1544 CE

The Västerås arvförening declare Sweden to be a Hereditary monarchy, with the right of the eldest legitimate son to be heir to the throne and the younger sons to be Dukes. It is also officially declared a Protestant Kingdom: Requiem, the worship of saints and pilgrimages is banned, crucifixes is removed from the churches, and the opposition to the new religious order is declared heretics. Five Roman Catholic priests— John Larke, John Ireland, the vicar of Eltham and Robert Singleton are executed at Tyburn, outside of London, in England after being convicted of participating in the Prebendaries' Plot to remove Thomas Cranmer, the Protestant Archbishop of Canterbury. Battle of Ceresole: French forces under the Comte d'Enghien defeat forces of the Holy Roman Empire, under the Marques Del Vasto, near Turin.

In the 1540s, the 16th century.

Geopolitics & Diplomacy

  • March 29 – Royal assent is given by King Henry VIII to laws passed by the English Parliament, including the Third Succession Act, the amended Treason Act and the King's Style Act.source
  • May 17 – At Lima, Blasco Núñez Vela takes office as the first Spanish Governor of the Viceroyalty of Peru, which encompasses most of what are now the nations of Peru, Ecuador, Bolivia, Paraguay and Uruguay, as well as the western part of Brazil.source
  • May 23 – The Treaty of Speyer is signed between the Holy Roman Empire and the Kingdom of Denmark (which includes Norway). Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor agrees to recognize Christian III as the ruler of Denmark and Norway, and abandons further attempts to restore King Christian II to the throne. In return, Denmark and Norway agree to support the Habsburg monarchy in the Empire.source
  • August 17 – The University of Königsberg is inaugurated in Prussia.source
  • September 18 – Peace of Crépy: Peace is declared between Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor, and Francis I of France. The war between France and England continues.source
  • September 18 - The Treaty of Crépy is signed between representatives of King Francis I and Holy Roman Emperor Charles V.Francesource

Conflict & Security

  • January 4 – In India, Maldeo Rathore, King of Marwar (now part of the state of Rajasthan) is tricked by counterintelligence spread by Mughal Emperor and Afghan Shah Sher Shah Suri into departing from Jodhpur. The Battle of Sammel begins shortly afterward and is won by the Afghan and Mughal armies.source
  • March 16 – The Battle of Glasgow is fought for control of Scotland between Matthew Stewart, 4th Earl of Lennox and the troops of the Regent, James Hamilton, 2nd Earl of Arransource
  • 16 March – Battle of Glasgow (1544)Scotlandsource
  • April 11 – Battle of Ceresole: French forces under the Comte d'Enghien defeat forces of the Holy Roman Empire, under the Marques Del Vasto, near Turin.source
  • May 3 – Edward Seymour, Earl of Hertford, with an English army, captures Leith and Edinburgh from the Kingdom of Scotland.source
  • 7 May – Burning of Edinburgh, the first action of the Rough Wooing.Scotlandsource
  • May 25 – On orders of King Henry VIII, the English Navy, commanded by Thomas Howard, 3rd Duke of Norfolk, begins crossing the English Channel to invade from the west with 19,000 troops, while Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor, commences an invasion of France from the east.source
  • June 4 – A combined force of troops from the Holy Roman Empire and from Spain, both commanded by Emperor Charles V, defeat the French in the Battle of Serravalle after three days of fighting.source
  • June 8 – The Duke of Norfolk crosses the English Channel after having landed troops in Normandy.source
  • June 24 – The plundering of the Italian island of Ischia, part of the Kingdom of Naples is carried out by the Ottoman Empire Navy, commanded by Hayreddin Barbarossa, who captures 4,000 of the residents and then sells them as slaves in Algeria.source
  • July 10– Troops of the Holy Roman Empire begin the six-week siege of Saint-Dizier in eastern France.source
  • July 15 – Battle of the Shirts: The Clan Fraser of Lovat and Macdonalds of Clan Ranald fight over a disputed chiefship in Scotland; reportedly, five Frasers and eight or ten Macdonalds survive.source
  • July 19– Italian War of 1542–46: King Henry VIII of England begins the siege of the city of Boulogne in northern France and continues for almost two months before the city surrenders.source
  • July 19 – September 18: First Siege of Boulogne in France during the Italian War of 1542–1546. An Irish contingent serving with the English army is led by Piers Power, 2nd Lord Le Power and Curraghmore who is fatally wounded.Irelandsource
  • July - August; siege of St. Dizier, during the Italian War of 1542–46.Francesource
  • July – Battle of the Shirts in the Great Glen.Scotlandsource
  • August 17 – In France, Saint-Dizier surrenders to the Holy Roman Empire after a siege of more than a month.source
  • September 14 – The siege of Boulogne ends as the city surrenders to King Henry VIII.source
  • October 9 – Second Siege of Boulogne: French forces under the Dauphin assault Boulogne, but are ultimately unsuccessful.source
  • 2 to 4 June – Battle of SerravalleFrancesource
  • The Battle of Sammel was fought near what are now Giri and Sumel villages in the Jaitaran sub-division of Rajasthan's Pali district. The belligerents were Sher Shah Suri, founder of the Muslim Sur Empire, and Rao Maldeo Rathore, the Hindu Rajput king of Marwar.Indiasource

Exploration & Expansion

  • May 23 – The allied French and Ottoman navies depart from the French port of Marseille and travel to Constantinople, the Ottoman capital. The French fleet is commanded by Antoine Escalin des Aimars, known as Captain Polin, French ambassador to the Ottomans, while the Turks are led by Hayreddin Barbarossa.source
  • September 18 – The expedition of Juan Bautista Pastene makes landfall in San Pedro Bay, southern Chile, claiming the territory for Spain.source
  • September 22 – Captain Juan Bautista Pastene leads the first European expedition to the estuary of Valdivia, Chile and Corral Bay.source
  • Portuguese explorers encounter the island of Taiwan, and call it Ilha Formosa ("Beautiful Island").source
  • Rats make their first appearance in South America, arriving in Peru with the species black rat.source

Religion & Belief

  • January 13 - The Västerås arvförening declare Sweden to be a Hereditary monarchy, with the right of the eldest legitimate son to be heir to the throne and the younger sons to be Dukes. It is also officially declared a Protestant Kingdom: Requiem, the worship of saints and pilgrimages is banned, crucifixes is removed from the churches, and the opposition to the new religious order is declared heretics.Swedensource
  • February 20 – The Fourth Diet of Speyer is convened.source
  • March 16 – Friedrich II becomes the new Elector Palatine of Germany's Rhineland within the Holy Roman Empire upon the death of his brother Ludwig V at Heidelberg.source
  • December 9 – Crown Prince Yi Ho becomes the new King of Korea upon the death of his father, King Joseon. Yi Ho reigns for eight months before being poisoned by his own mother, and is posthumously named as King Injong of Joseon.source
  • The former nuns of the Skänninge Abbey are forcibly moved to Vreta Abbey.Swedensource

Science & Discovery

  • The earliest mention of the tomato in European literature appeared in Pietro Andrea Mattioli's herbal.source

Health & Medicine

  • After being asked by Cosimo I de' Medici, Grand Duke of Tuscany, botanist Luca Ghini comes to the University of Pisa as the chair of botany, where he had the year prior established the Orto botanico di Pisa.source

Crime & Justice

  • April 21 – The Italian town of Agropoli, frequently targeted by pirates from North Africa, is sacked by Ottoman raiders and 100 people are taken prisoner.source

Disasters & Accidents

  • May 7 – Edward Seymour, Lord Hertford, carries out the burning of Edinburgh, capital of the Kingdom of Scotland, by the English Navy, then proceeds to destroy neighboring areas.source
  • Mongols, led by Anda, burn the suburbs of Beijing in China.source

Culture & Society

  • January 13 – At Västerås, the estates of Sweden swear loyalty to King Gustav Vasa and to his heirs, ending the traditional electoral monarchy in Sweden. Gustav subsequently signs an alliance with the Kingdom of France.source
  • January 24 – During a solar eclipse visible over the Netherlands, Dutch mathematician and designer Gemma Frisius makes the first recorded use of a camera obscura and uses it to observe the event without directly looking at the Sun. Frisius writes about the event the next year and illustrates it in his book De Radio Astronomica et Geometrica (Regarding rays of light in astronomy and geometry).source
  • 6 July – Lady Margaret Douglas marries Matthew Stewart, 4th Earl of Lennox in London.Scotlandsource
  • July 20 – Albert, Duke of Prussia signs a deed granting land for creation of the University of Königsberg.source
  • November 24 – Rüstem Opuković Pasha, son-in-law of the Sultan Suleiman the Magnificent, is appointed as the new Grand Vizier of the Ottoman Empire, replacing Hadım Suleiman Pasha.source

Births

Deaths

  • March 7 – Five Roman Catholic priests— John Larke, John Ireland, the vicar of Eltham and Robert Singleton are executed at Tyburn, outside of London, in England after being convicted of participating in the Prebendaries' Plot to remove Thomas Cranmer, the Protestant Archbishop of Canterbury.source
  • March 16 – Louis V, Elector Palatine (1508–1544) (born 1478)source
  • March 22 – Johannes Magnus, last Catholic Archbishop of Sweden (born 1488)source
  • April 30 – Thomas Audley, Lord Chancellor of England (born 1488)source
  • April – Robert Cairncross, Bishop.Scotlandsource
  • June 14 – Antoine, Duke of Lorraine (born 1489)source
  • July 15 – René of Châlon, Prince of the House of Orange (born 1519)source
  • August 19 – Hans Buser, Swiss noble (born 1513)source
  • September 12 – Clément Marot, French poet (born 1496)source
  • September 25 – Valerius Cordus, German physician and scientist (born 1515)source
  • October 10 – Charles Blount, 5th Baron Mountjoy, English courtier and patron of learning (born 1516)source
  • October 12 – Antonio Pucci, Italian Catholic cardinal (born 1485)source
  • November 15 – Lucy Brocadelli, Dominican tertiary and stigmatic (born 1476)source
  • November 29 – Jungjong of Joseon (born 1488)source
  • December 9 – Teofilo Folengo, Italian poet (born 1491)source
  • Bonaventure des Périers, writer (born c.1510)Francesource
  • René of Châlon, Prince of Orange and stadtholder in the Low CountriesFrancesource
  • c. March – Ulick na gCeann Burke, 1st Earl of Clanricarde, Clanricarde.Irelandsource