1540 CE
Thomas Cromwell, is executed for treason publicly in London on the orders of king Henry VIII of England. Henry marries his fifth wife, Catherine Howard, on the same day. At Smithfield, London, three Lutheran pastors, Robert Barnes, Thomas Gerrard and William Jerome, are burnt at the stake on a charge of heresy and three Roman Catholic priests, Thomas Abel, Richard Fetherstone and Edward Powell, are hanged, drawn and quartered on a charge of high treason. Gibraltar is sacked by the fleet of Barbary pirate Ali Hamet, a Sardinian renegade in the service of the Ottoman Empire, and many of its leading citizens are taken as captives to Peñón de Vélez de la Gomera in Morocco. This leads to construction of the defensive Charles V Wall, at this time known as the Muralla de San Benito.
In the 1540s, the 16th century.
Geopolitics & Diplomacy
- April 3– Estêvão da Gama becomes the new Governor of Portuguese India.source
- 17 May – Sur Empire establishedIndiasource
- September 3 – Gelawdewos succeeds his father Lebna Dengel as Emperor of Ethiopia.source
- Biswa Singha of Kamata rule of the Koch Kingdom comes to an end (since 1515), and Nara Narayan's begins (until 1587)Indiasource
Conflict & Security
- February 14 – Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor, enters Ghent without resistance, and executes rebels, ending the Revolt of Ghent (1539–1540).source
- May 17 – Battle of Kannauj: Sher Shah Suri defeats and deposes Mughal Emperor Humayan, establishing the Sur Empire.source
- September 10 – Gibraltar is sacked by the fleet of Barbary pirate Ali Hamet, a Sardinian renegade in the service of the Ottoman Empire, and many of its leading citizens are taken as captives to Peñón de Vélez de la Gomera in Morocco. This leads to construction of the defensive Charles V Wall, at this time known as the Muralla de San Benito.source
- October 1 – Battle of Alborán: A Habsburg Spanish fleet, under the command of Bernardino de Mendoza, destroys an Ottoman fleet commanded by Ali Hamet off Alborán Island in the Mediterranean.source
- Anthony St Leger is appointed Lord Deputy of Ireland and tasked with the repression of disorder, beginning the pacification policy of surrender and regrant (which lasts until 1543).Irelandsource
Exploration & Expansion
- July 7 – Spanish conquistador Francisco Vázquez de Coronado captures Hawikuh in modern-day New Mexico, at this time known as part of Cíbola, but fails to find the legendary gold.source
- August 15 – In Peru, Spanish captain Garcí Manuel de Carbajal founds the Villa Hermosa de Arequipa; one year later, Charles V of Germany and I of Spain will give the valley a status of 'city' by royal decree.source
- October 18 – An expedition led by Spanish conquistador Hernando de Soto destroys the fortified village of Mabila in modern-day Alabama, killing paramount chief Tuskaloosa.source
- December 31 – Estêvão da Gama, Governor of Portuguese India, departs from Goa with a plan to sail into the Red Sea, and destroy the Ottoman Empire's access to the Indian Ocean by plundering Suez. The planned attack fails.source
Religion & Belief
- 4 January - Prince Erik is officially greeted as heir to the throne by nobility and bishops in Örebro.Swedensource
- March 23 – Waltham Abbey is the last to be closed as part of Henry VIII of England's dissolution of the monasteries.source
- April 7– The English cathedral priories of Canterbury and Rochester are transformed into secular cathedral chapters on Easter Sunday, concluding the Dissolution of the monasteries.source
- April 12– Printing of the first translation of the New Testament into the Icelandic language is completed after King Christian III of Denmark finishes having Oddur Gottskálksson's text compared to the original Latin.source
- July 30 – At Smithfield, London, three Lutheran pastors, Robert Barnes, Thomas Gerrard and William Jerome, are burnt at the stake on a charge of heresy and three Roman Catholic priests, Thomas Abel, Richard Fetherstone and Edward Powell, are hanged, drawn and quartered on a charge of high treason.source
- September 27 – The Society of Jesus (Jesuits) is approved by Pope Paul III, in his bull Regimini militantis Ecclesiae.source
- Martin Luther expels theologian Caspar Schwenckfeld from Silesia.source
- Black Abbey, Grey Friary, Kilkenny Abbey and St. John's Abbey, Kilkenny.Irelandsource
- Cashel Dominican and Franciscan Friaries.Irelandsource
- Monasteranenagh Abbey, Co. Limerick.Irelandsource
- Augustinian Friary of the Holy Trinity and Franciscan Friary, Dublin.Irelandsource
Health & Medicine
Crime & Justice
- January - The reformers Olaus Petri and Laurentius Andreae are sentenced to treason but pardoned.Swedensource
- June 10 – Thomas Cromwell, Chief Minister for King Henry VIII, is arrested at meeting of the Privy Council of England at Westminster and charged with treason. Cromwell is removed from his positions as Chancellor of the Exchequer, Lord Privy Seal, Lord Great Chamberlain and Governor of the Isle of Wight, and will be executed on July 28.source
- November 8 – William Whorwood becomes the new Attorney General for England and Wales, succeeding Sir John Bakersource
- Dominican Priory of St Eustace, Naas.Irelandsource
Climate & Environment
- Europe is hit by a heat wave and drought lasting for about seven months. Rivers such as the Rhine and Seine dry up, and many people die from dysentery and other illnesses, caused by lack of safe drinking water.source
Culture & Society
- January 1 (New Year's Day), Holy Roman Emperor Charles V, at the invite of King Francis I, visits Paris for the first and only time and stays for 2 months.Francesource
- January 6 – King Henry VIII marries Anne of Cleves, his fourth Queen consort; the marriage lasts six months.source
- July 9 – English King Henry VIII's marriage to Anne of Cleves, his fourth Queen consort, is annulled.source
- December 16 – Honoré I, Lord of Monaco reaches the age of 19 and after the future principality of Monaco had been administered by regents for more than 18 years.source
- Georg Joachim Rheticus publishes De libris revolutionum Copernici narratio prima in Danzig, an abstract of Copernicus' as yet unpublished De revolutionibus orbium coelestium.source
- Murrough O'Brien usurps the title of King of Thomond from his nephew, Donough O'Brien.Irelandsource
Births
- January 18 – Catarina of Portugal, Duchess of Braganza, claimant to the Portuguese throne in 1580 (died 1614)source
- January 25 – Edmund Campion, English Jesuit and Roman Catholic martyr (died 1581)source
- January 28 – Ludolph van Ceulen, German mathematician (died 1610)source
- February 12 – Wŏn Kyun, Korean general and admiral during the Joseon Dynasty (died 1597)source
- February 25 – Henry Howard, 1st Earl of Northampton, English aristocrat and courtier (died 1614)source
- May 9 – Maharana Pratap, Indian warrior king (died 1597)source
- 9 May – Maharana Pratap, Hindu Rajput ruler of Mewar (died 1597)Indiasource
- June 3 – Charles II, Archduke of Austria, regent of Inner Austria (died 1590)source
- June 11 – Barnabe Googe, English poet (died 1594)source
- July 7 – John Sigismund Zápolya, King of Hungary (died 1571)source
- August 5 – Joseph Justus Scaliger, French Protestant scholar (died 1609)source
- August 5 - Joseph Justus Scaliger, French-Italian religious leader and scholar. (d.1609)Francesource
- August 25 – Lady Catherine Grey, English noblewoman, potential successor to the throne (died 1568)source
- November 16 – Princess Cecilia of Sweden (died 1627)source
- November - Princess Cecilia of Sweden, princess (died 1627)Swedensource
- Francis Drake, English sea captain, privateer, navigator, slaver, pirate and politician (died 1596)source
- William Byrd, English composer (died 1623)source
- François Viète, French mathematician (d.1603)Francesource
Deaths
- January 27 – Angela Merici, Italian religious leader and saint (born 1474)source
- May 6 – Juan Luís Vives, Spanish scholar (born 1492)source
- May 22 – Francesco Guicciardini, Italian statesman and historian (born 1483)source
- July 22 – John Zápolya, King of Hungary (born c. 1490)source
- July 28 – Thomas Cromwell, is executed for treason publicly in London on the orders of king Henry VIII of England. Henry marries his fifth wife, Catherine Howard, on the same day.source
- July 28 – Thomas Cromwell, 1st Earl of Essex, English statesman (executed) (born c.1485)source
- July 30 – Robert Barnes, English reformer (martyred) (born 1495)source
- July 30 – Eric I, Duke of Brunswick-Lüneburg, Prince of Calenberg (1491–1540) (born 1470)source
- August 23 – Guillaume Budé, French scholar (born 1467)source
- August 24 – Girolamo Francesco Maria Mazzola (Parmigianino), Italian artist (born 1503)source
- August 28 – Federico II Gonzaga, Duke of Mantua (born 1500)source
- September 2 – Lebna Dengel, Emperor of Ethiopia (in battle) (born 1501)source
- September 20 – Infante Duarte, Duke of Guimarães, son of King Manuel I of Portugal (born 1515)source
- December 20 – Stephen V, Prince of Moldavia, is assassinated by two of the Moldavian nobles (boyars), Mihul and Trotsanul, after word arrives that he will be replaced by Petru Rareş, who had paid a bribe to the Ottoman Sultan Suleiman in order to be appointed the new Prince. Alexandru Cornea is crowned temporarily as Prince Alexandru III.source