1534 CE

(Easter Sunday) – Anabaptist Jan Matthys is killed by the Landsknechte, who laid siege to Münster on the day he predicted as the Second Coming of Christ. His follower John of Leiden takes control of the city. Sir Thomas More, having been brought before a royal commission to swear his allegiance to the Act of Succession, testifies that he accepts Parliament's right to declare Anne Boleyn the legitimate Queen of England, but denies that the marriage is spiritually valid of the king's second marriage". Holding fast to the Roman Catholic doctrine of papal supremacy, More refuses to take the oath of supremacy toward King Henry VIII. More is confined in the Tower of London. He will be executed on July 6, 1535. As the Michaelmas fair opens in Wittenberg, Martin Luther's translation of the complete Christian Bible into German is offered for sale for the first time. The work, printed on 1,824 pages in two volumes by Hans Lufft adds the Old Testament including the deuterocanonical books to Luther's 1522 translation of the New Testament, and includes woodcut illustrations.

In the 1530s, the 16th century.

Geopolitics & Diplomacy

January 15 – The Parliament of England passes the Act Respecting the Oath to the Succession, recognising the marriage of Henry VIII and Anne Boleyn, and their children as the legitimate heirs to the throne.source
February 23 – A group of Anabaptists, led by Jan Matthys, seize Münster, Westphalia and declare it The New Jerusalem, begin to exile dissenters, and forcibly baptize all others.source
March 10 – The Portuguese crown divides Colonial Brazil into fifteen donatory captaincies, hereditary titles similar to duchies. Rodrigo Ricupero, A Formação da Elite Colonial no Brasil (de 1530 a 1630) (Almedina Brasil, 2020),source
November 3– The English Reformation Parliament passes the Act of Supremacy, establishing Henry VIII as supreme head of the Church of England.source

Conflict & Security

June 23 – Copenhagen opens its gates to Count Christopher of Oldenburg, leading the army of Lübeck (and the Hanseatic League), nominally in the interests of the deposed King Christian II of Denmark. The surrenders of Copenhagen and, a few days later, of Malmö represent the high point of the Count's War for the forces of the League. These victories presumably lead the Danish nobility to recognize Christian III as King on July 4.source
June – Thomas FitzGerald, 10th Earl of Kildare (Silken Thomas) revolts. He had heard rumours that his father had been executed in the Tower of London and, as a result, publicly renounces his allegiance to King Henry VIII.Ireland source
October 18 – Huguenots post placards all over France attacking the Catholic Mass, provoking a violent sectarian reaction (Affair of the Placards).source
October 18 - Placards against Mass were posted by Protestants in Paris, Orléans and Amboise in what became known as Affair of the Placards.France source
31 October – Halmstad is taken by the Swedish army.Sweden source
December 4 – The Ottoman army under Suleiman the Magnificent captures the city of Baghdad from the Safavids without a struggle, beginning almost 400 years of Ottoman rule of what is now Iraq.source
Ibrahim Adil Shah I becomes king of the Bijapur Sultanate (reigns until 1558).India source
Ismail Adil Shah reign (since 1510) as king of the Bijapur Sultanate ends with his death.India source
Thomas FitzGerald attacks Dublin Castle, but his army is routed.Ireland source

Exploration & Expansion

April 20 - French explorer Jacques Cartier embarked on a voyage seeking to find a passage to the East Indies.France source
May 10 – Jacques Cartier explores Newfoundland, while searching for the Northwest Passage.source
June 9 – Jacques Cartier and his crew become the first Europeans to discover the Gulf of St Lawrence.source
June 29 – Jacques Cartier discovers Prince Edward Island.source
July 7 – The first known exchange between Europeans and the natives of the Gulf of St. Lawrence occurs in what is now New Brunswick.source
December 6 – Over 200 Spanish settlers, led by conquistador Sebastián de Belalcázar, found what becomes Quito, Ecuador.source

Religion & Belief

2 February – Sweden joins the Count's Feud to support the Danish throne claimant Christian against the Lübeck -supported Christian II.Sweden source
March 30 – The Submission of the Clergy Act 1533 becomes law in England, requiring submission of the clergy, that is, churchmen are to submit to the king and the publication of ecclesiastical laws without royal permission is forbidden.source
April 13 – Sir Thomas More, having been brought before a royal commission to swear his allegiance to the Act of Succession, testifies that he accepts Parliament's right to declare Anne Boleyn the legitimate Queen of England, but denies that the marriage is spiritually valid of the king's second marriage". Holding fast to the Roman Catholic doctrine of papal supremacy, More refuses to take the oath of supremacy toward King Henry VIII. More is confined in the Tower of London. He will be executed on July 6, 1535.source
August 15 – Ignatius of Loyola and six others take the vows that lead to the establishment of the Jesuits (the Society of Jesus), in Montmartre, near Paris.source
August 26 – Piero de Ponte becomes the 45th Grandmaster of the Knights Hospitaller.source
October 4 – As the Michaelmas fair opens in Wittenberg, Martin Luther's translation of the complete Christian Bible into German is offered for sale for the first time. The work, printed on 1,824 pages in two volumes by Hans Lufft adds the Old Testament including the deuterocanonical books to Luther's 1522 translation of the New Testament, and includes woodcut illustrations.source
Manco Inca Yupanqui is crowned as Sapa Inca in Cusco, Peru by Spanish conquistador Francisco Pizarro, in succession to his brother Túpac Huallpa (died October 1533).source
The first book in Yiddish is printed (in Kraków), Mirkevet ha-Mishneh, a Tanakh concordance by Rabbi Asher Anchel, translating difficult phrases in biblical Hebrew.source
Dissolution of Riseberga Abbey: the former nuns move to Germany.Sweden source

Health & Medicine

February – Gerald FitzGerald, 9th Earl of Kildare, is summoned to London, and appoints Thomas FitzGerald, 10th Earl of Kildare deputy governor of Ireland in his absence.Ireland source

Climate & Environment

An earthquake with its epicentre in North Wales is felt in Dublin.Ireland source

Culture & Society

July 4 – The Election of Christian III, as King of Denmark, takes place in the town of Rye.source
July 20 – Cambridge University Press is given a Royal Charter by Henry VIII of England, and becomes the first of the privileged presses.source
September 24– The first of Brazil's capitancias, the Capitancy of Pernambuco, is established for Pernambuco.source
Gargantua is published by François Rabelais.source

Births

January 6 – Pavao Skalić, Croatian encyclopedist, Renaissance humanist and adventurer (died 1575)source
March 19 – José de Anchieta, Spanish Jesuit missionary in Brazil (died 1597)source
April 18 – William Harrison, English clergyman (died 1593)source
June 15 – Henri de Montmorency, 3rd Duke of Montmorency, Marshal of France (died 1614)source
June 15 -Henri de Montmorency, 3rd Duke of Montmorency. (d.1614)France source
June 23 – Oda Nobunaga, Japanese warlord (died 1582)source
July 1 – King Frederick II of Denmark (died 1588)source
July 3 – Myeongjong of Joseon, ruler of Korea (died 1567)source
July 18 – Zacharius Ursinus, German theologian (died 1583)source
August 29 – Nicholas Pieck, Dutch Franciscan friar and martyr (died 1572)source
September 24 – Guru Ram Das, fourth Sikh Guru (died 1581)source
October 18 – Jean Passerat, political satirist and poet (died 1602)France source
November 2 – Archduchess Eleanor of Austria (died 1594)source
November 26 – Henry Berkeley, 7th Baron Berkeley (died 1613)source
December 16 – Hans Bol, Flemish artist (died 1593)source
December 16 – Lucas Osiander the Elder, German pastor (died 1604)source
Claude de La Baume, bishop and cardinal (d.1584)France source

Deaths

January 9 – Johannes Aventinus, Bavarian historian and philologist (born 1477)source
March 5 – Antonio da Correggio, Italian painter (born 1489)source
April 5 (Easter Sunday) – Anabaptist Jan Matthys is killed by the Landsknechte, who laid siege to Münster on the day he predicted as the Second Coming of Christ. His follower John of Leiden takes control of the city.source
April 16 – Kemalpaşazâde, Ottoman historian (born 1468)source
April 20 – Elizabeth Barton, English prophet and nun (executed) (born 1506)source
May 3 – Juana de la Cruz Vázquez Gutiérrez, Spanish abbess of the Franciscan Third Order Regular (born 1481)source
June 14 – Chaitanya Mahaprabhu, Bengali mystic (born 1486)source
July 28 – Archbishop John Alen, Chancellor of Ireland (who has attempted to mediate in the revolt) is murdered at Clontarf by retainers of Thomas FitzGerald.Ireland source
August 3 – Andrea della Valle, Italian Catholic cardinal (born 1463)source
August 9 – Thomas Cajetan, Italian theologian and cardinal (born 1470)source
August 21 – Philippe Villiers de L'Isle-Adam, 44th Grandmaster of the Knights Hospitaller (born 1464)source
August 21 - Philippe Villiers de L'Isle-Adam, French soldier (b.1464)France source
September 24 – Michael Glinski, Lithuanian prince (born c. 1470)source
September 25 – Pope Clement VII (born 1478)source
October 13 – Cardinal Alessandro Farnese is elected as the 220th pope of the Roman Catholic Church after a two-day conclave to find a successor for Pope Clement VII, who had died on September 25. Farnese, the Bishop of Ostia, takes the name Pope Paul III and is crowned on November 3.source
October 31 – Alfonso I d'Este, Duke of Ferrara (born 1476)source
Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu (born 1486)India source
Mallu Adil Shah reigns briefly as king of the Bijapur Sultanate before he dies.India source