1506 CE

The classical statue of Laocoön and His Sons is unearthed in Rome. On the recommendation of Giuliano da Sangallo and Michelangelo, Pope Julius II purchases it, and places it on public display in the Vatican a month later. Henry, Prince of Wales is made a Knight of the Golden Fleece by Maximilian I, Holy Roman Emperor. The Lisbon Massacre begins in Portugal with three days of violence, in which thousands of Jews are tortured and killed by Catholics.

In the 1500s, the 16th century.

Geopolitics & Diplomacy

9 February and 20 March – Treaties of Windsor ally England, Burgundy, and the Habsburgs against France. These are signed by Philip while held by Henry VII at Windsor CastleEngland source
February 15 – Iye Roy Mackay, Chief of Scotland's Clan Mackay, records his 1504 grant of six lands in what is now the County Sutherland, and starts a feud with Euphemia II, Countess of Ross.source
March 30 – King Vladislaus II of Hungary and Maximilian I, Holy Roman Emperor sign a treaty to arrange the marriage of Vladislaus's daughter and Maximilian's son.source
April 30 – Malus Intercursus, a treaty between King Henry VII of England and Duke Philip the Handsome of Burgundy, is signed.source
June 27 – The Treaty of Villafáfila is signed between Austria and Spain.source
August 19 – Sigismund I the Old succeeds his brother as king of Poland.source
October 15 – Charles II, the six-year-old son of King Philip of Castile, inherits his father's title of Duke of Burgundy and is proclaimed "Lord of the Netherlands".source

Conflict & Security

16 January – Philip of Burgundy lands at Melcombe Regis after the fleet carrying him to Castile runs into a violent stormEngland source
March – Battle of Cannanore (1506)India source
April 19 – The Lisbon Massacre begins in Portugal with three days of violence, in which thousands of Jews are tortured and killed by Catholics.source
May 28 – Emperor Moctezuma II of Mexico's Aztec Empire subdues a rebellion in Zozollan, east of Achiutia, then kills the prisoners of war as a sacrifice to the gods.source
August 6 – Battle of Kletsk: The Grand Duchy of Lithuania defeats the Tatars of the Crimean Khanate.source
September 2 – In Korea, Emperor Yonsangun, known for being a tyrant, is deposed in the Jungjong coup by his younger brother, who becomes King Jungjong.source
October 6 – In Córdoba, in the Spanish kingdom of Andalusia, members of the nobility and the general public revolt against the Spanish inquisitor Diego Rodriguez de Lucero and General Inquisitor Diego de Deza. The mob liberates the people incarcerated at the Córdoba prison.source

Exploration & Expansion

The Portuguese mariner Tristão da Cunha sights the islands of Tristan da Cunha, naming them after himself.source
The new city of Agra was foundedIndia source

Religion & Belief

January 14 – The classical statue of Laocoön and His Sons is unearthed in Rome. On the recommendation of Giuliano da Sangallo and Michelangelo, Pope Julius II purchases it, and places it on public display in the Vatican a month later.source
January 22 – The Swiss Guard arrives at the Vatican, to serve as permanent ceremonial and palace guards under Pope Julius II.source
February 9 – Henry, Prince of Wales is made a Knight of the Golden Fleece by Maximilian I, Holy Roman Emperor.source
April 18 – Pope Julius II lays the foundation stone of the new (current) St. Peter's Basilica in Rome, replacing the Old St. Peter's Basilica.source
October 7 – Pope Julius II issues a bull excommunicating Giovanni II Bentivoglio from the Roman Catholic Church, who had dominated the Italian city state of Bologna.source
November 6 – Pope Julius II personally leads his troops into Bologna, retaking the city from the excommunicated tyrant Giovanni II Bentivoglio.source
December 8 – Sigismund I the Old (Zygmunt Jagiellon), younger brother of the late Alexander Jagiellon, becomes the King of Poland and (as Zygimantas II) the Grand Duke of Lithuania. He will reign for more than 40 years, dying in 1548 at the age of 81.source
Johannes Trithemius becomes abbot of the monastery of St. Jacob, at Würzburg.source

Economy & Finance

In Ming dynasty China, the costs of the courier system are met by a tax in silver on land, instead of corvée labor service.source

Technology & Infrastructure

First bridge at O'Brien's Bridge, County Clare founded by Turlough O'BrienIreland source

Science & Discovery

Duarte Barbosa returns to Lisbon.source

Health & Medicine

July 12 – Philip the Handsome, Duke of Burgundy, becomes the ruler of the Spanish Kingdom of Castile with his insane wife Joanna, but reigns for only two months before dying of typhoid.source

Culture & Society

24 April – After being extradited to England as part of Henry's agreement with Philip, Edmund de la Pole is imprisoned in the Tower of London as a rival claimant to the throne.England source
May 14- Theologian Thomas Bricot awarded King Louis XII the honorary title of "Father of the People-Le Père du Peuple" during an assembly of the Estates at Plessis.France source
June 15 – Mahmud Shah II begins a 41-year reign as the Sultan of Kedah, a Muslim kingdom on the Malay Peninsula, on the death of his father, Adilin I.source
Leonardo da Vinci completes most of his work on the Mona Lisa.source

Births

February 2 – René de Birague, French cardinal and chancellor (died 1583)source
February 15 – Juliana of Stolberg, German countess (died 1580)source
February – George Buchanan, Scottish humanist scholar (died 1582)source
March 3 – Luís of Portugal, Duke of Beja (died 1555)source
April 7 – Francis Xavier, Spanish Jesuit saint (died 1552)source
April 13 – Peter Faber, French Jesuit theologian (died 1546)source
April 13- Peter Faber, French Catholic priest and co-founder of the Society of Jesus (d.1546)France source
July 1 – Louis II of Hungary and Bohemia (died 1526)source
August 12 – Franciscus Sonnius, Dutch counter-Reformation theologian (died 1576)source
October – Louis de Blois, Flemish mystical writer (died 1566)source
December 4 – Thomas Darcy, 1st Baron Darcy of Chiche, English courtier (died 1558)source
4 December – Thomas Darcy, Courtier (died 1558)England source
December 8 – Veit Dietrich, German theologian, writer and reformer (died 1549)source
Elizabeth Barton, English nun (died 1534)source
William Paget, 1st Baron Paget, English statesman (died 1563)source
Margaret Lee, confidante of Queen Anne Boleyn (died 1543)source
Elizabeth Barton, nun (died 1534)England source
Michel de l'Hôpital-French diplomat and chancellor (d.1573)France source

Deaths

January 21 – Johann IV Roth, German Roman Catholic bishop (born 1426)source
March 16 – Battle of Cannanore: Portugal's fleet (commanded by Lourenço de Almeida) defeats the fleet of the Zamorin of Calicut, with hundreds of vessels involved; 3,000 Muslim troops are killed.source
May 4 – Badi' al-Zaman Mirza becomes the new Emir of the Timurid Empire (now part of Afghanistan) after the death of his father, Sultan Husayn Bayqara, who died after a reign of 37 years.source
May 4 – Sultan Husayn Mirza Bayqara, Timurid ruler of Herat (born 1438)source
May 20 – Christopher Columbus, Italian explorer (born c.1451)source
August 15 – Alexander Agricola, Flemish composer (born c. 1445)source
August 19 – King Alexander Jagiellon of Poland (born 1461)source
6 September – Sir Richard Guildford, courtier (born 1450)England source
September 13 – Andrea Mantegna, Italian painter and engraver (born 1432)source
September 25 – Philip I, the first Spanish Habsburg King of Castile, dies suddenly from typhoid.source
September 25 – King Philip the Handsome of Castile (born 1478)source
September 30 – Beatrice, Duchess of Viseu, Portuguese infante (born 1430)source
November 8 – Edward Hastings, 2nd Baron Hastings, English noble (born 1466)source
8 November – Edward Hastings, 2nd Baron Hastings (born 1466)England source
November 20 – Yeonsangun of Joseon, king of Korean Joseon Dynasty (born 1476)source
November 21 – Engelbert, Count of Nevers, younger son of John I (born 1462)source
Katherine Fitzgerald, Lady of Hy-Carbery, Castle Salem, CorkIreland source