The 16th century begins with the Julian year 1501 ( MDI) and ends with either the Julian or the Gregorian year 1600 ( MDC) (depending on the reckoning used; the Gregorian calendar introduced a lapse of 10 days in October 1582). The 16th century is regarded by historians as the century which saw the rise of Western civilization and the Islamic gunpowder empires. The Renaissance in Italy and Europe saw the emergence of important artists, authors and scientists, and led to the foundation of important subjects which include

accounting Accounting, also known as accountancy, is the measurement, processing, and communication of financial and non financial information about economic entities such as businesses and corporations. Accounting, which has been called the "language ...

and political science.

Copernicus Nicolaus Copernicus (; pl, Mikołaj Kopernik; gml, Niklas Koppernigk, german: Nikolaus Kopernikus; 19 February 1473 – 24 May 1543) was a Renaissance polymath, active as a mathematician, astronomer, and Catholic canon, who formulat ...

proposed the heliocentric universe, which was met with strong resistance, and Tycho Brahe refuted the theory of celestial spheres through observational measurement of the 1572 appearance of a

Milky Way The Milky Way is the galaxy that includes our Solar System, with the name describing the galaxy's appearance from Earth: a hazy band of light seen in the night sky formed from stars that cannot be individually distinguished by the naked eye ...

supernova A supernova is a powerful and luminous explosion of a star. It has the plural form supernovae or supernovas, and is abbreviated SN or SNe. This transient astronomical event occurs during the last evolutionary stages of a massive star or when ...

. These events directly challenged the long-held notion of an immutable universe supported by Ptolemy and

Aristotle Aristotle (; grc-gre, Ἀριστοτέλης ''Aristotélēs'', ; 384–322 BC) was a Greek philosopher and polymath during the Classical period in Ancient Greece. Taught by Plato, he was the founder of the Peripatetic school of phi ...

, and led to major revolutions in

astronomy Astronomy () is a natural science that studies celestial objects and phenomena. It uses mathematics, physics, and chemistry in order to explain their origin and evolution. Objects of interest include planets, moons, stars, nebulae, galax ...

and science.

Galileo Galilei Galileo di Vincenzo Bonaiuti de' Galilei (15 February 1564 – 8 January 1642) was an Italian astronomer, physicist and engineer, sometimes described as a polymath. Commonly referred to as Galileo, his name was pronounced (, ). He was ...

became a champion of the new sciences, invented the first thermometer and made substantial contributions in the fields of physics and

, becoming a major figure in the Scientific Revolution. Spain and Portugal colonized large parts of Central and

South America South America is a continent entirely in the Western Hemisphere and mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a relatively small portion in the Northern Hemisphere at the northern tip of the continent. It can also be described as the southe ...

, followed by France and England in

Northern America Northern America is the northernmost subregion of North America. The boundaries may be drawn slightly differently. In one definition, it lies directly north of Middle America (including the Caribbean and Central America).Gonzalez, Joseph. 20 ...

and the

Lesser Antilles The Lesser Antilles ( es, link=no, Antillas Menores; french: link=no, Petites Antilles; pap, Antias Menor; nl, Kleine Antillen) are a group of islands in the Caribbean Sea. Most of them are part of a long, partially volcanic island arc betwe ...

. The Portuguese became the masters of trade between

Brazil Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 217 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area an ...

, the coasts of Africa, and their possessions in the

Indies The East Indies (or simply the Indies), is a term used in historical narratives of the Age of Discovery. The Indies refers to various lands in the East or the Eastern hemisphere, particularly the islands and mainlands found in and around ...

, whereas the Spanish came to dominate the

Greater Antilles The Greater Antilles ( es, Grandes Antillas or Antillas Mayores; french: Grandes Antilles; ht, Gwo Zantiy; jam, Grieta hAntiliiz) is a grouping of the larger islands in the Caribbean Sea, including Cuba, Hispaniola, Puerto Rico, Jamaica, and ...

, Mexico,

Peru , image_flag = Flag of Peru.svg , image_coat = Escudo nacional del Perú.svg , other_symbol = Great Seal of the State , other_symbol_type = National seal , national_motto = "Firm and Happy f ...

, and opened trade across the Pacific Ocean, linking the Americas with the Indies. English and French

privateer A privateer is a private person or ship that engages in maritime warfare under a commission of war. Since robbery under arms was a common aspect of seaborne trade, until the early 19th century all merchant ships carried arms. A sovereign or deleg ...

s began to practice persistent theft of Spanish and Portuguese treasures. This era of

colonialism Colonialism is a practice or policy of control by one people or power over other people or areas, often by establishing colonies and generally with the aim of economic dominance. In the process of colonisation, colonisers may impose their reli ...

established

mercantilism Mercantilism is an economic policy that is designed to maximize the exports and minimize the imports for an economy. It promotes imperialism, colonialism, tariffs and subsidies on traded goods to achieve that goal. The policy aims to reduce a ...

as the leading school of economic thought, where the economic system was viewed as a

zero-sum game Zero-sum game is a mathematical representation in game theory and economic theory of a situation which involves two sides, where the result is an advantage for one side and an equivalent loss for the other. In other words, player one's gain is e ...

in which any gain by one party required a loss by another. The mercantilist

doctrine Doctrine (from la, doctrina, meaning "teaching, instruction") is a codification of beliefs or a body of teachings or instructions, taught principles or positions, as the essence of teachings in a given branch of knowledge or in a belief system ...

encouraged the many intra-European wars of the period and arguably fueled European expansion and

imperialism Imperialism is the state policy, practice, or advocacy of extending power and dominion, especially by direct territorial acquisition or by gaining political and economic control of other areas, often through employing hard power ( economic an ...

throughout the world until the

19th century The 19th (nineteenth) century began on 1 January 1801 ( MDCCCI), and ended on 31 December 1900 ( MCM). The 19th century was the ninth century of the 2nd millennium. The 19th century was characterized by vast social upheaval. Slavery was abolish ...

or early

20th century The 20th (twentieth) century began on January 1, 1901 ( MCMI), and ended on December 31, 2000 ( MM). The 20th century was dominated by significant events that defined the modern era: Spanish flu pandemic, World War I and World War II, nuclear ...

. The

Reformation The Reformation (alternatively named the Protestant Reformation or the European Reformation) was a major movement within Western Christianity in 16th-century Europe that posed a religious and political challenge to the Catholic Church and i ...

in central and northern Europe gave a major blow to the authority of the papacy and the

Catholic Church The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwide . It is am ...

. In

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, 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 separa ...

, the British-Italian

Alberico Gentili Alberico Gentili (14 January 155219 June 1608) was an Italian-English jurist, a tutor of Queen Elizabeth I, and a standing advocate to the Spanish Embassy in London, who served as the Regius professor of civil law at the University of Oxford ...

wrote the first book on public international law and divided

secularism Secularism is the principle of seeking to conduct human affairs based on secular, naturalistic considerations. Secularism is most commonly defined as the separation of religion from civil affairs and the state, and may be broadened to a sim ...

from canon law and Catholic theology. European politics became dominated by religious conflicts, with the groundwork for the epochal

Thirty Years' War The Thirty Years' War was one of the longest and most destructive conflicts in European history, lasting from 1618 to 1648. Fought primarily in Central Europe, an estimated 4.5 to 8 million soldiers and civilians died as a result of battle ...

being laid towards the end of the century. In the

Middle East The Middle East ( ar, الشرق الأوسط, ISO 233: ) is a geopolitical region commonly encompassing Arabia (including the Arabian Peninsula and Bahrain), Asia Minor (Asian part of Turkey except Hatay Province), East Thrace (Europ ...

, the

Ottoman Empire The Ottoman Empire, * ; is an archaic version. The definite article forms and were synonymous * and el, Оθωμανική Αυτοκρατορία, Othōmanikē Avtokratoria, label=none * info page on book at Martin Luther University) ...

continued to expand, with the

Sultan Sultan (; ar, سلطان ', ) is a position with several historical meanings. Originally, it was an Arabic abstract noun meaning "strength", "authority", "rulership", derived from the verbal noun ', meaning "authority" or "power". Later, it ...

taking the title of

Caliph A caliphate or khilāfah ( ar, خِلَافَة, ) is an institution or public office under the leadership of an Islamic steward with the title of caliph (; ar, خَلِيفَة , ), a person considered a political-religious successor to th ...

, while dealing with a resurgent Persia. Iran and Iraq were caught by a major popularity of the

Shia Shīʿa Islam or Shīʿīsm is the second-largest branch of Islam. It holds that the Islamic prophet Muhammad designated ʿAlī ibn Abī Ṭālib as his successor (''khalīfa'') and the Imam (spiritual and political leader) after him, most ...

sect of

Islam Islam (; ar, ۘالِإسلَام, , ) is an Abrahamic monotheistic religion centred primarily around the Quran, a religious text considered by Muslims to be the direct word of God (or ''Allah'') as it was revealed to Muhammad, the ma ...

under the rule of the

Safavid dynasty The Safavid dynasty (; fa, دودمان صفوی, Dudmâne Safavi, ) was one of Iran's most significant ruling dynasties reigning from 1501 to 1736. Their rule is often considered the beginning of modern Iranian history, as well as one of th ...

of warrior-mystics, providing grounds for a Persia independent of the majority-

Sunni Sunni Islam () is the largest Islamic schools and branches, branch of Islam, followed by 85–90% of the world's Muslims. Its name comes from the word ''Sunnah'', referring to the tradition of Muhammad. The differences between Sunni and Shia ...

Muslim world. In the

Indian subcontinent The Indian subcontinent is a physiographical region in Southern Asia. It is situated on the Indian Plate, projecting southwards into the Indian Ocean from the Himalayas. Geopolitically, it includes the countries of Bangladesh, Bhutan, Ind ...

, following the defeat of the

Delhi Sultanate The Delhi Sultanate was an Islamic empire based in Delhi that stretched over large parts of the Indian subcontinent for 320 years (1206–1526).

and

Vijayanagara Empire The Vijayanagara Empire, also called the Karnata Kingdom, was a Hindu empire based in the region of South India, which consisted the modern states of Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Goa and some parts of Telangana and Mahar ...

, new powers emerged, the Sur Empire founded by Sher Shah Suri,

Deccan sultanates The Deccan sultanates were five Islamic late-medieval Indian kingdoms—on the Deccan Plateau between the Krishna River and the Vindhya Range—that were ruled by Muslim dynasties: namely Ahmadnagar, Berar, Bidar, Bijapur, and Golconda. The ...

, and the

Mughal Empire The Mughal Empire was an early-modern empire that controlled much of South Asia between the 16th and 19th centuries. Quote: "Although the first two Timurid emperors and many of their noblemen were recent migrants to the subcontinent, the d ...

by Emperor

Babur Babur ( fa, , lit= tiger, translit= Bābur; ; 14 February 148326 December 1530), born Mīrzā Zahīr ud-Dīn Muhammad, was the founder of the Mughal Empire in the Indian subcontinent. He was a descendant of Timur and Genghis Khan through hi ...

, a direct descendant of Timur and

Genghis Khan ''Chinggis Khaan'' ͡ʃʰiŋɡɪs xaːŋbr />Mongol script: ''Chinggis Qa(gh)an/ Chinggis Khagan'' , birth_name = Temüjin , successor = Tolui (as regent)Ögedei Khan , spouse = , issue = , house = Borjigin , ...

. His successors

Humayun Nasir-ud-Din Muhammad ( fa, ) (; 6 March 1508 – 27 January 1556), better known by his regnal name, Humāyūn; (), was the second emperor of the Mughal Empire, who ruled over territory in what is now Eastern Afghanistan, Pakistan, Northe ...

and

Akbar Abu'l-Fath Jalal-ud-din Muhammad Akbar (25 October 1542 – 27 October 1605), popularly known as Akbar the Great ( fa, ), and also as Akbar I (), was the third Mughal emperor, who reigned from 1556 to 1605. Akbar succeeded his father, H ...

, enlarged the empire to include most of South Asia. The empire developed a strong and stable economy in the world, leading to commercial expansion and greater patronage of culture, which significantly influenced the course of

Indian history According to consensus in modern genetics, anatomically modern humans first arrived on the Indian subcontinent from Africa between 73,000 and 55,000 years ago. Quote: "Y-Chromosome and Mt-DNA data support the colonization of South Asia by ...

. Japan suffered a severe civil war at this time, known as the

Sengoku period The was a period in Japanese history of near-constant civil war and social upheaval from 1467 to 1615. The Sengoku period was initiated by the Ōnin War in 1467 which collapsed the feudal system of Japan under the Ashikaga shogunate. Variou ...

, and emerged from it as a unified nation. China was ruled by the Ming dynasty and came into conflict with Japan and Japanese piracy over the control of Korea.

Significant events

1501–1509

Mona_Lisa,_by_Leonardo_da_Vinci,_from_C2RMF_retouched

* 1501:

Michelangelo Michelangelo di Lodovico Buonarroti Simoni (; 6 March 1475 – 18 February 1564), known as Michelangelo (), was an Italian sculptor, painter, architect, and poet of the High Renaissance. Born in the Republic of Florence, his work was ins ...

returns to his native

Florence Florence ( ; it, Firenze ) is a city in Central Italy and the capital city of the Tuscany Regions of Italy, region. It is the most populated city in Tuscany, with 383,083 inhabitants in 2016, and over 1,520,000 in its metropolitan area.Bilan ...

to begin work on the statue ''

David David (; , "beloved one") (traditional spelling), , ''Dāwūd''; grc-koi, Δαυΐδ, Dauíd; la, Davidus, David; gez , ዳዊት, ''Dawit''; xcl, Դաւիթ, ''Dawitʿ''; cu, Давíдъ, ''Davidŭ''; possibly meaning "beloved one". w ...

''. * 1501:

reunifies

Iran Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran, and also called Persia, is a country located in Western Asia. It is bordered by Iraq and Turkey to the west, by Azerbaijan and Armenia to the northwest, by the Caspian Sea and Tur ...

and rules over it until

1736 Events January–March * January 12 – George Hamilton, 1st Earl of Orkney, becomes the first Field Marshal of Great Britain. * January 23 – The Civil Code of 1734 is passed in Sweden. * January 26 – Stanislaus I of ...

. Safavids adopt a

branch of

. * 1501: First Battle of Cannanore between the Third Portuguese Armada and

Kingdom of Cochin The Kingdom of Cochin, named after its capital in the city of Kochi (Cochin), was a kingdom in the central part of present-day Kerala state. It commenced at the early part of the 12th century and continued to rule until 1949, when monarchy wa ...

under

João da Nova João da Nova ( gl, Xoán de Novoa, Joam de Nôvoa; es, Juan de Nova; ; born c. 1460 in Maceda, Ourense, Galicia; died July 16, 1509 in Kochi, India) was a Portuguese-Galician explorer of the Atlantic and Indian Oceans at the service of Por ...

and Zamorin of

Kozhikode Kozhikode (), also known in English as Calicut, is a city along the Malabar Coast in the state of Kerala in India. It has a corporation limit population of 609,224 and a metropolitan population of more than 2 million, making it the second la ...

's navy marks the beginning of Portuguese conflicts in the

Indian Ocean The Indian Ocean is the third-largest of the world's five oceanic divisions, covering or ~19.8% of the water on Earth's surface. It is bounded by Asia to the north, Africa to the west and Australia to the east. To the south it is bounded by ...

. *

1502 Year 1502 ( MDII) was a common year starting on Saturday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. Events January–June * January 1 – Portuguese explorers, led by Gonçalo Coelho, sail into Guanabara Bay ...

: First reported African slaves in the

New World The term ''New World'' is often used to mean the majority of Earth's Western Hemisphere, specifically the Americas."America." ''The Oxford Companion to the English Language'' (). McArthur, Tom, ed., 1992. New York: Oxford University Press, p. ...

: The

Crimean Khanate The Crimean Khanate ( crh, , or ), officially the Great Horde and Desht-i Kipchak () and in old European historiography and geography known as Little Tartary ( la, Tartaria Minor), was a Crimean Tatar state existing from 1441 to 1783, the long ...

sacks Sarai in the

Golden Horde The Golden Horde, self-designated as Ulug Ulus, 'Great State' in Turkic, was originally a Mongol and later Turkicized khanate established in the 13th century and originating as the northwestern sector of the Mongol Empire. With the fragmenta ...

, ending its existence. * 1503:

Spain , image_flag = Bandera de España.svg , image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg , national_motto = '' Plus ultra'' ( Latin)(English: "Further Beyond") , national_anthem = (English: "Royal March") , ...

defeats

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 e ...

at the

Battle of Cerignola The Battle of Cerignola was fought on 28 April 1503 between Spanish and French armies outside the town of Cerignola, Apulia, Kingdom of Naples (now in modern-day Italy), approximately west of Bari. The Spanish force under the command of ...

. Considered to be the first battle in history won by gunpowder small arms. * 1503:

Leonardo da Vinci Leonardo di ser Piero da Vinci (15 April 14522 May 1519) was an Italian polymath of the High Renaissance who was active as a painter, draughtsman, engineer, scientist, theorist, sculptor, and architect. While his fame initially rested on ...

begins painting the ''

Mona Lisa The ''Mona Lisa'' ( ; it, Gioconda or ; french: Joconde ) is a half-length portrait painting by Italian artist Leonardo da Vinci. Considered an archetypal masterpiece of the Italian Renaissance, it has been described as "the best known, ...

'' and completes it three years later. * 1503:

Nostradamus Michel de Nostredame (December 1503 – July 1566), usually Latinised as Nostradamus, was a French astrologer, apothecary, physician, and reputed seer, who is best known for his book '' Les Prophéties'' (published in 1555), a collection o ...

is born on either December 14 or December 21. *

1504 __NOTOC__ Year 1504 (MDIV) was a leap year starting on Monday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. Events January–June * January 1 – French troops of King Louis XII surrender Gaeta to the Spanish ...

: A period of

drought A drought is defined as drier than normal conditions.Douville, H., K. Raghavan, J. Renwick, R.P. Allan, P.A. Arias, M. Barlow, R. Cerezo-Mota, A. Cherchi, T.Y. Gan, J. Gergis, D. Jiang, A. Khan, W. Pokam Mba, D. Rosenfeld, J. Tierney, an ...

, with

famine A famine is a widespread scarcity of food, caused by several factors including war, natural disasters, crop failure, population imbalance, widespread poverty, an economic catastrophe or government policies. This phenomenon is usually accompa ...

in all of Spain. *

: Death of

Isabella I of Castile Isabella I ( es, Isabel I; 22 April 1451 – 26 November 1504), also called Isabella the Catholic (Spanish: ''la Católica''), was Queen of Castile from 1474 until her death in 1504, as well as Queen consort of Aragon from 1479 until 1504 by ...

;

Joanna of Castile Joanna (6 November 1479 – 12 April 1555), historically known as Joanna the Mad ( es, link=no, Juana la Loca), was the nominal Queen of Castile from 1504 and Queen of Aragon from 1516 to her death in 1555. She was married by arrangement to P ...

becomes the Queen. *

: Foundation of the

Sultanate of Sennar The Funj Sultanate, also known as Funjistan, Sultanate of Sennar (after its capital Sennar) or Blue Sultanate due to the traditional Sudanese convention of referring to black people as blue () was a monarchy in what is now Sudan, northwestern ...

Amara Dunqas Amara Dunqas was the first ruler of the Kingdom of Sennar, which he ruled from 1504 - 1533/4. "Dunqas" is an epithet meaning "bent down, with an inclined head", referring to the way of how he required his subjects to approach him. According to Jame ...

, in what is modern

Sudan Sudan ( or ; ar, السودان, as-Sūdān, officially the Republic of the Sudan ( ar, جمهورية السودان, link=no, Jumhūriyyat as-Sūdān), is a country in Northeast Africa. It shares borders with the Central African Republic ...

* 1505:

Zhengde Emperor The Zhengde Emperor (; 26 October 149120 April 1521) was the 11th Emperor of the Ming dynasty, reigned from 1505 to 1521. Born Zhu Houzhao, he was the Hongzhi Emperor's eldest son. Zhu Houzhao took the throne at only 14 with the era name Zhe ...

ascends the throne of

Ming Dynasty The Ming dynasty (), officially the Great Ming, was an imperial dynasty of China, ruling from 1368 to 1644 following the collapse of the Mongol-led Yuan dynasty. The Ming dynasty was the last orthodox dynasty of China ruled by the Han pe ...

. * 1505: Martin Luther enters St. Augustine's Monastery at Erfurt, Germany, on 17 July and begins his journey to instigating the

. * 1505: Sultan Trenggono builds the first Muslim kingdom in Java, called Demak, in Indonesia. Many other small kingdoms were established in other islands to fight against Portuguese. Each kingdom introduced local language as a way of communication and unity. *

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 unearthe ...

completes the ''

''. *

: King

Afonso I of Kongo Mvemba a Nzinga, Nzinga Mbemba, Funsu Nzinga Mvemba or Dom Alfonso. (c. 1456–1542 or 1543), also known as King Afonso I, was the sixth ruler of the Kingdom of Kongo from the Lukeni kanda dynasty and ruled in the first half of the 16th century ...

wins the battle of Mbanza Kongo, resulting in Catholicism becoming Kongo's state religion. Elgrancapitantrasbatalladeceriñola

: At least two thousand converted Jews are massacred in a

Lisbon Lisbon (; pt, Lisboa ) is the capital and largest city of Portugal, with an estimated population of 544,851 within its administrative limits in an area of 100.05 km2. Lisbon's urban area extends beyond the city's administrative limits w ...

riot, Portugal. *

Christopher Columbus Christopher Columbus * lij, Cristoffa C(or)ombo * es, link=no, Cristóbal Colón * pt, Cristóvão Colombo * ca, Cristòfor (or ) * la, Christophorus Columbus. (; born between 25 August and 31 October 1451, died 20 May 1506) was a ...

dies in

Valladolid Valladolid () is a municipality in Spain and the primary seat of government and de facto capital of the autonomous community of Castile and León. It is also the capital of the province of the same name. It has a population around 300,000 pe ...

. *

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It is divided into 16 administrative provinces called voivodeships, covering an area of . Poland has a population of over 38 million and is the fifth-most populou ...

is invaded by

Tatars The Tatars ()Tatar
in the Collins English Dictionary is an umbrella term for different

from the

. * 1507: The first recorded epidemic of

smallpox Smallpox was an infectious disease caused by variola virus (often called smallpox virus) which belongs to the genus Orthopoxvirus. The last naturally occurring case was diagnosed in October 1977, and the World Health Organization (WHO) cer ...

in the

on the island of Hispaniola. It devastates the native

Taíno The Taíno were a historic indigenous people of the Caribbean whose culture has been continued today by Taíno descendant communities and Taíno revivalist communities. At the time of European contact in the late 15th century, they were the pri ...

population. * 1507:

Afonso de Albuquerque Afonso de Albuquerque, 1st Duke of Goa (; – 16 December 1515) was a Portuguese general, admiral, and statesman. He served as viceroy of Portuguese India from 1509 to 1515, during which he expanded Portuguese influence across the Indian Ocean ...

conquered Hormuz and Muscat, among other bases in the Persian Gulf, taking control of the region at the entrance of the Gulf. * 1508: The Christian-Islamic power struggle in Europe and West Asia spills over into the Indian Ocean as Battle of Chaul during the Portuguese-Mamluk War * 1508– 1512:

paints the

Sistine Chapel ceiling The Sistine Chapel ceiling ( it, Soffitto della Cappella Sistina), painted in fresco by Michelangelo between 1508 and 1512, is a cornerstone work of High Renaissance art. The Sistine Chapel is the large papal chapel built within the Vatican b ...

. * 1509: The defeat of joint fleet of the

Sultan of Gujarat The Gujarat Sultanate (or the Sultanate of Guzerat), was a Medieval Indian kingdom established in the early 15th century in Western India, primarily in the present-day state of Gujarat, India. The dynasty was founded by Sultan Zafar Khan Muz ...

, the Mamlûk Burji Sultanate of Egypt, and the Zamorin of

Calicut Kozhikode (), also known in English as Calicut, is a city along the Malabar Coast in the state of Kerala in India. It has a corporation limit population of 609,224 and a metropolitan population of more than 2 million, making it the second la ...

with support of the Republic of Venice and the

in Battle of Diu marks the beginning of Portuguese dominance of the Spice trade and the

. * 1509: The Portuguese king sends

Diogo Lopes de Sequeira Dom (title), D.Diogo Lopes de Sequeira (1465–1530) was a Portuguese fidalgo, sent to analyze the trade potential in Madagascar and Malacca. He arrived at Malacca on 11 September 1509 and left the next year when he discovered that Sultan Mahmud S ...

to find

Malacca Malacca ( ms, Melaka) is a state in Malaysia located in the southern region of the Malay Peninsula, next to the Strait of Malacca. Its capital is Malacca City, dubbed the Historic City, which has been listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site ...

, the eastern terminus of Asian trade. After initially receiving Sequeira, Sultan Mahmud Shah captures and/or kills several of his men and attempts an assault on the four Portuguese ships, which escape.Ricklefs (1991), p.23 The

Java Java (; id, Jawa, ; jv, ꦗꦮ; su, ) is one of the Greater Sunda Islands in Indonesia. It is bordered by the Indian Ocean to the south and the Java Sea to the north. With a population of 151.6 million people, Java is the world's mo ...

nese fleet is also destroyed in Malacca. * 1509:

Krishnadevaraya Krishnadevaraya (17 January 1471 – 17 October 1529) was an emperor of the Vijayanagara Empire, also known as the Karnata Empire, reigning from 1509 to 1529. He was the third monarch of the Tuluva dynasty, and is considered to be one of the ...

ascends the throne of

1510s

Retrato de Afonso de Albuquerque (após 1545) - Autor desconhecido

* 1509– 1510: The 'great plague' in various parts of Tudor England. * 1510:

of Portugal conquers Goa in India. *

1511 Year 1511 ( MDXI) was a common year starting on Wednesday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. Events January–June * March 26 - The 1511 Idrija earthquake occurs, with a maximum Mercalli intensity of X (' ...

of Portugal conquers

, the capital of the Sultanate of Malacca in present-day Malaysia. * 1512:

writes '' Commentariolus'', and proclaims the sun the center of the solar system. * 1512: The southern part (historical core) of the

Kingdom of Navarre The Kingdom of Navarre (; , , , ), originally the Kingdom of Pamplona (), was a Basque kingdom that occupied lands on both sides of the western Pyrenees, alongside the Atlantic Ocean between present-day Spain and France. The medieval state to ...

is invaded by Castile and Aragon. * 1512: Qutb Shahi dynasty, founded by Quli Qutb Mulk, rules

Golconda Fort (Telugu: గోల్కొండ, romanized: ''Gōlkōnḍa'') is a historic fortress and ruined city located in Hyderabad, Telangana, India. It was originally called Mankal. The fort was originally built by Kakatiya ruler Pratāparu ...

Sultanate until 1687. * 1512: The first Portuguese exploratory expedition was sent eastward from Malacca (in present-day Malaysia) to search for the ' Spice Islands' ( Maluku) led by Francisco Serrão. Serrão is shipwrecked but struggles on to Hitu (northern Ambon) and wins the favour of the local rulers.Ricklefs (1991), page 24 *

1513 Year 1513 ( MDXIII) was a common year starting on Saturday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. Events January–June * March 9 – Pope Leo X (layman Giovanni di Lorenzo de' Medici) succeeds Pope Juli ...

: Machiavelli writes '' The Prince'', a treatise about political philosophy *

: The Portuguese mariner

Jorge Álvares Jorge Álvares (died 8 July 1521) was a Portuguese explorer. He is credited as the first European to have reached China by sea during the Age of Discovery. His starting of settlements on an island in what is now Hong Kong is still considered a sig ...

lands at

Macau Macau or Macao (; ; ; ), officially the Macao Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China (MSAR), is a city and special administrative region of China in the western Pearl River Delta by the South China Sea. With a pop ...

, China, during the

. *

Henry VIII 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 disag ...

defeats the French at the

Battle of the Spurs The Battle of the Spurs or (Second) Battle of Guinegate (, "Day of the Spurs"; ''deuxième bataille de Guinegatte'') took place on 16 August 1513. It formed a part of the War of the League of Cambrai, during the Italian Wars. Henry VIII and M ...

. *

: The Battle of Flodden Field in which invading Scots are defeated by

's forces. *

: Sultan Selim I ("The Grim") orders the massacre of

Muslims in

Anatolia Anatolia, tr, Anadolu Yarımadası), and the Anatolian plateau, also known as Asia Minor, is a large peninsula in Western Asia and the westernmost protrusion of the Asian continent. It constitutes the major part of modern-day Turkey. The ...

(present-day Turkey). *

Vasco Núñez de Balboa Vasco Núñez de Balboa (; c. 1475around January 12–21, 1519) was a Spanish explorer, governor, and conquistador. He is best known for having crossed the Isthmus of Panama to the Pacific Ocean in 1513, becoming the first European to lead an e ...

, in service of Spain arrives at the Pacific Ocean (which he called Mar del Sur) across the

Isthmus of Panama The Isthmus of Panama ( es, Istmo de Panamá), also historically known as the Isthmus of Darien (), is the narrow strip of land that lies between the Caribbean Sea and the Pacific Ocean, linking North and South America. It contains the country ...

. He was the first European to do so. * 1514: The Battle of Orsha halts Muscovy's expansion into

Eastern Europe Eastern Europe is a subregion of the European continent. As a largely ambiguous term, it has a wide range of geopolitical, geographical, ethnic, cultural, and socio-economic connotations. The vast majority of the region is covered by Russia, whic ...

. * 1514: Dózsa rebellion (peasant revolt) in

Hungary Hungary ( hu, Magyarország ) is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Spanning of the Carpathian Basin, it is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine to the northeast, Romania to the east and southeast, Serbia to the south, Croatia a ...

* 1514: The

Battle of Chaldiran The Battle of Chaldiran ( fa, جنگ چالدران; tr, Çaldıran Savaşı) took place on 23 August 1514 and ended with a decisive victory for the Ottoman Empire over the Safavid Empire. As a result, the Ottomans annexed Eastern Anatolia an ...

, the

gains decisive victory against

. *

1515 __NOTOC__ Year 1515 ( MDXV) was a common year starting on Monday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. Events January–June * January 25 – Francis I of France is crowned (reigns until 1547). * May 13 & ...

: The

wrests Eastern

from the Safavids after the

. *

: The

Ottomans The Ottoman Turks ( tr, Osmanlı Türkleri), were the Turkic founding and sociopolitically the most dominant ethnic group of the Ottoman Empire ( 1299/1302–1922). Reliable information about the early history of Ottoman Turks remains scarce ...

conquers the last beyliks of Anatolia, the Dulkadirs and the

Ramadanids The Ramadanid Emirate ( Modern Turkish: ''Ramazanoğulları Beyliği'') was an autonomous administration and a ''de facto'' independent emirate that existed from 1352 to 1608 in Cilicia, taking over the rule of the region from the Armenian Kingd ...

. *

1516 __NOTOC__ Year 1516 ( MDXVI) was a leap year starting on Tuesday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. Events January–June * January – Juan Díaz de Solís discovers the Río de la Plata (in future A ...

– 1517: The

defeat the

Mamluk Mamluk ( ar, مملوك, mamlūk (singular), , ''mamālīk'' (plural), translated as "one who is owned", meaning "slave", also transliterated as ''Mameluke'', ''mamluq'', ''mamluke'', ''mameluk'', ''mameluke'', ''mamaluke'', or ''marmeluke'') i ...

s and gain control of Egypt,

Arabia The Arabian Peninsula, (; ar, شِبْهُ الْجَزِيرَةِ الْعَرَبِيَّة, , "Arabian Peninsula" or , , "Island of the Arabs") or Arabia, is a peninsula of Western Asia, situated northeast of Africa on the Arabian Plate. ...

, and the Levant. * 1517: The Sweating sickness epidemic in Tudor England. * 1517: The

begins when Martin Luther posts his

Ninety-five Theses The ''Ninety-five Theses'' or ''Disputation on the Power and Efficacy of Indulgences''-The title comes from the 1517 Basel pamphlet printing. The first printings of the ''Theses'' use an incipit rather than a title which summarizes the conten ...

Saxony Saxony (german: Sachsen ; Upper Saxon German, Upper Saxon: ''Saggsn''; hsb, Sakska), officially the Free State of Saxony (german: Freistaat Sachsen, links=no ; Upper Saxon: ''Freischdaad Saggsn''; hsb, Swobodny stat Sakska, links=no), is a ...

. * 1518: The

Treaty of London The Treaty of London or London Convention or similar may refer to: * Treaty of London (1358), established a truce between England and France following the Battle of Poitiers * Treaty of London (1359), which ceded western France to England * Treaty ...

was a non-aggression pact between the major European nations. The signatories were Burgundy, France, England, the Holy Roman Empire, the Netherlands, the Papal States and Spain, all of whom agreed not to attack one another and to come to the aid of any that were under attack. * 1518: Mir Chakar Khan Rind leaves

Baluchistan Balochistan ( ; bal, بلۏچستان; also romanised as Baluchistan and Baluchestan) is a historical region in Western and South Asia, located in the Iranian plateau's far southeast and bordering the Indian Plate and the Arabian Sea coastlin ...

and settles in

Punjab Punjab (; Punjabi Language, Punjabi: پنجاب ; ਪੰਜਾਬ ; ; also Romanization, romanised as ''Panjāb'' or ''Panj-Āb'') is a geopolitical, cultural, and historical region in South Asia, specifically in the northern part of the I ...

. * 1518:

Leo Africanus Joannes Leo Africanus (born al-Hasan Muhammad al-Wazzan, ar, الحسن محمد الوزان ; c. 1494 – c. 1554) was an Andalusian diplomat and author who is best known for his 1526 book '' Cosmographia et geographia de Affrica'', later ...

, also known as al-Hasan ibn Muhammad al-Wazzan al-Fasi, an Andalusian Berber diplomat who is best known for his book '' Descrittione dell’Africa'' (Description of Africa), is captured by Spanish pirates; he is taken to Rome and presented to

Pope Leo X Pope Leo X ( it, Leone X; born Giovanni di Lorenzo de' Medici, 11 December 14751 December 1521) was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 9 March 1513 to his death in December 1521. Born into the prominent political a ...

. * 1518: The dancing plague of 1518 begins in

Strasbourg Strasbourg (, , ; german: Straßburg ; gsw, label=Bas Rhin Alsatian, Strossburi , gsw, label=Haut Rhin Alsatian, Strossburig ) is the prefecture and largest city of the Grand Est region of eastern France and the official seat of the Eur ...

, lasting for about one month. *

1519 __NOTOC__ Year 1519 ( MDXIX) was a common year starting on Saturday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar, the 1519th year of the Common Era (CE) and ''Anno Domini'' (AD) designations, the 519th year of the 2nd millenniu ...

dies of natural causes on May 2. *

Wang Yangming Wang Shouren (, 26 October 1472 – 9 January 1529), courtesy name Bo'an (), art name Yangmingzi (), usually referred to as Wang Yangming (), was a Chinese calligrapher, general, philosopher, politician, and writer during the Ming dynasty ...

, the Chinese philosopher and governor of

Jiangxi Jiangxi (; ; formerly romanized as Kiangsi or Chianghsi) is a landlocked province in the east of the People's Republic of China. Its major cities include Nanchang and Jiujiang. Spanning from the banks of the Yangtze river in the north into ...

province, describes his intent to use the firepower of the ''fo-lang-ji'', a

breech-loading A breechloader is a firearm in which the user loads the ammunition ( cartridge or shell) via the rear (breech) end of its barrel, as opposed to a muzzleloader, which loads ammunition via the front ( muzzle). Modern firearms are generally bree ...

Portuguese culverin, in order to suppress the rebellion of Prince Zhu Chenhao. *

Barbary pirates The Barbary pirates, or Barbary corsairs or Ottoman corsairs, were Muslim pirates and privateers who operated from North Africa, based primarily in the ports of Salé, Rabat, Algiers, Tunis and Tripoli. This area was known in Europe as t ...

led by

Hayreddin Barbarossa Hayreddin Barbarossa ( ar, خير الدين بربروس, Khayr al-Din Barbarus, original name: Khiḍr; tr, Barbaros Hayrettin Paşa), also known as Hızır Hayrettin Pasha, and simply Hızır Reis (c. 1466/1478 – 4 July 1546), was an O ...

, a Turk appointed to ruling position in Algiers by the Ottoman Empire, raid

Provence Provence (, , , , ; oc, Provença or ''Prouvènço'' , ) is a geographical region and historical province of southeastern France, which extends from the left bank of the lower Rhône to the west to the Italian border to the east; it is bor ...

and Toulon in southern

. *

: Charles I of Austria,

, and the

Low Countries The term Low Countries, also known as the Low Lands ( nl, de Lage Landen, french: les Pays-Bas, lb, déi Niddereg Lännereien) and historically called the Netherlands ( nl, de Nederlanden), Flanders, or Belgica, is a coastal lowland region in N ...

becomes Emperor of

Holy Roman Empire The Holy Roman Empire was a political entity in Western, Central, and Southern Europe that developed during the Early Middle Ages and continued until its dissolution in 1806 during the Napoleonic Wars. From the accession of Otto I in 962 ...

Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor Charles V, french: Charles Quint, it, Carlo V, nl, Karel V, ca, Carles V, la, Carolus V (24 February 1500 – 21 September 1558) was Holy Roman Emperor and Archduke of Austria from 1519 to 1556, King of Spain ( Castile and Aragon) fr ...

(ruled until 1556). *

– 1522: Spanish expedition commanded by Magellan and Elcano are the first to Circumnavigate the Earth. *

–

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 ...

Hernán Cortés Hernán Cortés de Monroy y Pizarro Altamirano, 1st Marquess of the Valley of Oaxaca (; ; 1485 – December 2, 1547) was a Spanish '' conquistador'' who led an expedition that caused the fall of the Aztec Empire and brought large portions of ...

leads the

Spanish conquest of Mexico The Spanish conquest of the Aztec Empire, also known as the Conquest of Mexico or the Spanish-Aztec War (1519–21), was one of the primary events in the Spanish colonization of the Americas. There are multiple 16th-century narratives of the ev ...

1520s The 1520s decade ran from January 1, 1520, to December 31, 1529. References {{DEFAULTSORT:1520s ...

* 1520– 1566: The reign of Suleiman the Magnificent marks the zenith of the

. * 1520: The first European diplomatic mission to Ethiopia, sent by the Portuguese, arrives at

Massawa Massawa ( ; ti, ምጽዋዕ, məṣṣəwaʿ; gez, ምጽዋ; ar, مصوع; it, Massaua; pt, Maçuá) is a port city in the Northern Red Sea region of Eritrea, located on the Red Sea at the northern end of the Gulf of Zula beside the Dahla ...

9 April, and reaches the imperial encampment of Emperor

Dawit II Dawit II ( gez, ዳዊት; – 2 September 1540), also known by the macaronic name Wanag Segad (ወናግ ሰገድ, ''to whom the lions bow''), better known by his birth name Lebna Dengel ( am, ልብነ ድንግል, ''essence of the v ...

in Shewa 9 October. * 1520:

forces under

defeat the Adil Shahi under at the

Battle of Raichur The Battle of Raichur was a battle fought between the Vijayanagar Empire and the Sultanate of Bijapur in 1520: "In 1520, Battle of Raichur was fought between Krishna Raya of Vijayanagara and Sultan Ismail Adil Shah of Bijapur." in the town of Ra ...

* 1520: Sultan Ali Mughayat Shah of

Aceh Aceh ( ), officially the Aceh Province ( ace, Nanggroë Acèh; id, Provinsi Aceh) is the westernmost province of Indonesia. It is located on the northernmost of Sumatra island, with Banda Aceh being its capital and largest city. Granted a spe ...

begins an expansionist campaign capturing Daya on the west

Sumatran Sumatra is one of the Sunda Islands of western Indonesia. It is the largest island that is fully within Indonesian territory, as well as the sixth-largest island in the world at 473,481 km2 (182,812 mi.2), not including adjacent i ...

coast (in present-day Indonesia), and the pepper and gold producing lands on the east coast. * 1520: The Portuguese established a trading post in the village of Lamakera on the eastern side of

Solor Solor is a volcanic island located off the eastern tip of Flores island in the Lesser Sunda Islands of Indonesia, in the Solor Archipelago. The island supports a small population that has been whaling for hundreds of years. They speak the lan ...

(in present-day Indonesia) as a transit harbour between Maluku and

. *

Belgrade Belgrade ( , ;, ; names in other languages) is the capital and largest city in Serbia. It is located at the confluence of the Sava and Danube rivers and the crossroads of the Pannonian Plain and the Balkan Peninsula. Nearly 1,166,763 mi ...

(in present-day Serbia) is captured by the Ottoman Empire. *

: After building fortifications at Tuen Mun, the Portuguese attempt to invade

China, but are expelled by Chinese naval forces. *

: Philippines encountered by

Ferdinand Magellan Ferdinand Magellan ( or ; pt, Fernão de Magalhães, ; es, link=no, Fernando de Magallanes, ; 4 February 1480 – 27 April 1521) was a Portuguese explorer. He is best known for having planned and led the 1519 Spanish expedition to the East ...

. He was later killed in the

Battle of Mactan The Battle of Mactan ( ceb, Gubot sa Mactan; fil, Labanan sa Mactan; es, Batalla de Mactán) was a fierce clash fought in the archipelago of the Philippines on April 27, 1521. The warriors of Lapulapu, one of the Datus of Mactan, overpowered ...

in central Philippines in the same year. *

Jiajing Emperor The Jiajing Emperor (; 16September 150723January 1567) was the 12th Emperor of the Ming dynasty, reigning from 1521 to 1567. Born Zhu Houcong, he was the former Zhengde Emperor's cousin. His father, Zhu Youyuan (1476–1519), Prince of Xing, ...

ascended the throne of

, China. *

: November,

's expedition reaches Maluku (in present-day Indonesia) and after trade with

Ternate Ternate is a city in the Indonesian province of North Maluku and an island in the Maluku Islands. It was the ''de facto'' provincial capital of North Maluku before Sofifi on the nearby coast of Halmahera became the capital in 2010. It is off the w ...

returns to Europe with a load of

cloves Cloves are the aromatic flower buds of a tree in the family Myrtaceae, ''Syzygium aromaticum'' (). They are native to the Maluku Islands (or Moluccas) in Indonesia, and are commonly used as a spice, flavoring or fragrance in consumer products, ...

. *

: Pati Unus leads the invasion of

(in present-day Malaysia) against the Portuguese occupation. Pati Unus was killed in this battle, and was succeeded by his brother, sultan Trenggana. * 1522:

Rhodes Rhodes (; el, Ρόδος , translit=Ródos ) is the largest and the historical capital of the Dodecanese islands of Greece. Administratively, the island forms a separate municipality within the Rhodes regional unit, which is part of the So ...

falls to the Ottomans of Suleiman the Magnificent. Sack of Rome of 1527 by Johannes Lingelbach 17th century

* 1522: The Portuguese ally themselves with the rulers of

(in present-day Indonesia) and begin construction of a fort. * 1522: August, Luso-Sundanese Treaty signed between

Portugal Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic ( pt, República Portuguesa, links=yes ), is a country whose mainland is located on the Iberian Peninsula of Southwestern Europe, and whose territory also includes the Atlantic archipelagos of t ...

and Sunda Kingdom granted Portuguese permit to build fortress in Sunda Kelapa. *

1523 Year 1523 ( MDXXIII) was a common year starting on Thursday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. Events January–June * January 20 – Christian II is forced to abdicate as King of Denmark and Norway. * ...

Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden,The United Nations Group of Experts on Geographical Names states that the country's formal name is the Kingdom of SwedenUNGEGN World Geographical Names, Sweden./ref> is a Nordic country located on ...

gains independence from the

Kalmar Union The Kalmar Union ( Danish, Norwegian, and sv, Kalmarunionen; fi, Kalmarin unioni; la, Unio Calmariensis) was a personal union in Scandinavia, agreed at Kalmar in Sweden, that from 1397 to 1523 joined under a single monarch the three kingdo ...

. *

: The Cacao bean is introduced to Spain by

1524 __NOTOC__ Year 1524 ( MDXXIV) was a leap year starting on Friday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. Events January–June * January 17 – Florentine explorer Giovanni da Verrazzano, on board ''La Dau ...

–

1525 __NOTOC__ Year 1525 ( MDXXV) was a common year starting on Sunday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. Events January–June * January 21 – The Swiss Anabaptist Movement is born when Conrad Grebel, ...

German Peasants' War The German Peasants' War, Great Peasants' War or Great Peasants' Revolt (german: Deutscher Bauernkrieg) was a widespread popular revolt in some German-speaking areas in Central Europe from 1524 to 1525. It failed because of intense opposit ...

in the

. *

Giovanni da Verrazzano Giovanni da Verrazzano ( , , often misspelled Verrazano in English; 1485–1528) was an Italian ( Florentine) explorer of North America, in the service of King Francis I of France. He is renowned as the first European to explore the Atlantic ...

is the first European to explore the Atlantic coast of North America between

South Carolina )'' Animis opibusque parati'' ( for, , Latin, Prepared in mind and resources, links=no) , anthem = " Carolina";" South Carolina On My Mind" , Former = Province of South Carolina , seat = Columbia , LargestCity = Charleston , LargestMetro = ...

and

Newfoundland Newfoundland and Labrador (; french: Terre-Neuve-et-Labrador; frequently abbreviated as NL) is the easternmost province of Canada, in the country's Atlantic region. The province comprises the island of Newfoundland and the continental regio ...

. *

Ismail I Ismail I ( fa, اسماعیل, Esmāʿīl, ; July 17, 1487 – May 23, 1524), also known as Shah Ismail (), was the founder of the Safavid dynasty of Iran, ruling as its King of Kings ('' Shahanshah'') from 1501 to 1524. His reign is often ...

, the founder of

, dies and

Tahmasp I Tahmasp I ( fa, طهماسب, translit=Ṭahmāsb or ; 22 February 1514 – 14 May 1576) was the second shah of Safavid Iran from 1524 to 1576. He was the eldest son of Ismail I and his principal consort, Tajlu Khanum. Ascending the throne afte ...

becomes king. OttomanJanissariesAndDefendingKnightsOfStJohnSiegeOfRhodes1522

: Timurid Empire forces under

defeat the

Lodi dynasty The Lodi dynasty ( ps, لودي سلسله; fa, سلسله لودی) was an Afghan dynasty that ruled the Delhi Sultanate from 1451 to 1526. It was the fifth and final dynasty of the Delhi Sultanate, and was founded by Bahlul Khan Lodi when he ...

at the First Battle of Panipat, end of the

Delhi Sultanate The Delhi Sultanate was an Islamic empire based in Delhi that stretched over large parts of the Indian subcontinent for 320 years (1206–1526).

. *

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) **Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ge ...

and

Spanish Spanish might refer to: * Items from or related to Spain: **Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain **Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many Latin American countries **Spanish cuisine Other places * Spanish, Ontario, Cana ...

forces defeat France at the

Battle of Pavia The Battle of Pavia, fought on the morning of 24 February 1525, was the decisive engagement of the Italian War of 1521–1526 between the Kingdom of France and the Habsburg empire of Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor as well as ruler of Spain, A ...

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 onc ...

is captured. * 1526: The Ottomans defeat the

Kingdom of Hungary The Kingdom of Hungary was a monarchy in Central Europe that existed for nearly a millennium, from the Middle Ages into the 20th century. The Principality of Hungary emerged as a Christian kingdom upon the coronation of the first king Stephen ...

at the

Battle of Mohács The Battle of Mohács (; hu, mohácsi csata, tr, Mohaç Muharebesi or Mohaç Savaşı) was fought on 29 August 1526 near Mohács, Kingdom of Hungary, between the forces of the Kingdom of Hungary and its allies, led by Louis II, and those ...

. * 1526:

, founded by Babur, dominates

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

until

1857 Events January–March * January 1 – The biggest Estonian newspaper, '' Postimees'', is established by Johann Voldemar Jannsen. * January 7 – The partly French-owned London General Omnibus Company begins operating. * J ...

. * 1527: Sack of Rome with

Pope Clement VII Pope Clement VII ( la, Clemens VII; it, Clemente VII; born Giulio de' Medici; 26 May 1478 – 25 September 1534) was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 19 November 1523 to his death on 25 September 1534. Deemed "the ...

escaping and the Swiss Guards defending the Vatican being killed. The sack of the city of Rome considered the end of the

Italian Renaissance The Italian Renaissance ( it, Rinascimento ) was a period in Italian history covering the 15th and 16th centuries. The period is known for the initial development of the broader Renaissance culture that spread across Europe and marked the tran ...

. * 1527:

Protestant Reformation The Reformation (alternatively named the Protestant Reformation or the European Reformation) was a major movement within Western Christianity in 16th-century Europe that posed a religious and political challenge to the Catholic Church and i ...

begins in

. * 1527: The last ruler of

Majapahit Majapahit ( jv, ꦩꦗꦥꦲꦶꦠ꧀; ), also known as Wilwatikta ( jv, ꦮꦶꦭ꧀ꦮꦠꦶꦏ꧀ꦠ; ), was a Javanese Hindu- Buddhist thalassocratic empire in Southeast Asia that was based on the island of Java (in modern-day Indonesi ...

falls from power. This state (located in present-day Indonesia) was finally extinguished at the hands of the Demak. A large number of courtiers, artisans, priests, and members of the royalty moved east to the island of Bali; however, the power and the seat of government transferred to Demak under the leadership of Pangeran, later Sultan Fatah. * 1527: June 22, The Javanese Prince Fatahillah of the Cirebon Sultanate successfully defeated the Portuguese armed forces at the site of the Sunda Kelapa Harbor. The city was then renamed Jayakarta, meaning "a glorious victory." This eventful day came to be acknowledged as Jakarta's Founding Anniversary. * 1527:

forces defeat the

Rajput Rajput (from Sanskrit ''raja-putra'' 'son of a king') is a large multi-component cluster of castes, kin bodies, and local groups, sharing social status and ideology of genealogical descent originating from the Indian subcontinent. The term Ra ...

led by

Rana Sanga Sangram Singh I ( IAST: Rāṇā Saṅgrāma Siṃha; c. 1482 – 1528 CE), popularly known as Rana Sanga or Maharana Sanga, was an Indian ruler from the Sisodia dynasty. He ruled Mewar, the traditional territory of Guhilas (Sisodias) in pres ...

Mewar Mewar or Mewad is a region in the south-central part of Rajasthan state of India. It includes the present-day districts of Bhilwara, Chittorgarh, Pratapgarh, Rajsamand, Udaipur, Pirawa Tehsil of Jhalawar District of Rajasthan, Neemuch and Man ...

at the Battle of Khanwa * 1529: The Austrians defeat the

at the siege of Vienna. * 1529: Treaty of Zaragoza defined the antimeridian of

Tordesillas Tordesillas () is a town and Municipalities of Spain, municipality in the province of Valladolid, Castile and León, central Spain. It is located southwest of the provincial capital, Valladolid at an elevation of . The population was c. 9,00 ...

attributing the

Moluccas The Maluku Islands (; Indonesian: ''Kepulauan Maluku'') or the Moluccas () are an archipelago in the east of Indonesia. Tectonically they are located on the Halmahera Plate within the Molucca Sea Collision Zone. Geographically they are located ...

to Portugal and Philippines to Spain. * 1529: Imam

Ahmad Gragn Ahmad ibn Ibrahim al-Ghazi ( so, Axmed Ibraahim al-Qaasi or Axmed Gurey, Harari: አሕመድ ኢብራሂም አል-ጋዚ, ar, أحمد بن إبراهيم الغازي ; 1506 – 21 February 1543) was an imam and general of the Adal Sultana ...

defeats the Ethiopian Emperor

in the Battle of Shimbra Kure, the opening clash of the

Ethiopian–Adal War The Ethiopian–Adal War or Abyssinian-Adal War, also known in Arabic as the "Futuḥ al-Ḥabash" ( ar, فتوح الحبش, ''conquest of Abyssinia''), was a military conflict between the Christian Ethiopian Empire and the Muslim Adal Sultana ...

1530s

* 1531–

1532 Year 1532 ( MDXXXII) was a leap year starting on Monday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. Events January–June * January 22 – São Vicente is established as the first permanent Portuguese settlem ...

: The

Church of England The Church of England (C of E) is the established Christian church in England and the mother church of the international Anglican Communion. It traces its history to the Christian church recorded as existing in the Roman province of Britain ...

breaks away from the

and recognizes

King Henry VIII 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 disag ...

as the head of the Church. * 1531: The Inca Civil War is fought between the two brothers,

Atahualpa Atahualpa (), also Atawallpa (Quechua), Atabalica, Atahuallpa, Atabalipa (c. 1502 – 26-29 July 1533) was the last Inca Emperor. After defeating his brother, Atahualpa became very briefly the last Sapa Inca (sovereign emperor) of the Inca Empi ...

and Huáscar. *

Francisco Pizarro Francisco Pizarro González, Marquess of the Atabillos (; ; – 26 June 1541) was a Spanish conquistador, best known for his expeditions that led to the Spanish conquest of Peru. Born in Trujillo, Spain to a poor family, Pizarro chose ...

leads the

Spanish conquest of the Inca Empire The Spanish conquest of the Inca Empire, also known as the Conquest of Peru, was one of the most important campaigns in the Spanish colonization of the Americas. After years of preliminary exploration and military skirmishes, 168 Spanish s ...

. *

: Foundation of São Vicente, the first permanent Portuguese settlement in the Americas. *

1533 __NOTOC__ Year 1533 ( MDXXXIII) was a common year starting on Wednesday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. Events January–June * January 25 – King Henry VIII of England formally but secretly marries ...

Anne Boleyn Anne Boleyn (; 1501 or 1507 – 19 May 1536) was Queen of England from 1533 to 1536, as the second wife of King Henry VIII. The circumstances of her marriage and of her execution by beheading for treason and other charges made her a key ...

becomes Queen of England. *

Elizabeth Tudor 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". Eli ...

is born. *

1534 __NOTOC__ Year 1534 ( MDXXXIV) was a common year starting on Thursday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. Events January–June * January 15 – The Parliament of England passes the ''Act Respecting the ...

Jacques Cartier Jacques Cartier ( , also , , ; br, Jakez Karter; 31 December 14911 September 1557) was a French- Breton maritime explorer for France. Jacques Cartier was the first European to describe and map the Gulf of Saint Lawrence and the shores o ...

claims Canada for France. *

: The Ottomans capture

Baghdad Baghdad (; ar, بَغْدَاد , ) is the capital of Iraq and the second-largest city in the Arab world after Cairo. It is located on the Tigris near the ruins of the ancient city of Babylon and the Sassanid Persian capital of Ctesiphon. ...

from the

Safavids Safavid Iran or Safavid Persia (), also referred to as the Safavid Empire, '. was one of the greatest Iranian empires after the 7th-century Muslim conquest of Persia, which was ruled from 1501 to 1736 by the Safavid dynasty The Safavid dy ...

. *

Affair of the Placards The Affair of the Placards (french: Affaire des Placards) was an incident in which anti-Catholic posters appeared in public places in Paris and in four major provincial cities, Blois, Rouen, Tours and Orléans, in the night of the 17 to 18 Octobe ...

, where King Francis I becomes more active in repression of French Protestants. * 1535: The

Münster Rebellion Münster (; nds, Mönster) is an independent city (''Kreisfreie Stadt'') in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It is in the northern part of the state and is considered to be the cultural centre of the Westphalia region. It is also a state d ...

, an attempt of radical, millennialist,

Anabaptists Anabaptism (from Neo-Latin , from the Greek : 're-' and 'baptism', german: Täufer, earlier also )Since the middle of the 20th century, the German-speaking world no longer uses the term (translation: "Re-baptizers"), considering it biased. ...

to establish a

theocracy Theocracy is a form of government in which one or more deities are recognized as supreme ruling authorities, giving divine guidance to human intermediaries who manage the government's daily affairs. Etymology The word theocracy originates fr ...

, ends in bloodshed. * 1535: The Portuguese in Ternate depose Sultan Tabariji (or Tabarija) and send him to Portuguese Goa where he converts to Christianity and bequeaths his Portuguese godfather Jordao de Freitas the island of Ambon.Ricklefs (1991), page 25 Hairun becomes the next sultan. *

1536 __NOTOC__ Year 1536 ( MDXXXVI) was a leap year starting on Saturday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. Events January–June * January – King Henry VIII of England suffers a leg injury during a jous ...

: Katherine of Aragon dies in Kimbolton Castle, in England. *

: In England,

is beheaded for adultery and treason. *

: Establishment of the

Inquisition The Inquisition was a group of institutions within the Catholic Church whose aim was to combat heresy, conducting trials of suspected heretics. Studies of the records have found that the overwhelming majority of sentences consisted of penances, ...

in Portugal. *

: Foundation of Buenos Aires (in present-day Argentina) by

Pedro de Mendoza Pedro de Mendoza () (c. 1499 – June 23, 1537) was a Spanish ''conquistador'', soldier and explorer, and the first ''adelantado'' of New Andalusia. Setting sail Pedro de Mendoza was born in Guadix, Grenada, part of a large noble family that ...

. * 1537: The Portuguese establish

Recife That it may shine on all ( Matthew 5:15) , image_map = Brazil Pernambuco Recife location map.svg , mapsize = 250px , map_caption = Location in the state of Pernambuco , pushpin_map = Brazil#South A ...

Pernambuco Pernambuco () is a state of Brazil, located in the Northeast region of the country. With an estimated population of 9.6 million people as of 2020, making it seventh-most populous state of Brazil and with around 98,148 km², being the 19 ...

, north-east of

. * 1537:

William Tyndale William Tyndale (; sometimes spelled ''Tynsdale'', ''Tindall'', ''Tindill'', ''Tyndall''; – ) was an English biblical scholar and linguist who became a leading figure in the Protestant Reformation in the years leading up to his execut ...

's partial translation of the

Bible The Bible (from Koine Greek , , 'the books') is a collection of religious texts or scriptures that are held to be sacred in Christianity, Judaism, Samaritanism, and many other religions. The Bible is an anthologya compilation of texts of ...

into English is published, which would eventually be incorporated into the

King James Bible The King James Version (KJV), also the King James Bible (KJB) and the Authorized Version, is an English translation of the Christian Bible for the Church of England, which was commissioned in 1604 and published in 1611, by sponsorship of ...

. * 1538:

Gonzalo Jiménez de Quesada Gonzalo Jiménez de Quesada y Rivera, also spelled as Ximénez and De Quezada, (;1496 16 February 1579) was a Spanish explorer and conquistador in northern South America, territories currently known as Colombia. He explored the territory named ...

founds

Bogotá Bogotá (, also , , ), officially Bogotá, Distrito Capital, abbreviated Bogotá, D.C., and formerly known as Santa Fe de Bogotá (; ) during the Spanish period and between 1991 and 2000, is the capital city of Colombia, and one of the large ...

. * 1538:

– Venetian fleet is defeated by the Ottoman Turks at the Battle of Preveza. *

1539 __NOTOC__ Year 1539 ( MDXXXIX) was a common year starting on Wednesday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. Events January–June * January – Toungoo–Hanthawaddy War – Battle of Naungyo, Burm ...

Hernando de Soto Hernando de Soto (; ; 1500 – 21 May, 1542) was a Spanish explorer and ''conquistador'' who was involved in expeditions in Nicaragua and the Yucatan Peninsula. He played an important role in Francisco Pizarro's conquest of the Inca Empire ...

explores inland North America.

1540s

* 1540: The

Society of Jesus , image = Ihs-logo.svg , image_size = 175px , caption = ChristogramOfficial seal of the Jesuits , abbreviation = SJ , nickname = Jesuits , formation = , founders = ...

, or the Jesuits, is founded by

Ignatius of Loyola Ignatius of Loyola, S.J. (born Íñigo López de Oñaz y Loyola; eu, Ignazio Loiolakoa; es, Ignacio de Loyola; la, Ignatius de Loyola; – 31 July 1556), venerated as Saint Ignatius of Loyola, was a Spanish Catholic priest and theologian, ...

and six companions with the approval of

Pope Paul III Pope Paul III ( la, Paulus III; it, Paolo III; 29 February 1468 – 10 November 1549), born Alessandro Farnese, was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 13 October 1534 to his death in November 1549. He came to ...

. * 1540: Sher Shah Suri founds the Suri dynasty in South Asia, an ethnic

Pashtun Pashtuns (, , ; ps, پښتانه, ), also known as Pakhtuns or Pathans, are an Iranian ethnic group who are native to the geographic region of Pashtunistan in the present-day countries of Afghanistan and Pakistan. They were historically re ...

(

Pathan Pashtuns (, , ; ps, پښتانه, ), also known as Pakhtuns or Pathans, are an Iranian ethnic group who are native to the geographic region of Pashtunistan in the present-day countries of Afghanistan and Pakistan. They were historically re ...

) of the house of Sur, who supplanted the

Mughal dynasty The Mughal dynasty ( fa, ; ''Dudmân-e Mughal'') comprised the members of the imperial House of Babur ( fa, ; ''Khāndān-e-Āl-e-Bābur''), also known as the Gurkanis ( fa, ; ''Gūrkāniyān''), who ruled the Mughal Empire from to 1857. T ...

as rulers of North

during the reign of the relatively ineffectual second Mughal emperor

. Sher Shah Suri decisively defeats Humayun in the Battle of Bilgram (May 17, 1540). * 1541:

Pedro de Valdivia Pedro Gutiérrez de Valdivia or Valdiva (; April 17, 1497 – December 25, 1553) was a Spanish conquistador and the first royal governor of Chile. After serving with the Spanish army in Italy and Flanders, he was sent to South America in 1534, whe ...

founds Santiago de Chile. * 1541: An

Algeria ) , image_map = Algeria (centered orthographic projection).svg , map_caption = , image_map2 = , capital = Algiers , coordinates = , largest_city = capital , relig ...

n military campaign by Charles V of Spain (

Habsburg The House of Habsburg (), alternatively spelled Hapsburg in Englishgerman: Haus Habsburg, ; es, Casa de Habsburgo; hu, Habsburg család, it, Casa di Asburgo, nl, Huis van Habsburg, pl, dom Habsburgów, pt, Casa de Habsburgo, la, Domus Hab ...

) is unsuccessful. * 1541:

Amazon River The Amazon River (, ; es, Río Amazonas, pt, Rio Amazonas) in South America is the largest river by discharge volume of water in the world, and the disputed longest river system in the world in comparison to the Nile. The headwaters of ...

is encountered and explored by

Francisco de Orellana Francisco de Orellana Bejarano Pizarro y Torres de Altamirano (; 1511 – November 1546) was a Spanish explorer and conquistador. In one of the most improbably successful voyages in known history, Orellana managed to sail the length of the Amaz ...

. * 1541: Capture of Buda and the absorption of the major part of

by the

. * 1541: Sahib I Giray of

Crimea Crimea, crh, Къырым, Qırım, grc, Κιμμερία / Ταυρική, translit=Kimmería / Taurikḗ ( ) is a peninsula in Ukraine, on the northern coast of the Black Sea, that has been occupied by Russia since 2014. It has a po ...

invades

Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and Northern Asia. It is the largest country in the world, with its internationally recognised territory covering , and encompassing one-eight ...

. *

1542 __NOTOC__ Year 1542 ( MDXLII) was a common year starting on Sunday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. Events January–June * February 2 – Battle of Baçente: The Portuguese under Cristóvão da G ...

: War resumes between

and Emperor Charles V. This time

is allied with the Emperor, while

James V of Scotland James V (10 April 1512 – 14 December 1542) was King of Scotland from 9 September 1513 until his death in 1542. He was crowned on 21 September 1513 at the age of seventeen months. James was the son of King James IV and Margaret Tudor, and dur ...

and Sultan Suleiman I are allied with the French. *

: Akbar The Great is born in the

Umarkot Fort *

: Spanish explorer

Ruy López de Villalobos Ruy López de Villalobos (; ca. 1500 – April 4, 1546) was a Spanish explorer who sailed the Pacific from Mexico to establish a permanent foothold for Spain in the East Indies, which was near the Line of Demarcation between Spain and Portuga ...

named the island of

Samar Samar ( ) is the third-largest and seventh-most populous island in the Philippines, with a total population of 1,909,537 as of the 2020 census. It is located in the eastern Visayas, which are in the central Philippines. The island is divided in ...

and

Leyte Leyte ( ) is an island in the Visayas group of islands in the Philippines. It is eighth-largest and sixth-most populous island in the Philippines, with a total population of 2,626,970 as of 2020 census. Since the accessibility of land has b ...

'' Las Islas Filipinas'' honoring

Philip II of Spain Philip II) in Spain, while in Portugal and his Italian kingdoms he ruled as Philip I ( pt, Filipe I). (21 May 152713 September 1598), also known as Philip the Prudent ( es, Felipe el Prudente), was King of Spain from 1556, King of Portugal from ...

and became the official name of the

archipelago An archipelago ( ), sometimes called an island group or island chain, is a chain, cluster, or collection of islands, or sometimes a sea containing a small number of scattered islands. Examples of archipelagos include: the Indonesian Arch ...

. * 1543: Ethiopian/ Portuguese troops decisively defeat the Adal-Ottoman Muslim army led by Imam

at the

Battle of Wayna Daga The Battle of Wayna Daga was a large-scale battle between the Ethiopian forces assisted by Portuguese musketeers and cavalry and the forces of the Adal Sultanate and the Ottoman Empire in the east of Lake Tana in Ethiopia on 21 February 1543. ...

; Imam

is killed at this battle. * 1543:

publishes his theory that the Earth and the other planets revolve around the Sun * 1543: The Nanban trade period begins after Portuguese traders make contact with

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...

. *

1544 __NOTOC__ Events January–June * January 13 – At Västerås, the estates of Sweden swear loyalty to King Gustav Vasa and to his heirs, ending the traditional electoral monarchy in Sweden. Gustav subsequently signs an alli ...

: The French defeat an Imperial–

army at the

Battle of Ceresole The Battle of Ceresole (; also Cérisoles) took place on 11 April 1544, during the Italian War of 1542–1546, outside the village of Ceresole d'Alba in the Piedmont region of Italy. A French army, commanded by François de Bourbon, Count o ...

. *

: Battle of the Shirts in Scotland. The Frasers and Macdonalds of Clan Ranald fight over a disputed chiefship; reportedly, 5 Frasers and 8 Macdonalds survive. * 1545: Songhai forces sack the Malian capital of Niani * 1545: The

Council of Trent The Council of Trent ( la, Concilium Tridentinum), held between 1545 and 1563 in Trent (or Trento), now in northern Italy, was the 19th ecumenical council of the Catholic Church. Prompted by the Protestant Reformation, it has been described as ...

meets for the first time in Trent (in northern Italy). * 1546: Michelangelo Buonarroti is made chief architect of St. Peter's Basilica. * 1546:

Francis Xavier Francis Xavier (born Francisco de Jasso y Azpilicueta; Latin: ''Franciscus Xaverius''; Basque: ''Frantzisko Xabierkoa''; French: ''François Xavier''; Spanish: ''Francisco Javier''; Portuguese: ''Francisco Xavier''; 7 April 15063 December ...

works among the peoples of Ambon, Ternate and

Morotai Morotai Island ( id, Pulau Morotai) is an island in the Halmahera group of eastern Indonesia's Maluku Islands (Moluccas). It is one of Indonesia's northernmost islands. Morotai is a rugged, forested island lying to the north of Halmahera. It ha ...

(Moro) laying the foundations for a permanent mission. (to 1547) *

1547 Year 1547 ( MDXLVII) was a common year starting on Saturday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. Events January–June * January 8 – The first Lithuanian-language book, a ''Catechism'' (, Simple Words ...

dies in the

Palace of Whitehall The Palace of Whitehall (also spelt White Hall) at Westminster was the main residence of the English monarchs from 1530 until 1698, when most of its structures, except notably Inigo Jones's Banqueting House of 1622, were destroyed by fire. ...

on 28 January at the age of 55. *

: Francis I dies in the Château de Rambouillet on 31 March at the age of 52. *

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 En ...

becomes King of England and Ireland on 28 January and is crowned on 20 February at the age of 9. *

: Emperor

Charles V Charles V may refer to: * Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor (1500–1558) * Charles V of Naples (1661–1700), better known as Charles II of Spain * Charles V of France (1338–1380), called the Wise * Charles V, Duke of Lorraine (1643–1690) * Inf ...

decisively dismantles the

Schmalkaldic League The Schmalkaldic League (; ; or ) was a military alliance of Lutheran princes within the Holy Roman Empire during the mid-16th century. Although created for religious motives soon after the start of the Reformation, its members later came to ...

at the

Battle of Mühlberg The Battle of Mühlberg took place near Mühlberg in the Electorate of Saxony in 1547, during the Schmalkaldic War. The Catholic princes of the Holy Roman Empire led by the Holy Roman Emperor Charles V decisively defeated the Lutheran Schmalk ...

. *

Grand Prince Grand prince or great prince (feminine: grand princess or great princess) ( la, magnus princeps; Greek: ''megas archon''; russian: великий князь, velikiy knyaz) is a title of nobility ranked in honour below emperor, equal of king or ...

Ivan the Terrible Ivan IV Vasilyevich (russian: Ива́н Васи́льевич; 25 August 1530 – ), commonly known in English as Ivan the Terrible, was the grand prince of Moscow from 1533 to 1547 and the first Tsar of all Russia from 1547 to 1584. Ivan ...

is crowned tsar of (All) Russia, thenceforth becoming the first Russian tsar. * 1548:

Battle of Uedahara The was the first defeat suffered by Takeda Shingen, and the first field battle in Japan in which firearms were used. It took place in Shinano Province or the modern-day Nagano Prefecture. Battle The Battle of Uedahara was part of Shingen's ...

: Firearms are used for the first time on the battlefield in

, and

Takeda Shingen , of Kai Province, was a pre-eminent ''daimyō'' in feudal Japan. Known as the "Tiger of Kai", he was one of the most powerful daimyō with exceptional military prestige in the late stage of the Sengoku period. Shingen was a warlord of great ...

is defeated by Murakami Yoshikiyo. * 1548:

Askia Daoud Askia Daoud (also Askia Dāwūd, Askiya Dawud) was the ruler of the Songhai Empire from 1549 to 1582. Daoud came to power unopposed following the death of his brother Askia Ishaq I in 1549. The Empire continued to expand under Daoud's peaceful ru ...

, who reigned from 1548 to 1583, establishes public libraries in Timbuktu (in present-day Mali). * 1548: The

government of

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...

issues a decree banning all foreign trade and closes down all seaports along the coast; these Hai jin laws came during the

Wokou ''Wokou'' (; Japanese: ''Wakō''; Korean: 왜구 ''Waegu''), which literally translates to "Japanese pirates" or "dwarf pirates", were pirates who raided the coastlines of China and Korea from the 13th century to the 16th century.

wars with

ese pirates. *

1549 __NOTOC__ Year 1549 ( MDXLIX) was a common year starting on Tuesday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. In the Kingdom of England, it was known as "The Year of the Many-Headed Monster", because of the unusually high nu ...

: Tomé de Sousa establishes Salvador in

Bahia Bahia ( , , ; meaning "bay") is one of the 26 states of Brazil, located in the Northeast Region of the country. It is the fourth-largest Brazilian state by population (after São Paulo, Minas Gerais, and Rio de Janeiro) and the 5th-largest by ...

, north-east of

. *

: Arya Penangsang with the support of his teacher, Sunan Kudus, avenges the death of Raden Kikin by sending an envoy named Rangkud to kill Sunan Prawoto by Keris Kyai Satan Kober (in present-day Indonesia).

1550s The 1550s decade ran from January 1, 1550, to December 31, 1559. References {{DEFAULTSORT:1550s ...

* 1550: The architect

Mimar Sinan Mimar Sinan ( ota, معمار سينان, translit=Mi'mâr Sinân, , ) ( 1488–1490 – 17 July 1588) also known as Koca Mi'mâr Sinân Âğâ, ("Sinan Agha the Grand Architect" or "Grand Sinan") was the chief Ottoman architect ( tr, l ...

builds the

Süleymaniye Mosque The Süleymaniye Mosque ( tr, Süleymaniye Camii, ) is an Ottoman imperial mosque located on the Third Hill of Istanbul, Turkey. The mosque was commissioned by Suleiman the Magnificent and designed by the imperial architect Mimar Sinan. An ...

Istanbul Istanbul ( , ; tr, İstanbul ), formerly known as Constantinople ( grc-gre, Κωνσταντινούπολις; la, Constantinopolis), is the List of largest cities and towns in Turkey, largest city in Turkey, serving as the country's economic, ...

. * 1550:

Mongols The Mongols ( mn, Монголчууд, , , ; ; russian: Монголы) are an East Asian ethnic group native to Mongolia, Inner Mongolia in China and the Buryatia Republic of the Russian Federation. The Mongols are the principal member o ...

led by

Altan Khan Altan Khan of the Tümed (1507–1582; mn, ᠠᠯᠲᠠᠨ ᠬᠠᠨ, Алтан хан; Chinese: 阿勒坦汗), whose given name was Anda ( Mongolian: ; Chinese: 俺答), was the leader of the Tümed Mongols and de facto ruler of the Right Wi ...

invade

and besiege

Beijing } Beijing ( ; ; ), alternatively romanized as Peking ( ), is the capital of the People's Republic of China. It is the center of power and development of the country. Beijing is the world's most populous national capital city, with over 21 ...

. * 1550–

1551 Year 1551 ( MDLI) was a common year starting on Thursday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. Events January–June * January–February – Macarius, Metropolitan of Moscow, and Tsar Ivan IV of R ...

Valladolid debate The Valladolid debate (1550–1551) was the first moral debate in European history to discuss the rights and treatment of an indigenous people by European colonizers. Held in the Colegio de San Gregorio, in the Spanish city of Valladolid, it was ...

concerning the human rights of the

Indigenous people of the Americas The Indigenous peoples of the Americas are the inhabitants of the Americas before the arrival of the European settlers in the 15th century, and the ethnic groups who now identify themselves with those peoples. Many Indigenous peoples of the Am ...

. *

: Fifth outbreak of sweating sickness in

. John Caius of Shrewsbury writes the first full contemporary account of the symptoms of the disease. *

: North African

pirates Piracy is an act of robbery or criminal violence by ship or boat-borne attackers upon another ship or a coastal area, typically with the goal of stealing cargo and other valuable goods. Those who conduct acts of piracy are called pirates, v ...

enslave the entire population of the Maltese island

Gozo Gozo (, ), Maltese: ''Għawdex'' () and in antiquity known as Gaulos ( xpu, 𐤂𐤅𐤋, ; grc, Γαῦλος, Gaúlos), is an island in the Maltese archipelago in the Mediterranean Sea. The island is part of the Republic of Malta. After t ...

, between 5,000 and 6,000, sending them to

Libya Libya (; ar, ليبيا, Lībiyā), officially the State of Libya ( ar, دولة ليبيا, Dawlat Lībiyā), is a country in the Maghreb region in North Africa. It is bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to the north, Egypt to the east, S ...

. *

1552 __NOTOC__ Year 1552 ( MDLII) was a leap year starting on Friday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. Events January–June * January 15 – Henry II of France and Maurice, Elector of Saxony, sign the ...

: Russia conquers the

Khanate of Kazan The Khanate of Kazan ( tt, Казан ханлыгы, Kazan xanlıgı; russian: Казанское ханство, Kazanskoye khanstvo) was a medieval Tatar Turkic state that occupied the territory of former Volga Bulgaria between 1438 and 1552 ...

in central Asia. *

: Jesuit China Mission,

dies. * 1553: Mary Tudor becomes the first queen regnant of England and restores the Church of England under Papal authority. * 1553: The Portuguese found a settlement at

. *

1554 __NOTOC__ Year 1554 ( MDLIV) was a common year starting on Monday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. Events January–June * January 5 – A great fire breaks out in Eindhoven, Netherlands. *January 11 ...

Missionaries A missionary is a member of a religious group which is sent into an area in order to promote its faith or provide services to people, such as education, literacy, social justice, health care, and economic development.Thomas Hale 'On Being a Mi ...

José de Anchieta and Manuel da Nóbrega establishes

São Paulo São Paulo (, ; Portuguese for 'Saint Paul') is the most populous city in Brazil, and is the capital of the state of São Paulo, the most populous and wealthiest Brazilian state, located in the country's Southeast Region. Listed by the GaWC ...

, southeast

. *

: Princess Elizabeth is imprisoned in the Tower of London upon the orders of

Mary I Mary I (18 February 1516 – 17 November 1558), also known as Mary Tudor, and as "Bloody Mary" by her Protestant opponents, was Queen of England and Ireland from July 1553 and Queen of Spain from January 1556 until her death in 1558. Sh ...

for suspicion of being involved in the Wyatt rebellion. * 1555: The

Muscovy Company The Muscovy Company (also called the Russia Company or the Muscovy Trading Company russian: Московская компания, Moskovskaya kompaniya) was an English trading company chartered in 1555. It was the first major chartered joint ...

is the first major English

joint stock A joint-stock company is a business entity in which shares of the company's stock can be bought and sold by shareholders. Each shareholder owns company stock in proportion, evidenced by their shares (certificates of ownership). Shareholders are ...

trading company. * 1556: Publication in Venice of Delle Navigiationi et Viaggi (terzo volume) by Giovanni Battista Ramusio, secretary of Council of Ten, with plan ''La Terra de Hochelaga'', an illustration of the Hochelaga. * 1556: The Shaanxi earthquake in China is history's deadliest known earthquake during the

Ming dynasty The Ming dynasty (), officially the Great Ming, was an imperial dynasty of China, ruling from 1368 to 1644 following the collapse of the Mongol-led Yuan dynasty. The Ming dynasty was the last orthodox dynasty of China ruled by the Han pe ...

. * 1556:

Georgius Agricola Georgius Agricola (; born Georg Pawer or Georg Bauer; 24 March 1494 – 21 November 1555) was a German Humanist scholar, mineralogist and metallurgist. Born in the small town of Glauchau, in the Electorate of Saxony of the Holy Roman Empire ...

, the "Father of

Mineralogy Mineralogy is a subject of geology specializing in the scientific study of the chemistry, crystal structure, and physical (including optical) properties of minerals and mineralized artifacts. Specific studies within mineralogy include the proce ...

", publishes his '' De re metallica''. * 1556:

defeats

Hemu Hemu (; also known as Hemu Vikramaditya and Hemchandra Vikramaditya; died 5 November 1556) was an Indian emperor who previously served as a general and Wazir of Adil Shah Suri of Sur Empire during a period in Indian history when Mughals and A ...

at the Second battle of Panipat. * 1556: Russia conquers the

Astrakhan Khanate The Khanate of Astrakhan, also referred to as the Xacitarxan Khanate, was a Tatar state that arose during the break-up of the Golden Horde. The Khanate existed in the 15th and 16th centuries in the area adjacent to the mouth of the Volga river, a ...

. * 1556– 1605: During his reign,

expands the Mughal Empire in a series of conquests (in the Indian subcontinent). * 1556: Mir Chakar Khan Rind captures

Delhi Delhi, officially the National Capital Territory (NCT) of Delhi, is a city and a union territory of India containing New Delhi, the capital of India. Straddling the Yamuna river, primarily its western or right bank, Delhi shares borders ...

with

. * 1556: Pomponio Algerio, radical theologian, is executed by boiling in oil as part of the

Roman inquisition The Roman Inquisition, formally the Supreme Sacred Congregation of the Roman and Universal Inquisition, was a system of partisan tribunals developed by the Holy See of the Roman Catholic Church, during the second half of the 16th century, respons ...

. *

1557 __NOTOC__ Year 1557 ( MDLVII) was a common year starting on Friday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. Events January–June * March – The Takeda clan besiege Katsurayama Castle in eastern Japan. T ...

Habsburg Spain Habsburg Spain is a contemporary historiographical term referring to the huge extent of territories (including modern-day Spain, a piece of south-east France, eventually Portugal, and many other lands outside of the Iberian Peninsula) ruled bet ...

declares bankruptcy.

had to declare four state bankruptcies in 1557, 1560, 1575 and 1596. *

: The Portuguese settle in

(on the western side of the Pearl River Delta across from present-day Hong Kong). *

: The

capture

, all but isolating Ethiopia from the rest of the world. *

1558 __NOTOC__ Year 1558 ( MDLVIII) was a common year starting on Saturday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. Events January–June * January 7 – French troops, led by Francis, Duke of Guise, take Calais, ...

becomes Queen Elizabeth I at age 25. *

–

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 ...

: The

Elizabethan era The Elizabethan era is the epoch in the Tudor period of the history of England during the reign of Queen Elizabeth I (1558–1603). Historians often depict it as the golden age in English history. The symbol of Britannia (a female personific ...

is considered the height of the

English Renaissance The English Renaissance was a cultural and artistic movement in England from the early 16th century to the early 17th century. It is associated with the pan-European Renaissance that is usually regarded as beginning in Italy in the late 14th ce ...

. *

– 1583:

Livonian War The Livonian War (1558–1583) was the Russian invasion of Old Livonia, and the prolonged series of military conflicts that followed, in which Tsar Ivan the Terrible of Russia (Muscovy) unsuccessfully fought for control of the region (pr ...

between Poland, Grand Principality of Lithuania, Sweden, Denmark and Russia. *

: After 200 years, the

Kingdom of England The Kingdom of England (, ) was a sovereign state on the island of Great Britain from 12 July 927, when it emerged from various Anglo-Saxon kingdoms, until 1 May 1707, when it united with Scotland to form the Kingdom of Great Britain. On ...

loses

Calais Calais ( , , traditionally , ) is a port city in the Pas-de-Calais department, of which it is a subprefecture. Although Calais is by far the largest city in Pas-de-Calais, the department's prefecture is its third-largest city of Arras. The p ...

to France. * 1559: With the

Peace of Cateau Cambrésis Peace is a concept of societal friendship and harmony in the absence of hostility and violence. In a social sense, peace is commonly used to mean a lack of conflict (such as war) and freedom from fear of violence between individuals or groups. ...

, the

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 ...

conclude. * 1559: Sultan Hairun of Ternate (in present-day Indonesia) protests the Portuguese's

Christianisation Christianization ( or Christianisation) is to make Christian; to imbue with Christian principles; to become Christian. It can apply to the conversion of an individual, a practice, a place or a whole society. It began in the Roman Empire, cont ...

activities in his lands. Hostilities between

and the Portuguese.

1560s

Akbar shoots Jaimal at the siege of Chitor

1560 Year 1560 ( MDLX) was a leap year starting on Monday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. Events January–June * January 7 – In the Kingdom of Scotland, French troops commanded by Henri Cleutin an ...

: Ottoman navy defeats the

fleet at the

Battle of Djerba The Battle of Djerba ( tr, Cerbe) took place in May 1560 near the island of Djerba, Tunisia. The Ottomans under Piyale Pasha's command overwhelmed a large joint Christian Alliance fleet, composed chiefly of Spanish, Papal, Genoese, Maltese, a ...

. *

: Elizabeth Bathory is born in Nyirbator, Hungary. *

: By winning the

Battle of Okehazama The took place in June 1560 in Owari Province, located in today's Aichi Prefecture. In this battle, the heavily outnumbered Oda clan troops commanded by Oda Nobunaga defeated Imagawa Yoshimoto and established himself as one of the front-running ...

Oda Nobunaga was a Japanese '' daimyō'' and one of the leading figures of the Sengoku period. He is regarded as the first "Great Unifier" of Japan. Nobunaga was head of the very powerful Oda clan, and launched a war against other ''daimyō'' to unif ...

becomes one of the pre-eminent warlords of

. *

Jeanne d'Albret Jeanne d'Albret (Basque: ''Joana Albretekoa''; Occitan: ''Joana de Labrit''; 16 November 1528 – 9 June 1572), also known as Jeanne III, was Queen of Navarre from 1555 to 1572. Jeanne was the daughter of Henry II of Navarre and Margare ...

declares

Calvinism Calvinism (also called the Reformed Tradition, Reformed Protestantism, Reformed Christianity, or simply Reformed) is a major branch of Protestantism that follows the theological tradition and forms of Christian practice set down by John Cal ...

the official religion of

Navarre Navarre (; es, Navarra ; eu, Nafarroa ), officially the Chartered Community of Navarre ( es, Comunidad Foral de Navarra, links=no ; eu, Nafarroako Foru Komunitatea, links=no ), is a foral autonomous community and province in northern Spain ...

. *

: Lazarus Church, Macau * 1561: Sir Francis Bacon is born in

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a major s ...

. * 1561: The fourth battle of Kawanakajima between the Uesugi and Takeda at Hachimanbara takes place. * 1561:

Guido de Bres Guido de Bres (also known as Guido de Bray,L.A. van Langeraad, ''Guido de Bray Zijn Leven en Werken'', Zierikzee: S.Ochtman en Zoon 1884 p.9, 13 Guy de Bray and Guido de Brès, 1522 – 31 May 1567) was a Walloon pastor, Protestant reformer and ...

draws up the

Belgic Confession The ''Confession of Faith'', popularly known as the Belgic Confession, is a doctrinal standard document to which many of the Reformed churches subscribe. The Confession forms part of the Three Forms of Unity of the Reformed Church, which are still ...

of Protestant faith. * 1562: Mughal emperor

reconciles the Muslim and Hindu factions by marrying into the powerful

Hindu caste. * 1562– 1598:

French Wars of Religion The French Wars of Religion is the term which is used in reference to a period of civil war between French Catholics and Protestants, commonly called Huguenots, which lasted from 1562 to 1598. According to estimates, between two and four milli ...

between

Catholics The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

and Huguenots. * 1562:

Massacre of Wassy The massacre of Vassy (french: link=no, massacre de Wassy) was the murder of Huguenot worshippers and citizens in an armed action by troops of Francis, Duke of Guise, in Wassy, France, on 1 March 1562. The massacre is identified as the first ma ...

and

Battle of Dreux The Battle of Dreux was fought on 19 December 1562 between Catholics and Huguenots. The Catholics were led by Anne de Montmorency while Louis I, Prince of Condé, led the Huguenots. Though commanders from both sides were captured, the French C ...

in the

. * 1562: Portuguese Dominican priests build a palm-trunk fortress which Javanese Muslims burned down the following year. The fort was rebuilt from more durable materials and the Dominicans commenced the

of the local population. * 1563: Plague outbreak claimed 80,000 people in

Elizabethan The Elizabethan era is the epoch in the Tudor period of the history of England during the reign of Queen Elizabeth I (1558–1603). Historians often depict it as the golden age in English history. The symbol of Britannia (a female personific ...

. In

alone, over 20,000 people died of the disease. * 1564:

born on February 15 * 1564: William Shakespeare baptized 26 April * 1565:

defeat the

at the

Battle of Talikota The Battle of Talikota (23 January 1565) was a watershed battle fought between the Vijayanagara Empire and an alliance of the Deccan sultanates. The battle resulted in the defeat of Aliya Rama Raya which led to the eventual collapse of the pol ...

. * 1565: Mir Chakar Khan Rind dies at aged 97. * 1565:

Estácio de Sá Estácio de Sá (1520 – February 20, 1567) was a Portuguese soldier and officer. Sá travelled to the colony of Brazil on the orders of the Portuguese crown to wage war on the French colonists commanded by Nicolas Durand de Villegaignon. Thes ...

establishes

Rio de Janeiro Rio de Janeiro ( , , ; literally 'River of January'), or simply Rio, is the capital of the state of the same name, Brazil's third-most populous state, and the second-most populous city in Brazil, after São Paulo. Listed by the GaWC as a ...

. * 1565: The

Hospitallers The Order of Knights of the Hospital of Saint John of Jerusalem ( la, Ordo Fratrum Hospitalis Sancti Ioannis Hierosolymitani), commonly known as the Knights Hospitaller (), was a medieval and early modern Catholic military order. It was headq ...

, a Crusading Order, defeat the

at the siege of Malta (1565). * 1565:

Miguel López de Legazpi Miguel López de Legazpi (12 June 1502 – 20 August 1572), also known as ''Adelantado, El Adelantado'' and ''El Viejo'' (The Elder), was a Spaniard who, from the age of 26, lived and built a career in Mexico (then the Viceroyalty of New Sp ...

establishes in

Cebu Cebu (; ceb, Sugbo), officially the Province of Cebu ( ceb, Lalawigan sa Sugbo; tl, Lalawigan ng Cebu; hil, Kapuroan sang Sugbo), is a province of the Philippines located in the Central Visayas region, and consists of a main island and 16 ...

the first Spanish settlement in the Philippines starting a period of Spanish colonization that would last over three hundred years. * 1565: Spanish navigator

Andres de Urdaneta Andres or Andrés may refer to: *Andres, Illinois, an unincorporated community in Will County, Illinois, US *Andres, Pas-de-Calais, a commune in Pas-de-Calais, France *Andres (name) *Hurricane Andres * "Andres" (song), a 1994 song by L7 See also ...

discovers the maritime route from Asia to the Americas across the Pacific Ocean, also known as the ''tornaviaje''. * 1565: Royal Exchange is founded by Thomas Gresham. * 1566: Suleiman the Magnificent, ruler of the

, dies on September 7, during the battle of Szigetvar. * 1566– 1648:

Eighty Years' War The Eighty Years' War or Dutch Revolt ( nl, Nederlandse Opstand) ( c.1566/1568–1648) was an armed conflict in the Habsburg Netherlands between disparate groups of rebels and the Spanish government. The causes of the war included the Refo ...

between Spain and the Netherlands. * 1566: Da le Balle Contrade d'Oriente, composed by Cipriano de Rore. * 1567: After 45 years' reign,

died in the

Forbidden City The Forbidden City () is a palace complex in Dongcheng District, Beijing, China, at the center of the Imperial City of Beijing. It is surrounded by numerous opulent imperial gardens and temples including the Zhongshan Park, the sacrifici ...

Longqing Emperor The Longqing Emperor (; 4March 15375July 1572), personal name Zhu Zaiji (朱載坖), was the 13th Emperor of the Ming dynasty, reigned from 1567 to 1572. He was initially known as the Prince of Yu (裕王) from 1539 to 1567 before he became th ...

ascended the throne of

. * 1567:

Mary, Queen of Scots Mary, Queen of Scots (8 December 1542 – 8 February 1587), also known as Mary Stuart or Mary I of Scotland, was List of Scottish monarchs, Queen of Scotland from 14 December 1542 until her forced abdication in 1567. The only surviving legitima ...

, is imprisoned by

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". Eli ...

. *

1568 Year 1568 ( MDLXVIII) was a leap year starting on Thursday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. Events January–June * January 6– 13 – In the Eastern Hungarian Kingdom, the delegates of Unio ...

: The Transylvanian Diet, under the patronage of the prince John Sigismund Zápolya, the former

king of Hungary The King of Hungary ( hu, magyar király) was the ruling head of state of the Kingdom of Hungary from 1000 (or 1001) to 1918. The style of title "Apostolic King of Hungary" (''Apostoli Magyar Király'') was endorsed by Pope Clement XIII in 175 ...

, inspired by the teachings of Ferenc Dávid, the founder of the

Unitarian Church of Transylvania The Unitarian Church of Transylvania ( hu, Erdélyi Unitárius Egyház; ro, Biserica Unitariană din Transilvania), also known as the Hungarian Unitarian Church ( hu, Magyar Unitárius Egyház; ro, Biserica Unitariană Maghiară), is a Christian ...

, promulgates the

Edict of Torda The Edict of Torda ( hu, tordai ediktum, ro, Edictul de la Turda, german: Edikt von Torda) was a decree that authorized local communities to freely elect their preachers in the Eastern Hungarian Kingdom of John Sigismund Zápolya. The delegates ...

, the first law of

freedom of religion Freedom of religion or religious liberty is a principle that supports the freedom of an individual or community, in public or private, to manifest religion or belief in teaching, practice, worship, and observance. It also includes the freedo ...

and of conscience in the World. *

– 1571:

Morisco Revolt Moriscos (, ; pt, mouriscos ; Spanish for "Moorish") were former Muslims and their descendants whom the Roman Catholic church and the Spanish Crown commanded to convert to Christianity or face compulsory exile after Spain outlawed the ope ...

in Spain. *

– 1600: The Azuchi-Momoyama period in Japan. *

: Hadiwijaya sent his adopted son and son in-law Sutawijaya, who would later become the first ruler of the Mataram dynasty of Indonesia, to kill Arya Penangsang. *

1569 Year 1569 ( MDLXIX) was a common year starting on Saturday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. Events January–June * January 11–May 6 – The first recorded lottery in England is performed nonstop, at the ...

: Rising of the North in England. *

: Mercator 1569 world map published by

Gerardus Mercator Gerardus Mercator (; 5 March 1512 – 2 December 1594) was a 16th-century geographer, cosmographer and cartographer from the County of Flanders. He is most renowned for creating the 1569 world map based on a new projection which represented ...

. *

: The

Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth The Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, formally known as the Kingdom of Poland and the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, and, after 1791, as the Commonwealth of Poland, was a bi-confederal state, sometimes called a federation, of Crown of the Kingdom of ...

is created with the Union of Lublin which lasts until

1795 Events January–June * January – Central England records its coldest ever month, in the CET records dating back to 1659. * January 14 – The University of North Carolina opens to students at Chapel Hill, becoming t ...

. *

: Peace treaty signed by Sultan Hairun of Ternate and Governor Lopez De Mesquita of Portugal.

1570s The 1570s decade ran from January 1, 1570, to December 31, 1579. References {{DEFAULTSORT:1570s ...

* 1570:

, tsar of Russia, orders the massacre of inhabitants of Novgorod. * 1570:

Pope Pius V Pope Pius V ( it, Pio V; 17 January 1504 – 1 May 1572), born Antonio Ghislieri (from 1518 called Michele Ghislieri, O.P.), was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 8 January 1566 to his death in May 1572. He is ...

issues ''

Regnans in Excelsis ''Regnans in Excelsis'' ("Reigning on High") is a papal bull that Pope Pius V issued on 25 February 1570. It excommunicated Queen Elizabeth I of England, referring to her as "the pretended Queen of England and the servant of crime", declared h ...

'', a papal bull excommunicating all who obeyed

and calling on all Catholics to rebel against her. * 1570: Sultan Hairun of Ternate (in present-day Indonesia) is killed by the Portuguese. Babullah becomes the next Sultan. * 1571:

completes the Holy League as a united front against the

Ottoman Turks The Ottoman Turks ( tr, Osmanlı Türkleri), were the Turkic founding and sociopolitically the most dominant ethnic group of the Ottoman Empire ( 1299/1302–1922). Reliable information about the early history of Ottoman Turks remains scarce, ...

. * 1571: The Spanish-led Holy League navy destroys the

navy at the

Battle of Lepanto The Battle of Lepanto was a naval engagement that took place on 7 October 1571 when a fleet of the Holy League, a coalition of Catholic states (comprising Spain and its Italian territories, several independent Italian states, and the Sovere ...

. * 1571:

Crimean Tatars , flag = Flag of the Crimean Tatar people.svg , flag_caption = Flag of Crimean Tatars , image = Love, Peace, Traditions.jpg , caption = Crimean Tatars in traditional clothing in front of the Khan's Palace ...

attack and sack Moscow, burning everything but the

Kremlin The Kremlin ( rus, Московский Кремль, r=Moskovskiy Kreml', p=ˈmɐˈskofskʲɪj krʲemlʲ, t=Moscow Kremlin) is a fortified complex in the center of Moscow founded by the Rurik dynasty. It is the best known of the kremlins (Ru ...

. * 1571: American Indians kill Spanish missionaries in what would later be

Jamestown, Virginia The Jamestown settlement in the Colony of Virginia was the first permanent English settlement in the Americas. It was located on the northeast bank of the James (Powhatan) River about southwest of the center of modern Williamsburg. It was ...

. * 1571: Spanish conquistador

establishes

Manila Manila ( , ; fil, Maynila, ), officially the City of Manila ( fil, Lungsod ng Maynila, ), is the capital of the Philippines, and its second-most populous city. It is highly urbanized and, as of 2019, was the world's most densely populated ...

, Philippines as the capital of the

Spanish East Indies The Spanish East Indies ( es , Indias orientales españolas ; fil, Silangang Indiyas ng Espanya) were the overseas territories of the Spanish Empire in Asia and Oceania from 1565 to 1898, governed for the Spanish Crown from Mexico City and Madr ...

. * 1572:

Brielle Brielle (), also called Den Briel in Dutch and Brill in English, is a town, municipality and historic seaport in the western Netherlands, in the province of South Holland, on the north side of the island of Voorne-Putten, at the mouth of the New ...

is taken from

by Protestant Watergeuzen in the

Capture of Brielle The Capture of Brielle by the '' Watergeuzen'', on 1 April 1572 marked a turning point in the uprising of the Low Countries against Spain in the Eighty Years' War. Militarily the success was minor as the port of Brielle was undefended, but it pro ...

, in the

. * 1572: Spanish conquistadores apprehend the last

Inca The Inca Empire (also known as the Incan Empire and the Inka Empire), called ''Tawantinsuyu'' by its subjects, (Quechua for the "Realm of the Four Parts", "four parts together" ) was the largest empire in pre-Columbian America. The admi ...

leader Tupak Amaru at Vilcabamba, Peru, and execute him in

Cuzco Cusco, often spelled Cuzco (; qu, Qusqu ()), is a city in Southeastern Peru near the Urubamba Valley of the Andes mountain range. It is the capital of the Cusco Region and of the Cusco Province. The city is the seventh most populous in Pe ...

. * 1572:

dies aged 43 and is succeeded by Henry of Navarre. * 1572:

Catherine de' Medici Catherine de' Medici ( it, Caterina de' Medici, ; french: Catherine de Médicis, ; 13 April 1519 – 5 January 1589) was an Florentine noblewoman born into the Medici family. She was Queen of France from 1547 to 1559 by marriage to King ...

instigates the St. Bartholomew's Day massacre which takes the lives of Protestant leader Gaspard de Coligny and thousands of Huguenots. The violence spreads from Paris to other cities and the countryside. * 1572: First edition of the epic The Lusiads of Luís Vaz de Camões, three years after the author returned from the East. * 1572: The 9 years old

Taizi Taizi () was the title of the crown prince of imperial China. Succession Traditional Confucian political theory favored strict agnatic primogeniture, with younger sons displaying filial obedience to the eldest upon the passing of the father. T ...

, Zhu Yijun ascended the throne of Ming Dynasty, known as Wanli Emperor. *

1573 Year 1573 ( MDLXXIII) was a common year starting on Thursday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. Events January–June * January 25 – Battle of Mikatagahara in Japan: Takeda Shingen defeats Tokugawa ...

: After heavy losses on both sides the

siege of Haarlem The siege of Haarlem was an episode of the Eighty Years' War. From 11 December 1572 to 13 July 1573 an army of Philip II of Spain laid bloody siege to the city of Haarlem in the Netherlands, whose loyalties had begun wavering during the previo ...

ends in a

victory.

La masacre de San Bartolomé, por François Dubois

* 1574: in the

the capital of Zeeland, Middelburg declares for the Protestants. * 1574: After a siege of 4 months the siege of Leiden ends in a comprehensive Dutch rebel victory. * 1575:

finally captures

Nagashima was a series of fortresses and fortifications controlled by the Ikkō-ikki, a sect of warrior monks in Japan's Sengoku period who opposed samurai rule. It was attacked and destroyed by Oda Nobunaga in the 1570s. This, combined with the surrend ...

fortress. * 1575: Following a five-year war, the Ternateans under Sultan Babullah defeated the Portuguese. *

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, ...

Safavid Safavid Iran or Safavid Persia (), also referred to as the Safavid Empire, '. was one of the greatest Iranian empires after the 7th-century Muslim conquest of Persia, which was ruled from 1501 to 1736 by the Safavid dynasty. It is often consid ...

shah, dies. *

: The

Battle of Haldighati The Battle of Haldighati was a battle fought on 18 June 1576 between the Mewar forces led by Maharana Pratap, and the Mughal forces led by Man Singh I of Amber. The Mughals carried the day after inflicting significant casualties on Mewar fo ...

is fought between the ruler of

Maharana Pratap Pratap Singh I, popularly known as Maharana Pratap (c. 9 May 1540 – 19 January 1597), was a king of Mewar from the Sisodia dynasty. Pratap became a folk hero for his military resistance against the expansionism of the Mughal Empire under A ...

and the

's forces under Emperor

led by

Raja ''Raja'' (; from , IAST ') is a royal title used for South Asian monarchs. The title is equivalent to king or princely ruler in South Asia and Southeast Asia. The title has a long history in South Asia and Southeast Asia, being attested f ...

Man Singh. *

Sack of Antwerp The Sack of Antwerp, often known as the Spanish Fury at Antwerp, was an episode of the Eighty Years' War. It is the greatest massacre in the history of the Low Countries. On 4 November 1576, mutinying Spanish tercios of the Army of Flanders be ...

by badly paid

soldiers. * 1577–

1580 __NOTOC__ Events January–June * January 31 – Portuguese succession crisis of 1580: The death of Henry, King of Portugal, with no direct heirs, leads to conflict between his potential successors, including King Philip II of ...

Francis Drake Sir Francis Drake ( – 28 January 1596) was an English explorer, sea captain, privateer, slave trader, naval officer, and politician. Drake is best known for his circumnavigation of the world in a single expedition, from 1577 to 1580 ...

circles the world. * 1577: Ki Ageng Pemanahan built his palace in Pasargede or Kotagede. *

1578 __NOTOC__ Year 1578 ( MDLXXVIII) was a common year starting on Wednesday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. Events January–June * January 31 – Battle of Gembloux: Spanish forces under Don John of ...

: King Sebastian of Portugal is killed at the

Battle of Alcazarquivir A battle is an occurrence of combat in warfare between opposing military units of any number or size. A war usually consists of multiple battles. In general, a battle is a military engagement that is well defined in duration, area, and forc ...

. *

: The Portuguese establish a fort on

Tidore Tidore ( id, Kota Tidore Kepulauan, lit. "City of Tidore Islands") is a city, island, and archipelago in the Maluku Islands of eastern Indonesia, west of the larger island of Halmahera. Part of North Maluku Province, the city includes the island ...

but the main centre for Portuguese activities in Maluku becomes Ambon. *

: Sonam Gyatso is conferred the title of

Dalai Lama Dalai Lama (, ; ) is a title given by the Tibetan people to the foremost spiritual leader of the Gelug or "Yellow Hat" school of Tibetan Buddhism, the newest and most dominant of the four major schools of Tibetan Buddhism. The 14th and current Da ...

by Tumed Mongol ruler,

. Recognised as the reincarnation of two previous Lamas, Sonam Gyatso becomes the third Dalai Lama in the lineage. * 1579: The

Union of Utrecht The Union of Utrecht ( nl, Unie van Utrecht) was a treaty signed on 23 January 1579 in Utrecht, Netherlands, unifying the northern provinces of the Netherlands, until then under the control of Habsburg Spain. History The Union of Utrecht is r ...

unifies the northern Netherlands, a foundation for the later

Dutch Republic The United Provinces of the Netherlands, also known as the (Seven) United Provinces, officially as the Republic of the Seven United Netherlands ( Dutch: ''Republiek der Zeven Verenigde Nederlanden''), and commonly referred to in historiography ...

. * 1579: The Union of Arras unifies the southern Netherlands, a foundation for the later states of the

Spanish Netherlands Spanish Netherlands (Spanish: Países Bajos Españoles; Dutch: Spaanse Nederlanden; French: Pays-Bas espagnols; German: Spanische Niederlande.) (historically in Spanish: ''Flandes'', the name "Flanders" was used as a '' pars pro toto'') was the Ha ...

, the

Austrian Netherlands The Austrian Netherlands nl, Oostenrijkse Nederlanden; french: Pays-Bas Autrichiens; german: Österreichische Niederlande; la, Belgium Austriacum. was the territory of the Burgundian Circle of the Holy Roman Empire between 1714 and 1797. The pe ...

and Belgium. The Image of Irelande - plate03

* 1579: The British navigator Sir Francis Drake passes through Maluku and transit in

on his circumnavigation of the world. The Portuguese establish a fort on

but the main centre for Portuguese activities in Maluku becomes Ambon.

1580s

La batalla de Gravelinas, por Nicholas Hilliard

Drake Drake may refer to: Animals * A male duck People and fictional characters * Drake (surname), a list of people and fictional characters with the family name * Drake (given name), a list of people and fictional characters with the given name ...

's royal reception after his attacks on Spanish possessions influences

to build up the

Spanish Armada The Spanish Armada (a.k.a. the Enterprise of England, es, Grande y Felicísima Armada, links=no, lit=Great and Most Fortunate Navy) was a Spanish fleet that sailed from Lisbon in late May 1588, commanded by the Duke of Medina Sidonia, an aris ...

. English ships in Spanish harbours are impounded. *

: Spain unifies with Portugal under Philip II. The struggle for the throne of Portugal ends the

Portuguese Empire The Portuguese Empire ( pt, Império Português), also known as the Portuguese Overseas (''Ultramar Português'') or the Portuguese Colonial Empire (''Império Colonial Português''), was composed of the overseas Colonialism, colonies, Factory ...

. The Spanish and Portuguese crowns are united for 60 years, i.e. until 1640. *

– 1587:

Nagasaki is the capital and the largest city of Nagasaki Prefecture on the island of Kyushu in Japan. It became the sole port used for trade with the Portuguese and Dutch during the 16th through 19th centuries. The Hidden Christian Sites in the Na ...

comes under control of the

Jesuits , image = Ihs-logo.svg , image_size = 175px , caption = ChristogramOfficial seal of the Jesuits , abbreviation = SJ , nickname = Jesuits , formation = , founders = ...

. * 1581: Dutch

Act of Abjuration The Act of Abjuration ( nl, Plakkaat van Verlatinghe; es, Acta de Abjuración, lit=placard of abjuration) is the declaration of independence by many of the provinces of the Netherlands from the allegiance to Philip II of Spain, during the Du ...

, declaring abjuring allegiance to Philip II of Spain. * 1581:

Bayinnaung , image = File:Bayinnaung.JPG , caption = Statue of Bayinnaung in front of the National Museum of Myanmar , reign = 30 April 1550 – 10 October 1581 , coronation = 11 January 1551 at Toung ...

dies at the age of 65. * 1582:

commits

seppuku , sometimes referred to as hara-kiri (, , a native Japanese kun reading), is a form of Japanese ritual suicide by disembowelment. It was originally reserved for samurai in their code of honour but was also practised by other Japanese peopl ...

during the Honnō-ji Incident coup by his general, Akechi Mitsuhide. * 1582:

Pope Gregory XIII Pope Gregory XIII ( la, Gregorius XIII; it, Gregorio XIII; 7 January 1502 – 10 April 1585), born Ugo Boncompagni, was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 13 May 1572 to his death in April 1585. He is best known for ...

issues the

Gregorian calendar The Gregorian calendar is the calendar used in most parts of the world. It was introduced in October 1582 by Pope Gregory XIII as a modification of, and replacement for, the Julian calendar. The principal change was to space leap years dif ...

. The last day of the Julian calendar was Thursday, 4 October 1582 and this was followed by the first day of the Gregorian calendar, Friday, 15 October 1582 * 1582: Yermak Timofeyevich conquers the

Siberia Khanate The Khanate of Sibir (also Khanate of Turan, sty, Себер ханлыгы) was a Tatar Khanate located in southwestern Siberia with a Turco-Mongol ruling class. Throughout its history, members of the Shaybanid and Taibugid dynasties often c ...

on behalf of the Stroganovs. * 1583: Denmark builds the world's first theme park, Bakken. * 1583: Death of Sultan Babullah of Ternate. *

1584 __NOTOC__ Events January–June * January–March – Archangelsk is founded as ''New Kholmogory'' in northern Russia, by Ivan the Terrible. * January 11 – Sir Walter Mildmay is given a royal licence to found Emmanu ...

– 1585: After the siege of Antwerp, many of its merchants flee to

Amsterdam Amsterdam ( , , , lit. ''The Dam on the River Amstel'') is the capital and most populous city of the Netherlands, with The Hague being the seat of government. It has a population of 907,976 within the city proper, 1,558,755 in the urban a ...

. According to Luc-Normand Tellier, "At its peak, between 1510 and 1557, Antwerp concentrated about 40% of the world trade...It is estimated that the port of Antwerp was earning the Spanish crown seven times more revenues than the

Americas The Americas, which are sometimes collectively called America, are a landmass comprising the totality of North and South America. The Americas make up most of the land in Earth's Western Hemisphere and comprise the New World. Along with ...

." *

: Ki Ageng Pemanahan died. Sultan Pajang raised Sutawijaya, son of Ki Ageng Pemanahan as the new ruler in Mataram, titled "Loring Ngabehi Market" (because of his home in the north of the market). * 1585: Akbar annexes Kashmir and adds it to the

Kabul Subah The history of Afghanistan as a state began in 1823 as the Emirate of Afghanistan after the exile of the Sadozai monarchy to Herat. The Sadozai monarchy ruled the Afghan Durrani Empire, considered the founding state of modern Afghanistan. The ...

* 1585: Colony at Roanoke founded in North America. * 1585– 1604: The Anglo-Spanish War is fought on both sides of the Atlantic. * 1587:

is executed by

. * 1587: The reign of Abbas I marks the zenith of the

. * 1587: Troops that would invade Pajang

Mataram Sultanate The Sultanate of Mataram () was the last major independent Javanese kingdom on the island of Java before it was colonised by the Dutch. It was the dominant political force radiating from the interior of Central Java from the late 16th cent ...

storm ravaged the eruption of Mount Merapi. Sutawijaya and his men survived. * 1588: Mataram into the kingdom with Sutawijaya as Sultan, titled "Senapati Ingalaga Sayidin Panatagama" means the warlord and cleric Manager Religious Life. * 1588: England repulses the

. * 1589: Spain repulses the English Armada. * 1589:

dies at aged 69.

1590–1600

* 1590: Siege of Odawara: the Go-Hojo clan surrender to Toyotomi Hideyoshi, and Japan is unified. * 1591: Gazi Giray leads a huge Tatar expedition against

Moscow Moscow ( , US chiefly ; rus, links=no, Москва, r=Moskva, p=mɐskˈva, a=Москва.ogg) is the capital and largest city of Russia. The city stands on the Moskva River in Central Russia, with a population estimated at 13.0 millio ...

. * 1591: In Mali, Moroccan forces of the Sultan Ahmad al-Mansur led by Judar Pasha defeat the

Songhai Empire The Songhai Empire (also transliterated as Songhay) was a state that dominated the western Sahel/Sudan in the 15th and 16th century. At its peak, it was one of the largest states in African history. The state is known by its historiographical ...

at the

Battle of Tondibi The Battle of Tondibi was the decisive confrontation in the 16th-century invasion of the Songhai Empire by the army of the Saadi dynasty in Morocco. Though vastly outnumbered, the Moroccan forces under Judar Pasha defeated the Songhai Askia ...

. * 1592–

1593 Events January–December * January – Siege of Pyongyang (1593): A Japanese invasion is defeated in Pyongyang by a combined force of Korean and Ming troops. * January 18 – Siamese King Naresuan, in combat on elephant back, ...

John Stow John Stow (''also'' Stowe; 1524/25 – 5 April 1605) was an English historian and antiquarian. He wrote a series of chronicles of English history, published from 1565 onwards under such titles as ''The Summarie of Englyshe Chronicles'', ''The ...

reports 10,675 plague deaths in

, a city of approximately 200,000 people. * 1592– 1598: Korea, with the help of

China, repels two Japanese invasions. *

– 1606: The Long War between the

Habsburg monarchy The Habsburg monarchy (german: Habsburgermonarchie, ), also known as the Danubian monarchy (german: Donaumonarchie, ), or Habsburg Empire (german: Habsburgerreich, ), was the collection of empires, kingdoms, duchies, counties and other polities ...

and the

. * 1594: St. Paul's College, Macau, founded by

Alessandro Valignano Alessandro Valignano, S.J., sometimes Valignani (Chinese: 范禮安 ''Fàn Lǐ’ān''; February 1539 – January 20, 1606), was an Italian Jesuit priest and missionary born in Chieti, part of the Kingdom of Naples, who helped supervise the ...

. * 1595: First Dutch expedition to Indonesia sets sail for the East Indies with two hundred and forty-nine men and sixty-four cannons led by Cornelis de Houtman.Ricklefs (1991), page 27 * 1596: Birth of

René Descartes René Descartes ( or ; ; Latinized: Renatus Cartesius; 31 March 1596 – 11 February 1650) was a French philosopher, scientist, and mathematician, widely considered a seminal figure in the emergence of modern philosophy and science. Math ...

. * 1596: June, de Houtman's expedition reaches

Banten Banten ( id, Banten; Sundanese: , romanized ''Banten'') is the westernmost province on the island of Java, Indonesia. Its capital city is Serang. The province borders West Java and the Special Capital Region of Jakarta on the east, the Java ...

the main pepper port of West Java where they clash with both the Portuguese and Indonesians. It then sails east along the north coast of

losing twelve crew to a Javanese attack at Sidayu and killing a local ruler in

Madura Madura Island is an Indonesian island off the northeastern coast of Java. The island comprises an area of approximately (administratively 5,379.33 km2 including various smaller islands to the east, southeast and north that are administrat ...

. * 1597: ''

Romeo and Juliet ''Romeo and Juliet'' is a Shakespearean tragedy, tragedy written by William Shakespeare early in his career about the romance between two Italian youths from feuding families. It was among Shakespeare's most popular plays during his lifetim ...

'' is published. * 1597: Cornelis de Houtman's expedition returns to the Netherlands with enough spices to make a considerable profit. * 1598: The Edict of Nantes ends the

. * 1598: Abbas I moves Safavids capital from Qazvin to Isfahan in 1598. * 1598–1613: Russia descends into anarchy during the Time of Troubles. * 1598: The Portuguese require an armada of 90 ships to put down a Solorese uprising. (to 1599) * 1598: More Dutch fleets leave for Indonesia and most are profitable. Sekigaharascreen

* 1598: The province of Santa Fe de Nuevo México is established in Northern New Spain. The region would later become a territory of Mexico, the New Mexico Territory in the United States, and the US State of New Mexico. * 1598: Death of Toyotomi Hideyoshi, known as the unifier of Japan. * 1599: The Mali Empire is defeated at the Battle of Jenné. * 1599: The van Neck expedition returns to Europe. The expedition makes a 400 per cent profit. (to 1600) * 1599: March, Leaving Europe the previous year, a Second Dutch Expedition to Indonesia (1598-1600), fleet of eight ships under Jacob van Neck was the first Dutch fleet to reach the ‘Spice Islands’ of Maluku. * 1600: Giordano Bruno is burned at the stake for Christian heresy, heresy in Rome. Fülek megvétele 1593-ban

* 1600: Battle of Sekigahara in

. End of the Sengoku period, Warring States period and beginning of the Edo period. * 1600: The Portuguese win a major naval battle in the bay of Ambon.Ricklefs (1991), page 28 Later in the year, the Dutch join forces with the local Hituese in an anti-Portuguese alliance, in return for which the Dutch would have the sole right to purchase spices from Hitu. * 1600:

grants a charter to the British East India Company beginning the English advance in Asia. * 1600: Michael the Brave unifies the three Romanian principalities: Wallachia, Moldavia and Principality of Transylvania (1570–1711), Transylvania after the Battle of Șelimbăr from 1599.

Undated

*The Histories (Polybius), Polybius' "The Histories" translated into Italian language, Italian, English language, English, German language, German and French language, French.Polybius: "The Rise Of The Roman Empire", Page 36, Penguin, 1979. * Mississippian culture disappears. * Medallion rug, variant Star Ushak style,

(modern Turkey), is made. It is now kept at The Saint Louis Art Museum.

Gallery

File:Alberico Gentili.jpg, Alberico Gentili, Dr Alberico Gentili, the Father of international law File:Vasili III of Russia.jpg, Vasily III, Grand Duke of Moscow by André Thévet File:Hernán Cortés anónimo.jpg, Hernán Cortés, Hernan Cortes File:Akbar1.jpg, Akbar, Akbar the Great File:Philip II, King of Spain from NPG.jpg,

File:François Ier Louvre.jpg, Francis I of France File:Hans Holbein, the Younger, Around 1497-1543 - Portrait of Henry VIII of England - Google Art Project.jpg, Hans Holbein the Younger, c. 1536 – 1537, ''

,'' King of England and Ireland File:Fernando Álvarez de Toledo, III Duque de Alba, por Antonio Moro.jpg, Don Fernando Álvarez de Toledo, 3rd Duke of Alba, Fernando Álvarez de Toledo File:Ivan IV by anonim (18th c., GIM).jpg, Ivan IV the Terrible File:1590 or later Marcus Gheeraerts, Sir Francis Drake Buckland Abbey, Devon.jpg, Francis Drake, Sir Francis Drake File:Odanobunaga.jpg,

Inventions, discoveries, introductions

: ''Related article: Timeline of historic inventions#16th century, List of 16th century inventions.'' * The Columbian Exchange introduces many plants, animals and diseases to the Old World, Old and

s. * Introduction of the spinning wheel revolutionizes textile production in Europe. * The letter J is introduced into the English alphabet. * 1500: First portable watch is created by Peter Henlein of Germany. *

: Juan Ponce de León sights Florida and

sights the eastern edge of the Pacific Ocean. *

–1522, 22:

and Juan Sebastián Elcano lead the first circumnavigation of the World. *

– 1540: In America,

expeditions map the Gulf of Mexico coastline and bays. *

: Modern square root symbol (√) * 1540: Francisco Vásquez de Coronado sights the Grand Canyon. * 1541–1542, 42:

sails the length of the

. *

–1543, 43: Firearms are introduced into

by the Portuguese. * 1543:

publishes his theory that the Earth and the other planets revolve around the Sun * 1545: Theory of complex numbers is first developed by Gerolamo Cardano of Italy. *

: Camera obscura is first used in Europe by Giambattista della Porta of Italy. * 1559– 1562: Spanish settlements in Alabama/Florida and Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia confirm dangers of hurricanes and local native warring tribes. * 1565: Spanish settlers outside New Spain (Mexico) colonize Florida's coastline at St. Augustine, Florida, St. Augustine. * 1565: Invention of the graphite pencil (in a wooden holder) by Conrad Gesner. Modernized in 1812. *

creates the first Mercator projection map. * 1572: Supernova SN 1572 is observed by Tycho Brahe in the

. * 1582:

is introduced in Europe by

and adopted by Catholic countries. * c. 1583:

of Pisa, Italy identifies the constant swing of a pendulum, leading to development of reliable timekeepers. * 1585: earliest known reference to the 'Wheelbarrow#Chinese sailing carriage, sailing carriage' in

. * 1589: William Lee (inventor), William Lee invents the stocking frame. * 1591: First flush toilet is introduced by John Harington (writer), Sir John Harrington of

, the design published under the title 'The Metamorphosis of Ajax'. *

invents a thermometer. * 1596: William Barents discovers Spitsbergen. * 1597: Opera in

by Jacopo Peri.

References

External links

*

{{DEFAULTSORT:16th Century 16th century, Centuries Early Modern period 2nd millennium

Significant events

1501–1509

1510s

1520s The 1520s decade ran from January 1, 1520, to December 31, 1529. References {{DEFAULTSORT:1520s ...

1530s

1540s

1550s The 1550s decade ran from January 1, 1550, to December 31, 1559. References {{DEFAULTSORT:1550s ...

1560s

1570s The 1570s decade ran from January 1, 1570, to December 31, 1579. References {{DEFAULTSORT:1570s ...

1580s

1590–1600

Undated

Gallery

Inventions, discoveries, introductions

See also

References

Further reading

External links