date: April 13

text: April 13 – Alice Glaston, age 11, becomes the youngest girl ever to be legally executed in England (though John Dean, age 8, is executed on February 23, 1629)


date: September 8

section: Crime & Justice

text: September 8 – The first Protestant Huguenot church in France, established by Pierre LeClerc and Etienne Mangin at Meaux 25 mi from Paris, is seized by the French Army and its 60 members are arrested. Ten women are released and 50 others put on trial for heresy. LeClerc, Mangin and 12 others are burned at the stake on October 8.

source_section: Events › July–September


date: December 12

text: December 12 – Thomas Howard, 3rd Duke of Norfolk and the Lord High Treasurer of England since 1522 is arrested along with his eldest son, Henry Howard, Earl of Surrey and both are imprisoned in the Tower of London. The Earl of Surrey is executed for treason on January 19; the Duke of Norfolk is sentenced to death, but before the sentence can be carried out, King Henry VIII passes away and Norfolk remains in the Tower until being pardoned in 1553.

source_section: Events › October—December


text: Katharina von Bora flees to Magdeburg.

source_section: Events › Date unknown


date: November 4

section: Culture & Society

text: November 4 – Christ Church, Oxford, is refounded as a college by Henry VIII of England under this name.


date: December 19

text: December 19 – Trinity College, Cambridge, is founded by Henry VIII of England.


date: January 27

section: Births

text: January 27 – Joachim Friedrich, Elector of Brandenburg (d. 1608)

source_section: Births


date: February 1

text: February 1 – Mogami Yoshiaki, Japanese daimyō of the Yamagata domain (d. 1614)


date: February 14

text: February 14 – Johann Pistorius, German historian (d. 1608)


date: March 21

text: March 21 – Bartholomeus Spranger, Flemish painter (d. 1611)


date: March 25

text: March 25 – Giacomo Castelvetro, Italian writer (d. 1616)


date: April 20

text: April 20 – Bernardo de Sandoval y Rojas, Spanish Catholic cardinal (d. 1618)


date: June 13

text: June 13 – Tobias Matthew, English Archbishop of York (d. 1628)


date: June 14

text: June 14 – Wolfgang, Count of Hohenlohe-Weikersheim, German count (d. 1610)


date: June 24

text: June 24 – Robert Parsons, English Jesuit priest (d. 1610)


date: June 29

text: June 29 – Dorothea of Denmark, Duchess of Brunswick-Lüneburg (1561-1592) (d. 1617)


date: July 4

text: July 4 – Murat III, Ottoman Sultan (d. 1595)


date: August 13

text: August 13 – Jan Opaliński, Polish nobleman and Castellan of Rogozin (d. 1598)


date: September 6

text: September 6 – Pedro Álvarez de Toledo, 5th Marquis of Villafranca, Spanish noble and politician (d. 1627)


date: October 5

text: October 5 – Rudolph Snellius, Dutch linguist and mathematician (d. 1613)


date: January 11

section: Deaths

text: January 11 – Gaudenzio Ferrari, Italian painter and sculptor (b. c. 1471)

source_section: Deaths


date: January 13

text: January 13 – Jeremias I of Constantinople, Patriarch of the Eastern Orthodox Church dies.

source_section: Events › January–March


date: February 23

text: February 23 – Francis, Count of Enghien, French military leader (b. 1519)


date: March 1

text: March 1 – George Wishart, Scottish religious reformer (martyred) (b. 1513)


date: May 29

text: May 29 – David Beaton, Scottish Catholic cardinal (assassinated) (b. c. 1494)


date: July 9

text: July 9 – Robert Maxwell, 5th Lord Maxwell, Scottish statesman (b. c. 1493)


date: July 16

text: July 16 – Anne Askew, English Protestant (burned at the stake) (b. 1521)


date: August 1

text: August 1 – Peter Faber, French Jesuit theologian (b. 1506)


date: August 3

text: August 3 – Antonio da Sangallo the Younger, Italian architect (b. 1484)


text: August 3 – Étienne Dolet, French scholar and printer (b. 1509)


date: August 12

text: August 12 – Francisco de Vitoria, Renaissance theologian (b. 1492)


date: September 3

text: September 3 – Ilie II Rareș becomes the new Prince of Moldavia upon the death of his father Petru IV Rareș, in the Moldavian capital, Suceava.


date: October 17

text: October 17 – Irish noble James Butler, 9th Earl of Ormond, the chief opponent of the policies of Sir Anthony St Leger, England's Lord Deputy of Ireland up until April 1, is fatally poisoned after being invited to the Ely Palace near London. Ormond dies 11 days later, and no investigation is carried out by the Crown as to whether St Leger is involved. St Leger becomes the Lord Deputy again less than three weeks after Ormond's death.


date: December 30

text: December 30 – Less than a month before his death, King Henry VIII of England revises his last will and testament and designates his preference for the line of succession to the throne. The first four people on the list serve as monarchs at different times, starting with Edward VI (1547-1553), Mary I (1553-1558) and Elizabeth I (1558-1603). The fourth in the line of succession, Lady Jane Grey, reigns for nine days after the death of Edward before Mary assumes the throne.


date: July 17

section: Geopolitics & Diplomacy

text: July 17 – After the Earl of Arran, Regent of Scotland for Mary, Queen of Scots, is unable to get England to voluntarily return control of Langholm to Scotland, he "reduces it by force.".


date: August 13

text: August 13 – The Duchy of Brittany unites with the Kingdom of France.


date: December 24

text: December 24 – King Edward VI of England gives royal assent to numerous laws enacted by Parliament, including the Treason Act and the Vagabonds Act.

source_section: Events › October–December


date: April 24

section: Conflict & Security

text: April 24 – Battle of Mühlberg: Emperor Charles V defeats the Lutheran forces of the Schmalkaldic League and takes John Frederick I.

source_section: Events › April–June


date: May 23

text: May 23 – The Protestant Schmalkaldic League defeats the Catholic Army of the Holy Roman Empire at the Battle of Drakenburg. Of 6,000 Imperial troops, 2,500 are killed and another 2,500 are taken prisoner by the Protestants.


date: June 13

text: June 13 – A peace treaty is signed between representatives of the Holy Roman Empire and of the Ottoman Empire and France after the Holy Roman Empire's defeat at the 1543 Siege of Nice.


date: June 23

text: June 23 – Philip I, Landgrave of Hesse and John Frederick I, Elector of Saxony, leaders of the Schmalkaldic League who were both captured at the battle of Muhlberg, are transported to south Germany and imprisoned for their revolt against the Empire.


date: June 26

text: June 26 – King Henri of France orders the division of France's easternmost provinces and divides them into three zones of control, each administered by a Marshal of the Army.


date: June 29

text: June 29 – A fleet of 21 French galleys, commanded by Leone Strozzi, arrives at Fife in Scotland and begins the siege of St Andrews Castle.


date: September 10

text: September 10 – Battle of Pinkie Cleugh: An English army under the Duke of Somerset, Lord Protector of England, defeats a Scottish army under James Hamilton, 2nd Earl of Arran, the Regent. The English seize Edinburgh.


date: October 13

text: October 13 – (New Moon of Thadinovut 909 ME) With the end of the Buddhist Lent, the Kingdom of Burma (now Myanmar) mobilizes to invade the Kingdom of Arakan (now Thailand).


date: November 15

text: November 15 – A fleet of 60 Ottoman Navy ships, commanded by Piri Reis, arrives at the port of Aden (now in Yemen) and captures the city in slightly more than three months, by February 26, 1548.


date: December 6

text: December 6 – The Battle of Perlis River is fought between the Portuguese Navy and the navy of the Aceh Sultanate (now a province of Indonesia) at the Perlis River in Malaysia. With nine light warships and 230 soldiers, the Portuguese sink or capture 45 of the 60 ships of Aceh vessel leave 4,000 of their 5,380 soldiers dead or missing.


date: December 28

text: December 28 – Sir John Luttrell of England, recently victorious over Scotland in the Battle of Pinkie, raids the Scottish port of Burntisland on the Firth of Forth, after his uncle Thomas Wyndham brings two Royal Navy warships. Luttrell and Wyndhamburn ships and buildings on the pier and capture Rossend Castle


text: Edward VI of England outlaws execution by boiling.


section: Exploration & Expansion

text: John Dee visits the Low Countries, to study navigation with Gemma Frisius.


text: Huguenots increasingly immigrate to the English county of Kent, especially Canterbury, from France.


date: January 16

section: Religion & Belief

text: January 16 – Grand Prince Ivan IV is crowned as Tsar of all Russia at the Dormition Cathedral in Moscow, thereby proclaiming the Tsardom of Russia.


date: February 20

text: February 20 – Edward VI of England is crowned at Westminster Abbey.


date: May 19

text: May 19 – John Frederick I signs the Capitulation of Wittenberg in order to have his life spared by the Holy Roman Empire.


date: June 21

text: June 21 – The apparition of Mary, mother of Jesus is seen by several women in the Sicilian city of Alcamo. She becomes the patron saint of the city and is celebrated as the Madonna of Miracles (la Madonna dei Miracoli)


date: July 25

text: July 25 – The coronation of Henri II as King of France at the Reims Cathedral.


section: Technology & Infrastructure

text: Work on construction of the Château de Chambord, in the Loire Valley, for Francis I of France, ceases.


date: January 13

text: January 13 – Henry Howard, Earl of Surrey is sentenced to death for treason in England.


text: September 10 – Conspirators led by Ferrante Gonzaga murder Pier Luigi Farnese, Duke of Parma and son of the Pope, and hang his body from a window of his palace in Piacenza.


section: Disasters & Accidents

text: The Chambre Ardente is established in Paris for trying heretics.


date: January 8

text: January 8 – The first Lithuanian-language book, a Catechism (Katekizmo paprasti žodžiai, Simple Words of Catechism), is published in Königsberg by Martynas Mažvydas.


date: April 4

text: April 4 – Catherine Parr, widow of King Henry VIII of England, secretly marries Thomas Seymour, 1st Baron Seymour of Sudeley.


date: June 4

text: June 4 – Maurice, Duke of Saxony is formally raised to the status of the Elector.


date: November 5

text: November 5 – Catherine Parr, the former Queen consort of England and widow of King Henry VIII, publishes her book The Lamentation of a Sinner.


date: January 24

text: January 24 – Joanna of Austria, Grand Duchess of Tuscany, Austrian Archduchess (d. 1578)


date: February 18

text: February 18 – Bahāʾ al-dīn al-ʿĀmilī, Syrian Arab co-founder of the Isfahan School of Islamic Philosophy (d. 1621)


date: February 24

text: February 24 – Don John of Austria, military leader (d. 1578)


date: March 1

text: March 1 – Rudolph Goclenius, German philosopher (d. 1628)


text: May 19 – Gustaf Banér, Swedish nobleman and member of the Privy Council of Sweden (d. 1600)


date: August 10

text: August 10 – Francis II, Duke of Saxe-Lauenburg (d. 1619)


date: September 14

text: September 14 – Johan van Oldenbarnevelt, Dutch statesman (d. 1619)


date: September 22

text: September 22 – Philipp Nicodemus Frischlin, German philologist and poet (d. 1590)


date: October 2

text: October 2 – Philipp Ludwig, Count Palatine of Neuburg (1569–1614) and Count Palatine of Sulzbach (1604–1614) (d. 1614)


date: October 18

text: October 18 – Justus Lipsius, Flemish humanist (d. 1606)


date: November 10

text: November 10 – Gebhard Truchsess von Waldburg, Archbishop of Cologne (d. 1601)


date: November 12

text: November 12 – Claude of Valois, daughter of King Henry II of France (d. 1575)


date: November 26

text: November 26 – Nicolaus Taurellus, German philosopher and theologian (d. 1606)


date: December 15

text: December 15 – Magdalena of Nassau-Dillenburg, German noblewoman (d. 1633)


date: January 16

text: January 16 – Johannes Schöner, German astronomer and cartographer (b. 1477)


date: January 19

text: January 19 – Henry Howard, Earl of Surrey, English nobleman, politician and poet, beheaded (b. c.1517)


date: January 27

text: January 27 – Anne of Bohemia and Hungary, Queen consort of the Romans, Bohemia and Hungary (b. 1503)


date: January 28

text: January 28 – King Henry VIII of England dies in London, and is succeeded by his 9-year-old son Edward VI, as King of England.


date: February 25

text: February 25 – Vittoria Colonna, marchioness of Pescara (b. 1490)


date: March 31

text: March 31 – King Francis I of France dies at the Château de Rambouillet and is succeeded by his eldest surviving son Henry II (on his 28th birthday) as King of France.


date: April 11

text: April 11 – Dorothea of Denmark, Duchess of Prussia, Danish princess (b. 1504)


date: June 21

text: June 21 – Sebastiano del Piombo, Italian painter (b. 1485)


date: July 10

text: July 10 – In France, a duel takes place at between Guy I de Chabot, the future Baron of Jarnac, and François de Vivonne, Lord of La Châtaigneraie, in front of the Château de Saint-Germain-en-Laye. Vivonne, known for his fencing ability, is wounded and dies the next day.


date: July 20

text: July 20 – Beatus Rhenanus, German humanist and religious reformer (b. 1485)


date: August 17

text: August 17 – Katharina von Zimmern, Swiss sovereign abbess (b. 1478)


date: September 10

text: September 10 – Pier Luigi Farnese, Duke of Parma (b. 1503)


date: September 17

text: September 17 – Frederick II of Legnica, Duke of Legnica from 1488 (until 1495 and 1505 with his brothers) (b. 1480)


date: December 28

text: December 28 – Konrad Peutinger, German humanist and antiquarian (b. 1465)


date: January 5

text: January 5 – Abu al-Abbas Ahmad III, ruler of the Hafsid Sultanate in what is now Tunisia in northern Africa, renews the 1547 treaty of friendship with Spain that had been signed by representatives of his father.


text: January 27 – King Henri II of France makes the Châtillon agreement, a contract for betrothal for an arranged marriage between his four year old son, Prince Francois, to the five year old Mary, Queen of Scots, to take place in 1558.


date: July 7

text: July 7 – A marriage treaty is signed between Scotland and France, whereby five-year-old Mary, Queen of Scots, is betrothed to the future King Francis II of France.


date: October 20

text: October 20 – The city of La Paz, Bolivia, is founded.


date: December 17

text: December 17 – King João III of Portugal, creates a colonial government of Brazil, with a capital at Bahia, in order to maintain unity among various Portuguese captaincies (São Vicente, Nova Lusitania, Ilhéus and Porto Seguro) scattered along the coast. The document contains 48 articles governing the installation of the government, the organization of trade, measures for defense, treatment of the indigenous tribes, and policies toward foreigners. The King provides for a Governor-General, and appoints Tomé de Sousa as the first officeholder.


date: January 19

text: January 19 – Three ships from the Portuguese Navy arrive at the port of Aden to assist Mohammed bin Ali al-Tawlaki, who has been defending the city against an attack by the Ottoman Navy. The Portuguese ships are forced to retreat to Zeila in Somalia, where 120 survivors are captured and their ships are burned.


text: January 28 – (Tenbun 17, 30th day of 12th month) Nagao Kagetora (later Uesugi Kenshin) leads a triumphant entry into Kasugayama Castle in Japan, replacing his older brother Nagao Harukage as the lead samurai in the Nagao clan that rules the Echigo Province.


date: February 2

text: February 2 – On Candlemas day in Scotland, during the Rough Wooing War with England, the Byllye Castle near Auchencrow is captured by a force of 11 English soldiers led by Thomas Carlile, and becomes a garrison for English troops.


date: February 14

text: February 14 – (Tenbun 18, 4th day of 1st month) At the Battle of Uedahara, firearms are used for the first time on the battlefield in Japan, and Takeda Shingen is defeated by Murakami Yoshikiyo.


date: February 26

text: February 26 – The Ottoman Navy, led by Admiral Ahmed Muhiddin Piri (commonly known as Piri Reis), recaptures Aden.


date: May 15

text: May 15 – Ratan Singh of Amber, Raja of the Amber Kingdom in what is now the Indian state of Rajasthan, is poisoned by his younger brother Askaran, Raja of Narwar.


date: June 1

text: June 1 – Bharmal becomes the new raja of the Kingdom of Amber, in territory now occupied by India's Rajasthan state, upon the overthrow of his nephew, Askaran, Raja of Narwar, who had reigned for only 16 days.


text: June 1 – The Japanese city of Uchiyama in Shinano Province (now in the Nagano Prefecture) is burned by the clan of Murakami Yoshikiyo after the February defeat of the Takeda clan at the Battle of Uedahara.


date: June 11

text: June 11 – Suleiman the Magnificent, the Sultan of the Ottoman Empire begins an invasion of Safavid Iran that will last for almost two years before he abandons it.


date: June 16

text: June 16 – The first of 8,000 French troops under the command of General André de Montalembert arrive at the port of Leith at the invitation of the King of Scotland, who seeks to drive out the occupying forces of the Army of England.


date: November 11

text: November 11 – Worawongsathirat, ruler of the Ayutthaya Kingdom of Thailand after usurping the throne on June 10, stages his coronation along with his wife, Si Sudachan. Both husband and wife had after both conspired to murder her son, King Yofta, in June. The King and Queen are assassinated on January 13, 1549.


date: December

text: December – Siam attacks Tavoy, beginning the Burmese–Siamese War of 1548.


text: Ming Chinese naval forces commanded by Zhu Wan destroy the pirate haven of Shuangyu, frequented by Chinese, Japanese and Portuguese smugglers.


date: April 15

text: April 15 – General Zhu Wan of Ming dynasty China dispatches a fleet of ships, commanded by Lu Tang, to destroy smugglers and pirates at Shangyu, a port on Liuheng Island. The fleet sets off from Wenzhou and makes its attack in June.


date: August 7

text: August 7 – Mary, Queen of Scots, leaves for France.


date: June 30

text: June 30 – The Augsburg Interim, approved May 15, is codified into law in the Holy Roman Empire.


date: June 10

text: June 10 – (5th day of the waxing moon in the 8th month of the 910th year of the Chula Sakarat Era): Yotfa, the 13-year-old ruler of the Ayutthaya Kingdom of Thailand since 1546, is murdered with the consent of his mother, the regent Si Sudachan, who installs her lover, Worawongsathirat, on the throne. Yotfa's younger brother, Prince Sissin, is spared from execution. Worawongsathirat and Si Sudachan are both killed in a counter-coup in November.


date: April 1

text: April 1 – Sigismund II Augustus succeeds his father, Sigismund I the Old, as King of Poland and Grand Duke of Lithuania.


date: September 13

text: September 13 – Archduke Maximilian of Austria, is married to his first cousin, Maria of Spain, at the arrangement of Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor, Maria's father and Maximilian's uncle. Charles, who also serves as King of Spain, makes the arrangement in order to have the couple serve as his regents while he travels to Germany.


date: October 1

text: October 1 – Archduke Maximilian and Princess Maria, who married 18 days earlier, become the co-regents of Spain as King Charles V departs for Germany to administer the affairs of the Holy Roman Empire. They serve until Prince Philip, the first regent, returns from battle on July 12, 1551.


date: October 31

text: October 31 – At the first sejm of King Sigismund II Augustus of Poland, deputies demand that the king renounce his wife Barbara Radziwiłł.


text: John Dee starts to study at the Old University of Leuven.


date: January 5

text: January 5 – Francisco Suárez, Spanish priest, philosopher, theologian and saint (d. 1617)


date: February 6

text: February 6 – Francesco Panigarola, Italian bishop (d. 1594)


date: March 17

text: March 17 – Honda Tadakatsu, Japanese general (d. 1610)


date: March 18

text: March 18 – Cornelis Ketel, Dutch painter (d. 1616)


date: May 8

text: May 8 – Giacomo Boncompagni, illegitimate son of Pope Gregory XIII (d. 1612)


date: May

text: May – Carel van Mander, Dutch painter and poet (d. 1606)


date: July 15

text: July 15 – George III, Count of Erbach-Breuberg (1564–1605) (d. 1605)


date: August

text: August – Pari Khan Khanum, Persian princess (d. 1578)


date: September 2

text: September 2 – Vincenzo Scamozzi, Italian architect (d. 1616)


date: September 7

text: September 7 – Filippo Boncompagni, Italian Catholic cardinal (d. 1586)


date: October 4

text: October 4 – Matsumae Yoshihiro, Japanese daimyō of Ezochi (Hokkaidō) (d. 1616)


date: November 27

text: November 27 – Jacopo Mazzoni, Italian philosopher (d. 1598)


date: December 30

text: December 30 – David Pareus, German theologian (d. 1622)


text: Giordano Bruno, Italian philosopher, astronomer, and occultist (d. 1600)


date: January 23

text: January 23 – Bernardo Pisano, Italian composer (b. 1490)


date: February 26

text: February 26 – Lorenzino de' Medici, Italian writer and assassin (b. 1514)


date: March 9

text: March 9 – Le Trung Tong becomes the new Emperor of Dai Viet (corresponding to northern Vietnam) upon the death of his father, Lê Trang Tông.


date: March 23

text: March 23 – Itagaki Nobukata, Japanese retainer


date: June 3

text: June 3 – Juan de Zumárraga, Spanish Catholic bishop of Mexico (b. 1468)


date: June 6

text: June 6 – João de Castro, Portuguese explorer (b. 1500)


date: June 14

text: June 14 – Carpentras, French composer (b. c. 1470)


date: July 4

text: July 4 – Philip, Duke of Palatinate-Neuburg, German duke (b. 1503)


date: July 29

text: July 29 – Gian Gabriele I of Saluzzo, Italian abbot, Marquess of Saluzzo (b. 1501)


date: August 2

text: August 2 – Henry II, Duke of Münsterberg-Oels and Count of Glatz (b. 1507)


date: September 5

text: September 5 – Catherine Parr, sixth and last Queen of Henry VIII of England (b. c. 1512)


date: September 8

text: September 8 – John III of Pernstein, Bohemian land-owner, Governor of Moravia and Count of Kladsko (b. 1487)


date: October 27

text: October 27 – Johannes Dantiscus, Polish poet and Bishop of Warmia (b. 1485)


date: November 16

text: November 16 – Caspar Creuziger, German humanist (b. 1504)


date: October 5

text: October 5 – Sir Thomas Smith is replaced by Ambassador Nicholas Wotton as the second Secretary of State of England, primarily in charge of England's foreign affairs. Wotton serves for less than a year before being dispatched by King Edward VI back to France.


date: November 4

text: November 4 – The Pragmatic Sanction is proclaimed by Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor. The Seventeen Provinces of the Habsburg Low Countries are declared inseparable.


date: January 11

text: January 11 – An uprising of the Diaguitas natives outside of the South American Spanish colonial city of La Serena (now in Coquimbo province of Chile) begins. Within a day, the South American village is burned down and nearly every Spanish resident is killed.


date: January

text: January – Burmese–Siamese War (1547–49): King Tabinshwehti of Burma begins his invasion of the Ayutthaya Kingdom, which ends in retreat.


date: February 3

text: February 3 – Burmese–Siamese War: Burmese viceroy Thado Dhamma Yaza I of Prome slays Sri Suriyothai, queen consort of the Ayutthaya Kingdom, on her war elephant, when she intervenes in battle to protect the life of her husband.


date: May 15

text: May 15 – King Henri II of France makes a triumphant return to Paris after suppressing the Revolt of the Pitauds in Bordeaux.


date: June 9

text: June 9 – The Book of Common Prayer is introduced in English churches; the Prayer Book Rebellion against it breaks out in the West Country.


date: June 19

text: June 19 – In the war of the Rough Wooing between Scotland and England, a Scottish and French force commanded by André de Montalembert retakes the island of Inchkeith, killing more than 300 soldiers from the English Army.


date: July 8

text: July 8 – Kett's Rebellion, with 18,000 troops led by Robert Kett, breaks out at Wymondham in East Anglia, against fences and enclosures put up by wealthy landowners. and in Oxfordshire, against landowners associated with religious changes.


date: July 18

text: July 18 – (Tenbun 18, 24th day of the 7th month) In the Battle of Eguchi, fought in Japan's Settsu Province near Osaka, General Miyoshi Nagayoshi defies the Governor, Hosokawa Harumoto, to attack the Eguchi Castle of Nagayoshi's cousin, Miyoshi Masanaga. After a 12-day battle, Miyoshi Masanaga is killed along with several of Hosokawa's other generals. Governor Hosokawa, fearing a reprisal, flees and eventually loses his authority over Settsu Province.


text: July 29 – Norwich, in Norfolk falls to Kett's rebels.


date: August 1

text: August 1– Kett's rebels defeat a Royal Army led by William Parr, Marquess of Northampton


date: August 8

text: August 8– England and France declare war.


date: August 17

text: August 17 – Battle of Sampford Courtenay in England: The Prayer Book Rebellion is quashed.


date: August 27

text: August 27 – At the Battle of Dussindale in England, Kett's Rebellion is ended by troops led by John Dudley, 1st Duke of Northumberland.


date: September 19

text: September 19 – The English Army abandons Haddington, East Lothian as it continues its retreat from Scottish and French forces.


date: December 7

text: December 7 – Robert Kett is hanged from the walls of Norwich Castle after being found guilty of treason for leading Kett's Rebellion. His brother William is hanged from the walls of Wymondham Abbey on the same day.


date: December 21

text: December 21 – Ottoman Empire Sultan Suleiman the Magnificent abandons his campaign against Safavid Iran after 21 months, during which he was unable to proceed further than Tabriz.


text: Siege of Kajiki: firearms are used for the first time in a siege in Japanese history. (The previous year's Battle of Uedahara was the first battle in which they were used.)


text: Although trade existed between the two beforehand, in this year the Portuguese begin to send regular seasonal maritime trade missions to Ming dynasty China, at Sao João Island (also known as Shangchuan Island) near Macau.


date: January 21

text: January 21 – The Act of Uniformity 1548 is passed by the Parliament of England and establishes the 1549 version of the Book of Common Prayer as the sole legal prayer book in England, replacing the use of different versions of the Latin-language Missal.


date: April 8

text: April 8 – Giovanni Angelo Medici is appointed as a Roman Catholic cardinal by Pope Paul III, effective May 10. In 1559, Medici is elected as Pope Pius IV.


date: April 15

text: April 15 – Spanish Jesuit missionary Francis Xavier departs from Goa on a mission to bring Christian ministry to Japan.


date: July 21

text: July 21 – Thomas Cranmer, Archbishop of Canterbury, delivers his most important sermon, speaking at St Paul's Cathedral to defend the Church of England's reasons for uniformly requiring the use of The Book of Common Prayer.


date: July 27

text: July 27 – (Tenbun 18, 3rd day of the 7th month) European Jesuit Francis Xavier arrives in Japan at the port of Kagoshima, the first Christian missionary there, but is not allowed to go to shore until three weeks later.


date: August 15

text: August 15 – Francis Xavier, his translator Anjirō, and three other Jesuit priests are allowed to come ashore at Kagoshima in Japan.


date: September 17

text: September 17 – The Council of Trent is prorogued indefinitely.


date: December 3

text: December 3 – The papal conclave to decide on a successor to Pope Paul III, goes into session in the Apostolic Palace in Rome with 51 cardinal electors.Participants at the papal conclave agree to elect the next Pope by secret ballot.


text: The spire of Lincoln Cathedral in England is blown down, leaving St. Olaf's Church, Tallinn, in Estonia as the World's tallest structure.


date: October 11

text: October 11 – Edward Seymour, 1st Duke of Somerset, the Lord Protector of England and Lord High Treasurer since 1547, is arrested on orders of the Regency Council on charges of "ambition, vainglory, entering into rash wars" as well as malfeasance and improper use of the royal treasury.


date: January 4

text: January 4 – Gaspare Grimaldi Bracelli begins a two-year term as the Doge of the Republic of Genoa in Italy, succeeding Benedetto Gentile Pevere.


date: January 19

text: January 19 – Maha Chakkraphat is crowned as the King of Siam after having been installed on the throne in 1548 by Maha Thammaracha of Burma.


date: March 29

text: March 29 – The city of Salvador da Bahia, Brazil's first capital, is founded by Tome de Sousa.


date: April 23

text: April 23 – In County Wicklow in Ireland, Phelim O'Toole is granted a pardon by the King for unspecified offenses.


date: September 29

text: September 29 – Shimazu Takahisa, the ruling daimyo of Japan's Satsuma Province, welcomes the Jesuit party of Francis Xavier.


text: Excerpta antiqua is published by Hervagius at Basel, Switzerland.


text: Maidstone Grammar School is founded in England by Edward Seymour, Duke of Somerset.


text: Peter Canisius starts the Counter-Reformation in Bavaria.


date: February 20

text: February 20 – Francesco Maria II della Rovere, last Duke of Urbino (d. 1631)


date: March 10

text: March 10 – Francis Solanus, Spanish missionary and saint (d. 1610)


date: June 15

text: June 15 – Elizabeth Knollys, English noblewoman (d. 1605)


date: July 2

text: July 2 – Duchess Sabine of Württemberg, by marriage Landgravine of Hesse-Kassel (d. 1581)


date: July 5

text: July 5 – Francesco Maria del Monte, Italian Catholic cardinal (d. 1627)


date: July 12

text: July 12 – Edward Manners, 3rd Earl of Rutland (d. 1587)


date: July 30

text: July 30 – Ferdinando I de' Medici, Grand Duke of Tuscany (d. 1609)


date: August 2

text: August 2 – Mikołaj Krzysztof "the Orphan" Radziwiłł, Polish nobleman (d. 1616)


date: August 10

text: August 10 – Catherine of Brandenburg-Küstrin, daughter of Margrave John of Küstrin (d. 1602)


date: November 2

text: November 2 – Anna of Austria, Queen of Spain (d. 1580)


date: November 5

text: November 5 – Philippe de Mornay, French writer (d. 1623)


date: November 30

text: November 30 – Sir Henry Savile, English educator (d. 1622)


date: December 20

text: December 20 – John Petre, 1st Baron Petre, English politician and baron (d. 1613)


date: December 24

text: December 24 – Kaspar Ulenberg, German theologian (d. 1617)


date: January 28

text: January 28 – Elia Levita, German Yiddish writer (b. 1469)


date: February 14

text: February 14 – Il Sodoma, Italian painter (b. 1477)


date: March 20

text: March 20 – Thomas Seymour, 1st Baron Seymour of Sudeley, English politician and diplomat (b. 1508)


date: April 14

text: April 14 – Prince Zhu Zairui, age 12, heir to the throne of Ming dynasty China as the oldest living son of the Jiajing Emperor, dies a few days after becoming ill during the Guan Li coming of age ceremony.


date: April 15

text: April 15 – Christine of Saxony, German noble (b. 1505)


date: April 24

text: April 24 – Ralph Neville, 4th Earl of Westmorland, English earl (b. 1498)


date: May 11

text: May 11 – María de Toledo, Vicereine and regent of the Spanish Colony of Santo Domingo (b. 1490)


date: June 26

text: June 26 – Luis Cáncer, Spanish Dominican priest, missionary, martyr and servant of God (b. 1500)


date: July 19

text: July 19 – Edmund Sheffield, 1st Baron Sheffield, English baron (b. 1521)


date: September 10

text: September 10 – Anthony Denny, confidant of Henry VIII of England (b. 1501)


date: September 21

text: September 21 – Benedetto Accolti the Younger, Italian Catholic cardinal (b. 1497)


date: October 22

text: October 22 – Catherine of Habsburg, daughter of Ferdinand, Duke of Habsburg, marries Francesco III Gonzaga, Duke of Mantua. Francesco, only 16 years old, dies of pneumonia after only four months of marriage.


date: October 27

text: October 27 – Marie d'Albret, Countess of Rethel, French nobility (b. 1491)


date: December 21

text: December 21 – Marguerite de Navarre, queen of Henry II of Navarre (b. 1492)


text: The Council of Rome, a pre-ecumenical church council, is held and presided over by Bishop of Rome Anicetus.

source_section: Events


text: Dio Cassius, Roman historian (d. c. 235)


text: Cao Cao, Chinese statesman and warlord (d. 220)


text: Sun Jian, Chinese general and warlord (d. 191)


text: Tertullian, Roman Christian theologian (d. c. 240)


text: Polycarp, bishop of Smyrna (b. AD 65)


date: March 24

text: March 24 – "Rough Wooing": England and France sign the Treaty of Boulogne, by which England withdraws from Boulogne in France and returns territorial gains in Scotland.


date: April 16

text: April 16 – The Valladolid debate on the rights and treatment of indigenous peoples of the Americas by their Spanish conquerors opens at the Colegio de San Gregorio in Valladolid, Castile.


date: November 25

text: November 25 – Luis de Velasco becomes the second Viceroy of New Spain, which encompasses all Spanish territory in North America and Central America. Velasco succeeds Antonio de Mendoza, the first Viceroy, who has been ordered to become the Viceroy of Peru.


date: February 25

text: February 25 – (10th day of 2nd month of Tenbun 19) In Oita, Ōita Prefecture, an attack within the Ōtomo clan of Japanese samurai takes place after clan leader Ōtomo Yoshikazu seeks to disinherit his oldest son and to make his third son, Ōtomo Shioichimaru, as his designated successor. Supporters of the oldest son, Ōtomo Yoshishige, invade Yoshikazu's home and kill Shioichimaru and four other family members.


date: March 12

text: March 12 – Arauco War: Battle of Penco – Several hundred Spanish and indigenous troops under the command of Pedro de Valdivia defeat an army of 60,000 Mapuche in modern-day Chile.


date: April 30

text: April 30 – King Tabinshwehti of Burma is assassinated by two of his bodyguards while he is on a hunting trip. The two swordsmen, sent by Smim Sawhtut, Governor of Sittaung, behead the King, and a civil war begins as major governors rebel against the new Burmese King Bayinnaung.


date: May 20

text: May 20 – The Spanish Catalan city of Cullera is plundered by the Ottoman Empire General Dragut Reis, and most of its inhabitants are sold into slavery in Algeria.


date: June 28

text: June 28 – Capture of Mahdia (1550): The Spanish Armada arrives in North Africa to begin the process of capturing the fortress of Mahdia (now in Tunisia) from control of the Ottoman Empire.


date: July 25

text: July 25 – Capture of Mahdia (1550): Troops commanded by Ottoman General Turgut Reis make a counterattack on the Spanish invaders, led by General Andrea Doria. Both sides sustain heavy losses, and the Spanish succeed in forcing the Ottomans to retreat back inside Mahdia.


date: September 2

text: September 2 (5th waning of Tawthalin 912 ME) – King Bayinnaung of Burma begins a four-month siege of the former Burmese capital, Toungoo, occupied by the king's rebellious brother Minkhaung.


text: September 10 – Spanish troops, commanded by Genoa's General Andrea Doria, capture the Tunisian fortress of Mahdia from the Ottoman Empire after fighting that began on June 28.


date: October 2

text: October 2 – Battle of Sauðafell in Iceland: Daði Guðmundsson of Snóksdalur defeats the forces of Catholic Bishop Jón Arason, resulting in Iceland becoming fully Protestant. Arason is captured; he is executed, along with his two sons, on November 7.


date: December 29

text: December 29 – Bhuvanaikabahu VII, King of Kotte on most of the island of Sri Lanka, is assassinated by a gunman hired by the government of Portuguese India.


date: January 6

text: January 6 – Spanish Captain Hernando de Santana founds the city of Valledupar, in modern-day Colombia.


date: February 7

text: February 7 – After a 10-week conclave in Rome to elect a new Pope, Giovanni Maria Ciocchi del Monte, Bishop of Palestrina, is selected on the 61st ballot after Reginald Pole of England falls two votes short of winning. Ciocchi del Monte takes the name Pope Julius III and is crowned the next day, succeeding the late Pope Paul III.


date: May 15

text: May 15 – The vestments controversy is resolved in the Church of England with a compromise on the style of clothing worn by Anglican priests. John Hopper is allowed ordination as the Bishop of Gloucester without being required to wear Anglican vestments, but must not forbid anyone in his bishopric from wearing the vestments if they wish.


date: July 21

text: July 21 – The Society of Jesus (Jesuits) is approved by Pope Julius III.


date: August 5

text: August 5 – The University of Santa Catalina is authorized in Spain by a canonical bull from Pope Julius III.


text: The first book in Slovene, Catechismus, written by Protestant reformer Primož Trubar, is printed in Schwäbisch Hall, Holy Roman Empire.


text: The summit level canal between the Alster and the Trave in Germany ceases to be navigable.


section: Science & Discovery

text: Approximate date – The discovery of silver at Guanajuato in Mexico stimulates silver rushes.


text: Nostradamus' first almanac is written.


date: May 6

text: May 6 – Italian Protestant Michelangelo Florio, jailed since 1548 before being brought to trial for and sentenced to death for heresy, escapes from prison and is able flee to France.


date: October 16

text: October 16 – Altan Khan crosses the Great Wall of China and besieges Beijing, burning the suburbs.


text: March 12 – Acapulco is founded by 30 families sent from Mexico City.


date: March 29

text: March 29 – Sherborne School in England is refounded by King Edward VI.


date: June 12

text: June 12 – The city of Helsinki (now in Finland but known as Helsingfors in Sweden at this time) is founded by King Gustav I of Sweden.


text: The first grammatical description of the French language is published by Louis Maigret.


date: April 12

text: April 12 – Edward de Vere, 17th Earl of Oxford, Lord Great Chamberlain of England (d. 1604)


date: June 16

text: June 16 – Marie Eleonore of Cleves, Duchess consort of Prussia (1573–1608) (d. 1608)


date: September 10

text: September 10 – Alonso de Guzmán El Bueno, 7th Duke of Medina Sidonia, commander of the Spanish Armada (d. 1615)


date: September 30

text: September 30 – Michael Maestlin, German astronomer and mathematician (d. 1631)


date: October 1

text: October 1 – Anne of Saint Bartholomew, Spanish Discalced Carmelite nun (d. 1626)


date: October 25

text: October 25 – Ralph Sherwin, English Roman Catholic priest (martyred 1581)


date: October 28

text: October 28 – Stanislaus Kostka, Polish saint (d. 1568)


date: November 1

text: November 1 – Henry of Saxe-Lauenburg, Prince-Archbishop of Bremen, Prince-Bishop of Osnabruck and Paderborn (d. 1585)


date: November 6

text: November 6 – Karin Månsdotter, Swedish queen (d. 1612)


date: December 2

text: December 2 – Antonio Fernández de Córdoba y Cardona, Spanish diplomat (d. 1606)


date: December 7

text: December 7 – Lithuanian noble Barbara Radziwiłł, wife of Sigismund II Augustus, King of Poland and Duke of Lithuania since 1547, has an elaborate coronation in Kraków as Queen consort and Grand Duchess, five months before her death at the age of 30.


date: December 22

text: December 22 – Cesare Cremonini, Italian philosopher (d. 1631)


date: December 28

text: December 28 – Abu al-Abbas Ahmad III, the Sultan of Ifriqiya (now Tunisia), signs a six-year treaty with Spain.


date: December 29

text: December 29 – García de Silva Figueroa, Spanish diplomat and traveller (d. 1624)


date: January 12

text: January 12 – Andrea Alciato, Italian jurist and writer (b. 1492)


date: March 7

text: March 7 – William IV, Duke of Bavaria (b. 1493)


date: March 8

text: March 8 – John of God, Spanish friar and saint (b. 1495)


date: April 13

text: April 13 – Innocenzo Cybo, Italian Catholic cardinal (b. 1491)


date: May 18

text: May 18 – Jean, Cardinal of Lorraine, French churchman (b. 1498)


date: July 19

text: July 19 (probable date) – Jacopo Bonfadio, Italian historian, executed (b. c. 1508)


date: July 22

text: July 22 – Jorge de Lencastre, Duke of Coimbra (b. 1481)


date: July 30

text: July 30 – Thomas Wriothesley, 1st Earl of Southampton, English politician (b. 1505)


date: August 18

text: August 18 – Antonio Ferramolino, Italian architect and military engineer


date: October 23

text: October 23 – Tiedemann Giese, Polish Catholic bishop (b. 1480)


date: November 7

text: November 7 – Jón Arason, last Catholic bishop of Iceland (b. 1484)


date: December 6

text: December 6 – Pieter Coecke van Aelst, Flemish painter (b. 1502)


date: December 8

text: December 8 – Gian Giorgio Trissino, Italian humanist, poet, dramatist and diplomat (b. 1478)


text: December 29 – Bhuvanaikabahu VII, King of Kotte (b. 1468)


date: January 4

text: January 4 – Luca Spinola is elected to a two-year term as the new Doge of the Republic of Genoa, succeeding Gaspare Grimaldi Bracelli.


date: May 30

text: May 30 – Ilie II Rareș, Ruler of Moldavia since 1546, is forced by the Ottoman Empire to abdicate the throne.


text: July 19 – The Treaty of Weissenburg goes into effect as John Sigismund Zápolya, King of Hungary since 1540, abdicates in favor of Archduke Ferdinand of Austria. In addition, the independent Kingdom of Transylvania, ruled by Isabella Jagiellon, is ceded to the Kingdom of Hungary as part of peace with Ferdinand.


text: In Slovakia, Guta (modern-day Kolárovo) receives town status.


date: January 11

text: January 11 (5th waxing of Tabodwe 912 ME) – King Bayinnaung of Burma is successful in capturing his ancestral city of Toungoo from his rebellious half-brother Minkhaung II, and sets about to make Toungoo the capital for the first time since 1539. Minkhaung is forgiven by King Bayinnaung rather than being executed, and assists in the King's campaign to capture the neighboring Kingdom of Prome.


date: May 27

text: May 27 – Italian War of 1551–1559: A defensive alliance, placing the Duchy of Parma and Piacenza under the protection of France, is signed between representatives of King Henry II of France and Ottavio Farnese, Duke of Parma, placing Parma under French protection.


date: July 18

text: July 18 – Invasion of Gozo: Ottoman Turks and Barbary pirates invade the Mediterranean island of Gozo (now part of Malta), and enslave almost all of its 6,000 inhabitants.


text: July 30 – With the surrender of the island of Gozo, the Ottoman place 6,000 survivors on ships and transporting them to Tarhuna Wa Msalata (in modern-day Libya), where they are sold into slavery. The only natives left on the island are 300 persons who escaped the citadel and 41 elderly residents.


date: August 15

text: August 15 – The Siege of Tripoli ends, with the Knights of Malta surrendering Tripoli to the Ottoman Empire.


date: August 30

text: August 30 (1st waxing of Thadingyut 913 ME)– King Bayinnaung of Burma conquers the rebellious Kingdom of Prome (with a capital at Pyay) and kills the rebel Thado Thu, a former servant who had proclaimed himself as King Thado Dhamma Yaza after the 1550 assassination of King Tabinshwehti.


date: September 30

text: September 30 – (1st day of 9th month of Tenbun 21) Tainei-ji incident: A coup in Yamaguchi, by the military establishment of the Ōuchi clan, forces their lord Ōuchi Yoshitaka to commit suicide, and the city is burned.


text: Portugal founds a sugar colony at Bahia.


date: January

text: January– Macarius, Metropolitan of Moscow, and Tsar Ivan IV of Russia preside over the reforming Stoglavy Synod ("Hundred-Chapter") church council. A calendar of the saints and an ecclesiastical law code (Stoglav) are introduced.


date: February 23

text: February 23– At the Kremlin in Moscow, Tsar Ivan IV and the Metropolitan Macarius, present the proposed code of laws, drafted by the Stoglavy Synod, to the clergy, nobility and principal Russian citizens for their approval.


date: May 1

text: May 1 – The Council of Trent reconvenes by order of Pope Julius III after having been adjourned on September 17, 1549.


date: June 27

text: June 27 – The Edict of Châteaubriant is promulgated in France by King Henri II, providing for an increasingly severe series of measures in the Roman Catholic Kingdom to be taken against Protestants, considered to be heretics.


date: December 16

text: December 16 – George Martinuzzi, the Hungarian Archbishop of Esztergom and the Governor of Transylvania, is assassinated by Marco Aurelio Ferrari on orders of Ferdinand, King of Hungary. Martinuzzi had been suspected of treason after attempting to negotiate a separate peace treaty with the Ottoman Empire.


text: Juan de Betanzos begins to write his Narrative of the Incas.


text: Qizilbash forces under the command of Tahmasp I raid and destroy the cave monastery of Vardzia in Georgia.


date: March 27

section: Economy & Finance

text: March 27 – French mechanical engineer Aubin Olivier becomes the director of the new Royal Mint, the Moulin des Etuves on the Île de la Cité in Paris after having learned the technique of producing uniform milled coinage during a sabbatical in Germany.


date: February 14

text: February 14 – Alice Arden and her lover, Richard Mosbey, carry out the murder-for-hire of her husband, Thomas Arden of Faversham with the assistance of a highwayman known as "Black Will", two of Arden’s domestic servants (Michael Saunderson and Elizabeth Stafford) and Mosbye's sister (Cicely Pounder). The body is carried outside, and Thomas is reported as missing, but a discovery is made that the murder was committed inside the house. The conspirators are later executed.


section: Climate & Environment

text: In Henan province, China, during the Ming dynasty, a severe frost in the spring destroys the winter wheat crop. Torrential rains in mid summer cause massive flooding of farmland and villages (by some accounts submerged in a metre of water). In the fall, a large tornado demolishes houses and flattens much of the buckwheat in the fields. Famine victims either flee, starve, or resort to cannibalism. This follows a series of natural disasters in Henan in the years 1528, 1531, 1539, and 1545.


date: April 4

text: April 4 – Ferdinand I, Holy Roman Emperor, issues an edict to reduce tensions among the three major ethnic groups in the Kingdom of Hungary, with an administration to have equal representation of for ethnic Hungarians, Slovaks and Germans.


date: May 12

text: May 12 – The National University of San Marcos is founded in Lima in the Viceroyalty of Peru, being the first officially established university in the Americas.


date: June 11

text: June 11 – With the approval of the Ottoman Sultan Suleiman the Magnificent, Prince Ilie's brother Ștefan VI Rareș becomes the new Prince of Moldavia.


date: July 12

text: July 12 – The regency over the Kingdom of Spain by Archduchess Maria and her husband, Archduke Maximilian of Austria, ends after almost three years when Maria's brother Crown Prince Philip returns to Madrid. Philip resumes his role as regent for King Charles I, the father of both Maria and Philip; Maria and Maximilian had served during the absence of both the King and the Crown Prince starting on October 1, 1548.


date: September 21

text: September 21 – The Royal and Pontifical University of Mexico is founded in Mexico City (Mexico), being the second officially established university in the Americas.


date: October 11

text: October 11 – John Dudley, Earl of Warwick, de facto Lord Protector of the Kingdom of England, is created Duke of Northumberland.


text: The new edition of the Genevan psalter, Pseaumes octantetrois de David, is published, with Louis Bourgeois as supervising composer, including the first publication of the hymn tune known as the Old 100th.


date: January 5

text: January 5 – Jean Chapeauville, Belgian theologian and historian (d. 1617)


date: January 14

text: January 14 – Abu'l-Fazl ibn Mubarak, Grand vizier of the Mughal emperor Akbar (d. 1602)


date: January 26

text: January 26 – Robert Dormer, 1st Baron Dormer, English politician (d. 1616)


date: February 2

text: February 2 – Nicolaus Reimers, German astronomer (d. 1600)


date: March 21

text: March 21 – Maria Anna of Bavaria (d. 1608)


date: March 30

text: March 30 – Salomon Schweigger, German theologian (d. 1622)


date: April 30

text: April 30 – Jacopo da Empoli, Italian painter (d. 1640)


date: May 2

text: May 2 – William Camden, English historian (d. 1623)


date: May 8

text: May 8 – Thomas Drury, English government informer and swindler (d. 1603)


date: May 17

text: May 17 – Martin Delrio, Flemish theologian and occultist (d. 1608)


date: October 8

text: October 8 – Giulio Caccini, Italian composer (d. 1618)


date: October 26

text: October 26 – Charlotte de Sauve, French courtesan (d. 1617)


date: November 11

text: November 11 – Giovanni I Cornaro, Doge of Venice (d. 1629)


text: Bhai Gurdas – original scribe of Guru Granth Sahib


date: February 4

text: February 4 – John V, Prince of Anhalt-Zerbst, Prince of Anahlt-Dessau (1516–1544) and Anhalt-Zerbst (1544–1551) (b. 1504)


date: February 28

text: February 28 – Martin Bucer, German Protestant reformer (b. 1491)


date: April 6

text: April 6 – Joachim Vadian, Swiss humanist (b. 1484)


date: April 8

text: April 8 – Oda Nobuhide, Japanese warlord (b. 1510)


text: May 8 – Barbara Radziwiłł, queen of Sigismund II of Poland (b. 1523)


text: May 17 – Shin Saimdang, Korean artist, calligrapher and writer (b. 1504)


date: May 18

text: May 18 – Domenico di Pace Beccafumi, Italian painter (b. 1486)


date: July 13

text: July 13 – John Wallop, English soldier and diplomat (b. 1490)


date: July

text: July – Adriaen Isenbrandt, Flemish painter (b. 1490)


date: August 12

text: August 12 – Paul Speratus, German Lutheran (b. 1484)


date: August 26

text: August 26 – Margaret Leijonhufvud, queen of Gustav I of Sweden (b. 1516)


date: September 30

text: September 30 – Ōuchi Yoshitaka, Japanese warlord (b. 1507)


date: November 20

text: November 20 – The Office of Cardinal Secretary of State, the second highest position in the Roman Catholic Church after the Pope, is created to temporarily fill the vacancy between the death of one Pontiff and the election of another. Cardinal Girolamo Dandini is appointed by Pope Julius III to serve as the first Secretary of State.


text: November 20 – Hindal Mirza, Mughal Empire emperor (b. 1519)


date: January 15

text: January 15 – Henry II of France and Maurice, Elector of Saxony, sign the Treaty of Chambord.


date: February 24

text: February 24 – The privileges of the Hanseatic League are abolished in England.


date: April 18

text: April 18 – King Henry II of France enters the city of Metz, ceded to France by Saxony by the January 15 Treaty of Chambord.


date: August 2

text: August 2 – John Frederick, Elector of Saxony and Philipp I of Hesse, taken prisoner by Charles V in 1546, are released.


date: September 24

text: September 24 – The Debatable Lands on the border of England and Scotland are divided between the two kingdoms by a commission creating the Scots' Dike in an unsuccessful attempt to halt lawlessness here, but giving both countries their modern borders.


text: April 8 – Maurice, Elector of Saxony, liberates Augsburg and sets about to capture Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor.


date: May 20

text: May 20 – Learning of the rapid approach of the Elector Maurice, the Emperor Charles V flees from Innsbruck ahead of being captured.


date: June 6

text: June 6 (14th waxing of Waso 914 ME) – Minye Sithu is appointed as the Burmese Viceroy of Martaban by his older brother, Bayinnaung, King of Burma.


date: June 16

text: June 16 – Yuri of Uglich, the only brother of the Russian Tsar Ivan the Terrible, is placed in charge of Russia's domestic affairs as Ivan departs Moscow to lead 150,000 troops in the Russo-Kazan War.


date: July 6

text: July 6 – In Hungary, Drégely Castle is attacked by the Ottoman Empire. Captain György Szondy and c. 140 soldiers in the castle die, after 4 days of fighting against 8,000 Turkish raiders.


date: July 27

text: July 27 – The Ottomans capture the city of Temesvar.


date: September 9

text: September 9 – The Siege of Eger begins as thousands of Ottoman troops, led by General Kara Ahmed Pasha of the Ottoman Empire attack a greatly outnumbered force of Hungarian defenders, captained by István Dobó.


date: October 2

text: October 2 – The Khanate of Kazan falls to troops of Ivan IV of Russia.


date: October 17

text: October 17 – After heavy losses by the Ottoman Empire, the Siege of Eger in Hungary is broken off by the Ottomans.


date: November 15

text: November 15 – Radu Ilie Haidăul becomes the new Prince of Wallachia in what is now Romania after defeating Prince Mircea the Shepherd at the battle of Mănești. Prince Mircea retakes the throne seven months later.


text: Miguel de Buría leads the first African rebellion in South America's history. This may be because Buría has more slaves than other regions in Venezuela, of which most join Miguel, and is still being contested between the Europeans and the natives, who also join his side. During this insurrection he takes over the Gold mines de San Felipe de Buría, established within the area with the consent of the Spanish Crown, to pull out the ore that was discovered in the Buria river, a task that heavily depends on slave work.


text: In the Persian Gulf, the Ottoman Empire Red Sea Fleet attacks the Portuguese stronghold of Hormuz, but fails to capture it.


date: April 16

text: April 16 – Pedro de Valdivia founds the city of La Imperial, Chile.


date: February 12

text: February 12 – Pedro de Valdivia founds the Chilean city of Valdivia, as Santa María la Blanca de Valdivia.


date: March 26

text: March 26 – Guru Amar Das becomes the Third Sikh Guru.


date: April 11

text: April 11 – Metz Cathedral is consecrated.


date: April 15

text: April 15 – The Act of Uniformity is given royal assent and imposes use of the Protestant Book of Common Prayer on England.


date: April 28

text: April 28 – The delegates to the Council of Trent adjourn for two years after learning that the Holy Roman Emperor is fleeing from Maurice of Saxony.


date: August 2

text: August 2 – The Peace of Passau revokes the Augsburg Interim of 1548, and promises religious freedom to the Protestant princes.


date: November 18

text: November 18 – Simeon Sulaka arrives in Rome from the Middle Eastern city of Mosul and brings a letter asking Pope Julius III to appoint him as the Patriarch of the Church of the East, leader of the Chaldean Catholic Church.


date: November 24

text: November 24 – Thomas Cranmer, Archbishop of Canterbury and top cleric of the Church of England, delivers the proposed Forty-two Articles to the Privy Council of King Edward VI.


date: December 26

text: December 26 – Pope Julius III issues a papal brief revoking resolutions passed by the colegii Papal State of Bologna in Italy.


text: In Italy, Bartolomeo Eustachi completes his Tabulae anatomicae, presenting his discoveries on the structure of the inner ear and heart, although, for fear of the Inquisition, it will not be published until 1714.


date: June 22

text: June 22 – Peter Ernst I von Mansfeld-Vorderort, the Spanish Governor of Luxembourg, is taken prisoner by France and remains captive for almost five years.


date: June 24

text: June 24 – The Portuguese ship São João is wrecked off of the coast of South Africa. While 480 people survive initially, all but 25 of them die during the next 165 days while trying to reach the mouth of the Maputo River in what is now Mozambique.


text: King Edward VI of England founds 35 grammar schools by royal charter, including Shrewsbury; Leeds Grammar School is also established.


date: January 14

text: January 14 – Alberico Gentili, Italian jurist (d. 1608)


date: February 1

text: February 1 – Edward Coke, English colonial entrepreneur and jurist (d. 1634)


date: February 19

text: February 19 – Melchior Klesl, Austrian statesman and cardinal (d. 1630)


date: February 28

text: February 28 – Joost Bürgi, Swiss clockmaker and mathematician (d. 1632)


date: July 22

text: July 22 – Mary Wriothesley, Countess of Southampton, Lady of English peer and others (d. 1607)


date: August 1

text: August 1 – Isabella Feltria della Rovere, Italian noblewoman (d. 1619)


date: August 14

text: August 14 – Paolo Sarpi, Italian writer (d. 1623)


date: August 21

text: August 21 – Muhammad Qadiri, Founder of the Naushahia branch of the Qadri order (d. 1654)


date: August 24

text: August 24 – Lavinia Fontana, Italian painter (d. 1614)


date: September 12

text: September 12 – Andreas Schott, Flemish academic, linguist, translator, editor and a Jesuit priest (d. 1629)


date: September 27

text: September 27 – Flaminio Scala, Italian playwright and stage actor (d. 1624)


date: November 20

text: November 20 – Gilbert Talbot, 7th Earl of Shrewsbury, English politician and Earl (d. 1616)


date: December 27

text: December 27 – William Cavendish, 1st Earl of Devonshire, English politician and Earl (d. 1626)


date: December 31

text: December 31 – Simon Forman, English occultist and astrologer (d. 1611)


date: January 10

text: January 10 – Johann Cochlaeus, German humanist and controversialist (b. 1479)


date: January 22

text: January 22 – Edward Seymour, 1st Duke of Somerset, English politician (b. 1509)


date: February 6

text: February 6 – Henry V, Duke of Mecklenburg (b. 1479)


date: February 20

text: February 20 – Anne Parr, Countess of Pembroke, English countess (b. 1515)


date: March 29

text: March 29 – Guru Angad, Indian religious leader (b. 1504)


date: April 18

text: April 18 – John Leland, English historian (b. 1502)


date: April 19

text: April 19 – Olaus Petri, Swedish clergyman (b. 1493)


date: April 21

text: April 21 – Petrus Apianus, German astronomer (b. 1495)


date: May 26

text: May 26 – Sebastian Münster, German cartographer and cosmographer (b. 1488)


date: July 9

text: July 9 – György Szondy, Hungarian soldier


date: August 15

text: August 15 – Hermann of Wied, German Catholic archbishop (b. 1477)


date: September 23

text: September 23 – Barbara of Brandenburg-Ansbach-Kulmbach, Landgravine of Leuchtenberg (b. 1495)


date: October 17

text: October 17 – Andreas Osiander, German Protestant theologian (b. 1498)


date: December 3

text: December 3 – Francis Xavier, Spanish Jesuit missionary and saint (b. 1506)


date: March 1

text: March 1 – The second (and last) session of the Parliament of England during the reign of King Edward VI is opened by the King at Westminster and lasts until March 31. Sir James Dyer serves during the session as Speaker of the House of Commons.


date: July 19

text: July 19 – The Lord Mayor of London proclaims Mary I the rightful Queen, following a change of allegiance by the Privy Council; Lady Jane Grey voluntarily abdicates.


date: January 2

text: January 2 – The siege of Metz in France, started by Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor during the Italian War of 1551–59 on October 19 last is lifted after 75 days. During the city's defence by the Duke of Guise and 6,000 soldiers, Charles V had lost two-thirds of his original force of at least 20,000 men.


date: June 3

text: June 3 – The first of the five Battles of Kawanakajima, the "Battle of the Fuse," commences in Japan between Takeda Shingen of Kai Province and Uesugi Kenshin of Echigo Province. The clash, fought 12 days after Shingen has taken Katsurao Castle, takes place at a shrine of Hachiman (near modern-day Yashiro, Hyōgo prefecture), is part of a major series of conflicts during the Japanese Sengoku period.


text: July 9 – Battle of Sievershausen: Prince-elector Maurice of Saxony defeats the Catholic forces of Margrave Albert of Brandenburg-Kulmbach. Maurice is mortally wounded.


text: September 23 – The Sadians consolidate their power in Morocco, by defeating the last of their enemies.


date: November 16

text: November 16 – A delegation from the English Parliament formally asks the new queen, Mary I, to choose an English husband rather than to marry Spain's Prince Philip, and suggests Edward Courtenay, 1st Earl of Devon. Queen Mary's choice to marry Philip, in the interests of protecting England from an invasion, will ultimately lead to Wyatt's rebellion.


date: November 25

text: November 25 – Second Margrave War: The city of Kulmbach, near Brandenburg in Bavaria in Germany, is sacked and burned to the ground after its margrave, Albert Alcibiades, makes an unsuccessful attempt to bring all of the Duchy of Franconia under his control.


text: November 25 – Italian War of 1551–1559: Cosimo I de' Medici, Duke of the Florentine Republic, signs a secret treaty with Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor to conquer the Republic of Siena to bring it back into the Empire.


date: December 25

text: December 25 – Battle of Tucapel: Mapuche rebels under Lautaro defeat the Spanish conquistadors, and execute Pedro de Valdivia, the first Royal Governor of Chile.


text: Shanghai is fortified for the first time.


text: The addition of a new section of the Outer City fortifications is completed in southern Beijing, bringing the overall size of Beijing to 18 square miles (4662 hectares).


date: August 24

text: August 24 – English explorer Richard Chancellor enters the White Sea and reaches Arkhangelsk. He goes on afterwards to the court of Ivan the Terrible of Russia, opening up trade between England and Russia.


date: April 28

text: April 28 – Shimun VIII Yohannan Sulaqa, leader of the Chaldean Catholic Church in modern-day Iraq, is recognized by Pope Julius III as the Patriarch of Mosul.


date: May 12

text: May 12 – St Albans, in England, receives its first royal charter as a borough.


date: June 15

text: June 15 – On his deathbed, King Edward summons prominent English judges and signs his devise of the throne to Lady Jane Grey.


date: September

text: September – Anglican bishops in England are arrested, and Roman Catholic bishops are restored.


date: November 17

text: November 17 (13th waxing of Natdaw 915 ME) – Bayinnaung, King of Burma, commissions the building of the Kanbawzathadi Palace in his capital, Pegu (modern-day Bago in Myanmar). The palace is completed in 1556 but is burned down in 1599.


text: Tonbridge School is founded by Sir Andrew Judde, under letters patent of Edward VI of England.


date: June 26

section: Health & Medicine

text: June 26 – Two new schools, Christ's Hospital and King Edward's School, Witley, are created by royal charter in accordance with the will of King Edward VI of England; St Thomas' Hospital, London, in existence since the 12th century, is named in the same charter.


date: August 18

text: August 18 – John Dudley, 1st Duke of Northumberland, is tried and convicted of treason for his role in putting his daughter-in-law, Lady Jane Grey, on the throne.


date: October 6

text: October 6 – Şehzade Mustafa, oldest son of Suleiman the Magnificent, is executed in Konya by order of his father.


date: October 27

text: October 27 – Geneva's governing council burns Michael Servetus at the stake as a heretic.


date: May 25

text: May 25 – Lady Jane Grey, a 16-year-old first cousin of King Edward VI of England, marries Lord Guildford Dudley, son of the Duke of Northumberland, who has engineered the marriage.


date: June 21

text: June 21 – Under threats from the Duke of Northumberland, the devise by King Edward to make Jane Grey the heir to the throne is signed by over 100 prominent persons.


date: August 3

text: August 3 – Queen Mary I of England arrives in London from East Anglia.


text: The xiii Bukes of Eneados of the famose Poete Virgill, the first complete translation of any major work of classical antiquity into one of the English languages, is published in London.


date: January 22

text: January 22 – Mōri Terumoto, Japanese warrior (d. 1625)


date: February 24

text: February 24 – Cherubino Alberti, Italian engraver and painter (d. 1615)


date: March

text: March – Eleonora di Garzia di Toledo, Italian noble (d. 1576)


date: April 24

text: April 24 – John Maxwell, 8th Lord Maxwell, Scottish noble (d. 1593)


date: May 7

text: May 7 – Albert Frederick, Duke of Prussia (d. 1618)


date: May 14

text: May 14 – Margaret of Valois, Queen of France (d. 1615)


text: June 15 – Archduke Ernest of Austria, Austrian prince, the son of Maximilian II (d. 1595)


date: July 1

text: July 1 – Peter Street, English carpenter (d. 1609)


date: October 8

text: October 8 – Jacques Auguste de Thou, French historian (d. 1617)


date: October 18

text: October 18 – Luca Marenzio, Italian composer (d. 1599)


date: November 2

text: November 2 – Magdalene of Jülich-Cleves-Berg, Countess Palatine of Pfalz-Zweibrücken (d. 1633)


date: November 4

text: November 4 – Roger Wilbraham, Solicitor-General for Ireland (d. 1616)


date: November 23

text: November 23 – Prospero Alpini, Italian physician and botanist (d. 1617)


date: November 28

text: November 28 – George More, English politician (d. 1632)


date: February 17

text: February 17 – In India, Timmaraja Wodeyar II becomes the sixth maharaja of the Kingdom of Mysore (a vassal state of the Vijayanagara Empire), after the death of his father, the Maharaja Chamaraja Wodeyar III.


date: February 19

text: February 19 – Erasmus Reinhold, German astronomer and mathematician (b. 1511)


date: April 9

text: April 9 – François Rabelais, French writer


date: June 26

text: June 26 – Tsarevich Dmitry Ivanovich of Russia, Grand Prince of Moscow (b. 1552)


date: July 6

text: July 6 – King Edward VI of England (b. 1537)


text: July 6 – King Edward VI of England dies at the age of 15 after a reign of only six years.


date: July 10

text: July 10 – Four days after the death of her cousin King Edward VI, Lady Jane Grey is proclaimed Queen of England – a position she holds for the next nine days.


date: August 6

text: August 6 – Girolamo Fracastoro, Italian physician (b. 1478)


date: August 22

text: August 22 – John Dudley, 1st Duke of Northumberland (b. 1502; executed)


date: September 6

text: September 6 – Juan de Homedes y Coscon, 47th Grandmaster of the Knights Hospitaller (b. c. 1477)


date: October 6

text: October 6 – Şehzade Mustafa, Suleiman the Magnificent's first-born son by Mahidevran Hatun (b. 1515)


date: October 16

text: October 16 – Lucas Cranach the Elder, German painter (b. 1472)


date: October 17

text: October 17 – George III, Prince of Anhalt-Dessau, German prince (b. 1507)


date: October 27

text: October 27 – Michael Servetus, Spanish Protestant theologian (burned at the stake) (b. 1511)


date: January 21

text: January 21 – Edward Courtenay, one of the four plotters of Wyatt's rebellion in England, is arrested and reveals that an attempt will be made to overthrow the English government.


date: January 27

text: January 27 – Wyatt's rebellion begins in England at Maidstone as Sir Thomas Wyatt reads a proclamation that Queen Mary of England’s marriage to King Philip of Spain will "bring upon this realm most miserable servitude, and establish popish religion". Within two days, Wyatt has raised 2,000 soldiers to join his plan to overthrow Queen Mary.


date: January 30

text: January 30 – Henry Grey, Duke of Suffolk, one of the English conspirators in Wyatt's rebellion, leads troops from Leicester to Coventry, but the group finds that the gates of the city are closed because the rebellion has been exposed.


date: February 9

text: February 9 – Thomas Wyatt surrenders to government forces in London.


date: March 18

text: March 18 – Princess Elizabeth is imprisoned in the Tower of London on charges of working with the organizers of Wyatt's rebellion for the overthrow of Queen Mary of England.


date: May 9

text: May 9 – Elizabeth is released from the Tower of London, although she continues to be confined at home after she is cleared of suspicion of conspiracy to overthrow the government.


date: June 11

text: June 11 – Italian General Piero Strozzi successfully defends an attack on the Republic of Siena by French troops, led by Cosimo de' Medici at the battle of Pontedera, but suffers a tremendous loss of his own troops in the process.


date: August 2

text: August 2 – Battle of Marciano: Senese–French forces are defeated by the Florentine–Imperial army.


date: August 12

text: August 12 – Battle of Renty: French forces led by François, Duke of Guise turn back an invasion of Picardy, by Charles V.


date: September 13

text: September 13 (Shawwal 15, 961 AH) – At the Battle of Tadla in Morocco, Mohammed ash-Sheikh, ruler of the Saadi dynasty enters the city of Fez and becomes the undisputed sultan. Ali Abu Hassun, last ruler of the Wattasid dynasty, flees.


date: October 8

text: October 8 – In Peru, an 11-month long rebellion by Francisco Hernández Girón is ended at the Battle of Pucará with the rebels defeated by the Viceroy of Peru near Cuzco.


date: October 21

text: October 21 – The Plassenburg castle in Bavaria, residence of the ruling House of Hohenzollern in the Principality of Ansbach, is destroyed during the Second Margrave War.


text: Saadi conquers the Kingdom of Fez.


text: Exact center year of Counter Reformation.


text: Rao Surjan Singh becomes ruler of Bundi.


date: November 1

text: November 1 – English captain John Lok, commanding three ships (the Trinitie, the Bartholomew and the John Evangelist), departs from Dartmouth in England to voyage to the Guinea Coast at West Africa.


date: December 22

text: December 22 – The John Lok expedition reaches Guinea, anchoring at the Sesto River and remains for seven days to begin trading."


text: Luso-Chinese agreement: Portugal reaches an agreement with the Ming Dynasty of China, to be allowed to legally trade in the province of Guangdong. This agreement is often seen as a starting point of the Portuguese colony of Macau.


date: July 25

text: July 25– Queen Mary I of England marries King Prince Philip of Naples, the only son of Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor and heir to the throne of Spain, at Winchester Cathedral just two days after their first meeting.


text: Mikael Agricola becomes the bishop of Turku.


text: The name of the beer brewed by New Belgium Brewing Company is based on a recipe from this date, called "1554."


date: February 12

text: February 12 – After claiming the throne of England the previous year, Lady Jane Grey is beheaded for treason.


date: January 5

text: January 5 – A great fire breaks out in Eindhoven, Netherlands.


text: June 11 – A gunpowder explosion triggered by lightning causes fires that destroy much of the city of Luxembourg.


date: January 12

text: January 12 (10th waxing of Tabodwe 915 ME) – Bayinnaung is crowned king of the Burmese Taungoo Dynasty at his new capital at Pegu, after a previous coronation on January 11, 1551, and takes the regnal name of Thiri Thudhamma Yaza.


date: January 25

text: January 25 – São Paulo, Brazil, is founded.


date: April 12

text: April 12 – Mary of Guise becomes Regent of Scotland.


date: February 8

text: February 8 – Marina de Escobar, Spanish nun (d. 1633)


date: March 1

text: March 1 – William Stafford, English courtier and conspirator (d. 1612)


date: March 18

text: March 18 – Josias I, Count of Waldeck-Eisenberg, Count of Waldeck-Eisenberg (1578-1588) (d. 1588)


date: March 22

text: March 22 – Catherine de Parthenay, French noblewoman and mathematician (d. 1631)


date: March 26

text: March 26 – Charles of Lorraine, Duke of Mayenne, French military leader (d. 1611)


date: March

text: March – Richard Hooker, Anglican theologian (d. 1600)


date: April 15

text: April 15 – Simon VI, Count of Lippe, Count of Lippe-Detmold (1563-1613) (d. 1613)


date: June 3

text: June 3 – Pietro de' Medici, Italian noble (d. 1604)


date: July 5

text: July 5 – Elisabeth of Austria, Queen of France (d. 1592)


date: October 1

text: October 1 – Leonardus Lessius, Jesuit theologian (d. 1623)


date: October 3

text: October 3 – Fulke Greville, 1st Baron Brooke, English poet (d. 1628)


date: October 10

text: October 10 – Arnold III, Count of Bentheim-Steinfurt-Tecklenburg-Limburg and Lord of Rheda (d. 1606)


date: November 30

text: November 30 – Sir Philip Sidney, English courtier and poet (d. 1586)


date: December 17

text: December 17 – Ernest of Bavaria, Roman Catholic bishop (d. 1612)


date: January 2

text: January 2 – João Manuel, Prince of Portugal, Portuguese prince (b. 1537)


date: January 16

text: January 16 – Christiern Pedersen, Danish humanist (b. c. 1480)


date: January 23

text: January 23 – Elizabeth Hussey, Baroness Hungerford, English noblewoman (b. 1510)


date: February 12

text: February 12 – Lord Guildford Dudley, consort of Lady Jane Grey (executed) (b. 1536)


text: February 12 – Lady Jane Grey, claimant to the throne of England (executed) (b. 1537)


date: February 21

text: February 21 – Sibylle of Cleves, Electress consort of Saxony (b. 1512)


text: February 21 – Hieronymus Bock, German botanist (b. 1498)


date: February 23

text: February 23 – Henry Grey, Duke of Suffolk, English politician (executed) (b. c.1517)


date: April 11

text: April 11 – Thomas Wyatt the Younger, English rebel (executed) (b. 1521)


date: April 23

text: April 23 – Gaspara Stampa, Italian poet (b. 1523)


date: September 22

text: September 22 – Francisco Vázquez de Coronado, Spanish conquistador (b. c. 1510)


date: November 22

text: November 22 – Upon the death of his father, Sultan Islam Shah Suri, 12-year-old Firuz Shah Suri becomes the Sultan of the Sur Empire at Delhi, but he is murdered within a few days.


date: December 22

text: December 22 – Alessandro Bonvicino, Italian painter (b. 1498)


date: December

text: December – John Taylor, Bishop of Lincoln (b. 1503)


date: June 1

text: June 1 – The Treaty of Amasya between the Ottoman Empire and Safavid Persia concludes the Ottoman-Safavid War.


date: October 25

text: October 25 – Charles V abdicates as Holy Roman Emperor and is succeeded by his brother Ferdinand.


text: Humayun resumes rule of the Mughal Empire.


text: English captain John Lok returns from Guinea, with five Africans to train as interpreters for future trading voyages.


date: January 22

text: January 22 – The Kingdom of Ava in Upper Burma falls.


date: April 17

text: April 17 – After 18 months of siege, the Republic of Siena surrenders to the Florentine–Imperial army.


date: June 22

text: June 22 – Adil Shah Suri becomes the Sultan of the Sur Empire at Delhi in India after Sikandar Shah Suri is forced to flee from the Mughal Empire forces.


date: October 16

text: October 16 – (1st day of 10th month Tenbun 24) – At the Battle of Miyajima Island, Mori Motonari defeats Sue Harukata.


text: Russia breaks a 60-year-old truce with Sweden by attacking Finland.


date: November 1

text: November 1 – French Navy Vice-Admiral Nicolas Durand de Villegaignon leads a small fleet of two ships and 200 soldiers and colonists to take possession of Serigipe Island, near modern-day Rio de Janeiro in Brazil at Guanabara Bay, and builds Fort Coligny.


date: February 4

text: February 4 – John Rogers is burned at the stake at Smithfield, London, becoming the first of the 284 Protestant martyrs of the English Reformation to be killed during the five and one-half year reign of Queen Mary I of England. His death is followed within the week by that of Laurence Saunders on February 8 in Coventry, and Rowland Taylor, Rector of Hadleigh, Suffolk, and John Hooper, deposed Bishop of Gloucester on February 9.


date: May 23

text: May 23 – Giovanni Pietro Carafa, Cardinal of Naples, is elected as the new Pope after Giacomo del Pozzo fails to obtain the necessary two-thirds approval. Carafa, the 223rd Pope, takes the name Pope Paul IV.


date: May 30

text: May 30 – Foundation of Trinity College, Oxford, England, to teach Catholic theology.


date: July 12

text: July 12 – Pope Paul IV creates the Roman Ghetto, the first Jewish ghetto in Rome.


date: August 24

text: August 24 – England's Thomas Thirlby, the first and only Roman Catholic Archbishop of Norwich and Queen Mary's envoy to Pope Paul IV, returns to London from bearing a papal bull that confirms Queen Mary's jurisdiction over Ireland.


date: September 25

text: September 25 – The Peace of Augsburg is signed between Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor, and the Lutheran Schmalkaldic League, establishing the principle Cuius regio, eius religio, that is, rulers within the Empire can choose the religion of their realm.


text: October 16 – The first two Protestant Oxford Martyrs, Hugh Latimer and Nicholas Ridley, are burned at the stake in England.


date: November 13

text: November 13 – Thomas Cranmer is officially removed from office as the Protestant Archbishop of Canterbury by order of Pope Paul IV and Queen Mary I.


date: December 11

text: December 11 – Cardinal Reginald Pole is made a cardinal-priest in the Roman Catholic Church and made the administrator of the See of Canterbury in England, though he will not become the new Archbishop of Canterbury until the following March 20.


date: February 26

text: February 26 – The Muscovy Company is chartered in England to trade with the Tsardom of Russia and Richard Chancellor negotiates with the Tsar.


text: The Adal Sultanate in the Horn of Africa collapses.


text: Richard Eden publishes The Decades of the Newe Worlde or West India, a translation into English of parts of Pietro Martire d'Anghiera's De orbe novo decades, the Gonzalo Fernández de Oviedo y Valdés work Natural hystoria de las Indias and others, urging his countrymen to follow the lead of Spain in exploring the New World; the work includes the first recorded use in English of the country name 'China'.


date: February 2

text: February 2 – The Diet of Augsburg begins.


text: John Dee is charged, but cleared, of treason in England.


date: September

text: September – The 1555 Kashmir earthquake causes widespread destruction and death in Kashmir, India.


date: March 25

text: March 25 – Valencia, Venezuela, is founded by Captain Alonso Díaz Moreno.


date: May 1

text: May 1 – Foundation of St John's College, Oxford, England, to teach Catholic theology.


text: William Annyas becomes the Mayor of Youghal, Ireland, the first Jew to hold such a position in Ireland.


text: Orlande de Lassus' first book of madrigals is published, in Antwerp.


text: Establishment in England of the following grammar schools: Boston Grammar School, Gresham's School at Holt, Norfolk (founded by Sir John Gresham) and Ripon Grammar School (re-foundation).


date: March 18

text: March 18 – François, Duke of Anjou, youngest son of Henry II of France and Catherine de' Medici (d. 1584)


date: March 21

text: March 21 – John Leveson, English politician (d. 1615)


date: April 28

text: April 28 – Karl Friedrich of Jülich-Cleves-Berg, heir apparent of Jülich-Cleves-Berg (d. 1575)


date: May 9

text: May 9 – Jerónima de la Asunción, founder of the first Catholic monastery in Manila, the Monastery of Santa Clara (d. 1630)


date: May 29

text: May 29 – George Carew, 1st Earl of Totnes, English earl, general and administrator (d. 1629)


date: June 11

text: June 11 – Lodovico Zacconi, Italian composer and music theorist (d. 1627)


date: June 13

text: June 13 – Giovanni Antonio Magini, Italian mathematician, cartographer and astronomer (d. 1617)


date: July 6

text: July 6 – Louis II, Cardinal of Guise, French Catholic cardinal (d. 1588)


date: July

text: July – Henry Garnet, English Jesuit (d. 1606)


date: August 1

text: August 1 – Edward Kelley, English spirit medium (d. 1597)


date: September 21

text: September 21 – John Thynne, English landowner and politician (d. 1604)


date: September 23

text: September 23 – Louise de Coligny, princess consort of Orange (d. 1620)


date: September 28

text: September 28 – Henri de La Tour d'Auvergne, vicomte de Turenne, duc de Bouillon, Marshal of France (d. 1623)


date: October 12

text: October 12 – Peregrine Bertie, 13th Baron Willoughby de Eresby, English baron (d. 1601)


date: February 4

text: February 4 – John Rogers, English clergyman (burned at the stake) (b. c. 1505)


date: February 9

text: February 9 – Rowland Taylor, English Protestant martyr (burned at the stake) (b. 1510)


text: February 9 – John Hooper, English churchman (burned at the stake) (b. c. 1497)


date: March 14

text: March 14 – John Russell, 1st Earl of Bedford (b. 1485)


date: April 9

text: April 9 – Marcello Cervini degli Spannocchi is unanimously chosen as the successor to Pope Julius III, who died on March 23, and takes the name of Pope Marcellus II as the 222nd Pontiff of the Roman Catholic Church. He will reign for 22 days.


date: April 18

text: April 18 – Polydore Vergil, English historian (b. 1470)


date: May 15

text: May 15 – The conclave opens with 42 of the 56 Roman Catholic cardinals to choose a successor to Pope Marcellus II, who had died on May 1.


date: May 25

text: May 25 – Jeanne d'Albret becomes the Queen of Navarre upon the death of her father, King Henry II.


date: September 8

text: September 8 – Thomas of Villanova, Spanish Roman Catholic bishop and saint (b. 1488)


date: October 16

text: October 16 – Hugh Latimer, English clergyman (burned at the stake) (b. c. 1487)


text: October 16 – Sue Harukata, Japanese retainer under the Ouchi clan (b. 1521)


date: November 12

text: November 12 – Stephen Gardiner, English bishop and Lord Chancellor (b. 1493)


text: November 12 – Yang Jisheng, Ming Chinese statesman (beheaded) (b. 1516)


date: November 21

text: November 21 – Georgius Agricola, German scientist (b. 1490)


date: January 16

text: January 16 – Charles V abdicates the thrones of the Spanish Empire (including his colonies in the New World) in favor of his son, Philip II, and retires to a monastery.


date: February 14

text: February 14 – Akbar the Great ascends the throne of the Mughal Empire in India at age 13; he will rule until his death in 1605, by which time most of the north and centre of the Indian subcontinent will be under his control.


date: August 27

text: August 27 – Charles V abdicates his position as Holy Roman Emperor in favor of his younger brother, Ferdinand, King of the Romans. The Imperial Diet postpones recognizing the abdication for the next 18 months.


text: The kings of Spain take control of what becomes the Flanders region, including the French département of Nord.


text: The Plantations of Ireland are started in King's County (later County Offaly) and Queen's County (later County Laois), the earliest attempt at systematic ethnic cleansing in Ireland, by the Roman Catholic ruler Queen Mary I of England.


text: The Welser banking families of Augsburg lose colonial control of Venezuela.


date: February 5

text: February 5 – Truce of Vaucelles: Fighting temporarily ends between France and Spain.


date: April 3

text: April 3 – In Qazvin, the Shah of Iran Tahmasp I, becomes enraged with the sexual orientation of his son Ismail II, and sends Ismail to Afghanistan to serve as the Iranian governor of Herat province.


date: April 24

text: April 24 – Pál Márkházy surrenders the Hungarian fortress at Ajnácskő (now Hajnáčka in Slovakia) to the Ottoman Empire. Márkházy, accused of treachery, is stripped of his estates and title by the King of Hungary, and forced to flee to the Principality of Transylvania.


date: May 28

text: May 28 (20th day of 4th month of Kōji 2) – In Japan, the Battle of Nagara-gawa takes place along the Nagara River in Mino Province near what is now the Gifu Prefecture. Saitō Yoshitatsu, with 17,500 troops, overwhelms and kills his father, Saitō Dōsan, who had attempted to avenge the Saitō family honor with less than 3,000 people.


date: July 17

text: July 17 – Kostajnica Fortress in what is now Croatia falls to the Ottoman Empire and remains under Turkish control for the next 132 years.


date: September 1

text: September 1 – After Pope Paul IV attempts to get King Henry II of France to join him in an invasion of Spanish-controlled Naples, Spain's Duke of Alba invades the Papal States in Italy.


date: October 7

text: October 7 – The Battle of Delhi is fought in India, at Tughlaqabad) near Delhi between forces of the Sur Empire (ruled by Muhammad Adil Shah) and the Mughal Empire (ruled by Akbar the Great). General Hemchandra Vikramaditya (Hemu) of the Suris overwhelms the forces commanded by the Mughal Governor of Delhi, Tardi Beg Khan within one day.


date: November 5

text: November 5 – Second Battle of Panipat: Fifty miles north of Delhi, a Mughal army defeats the forces of Hemu and recaptures Delhi for the Mughal Empire, guaranteeing Akbar's rule.


date: December 7

text: December 7 – The Mughal Emperor Akbar personally travels with Bairam Khan to lead an invasion force to defeat the Sultan of the Sur Empire, Sikandar Shah Suri.


text: Ivan the Terrible conquers Astrakhan, opening the Volga River to Russian traffic and trade.


date: March 21

text: March 21 – In Oxford, Thomas Cranmer, the former Archbishop of Canterbury, is burned at the stake for treason for his role in the English Reformation as chief bishop of the Anglican Church.


date: March 22

text: March 22 – Reginald Pole, a Roman Catholic Cardinal, is appointed by Queen Mary of England as the new Archbishop of Canterbury and head of the Catholic Archdiocese of Canterbury.


date: June 27

text: June 27 – Thirteen English Protestants (11 men and two women), the "Stratford Martyrs", are burned at the stake at Stratford-le-Bow near London after being convicted of heresy.


date: August 15

text: August 15 – Work begins on the Peresopnytsia Gospel at the Monastery of the Holy Trinity in the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, and continues for the next five years.


date: November 17

text: November 17 – In the Holy Roman Empire, the Steter Kriegsrat is founded as a War Council with five generals and five civil servants to advise the Habsburg rulers.


date: December 27

text: December 27 – Péter Erdődy is appointed as the Ottoman Viceroy of Croatia after the death on September 7 of Nikola IV Zrinski.


date: December 31

text: December 31 – All military authorities in the Holy Roman Empire are ordered to submit to the decisions of the Imperial War Council.


date: January 4

text: January 4 – In Japan, Saitō Yoshitatsu, the eldest son of Saitō Dōsan, arranges the murders of his two younger brothers, Magoshiro and Kiheiji, and forces his father to flee from the Sagiyama Castle.


text: The false Martin Guerre appears in the French village of Artigat.


date: November 10

text: November 10 – The English ship Edward Bonadventure, commanded by Richard Chancellor is wrecked on the coast of Scotland at Pitsligo, killing most of its crew, including Chancellor. The few survivors include the first Russian ambassador to England, Osip Nepeya.


date: January 23

text: January 23 – The Shaanxi earthquake, the deadliest earthquake in history, occurs with its epicenter in Shaanxi province, China; 830,000 people may have been killed.


date: June 14

text: June 14 – Lorenzo Priuli becomes the new Doge of the Venetian Republic.


text: The first printing press in India is introduced by Jesuits, at Saint Paul's College, Goa.


text: Future King Prince John, younger son of King Gustav I of Sweden becomes Duke of Finland.


date: January 24

text: January 24 – Christian Barnekow, Danish noble, explorer and diplomat (d. 1612)


date: February 4

text: February 4 – Dorothea of Hanau-Münzenberg, German noblewoman (d. 1638)


date: February 16

text: February 16 – Tōdō Takatora, Japanese daimyō (d. 1630)


date: March 7

text: March 7 – Guillaume du Vair, French statesman and philosopher (d. 1621)


date: April 9

text: April 9 – Andreas von Auersperg, Carniolan noble and military commander in the battle of Sisak (d. 1593)


date: June 6

text: June 6 – Edward la Zouche, 11th Baron Zouche, English politician and diplomat (d. 1625)


date: June 13

text: June 13 – Pomponio Nenna, Italian composer (d. 1608)


date: June 24

text: June 24 – Victoria of Valois, French princess (d. 1556)


text: June 24 – Joan of Valois, French princess (d. 1556)


date: July 9

text: July 9 – Elizabeth Finch, 1st Countess of Winchilsea, English countess (d. 1634)


date: October 18

text: October 18 – Charles I, Duke of Elbeuf, French duke and nobleman (d. 1605)


date: October 26

text: October 26 – Ahmad Baba al Massufi, Malian academic (d. 1627)


date: November 25

text: November 25 – Jacques Davy Duperron, French cardinal (d. 1618)


date: December 5

text: December 5 – Anne Cecil, Countess of Oxford, English countess (d. 1588)


date: January 8

text: January 8 – Anne Shelton, English courtier, elder sister of Thomas Boleyn (b. 1475)


text: January 24 – In India, at the Sher Mandal in Delhi, the Mughal Emperor Humayun trips while descending the stairs from his library and strikes the side of his head against a stone step, sustaining a fatal injury. He never regains consciousness and dies seven days later.


date: February 12

text: February 12 – Giovanni Poggio, Italian cardinal and diplomat (b. 1493)


date: February 26

text: February 26 – Frederick II, Elector Palatine (1544–1556) (b. 1482)


date: April 18

text: April 18 – John Gage, English courtier of the Tudor period (b. 1479)


date: April 26

text: April 26 – Valentin Friedland, German scholar and educationist of the Reformation (b. 1490)


date: May 28

text: May 28 – Saitō Dōsan, Japanese warlord (b. 1494)


text: June 24 – Joan of Valois, French princess (b. 1556)


date: July 31

text: July 31 – Ignatius of Loyola, Spanish founder of the Jesuit order and saint (b. 1491)


date: August 17

text: August 17 – Victoria of Valois, French princess (b. 1556)


date: September

text: September – Patrick Hepburn, 3rd Earl of Bothwell, Scottish traitor (b. 1512)


date: October 21

text: October 21 – Pietro Aretino, Italian author (b. 1492)


date: November 10

text: November 10 – Richard Chancellor, English Arctic explorer (drowned at sea) (b. c. 1521)


date: November 14

text: November 14 – Giovanni della Casa, Italian poet (b. 1503)


date: January 4

text: January 4 – Pietro Giovanni Chiavica Cibo becomes the new Doge of the Republic of Genoa for a term of 2 years as the term of the Doge Agostino Pinelli Ardimenti comes to an end.


date: February 24

text: February 24 – Delegates from Sweden, Finland and Russia arrive at Novgorod to negotiate a treaty to end the war between the two empires.


date: April 2

text: April 2 – The Treaty of Novgorod between Sweden and Russia is put into effect as delegates kiss the cross, as demanded by the Tsar Ivan IV.


date: May 29

text: May 29 – King Philip II of Spain signs a treaty in London with Iacopo VI being restored to rule of the Principality of Piombino a bargain with Cosimo I de' Medici.


date: July 3

text: July 3 – The small Stato dei Presidi, a 300 km2 section of Spanish territory on the Tuscan coast of Italy, is created by a treaty between Cosimo I de' Medici (Duke of the Florentine Republic and the future Grand Duke of Tuscany) and King Felipe II of Spain. In return, Cosimo receives the rest of the former Republic of Siena.


date: January 6

text: January 6 – Italian War of 1551–1559: Gaspard II de Coligny, the French governor of Picardy (in northern France), launches surprise attacks on Douai and Lens in the Spanish Netherlands and captures both cities for France.


date: January 28

text: January 28 – Bayinnaung, King of Burma and head of the Toungoo dynasty, conquers two the Shan States, Möng Mit and Hsipaw in what is now northern Myanmar. The event is later commemorated with an inscription on the Shwezigon Pagoda Bell.


date: March 11

text: March 11 – The Burmese conquest of the Shan States continues as the capital of the Mongkawng state, Mong Kawng, falls to the Toungoo dynasty invaders, five days after the March 6 surrender of the town of Mong Yang. The event is later commemorated on the Shwezigon Pagoda Bell.


date: March

text: March – The Takeda clan besiege Katsurayama Castle in eastern Japan. The siege ends with the last stand of the castle garrison, and the complete destruction of Katsurayama, allowing the Takeda to further expand in Shinano Province.


date: April 25

text: April 25 – English aristocrat Thomas Stafford attempts a rebellion against Queen Mary I, landing at Scarborough, North Yorkshire with two ships and 32 followers after crossing the English Channel from Dieppe in France. Upon landing, he captures Scarborough Castle and proclaims himself "Protector of the Realm".


date: April 28

text: April 28 – Henry Neville, 5th Earl of Westmorland, arrives in Scarborough and ends the Stafford rebellion, arresting Stafford and the small rebel force.


date: April 30

text: April 30 – Arauco War – Battle of Mataquito: Spanish forces of Governor Francisco de Villagra launch a dawn surprise attack against the Mapuche (headed by their toqui Lautaro), in present-day Chile.


date: May 28

text: May 28 – English rebel Thomas Stafford and 32 of his followers are beheaded at the Tower of London after being convicted of treason.


date: June 7

text: June 7 – Mary I of England joins her husband Philip II of Spain, in his war against France.


date: July 25

text: July 25 – In India, Sikandar Shah Suri, Sultan of the Sur Empire in Punjab, surrenders the fortress at Mau in the Nurpur kingdom (now in Uttar Pradesh) after a six month siege by the Mughal Empire. Mughal General Bairam Khan allows Sikandar to live in exile in Bihar, while Bakht Mal, Raja of Nurpur is imprisoned at Lahore and later beheaded.


date: August 27

text: August 27 – Battle of St. Quentin: French forces under Marshal Anne de Montmorency, 1st Duke of Montmorency are decisively defeated by the Spanish and English under Emmanuel Philibert, Duke of Savoy, after a 17-day battle. Montmorency himself is captured, but Philip II refuses to press his advantage, and withdraws to the Netherlands.


date: October 23

text: October 23 – Mohammed al-Shaykh, Sultan of Morocco since 1549, is assassinated by Ottoman soldiers who had infiltrated the Moroccan army. The assassination comes on orders of the Ottoman sultan after Mohammed makes plans for an alliance with Spain against the Ottoman Empire. Mohammed is succeeded by his son, Abdallah al-Ghalib.


date: December 30

text: December 30 – Italian War of 1551–1559: King Henri II of France, through his ambassador Jean Cavenac de la Vigne sends a letter to Suleiman the Magnificent, Sultan of the Ottoman Empire for the dispatch of 150 Ottoman Navy ships to protect the French coast.


text: Özdemir Pasha conquers the Red Sea port of Massawa for the Ottoman Empire.


text: With the permission of the Ming dynasty government of China, and for the benefit of both Western and Eastern merchants, the Portuguese settle in Macau (retroceded in 1999). Direct Sino-Portuguese trade has existed since 1513, but this is the first official legal treaty port on traditional Chinese soil, that will form a long-term Western settlement.


text: German adventurer Hans Staden publishes a widely translated account of his detention by the Tupí people of Brazil, Warhaftige Historia und beschreibung eyner Landtschafft der Wilden Nacketen, Grimmigen Menschfresser-Leuthen in der Newenwelt America gelegen ("True Story and Description of a Country of Wild, Naked, Grim, Man-eating People in the New World, America").


date: January 13

text: January 13 – Sigismund II Augustus, King of Poland and Grand Duke of Lithuania, issues an edict against Protestants, at the urging of the Archbishop Mikołaj Dzierzgowski, Primate of Poland.


date: February 4

text: February 4 – Pope Paul IV creates the metropolitan archdiocese of Portuguese India (based in Goa) separating the Goan diocese from the ecclesiastical province of Lisbon.


date: April 12

text: April 12 – The Spanish settlement of Cuenca, Ecuador, is founded.


date: May 23

text: May 23 – The Shwezigon Pagoda Bell, weighing 7560 lb, is dedicated. The Bell, commissioned by King Bayinnaung and located in the Myanmar city of Bagan, bears a detailed inscription of the 16th century Burmese conquest of the Shan States.


date: July 24

text: July 24 – The Edict of Compiègne is issued by King Henri II of France, providing for the death penalty to be applied to Protestants for a variety of crimes, including a relapse after having renounced Protestantism; unauthorized travel to Geneva; publication of Protestant books; possessing graven images; and unauthorized participation in Protestant religious gatherings, whether public or private.


date: September 11

text: September 11– The Colloquy of Worms convenes in Germany as a dialog on religious issues between clerics of the German Catholic Church and the Lutheran Church.


date: September 12

text: September 12– The Spanish occupation of the Papal States is confirmed as Pope Paul IV signs a separate peace treaty, the Peace of Cave-Palestrina, with Spain's Duke of Alba, who has massed troops outside of Rome in preparationfor an attack.


date: October 8

text: October 8 – The Colloquy of Worms is adjourned with no resolution on reconciling the differences between Catholicism and Protestantism, after the parties are unable to agree on the concepts of original sin and theological justification.


text: Gonville and Caius College, Cambridge, is refounded by John Caius.


text: Spain becomes bankrupt, throwing the German banking houses into chaos.


text: Welsh-born mathematician Robert Recorde publishes The Whetstone of Witte in London, containing the first recorded use of the equals sign, and the first use in English of plus and minus signs.


text: By June – The 1557 influenza pandemic, probably originating in China, spreads to Europe.


date: June 18

text: June 18 – Mass executions by burning at the stake resume in England for Protestants convicted of heresy under the law of England's Catholic ruler, Queen Mary I. On the first day, four women and three men are put to death at Maidstone at Kent. The next day, at Canterbury, another seven prisoners are burned. On June 22, ten more people (six men and four women) burn at the stake at Lewes at Sussex. In all, 24 people (12 men and 12 women) are killed in a five-day period


text: Repton School, by Sir John Port.


text: Hampton School, Hampton, London, by Robert Hammond.


text: Brentwood School, Essex, by Sir Antony Browne.


date: May 4

text: May 4 – The Stationers' Company, officially the Worshipful Company of Stationers and Newspaper Makers, is granted a royal charter and a monopoly on the English publishing industry. For the next 150 years, the Stationers will regulate and censor the printing industry until the passage of the Copyright Act 1710 on April 10, 1710.


date: June 10

text: June 10 – The New Testament of the Geneva Bible, a Protestant Bible translation into English (produced under the supervision of William Whittingham, and printed in Roman type), is published in Geneva.