1504 CE
The siege of Cochin in India by the invading forces of Calicut ends as the Portuguese and Cochin defenders defeat the invaders. Calicut loses 5,000 dead in battle and another 13,000 to disease, while Cochin and Portugal sustain minimal losses. Michelangelo's sculpture of David is unveiled in Florence. (approximate date) Islamic scholar Ahmad ibn Abi Jum'ah issues the Oran fatwa for Muslims in Spain (1 Rajab 910 AH in Islamic calendar, Gregorian date is approximate).
In the 1500s, the 16th century.
Geopolitics & Diplomacy
- January 31 – Treaty of Lyon: France cedes Naples to Ferdinand II of Aragon, who becomes King of Naples as Ferdinand III.source
- 31 January - with the Treaty of Lyon, King Louis XII cedes Naples to king Ferdinand II of Aragon.Francesource
- 18 February – Henry Tudor created Prince of Wales following the death of his elder brother Arthur, Prince of Wales two years earlierEnglandsource
- March 11 – King James IV opens the Scottish Parliament for the first time since 1496.source
- July 7 – At the age of 16, Lê Túc Tông becomes the new Emperor of Vietnam (Dai Viet) after the death of his father, Lê Hiến Tông, but serves for only six months before dying.source
- September 22 – Treaty of Blois: Philip the Handsome, Maximilian I, and Louis XII agree to terms.source
- September 22 - The Treaty of Blois between king Louis XII and the Holy Roman Emperor, Maximillian I and Archduke Philip was signed. The treaty was meant to unite the Habsburg and Valois monarchs.Francesource
- Tristão da Cunha becomes nominal governor of Portuguese India (but never took office)Indiasource
Conflict & Security
- January 1 – French troops of King Louis XII surrender Gaeta to the Spanish, under Gonzalo Fernández de Córdoba.source
- 1 January - The last French Garrison in Naples, Gaeta, surrendered to the Spanish army ending the French presence in Naples.Francesource
- March 16 – In what is now India's Kerala state, a second invasion of the Portuguese-supported Kingdom of Cochin by the Zamorin of Calicut takes place, beginning a war that lasts until July 3.source
- March 30 – The Eisho era begins in Japan during the reign of Emperor Go-Kashiwabara as the Bunki era ends.source
- March – July – Battle of Cochin (1504)Indiasource
- April 23 – Maximilian I, Holy Roman Emperor grants the Landshut inheritance to Albert IV during the War of the Succession of Landshut. Maximilian would pronounce an imperial ban on Ruprecht on May 4, whom Albert contested for the territory.source
- July 3 – The siege of Cochin in India by the invading forces of Calicut ends as the Portuguese and Cochin defenders defeat the invaders. Calicut loses 5,000 dead in battle and another 13,000 to disease, while Cochin and Portugal sustain minimal losses.source
- August 19 – The Battle of Knockdoe is fought in Ireland's County Galway as 6,000 troops led by the English Lord Deputy of Ireland, Gerald FitzGerald, 8th Earl of Kildare assist Maelsechlainn mac Tadhg Ó Cellaigh, King of Uí Mháine, against 4,000 troops of Irish chieftain Ulick Fionn Burke, Lord of the Clanricarde lands. Burke had previously attacked and destroyed Ó Cellaigh's castles at Monivea, Castleblakeney and Garbally and sought Kildare's help. Kildare's forces win the battle.source
- August 19 – Battle of Knockdoe: Gearóid Mór FitzGerald, 8th Earl of Kildare, Lord Deputy of Ireland, defeats Ulick Fionn Burke, the Clanricarde.Irelandsource
- October – Babur besieges and captures Kabul.source
- December 24 – Nils Ravaldsson, the leader of the rebellion after Knut Alvsson's death, is attacked and his resistance crushed at Olsborg Castle in Båhuslen.source
- In Florence, Leonardo da Vinci and Niccolò Machiavelli become involved in a scheme to divert the Arno River, cutting the water supply to Pisa to force its surrender: Colombino, the project foreman, fails to follow da Vinci's design, and the project is a major failure.source
Exploration & Expansion
- February 14 – King Ferdinand V of Castile contracts with Juan de la Cosa to finance an independent expedition to the Pearl Islands and the Gulf of Urabá.source
- 22 April – 6th Portuguese India Armada (Albergaria, 1504) sets sail for India, and arrives late August/Early SeptemberIndiasource
- June 28 – After being marooned in Jamaica for six months, Christopher Columbus and his men are rescued by a Spanish ship.source
- November 7 – Christopher Columbus returns to Spain from his fourth voyage, during which he and his younger son, Ferdinand, explored the coast of Central America from Belize to Panama.source
Religion & Belief
- January 21 – After the death of Sten Sture the Elder on December 14 the year before, Svante Nilsson is elected the new Regent of Sweden.source
- September 13 – Queen Isabella and King Ferdinand issue a Royal Warrant for the construction of Capilla Real, a Royal Chapel, to be built in Granada.source
- October 12 – Isabella I of Castile signs her will and testament.source
- November 26 – On the death of Isabella I of Castile, Catholic Queen of Castile and Aragon, the Crown of Castile passes to her daughter Joanna.source
- December 8 – (approximate date) Islamic scholar Ahmad ibn Abi Jum'ah issues the Oran fatwa for Muslims in Spain (1 Rajab 910 AH in Islamic calendar, Gregorian date is approximate).source
- The Signoria of Florence commissions both Leonardo da Vinci and Michelangelo to paint the walls of the Grand Council Chamber in the Palazzo Vecchio.source
- Islamization of the Sudan region: A Funj leader, Amara Dunqas, founds the Sultanate of Sennar.source
- Silver shilling is the first English coin to be minted bearing a recognisable portrait of the King.Englandsource
Economy & Finance
- July 20 – Pope Julius II issues an order reforming the official coinage of the Papal States, raising the silver content of the carlino coin to four grams. In that the Pope was formerly Giuliano della Rovere, the new coin is called the giulio in his honor and features the coat of arms of the della Rovere family.source
Technology & Infrastructure
- The Council of Ten discusses the advisability of proposing a scheme of a Suez Canal to the Sultan of Egypt, at the time Al-Ashraf Qansuh al-Ghuri, but the discussion is eventually abandoned.source
Science & Discovery
- February 29 – Christopher Columbus uses his knowledge of a lunar eclipse this night, to convince the indigenous Jamaican people to provide him with supplies (in Europe, the eclipse is in the early morning of March 1).source
Health & Medicine
Crime & Justice
Culture & Society
- February 18 – The investiture of Prince Henry of England as Prince of Wales and Earl of Chester takes place.source
- July 2 – Bogdan III the One-Eyed becomes the new Prince of Moldavia upon the death of his father Stephen the Great.source
- September 8 – Michelangelo's sculpture of David is unveiled in Florence.source
- Raphael paints The Marriage of the Virgin, which exemplifies some major principles of High Renaissance art.source
- Aldus Manutius publishes his edition of Demosthenes in Venice.source
Births
- January 17 – Pope Pius V (died 1572)source
- February 3 – Scipione Rebiba, Italian cardinal (died 1577)source
- March 31 – Guru Angad, Indian religious leader (died 1552)source
- April 30 – Francesco Primaticcio, Italian painter (died 1570)source
- May 5 – Stanislaus Hosius, Polish cardinal (died 1579)source
- May 29 – Antun Vrančić, Croatian archbishop (died 1573)source
- July 18 – Heinrich Bullinger, Swiss religious reformer (died 1575)source
- August 6 – Matthew Parker, English Archbishop of Canterbury (died 1574)source
- September 20 – Philip III, Count of Nassau-Weilburg (died 1559)source
- September 21– Jean de Dinteville, French diplomat (d.1555)Francesource
- October 29 – Shin Saimdang, Korean calligraphist and noted poet (died 1551)source
- November 13 – Philip I, Landgrave of Hesse (died 1567)source
- December 31 – Beatrice of Portugal, Duchess of Savoy (died 1538)source
- December – Nicholas Udall, English playwright and schoolmaster (died 1556)source
- John Dudley, 1st Duke of Northumberland, English Tudor nobleman and politician (executed 1553)source
- John Dudley, 1st Duke of Northumberland, Tudor nobleman and politician (executed 1553)Englandsource
- Ranabai, warrior and a Hindu mystical poet (dies 1570)Indiasource
- unknown date – Patrick Hamilton, churchman, early Protestant Reformer and martyr (died 1528)Scotlandsource
Deaths
- January – James Stewart, Duke of Ross (born 1476)Scotlandsource
- February 17 – Eberhard II, Duke of Württemberg (born 1447)source
- April 15 – Filippino Lippi, Italian painter (born 1457)source
- May 5 - Antoine de Bourgogne, bastard son of Philip III, Duke of Burgundy (b.1421)Francesource
- May 24 – Le Hien Tong, Emperor of Vietnam, dies after a reign of six years and is succeeded by his 15-year-old son Le Tuc Tong.source
- June 17 – Rao Bika Rathore, ruler of the Kingdom of Bikaner in India, dies after a reign of 32 years. For a brief time Bika is succeeded by his elder son Nara, but Nara quickly dies and Nara is succeeded by his brother Lunkaran.source
- June – Lê Hiến Tông, Emperor of the Lê Dynastysource
- July 2 – Stephen the Great, Prince of Moldova (born 1434)source
- July 29 – Thomas Stanley, 1st Earl of Derby (born 1435)source
- August 28 – John Paston, English gentleman known from the Paston Letters (born 1444)source
- September 10 – Duke Philibert II of Savoy (born 1480)source
- September 22 – Jan II the Mad, Duke of Żagań (1439–1449 and 1461–1468 and again in 1472) (born 1435)source
- October 12 – John Corvinus, Hungarian noble (born 1473)source
- November 9 – King Frederick IV of Naples (born 1452)source
- November 26 – Queen Isabella I of Castile (born 1451)source
- December 8 – Lê Túc Tông dies after a reign of only six months as Emperor of Vietnam.source
- Thomas Stanley, 1st Earl of Derby (born 1435)Englandsource
- Qasim Barid I, prime-minister of the Bahmani sultanate and the founder of the Bidar Sultanate dies (born 1489)Indiasource