date: April 14

text: April 14 – The formal coronation of Ivan the Great as Grand Prince of Moscow (encompassing most of the Russian people's territory) to reflect that he is the nation's sole ruler. Ivan had been co-ruler of Moscow from 1449 to 1462, ruler from 1462 to 1471 and 1490 to 1498, and co-ruler with his eldest son (Ivan the Young, 1471-1490) and his grandson, Dmitry Ivanovich from 1498 onward.


date: September 29

section: Culture & Society

text: September 29 – Anne of Foix-Candale is proclaimed Queen of Hungary upon her marriage to Vladislaus II, King of Hungary and Bohemia, at a ceremony in Székesfehérvár.

source_section: Events › July–September


text: Wittenberg University is founded.

source_section: Events › Date unknown


text: The King's School, Macclesfield, England, is founded by Sir John Percyvale.


text: Wilhelm Bombast moves to Villach with his son, Paracelsus.


date: January 3

section: Births

text: January 3 – Yi Hwang, Korean Neo-Confucian scholar (d.1571)

source_section: Births


date: January 20

text: January 20 – Sebastian de Aparicio, Spanish colonial industrialist and saint in Mexico (d. 1600)


date: February 2

text: February 2 – Damião de Góis, Portuguese philosopher (d. 1574)


date: March 4

text: March 4 – Elisabeth of Hesse, Hereditary Princess of Saxony (d. 1557)


date: March 18

text: March 18 – Philibert of Chalon, French nobleman (d. 1530)


date: April 2

text: April 2 – Susanna of Bavaria, German noble of the House of Wittelsbach (d. 1543)


date: April 10

text: April 10 – Otto Henry, Count Palatine of Neuburg (1505–1559) and Elector Palatine (1556–1559) (d. 1559)


date: April 25

text: April 25 – Georg Major, German Lutheran theologian (d. 1574)


date: July 27

text: July 27 – Francesco Corteccia, Italian composer (d. 1571)


date: August 14

text: August 14 – Pieter Coecke van Aelst, Flemish painter (d. 1550)


date: September 14

text: September 14 – Louis II, Count Palatine of Zweibrücken, Duke of Zweibrücken from 1514 to 1532 (d. 1532)


date: December 6

text: December 6 – Anna of Brunswick-Lüneburg, Duchess consort of Pomerania (d. 1568)


text: Hurrem Sultan, Ruthenian-born Haseki sultan of the Ottoman Empire (d. 1558)


text: Elizabeth Blount, English courtier, mistress of King Henry VIII (d. 1540)


date: February 18

section: Deaths

text: February 18 – Hedwig Jagiellon, Duchess of Bavaria (b. 1457)

source_section: Deaths › January–June


date: March 2

text: March 2 – Jan I Carondelet, Burgundian jurist and politician (b. 1428)


date: March

text: March – Francesco Laurana, Dalmatian-born sculptor (b. c. 1430)


date: April 15

text: April 15 – John IV of Chalon-Arlay, Prince of Orange (1475–1502) (b. 1443)


date: April 20

text: April 20 – Mary of Looz-Heinsberg, Dutch noble (b. 1424)


date: May 4

text: May 4 – Berthold II of Landsberg, Bishop of Verden (1470–1502) and Hildesheim (1481–1502) (b. 1464)


date: May 6

text: May 6 – James Tyrrell, English knight, alleged murderer of the princes in the Tower (executed) (b. c. 1450)


date: August 18

text: August 18 – Knut Alvsson, Norwegian nobleman and politician (b. 1455)

source_section: Deaths › July–December


date: August 31

text: August 31 – Thomas Wode, Lord Chief Justice of the Common Pleas


date: October 14

text: October 14 – Diego Hurtado de Mendoza y Quiñones, Spanish noble (b. 1444)


date: November 10

text: November 10 – George I of Münsterberg, Imperial Prince, Duke of Münsterberg and Oels, Graf von Glatz (b. 1470)


date: November 13

text: November 13 – Annio da Viterbo, Italian Dominican friar and scholar (b. 1432)


date: December 31

text: December 31 – Oliverotto Euffreducci, Italian politician (b. 1475)


text: Moctezuma II is elected emperor of the Aztecs, following the death of Ahuitzotl.


date: May 28

section: Geopolitics & Diplomacy

text: May 28 – James IV of Scotland and Margaret Tudor of England are married as per the Treaty of Perpetual Peace by Pope Alexander VI, according to Papal bull.

source_section: Events › April–June


date: June 23

text: June 23 – Representatives of King Henry VII of England and Queen Isabella of Spain sign a treaty for 12-year-old Henry, Prince of Wales to be married to Catherine of Aragon, widow of King Henry's son Arthur.


date: August 20

text: August 20 – A previous treaty between Vladislaus II of Hungary and Bayezid II, which was finalized on June 11, goes into effect. The treaty suppresses warfare along the Hungarian-Ottoman border. Stephen III of Moldavia is also included in this treaty, but it preserves his nation's independence on the condition Moldavia pays an annual tribute to the Ottoman Empire.


date: February 13

section: Conflict & Security

text: February 13 – Challenge of Barletta: Thirteen Italian knights defeat thirteen French knights, near Barletta.

source_section: Events › January–March


date: February 23

text: February 23 – Third Italian War: Battle of Ruvo – The Spanish defeat the French in Italy.


date: April 2

text: April 2 – The Kingdom of Cochin (ruled by a Portuguese-installed raja, Unni Ramman Koyil II in modern-day India's Kerala state) is invaded by 50,000 Nair troops of the Zamorin of Calicut.


date: April 21

text: April 21 – Third Italian War: Battle of Seminara – Spanish forces under Fernando de Andrade de las Mariñas defeat the French under Bernard Stewart, 4th Lord of Aubigny, who is captured, in Calabria.


date: April 28

text: April 28 – Third Italian War: Battle of Cerignola – Spanish forces under Gonzalo Fernández de Córdoba defeat the French under Louis d'Armagnac, Duke of Nemours, who is killed, in Apulia. This is considered to be the first battle in history won by gunpowder small arms.


date: May 13

text: May 13 – Naples is captured by the Spanish.


date: June 21

text: June 21 – Murad, the last Sultan of Aq Qoyunlu in modern-day eastern Turkey fights the Safavid King of Persia, Ismail I in a battle near the city of Hamadan, and suffers 10,000 casualties, including his commander Güzel Ahmad.


date: November 11

text: November 11 – Bernard Stewart, 4th Lord of Aubigny, commander of the defeated French forces and a prisoner of war since his April 21 defeat at the Battle of Seminara, is released from Castel Nuovo in Naples after a truce between France and Spain.

source_section: Events › October–December


date: December 29

text: December 29 – Third Italian War: The Battle of Garigliano takes place near Gaeta in Italy. Spanish forces under Gonzalo Fernández de Córdoba defeat a French–Italian mercenary army under Marchese Ludovico II of Saluzzo; the French forces, who suffer 4,000 casualties, withdraw to Gaeta.


date: January 20

section: Exploration & Expansion

text: January 20 – Seville in Castile is awarded exclusive rights to trade with the New World.


date: March 15

text: March 15 – Portuguese explorer Vasco da Gama and sailors of his Portuguese India Armada become the first Europeans to sight the Seychelles islands as Thomé Lopes notes the discovery of what will later be called Silhouette Island.


date: May 10

text: May 10 – Christopher Columbus discovers the Cayman Islands, which he names Las Tortugas, after the numerous sea turtles there.


date: May 20

text: May 20 (Feast of the Ascension) – Ascension Island is first definitively sighted, by Portuguese admiral Afonso de Albuquerque.


date: June 25

text: June 25 – After his ships are damaged in a storm, Christopher Columbus and his 230 men are forced to beach at the island of Jamaica (at modern-day Saint Ann Parish) and remain stranded there for the next six months.


date: July 30

text: July 30 – Saint Helena is first definitively sighted, by ships of Portuguese navigator Estêvão da Gama returning from the East.


text: The Spanish explorer Juan de Bermúdez discovered the island Bermuda.


date: January 24

section: Religion & Belief

text: January 24 – Construction of the Henry VII Chapel at Westminster Abbey begins in the perpendicular Gothic style, the final stage of English Gothic art.


date: June 27

text: June 27 – The book The Imitation of Christ by Thomas à Kempis is re-published in an English translation.


date: August 8

text: August 8 – King James IV of Scotland marries Margaret Tudor, daughter of King Henry VII of England, at Holyrood Abbey, Edinburgh, Scotland.


date: September 22

text: September 22 – Francesco Todeschini Piccolomini, Archbishop of Siena, is elected as the new Pope after the voting cardinals cannot decide between Georges d'Amboise of France or Giuliano della Rovere of Italy. Piccolomini takes the name of Pope Pius III but will reign for only 26 days.


date: October 1

text: October 1 – Fort Emmanuel is christened at Cochin after Afonso de Albuquerque obtained permission to be able to build it. It is the first European fort in India, in addition to being the first Portuguese fort.


date: November 1

text: November 1 – Cardinal Giuliano della Rovere, Bishop of Ostia, is elected the 216th Roman Catholic Pontiff at the end of the year's second papal conclave and takes the papal name Pope Julius II. Della Rovere had received 15 of 32 votes in the September voting for a plurality, but still short of a majority. Julius II reigns for a little more than nine years until his death in 1513.


date: November 29

text: November 29 – Pope Julius II, formerly Giuliano della Rovere, adds four new people to the College of Cardinals, including two members of his family, Clemente della Rovere and Galeotto della Rovere. By the time of his death, Julius will have added 27 cardinals to the Roman Catholic Church, five of them from the della Rovere family.


date: July 23

section: Science & Discovery

text: July 23 – Orbital calculations suggest that on this day Pluto moves outside Neptune's orbit, remaining there for 233 years.


date: October 30

section: Health & Medicine

text: October 30 – Queen Isabella I of Spain issues an edict prohibiting violence against indigenous peoples in the New World.


section: Crime & Justice

text: Hieronymus Bosch works on the triptych The Garden of Earthly Delights, although other sources suggest a 1490-1510 date range for when he worked on it.


text: From this year until 1660, sixteen million kilograms of silver and 185,000 kilograms of gold will enter the port of Seville.


text: Mariotto Albertinelli paints The Visitation.


date: May 24

text: May 24 – The coronation of Moctezuma II as ruler of the Aztec Empire takes place at the Aztec capital of Tenochtitlan, part of modern-day Mexico City.


date: October

text: October – Earliest record of Leonardo da Vinci working on a portrait of Lisa del Giocondo, probably the Mona Lisa, in Florence.


date: January 11

text: January 11 – Parmigianino (Girolamo Francesco Maria Mazzola), Italian artist (d. 1540)


date: January 18

text: January 18 – Joachim of Münsterberg-Oels, Duke of Münsterberg, Duke of Oels, Count of Kladsko, Bishop of Brandenburg (d. 1562)


date: February 24

text: February 24 – Johann Gropper, German Catholic cardinal (d. 1559)


date: May 1

text: May 1 – Celio Secondo Curione, Italian humanist (d. 1569)


date: June 1

text: June 1 – Wilhelm von Grumbach, German adventurer (d. 1567)


date: June 28

text: June 28 – Giovanni della Casa, Italian poet (d. 1556)


text: July 23 – Anne of Bohemia and Hungary, Queen consort of the Romans, Bohemia and Hungary (d. 1547)


date: August 12

text: August 12 – Christian III of Denmark and Norway (d. 1559)


date: September 10

text: September 10 – Elisabeth of Hesse, Countess Palatine of Zweibrücken, later Countess Palatine of Simmern (d. 1563)


date: October 4

text: October 4 – Isabella of Portugal, Queen of Spain (d. 1539)


date: November 12

text: November 12 – Philip, Duke of Palatinate-Neuburg, German duke (d. 1548)


date: November 17

text: November 17 – Agnolo di Cosimo, Italian artist and poet (d. 1572)


date: November 19

text: November 19 – Pier Luigi Farnese, Duke of Parma (d. 1547)


date: December 14

text: December 14 – Michel de Nostredame, called Nostradamus, French physician and writer of Les Propheties (1555) (d. 1566)


date: January 20

text: January 20 – Ludmila of Poděbrady, Regent of the duchies of Brzeg and Oława (1488–1503) (b. 1456)

source_section: Deaths


date: February 11

text: February 11 – Elizabeth of York, queen of Henry VII of England (b. 1466)


date: February 23

text: February 23 – Annamacharya, Indian mystic saint composer (b. 1408)


date: April 7

text: April 7 – Sophia Palaiologina, Byzantine princess and Grand Princess of Moscow (b. 1449)


date: May 20

text: May 20 – Lorenzo di Pierfrancesco de' Medici, Italian patron of the arts (b. 1463)


date: July 3

text: July 3 – Pierre d'Aubusson, Grand Master of the Knights of Rhodes (b. 1423)


date: August 5

text: August 5 – Reginald Bray, British courtier (b. 1440)


text: August 12 – Anna Jagiellon, Duchess of Pomerania, Polish princess (b. 1476)


date: August 18

text: August 18 – Pope Alexander VI dies after a reign of 11 years, and the largest gathering of cardinals up to that time— 21 from Italy, 11 from Spain and 7 from France— is called to Rome for a papal conclave, to start in September.


date: October 10

text: October 10 – Peter II, Duke of Bourbon (b. 1438)


date: October 18

text: October 18 – Pope Pius III dies less than four weeks after being elected, prompting the calling of the second papal conclave in as many months.


text: October 18 – Pope Pius III (b. c. 1439)


date: November 23

text: November 23 – Margaret of York, Duchess consort of Burgundy, spouse of Charles I, Duke of Burgundy (b. 1446)


date: December 28

text: December 28 – Piero di Lorenzo de' Medici, exiled ruler of Florence (drowned) (b. 1472)


date: January 31

text: January 31 – Treaty of Lyon: France cedes Naples to Ferdinand II of Aragon, who becomes King of Naples as Ferdinand III.


date: March 11

text: March 11 – King James IV opens the Scottish Parliament for the first time since 1496.


date: September 22

text: September 22 – Treaty of Blois: Philip the Handsome, Maximilian I, and Louis XII agree to terms.


date: January 1

text: January 1 – French troops of King Louis XII surrender Gaeta to the Spanish, under Gonzalo Fernández de Córdoba.


date: March 16

text: March 16 – In what is now India's Kerala state, a second invasion of the Portuguese-supported Kingdom of Cochin by the Zamorin of Calicut takes place, beginning a war that lasts until July 3.


date: March 30

text: March 30 – The Eisho era begins in Japan during the reign of Emperor Go-Kashiwabara as the Bunki era ends.


date: April 23

text: April 23 – Maximilian I, Holy Roman Emperor grants the Landshut inheritance to Albert IV during the War of the Succession of Landshut. Maximilian would pronounce an imperial ban on Ruprecht on May 4, whom Albert contested for the territory.


text: July 3 – The siege of Cochin in India by the invading forces of Calicut ends as the Portuguese and Cochin defenders defeat the invaders. Calicut loses 5,000 dead in battle and another 13,000 to disease, while Cochin and Portugal sustain minimal losses.


date: August 19

text: August 19 – The Battle of Knockdoe is fought in Ireland's County Galway as 6,000 troops led by the English Lord Deputy of Ireland, Gerald FitzGerald, 8th Earl of Kildare assist Maelsechlainn mac Tadhg Ó Cellaigh, King of Uí Mháine, against 4,000 troops of Irish chieftain Ulick Fionn Burke, Lord of the Clanricarde lands. Burke had previously attacked and destroyed Ó Cellaigh's castles at Monivea, Castleblakeney and Garbally and sought Kildare's help. Kildare's forces win the battle.


date: October

text: October – Babur besieges and captures Kabul.


date: December 24

text: December 24 – Nils Ravaldsson, the leader of the rebellion after Knut Alvsson's death, is attacked and his resistance crushed at Olsborg Castle in Båhuslen.


text: In Florence, Leonardo da Vinci and Niccolò Machiavelli become involved in a scheme to divert the Arno River, cutting the water supply to Pisa to force its surrender: Colombino, the project foreman, fails to follow da Vinci's design, and the project is a major failure.


date: February 14

text: February 14 – King Ferdinand V of Castile contracts with Juan de la Cosa to finance an independent expedition to the Pearl Islands and the Gulf of Urabá.


date: June 28

text: June 28 – After being marooned in Jamaica for six months, Christopher Columbus and his men are rescued by a Spanish ship.


date: November 7

text: November 7 – Christopher Columbus returns to Spain from his fourth voyage, during which he and his younger son, Ferdinand, explored the coast of Central America from Belize to Panama.


date: July 20

text: July 20 – Pope Julius II issues an order reforming the official coinage of the Papal States, raising the silver content of the carlino coin to four grams. In that the Pope was formerly Giuliano della Rovere, the new coin is called the giulio in his honor and features the coat of arms of the della Rovere family.


date: September 13

text: September 13 – Queen Isabella and King Ferdinand issue a Royal Warrant for the construction of Capilla Real, a Royal Chapel, to be built in Granada.


date: October 12

text: October 12 – Isabella I of Castile signs her will and testament.


date: December 8

text: December 8 – (approximate date) Islamic scholar Ahmad ibn Abi Jum'ah issues the Oran fatwa for Muslims in Spain (1 Rajab 910 AH in Islamic calendar, Gregorian date is approximate).


text: The Signoria of Florence commissions both Leonardo da Vinci and Michelangelo to paint the walls of the Grand Council Chamber in the Palazzo Vecchio.


text: Islamization of the Sudan region: A Funj leader, Amara Dunqas, founds the Sultanate of Sennar.


section: Technology & Infrastructure

text: The Council of Ten discusses the advisability of proposing a scheme of a Suez Canal to the Sultan of Egypt, at the time Al-Ashraf Qansuh al-Ghuri, but the discussion is eventually abandoned.


date: February 29

text: February 29 – Christopher Columbus uses his knowledge of a lunar eclipse this night, to convince the indigenous Jamaican people to provide him with supplies (in Europe, the eclipse is in the early morning of March 1).


date: April 1

text: April 1 – Guilds in England become subject to state control.


text: Sheikh Ahmed, the final leader of the Great Horde, is last heard of as a Lithuanian prisoner at Vilnius until 1527 when he was released, after which he came to rule over the Astrakhan Khanate.


date: February 18

text: February 18 – The investiture of Prince Henry of England as Prince of Wales and Earl of Chester takes place.


date: September 8

text: September 8 – Michelangelo's sculpture of David is unveiled in Florence.


text: Raphael paints The Marriage of the Virgin, which exemplifies some major principles of High Renaissance art.


text: Aldus Manutius publishes his edition of Demosthenes in Venice.


date: January 28

text: January 28 – Anna II, Princess-Abbess of Quedlinburg, German noblewoman, reigning from 1516 until her death (d. 1574)


date: February 3

text: February 3 – Scipione Rebiba, Italian cardinal (d. 1577)


date: March 31

text: March 31 – Guru Angad, Indian religious leader (d. 1552)


date: May 5

text: May 5 – Stanislaus Hosius, Polish cardinal (d. 1579)


date: May 29

text: May 29 – Antun Vrančić, Croatian archbishop (d. 1573)


date: July 18

text: July 18 – Heinrich Bullinger, Swiss religious reformer (d. 1575)


date: August 6

text: August 6 – Matthew Parker, English Archbishop of Canterbury (d. 1574)


date: September 4

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


date: September 20

text: September 20 – Philip III, Count of Nassau-Weilburg (d. 1559)


date: October 29

text: October 29 – Shin Saimdang, Korean calligraphist and noted poet (d. 1551)


date: November 13

text: November 13 – Philip I, Landgrave of Hesse (d. 1567)


date: November

text: November – Giovanni Battista Giraldi, Italian novelist and poet (d. 1573)


date: December

text: December – Nicholas Udall, English playwright and schoolmaster (d. 1556)


text: John Dudley, 1st Duke of Northumberland, English Tudor nobleman and politician (executed 1553)


date: January 21

text: January 21 – After the death of Sten Sture the Elder on December 14 the year before, Svante Nilsson is elected the new Regent of Sweden.


date: April 15

text: April 15 – Filippino Lippi, Italian painter (b. 1457)


date: May 24

text: May 24 – Le Hien Tong, Emperor of Vietnam, dies after a reign of six years and is succeeded by his 15-year-old son Le Tuc Tong.


date: June 17

text: June 17 – Rao Bika Rathore, ruler of the Kingdom of Bikaner in India, dies after a reign of 32 years. For a brief time Bika is succeeded by his elder son Nara, but Nara quickly dies and Nara is succeeded by his brother Lunkaran.


date: July 2

text: July 2 – Bogdan III the One-Eyed becomes the new Prince of Moldavia upon the death of his father Stephen the Great.


date: July 7

text: July 7 – At the age of 16, Lê Túc Tông becomes the new Emperor of Vietnam (Dai Viet) after the death of his father, Lê Hiến Tông, but serves for only six months before dying.


date: July 29

text: July 29 – Thomas Stanley, 1st Earl of Derby (b. 1435)


date: August 22

text: August 22 – Philipp II, Count of Hanau-Lichtenberg (1489–1503) (b. 1462)


date: August 28

text: August 28 – John Paston, English gentleman known from the Paston Letters (b. 1444)


date: September 22

text: September 22 – Jan II the Mad, Duke of Żagań (1439–1449 and 1461–1468 and again in 1472) (b. 1435)


date: October 12

text: October 12 – John Corvinus, Hungarian noble (b. 1473)


date: November 9

text: November 9 – King Frederick IV of Naples (b. 1452)


date: December 8

text: December 8 – Lê Túc Tông dies after a reign of only six months as Emperor of Vietnam.


date: December 21

text: December 21 – Berthold von Henneberg, German archbishop and elector (b. 1442)


date: January 23

text: January 23 – Lunkaran begins his reign as the Rao of the Indian kingdom of Bikaner in what is now the Rajasthan state of India.


date: January 24

text: January 24 – Under the terms of the Treaty of Tordesillas, Pope Julius II sets the line of demarcation in the New World between Spain's and Portugal's territory as a line of longitude 370 leagues west of the Cape Verde islands. The ambiguous definition of the measure of a league places the line between 42°30' W to 49°45' W.


date: March 31

text: March 31 – King Alexander Jagiellon of Poland agrees to support the Act of Nihil novi, prohibiting the king to issue laws without consent of the nobles represented by their parliament, the Sejm. The official title is "Nihil novi nisi commune consensu", Latin for "Nothing new without common consent."


date: May 30

text: May 30 – Poland's Act of Nihil novi is granted by King Alexander I Jagiellon after being passed by the Sejm, making Poland a Nobles' Democracy rather than an absolute monarchy.


date: August 15

text: August 15 – The Portuguese State of India is founded in what is now the state of Kerala, after the Kingdom of Portugal takes over territory of the Bijapur sultanate at Calicut.


date: November 24

text: November 24 – The Treaty of Salamanca is signed by Spain's King Ferdinand II of Aragon and Philip, Duke of Burgundy, agreeing that the two will serve as co-regents for Joanna the Mad, Queen of Castile.


text: July 2 – The Kalmar Bloodbath, a mass execution of participants in the Swedish Uprising against King Hans of Denmark (who also rules Norway and Sweden) takes place in the Swedish city of Kalmar after a judgment of treason is pronounced against the mayor, city officials and other leaders.


date: August 16

text: August 16 – Almeida's fleet destroys the East African city of Mombassa.


date: September 13

text: September 13 – In what is now Algeria, the Spanish Army under the command of Ramón de Cardona, captures the city of Mers-el-Kébir, a port of the Zayyanid Kingdom of Tlemcen, ruled by the Sultan Abu Abdallah V.


date: November 6

text: November 6 (October 27 O.S.) – Vasili III succeeds Ivan III, as Grand Prince of Muscovy, comprising much of modern-day Russia.


text: Battle of Achnashellach in Scotland: The Clan Cameron emerges victorious over Clan Munro and Clan MacKay.


date: March 25

text: March 25 – Appointed as the Viceroy of Portuguese India by King Manuel I of Portugal, Dom Francisco de Almeida departs from Portugal with an armada of 22 ships and 1,500 men, according to one estimate by João de Barros.


date: April 3

text: April 3 – Italian explorer Sebastiano Caboto is granted a lifetime annuity of £10 per year by England's King Henry VII for services "in and aboute the fyndynge of the new founde landes" in North America.


date: July 24

text: July 24 – Travelling to India, a group of Portuguese explorers led by Francisco de Almeida, with 22 ships and 1,500 men, sack the city-state of Kilwa in East Africa, killing the Emir Abraham for failing to pay tribute. Almeida installs Mohammed Ankoni as the new ruler.


text: September 13 – Francisco de Almeida arrives in the Anjediva Islands to begin construction on the first of four fortresses he needed to construct for his appointment as viceroy.


date: November 15

text: November 15 – Portuguese explorer Lourenço de Almeida and his fleet encounter a storm and are driven to the island of Sri Lanka and travels to Colombo. The King of Kotte, Dharma Parakramabahu IX, allows Almeida to build a trade station and a Roman Catholic chapel.


text: Portuguese merchants establish factories and fortresses on the east coast of Africa in Kilwa, Sofala, and Malindi.


text: Bermuda is discovered by Spanish explorer Juan de Bermúdez.


text: Portuguese explorer Gonçalo Álvares is the first to sight what will later be known as Gough Island in the South Atlantic.


date: January 14

text: January 14 – Pope Julius II issues the papal bull Cum tam divino, decreeing a reform in the Roman Catholic Church to prohibit simony, the buying and selling of church offices ranging from bishops to the pope himself.


date: July 2

text: July 2 – Martin Luther, aged 22, vows to become a monk in a moment of terror, as a result of a close lightning strike during a thunderstorm, near the village of Stotternheim.


date: July 17

text: July 17 – Luther enters the monastic life, at an Augustinian cloister in Erfurt called St. Augustine's Monastery.


date: October 11

text: October 11 – Lucien Grimaldi takes over as the new Lord of Monaco after stabbing his brother Jean II to death.


date: October 23

text: October 23 – In Portuguese India, the King of Cannanore gives permission to Francisco de Almeida to build the Fortaleza de Santo Ângelo in Kannur.


date: December 30

text: December 30 – Érard de La Marck is elected prince-bishop of Liège.


text: Old St. Peter's Basilica is demolished under the orders of Pope Julius II. Construction of the new basilica begins the following year.


text: The St Catherine's Monastery on the Sinai is captured and sacked by Bedouins. Though the Mamluk sultan attempts to punish the raiders, he is unable to subdue them and preserve order.


text: The Pomander Watch of 1505, the earliest known pocket watch, is made by Peter Henlein in Germany at Nuremberg. After an absence of 480 years, the watch will be rediscovered at a flea market in London; an inscription on the watch, "MDVPHN", will be interpreted in 2014 as meaning a rendition of the year (MDV, 1505 in Roman numerals); the inventor (PH for Peter Henlein) and the place of manufacture (N for Nuremberg).


text: Judah Abravanel becomes personal physician to the viceroy of Naples.


date: June 6

section: Climate & Environment

text: June 6 – The M8.2–8.8 Lo Mustang earthquake strikes Nepal, causing severe damage in Kathmandu, western Nepal, and some parts of the Indo-Gangetic plain.


date: February 7

text: February 7 – During a visit to Windsor Castle as guests of King Henry VII of England, Philip the Handsome, Duke of Burgundy, plays a game of tennis against Thomas Grey, 2nd Marquess of Dorset in the first recorded use of tennis rackets. A year later, a chronicler notes that on the 7th of February, "the kynge of Castelle played w the Rackete and gave the marques xv".


date: May 1

text: May 1 – Christ's College, Cambridge, England, is re-founded, receiving its charter from Lady Margaret Beaufort.


date: June 19

text: June 19 – Zhu Houzhao, the 13-year-old son of the late Hongzhi Emperor of Ming Dynasty China, is enthroned as the Zhengde Emperor upon his father's death.


date: June 27

text: June 27 – The future King Henry VIII repudiates his engagement to Catherine of Aragon, at his father's command.


date: January 12

text: January 12 – Louis, Count of Stolberg, German nobleman (d. 1574)


date: January 13

text: January 13 – Joachim II Hector, Elector of Brandenburg, Imperial Elector (d. 1571)


date: February 4

text: February 4 – Mikołaj Rej, Polish poet and prose writer, politician and musician of the Renaissance (d. 1569)


date: February 5

text: February 5 – Aegidius Tschudi, Swiss historian (d. 1572)


date: March 16

text: March 16 – Francisco Balbi di Correggio (d. 1589)


date: March 25

text: March 25 – Elizabeth Grey, Viscountess Lisle, English heiress (d. 1519)


date: May 20

text: May 20 – Levinus Lemnius, Dutch writer (d. 1568)


date: September 15

text: September 15 – Mary of Hungary, Dutch ruler (d. 1558)


date: September 23

text: September 23 – Anne de Laval, Viscountess of Thouars, French noblewoman and nominal pretender to the Kingdom of Naples (d. 1554)


date: November 3

text: November 3 – Achilles Gasser, German physician and astrologer (d. 1577)


date: November 23

text: November 23 – Ercole Gonzaga, Spanish Catholic cardinal (d. 1563)


date: December 18

text: December 18 – Philipp von Hutten, German explorer (d. 1546)


date: December 21

text: December 21 – Thomas Wriothesley, 1st Earl of Southampton, English politician (d. 1550)


date: December 25

text: December 25 – Christine of Saxony, German noble (d. 1549)


date: January 25

text: January 25 – Ercole I d'Este, Duke of Ferrara, Italian politician (b. 1431)


text: February 4 – Jeanne de Valois, French princess, Roman Catholic nun and saint (b. 1464)


date: February 19

text: February 19 – Matilda of Hesse, German noblewoman (b. 1473)


date: February 20

text: February 20 – Arvid Trolle, Swedish politician (b. 1440)


date: March 5

text: March 5 – Philip of Cleves, Bishop of Nevers, Amiens, Autun (b. 1467)


date: March 29

text: March 29 – Sidonie of Bavaria, eldest daughter of Duke Albrecht IV of Bavaria-Munich (b. 1488)


date: April 23

text: April 23 – Muhammad Jaunpuri, Indian-born religious leader (b. 1443)


date: April 27

text: April 27 – In Tbilisi, David X becomes the new ruler of the Kingdom of Kartli in what is now the Republic of Georgia, upon the death of his father Constantine II.


date: May 28

text: May 28 – Ascanio Sforza, Italian Roman Catholic cardinal (b. 1455)


date: June 8

text: June 8 – Hongzhi Emperor of China (b. 1470)


date: June 18

text: June 18 – Osanna of Mantua, Italian Dominican tertiary and blessed (b. 1449)


date: July

text: July – Jacob Obrecht, Flemish composer (plague) (b. 1457)


date: October 27

text: October 27 – Emperor Ivan III of Russia (b. 1440)


text: Heinrich Kramer, German churchman and inquisitor (b. 1430)


date: February 15

text: February 15 – Iye Roy Mackay, Chief of Scotland's Clan Mackay, records his 1504 grant of six lands in what is now the County Sutherland, and starts a feud with Euphemia II, Countess of Ross.


date: March 30

text: March 30 – King Vladislaus II of Hungary and Maximilian I, Holy Roman Emperor sign a treaty to arrange the marriage of Vladislaus's daughter and Maximilian's son.


date: April 30

text: April 30 – Malus Intercursus, a treaty between King Henry VII of England and Duke Philip the Handsome of Burgundy, is signed.


date: June 27

text: June 27 – The Treaty of Villafáfila is signed between Austria and Spain.


date: August 19

text: August 19 – Sigismund I the Old succeeds his brother as king of Poland.


date: October 15

text: October 15 – Charles II, the six-year-old son of King Philip of Castile, inherits his father's title of Duke of Burgundy and is proclaimed "Lord of the Netherlands".


date: March 16

text: March 16 – Battle of Cannanore: Portugal's fleet (commanded by Lourenço de Almeida) defeats the fleet of the Zamorin of Calicut, with hundreds of vessels involved; 3,000 Muslim troops are killed.


date: April 19

text: April 19 – The Lisbon Massacre begins in Portugal with three days of violence, in which thousands of Jews are tortured and killed by Catholics.


text: May 28 – Emperor Moctezuma II of Mexico's Aztec Empire subdues a rebellion in Zozollan, east of Achiutia, then kills the prisoners of war as a sacrifice to the gods.


date: August 6

text: August 6 – Battle of Kletsk: The Grand Duchy of Lithuania defeats the Tatars of the Crimean Khanate.


date: September 2

text: September 2 – In Korea, Emperor Yonsangun, known for being a tyrant, is deposed in the Jungjong coup by his younger brother, who becomes King Jungjong.


date: October 6

text: October 6 – In Córdoba, in the Spanish kingdom of Andalusia, members of the nobility and the general public revolt against the Spanish inquisitor Diego Rodriguez de Lucero and General Inquisitor Diego de Deza. The mob liberates the people incarcerated at the Córdoba prison.


text: The Portuguese mariner Tristão da Cunha sights the islands of Tristan da Cunha, naming them after himself.


date: January 14

text: January 14 – The classical statue of Laocoön and His Sons is unearthed in Rome. On the recommendation of Giuliano da Sangallo and Michelangelo, Pope Julius II purchases it, and places it on public display in the Vatican a month later.


date: January 22

text: January 22 – The Swiss Guard arrives at the Vatican, to serve as permanent ceremonial and palace guards under Pope Julius II.


date: February 9

text: February 9 – Henry, Prince of Wales is made a Knight of the Golden Fleece by Maximilian I, Holy Roman Emperor.


date: April 18

text: April 18 – Pope Julius II lays the foundation stone of the new (current) St. Peter's Basilica in Rome, replacing the Old St. Peter's Basilica.


date: October 7

text: October 7 – Pope Julius II issues a bull excommunicating Giovanni II Bentivoglio from the Roman Catholic Church, who had dominated the Italian city state of Bologna.


date: November 6

text: November 6 – Pope Julius II personally leads his troops into Bologna, retaking the city from the excommunicated tyrant Giovanni II Bentivoglio.


date: December 8

text: December 8 – Sigismund I the Old (Zygmunt Jagiellon), younger brother of the late Alexander Jagiellon, becomes the King of Poland and (as Zygimantas II) the Grand Duke of Lithuania. He will reign for more than 40 years, dying in 1548 at the age of 81.


text: Johannes Trithemius becomes abbot of the monastery of St. Jacob, at Würzburg.


section: Economy & Finance

text: In Ming dynasty China, the costs of the courier system are met by a tax in silver on land, instead of corvée labor service.


text: Duarte Barbosa returns to Lisbon.


date: July 12

text: July 12 – Philip the Handsome, Duke of Burgundy, becomes the ruler of the Spanish Kingdom of Castile with his insane wife Joanna, but reigns for only two months before dying of typhoid.


text: Leonardo da Vinci completes most of his work on the Mona Lisa.


date: February 2

text: February 2 – René de Birague, French cardinal and chancellor (d. 1583)


date: February 15

text: February 15 – Juliana of Stolberg, German countess (d. 1580)


date: February

text: February – George Buchanan, Scottish humanist scholar (d. 1582)


date: March 3

text: March 3 – Luís of Portugal, Duke of Beja (d. 1555)


date: April 7

text: April 7 – Francis Xavier, Spanish Jesuit saint (d. 1552)


date: April 13

text: April 13 – Peter Faber, French Jesuit theologian (d. 1546)


date: July 1

text: July 1 – Louis II of Hungary and Bohemia (d. 1526)


date: August 12

text: August 12 – Franciscus Sonnius, Dutch counter-Reformation theologian (d. 1576)


date: October

text: October – Louis de Blois, Flemish mystical writer (d. 1566)


date: December 4

text: December 4 – Thomas Darcy, 1st Baron Darcy of Chiche, English courtier (d. 1558)


text: December 8 – Veit Dietrich, German theologian, writer and reformer (d. 1549)


text: Elizabeth Barton, English nun (d. 1534)


text: William Paget, 1st Baron Paget, English statesman (d. 1563)


text: Margaret Lee, confidante of Queen Anne Boleyn (d. 1543)


date: January 21

text: January 21 – Johann IV Roth, German Roman Catholic bishop (b. 1426)


date: May 4

text: May 4 – Badi' al-Zaman Mirza becomes the new Emir of the Timurid Empire (now part of Afghanistan) after the death of his father, Sultan Husayn Bayqara, who died after a reign of 37 years.


text: May 4 – Sultan Husayn Mirza Bayqara, Timurid ruler of Herat (b. 1438)


date: May 20

text: May 20 – Christopher Columbus, Italian explorer (b. c.1451)


date: June 15

text: June 15 – Mahmud Shah II begins a 41-year reign as the Sultan of Kedah, a Muslim kingdom on the Malay Peninsula, on the death of his father, Adilin I.


date: August 15

text: August 15 – Alexander Agricola, Flemish composer (b. c. 1445)


date: August 19

text: August 19 – King Alexander Jagiellon of Poland (b. 1461)


date: September 13

text: September 13 – Andrea Mantegna, Italian painter and engraver (b. 1432)


date: September 25

text: September 25 – Philip I, the first Spanish Habsburg King of Castile, dies suddenly from typhoid.


text: September 25 – King Philip the Handsome of Castile (b. 1478)


date: September 30

text: September 30 – Beatrice, Duchess of Viseu, Portuguese infante (b. 1430)


date: November 8

text: November 8 – Edward Hastings, 2nd Baron Hastings, English noble (b. 1466)


date: November 20

text: November 20 – Yeonsangun of Joseon, king of Korean Joseon Dynasty (b. 1476)


date: November 21

text: November 21 – Engelbert, Count of Nevers, younger son of John I (b. 1462)


date: April 10

text: April 10 – Installed by the Revolutionary Council, Paolo da Novi becomes the first Doge of the Republic of Genoa in almost 19 years, after the office had been made vacant in 1488 by the conqueror Francesco Sforza. He reigns for only 18 days before fleeing from office by French occupation forces on April 28, and the dogeship will remain vacant again for five years.


date: July 3

text: July 3 – Ferdinand II and Louis XII complete their six-day summit at Savona.

source_section: Events › July—September


date: July 20

text: July 20 – King Ferdinand II of Aragon returns to Valencia to resume his rule of his Spanish kingdom.


text: The Portuguese occupy Mozambique, and the islands of Socotra and Lamu.


date: March 1

text: March 1 – Eleven months after the Lisbon Massacre, King Manuel I of Portugal issues an edict permitting the cristãos-novos ("New Christians", Portuguese Jews who had been forced to convert to Christianity) to freely emigrate from the kingdom.


date: March 11

text: March 11 – Italian mercenary leader and former prince Cesare Borgia, later cited by Niccolò Machiavelli in The Prince as an example of "conquest by fortune", completes his conquest of the Spanish city of Viana by driving out the defenders of the castle of the Count of Lerín, but makes the mistake of pursuing the fleeing enemy by himself. He is killed the next day by his captors.


date: March 28

text: March 28 – The revolutionary council of the Republic of Genoa declares a war against French invaders.


date: April 27

text: April 27 – In India, in what is now the state of Kerala, troops from the Kingdom of Cannanore begin a four-month siege of the Portuguese garrison at the Fort of Saint Angelo. Despite being outnumbered, the 150 defenders of the fort hold out for four months against 60,000 attackers until rescue arrives four months later.


date: April 29

text: April 29 – French troops retake the city of Genoa after a seven-day siege, defeating rebels who had taken control in July 1506.


date: May 14

text: May 14 – In Italy, King Louis XII of France departs from Genoa and makes a triumphant entry into Milan on May 24.


date: August 27

text: August 27 – A fleet of 11 ships from the Portuguese Navy's 8th Armada arrives in India and rescues the Portuguese defenders of the fort of Saint Angelo from the attack by the Kingdom of Cannanore.


date: November 24

text: November 24 – Portuguese Admiral Tristao da Cunha, with 12 ships, attacks a fleet of 13 Muslim merchant ships leaving the Indian port of Ponnani, and is confronted by the forces of Kutti Ali. The Portuguese win the battle.

source_section: Events › October—December


text: The Electron Lahar occurs on Mount Rainier in Washington state.


text: The Timurid Dynasty ends, when Uzbeks under Muhammad Shaybani capture the capital, Herat, and Emir Badi' al-Zaman Mirza flees.


date: February 9

text: February 9 – The crew of the Portuguese ship Cirne, commanded by Diogo Fernandes Pereira, become the first Europeans to sight the Indian ocean island of Réunion, and name it Santa Apolonia.


date: August 10

text: August 10 – Afonso de Albuquerque departs with six ships from the Yemeni island of Socotra to begin pillaging towns along the way to conquering the Persian Gulf port of Hormuz.


date: September 26

text: September 26 – A fleet commanded by Portugal's Afonso de Albuquerque arrives at the port of Hormuz on the Persian Gulf and sets about to conquer it.


date: October 10

text: October 10 – The Kingdom of Portugal conquers the island of Ormuz in the Persian Gulf.


text: The Portuguese found the town of Stone Town in Mozambique.


date: April 3

text: April 3 – At Erfurt, German monk Martin Luther is ordained by the suffragan bishop Johann Bonemilch as a priest of the Catholic Church.


text: May 14 – Lorenzo Lotto's painting, the Santa Cristina al Tiverone Altarpiece, is unveiled at the Church of Santa Cristina in the Italian city of Treviso.


date: June 4

text: June 4 – Having been denied recognition by Pope Julius II as King of Naples, King Ferdinand II of Aragon departs from Naples to return to his home in Spain.


date: November 26

text: November 26 – Pope Julius II issues a damnatio memoriae forcing the members of the House of Borgia out of control of the Papal States.


date: September 15

text: September 15 – King James IV grants a patent for the first printing press in Scotland, to Walter Chapman and Andrew Myllar "to furnis and bring hame ane prent, with all stuff belangand tharto, and expert men to use the samyne, for imprenting within our Realme of the bukis of our Lawis, actis of parliament, croniclis, mess bukis, and portuus efter the use of our Realme, with addicions and legendis of Scottis sanctis, now gaderit to be ekit tharto, and al utheris bukis that salbe sene necessar, and to sel the sammyn for competent pricis."


text: April 27 – In Germany, the Imperial Diet of the Holy Roman Empire convenes at Konstanz and begins a series of reforms.


text: Raphael paints The Deposition, among other works.


text: Cardinal Cisneros is appointed inquisitor general of Castile.


date: January 24

text: January 24 – Sigismund I the Old is formally crowned King of Poland, at a ceremony in Kraków.


date: April 25

text: April 25 – Martin Waldseemüller publishes his Cosmographiae Introductio ("Introduction to Universal Cosmography") and accompanying wall map, the first to show the Americas as a separate continent, naming them in honour of Amerigo Vespucci, his friend and idol.


date: June 28

text: June 28 – Ferdinand II is welcomed by Louis XII of France at the Italian city of Savona in a spectacular ceremony, and the two monarchs begin a series of meetings on the division of the Italian kingdoms between France and Spain.


date: December 21

text: December 21 – Princess Mary of England, the 11-year-old daughter of King Henry VII, is betrothed to the 7-year-old Duke of Burgundy.


text: The Aztec New Fire ceremony is held for the last time (according to Bernardino de Sahagún).


date: January 1

text: January 1 – Anna of Brandenburg, Duchess of Mecklenburg-Güstrow (d. 1567)


date: January 14

text: January 14 – Catherine of Austria, Queen of Portugal (d. 1578)


date: January 25

text: January 25 – Johannes Oporinus, Swiss printer (d. 1568)


date: February 11

text: February 11 – Philip II, Metropolitan of Moscow, Russian Orthodox monk (d. 1569)


date: February 21

text: February 21 – James, Duke of Rothesay, Scottish prince (d. 1508)


date: March 29

text: March 29 – Henry II, Duke of Münsterberg-Oels and Count of Glatz (d. 1548)


date: June 5

text: June 5 – Ferdinand of Portugal, Duke of Guarda and Trancoso, Portuguese nobleman (d. 1534)


date: August 15

text: August 15 – George III, Prince of Anhalt-Dessau, German prince (d. 1553)


date: September 27

text: September 27 – Guillaume Rondelet, French physician (d. 1566)


date: October 1

text: October 1 – Johannes Sturm, German educator (d. 1589)


text: October 1 – Giacomo Barozzi da Vignola, Italian architect (d. 1573)


date: October 4

text: October 4 – Francis Bigod, British noble (d. 1537)


date: October 26

text: October 26 – Alvise I Mocenigo, Doge of Venice (d. 1577)


date: October 29

text: October 29 – Fernando Alvarez de Toledo, Spanish general (d. 1582)


date: January 17

text: January 17 – Henry IV of Neuhaus (b. 1442)


date: March 12

text: March 12 – Cesare Borgia, Italian general and statesman. (b. 1475)


date: March 21

text: March 21 – Jan Feliks "Szram" Tarnowski, Polish nobleman (b. 1471)


date: April 1

text: April 1 – Sigismondo d'Este, Italian nobleman (b. 1433)


date: April 2

text: April 2 – Francis of Paola, Italian founder of the Order of the Minims (b. 1416)


date: July 5

text: July 5 – Crinitus, Italian humanist (b. 1475)


date: July 8

text: July 8 – Anna Notaras, Byzantine noblewoman (b. 1436)


date: July 29

text: July 29 – Martin Behaim, German navigator and geographer (b. 1459)


text: August 15 – John V, Duke of Saxe-Lauenburg (b. 1439)


date: August 23

text: August 23 – Jean Molinet, French writer (b. 1435)


date: August 24

text: August 24 – Cecily of York, English princess (b. 1469)


date: December

text: December – Ingeborg Tott, influential Swedish noblewoman, spouse of Swedish regent Sten Sture the elder


text: Date unknown – Agnes Jónsdóttir, Icelandic abbess (b. year unknown)


date: October 8

text: October 8 – An inconclusive peace treaty is signed to end the third of the Muscovite–Lithuanian Wars.


date: October 24

text: October 24 – King Louis XII convenes court at the Parlement de Normandie building in Rouen.


date: January 24

text: January 24 – Maximilian, King of the Romans, requests permission to march to Rome through Venetian territory, but is denied and begins his Italienzug.


date: February 2

text: February 2 – During the Glinski rebellion, Lithuanian noble Mykolas Glinskis attacks Grodno (now in Belarus) and decapitates Jan Zabrzeziński, the top ally of Grand Duke Alexander.


date: February 20

text: February 20 – Maximilian I, Holy Roman Emperor, attacks the Republic of Venice and sack Ampezzo the next day.


date: March 2

text: March 2 – The Republic of Venice defeats Maximilian I in the Battle of Cadore.


date: June 6

text: June 6 – Holy Roman Emperor Maximilian I signs a humiliating armistice with the Republic of Venice, which for the moment stops any of his further plans for Italy.


date: July 31

text: July 31 – The Emperor of Ethiopia, Na'od, dies in battle. His son Lebna Dengel takes on the regnal name of Dawit II, and becomes the new emperor starting on August 11.


date: December 29

text: December 29 – Battle of Dabul: Portuguese forces, under the command of Francisco de Almeida, attack Khambhat.


date: March 22

text: March 22 – Ferdinand II of Aragon appoints Florentine merchant Amerigo Vespucci to the post of Chief Navigator of Spain.


date: August 12

text: August 12 – The Spanish settlement of Puerto Rico begins when Juan Ponce de León lands on the island. Upon his arrival, Ponce is welcomed by Agüeybaná I, the island's leader a Cacique of the Taíno people. The Spanish explorer soon settles and founds the city of Caparra, near what is now the town of Guaynabo.


date: February 4

text: February 4 – Maximilian, King of the Romans, proclaims himself Holy Roman Emperor at the Italian city of Trento, after having been blocked by Venice from traveling to Rome to be crowned by Pope Julius II.


date: May 8

text: May 8 – Italian renaissance artist Michelangelo di Lodovico Buonarroti Simoni of Florence signs a contract with the Vatican to paint the Sistine Chapel ceiling, in return for a promised fee of 3,000 gold ducats (equivalent in 2023 to more than U.S. $600,000).


date: December 10

text: December 10 – The League of Cambrai is formed as an alliance against the Republic of Venice, between Pope Julius II, Louis XII of France, Maximilian I, Holy Roman Emperor and Ferdinand II of Aragon.


text: December – Michelangelo begins painting the Sistine Chapel ceiling in the Holy See of Rome, on a commission by Pope Julius II (signed May 10).


text: March 22 – Working from the house of Piero di Braccio Martelli at Florence, Leonardo da Vinci begins writing his "collection without order" of his scientific discoveries.


date: November 29

text: November 29 – Astronomer Mikołaj Kopernik of Poland is granted benefits by Pope Julius II in order to perform his work.


date: March 5

text: March 5 – La Cassaria by Ludovico Ariosto, the first Italian language comedy, is premiered at Ferrara.


date: March 13

text: March 13 – The oldest annual foot race in Europe, the "Red Hose Race", is run for the first time, taking place in Scotland at Carnwath, Lanarkshire.


date: June 4

text: June 4 – The coronation of Prince Lajos as the designated successor to his father, King Vladislaus II of Hungary, takes place in Székesfehérvár.


date: July 27

text: July 27 – The process of removing the former layers of paint on the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel is completed, and Michelangelo begins the next phase of marking the surface for painting.


date: November 1

text: November 1 – At the age of 16, Prince Wolfgang of the House of Ascania becomes the new ruler of the German principality of Anhalt-Köthen, succeeding his father Waldemar VI. In 1521, he will meet Martin Luther and, in 1525, will introduce the Reformation to his principality, making Anhalt-Köthen only the second nation (after the Electorate of Saxony) to officially adopt Protestantism.


date: April 3

text: April 3 – Jean Daurat, French writer and scholar (d. 1588)


date: April 5

text: April 5 – Ercole II d'Este, Duke of Ferrara, Italian noble (d. 1559)


text: May 8 – Charles Wriothesley, English Officer of Arms (d. 1562)


date: June 8

text: June 8 or June 9 – Primož Trubar, Slovenian Protestant reformer who lays the foundations for the Slovenian written language (d. 1586)


date: June 13

text: June 13 – Alessandro Piccolomini, Italian humanist and philosopher from Siena (d. 1579)


date: June 29

text: June 29 – Balthasar of Hanau-Münzenberg, German nobleman (d. 1534)


date: September 19

text: September 19 – Maria Paleologa, Italian noblewoman (d. 1530)


date: September 23

text: September 23 – Simon Sulzer, Swiss theologian (d. 1585)


date: September 25

text: September 25 – Francisco Mendoza de Bobadilla, Spanish Catholic cardinal (d. 1566)


date: November 23

text: November 23 – Francis, Duke of Brunswick-Lüneburg, youngest son of Henry the Middle (d. 1549)


date: November 30

text: November 30 – Andrea Palladio, Italian architect (d. 1580)


date: December 8

text: December 8 – Gemma Frisius, Dutch mathematician and cartographer (d. 1555)


date: December 24

text: December 24 – Pietro Carnesecchi, Italian humanist (d. 1567)


text: Jane Seymour, third queen of Henry VIII (d. 1537)


date: February 4

text: February 4 – Conrad Celtes, German humanist (b. 1459)


date: February 16

text: February 16 – Giovanni II Bentivoglio, tyrant of Bologna (b. 1443)


date: February 27

text: February 27 – James, Duke of Rothesay, heir to the throne of Scotland (b. 1507)


date: February 28

text: February 28 – Louis V becomes the new prince elector of the Palatinate upon the death of his father, Philip.


date: February

text: February – Robert Lauder of the Bass, governor of Berwick-on-Tweed (b. c. 1440)


date: March 18

text: March 18 – Wilhelm IV becomes the new Duke of Bavaria upon the death of his father, Albrecht IV.


date: April 23

text: April 23 – Prince Mihnea cel Rău, son of Vlad the Impaler, becomes the Voivode of Wallachia, with a palace at Târgoviște (now in Romania), upon the death of his cousin Radu IV the Great.


date: May 21

text: May 21 – Giles Daubeney, 1st Baron Daubeney (b. 1451)


date: July 23

text: July 23 – Upon the death of his father, King Oxlahuh-Tz'i, Hun-Iqʼ becomes one of the two kings of Guatemala's Kaqchikel Maya civilization. Hun-Iqʼ reigns jointly with King Kablahuh-Tihax until the latter's death on February 4.


date: July 31

text: July 31 – Na'od, Emperor of Ethiopia (in battle)


date: September 11

text: September 11 – England is left without a Roman Catholic Cardinal protector when Cardinal Galeotto Franciotti della Rovere dies suddenly. England's King Henry VII dies seven months later before the monarchy and the Pope can agree on a new cardinal protector. The King's successor, Henry VIII, later abolishes the office entirely after Lorenzo Campeggio dies in the course of the English Reformation and the creation of the Church of England.


date: October 18

text: October 18 – Patrick Hepburn, 1st Earl of Bothwell, Lord High Admiral of Scotland


date: October 23

text: October 23 – Edmund de Ros, 10th Baron de Ros, English politician (b. 1446)


date: November 25

text: November 25 – Ursula of Brandenburg, Duchess of Münsterberg-Oels and Countess of Glatz (b. 1450)


date: March 13

text: March 13 – At Bourges, the French king Louis XII ratifies treaties that were concluded 10 December 1508, regarding the creation of the League of Cambrai.


date: May 2

text: May 2 – Juan Ponce de León obtains authorization to bring his family from Spain to his home in the Casa de Contratación in Caparra, Puerto Rico.


date: July 26

text: July 26 – Krishnadevaraya ascends the throne of the Vijayanagara Empire.


text: Basil Solomon becomes Syriac Orthodox Maphrian of the East.


date: January 30

text: January 30 – French ambassador Janus Lascaris leaves Venice, after being recalled by king Louis XII in the eve of the War of the League of Cambrai.


date: February 3

text: February 3 – Battle of Diu: The Portuguese defeat a coalition of Indians, Muslims and Italians.


date: April 17

text: April 17 – In Venice, the envoy of the French king Louis XII delivers the declaration of war to the Venetian doge Leonardo Loredan, thus marking the official beginning of the War of the League of Cambrai.


date: May 9

text: May 9 – The French army under the command of Louis XII crosses the Adda River at Cassano d'Adda.


date: May 14

text: May 14 – Battle of Agnadello: French forces defeat the Venetians. The League of Cambrai occupies Venice's mainland territories.


date: May 17

text: May 17 – Venice made an effort to appease the emperor Maximilian I by offering various political and territorial concessions, but the effort failed.


date: July 17

text: July 17 – Venetian forces retake the city of Padua from French forces.


date: August 10

text: August 10 – Maximillian I of the Holy Roman Empire along with French allies begins a siege of Padua that would last for months to retake the city.


date: October 1

text: October 1 – The siege of Padua ends with Venetian victory, causing the retreat of HRE and French forces back to Tyrol and Milan.


date: November 4

text: November 4 – Afonso de Albuquerque becomes the Viceroy of Portuguese India, replacing Francisco de Almeida, who departs five days later from Diu. Almeida never makes it home, getting killed along with his 64 men in a battle on March 1 with the local Khoekhoe people at South Africa's Cape of Good Hope.


date: December 1

text: December 1 – Prince Le Oanh is installed as the new Emperor of Vietnam by a coup d'etat against his cousin, Emperor Le Uy Muc, and is enthroned at the age of 14 as Emperor Le Tuong Duc. Uy Muc is granted his request to be allowed to commit suicide rather than to be executed.


date: January 21

text: January 21 – The Portuguese first arrive at the Seven Islands of Bombay and land at Mahim after capturing a barge of the Gujarat Sultanate in the Mahim Creek.


text: May 9 – The Venetians, encamped around the town of Treviglio, move south towards the Po River in search of better positions.


date: September 11

text: September 11 – Portuguese fidalgo Diogo Lopes de Sequeira becomes the first European to reach Malacca, having crossed the Gulf of Bengal.


date: March 18

text: March 18 – Maximilian I, Holy Roman Emperor, names Margaretha land guardians of the Habsburg Netherlands.


date: March 23

text: March 23 – Pope Julius II issues the papal bull Petierunt a nobis, declaring his allegiance to the League of Cambrai.


date: April 27

text: April 27 – Pope Julius II places Venice under interdict and excommunication for refusing to cede part of Romagna to papal control.


date: June 19

text: June 19 – Brasenose College, Oxford, is founded by a lawyer, Sir Richard Sutton, of Prestbury, Cheshire, and the Bishop of Lincoln, William Smyth.


date: August 19

text: August 19 – Maximillian I orders all Jews within the Holy Roman Empire to destroy all books opposing Christianity.


date: November 10

text: November 10 – Uriel von Gemmingen is assigned to secure others' opinions before continuing the Jewish book purge started on August 19th.


text: St Paul's School, London is founded by John Colet, Dean of St Paul's Cathedral.


text: Johannes Pfefferkorn writes his fourth and fifth pamphlets condemning the Jewish faith and people, Das Osterbuch and Der Judenfeind.


text: Erasmus writes his most famous work, In Praise of Folly.


text: Georg Tannstetter is appointed by Maximilian I as the Professor of Astronomy at the University of Vienna.


date: September 27

section: Disasters & Accidents

text: September 27 – A violent storm ravages the Dutch coast, killing potentially thousands of people.


date: September 10

text: September 10 – The Constantinople earthquake destroys 109 mosques and kills an estimated 10,000 people.


date: June 11

text: June 11 – Henry VIII marries Catherine of Aragon.


text: June 11 – Luca Pacioli's De divina proportione, concerning the golden ratio, is published in Venice, with illustrations by Leonardo da Vinci.


date: June 24

text: June 24 – King Henry VIII and Queen Consort Catherine of Aragon are crowned.


text: Royal Grammar School, Guildford, England, is founded under the will of Robert Beckingham.


text: Queen Elizabeth's Grammar School, Blackburn, England, is founded as a grammar school for boys.


date: January 3

text: January 3 – Gian Girolamo Albani, Italian Catholic cardinal (d. 1591)


date: January 25

text: January 25 – Giovanni Morone, Italian Catholic cardinal (d. 1580)


date: February 2

text: February 2 – John of Leiden, Dutch Anabaptist leader (d. 1536)


date: March 27

text: March 27 – Wolrad II, Count of Waldeck-Eisenberg, German nobleman (d. 1578)


date: April 23

text: April 23 – Afonso of Portugal, Portuguese Roman Catholic cardinal (d. 1540)


date: July 4

text: July 4 – Magnus III of Mecklenburg-Schwerin, German Lutheran bishop of the Prince-Bishopric of Schwerin (d. 1550)


date: July 10

text: July 10 – John Calvin, French religious reformer (d. 1564)


date: July 25

text: July 25 – Philip II, Count of Nassau-Saarbrücken, German nobleman (d. 1554)


date: August 3

text: August 3 – Étienne Dolet, French scholar and printer (d. 1546)


date: August 7

text: August 7 – Joachim I, Prince of Anhalt-Dessau, German prince (d. 1561)


date: August 25

text: August 25 – Ippolito II d'Este, Italian cardinal and statesman (d. 1572)


date: October 20

text: October 20 – Arthur Stewart, Duke of Rothesay, Scottish prince (d. 1510)


date: November 4

text: November 4 – John, Duke of Münsterberg-Oels, Polish-German nobleman (d. 1565)


date: November 7

text: November 7 – Bernardino Telesio, Italian philosopher and natural scientist (d. 1588)


date: January 27

text: January 27 – John I, Count Palatine of Simmern, German nobleman (b. 1459)


date: January

text: January – Adam Kraft, German sculptor and architect (b. circa 1460)


date: March 14

text: March 14 – Giovanni Antonio Sangiorgio, Italian cardinal (b. unknown)


date: April 21

text: April 21 – Henry VIII becomes King of England on the death of his father, Henry VII.


date: April 27

text: April 27 – Margaret of Brandenburg, German abbess of the Poor Clares monastery at Hof (b. 1453)


date: May 28

text: May 28 – Caterina Sforza, Italian countess of Forlì (b. 1463)


date: June 29

text: June 29 – Margaret Beaufort, Countess of Richmond and Derby, mother of Henry VII of England (b. 1443)


date: July 11

text: July 11 – William II, Landgrave of Hesse, German nobleman (b. 1469)


date: July 16

text: July 16 – Mikalojus Radvila the Old, Lithuanian nobleman (b. circa 1450)


text: July 16 – Joao da Nova, Portuguese explorer (b. 1460)


date: July 28

text: July 28 – Ignatius Noah of Lebanon, Syriac Orthodox patriarch of Antioch (b. 1451).


date: December 1

text: December 1 – Lê Uy Mục, 8th king of the later Lê Dynasty of Vietnam (b. 1488)


text: Viranarasimha Raya, Indian ruler of the Vijayanagar Empire (b. unknown)

source_section: Deaths › Date unknown


text: Shen Zhou, Chinese painter (b. 1427)


text: Mytilene and Smyrna are destroyed by an earthquake.

source_section: Events › By place › Asia


text: First year of Yuanjia of the Chinese Han dynasty.


text: Detail from a rubbing of a stone relief in Wu family shrine (Wuliangci), Jiaxiang, Shandong, is made (Han dynasty).

source_section: Events › By topic › Art


text: Zhong Yao, Chinese official and calligrapher (d. 230)


text: Annia Galeria Aurelia Faustina, daughter of Marcus Aurelius


text: Novatus, Christian saint (approximate date)


text: Kanishka, Indian ruler of the Kushan Empire


date: April 13

text: April 13 – Park Won-jong resigns as Chief State Councillor of the Korean Empire and is succeeded by Kim Su-dong.


date: October 16

text: October 16 – Mingyi Nyo declares independence from the Ava Kingdom in upper Burma, by establishing the Toungoo dynasty.


date: November 25

text: November 25 – Afonso de Albuquerque succeeds in conquering Goa and establishes the colony of Portuguese India.


date: February 27

text: February 27– Portuguese conquest of Goa: Afonso de Albuquerque of Portugal begins a nine month battle to conquer Goa off the coast of India.


date: March 1

text: March 1 – Battle of Salt River: Indigenous ǃUriǁʼaekua decisively defeat sailors of the Portuguese Empire in South Africa.


date: March 12

text: March 12 – Mihnea cel Rău, the ruling Prince of Wallachia (now in Romania), is assassinated in Sibiu while attending Mass at the Roman Catholic church there.


date: April 4

text: April 4 – The "Disturbance of the Three Ports", an uprising by Japanese merchants against the Korean government, begins in what is now South Korea in the cities of Dongnae, Changwon and Ulsan.


date: April 19

text: April 19 – The simultaneous Japanese uprising in Korea is suppressed by the Korean Emperor Jungjong, and all trade between Korea and Japan is halted for the next two years.


date: May 12

text: May 12 – The Prince of Anhua rebellion begins when Zhu Zhifan, Prince of Anhua, kills all the officials invited to a banquet, and declares his intent on ousting the powerful Ming dynasty eunuch Liu Jin, during the reign of the Zhengde Emperor in China.


date: May 30

text: May 30 – Rebel leader Zhu Zhifan is defeated and captured by commander Qiu Yue, ending the Prince of Anhua rebellion.


date: June 5

text: June 5 – The Sultan Abu Abdallah V of Tlemcen (now part of Algeria) agrees to pay a demand for tribute to the Ferdinand II, King of Aragon (now part of Spain), prompting Ferdinand to plot an invasion of the neighboring kingdom Ifriqiya and its capital, Tripoli.


date: July 25

text: July 25 – Spanish troops capture Tripoli at the direction of King Ferdinand II of Aragon and under the command of Pedro Navarro.


date: December 2

text: December 2 – Battle of Merv: Shah Ismail I's defeats the Uzbek forces of Shaybani Khan, in Khorasan. Shaybani flees the battle only to be captured and killed by Ismail I troops, his head is turned into a skull cup used as a drinking goblet.


text: The Grand Prince of Moscow Vasili III conquers Pskov.


text: Sunflowers are brought to Europe by Spaniards.


date: February 15

text: February 15 – Peace treaty concluded between Pope Julius II and the Republic of Venice.


date: February 24

text: February 24 – In Rome, Pope Julius II revokes the interdict, imposed on the Republic of Venice in 1509.


text: Paolo Cortesi publishes De Cardinalatu, a manual for cardinals, including advice on palatial architecture – which inspires Thomas Wolsey in his construction work at Hampton Court Palace.


date: August 10

text: August 10 – The Royal Dano-Norwegian Navy is founded when Henrich Krummedige is appointed chief captain of all those who are at sea.


date: July

text: July – The Holy League, formed to defend the Italian States, attacks French-occupied Genoa. The 1510 influenza pandemic reaches Sicily, where it is nicknamed coccolucio, before spreading to the Italian states and the rest of Europe.


date: September 3

text: September 3 – Sir Thomas More becomes undersheriff of the City of London.


date: January 29

text: January 29 – The Mary Rose ship is laid out. The next year the ship is launched on July 29, 1511, and is afterwards towed to London to be fitted, and is finally completed in 1512. In 1545, during the Battle of the Solent, she sank. The reason for her sinking is disputed with contemporary accounts claiming the ship was heeled over or sank by French ships with gunfire, although modern historians believe it was sunk due to being unstable.


date: September 10

text: September 10 – (Eishō 7, 18th day of the 8th month) An estimated 6.7 magnitude earthquake in the Seto Inland Sea (Setonaikai) strikes off the coast of Japan near what is now Nanko-Higashi.


date: October 10

text: October 10 – (Eishō 7, 8th day of the 9th month) An earthquake in the Enshunada Sea off of the coast of Hamamatsu in what is now the Shizuoka Prefecture in Japan produces a devastating tsunami.


date: January 23

text: January 23 – An 18-year-old Henry VIII jousts anonymously at Richmond, Surrey and draws applause, before revealing his identity.


date: January 31

text: January 31 – Catherine of Aragon gives birth to her first child, and the first known child of King Henry VIII, a stillborn daughter.


text: February 24 – Costanzo II Sforza, Italian noble (d. 1512)


date: March 25

text: March 25 – Guillaume Postel, French linguist (d. 1581)


date: March 30

text: March 30 – Antonio de Cabezón, Spanish composer and organist (d. 1566)


date: June 6

text: June 6 – Giovanni Battista Cicala, Italian Catholic cardinal (d. 1570)


date: August 11

text: August 11 – Margaret Paleologa, Sovereign Marchioness of Montferrat (1531–1540) (d. 1566)


date: August 24

text: August 24 – Elisabeth of Brandenburg, Duchess of Brunswick-Calenberg-Göttingen (1525–1540) (d. 1558)


date: October 6

text: October 6 – John Caius, English physician (d. 1573)


text: October 6 – Rowland Taylor, English Protestant martyr (d. 1555)


date: October 25

text: October 25 – Renée of France, French princess (d. 1574)


date: October 28

text: October 28 – Francis Borgia, Spanish General of the Jesuits (d. 1572)


date: December 28

text: December 28 – Nicholas Bacon, English politician (d. 1579)


text: Francisco Vázquez de Coronado, Spanish conquistador (d. 1554)


text: Gracia Mendes Nasi, Portuguese businessperson and philanthropist (d. 1569)


text: Ferenc Dávid, Hungarian founder of the Unitarian Church (d. 1579)


date: February 1

text: February 1 – Sidonie of Poděbrady, Bohemian princess, duchess consort of Saxony (b. 1449)


date: February 28

text: February 28 – Juan de la Cosa, Spanish cartographer and explorer (b. c. 1460)


date: March 1

text: March 1 – Francisco de Almeida, Portuguese soldier and explorer (b. c. 1450)


date: March 10

text: March 10 – Johann Geiler von Kaisersberg, German preacher (b. 1445)


date: May 17

text: May 17 – Sandro Botticelli, Italian painter (b. 1445)


date: May 25

text: May 25 – Cardinal Georges d'Ambroise, aka Monseigneur le Ledat. Adviser to King Louis XII (b. 1460)


date: July 14

text: July 14 – Arthur Stewart, Duke of Rothesay, heir to the Scottish throne (b. 1509)


date: July 27

text: July 27 – Giovanni Sforza, Italian condottiere (b. 1466)


date: August 17

text: August 17 – Richard Empson, English statesman


date: September 15

text: September 15 – Saint Catherine of Genoa (b. 1447)


date: September 17

text: September 17 – Giorgione, Italian painter (b. c. 1477)


date: September 18

text: September 18 – Ursula of Brandenburg, Duchess of Mecklenburg-Schwerin (b. 1488)


date: November 11

text: November 11 – Bohuslav Hasištejnský z Lobkovic, Bohemian writer (b. 1461)


date: December 2

text: December 2 – Muhammad Shaybani, Khan of Bukhara (b. 1451)


date: November 17

text: November 17 – The Treaty of Westminster creates an alliance between Henry VIII of England and Ferdinand II of Aragon against France. Mallett and Shaw, The Italian Wars, 103; Hutchinson, Young Henry, 159.


text: After the fall of Malacca, Afonso de Albuquerque sends Duarte Fernandes on a diplomatic mission to Burma and Siam, becoming the first European to visit these countries diplomatically.


text: Diego Velázquez and Hernán Cortés conquer Cuba; Velázquez is appointed Governor.


text: The Spanish conquest of Yucatán begins.


text: The first black slaves arrive in Colombia.


date: January 19

text: January 19 – The Siege of Mirandola by the Papal States, with help from the Duchy of Urbino and Spanish and Venetian troops, ends with the capture of Mirandola after 18 days of fighting. The Pope personally leads the troops and, after the outnumbered defenders surrender, works at preventing his troops from pillaging the city or harming the residents.


date: February 27

text: February 27 – In Italy, on "Fat Thursday", a Christian celebration marking the last days of feasting before the period of fasting during the Roman Catholic Lent, discontented citizens of Friuli stage a revolt against their Venetian occupiers and attack the city of Udine and invade the palaces of several members of nobility, murdering the wealthy families and plundering the palace contents. Special troops arrive from Gradisca d'Isonzo on March 1 and suppress the rebellion.


date: March 11

text: March 11 – On the island of Puerto Rico, Spanish conquistador Juan Ponce de León leads an incursion at Yahuecas against the local Taino warriors, commanded by Chief Urayoán.


date: April 9

text: April 9 – The Şahkulu Rebellion breaks out in Anatolia.


date: May 23

text: May 23 – French troops capture the Italian city of Bologna after a two-day battle.


date: July 2

text: July 2 – The Şahkulu rebellion, which had started in Anatolia by Sakhulu Baba, against the Ottoman Empire on April 9, is suppressed in southeastern Turkey by the Ottoman Grand Vizier, Hadım Ali Pasha and Prince Şehzade Ahmed, son of the Sultan Bayezid II. Sakhulu is subsequently beheaded.


date: July 25

text: July 25 – Afonso de Albuquerque of Portugal, Governor of Portuguese India, begins an assault on the strategic city of Malacca (now part of Malaysia) and captures it by August 15.


date: September 27

text: September 27. Imperial troops capture Gradisca d'Isonzo from the Venetians, also operating in other parts of Friuli and northern Italy, together with their French allies.


text: The indigenous Taíno people revolt against the Spanish in southwestern Puerto Rico near Guánica.


date: June 21

text: June 21 – in Spain, Queen Queen Joanna of Castile creates the Consulate of the Sea for the port of Bilbao.


text: Juan de Agramonte, a sailor from Spain, is thought possibly to have travelled to Newfoundland.


date: May 16

text: May 16 – Five Roman Catholic cardinals, including Federico di Sanseverino, sign a document calling upon Pope Julius II to convene a council in Pisa to discuss reform of the Roman Catholic Church, to take place on September 1. After the Pope threatens him with excommunication, Sanseverino elects not to attend.


date: July 11

text: July 11 – Pope Julius II summons Catholic clerics to meet at the Fifth Council of the Lateran, directing them to meet on April 19.


date: September 13

text: September 13 – In Japan, Tokudaiji Saneatsu retires from his position as Chancellor of the Realm (Daijō-daijin) after two years of leading the Council of State.


date: October 4

text: October 4 – The Holy League is formed, against French dominance in Italy. It is an alliance between the Papal States, the Republic of Venice, and the Kingdom of Aragon, with several other powers joining later (the Swiss Confederation, the Holy Roman Empire, the Kingdom of England). On the next day in Rome, the creation of the Holy League is publicly proclaimed by the Pope Julius II.


date: December 21

text: December 21 – In an impassioned sermon on the fourth Sunday of Advent at Santo Domingo, Dominican friar Antonio de Montesinos openly denounces the Spanish conquistadors' cruelty and abuse of the Taino people practice of Encomienda (forcible enslavement of non-Christian peoples) on the island of Hispanola. and adds that neither he nor any of his missionaries will allow slaveholders to partake in confession.


text: Ferdinand II of Aragon observes that "one black can do the work of four Indians".


text: Duarte Barbosa arrives in India for the second time. He works as clerk in the factory of Cananor, and as the liaison with the Indian rajah.


date: October 12

text: October 12 – James IV of Scotland's great ship, the Michael, is launched at Newhaven, Edinburgh; she is the largest ship afloat at this date.


date: November 20

text: November 20 – The vessel Frol de la Mar, transporting Afonso de Albuquerque and the valuable treasure of the conquest of Malacca, sinks en route to Goa.


date: March 26

text: March 26 – A 6.9 magnitude earthquake strikes Slovenia and Italy and kills more than 10,000 people, striking with a maximum Mercalli intensity of X (Extreme). The epicenter is around the town of Idrija in present-day Slovenia, although some place it some 15-20 kilometers to the west, between Gemona and Pulfero in Friulian Slovenia. The earthquake affects a large territory between Carinthia, Friuli, present-day Slovenia and Croatia.


text: April 9 – St John's College, Cambridge, England, founded by Lady Margaret Beaufort, receives its charter.


date: July 29

text: July 29 – Henry VIII of England's flagship, the Mary Rose, is launched from Portsmouth.


date: August 14

text: August 14 – In Rome, the completed first half of Michelangelo's painting of Biblical scenes on the Sistine Chapel ceiling is unveiled for a select group of patrons and church officials. The viewing is open to the public the next day.


text: Erasmus publishes his most famous work, The Praise of Folly (Laus stultitiae).


date: January 1

text: January 1 – Henry, Duke of Cornwall, eldest son of Henry VIII of England


date: April 2

text: April 2 – Ashikaga Yoshiharu, Japanese shōgun (d. 1550)


date: April 5

text: April 5 – John III, Count of Nassau-Saarbrücken, German noble (d. 1574)


date: June 4

text: June 4 – Honorat II of Savoy, French Navy admiral (d. 1580)


date: June 6

text: June 6 – Jakob Schegk, German physician (d. 1587)


date: June 18

text: June 18 – Bartolomeo Ammannati, Florentine architect and sculptor (d. 1592)


date: July 9

text: July 9 – Dorothea of Saxe-Lauenburg, consort of Christian III from 1525, and Queen of Denmark and Norway (d. 1571)


date: July 30

text: July 30 – Giorgio Vasari, Italian painter and architect (d. 1574)


date: September 28

text: September 28 – Matsudaira Kiyoyasu, Japanese daimyo (d. 1535)


date: September 29

text: September 29 – Michael Servetus, Spanish theologian (d. 1553)


date: October 22

text: October 22 – Erasmus Reinhold, German astronomer and mathematician (d. 1553)


date: November 8

text: November 8 – Paul Eber, German Lutheran theologian (d. 1569)


date: November 15

text: November 15 – Johannes Secundus, Dutch poet (d. 1536)


date: December 5

text: December 5 – Maldev Rathore, ruler of Marwar (d. 1562)


date: January 9

text: January 9 – Demetrios Chalkokondyles, Greek classical scholar (b. 1424)


date: January 20

text: January 20 – Oliviero Carafa, Italian Catholic cardinal (b. 1430)


date: February 12

text: February 12 – King Henry VIII of England opens the two-day Westminster Tournament to celebrate the birth (on January 1) of his son Prince Henry. Sadly, the infant prince dies on February 22, nine days after the tournament's end. The festivities are later memorialized in the 1511 Westminster Tournament Roll, a series of 36 separately painted pictures stitched together to form a roll almost 60 ft long and 14 inches (37.5 cm) wide.


date: February 22

text: February 22 – Henry, Duke of Cornwall, eldest son of Henry VIII of England


date: April 1

text: April 1 – Francis of Denmark, Danish prince (b. 1497)


date: June 3

text: June 3 – Ahmad ibn Abi Jum'ah, North African Islamic scholar, author of the Oran fatwa


date: June 13

text: June 13 – Hedwig, Abbess of Quedlinburg, Princess-Abbess of Quedlinburg (b. 1445)


date: July 2

text: July 2 – Şahkulu, leader of the Şahkulu Rebellion


date: July 6

text: July 6 – Adolf III of Nassau-Wiesbaden-Idstein, Germany noble (b. 1443)


date: September 6

text: September 6 – William IV, Duke of Jülich-Berg, Count of Ravensberg (b. 1455)


date: October 18

text: October 18 – Philippe de Commines, French-speaking Fleming in the courts of Burgundy and France (b. 1447)


date: November 23

text: November 23 – Anne of York, daughter of King Edward IV of England (b. 1475)


text: November 23 – Mahmud Begada, Sultan of Gujarat (b. 1458)


text: November 23 – In India, Mahmud Shah Begada, Sultan of Gujarat since 1458, dies at the age of 66 after a reign of more than 50 years. He is succeeded by his eldest son, Prince Shams-ud-Din Muzaffar, who takes the name Muzaffar Shah II.


date: April 6

text: April 6 – A truce was concluded in Rome, between the emperor Maximilian I and the Republic of Venice. It was ratified on 20 May by the emperor, thus ending imperial participation in the League of Cambrai.


date: June 24

text: June 24 – Captain-Major Simão de Miranda de Azevedo took office as the new Portuguese Governor of Mozambique after being replaced by King Manuel I to replace António de Saldanha.


date: June 29

text: June 29 – Giano II di Campofregoso was elected as the Doge of the Republic of Genoa in Italy after the withdrawal of French occupation troops, filling a vacancy that had existed since 1507.


date: July 10

text: July 10 – King Ferdinand II of Aragon sends Don Fadrique de Toledo, to complete the Spanish conquest of Iberian Navarre.


date: July 12

text: July 12 – The Treaty of Blois is signed in France between representatives of the Spanish Kingdom of Navarre and of the Kingdom of France guaranteeing French intervention to keep Navarre neutral and to prevent an attack by the "Holy League" alliance of Pope Julius II and Spain's King Ferdinand II of Aragon and Castile.


date: December 27

text: December 27 – The Spanish Crown issues the Laws of Burgos, governing the conduct of settlers with regard to native Indians in the New World.


text: The Florentine Republic begins to be dismantled, and the Medici Family comes back into power.


date: January 23

text: January 23 – Neagoe Basarab becomes the new Prince of Wallachia at the capital, Târgoviște, after Prince Prince Vlad V is captured at battle in Bucharest and then decapitated.


date: February 18

text: February 18 – War of the League of Cambrai: The French carry out the Sack of Brescia.


date: April 11

text: April 11 – War of the League of Cambrai – Battle of Ravenna: French troops under Gaston of Foix, Duke of Nemours, assisted by the Duchy of Ferrara, defeat the Spanish and Papal States troops led by Ramón de Cardona. Gaston is killed in the pursuit as the Spanish retreat, and at least 3,000 of his troops are killed. More than 9,000 Spanish and Papal troops are killed, and 17,000 civilians in and around the city of Ravenna are massacred.


date: May 26

text: May 26 – Selim I succeeds Bayezid II, as Sultan of the Ottoman Empire.


date: August 10

text: August 10 – War of the League of Cambrai – Battle of Saint-Mathieu: The English navy defeats the French-Breton fleet. Both navies use ships firing cannons through ports, and each loses its principal ship — Regent and Marie-la-Cordelière — through a large explosion aboard the latter.


date: September 1

text: September 1 – After being dispatched by Pope Julius II with command of a Spanish Army, General Giovanni di Lorenzo de' Medici recaptures the city of Florence (Firenze), capital of the Florentine Republic in Italy and ousts Piero Soderini as the ruling Gonfaloniere. The success at Florence spares the city of Rome from a French invasion. Within a year, Medici becomes leader of the Roman Catholic Church and the Papal States as Pope Leo X.


date: September 10

text: September 10 – Portuguese Admiral Afonso de Albuquerque departs from the Indian city of Cochin with 14 ships and 1,700 troops to retake the fortress of Goa, capital of Portuguese India, from Bijapur's General Rasul Khan. A day before a planned Portuguese attack on Bihar's army, Rasul Khan and his occupying forces depart from Goa.


date: May 12

text: May 12 – Thomas Howard, 2nd Duke of Norfolk, leads an English expedition into France and burns the port city of Brest.


text: Juan Ponce de León discovers the Turks and Caicos Islands.


text: António de Abreu discovers Timor Island, and reaches the Banda Islands, Ambon Island and Seram.


text: Francisco Serrão reaches the Moluccas.


text: Francisco Serrao and other shipwreck sailors with permission from the Ternate Sultanate build Fort Tolukko. It is one of the earliest, if not the first European style fortress in southeast Asia.


text: Pedro Mascarenhas discovers Diego Garcia, and reaches Mauritius in the Mascarene Islands.


date: March 12

text: March 12 – Pope Julius II issues the papal bull Dilecte fili, declaring King Louis XII deposed and directing that the French throne be given to King Henry VIII of England.


date: May 3

text: May 3 – The Fifth Council of the Lateran begins.


date: June 15

text: June 15 – Al-Ashraf Qansuh al-Ghuri, ruler of the Mamluk Sultanate that controls Egypt and what is now Egypt, Israel, Lebanon and parts of Syria, receives an envoy from King George II of Kakheti (now located in the Republic of Georgia) and decides to reopen the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem.


date: June 16

text: June 16 – Massimiliano Sforza is installed as the new Duke of Milan by the Holy League, to force out King Louis XII of France.


date: October 19

text: October 19 – Martin Luther becomes a doctor of theology (Doctor in Biblia).


date: October 21

text: October 21 – Martin Luther joins the theological faculty of the University of Wittenberg.


date: November 10

text: November 10 – Pope Julius II proposes the conclusion of a comprehensive peace treaty between the emperor and the Venetians, that would resolve various political conflicts by favoring Maximilian's interests and suppressing the French influence in Italy.


date: December 23

text: December 23 – Finding the Pope's peace proposals too favorable towards the emperor, Venetian government decides to initiate peace negotiations with the king of France.


text: Moldavia becomes a vassal of the Ottoman Empire, on the same conditions as Wallachia: the voivode will be designated by the Turks, but will be Eastern Orthodox Christians. Also, the Turks are not allowed to build mosques, to be buried, to own land or to settle in the country.


text: Nicolaus Copernicus begins to write Commentariolus, an abstract of what will eventually become De revolutionibus orbium coelestium; he sends it to other scientists interested in the matter by 1514.


date: July 23

text: July 23 – Sten Sture the Younger is elected new Regent of Sweden, replacing Eric Trolle.


date: November 1

text: November 1 – The ceiling of the Sistine Chapel, painted by Michelangelo, is exhibited to the public for the first time.


text: The word masque is first used to denote a poetic drama.


date: January 13

text: January 13 – Gaspar de Quiroga y Vela, General Inquisitor of Spain (d. 1594)


date: January 17

text: January 17 – Sibylle of Cleves, electress consort of Saxony (d. 1554)


date: January 31

text: January 31 – Henry, King of Portugal and Cardinal (d. 1580)


date: February 3

text: February 3 – John Hamilton, archbishop of St Andrews (d. 1571)


date: March 5

text: March 5 – Gerardus Mercator, Flemish cartographer (d. 1594)


date: April 23

text: April 23 – Henry FitzAlan, 19th Earl of Arundel, Chancellor of the University of Oxford (d. 1580)


date: April 30

text: April 30 – George II, Duke of Münsterberg-Oels, Count of Glatz (d. 1553)


date: July 5

text: July 5 – Cristoforo Madruzzo, Italian Catholic cardinal (d. 1578)


date: July 25

text: July 25 – Diego de Covarrubias y Leyva, Spanish jurist, Roman Catholic prelate, Archbishop of Cuenca (d. 1577)


date: August 27

text: August 27 – Friedrich Staphylus, German theologian (d. 1564)


date: August

text: August ? – Catherine Parr, English queen consort (d. 1548)


date: November 4

text: November 4 – Hu Zongxian, Chinese general (d. 1565)


date: November 11

text: November 11 – Marcin Kromer, Prince-Bishop of Warmia (d. 1589)


date: December 21

text: December 21 – Boniface IV, Marquess of Montferrat, Italian nobleman (d. 1530)


date: January 2

text: January 2 – Svante Nilsson, regent of Sweden since 1504, dies at the age of 51. Eric Trolle is subsequently elected as the new Regent, but will be ousted after only six months.


date: January 30

text: January 30 – Reinhard IV, Count of Hanau-Münzenberg (1500–1512) (b. 1473)


date: February 2

text: February 2 – Hatuey, Puerto Rican Taíno chief


date: February 22

text: February 22 – Amerigo Vespucci, Italian merchant and cartographer, after whom the Americas are named (b. 1451)


date: March 23

text: March 23 – Donyo Dorje, ruler of the Kingdom of Ü-Tsang and most of Tibet, dies after a reign of more than 30 years and is succeeded by his brother, Ngawang Namgyal.


date: March 29

text: March 29 – Lucas Watzenrode, Prince-Bishop of Warmia (b. 1447)


date: April 11

text: April 11 – Gaston de Foix, French military commander (b. 1489)


date: May 21

text: May 21 – Pandolfo Petrucci, ruler of Siena (b. 1452)


date: August 2

text: August 2 – Alessandro Achillini, Italian philosopher (b. 1463)


date: August 15

text: August 15 – Imperia Cognati, Italian courtesan (b. 1486)


date: September 15

text: September 15 – John Stewart, 1st Earl of Atholl, Scottish peer (b. 1440)


date: September 29

text: September 29 – Johannes Engel, German doctor, astronomer and astrologer (b. 1453)


date: October 5

text: October 5 – Sophia Jagiellon, Margravine of Brandenburg-Ansbach, Polish princess (b. 1464)


date: October 31

text: October 31 – Anna of Saxony, Electress of Brandenburg (b. 1437)


text: March 23 – At Blois, king Louis XII concludes a new alliance with the Republic of Venice, while the doge Leonardo Loredan ratifies the same Franco-Venetian treaty on April 12.


date: June 20

text: June 20 – Ottaviano Fregoso becomes the new Doge of the Republic of Genoa, replacing Giano II di Campofregoso.


date: October 17

text: October 17 – At Edirne, the Ottoman sultan Selim II confirms the renewal of peace treaties with Venice, under terms that are accepted by the Venetian government on December 3.


date: November

text: November – Gazapati, becomes the new King of Burma as his father, King Raza, abdicates the throne at the capital of Arakan, Mrauk U.


date: December 17

text: December 17 – The Canton of Appenzell becomes a member of the Swiss Confederacy.


date: December

text: December – Louis attempts to make peace with Spain by offering King Ferdinand the hand of his daughter Renée for one of his grandsons along with renouncing his claims on Naples. The proposal is never accepted.


date: March 15

text: March 15 – In the Taino Rebellion on the island of Puerto Rico, Spanish conquistador Diego Guilarte de Salazar attacks the Taino towns of Yauco and Coxiguex.


date: March 26

text: March 26 – On Easter Sunday, Afonso de Albuquerque, Governor of Portuguese India, makes an unsuccessful attempt to capture the port city of Aden, on the Arabian Peninsula, from the Mamluk Sultanate, using 20 ships and 2,500 soldiers. The 1,700 Portuguese, along with 800 mercenaries from Malabar, lose at least 100 killed during the attack and retreat.


date: May 25

text: May 25 – Giano II di Campofregoso resigns as Doge of the Republic of Genoa as plots by two opposing families restore the influence of France. Campogregoso leaves the city on a ship to serve the Republic of Venice in its war against the Duchy of Milan.


date: June 6

text: June 6 – Italian Wars: Battle of Novara – Swiss mercenaries supporting the Milanese defeat the French under Louis II de la Trémoille, forcing the French to abandon the Duchy of Milan and Italy.


date: August 5

text: August 5 – A force of 7,000 Scottish border troops, commanded by Lord Home, invades England and begins the destruction and pillaging of villages in Northumberland.


date: August 16

text: August 16 – Battle of Dubica (part of the Hundred Years' Croatian–Ottoman War): Croatian troops under Petar Berislavić, Ban (Viceroy) of Croatia, defeat an Ottoman army under Sanjak-bey Junuz-aga.


text: August 16 – Battle of the Spurs (or Battle of Guinegate, part of the War of the League of Cambrai): English and allied troops under Henry VIII defeat French cavalry under Marshal La Palice.


date: August 23

text: August 23 – Thérouanne in the north of France is given to Henry VIII of England after a treaty is concluded in the aftermath of the Battle of the Spurs.


date: September 9

text: September 9 – Battle of Flodden: King James IV of Scotland is defeated and killed by an English army under Thomas Howard, Earl of Surrey. James's infant son, the Duke of Rothesay, becomes James V, King of Scots. At least 5,000 Scots and 1,500 English troops are killed.


date: October 7

text: October 7 – Battle of La Motta (War of the League of Cambrai): Spanish and imperial troops under Ramón de Cardona decisively defeat those of the Republic of Venice under Bartolomeo d'Alviano in Schio.


text: Leo Africanus visits Timbuktu, second city of the Songhai Empire.

source_section: Events › Undated


date: March 27

text: March 27 – Juan Ponce de León becomes the first European definitely known to sight Florida, mistaking it for another island.


date: April 2

text: April 2 – Juan Ponce de León and his expedition become the first Europeans known to visit Florida, landing somewhere on the east coast. One of the expedition, Juan Garrido, becomes the first African known to visit North America.


date: May

text: May – Portuguese explorer Jorge Álvares and his crew land on Lintin Island, in the Pearl River estuary, near Guangzhou, becoming the first Europeans to arrive in China by sea.


date: July 25

text: July 25 – Scotland's Earl of Arran departs from the Firth of Forth with 22 ships on a plan to join France in cutting off England's communications with the rest of Europe.


date: September 25

text: September 25 – Vasco Núñez de Balboa first sees what will become known as the Pacific Ocean from the Isthimus of Darién. This moment is later referenced in a poem by John Keats called "On First Looking into Chapman's Homer" with the line "silent upon a peak in Darién" although he mistakenly references Hernán Cortés as the one who saw the Pacific from Darién.


date: February 18

text: February 18 – Pope Julius II issues the papal bull Exigit contumaciam, declaring queen Catherine of Navarre and king John III of Navarre to be heretics for their refusal to participate with other Roman Catholic nations in the anti-French Holy League of 1511.


date: March 4

text: March 4 – The conclave of the Roman Catholic Cardinals begins at the Niccoline Chapel in the Apostolic Palace in Rome, with 25 of the 31 Cardinals participating. In the first round of balloting, none of the Cardinals receives the required 17 votes necessary for a three-fourth's majority, though Cardinal Jaime Serra I Cau of Spain, Bishop of Albano, receives 13.


date: March 9

text: March 9 – Cardinal Giovanni di Lorenzo de' Medici, the Apostolic Administrator of Amalfi but not ordained as a priest, is selected to succeed the late Pope Julius II as the 217th Pope of the Roman Catholic Church. After two days, the selection is announced to the public and Medici takes the name of Pope Leo X, despite a strong challenge by Italian cardinal Raffaele Riario and his group of seniors, or cardinals that were elected by Sixtus IV and Innocent VIII, who are opposed to the relatively newer juniors that includes Medici.


date: June 28

text: June 28 – Pope Leo X sends a letter to Scotland's King James IV, threatening him with ecclesiastical censure or excommunication for breaking his peace treaties with England.


text: September 9 – Johann Reuchlin is summoned for an inquisition trial, initiated by Jacob van Hoogstraaten. The verdict of the trial is never revealed, as when it is about to be announced on October 12, the archbishop of Mainz orders the court to go into recess on threat of resigning the court, and the trial never continues. Eventually, in March 1514, an ecclesiastical court presided over by George, Bishop of Speyer clears Reuchlin of any charges and orders Hoogstraten to pay the cost of 111 guldens, although this is overturned by Leo X in a papal decision in 1520.


date: September 19

text: September 19 – Upon confirming that King James IV of Scotland has been killed in battle, the 35 Lords of Council of the Realm meet at Stirling Castle and agree to rule Scotland in the name of James's widow, Margaret Tudor, and his son, the infant James V.


date: September

text: September – The dispute between Johann Reuchlin and Johannes Pfefferkorn concerning the Talmud and other Jewish books, is referred to Pope Leo X.


date: November 5

text: November 5 – Pope Leo X issues the decree Dum suavissimos, reviving Sapienza University of Rome.


date: December 17

text: December 17 – Louis XII makes peace with the Papal States by issuing a decree disavowing the Council of Pisa and promising his future adherence to the Lateran Council.


text: Paracelsus begins studying at Ferrara University.


date: January 20

text: January 20 – Spanish conquistador Vasco Núñez de Balboa writes a letter to King Ferdinand II of Aragon advocating genocide against the native peoples of the Caribbean islands, and begins the killing of hundreds of residents of Caribbean villages.


text: Niccolò Machiavelli is suspected of trying to overthrow the House of Medici and is arrested and tortured. He is soon after released and moves to his farm in San Casciano, and writes The Prince.


date: September 30

text: September 30 – A major rock avalanche occurs in the Southern side of the Swiss Alps at Monte Crenone, which destroys the village of Biasca, floods Bellinzona, and forms a lake of 390 m.a.s.l.


date: July 22

text: July 22 – Christian II becomes King of Denmark-Norway.


date: October 21

text: October 21 – The coronation of James V, 17 months old, as King of Scotland takes place in the Chapel Royal at Stirling Castle.


date: February 14

text: February 14 – Domenico Ferrabosco, Italian composer (d. 1573)


date: March 15

text: March 15 – Hedwig Jagiellon, Electress of Brandenburg (d. 1573)


date: April 22

text: April 22 – Tachibana Dōsetsu, Japanese Daimyō (d. 1585)


date: June 10

text: June 10 – Louis, Duke of Montpensier (1561–1582) (d. 1582)


date: August 3

text: August 3 – John, Margrave of Brandenburg-Küstrin (d. 1571)


date: September 23

text: September 23 – Hans Buser, Swiss noble (d. 1544)


date: September 24

text: September 24 – Catherine of Saxe-Lauenburg, queen of Gustav I of Sweden (d. 1535)


date: October 30

text: October 30 – Jacques Amyot, French writer (d. 1593)


date: December 3

text: December 3 – Lorenzo Strozzi, Italian Catholic cardinal (d. 1571)


date: December 23

text: December 23 – Thomas Smith, English scholar and diplomat (d. 1577)


text: George Cassander, Flemish theologian (d. 1566)


text: Thomas FitzGerald, 10th Earl of Kildare (d. 1537)


text: Michael Baius, Belgian theologian (d. 1589)


text: Elisabeth Plainacher, Austrian alleged witch (d. 1583)


text: January 20 – Helena of Moscow, Grand Duchess consort of Lithuania and queen consort of Poland (b. 1476)


date: January

text: January – Hans Folz, German author (b. c. 1437)


date: February 20

text: February 20 – Hans, King of Denmark (also king of Norway and former king of Sweden) (b. 1455)


text: February 20 – Hans, King of Denmark dies at the age of 58 from injuries sustained in being thrown from a horse. He is succeeded by his 32-year-old son Christian II as ruler of Denmark-Norway.


date: February 21

text: February 21 – Pope Julius II dies in Rome.


date: March 10

text: March 10 – John de Vere, 13th Earl of Oxford, English general (b. 1443)


date: April 24

text: April 24 – Şehzade Ahmet, oldest son of Sultan Bayezid II (executed) (b. 1465)


date: April 30

text: April 30 – Edmund de la Pole, 3rd Duke of Suffolk, Duke of Suffolk (b. 1471)


text: August 3 – Ernst II of Saxony, Archbishop of Magdeburg (1476–1513) and Administrator of Halberstadt (b. 1464)


date: September 9

text: September 9 (killed at the Battle of Flodden)


date: October 27

text: October 27 – George Manners, 11th Baron de Ros, English nobleman


text: Claudine de Brosse, duchess Consort of Savoy (b. 1450)


text: Hua Sui, Chinese inventor and printer (b. 1439)


text: Adam Hepburn, 2nd Earl of Bothwell, Scottish politician, Lord High Admiral of Scotland


date: April 29

text: April 29 – After a month of negotiations at Linz between the Holy Roman Empire and the Kingdom of Denmark, representatives of the two nations sign an alliance agreement, to be secured by the marriage of the Emperor's 13-year-old daughter Isabella, to the new King of Denmark, Christian II, along with payment of a dowry to King Christian of 250,000 Rhenish gulden, equivalent to $118,000,000 USD 500 years later.


date: August 7

text: August 7 – King Henry VIII of England concludes an independent peace treaty with France in the War of the League of Cambrai, negotiated by Thomas Wolsey.