the Crow ...
: An English army under Edward Seymour, now the Duke of Somerset
Duke is a male title either of a monarch ruling over a duchy, or of a member of royalty, or nobility. As rulers, dukes are ranked below emperors, kings, grand princes, grand dukes, and sovereign princes. As royalty or nobility, they are rank ...
, defeats a Scottish army under James Hamilton, 2nd Earl of Arran
James is a common English language surname and given name:
*James (name), the typically masculine first name James
* James (surname), various people with the last name James
James or James City may also refer to:
People
* King James (disambigua ...
, the Regent. The English seize Edinburgh
Edinburgh ( ; gd, Dùn Èideann ) is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 council areas. Historically part of the county of Midlothian (interchangeably Edinburghshire before 1921), it is located in Lothian on the southern shore of t ...
.[
** Edward Seymour begins the construction of Somerset House, London.][
** ]Treason Act
Treason Act or Treasons Act (and variations thereon) or Statute of Treasons is a stock short title used for legislation in the United Kingdom and in the Republic of Ireland on the subject of treason and related offences.
Several Acts on the subje ...
makes it high treason
Treason is the crime of attacking a state authority to which one owes allegiance. This typically includes acts such as participating in a war against one's native country, attempting to overthrow its government, spying on its military, its diplo ...
to interrupt the line of succession to the throne established by the Act of Succession; and requires two witness
In law, a witness is someone who has knowledge about a matter, whether they have sensed it or are testifying on another witnesses' behalf. In law a witness is someone who, either voluntarily or under compulsion, provides testimonial evidence, e ...
es to prove a charge of treason
Treason is the crime of attacking a state authority to which one owes allegiance. This typically includes acts such as participating in a war against one's native country, attempting to overthrow its government, spying on its military, its diplo ...
.
** Six Articles repealed.[
** Dissolution of Colleges Act allows St Stephen's Chapel in the Palace of Westminster to become the meeting place of the House of Commons of England.
** ]King James's School, Almondbury
King James's School is a Mixed-sex education, coeducational secondary school located in Almondbury in the English county of West Yorkshire.
History
King James's Grammar School was founded as chantry school in 1547 and received its name and a r ...
, West Yorkshire, founded as a chantry school.
* 1548
** Dissolution of collegiate church In Christianity, a collegiate church is a church where the daily office of worship is maintained by a college of canons: a non-monastic or "secular" community of clergy, organised as a self-governing corporate body, which may be presided over by ...
es and chantries
A chantry is an ecclesiastical term that may have either of two related meanings:
# a chantry service, a Christian liturgy of prayers for the dead, which historically was an obiit, or
# a chantry chapel, a building on private land, or an area i ...
:
***Beverley Minster
Beverley Minster, otherwise known as the Parish Church of Saint John and Saint Martin, in Beverley, East Riding of Yorkshire, is a parish church in the Church of England. It is one of the largest parish churches in the UK, larger than one-third ...
in Yorkshire is suppressed as a collegiate church on Easter Sunday.
*** Howden Minster
Howden Minster (also known as the Minster Church of St Peter and St Paul, Howden) is a large Grade I listed Church of England church in the Diocese of York. It is located in Howden, East Riding of Yorkshire, England and is one of the largest ch ...
in Yorkshire is suppressed as a collegiate church.
*** Destruction of the religious colleges of Glasney and Crantock
Crantock ( kw, Lanngorrow) is a coastal civil parish and a village in Cornwall, United Kingdom. The village is approximately two miles (3 km) southwest of Newquay.
Crantock dates back to 460 AD when a group of Irish hermits founded an ...
in Cornwall
Cornwall (; kw, Kernow ) is a historic county and ceremonial county in South West England. It is recognised as one of the Celtic nations, and is the homeland of the Cornish people. Cornwall is bordered to the north and west by the Atlantic ...
end the formal scholarship that has helped sustain the Cornish language and cultural identity.
** King's School, Pontefract
The King's School is a coeducational secondary school with academy status, located in Pontefract, West Yorkshire, England. It is one of the four oldest schools in Yorkshire, dating from 1139 and was refounded by King Edward VI in 1548.
Histor ...
, re-founded.
** Clergy Marriage Act 1548
The Clergy Marriage Act 1548 ( 2 & 3 Edw. 6. c. 21) was an Act of the Parliament of England. Part of the English Reformation, it abolished the prohibition on marriage of priests within the Church of England. (Before Henry VIII declared himself ...
removes bars to clerical marriage
Clerical marriage is practice of allowing Christian clergy (those who have already been ordained) to marry. This practice is distinct from allowing married persons to become clergy. Clerical marriage is admitted among Protestants, including both A ...
.
** John Bale
John Bale (21 November 1495 – November 1563) was an English churchman, historian and controversialist, and Bishop of Ossory in Ireland. He wrote the oldest known historical verse drama in English (on the subject of King John), and developed ...
writes ''Kynge Johan'', the earliest English historical drama.[
** ]Edward Hall
Edward Hall ( – ) was an English lawyer and historian, best known for his ''The Union of the Two Noble and Illustre Families of Lancastre and Yorke''—commonly known as ''Hall's Chronicle''—first published in 1548. He was also sever ...
's ''The Union of the Two Noble and Illustre Families of Lancastre and Yorke'' ("Hall's Chronicle") is published posthumously.
* 1549
** 15 January – Act of Uniformity imposes the Book of Common Prayer
The ''Book of Common Prayer'' (BCP) is the name given to a number of related prayer books used in the Anglican Communion and by other Christian churches historically related to Anglicanism. The original book, published in 1549 in the reign ...
.[
** 9 June
*** Book of Common Prayer (''The Booke of the Common Prayer'') introduced in churches.]
*** Prayer Book Rebellion
The Prayer Book Rebellion or Western Rising was a popular revolt in Cornwall and Devon in 1549. In that year, the ''Book of Common Prayer (1549), Book of Common Prayer'', presenting the theology of the English Reformation, was introduced. The ...
against the Book of Common Prayer breaks out at Sampford Courtenay in Devon
Devon ( , historically known as Devonshire , ) is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in South West England. The most populous settlement in Devon is the city of Plymouth, followed by Devon's county town, the city of Exeter. Devo ...
and in Cornwall
Cornwall (; kw, Kernow ) is a historic county and ceremonial county in South West England. It is recognised as one of the Celtic nations, and is the homeland of the Cornish people. Cornwall is bordered to the north and west by the Atlantic ...
.
** July – Kett's Rebellion
Kett's Rebellion was a revolt in Norfolk, England during the reign of Edward VI, largely in response to the enclosure of land. It began at Wymondham on 8 July 1549 with a group of rebels destroying fences that had been put up by wealthy landowners ...
in Norfolk
Norfolk () is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in East Anglia in England. It borders Lincolnshire to the north-west, Cambridgeshire to the west and south-west, and Suffolk to the south. Its northern and eastern boundaries are the No ...
against land enclosures; rebellion in Oxfordshire against landowners associated with religious changes.
** 6 August – Prayer Book Rebellion: Battle of Clyst Heath – John Russell, 1st Earl of Bedford defeats rebels.
** 8 August – France declares war on England.
** 9 August – England declares war on France.
** 17 August – Battle of Sampford Courtenay
Plaque in Sampford Courtenay
The Battle of Sampford Courtenay was one of the chief military engagements in the Western Rebellion of 1549.
Preparations
By mid August 1549, Humphrey Arundell, the leader of the rebel troops, regrouped his forces ...
: Prayer Book rebellion quashed.
** 26 August – Battle of Dussindale, near Norwich
Norwich () is a cathedral city and district of Norfolk, England, of which it is the county town. Norwich is by the River Wensum, about north-east of London, north of Ipswich and east of Peterborough. As the seat of the See of Norwich, with ...
: Kett's Rebellion quashed.[
** 10 October – ]Edward Seymour, 1st Duke of Somerset
Edward Seymour, 1st Duke of Somerset (150022 January 1552) (also 1st Earl of Hertford, 1st Viscount Beauchamp), also known as Edward Semel, was the eldest surviving brother of Queen Jane Seymour (d. 1537), the third wife of King Henry VI ...
loses the position of Lord Protector, John Dudley, Earl of Warwick
John Dudley, 1st Duke of Northumberland (1504Loades 2008 – 22 August 1553) was an English general, admiral, and politician, who led the government of the young King Edward VI from 1550 until 1553, and unsuccessfully tried to install Lady J ...
assumes his powers but does not acquire the title.
** 5 December – Cardinal Reginald Pole
Reginald Pole (12 March 1500 – 17 November 1558) was an English cardinal of the Catholic Church and the last Catholic archbishop of Canterbury, holding the office from 1556 to 1558, during the Counter-Reformation.
Early life
Pole was bor ...
receives 26 votes at the Papal conclave, only two short of the requisite two-thirds majority to be elected as Pope.
** December – Sternhold and Hopkins Psalter
A metrical psalter is a kind of Bible translation: a book containing a verse translation of all or part of the Book of Psalms in vernacular poetry, meant to be sung as hymns in a church. Some metrical psalters include melodies or harmonisatio ...
(') is published.
** Putting away of Books and Images Act 1549
The Act for the abolishing and putting away of diverse books and images 1549 (3 & 4 Edw. 6 c. 10) was an Act of the Parliament of England.
The preamble of the Act recites:
It then proceeds to order the abolishing of all other religious boo ...
passed.
** The spire
A spire is a tall, slender, pointed structure on top of a roof of a building or tower, especially at the summit of church steeples. A spire may have a square, circular, or polygonal plan, with a roughly conical or pyramidal shape. Spires a ...
of Lincoln Cathedral is blown down.
Births
* 1540
** 24 January – Edmund Campion
Edmund Campion, SJ (25 January 15401 December 1581) was an English Jesuit priest and martyr. While conducting an underground ministry in officially Anglican England, Campion was arrested by priest hunters. Convicted of high treason, he was h ...
, Jesuit and Roman Catholic martyr (died 1581
1581 ( MDLXXXI) was a common year starting on Sunday (link will display the full calendar) in the Julian calendar, and a common year starting on Thursday (link will display full calendar) of the Proleptic Gregorian calendar.
Events
Ja ...
)
** 25 February – Henry Howard, 1st Earl of Northampton
Henry Howard, Earl of Northampton, KG (25 February 154015 June 1614), was an important English aristocrat and courtier. He was suspect as a crypto-Catholic throughout his life, and went through periods of royal disfavour, in which his reputati ...
, courtier and scholar (died 1614
Events
January–June
* February – King James I of England condemns duels, in his proclamation ''Against Private Challenges and Combats''.
* April 5 – Pocahontas is forced into child marriage with English colonist John Rolfe in Ja ...
)
** c. February or March – Sir Francis Drake, explorer and soldier (died 1596)
** 11 June – Barnabe Googe
Barnabe Googe (11 June 15407 February 1594), also spelt Barnabe Goche and Barnaby Goodge, was a poet and translator, one of the earliest English pastoral poets.
Early life
Barnabe Googe, born 11 June 1540 (St Barnabas Day), in Alvingham, Linc ...
, poet (died 1594)
** William Byrd
William Byrd (; 4 July 1623) was an English composer of late Renaissance music. Considered among the greatest composers of the Renaissance, he had a profound influence on composers both from his native England and those on the continent. He ...
, composer (died 1623
Events
January–March
* January 21 –
**Viscount Falkland, England's Lord Deputy of Ireland, issues a proclamation ordering all Roman Catholic priests to leave Ireland. The order frustrates negotiations between Protestant En ...
)
** George Hastings, Earl of Huntingdon, nobleman (died 1604
Events
January–June
* January 1 – '' The Masque of Indian and China Knights'' is performed by courtiers of James VI and I at Hampton Court.
* January 14 – The Hampton Court Conference is held between James I of England ...
)
** Christopher Hatton
Sir Christopher Hatton KG (1540 – 20 November 1591) was an English politician, Lord Chancellor of England and a favourite of Elizabeth I of England. He was one of the judges who found Mary, Queen of Scots guilty of treason.
Early years
Sir ...
, politician (died 1591
Events
January–June
* March 13 – Battle of Tondibi: In Mali, forces sent by the Saadi dynasty ruler of Morocco, Ahmad al-Mansur, and led by Judar Pasha, defeat the fractured Songhai Empire, despite being outnumbered by ...
)
* 1541
** Walter Devereux, 1st Earl of Essex
Walter Devereux, 1st Earl of Essex, KG (16 September 1541 – 22 September 1576), was an English nobleman and general. From 1573 until his death he fought in Ireland in connection with the Plantations of Ireland, most notably the Rathlin Is ...
, nobleman (died 1576
Year 1576 ( MDLXXVI) was a leap year starting on Sunday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar.
Events
January–June
* January 20 – Viceroy Martín Enríquez de Almanza founds the settlement of León ...
)
* 1542
** 5 May – Thomas Cecil, 1st Earl of Exeter
Thomas Cecil, 1st Earl of Exeter, KG (5 May 1542 – 8 February 1623), known as Lord Burghley from 1598 to 1605, was an English politician, courtier and soldier.
Family
Thomas Cecil was the elder son of William Cecil, 1st Baron Burghley, b ...
, politician (died 1623
Events
January–March
* January 21 –
**Viscount Falkland, England's Lord Deputy of Ireland, issues a proclamation ordering all Roman Catholic priests to leave Ireland. The order frustrates negotiations between Protestant En ...
)
** 6 June – Richard Grenville, soldier and explorer (died 1591
Events
January–June
* March 13 – Battle of Tondibi: In Mali, forces sent by the Saadi dynasty ruler of Morocco, Ahmad al-Mansur, and led by Judar Pasha, defeat the fractured Songhai Empire, despite being outnumbered by ...
)
* 1543
** 8 November – Lettice Knollys
Lettice Knollys ( , sometimes latinized as Laetitia, alias Lettice Devereux or Lettice Dudley), Countess of Essex and Countess of Leicester (8 November 1543Adams 2008a – 25 December 1634), was an English noblewoman and mother to the courtier ...
, lady-in-waiting to Queen Elizabeth I
Elizabeth I (7 September 153324 March 1603) was Queen of England and Ireland from 17 November 1558 until her death in 1603. Elizabeth was the last of the five House of Tudor monarchs and is sometimes referred to as the "Virgin Queen".
El ...
(died 1634
Events
January–March
* January 12– After suspecting that he will be dismissed, Albrecht von Wallenstein, supreme commander of the Holy Roman Empire's Army, demands that his colonels sign a declaration of personal loyalty.
...
)
** Thomas Deloney
Thomas Deloney (born ; died in or shortly before 1600) was an English silk-weaver, novelist, and ballad writer.
Biography
Thomas Deloney was born sometime in the middle decades of the 16th century; the precise date is not recorded. Although ofte ...
, novelist and balladeer (died 1600
__NOTOC__
In the Gregorian calendar, it was the last century leap year until the year 2000.
Events
January–June
* January 1 – Scotland adopts January 1 as New Year's Day instead of March 25.
* January
** Hugh O'Neill, 2nd Earl of T ...
)
** Douglas Sheffield, Baroness Sheffield
Douglas, Lady Sheffield ( Howard; 1542/1543 – 1608), was an English noblewoman, the lover of Robert Dudley, 1st Earl of Leicester and mother by him of explorer/cartographer Sir Robert Dudley, an illegitimate son.
Seventeen years after Le ...
, née Howard, lover of Robert Dudley, Earl of Leicester
Robert Dudley, 1st Earl of Leicester, (24 June 1532 – 4 September 1588) was an English statesman and the favourite of Elizabeth I from her accession until his death. He was a suitor for the queen's hand for many years.
Dudley's youth was ov ...
(died 1608
Events
January–June
*January – In the Colony of Virginia, Powhatan releases Captain John Smith.
*January 2 – The first of the Jamestown supply missions returns to the Colony of Virginia with Christopher Newport commanding ...
)
* 1544
** April – Thomas Fleming, judge (died 1613
Events
January–June
* January 11 – Workers in a sandpit in the Dauphiné region of France discover the skeleton of what is alleged to be a 30-foot tall man (the remains, it is supposed, of the giant Teutobochus, a legendary ...
)
** 24 May – William Gilbert, scientist (died 1603
Events
January–June
* February 25 – Dutch–Portuguese War: the Portuguese ship '' Santa Catarina'' is seized by Dutch East India Company ships off Singapore. The first permanent Dutch trading post in Indonesia is established ...
)
** Richard Bancroft, Archbishop of Canterbury (died 1610
Some have suggested that 1610 may mark the beginning of the Anthropocene, or the 'Age of Man', marking a fundamental change in the relationship between humans and the Earth system, but earlier starting dates (ca. 1000 C.E.) have received broa ...
)
** Thomas Hobson Thomas Hobson may refer to
* Thomas Hobson (postal carrier) (c. 1544–1631), English postal carrier
* Thomas Hobson (actor) (born 1982), American actor
* Thomas Hobson (cricketer) (born 1994), South African cricketer
{{hndis, name=Hobson, ...
, carrier and origin of the phrase " Hobson's choice" (died 1631
Events
January–March
* January 23 – Thirty Years' War: Sweden and France sign the Treaty of Bärwalde, a military alliance in which France provides funds for the Swedish army invading northern Germany.
* February 5 &ndash ...
)
** John Knewstub, Puritan (died 1624
Events
January–March
* January 14 – After 90 years of Ottoman occupation, Baghdad is recaptured by the Safavid Empire.
* January 22 – Korean General Yi Gwal leads an uprising of 12,000 soldiers against King Injo in ...
)
** George Whetstone
George Whetstone (1544? – 1587) was an English dramatist and author.
Biography
Whetstone was the third son of Robert Whetstone (d. 1557), a member of a wealthy family that owned the manor of Walcot at Barnack, near Stamford, Lincolnshire. Geor ...
, writer (died 1587
Events
January–June
* February 1 – Queen Elizabeth I of England signs the death warrant of her cousin Mary, Queen of Scots, after Mary has been implicated in a plot to murder Elizabeth. Seven days later, on the orders of E ...
)
* 1545
** 2 March – Thomas Bodley
Sir Thomas Bodley (2 March 1545 – 28 January 1613) was an English diplomat and scholar who founded the Bodleian Library in Oxford.
Origins
Thomas Bodley was born on 2 March 1545, in the second-to-last year of the reign of King Henry VIII, ...
, diplomat and library founder (died 1613
Events
January–June
* January 11 – Workers in a sandpit in the Dauphiné region of France discover the skeleton of what is alleged to be a 30-foot tall man (the remains, it is supposed, of the giant Teutobochus, a legendary ...
)
** Nicholas Breton
Nicholas Breton (also Britton or Brittaine) (c. 1545/53 – c. 1625/6) was a poet and prose writer of the English Renaissance.
Life
Nicholas belonged to an old family settled at Layer Breton, Essex. His father, William Breton, a London merchant ...
, poet and novelist (died 1626
Events
January–March
* January 7 – Polish-Swedish War: Battle of Wallhof in Latvia – Gustavus Adolphus, King of Sweden, defeats a Polish army.
* January 9 – Peter Minuit sails from Texel Island for America's Ne ...
)
** John Field, Puritan clergyman and controversialist (died 1588
__NOTOC__
Events
January–June
* February – The Sinhalese abandon the siege of Colombo, capital of Portuguese Ceylon.
* February 9 – The sudden death of Álvaro de Bazán, 1st Marquis of Santa Cruz, in the midst of pr ...
)
** John Gerard
John Gerard (also John Gerarde, c. 1545–1612) was an English herbalist with a large garden in Holborn, now part of London. His 1,484-page illustrated ''Herball, or Generall Historie of Plantes'', first published in 1597, became a popular gard ...
, botanist (died 1612
Events
January–June
* January 6 – Axel Oxenstierna becomes Lord High Chancellor of Sweden. He persuades the Riksdag of the Estates to grant the Swedish nobility the right and privilege to hold all higher offices of govern ...
)
* 1546
** 13 June – Tobias Matthew
Tobias Matthew (also Tobie and Toby; 13 June 154629 March 1628), was an Anglican bishop who was President of St John's College, Oxford, from 1572 to 1576, before being appointed Vice-Chancellor of Oxford University from 1579 to 1583, and Matthew ...
, archbishop of York (died 1628
Events
January–March
* January 19 – (26 Jumada al-Awwal 1037 A.H.) The reign of Salef-ud-din Muhammad Shahryar as the Mughal Emperor, Shahryar Mirza, comes to an end a little more than two months after the November 7 dea ...
)
** 24 June – Robert Persons
Robert Persons (24 June 1546 – 15 April 1610), later known as Robert Parsons, was an English Jesuit priest. He was a major figure in establishing the 16th-century "English Mission" of the Society of Jesus.
Early life
Robert Person ...
, Jesuit priest (died 1610
Some have suggested that 1610 may mark the beginning of the Anthropocene, or the 'Age of Man', marking a fundamental change in the relationship between humans and the Earth system, but earlier starting dates (ca. 1000 C.E.) have received broa ...
)
** Thomas Digges
Thomas Digges (; c. 1546 – 24 August 1595) was an English mathematician and astronomer. He was the first to expound the Copernican system in English but discarded the notion of a fixed shell of immoveable stars to postulate infinitely many s ...
, astronomer (died 1595
Events
January–June
* January – Mehmed III succeeds Murad III, as sultan of the Ottoman Empire.
* January 17 – During the French Wars of Religion, Henry IV of France declares war on Spain.
* April 8 (March 29 O.S.) & ...
)
* 1547
** Peter Bales, calligrapher (died 1610
Some have suggested that 1610 may mark the beginning of the Anthropocene, or the 'Age of Man', marking a fundamental change in the relationship between humans and the Earth system, but earlier starting dates (ca. 1000 C.E.) have received broa ...
)
** George Carey, Baron Hunsdon, politician (died 1603
Events
January–June
* February 25 – Dutch–Portuguese War: the Portuguese ship '' Santa Catarina'' is seized by Dutch East India Company ships off Singapore. The first permanent Dutch trading post in Indonesia is established ...
)
** Richard Stanyhurst
Richard Stanyhurst (1547–1618) was an Anglo-Irish alchemist, translator, poet and historian, who was born in Dublin.
Life
His father, James Stanyhurst, was Recorder of Dublin, and Speaker of the Irish House of Commons in 1557, 1560 and 1568. ...
, translator of Virgil (died 1618
Events
January–June
* February 26 – Osman II deposes his uncle Mustafa I as Ottoman sultan (until 1622).
* March 8 – Johannes Kepler discovers the third law of planetary motion (after some initial calculations, he soon ...
)
* 1548
** William Stanley, soldier (died 1630
Events
January–March
* January 2 – A shoemaker in Turin is found to have the first case of bubonic plague there as the plague of 1630 begins spreading through Italy.
* January 5 – A team of Portuguese military advisers ...
)
* 1549
** 12 July – Edward Manners, Earl of Rutland (died 1587
Events
January–June
* February 1 – Queen Elizabeth I of England signs the death warrant of her cousin Mary, Queen of Scots, after Mary has been implicated in a plot to murder Elizabeth. Seven days later, on the orders of E ...
)
** 30 November – Sir Henry Savile
Sir Henry Savile (30 November 154919 February 1622) was an English scholar and mathematician, Warden of Merton College, Oxford, and Provost of Eton. He endowed the Savilian chairs of Astronomy and of Geometry at Oxford University, and was one ...
, educator (died 1622
Events
January–May
* January 7 – The Holy Roman Empire and Transylvania sign the Peace of Nikolsburg.
* February 8 – King James I of England dissolves the English Parliament.
* March 12 – Ignatius of Loy ...
)
** John Rainolds
John Rainolds (or Reynolds) (1549 – 21 May 1607) was an English academic and churchman, of Puritan views. He is remembered for his role in the Authorized Version of the Bible, a project of which he was initiator.
Life
He was born about M ...
, scholar and Bible translator (died 1607
Events
January–June
* January 13 – The Bank of Genoa fails, after the announcement of national bankruptcy in Spain.
* January 19 – San Agustin Church, Manila, is officially completed; by the 21st century it will be th ...
)
Deaths
* 1540
** c. January – Elizabeth Blount
Elizabeth Blount (// – 1540), commonly known during her lifetime as Bessie Blount, was a mistress of Henry VIII of England.
Early life
Blount was the daughter of Sir John Blount and Catherine Pershall, of Kinlet, Bridgnorth, Shropshire. Si ...
, mistress of King Henry VIII (born 1502
Year 1502 (Roman numerals, MDII) was a common year starting on Saturday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar.
Events
January–June
* January 1 – Kingdom of Portugal, Portuguese explorers, led by Gonçal ...
)
** 28 July – Thomas Cromwell, 1st Earl of Essex
Thomas Cromwell (; 1485 – 28 July 1540), briefly Earl of Essex, was an English lawyer and statesman who served as chief minister to King Henry VIII from 1534 to 1540, when he was beheaded on orders of the king, who later blamed false charg ...
, statesman (executed) (born c. 1485
Year 1485 ( MCDLXXXV) was a common year starting on Saturday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar.
Events
January–December
* Spring – Multiple earthquakes occur near Taishan, China.
* March 16 – A ...
)
** 30 July
*** Thomas Abel
Thomas Abel (or Abell) (ca. 1497 – 30 July 1540) was an English priest who was martyred during the reign of Henry VIII. The place and date of his birth are unknown.
He was educated at Oxford, where in 1516 he took the degree of Master of ...
, priest (martyred) (born c. 1497
Year 1497 ( MCDXCVII) was a common year starting on Sunday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar.
Events
January–December
* February 7 (Shrove Tuesday) – Followers of Girolamo Savonarola burn thousands of ...
)
*** Robert Barnes, reformer (martyred) (born 1495)
* 1541
** 27 May – Margaret Pole, Countess of Salisbury
Margaret Plantagenet, Countess of Salisbury (14 August 1473 – 27 May 1541), also called Margaret Pole, as a result of her marriage to Sir Richard Pole, was the only surviving daughter of George Plantagenet, Duke of Clarence, a brother ...
, courtier (executed) (born 1473)
** 24 November – Margaret Tudor
Margaret Tudor (28 November 1489 – 18 October 1541) was Queen of Scotland from 1503 until 1513 by marriage to King James IV. She then served as regent of Scotland during her son's minority, and successfully fought to extend her regency. Ma ...
, daughter of King Henry VII
Henry VII (28 January 1457 – 21 April 1509) was King of England and Lord of Ireland from his seizure of the crown on 22 August 1485 until his death in 1509. He was the first monarch of the House of Tudor.
Henry's mother, Margaret Beaufo ...
and queen of James IV of Scotland (born 1489)
** 10 December – Thomas Culpeper
Thomas Culpeper ( – 10 December 1541) was an English courtier and close friend of Henry VIII, and related to two of his queens, Anne Boleyn and Catherine Howard. He is known to have had many private meetings with Catherine after her mar ...
, courtier (executed) (year of birth unknown)
* 1542
** 13 February – Catherine Howard
Catherine Howard ( – 13 February 1542), also spelled Katheryn Howard, was Queen of England from 1540 until 1542 as the fifth wife of Henry VIII. She was the daughter of Lord Edmund Howard and Joyce Culpeper, a cousin to Anne Boleyn (the se ...
, fifth wife of King Henry VIII (executed) (born c. 1522
__NOTOC__
Year 1522 ( MDXXII) was a common year starting on Wednesday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar, the 1522nd year of the Common Era (CE) and ''Anno Domini'' (AD) designations, the 522nd year of the 2nd millenn ...
)
** 3 March – Arthur Plantagenet, 1st Viscount Lisle
Arthur Plantagenet, 1st Viscount Lisle, KG (died 3 March 1542) was an illegitimate son of the English king Edward IV, half-brother-in-law of Henry VII, and an uncle of Henry VIII, at whose court he was a prominent figure and by whom he was appoi ...
, illegitimate son of King Edward IV (year of birth unknown 1461–1475)
** 6 October – Thomas Wyatt, poet and diplomat (born 1503)
* 1543
** 19 July – Mary Boleyn, mistress of Kings Francis I of France
Francis I (french: François Ier; frm, Francoys; 12 September 1494 – 31 March 1547) was King of France from 1515 until his death in 1547. He was the son of Charles, Count of Angoulême, and Louise of Savoy. He succeeded his first cousin on ...
and Henry VIII of England
Henry VIII (28 June 149128 January 1547) was King of England from 22 April 1509 until his death in 1547. Henry is best known for his six marriages, and for his efforts to have his first marriage (to Catherine of Aragon) annulled. His disa ...
(born 1500
Year 1500 ( MD) was a leap year starting on Wednesday of the Julian calendar. The year 1500 was not a leap year in the Proleptic Gregorian calendar.
The year was seen as being especially important by many Christians in Europe, who thought i ...
)
** 20 September – Thomas Manners, 1st Earl of Rutland
Thomas Manners, 1st Earl of Rutland, 12th Baron de Ros of Helmsley, KG (c. 1497{{snd20 September 1543), of Belvoir Castle in Leicestershire (adjacent to the small county of Rutland), was created Earl of Rutland by King Henry VIII in 1525.
Ori ...
(born 1492
Year 1492 ( MCDXCII) was a leap year starting on Sunday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar.
1492 is considered to be a significant year in the history of the West, Europe, Christianity, Islam, Judaism, Spain, and the N ...
)
** October/November – Hans Holbein the Younger, painter (born c. 1497 in Germany)
** Margaret Lee, lady-in-waiting, sister of poet Thomas Wyatt (born 1506
__NOTOC__
Year 1506 ( MDVI) was a common year starting on Thursday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar.
Events
January–June
* January 14 – The classical statue of ''Laocoön and His Sons'' is uneart ...
)
* 1544
** 30 April – Thomas Audley, 1st Baron Audley of Walden
Thomas Audley, 1st Baron Audley of Walden KG, PC, KS (30 April 1544), was an English barrister and judge who served as Lord Chancellor of England from 1533 to 1544.
Early life
Audley was born in Earls Colne, Essex, the son of Geoffrey Au ...
, Lord Chancellor
The lord chancellor, formally the lord high chancellor of Great Britain, is the highest-ranking traditional minister among the Great Officers of State in Scotland and England in the United Kingdom, nominally outranking the prime minister. Th ...
(born 1488
__NOTOC__
Year 1488 ( MCDLXXXVIII) was a leap year starting on Tuesday of the Julian calendar.
Events
January–December
* January 8 – The Royal Netherlands Navy is formed, by the decree of Maximillian of Austria.
* February ...
)
* 1545
** April/October – William Latimer, churchman and scholar (born c. 1467
Year 1467 ( MCDLXVII) was a common year starting on Thursday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar.
Events
January–December
* June 15 – Philip the Good is succeeded as Duke of Burgundy, by Charles the Bo ...
)
** May – Agnes Howard, Duchess of Norfolk, noblewoman (born c. 1477
Year 1477 ( MCDLXXVII) was a common year starting on Wednesday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar.
Events
January–December
* January 5 – Battle of Nancy: Charles the Bold of Burgundy is again defeated, ...
)
** 24 August – Charles Brandon, 1st Duke of Suffolk
Charles Brandon, 1st Duke of Suffolk, 1st Viscount Lisle, (22 August 1545) was an English military leader and courtier. Through his third wife, Mary Tudor, he was brother-in-law to King Henry VIII.
Biography
Charles Brandon was the second ...
, politician and husband of Mary Tudor (born c. 1484
Year 1484 ( MCDLXXXIV) was a leap year starting on Thursday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar, the 1484th year of the Common Era (CE) and Anno Domini (AD) designations, the 484th year of the 2nd millennium, the 84th y ...
)
** 18 October – John Taverner
John Taverner ( – 18 October 1545) was an English composer and organist, regarded as one of the most important English composers of his era. He is best-known for ''Missa Gloria tibi Trinitas'' and ''The Western Wynde Mass'', and ''Missa Coro ...
, composer (born c. 1490
Year 1490 ( MCDXC) was a common year starting on Friday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar.
Events
January–December
* January 4 – Anne of Brittany announces that all those who ally themselves with the ...
)
* 1546
** 26 March – Thomas Elyot
Sir Thomas Elyot (c. 149626 March 1546) was an English diplomat and scholar. He is best known as one of the first proponents of the use of the English language for literary purposes.
Early life
Thomas was the child of Sir Richard Elyot's firs ...
, diplomat and scholar (born c. 1490
Year 1490 ( MCDXC) was a common year starting on Friday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar.
Events
January–December
* January 4 – Anne of Brittany announces that all those who ally themselves with the ...
)
** 16 July – Anne Askew
Anne Askew (sometimes spelled Ayscough or Ascue) married name Anne Kyme, (152116 July 1546) was an English writer, poet, and Anabaptist preacher who was condemned as a heretic during the reign of Henry VIII of England. She and Margaret Cheyne ...
, Protestant (burned at the stake) (born 1521
1521 ( MDXXI) was a common year starting on Tuesday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar, the 1521st year of the Common Era (CE) and ''Anno Domini'' (AD) designations, the 521st year of the 2nd millennium, the 21st year ...
)
* 1547
** 19 January – Henry Howard, Earl of Surrey
Henry Howard, Earl of Surrey (1516/1517 – 19 January 1547), KG, was an English nobleman, politician and poet. He was one of the founders of English Renaissance poetry and was the last known person executed at the instance of King Henry VII ...
, nobleman, politician and poet (executed) (born c.1517
Year 1517 ( MDXVII) was a common year starting on Thursday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar.
Events
January–June
* January 22 – Battle of Ridaniya: The Holy Ottoman army of the sultan Selim I de ...
)
** 28 January – King Henry VIII (born 1491)
** c. May – Edward Hall
Edward Hall ( – ) was an English lawyer and historian, best known for his ''The Union of the Two Noble and Illustre Families of Lancastre and Yorke''—commonly known as ''Hall's Chronicle''—first published in 1548. He was also sever ...
, chronicler and lawyer (born c.1496
Year 1496 ( MCDXCVI) was a leap year starting on Friday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar.
Events
January–December
* February – Pietro Bembo's ''Petri Bembi de Aetna Angelum Chalabrilem liber'', a des ...
)
** October or November – John Redford
John Redford (c. 1500 - died October or November 1547) was a major English composer, organist, and dramatist of the Tudor period. From about 1525 he was organist at St Paul's Cathedral (succeeding Thomas Hickman). He was choirmaster there from ...
, composer, poet and playwright (born c. 1500)
* 1548
** 7 September – Catherine Parr, queen of Henry VIII (born c. 1512
Year 1512 ( MDXII) was a leap year starting on Thursday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar.
Events
January–June
* Mid-January – Following the death of Svante Nilsson, Eric Trolle is elected the new ...
)
* 1549
** 10 March – Thomas Seymour, 1st Baron Seymour of Sudeley
Thomas Seymour, 1st Baron Seymour of Sudeley, KG, PC (20 March 1549) was a brother of Jane Seymour, the third wife of King Henry VIII. With his brother, Edward Seymour, 1st Duke of Somerset and Lord Protector of England, he vied for control of ...
, politician and diplomat (born 1508)
** April – Andrew Boorde
Andrew Boorde (or Borde) (''c.'' 1490April 1549) was an English traveller, physician and writer.
Life
Born at Boords Hill, Holms Dale, Sussex, he was educated at the University of Oxford, and was admitted a member of the Carthusian order whil ...
, traveller (born 1490
Year 1490 ( MCDXC) was a common year starting on Friday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar.
Events
January–December
* January 4 – Anne of Brittany announces that all those who ally themselves with the ...
)
** 15 April – Henry Somerset, Earl of Worcester (born 1496
Year 1496 ( MCDXCVI) was a leap year starting on Friday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar.
Events
January–December
* February – Pietro Bembo's ''Petri Bembi de Aetna Angelum Chalabrilem liber'', a des ...
)
** 7 December – Robert Kett
Robert Kett (c. 1492 – 7 December 1549) was the leader of Kett's Rebellion.
Kett was the fourth son of Thomas Kett, of Forncett, Norfolk and his wife Margery. He is thought to have been a tanner, but he certainly held the manor of Wymondha ...
, rebel (executed) (year of birth unknown)
References
{{England year nav