1531 CE

William Skeffington accepted the formal submission of the Gaelic leader Hugh Duff O'Donnell in Drogheda. The Virgin of Guadalupe first appears to Juan Diego at Tepeyac, Mexico City. Mary, mother of Jesus, in the guise of Our Lady of Guadalupe, appears imprinted on the tilmàtli of Juan Diego Cuauhtlatoatzin, an Aztec convert to Catholicism, in Tepeyac near Mexico City.

In the 1530s, the 16th century.

Geopolitics & Diplomacy

  • January 15 – The third session of the Reformation Parliament of King Henry VIII of England is opened.source
  • May – William Skeffington accepted the formal submission of the Gaelic leader Hugh Duff O'Donnell in Drogheda.Irelandsource
  • July 25 – The city of Santiago de Querétaro, Mexico is founded.source
  • September 15 – The first Parliament of Ireland in more than nine years is opened at Kilkea Castle, near Castledermot, County Kildare, and continues until its adjournment on October 31.source
  • Conquistador Francisco de Montejo claims Chichen Itza as capital of Spanish-ruled Yucatán.source

Conflict & Security

  • February or March – Battle of Antukyah: Ahmad ibn Ibrahim al-Ghazi of the Adal Sultanate defeats the Ethiopian army.source
  • March 28 – In India, the fortress of Mandu, capital of the Malwa Sultanate, falls as Malwa's Sultan Mahmúd II and his sons surrender to Bahadur Shah of Gujarat.source
  • April – Battle of Puná: Francisco Pizarro defeats the native inhabitants of the island of Puná, off of the coast of what is now the South American nation of Ecuador.source
  • May 18 – The third Dalecarlian rebellion in Sweden is settled on St. Eric's Day at Arboga in Denmark when King Christian II returns church bells, confiscated earlier to pay Denmark's debts, to the villages in rebellion.source
  • 27 July – A dozen leaders of the Rivageois revolt hanged in Liège.Belgiumsource
  • August 22 – Battle of Obertyn: The Moldavians are defeated by Polish forces under Jan Tarnowski, allowing the Poles to recapture Pokucie.source
  • October 11 – Battle of Kappel: The forces of Zürich are defeated by the Catholic cantons. Huldrych Zwingli, the Swiss religious reformer, is killed.source
  • October 28 – Battle of Amba Sel: Imam Ahmad ibn Ibrahim al-Ghazi again defeats the army of Dawit II, Emperor of Ethiopia. The southern part of Ethiopia thus falls under Imam Ahmad's control.source
  • November 5 – Christian II`s invasion force arrives in Oslo.source
  • Bernard van Orley and William Dermoyen – The Battle of Pavia (tapestry, woven between 1528 and 1531)Belgiumsource
  • At the behest of O'Donnell, the Earl of Kildare and the Lord Justice of Ireland lead an English force into Ulster. They pillage the country until Kinard, where they turn back, daring not to venture further.Irelandsource
  • A battle took place near the castle at Scairbh-Begoige, where Manus O'Donnell and his forces were routed by the Maguires.Irelandsource

Exploration & Expansion

  • December 9 – The Virgin of Guadalupe first appears to Juan Diego at Tepeyac, Mexico City.source
  • In present-day Czech Republic, the Zástřizl family held Bohdalice and Pavlovice from 1413 until 1531.source
  • Bertrand d'Ornesan, leads an expedition to Brazil to establish a commercial post. The ship sailed from Normandy with 120 men.Francesource

Religion & Belief

  • February 27 – Lutheran princes in the Holy Roman Empire form an alliance known as the Schmalkaldic League.source
  • April 16 – The city of Puebla, Mexico, is founded.source
  • 1 October – Charles V reorganises the governing institutions of the Habsburg Netherlands, establishing three "collateral councils" as the highest government bodies: the Brussels Privy Council, Council of State, and Council of Finances.Belgiumsource
  • 7 October – Edicts issued on coins, notaries, monopolies, vagrancy and poor relief, and on the printing of heretical books.Belgiumsource
  • 19 November – Charles V issues decree reorganizing the Council of Luxembourg.Belgiumsource
  • December 12 – Mary, mother of Jesus, in the guise of Our Lady of Guadalupe, appears imprinted on the tilmàtli of Juan Diego Cuauhtlatoatzin, an Aztec convert to Catholicism, in Tepeyac near Mexico City.source

Technology & Infrastructure

  • March 31 – King Henry VIII gives royal assent to numerous acts at the close of the session of the English Parliament, including the Poisoning Act 1530 (providing for boiling to death people convicted of poisioning other persons); the Vagabonds Act 1530 (permitting licensed begging by certified disabled and elderly people); the Egyptians Act 1530 to allow the expulsion of gypsies; and the Bridges Act 1530 for maintenance of bridges.source

Science & Discovery

Crime & Justice

  • Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor abolishes the worst abuses of the encomienda system, by pressure of Bartolomé de las Casas.source
  • A witch-hunt is conducted in the town of Schiltach, Germany.source

Climate & Environment

  • 26 January – The Lisbon earthquake and subsequent tsunami resulted in approximately 30,000 deaths.Portugalsource
  • A severe drought in Henan province, China, coupled with a gigantic swarm of locusts in the summer, forces many in destitute agricultural communities to turn to cannibalism to avoid dying by starvation.source

Culture & Society

  • June 24 – The city of San Juan del Río, Mexico, is founded.source
  • September 16 – (5th waxing of Thadingyut 893 ME) In Burma (now Myanmar), the formal coronation of General Min Pa as King Min Bin of Arakan takes place in the Arakan capital, Mrauk U.source
  • September 24 – At the age of 35, King Gustav I Vasa of Sweden is married for the first time, taking Catherine of Saxe-Lauenburg as his bride on her 18th birthday.source
  • 26 September – Mary of Hungary appointed regent over the Habsburg Netherlands.Belgiumsource
  • The University of Sarajevo is founded by Gazi Husrev-beg based on Sufi philosophy.source
  • Manus O'Donnell of Tyrconnell applies to the Lordship of Ireland for protection against the O'Neills of Tyrone.Irelandsource

Births

  • April 6 – Wolfgang, Duke of Brunswick-Grubenhagen (died 1595)source
  • May 15 – Maria of Austria, Duchess of Jülich-Cleves-Berg, daughter of Emperor Ferdinand I (died 1581)source
  • May 20 – Viceroy Thado Minsaw of Ava (died 1584)source
  • June 1 – János Zsámboky, Hungarian scholar (died 1584)source
  • July 22 – Leonhard Thurneysser, German scholar and quack at the court of John George, Elector of Brandenburg (died 1595)source
  • September 2 – Francesco Cattani da Diacceto, Bishop of Fiesole (died 1595)source
  • September 4 – Hans Fugger, German businessman (died 1598)source
  • October 7 – Scipione Ammirato, Italian historian (died 1601)source
  • October 12 – Jacques de Savoie, 2nd Duc de Nemours (died 1585)source
  • October 12 -Jacques de Savoie, Duke of Nemours, French Nobleman and military commander (died 1585)Francesource
  • November 14 – Richard Topcliffe, English torturer (died 1604)source
  • November 16 – Anna d'Este, duchess consort of Nemours (died 1607)source
  • November 29 – Johannes Letzner, German Protestant priest and historian (died 1613)source
  • December 6 – Vespasiano I Gonzaga, Italian noble and diplomat (died 1591)source
  • December – Hendrick van Brederode, Dutch noble (died 1568)source
  • Hendrick van Brederode, rebel commander (died 1568)Belgiumsource
  • António, Prior of Crato, King of Portugal as António I of Portugal for 33 days in 1580 (died 1595)Portugalsource
  • Sten Axelsson Banér (1531–1599) – He was a Swedish nobleman and a significant military leader.Swedensource

Deaths

  • January 26 – 1531 Lisbon earthquake: More than 30,000 people are killed in Portugal in an earthquake and subsequent tsunami.source
  • February 16 – Johannes Stöffler, German mathematician (born 1452)source
  • March 6 – Pedrarias Dávila, Spanish colonial administrator (born c. 1440)source
  • March – María Pacheco, Spanish heroine and defender of Toledo (born 1496)source
  • April 12 – In the Songhai Empire that rules most of West Africa and the Niger River valley, the Emperor Askiya Musa is assassinated by his brothers after less than two years on the throne. Askia Mohammad Benkan is enthroned the same day.source
  • May 10 – George I, Duke of Pomerania from the House of Griffins (born 1493)source
  • May 19 – Jan Łaski, Polish statesman and diplomat (born 1456)source
  • May 27 – (11th waxing of Nayon 893 ME) Minkhaung of Mrauk-U, the Burmese King of Arakan since 1521, is killed in a coup d'etat by the rebellious Governor of Thandwe, Min Pa.source
  • July 7 – Tilman Riemenschneider, German sculptor (born 1460)source
  • September 18 – Lorenzo Pucci, Italian Catholic cardinal (born 1458)source
  • September 22 – Louise of Savoy, French regent (born 1476)source
  • September 22- Louise of Savoy, mother of King Francis I and Marguerite of Navarre. And queen regent in 1515, 1525–1526 and 1529, during the absence of her son.(b.1476)Francesource
  • October 11 – Huldrych Zwingli, Swiss reformer (in battle) (born 1484)source
  • November 24 – Johannes Oecolampadius, German religious reformer (born 1482)source
  • December 1 – Maud Green, English noble (born 1492)source
  • Vallabha Acharya – founder of the Pushti sect in India,Indiasource
  • María Pacheco, Spanish woman who escaped to Portugal when her husband Juan López de Padilla was killed in 1521 (born about 1496)Portugalsource
  • Nils Dacke (circa 1510–1543) – Although he died in 1543, he was a significant figure during the early 1530s.Swedensource