Religion & Belief in the 16th century

744 sourced entries, 1500 CE to 1599 CE, oldest first. Also see Religion & Belief across every century or everything else in the 16th century.

1500June 1 – Pope Alexander VI issues the papal bull Quamvis ad amplianda, calling on a Roman Catholic crusade against the Ottoman Empire.source
1500December 31 – The last incunable is printed in Venice.source
1500Medieval India is divided between many kingdoms, including the Delhi Sultanate, Lodi Sultanate, Ahom Kingdom, Vijayanagara Empire, Gajapati Empire, Deccan Sultanates, Chitradurga Kingdom, Garhwal Kingdom, Mysore Kingdom, and the Keladi KingdomIndia source
1501July 27 – Copernicus is formally installed as canon of Frauenberg Cathedral.source
1501September 18 – Aleksandras Jogailaitis, Grand Duke of Lithuania, issues a decree requiring all Roman Catholic priests in the Duchy to become fluent in the Lithuanian language.source
1501October 30 – The Banquet of Chestnuts is purportedly held by Cesare Borgia, in the Papal Palace of Rome (this account is not historical fact, and could be attributed to enemies of Alexander VI).source
1501December 22 – (1 Jumada al-Thani 907 AH) Ismail I is enthroned as the first Shah of Iran, choosing Tabriz as his capital, founding the Safavid dynasty in northern Iran. He declares Shi'ism the official and compulsory religion, under penalty of death.source
1501Italic type (cut by Francesco Griffo) is first used by Aldus Manutius at the Aldine Press in Venice, in an edition of Virgil.source
1501Dhanya Manikya constructed the Tripura Sundari Temple in Udaipur, TripuraIndia source
1501The Jain manuscript Devasanpada Kalpasutra was writtenIndia source
1502February 12 – Isabella I issues an edict outlawing Islam in the Crown of Castile, forcing virtually all her Muslim subjects to convert to Christianity.source
1502April – Gerald FitzGerald, later Earl of Kildare, at the age of 15, played the principal role in the funeral ceremony for Henry VII's eldest son Arthur, Prince of Wales in Worcester Cathedral.Ireland source
1502December 31 – Cesare Borgia (son of Pope Alexander VI) occupies Urbino, where he imprisons two potentially treacherous allies, Vitellozzo and Oliveretto; he executes them the next morning.source
1502In Italy, Asher Lämmlein declares that the Jewish Messiah will arrive in the next 6 months, resulting in the year of penance.source
1503January 24 – Construction of the Henry VII Chapel at Westminster Abbey begins in the perpendicular Gothic style, the final stage of English Gothic art.source
1503June 27 – The book The Imitation of Christ by Thomas à Kempis is re-published in an English translation.source
1503August 8 – King James IV of Scotland marries Margaret Tudor, daughter of King Henry VII of England, at Holyrood Abbey, Edinburgh, Scotland.source
1503August 18 – 7 French cardinals are called to Rome for a papal conclave, to start in September following the death of Pope Alexander VI.France source
1503September 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.source
1503October 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.source
1503November 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.source
1503November 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.source
1503St. Francis Church, in Kochi, Kerala, the oldest European church in IndiaIndia source
1504January 21 – After the death of Sten Sture the Elder on December 14 the year before, Svante Nilsson is elected the new Regent of Sweden.source
1504September 13 – Queen Isabella and King Ferdinand issue a Royal Warrant for the construction of Capilla Real, a Royal Chapel, to be built in Granada.source
1504October 12 – Isabella I of Castile signs her will and testament.source
1504November 26 – On the death of Isabella I of Castile, Catholic Queen of Castile and Aragon, the Crown of Castile passes to her daughter Joanna.source
1504December 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).source
1504The Signoria of Florence commissions both Leonardo da Vinci and Michelangelo to paint the walls of the Grand Council Chamber in the Palazzo Vecchio.source
1504Islamization of the Sudan region: A Funj leader, Amara Dunqas, founds the Sultanate of Sennar.source
1504Silver shilling is the first English coin to be minted bearing a recognisable portrait of the King.England source
1505January 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.source
1505July 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.source
1505July 17 – Luther enters the monastic life, at an Augustinian cloister in Erfurt called St. Augustine's Monastery.source
1505October 11 – Lucien Grimaldi takes over as the new Lord of Monaco after stabbing his brother Jean II to death.source
1505October 23 – In Portuguese India, the King of Cannanore gives permission to Francisco de Almeida to build the Fortaleza de Santo Ângelo in Kannur.source
1505December 30 – Érard de La Marck is elected prince-bishop of Liège.source
1505Old St. Peter's Basilica is demolished under the orders of Pope Julius II. Construction of the new basilica begins the following year.source
1505The 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.source
1506January 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.source
1506January 22 – The Swiss Guard arrives at the Vatican, to serve as permanent ceremonial and palace guards under Pope Julius II.source
1506February 9 – Henry, Prince of Wales is made a Knight of the Golden Fleece by Maximilian I, Holy Roman Emperor.source
1506April 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.source
1506October 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.source
1506November 6 – Pope Julius II personally leads his troops into Bologna, retaking the city from the excommunicated tyrant Giovanni II Bentivoglio.source
1506December 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.source
1506Johannes Trithemius becomes abbot of the monastery of St. Jacob, at Würzburg.source
1507April 3 – At Erfurt, German monk Martin Luther is ordained by the suffragan bishop Johann Bonemilch as a priest of the Catholic Church.source
15077 April – Easter Day: James IV is invested with the Papal sword at Holyrood Abbey.Scotland source
1507May 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.source
1507June 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.source
1507November 26 – Pope Julius II issues a damnatio memoriae forcing the members of the House of Borgia out of control of the Papal States.source
1508February 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.source
1508May 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).source
1508December 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.source
1508December – Michelangelo begins painting the Sistine Chapel ceiling in the Holy See of Rome, on a commission by Pope Julius II (signed May 10).source
1508Dromahair Friary founded by Eóghan O'Rourke, Lord of West Bréifne and Margaret O'Brian of ThomondIreland source
1508Christopher Fisher appointed Bishop of ElphinIreland source
1509March 18 – Maximilian I, Holy Roman Emperor, names Margaretha land guardians of the Habsburg Netherlands.source
1509March 23 – Pope Julius II issues the papal bull Petierunt a nobis, declaring his allegiance to the League of Cambrai.source
1509April 27 – Pope Julius II places Venice under interdict and excommunication for refusing to cede part of Romagna to papal control.source
1509June 19 – Brasenose College, Oxford, is founded by a lawyer, Sir Richard Sutton, of Prestbury, Cheshire, and the Bishop of Lincoln, William Smyth.source
1509August 19 – Maximillian I orders all Jews within the Holy Roman Empire to destroy all books opposing Christianity.source
1509November 10 – Uriel von Gemmingen is assigned to secure others' opinions before continuing the Jewish book purge started on August 19th.source
1509St Paul's School, London is founded by John Colet, Dean of St Paul's Cathedral.source
1509Johannes Pfefferkorn writes his fourth and fifth pamphlets condemning the Jewish faith and people, Das Osterbuch and Der Judenfeind.source
1510February 15 – Peace treaty concluded between Pope Julius II and the Republic of Venice.source
1510February 24 – In Rome, Pope Julius II revokes the interdict, imposed on the Republic of Venice in 1509.source
1510June – The Ordinances of Lyon are issued by king Louis XII, which included a range of bureaucratic changes especially in regard to the papal authority in France.France source
1510Paolo 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.source
1511May 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.source
1511July 11 – Pope Julius II summons Catholic clerics to meet at the Fifth Council of the Lateran, directing them to meet on April 19.source
1511September 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.source
1511October 1 – During the War of the League of Cambrai Pope Julius II proclaims a Holy League against French dominance in Italy.France source
1511October 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.source
1511December 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.source
1511Ferdinand II of Aragon observes that "one black can do the work of four Indians".source
1512March 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.source
1512May 3 – The Fifth Council of the Lateran begins.source
1512June 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.source
1512June 16 – Massimiliano Sforza is installed as the new Duke of Milan by the Holy League, to force out King Louis XII of France.source
1512October 19 – Martin Luther becomes a doctor of theology (Doctor in Biblia).source
1512October 21 – Martin Luther joins the theological faculty of the University of Wittenberg.source
1512November 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.source
1512December 23 – Finding the Pope's peace proposals too favorable towards the emperor, Venetian government decides to initiate peace negotiations with the king of France.source
1512Moldavia 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.source
1512Santa Catarina do Monte Sinai built in Kochi, IndiaIndia source
1513February 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.source
1513March 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.source
1513March 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.source
1513June 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.source
1513September 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.source
1513September 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.source
1513September – The dispute between Johann Reuchlin and Johannes Pfefferkorn concerning the Talmud and other Jewish books, is referred to Pope Leo X.source
1513November 5 – Pope Leo X issues the decree Dum suavissimos, reviving Sapienza University of Rome.source
1513December 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.source
1513c. September – Gerald FitzGerald, 9th Earl of Kildare becomes Earl, Lord Lieutenant of Ireland, and Lord Justice following the death of his father Gearóid Mór FitzGerald, 8th Earl of Kildare.Ireland source
1514March 12 – A huge exotic embassy sent by King Manuel I of Portugal to Pope Leo X arrives in Rome, including Hanno, an Indian elephant.source
1514March 13 – Louis XII of France makes peace with Maximilian I, Holy Roman Emperor.source
1514September 15 – Thomas Wolsey is appointed Archbishop of York in England.source
15145 November – Mary Tudor is crowned Queen of France by the Bishop of Bayeux at the Abbey Church of Saint-Denis.France source
1514December 18 – Ottoman General Dukaginzade Ahmed Pasha is appointed by the Sultan Selim I as the new Grand Vizier, but serves for less than three months before he is removed and executed.source
1514Rani Sipri's Mosque commissioned.India source
1515January 25 – François, is crowned King of France in the Cathedral of Reims, with his wife Claude, daughter of the late King Louis XII, crowned as Queen consort.source
15152 February - Creation of the Count of Vimioso title of nobility.Portugal source
1515February 11 – George of Kratovo, a silversmith in Serbia, becomes a martyr to the Christian faith as he is burned to death on a pyre for refusing to convert to Islam.source
1515March 31 – Pope Leo X issues a papal bull, at the suggestion of the German cardinal Albert of Brandenburg, providing for a special indulgence on worshipers in four Roman Catholic dioceses in order to pay for construction of St. Peter's Basilica in Rome, with half to be paid to Albert for services.source
1515November 15 – Thomas Wolsey is invested as a Roman Catholic Cardinal.source
1515December 18 – King Francis I of France, victorious in the battle of Marignano in Italy and the new ruler of Milan, begins four days of meetings in Bologna with Pope Leo X. King Francis agrees to ensure the Pope's authority over the Catholic Church in France, and Leo promises to support Francis' claim to the throne of Naples.source
1515Phyang Monastery established in Leh district.India source
1515Creation of the Duke of Goa title.Portugal source
1516February 18 – After two months in Bologna, part of the Papal States in Italy, Pope Leo X concludes two months of negotiation with King François I of France. Their talks result in the abrogation of the French Pragmatic Sanction, and the conclusion of a new Concordat between the Papacy and France.source
1516August 18 – King Francis I of France and Pope Leo X sign the Concordat of Bologna, agreeing on the relationship between church and state in France.source
1516August 18 - King Francis I of France and Pope Leo X sign the Concordat of Bologna, agreeing relationships between church and state in France.France source
1516September 16 – German theologian Andreas Karlstadt completes his series of 151 theses, an attack against corruption in the Roman Catholic Church.source
1516Varahanatha Temple a Hindu temple complex is established in JajpurIndia source
1517January 30 – Cairo is captured by the Ottoman Empire after a three day battle, and the Mamluk Sultanate falls. The Abbasid Caliphate, reestablished in 1261, falls to the Ottomans and the last Caliph, Al-Mutawakkil III, is deported along with his family to Constantinople.source
1517March 16 – The Fifth Council of the Lateran ends after almost five years of conferences on discussing reforms within the Roman Catholic Church.source
1517April 14 – On Easter Tuesday, Dr. Bell, a preacher standing at St Paul's Cross in front of London's Old St Paul's Cathedral, delivers an inflammatory sermon at the instigation of a local broker, John Lincoln and accuses foreign immigrants of stealing jobs from English workers and taking away bread from "poor fatherless children."source
1517July 1 – In an unprecedented move, Pope Leo X increases the number of Roman Catholic cardinals, naming 31 people to the cardinalate including the Dutch-born Adriaan van Utrecht, bishop of Tortosa, who will later become Pope Adrian VI.source
1517Ibrahim Lodi become ruler of the Sultanate of Delhi following his father's (Sikandar Lodi) deathIndia source
1518February 2 – In Valladolid in Spain, Frenchman Jean Sauvage, Chancellor of Burgundy is appointed by Spain's Prince Charles as the Chief Judge of the Cortes of Valladolid. The choice of a foreigner is resented by the members of the court and Sauvage is replaced at the Cortes by the Spanish Bishop Pedro Ruiz de la Mota.source
1518February 2 – Jean Sauvage, Chancellor of Burgundy is appointed Chief Judge of the Cortes of Valladolid.France source
1518March 5 – The Dutch priest Erasmus of Rotterdam sends the new Ninety-five Theses of Martin Luther to England, delivering the Protestant manifesto to Sir Thomas More.source
1518April 18 – The widowed Sigismund I the Old, King of Poland and Grand Duke of Lithuania, marries Milanese noblewoman Bona Sforza in Wawel Cathedral and she is crowned as Queen consort of Poland.source
1518May 30 – At the request of Pope Leo X of the Roman Catholic Church, Martin Luther, father of the Protestant Reformation, writes a lengthy summary of his theology.source
1519January 1 – Ulrich Zwingli preaches for the first time, as people's priest of the Great Minister in Zurich.source
1519May 4 – Giulio de' Medici, who will later become Pope Clement VII becomes the Duke of the Florentine Republic upon the death of his father, Lorenzo de' Medici, Duke of Urbino.source
1519July 4 – Martin Luther joins the debate regarding papal authority, against Johann Eck at Leipzig.source
1519King Francis I loses the empirical election for the Holy Roman Emperor title to Charles V.France source
1520June 15 – Pope Leo X issues the bull Exsurge Domine (Arise O Lord), threatening Martin Luther with excommunication, if he does not recant his position on indulgences and other Catholic doctrines.source
1520October - Christian II introduces the right of his family to inherit the throne of Sweden. He also reinstate the deposed arch bishop Gustav Trolle.Sweden source
1520December 10 – Martin Luther burns a copy of The Book of Canon Law (see Canon Law), and his copy of the Papal bull Exsurge Domine.source
1520The Franciscan friar Matteo Bassi is inspired to return to the primitive life of solitude and penance, as practiced by St. Francis, giving rise to the Order of Friars Minor Capuchin.source
1521January 3 – Pope Leo X excommunicates Martin Luther, in the papal bull Decet Romanum Pontificem.source
1521February 2 – The Nydala Abbey Bloodbath take place in Nydala Abbey.Sweden source
1521April 16–18 – Martin Luther is examined before Emperor Charles V and the Diet of Worms, where he refuses to recant his writings and allegedly proclaims, "Here I stand", regarding his belief in the Bible alone, as the standard of Christian doctrine.source
1521November 23 – Spanish–German–Papal forces under Prospero Colonna force French Marshal Odet de Lautrec to abandon Milan.source
152123 November – Spanish–German–Papal forces under Prosper Colonna force French Marshal Odet de Lautrec to abandon Milan.France source
1522January 9 – The papal conclave to elect a successor to the late Pope Leo X is concluded as cardinal Adriaan Florensz Boeyens of the Netherlands, regent of Spain and bishop of Tortosa, is selected as a compromise candidate despite being absent from the proceedings. Cardinal Boeyens is proclaimed as Pope Adrian VI, the 218th pope and the last non-Italian pontiff for the next 450 years.source
1522February 10 – The Grünwald Conference takes place in the Duchy of Bavaria in Germany, as the co-rulers, Duke Wilhelm IV and Duke Ludwig X agreed to retain the traditional Roman Catholic Church but to make their own reformation of the church within the Duchy, beginning what will eventually become the Counter-Reformation.source
1522February 27 – Daniil of Volotsk is appointed by the Grand Duke of Moscow as the new Metropolitan of Moscow, becoming the leader of the Russian Orthodox Church.source
1522March 6 – Protestant reformer Martin Luther returns to Wittenberg in Germany after getting cleared to return home by his protector, Frederick the Wise, Elector of Saxony.source
1522March 9 – In Wittenberg, as the first day of Lent arrives, Martin Luther begins preaching the first of his eight "Invocavit sermons", stressing the primacy of core Christian values, such as love, patience, charity, and freedom, and reminding his followers to trust God's word rather than violence to bring about necessary change.source
1522May 10 –Pope Adrian VI, at the request of Spanish Emperor Carlos V, promulgates the papal bull Exponi nobis, allowing members of mendicant orders in the New World to exercise "almost all episcopal authority" when the closest Roman Catholic diocesan bishop is more than two days of travel away.source
1522August 27 – The Knights' War erupts within the Holy Roman Empire as Franz von Sickingen leads a revolt against the Prince-Bishop of Trier and to seize the church properties within the Electorate of Triersource
1522August 31 – Pope Adrian VI is crowned at St. Peter's Basilica in Rome.source
1522November 17 – The second Diet of Nuremberg opens to discuss various matters of the Holy Roman Empire, including the Protestant Reformation.source
1522Hugh Inge, Primate of Ireland appointed Lord Chancellor of Ireland.Ireland source
1523April 4 – Under a plan organized by Sister Katharina von Bora and Protestant reformer Martin Luther, fish merchant Leonhard Köppe helps carry out the rescue of Von Bora and other Cistercian Catholic nuns from the Nimbschen Abbey in Germany near Grimma and Leipzig. On the day before Easter, Köppe arrives at the convent under the pretext of bringing delivering herring and other foods to the Abbey, then uses empty barrels to smuggle the nuns to Wittenberg. Von Bora will later become Luther's wife.source
1523June 8 -King Francis I bans the dispatch of money from the French court to Rome and expels the papal nuncio.France source
1523June 27 – Pargali Ibrahim Pasha is appointed as Grand Vizier of the Ottoman Empire by Suleiman the Magnificent. He will serve as the Ottoman administrator for almost 13 years until his sudden arrest and execution in 1536.source
1523July 1 – Jan van Essen and Hendrik Vos become the first Lutheran martyrs, burned at the stake in Brussels at the Grote Markt. In response to the executions, Martin Luther composed a hymn called "A New Song Be By Us Begun".source
1523October 1 – A conclave of 32 cardinals begins deliberations in Rome to elect a successor to the late Pope Adrian VI. Three other cardinals arrive on October 6 and balloting begins for a new Pope. Niccolò Fieschi and Bernardino López de Carvajal y Sande fail to receive the necessary majority in initial balloting, and Gianmaria del Monte comes within one vote (26 votes) of being elected. Voting continues for seven weeks before Cardinal Giulio de Medici wins 27 votes.source
1523November 26 – At Santa Maria in Via Lata, Cardinal Marco Cornaro carries out the coronation of Pope Clement at the church of Santa Maria in Via Lata in Rome.source
1523Santhome Church established in ChennaiIndia source
1523Calendar of Papal Letters relating to Great Britain & Ireland, Volume XXIII, Part 1 (1523-1534) Clement VII on The Irish Manuscripts Commission (IMC)Ireland source
1524August 22 – Protestant theologians Martin Luther and Andreas Karlstadt dispute at Jena.source
1524August 24 – German Peasants' War: Hans Müller von Bulgenbach gathered peasants in Stühlingen and formed the "Evangelical Brotherhood", pledging to emancipate peasants across Germany. An revolt spread in southwestern Germany.source
1525June 4 – 1525 Bayham Abbey riot; Villagers from Kent and Sussex, England riot and occupy Bayham Old Abbey for a week in protest against Cardinal Thomas Wolsey's order to suppress the monastery in order to fund two colleges founded by him.source
1525July 29 – Santa Marta, the first city in Colombia, is founded by Spanish conquistador Rodrigo de Bastidas.source
1525September 14 – In Switzerland, the burning of most of the book collection of the Stiftsbibliothek of the Grossmünster Abbey in Zurich begins, by order of Huldrych Zwingli, as part of the Swiss Reformation. After 20 days of destruction of a collection built since 1259 for over 250 years, only 470 volumes are left.source
1525September 24 – Jeremias I is restored to the position of Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople, leader of the Eastern Orthodox Christian church, by order of the Ottoman Empire Sultan Suleiman the Magnificent.source
1525November 25 – Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor acting in his capacity as the King of Spain, issues an edict ordering the expulsion or conversion of the remaining Muslims in the Crown of Aragon, similar to that issued for the Crown of Castile by Queen Isabella in 1502. The order applies to the Kingdom of Valencia and the Principality of Catalonia.source
1525December 8 – A second edict is issued in Spain directing Spanish Muslims to show proof of baptism as Christians or to leave by the deadline of December 31 (for Valencia) or January 26 (for Aragon and Catalonia).source
1525Printing of Huldrych Zwingli's New Testament 'Zürich Bible' translation into German by Christoph Froschauer begins.source
1525Printing of the first edition of William Tyndale's New Testament Bible translation into English in Cologne is interrupted by anti-Lutheran forces and Tyndale flees to Worms (finished copies reach England in 1526).source
1526January 26 – The deadline for Spanish Muslims to convert to Christianity or leave is reached in the Crown of Aragon and the Principality of Catalonia as decreed by the edict of November 25 by Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor acting in his capacity as King of Spain. The deadline for the Kingdom of Valencia had passed on December 31, 1525.source
1526March – The first complete printed translation of the New Testament of the Bible into the English language by William Tyndale arrives in England from Germany, where printing had been completed in Worms by Peter Schöffer the younger, towards the end of February.source
1526May 22 – Francis repudiates the Treaty of Madrid and forms the League of Cognac against Charles, including Pope Clement VII, Milan, Venice, and Florence.source
1526May 22 - King Francis I creates the League of Cognac to unite France with Florence, Venice, Milan and the Papacy against the Holy Roman Emperor Charles V.France source
152621 June – Parliament declares the young King James V of age to rule. A council of guardians of regency for the young king is formed, including Robert Maxwell, 5th Lord Maxwell.Scotland source
1526August 15 – The first official translation is made of the New Testament into Swedish; the entire Bible is completed in 1541.source
1526October 23 – In October, Cuthbert Tunstall, the Roman Catholic Bishop of London, issues a proclamation directing followers to destroy all copies of Tyndale's New Testament.source
1526The King sends a monk from Vadstena Abbey to mission Christianity among the Sami.Sweden source
1527February 24 – The seven articles of the Schleitheim Confession are formally adopted by the Mennonite Anabaptist Christians at Schleitheim in the Canton of Schaffhausen in Switzerland.source
1527May 6 – Sack of Rome: Spanish and German troops led by the Duke of Bourbon sack Rome, forcing the Medici Pope Clement VII to make peace with Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor, marking the end of the High Renaissance. The Pope grows a beard in mourning.source
1527August 20 – Diet of Odense (Denmark): King Frederick I declares religious tolerance for Lutherans, permits marriage of priests and forbids seeking papal pallium (approval) for royal appointments of Church officials.source
1527August 20 – Sixty Anabaptists meet at the Martyrs' Synod in Augsburg.source
1527December 6 – Pope Clement VII, held prisoner at the Castel Sant'Angelo since the sack of Rome in May, is released after seven months of captivity, along with 16 Roman Catholic cardinals.source
1527In England, Bishop Vesey's Grammar School (at Sutton Coldfield, in the West Midlands) is founded by Bishop John Vesey; and Sir George Monoux College is founded as a grammar school at Walthamstow by Sir George Monoux, draper and Lord Mayor of London.source
1527Edmund Butler, archbishop of Cashel, is consecrated.Ireland source
1527Dissolution of the Vårfruberga AbbeySweden source
1527The Swedish Reformation is initiated. All sermons in henceforth to be held in the native language, the military power of the bishops is dissolved, all goods belonging to the Catholic convents is open to confiscation by the crown and the relatives of those who once donated it to the convent in accordance with the Reduction of Gustav I of Sweden, and Catholic convents are banned from accepting new novices without a special dispensation from the crown.Sweden source
1528January 12 - Gustav I is crowned in Uppsala without taking the customary oath affirming the authority of the bishops.Sweden source
1528January 26 – The Canton of Bern becomes the second in Switzerland to officially adopt Protestantism after 21-day debate, the Bern Disputationsource
1528June 17 – The Italian city of Rimini and its surrounding area, ruled by the House of Malatesta, is conquered by troops of the Papal States and subsequently annexed.source
1528July 3 – Pope Clement VII issues the bull Religionis zelus, recognizing the Order of Friars Minor Capuchin (Ordo Fratrum Minorum Capuccinorum), commonly known as the Capuchin monks, as a reformist branch of the Franciscans order of Roman Catholicism.source
1528John Alen, Primate of Ireland appointed Lord Chancellor of IrelandIreland source
1529January 28 – Peter Vannes, the Italian-born envoy for England's King Henry VIII, arrives in Rome on a mission to get Pope Clement VII to give a dispensation for King Henry to divorce one wife and marry another, with both marriages to be declared valid. The mission fails.source
1529February 2 – The Örebro Synod provides the theological foundation of the Swedish Reformation, following the economic foundation of it, after the Reduction of Gustav I of Sweden.source
1529April 8 – The Flensburg Disputation is held, a debate attended by Stadtholder Christian of Schleswig-Holstein (later King Christian III of Denmark), between Lutherans (led by Hermann Fast) and the more radical Anabaptists (led by Melchior Hoffman). Johannes Bugenhagen, a close associate of Martin Luther, presides. The Disputation marks the rejection of radical ideas by the Danish Reformation.source
1529May 31–July – Cardinal Thomas Wolsey, Archbishop of York, opens a legatine court at Blackfriars, London, to rule on the legality of King Henry VIII of England's marriage to Catherine of Aragon. The court lasts until July 16.source
1529July 23 – The Blackfriars court is adjourned after word is received that Pope Clement VII has revoked its charter.source
1529Heinrich Bullinger becomes pastor of Bremgarten, Switzerland.source
1529Aylesbury is granted the county town of Buckinghamshire, England by King Henry VIII.source
1529Thomas Fitzgerald (1454–1534), becomes Earl succeeding his uncle James FitzGerald, 10th Earl of Desmond.Ireland source
1529Wittenberg-trained churchman Olaus Petri developed the handbook of the Swedish Church called Een handbock påå SwenskoSweden source
1529The first Evangelical church meeting is held in Örebro, the Örebro koncilium: the customs of Holy water, Anointing and Pilgrimages (and thereby the worship of saints) is kept, and the priests are offered but not forced to accept the bible in the native language. However, fasting and the celibacy of vicars is abolished.Sweden source
1529The former nuns of the Askeby Abbey are forcibly moved to Vreta Abbey.Sweden source
1530January 5 – Strasbourg joins the Christliches Burgrecht, the Protestant alliance of Swiss cities.source
1530January 21 – Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor, issues letters from his winter residence in Bologna, inviting members of the Imperial Diet to convene at Augsburg on April 8 to discuss various theological questions.source
1530February 24 – Charles V is crowned emperor in Bologna, by Pope Clement VII.source
1530April 8 – At the invitation of the Holy Roman Emperor, the members of the Imperial Diet open their session at Augsburg in Germany to prepare the Augsburg Confession, an official imperial set of rules for Protestantism.source
1530June 25 – The Augsburg Confession is presented to Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor.source
1530July 7 - King Francis I marries his second wife Eleanor of Austria at the Monastery of Beyries. Making him and his former enemy, Holy roman emperor Charles V brothers in law.France source
1530July 9 – The Tetrapolitan Confession, a Protestant confession of faith, is submitted jointly to Holy Roman Emperor Charles V on behalf of the southern German cities of Konstanz, Lindau, Memmingen and Strasbourg.source
1530September 15 – The miraculous portrait of Saint Dominic in Soriano appears in Soriano Calabro, Calabria.source
1530Babur's death ends his reign as Mughal emperor, and is succeeded by Humayun.India source
1531February 27 – Lutheran princes in the Holy Roman Empire form an alliance known as the Schmalkaldic League.source
1531April 16 – The city of Puebla, Mexico, is founded.source
15311 October – Charles V reorganises the governing institutions of the Habsburg Netherlands, establishing three "collateral councils" as the highest government bodies: the Brussels Privy Council, Council of State, and Council of Finances.Belgium source
15317 October – Edicts issued on coins, notaries, monopolies, vagrancy and poor relief, and on the printing of heretical books.Belgium source
153119 November – Charles V issues decree reorganizing the Council of Luxembourg.Belgium source
1531December 12 – Mary, mother of Jesus, in the guise of Our Lady of Guadalupe, appears imprinted on the tilmàtli of Juan Diego Cuauhtlatoatzin, an Aztec convert to Catholicism, in Tepeyac near Mexico City.source
1532February 24 – William Warham, the 81-year-old Roman Catholic Archbishop of Canterbury, publicly declares that he is disassociating himself from all acts of the English Parliament that are prejudicial to papal authority.source
1532April 27 – The democratic government of the Republic of Florence in Italy, in existence for more than 400 years since its founding in 1115, is abolished by order of Pope Clement VII in order for a hereditary, and absolute, monarchy to be established. Alessandro de' Medici, Duke of Florence, the illegitimate son of Pope Clement, is given full power and the Republic's parliament (the Signoria) and the rule of the executive officer, the Gonfaloniere, come to an end.source
1532July 23 – The Nuremberg Religious Peace is granted to members of the Schmalkaldic League, granting them religious liberty.source
1532December 4 – A fire strikes the cathedral in Chambéry, now a part of France, but at the time a part of Italy's Duchy of Savoy. The fire burns several holes in the Shroud of Turin, believed by some Roman Catholics to be the burial shroud of Jesus of Nazareth after the crucifixion, and to have a miraculous imprint of Jesus, but the shroud is repaired by nuns at the cathedral.source
1532Church of Royal Monastery of Brou completed.France source
1533February 8 – (15th waxing of Tabaung 894 ME) King Min Bin of Burma begins receiving tributes from the local lords of Bengal.source
1533February 14 – By a treaty between the German city of Münster and the Holy Roman Empire, Münster is recognized as a Lutheran city.source
1533February 18 – The order of the Clerics Regular of Saint Paul, more commonly called the Barnabites, is given papal approval by Pope Clement VII in the brief Vota per quae vos.source
1533March 30 – Thomas Cranmer becomes Archbishop of Canterbury.source
1533April 7 – The Statute in Restraint of Appeals in England, declaring the king to be the supreme sovereign and forbidding judicial appeals to the papacy, is given royal assent.source
1533May 23 – King Henry VIII of England's marriage with Catherine of Aragon is declared annulled by Archbishop Cranmer. Since Pope Clement VII had rejected Henry's petition for annulment in 1530, Catherine continues to believe herself Henry's wife until her death.source
1533June 1 – Cranmer crowns Anne Boleyn as queen consort of England, in Westminster Abbey.source
1533July 11 – Henry VIII is excommunicated by Pope Clement VII, as is Archbishop Cranmer.source
1533Pechenga Monastery is founded, in the far north of the Grand Duchy of Moscow.source
15342 February – Sweden joins the Count's Feud to support the Danish throne claimant Christian against the Lübeck -supported Christian II.Sweden source
1534March 30 – The Submission of the Clergy Act 1533 becomes law in England, requiring submission of the clergy, that is, churchmen are to submit to the king and the publication of ecclesiastical laws without royal permission is forbidden.source
1534April 13 – Sir Thomas More, having been brought before a royal commission to swear his allegiance to the Act of Succession, testifies that he accepts Parliament's right to declare Anne Boleyn the legitimate Queen of England, but denies that the marriage is spiritually valid of the king's second marriage". Holding fast to the Roman Catholic doctrine of papal supremacy, More refuses to take the oath of supremacy toward King Henry VIII. More is confined in the Tower of London. He will be executed on July 6, 1535.source
1534August 15 – Ignatius of Loyola and six others take the vows that lead to the establishment of the Jesuits (the Society of Jesus), in Montmartre, near Paris.source
1534August 26 – Piero de Ponte becomes the 45th Grandmaster of the Knights Hospitaller.source
1534October 4 – As the Michaelmas fair opens in Wittenberg, Martin Luther's translation of the complete Christian Bible into German is offered for sale for the first time. The work, printed on 1,824 pages in two volumes by Hans Lufft adds the Old Testament including the deuterocanonical books to Luther's 1522 translation of the New Testament, and includes woodcut illustrations.source
1534Manco Inca Yupanqui is crowned as Sapa Inca in Cusco, Peru by Spanish conquistador Francisco Pizarro, in succession to his brother Túpac Huallpa (died October 1533).source
1534The first book in Yiddish is printed (in Kraków), Mirkevet ha-Mishneh, a Tanakh concordance by Rabbi Asher Anchel, translating difficult phrases in biblical Hebrew.source
1534Dissolution of Riseberga Abbey: the former nuns move to Germany.Sweden source
1535January 21 – The French Protestant leaders of the October 1534 Affaire des Placards are burned to death in front of the Cathedral of Notre-Dame de Paris and witnessed by a large crowd that includes King François and the visiting Ottoman diplomats.source
1535April 20 – While King Gustav Vasa of Sweden is out of the country, an unusual atmospheric phenomenon, the Vädersol, appears in the sky over the Swedish capital of Stockholm, and last for two hours. Because of uncertainty about whether the vädersol is a sign of God showing favor or disapproval of the Protestant reformation and of King Gustav himself, the Evangelical Lutheran Archbishop Olaus Petri commissions Urban Larsson to document the event in a painting, the Vädersolstavlan.source
1535July 15 – Archdeacon Charles Reynolds (cleric), envoy to James V, Charles V, and Pope Paul III, is buried in Rome. He died of malaria while lobbying for the excommunication of King Henry VIII for heresy.source
1535August 17 – Pope Paul III issues a papal bull, Sublimis Deus, to appoint a commission of five cardinals and three bishops to carry out a reform of the city of Rome and the Roman Curia, with unlimited powers to uproot and punish all spiritual and secular transgressions, abuses, and errors.source
1535October 4 – The first complete English-language Bible is printed in Antwerp, with translations by William Tyndale and Myles Coverdale.source
1535The earliest (partially) preserved printed book in Estonian, a Catechism with a translation by Johann Koell from the Middle Low German Lutheran text of Simon Wanradt, is printed by Hans Lufft in Wittenberg, for use in Tallinn.source
1536April 14 – The Reformation Parliament in England passes an Act for the Dissolution of the monasteries. Religious houses closed as part of Henry VIII's dissolution include: Basingwerk Abbey, Bourne Abbey, Brinkburn Priory, Buildwas Abbey, Cartmel Priory, Dorchester Abbey, Dore Abbey, Haltemprice Priory, Keldholme Priory and Tintern Abbey.source
1536June 2 – Pope Paul III announces that he will send three legates to Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor; to King Ferdinand of Bohemia, Hungary and Croatia; and King François of France to prevent an outbreak of war in Europe.source
1536July 9 – The papal legation of Cardinals Marino Caracciolo, Francisco Quiñones, and Agostino Trivulzio meets with Emperor Charles V at Savigliano, south of Turin on orders of Pope Paul III.source
1536July 21 – The papal legation arrives in France, arriving at Lyon, to meet with King Francois I.source
1536September 1 – King James V becomes the first Scottish monarch since 1346 to voluntarily leave his kingdom, leaving six vice-regents— the Lord Chancellor Gavin Dunbar, Archbishop of Glasgow; James Beaton, Archbishop of St Andrews; the earls of Huntly, Montrose, and Eglinton, and Lord Maxwell— to govern the nation during his absence. King James sails from Kirkcaldy on the Royal Scots Navy flagship Mary Willoughby, along with 500 men and five other ships, to travel to France to meet his future bride, Princess Madeleine of Valois. The Scottish entourage docks in France at Dieppe one week later.source
1536October 16 – The three negotiators of Pope Paul III depart France after three months of discussions with representatives of King Francois I.source
1536November 4 – Cardinal Agostino Trivulzio, the envoy of Pope Paul III, files his report of his peace mission to negotiate an agreement between the Holy Roman Empire and France.source
1536December 5 – After two months, the Pilgrimage of Grace ends at Pontefract Castle after Thomas Howard, 3rd Duke of Norfolk promises to present a list of 24 Articles of the pilgrims' demands, "The Commons' Petition", to King Henry VIII. The duke pledges a reprieve for abbeys from dissolution until Parliament can meet, and to obtain a general pardon for the rebel pilgrims.source
1536The Italian War of 1536–1538 resumes between Francis I of France and Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor. Francis seizes control of Savoy, and captures Turin. Charles triumphally enters Rome, following the Via Triumphalis, and delivers a speech before the Pope and College of Cardinals, publicly challenging the king of France to a duel.source
1536Charles V triumphally enters Rome following the Via Triuphalis and delivers a speech before the pope and college of cardinals publicly challenging the king of France to a duel.France source
1536Newtown Trim Cathedral Priory (1 May).Ireland source
1536The Church of Sweden is made official church of the state, and the mass is to be given in the Swedish language in all of the Kingdom.Sweden source
1537January 1 – Princess Madeleine of Valois, the 16-year-old daughter of François I, King of France, is married to King James V of Scotland in a ceremony at the cathedral of Notre-Dame de Paris. Already in ill health at the time of the marriage, Madaleine lives only six more months before dying at the Holyrood Palace in Edinburgh on July 7.source
1537April 1 – The Archbishop of Norway, Olav Engelbrektsson, flees from Trondheim to Lier, Belgium.source
1537May 17 – The siege by Norwegian and Danish Protestants of Steinvikholm Castle in Norway, the former residence of the last Roman Catholic Archbishop of Norway, ended after a month when the Catholic defenders surrendered to the Danish commander, Tord Roed.source
1537June 2 – Pope Paul III publishes the encyclical Sublimis Deus, which declares the natives of the New World to be rational beings with souls, who must not be enslaved or robbed.source
1537June 23 – The Siege of Hamar ends with the arrest of Bishop Mogens Lauritssøn, and the Catholic rebellion is definitively ended in Norway.source
1537September 2 – King Christian III of Denmark and Norway appoints Gjeble Pederssøn as Norway's first Lutheran bishop for the Church of Norway.source
1537September 12 – King Carlos I of Spain (who is also the Holy Roman Emperor) issues a royal decree providing for the first election in the New World, allowing he citizens of the Province of Rio de la Plata (now Paraguay) to elect a replacement for the late Captain-General Pedro de Mendoza. Domingo Martínez de Irala is elected the new Captain-General in 1538.source
1537The dissolution of the monasteries takes place in Norway, as religious organizations are dissolved by King Christian III; these include Bakke Abbey, Munkeby Abbey, Tautra Abbey, Nidarholm Abbey, Gimsøy Abbey and Utstein Abbey.source
1537Dissolution of the monasteries in England: Religious organizations dissolved by Henry VIII of England include: Bisham Priory, Castle Acre Priory, Chertsey Abbey, Furness Abbey, London Charterhouse and Valle Crucis Abbey.source
1537Publication is made of two complete Bible translations into English, both based on Tyndale's. Myles Coverdale's 1535 text is the first to be printed in England (by James Nicholson in Southwark, London) The Matthew Bible, edited by John Rogers under the pseudonym "Thomas Matthew" and printed in Antwerp.source
1537Approximate date – Kilmacrenan Friary established.Ireland source
1537c. October – the Parliament of Ireland approves the Act of Supremacy by passing An Act authorising the King, His Heirs and Successors, to be supreme Head of the Church of Ireland and legislation enforcing Dissolution of the Monasteries together with the Treason Act (Ireland) 1537.Ireland source
1537Religious institutions suppressed include: Abbeydorney Abbey; Athassel Priory; Ballybroggan Priory; Crutched Friars Priory Hospital, Limerick; Rosenallis Monastery; St. Mary's Abbey, Duleek; and Sherkin Friary.Ireland source
1538February 8 – The Holy League, an alliance of Christian nations (the Papal States and the Republic of Venice, the Knights Hospitaller of Malta, Spain and the Spanish-ruled Viceroyalty of Naples and Sicily), is agreed upon under the direction of Pope Paul III and Venetian Senator Alvise Badoer.source
1538May 27 – A joint delegation of Lutherans from various German cities arrives in England for meetings with King Henry VIII; Thomas Cranmer, Archbishop of Canterbury; and Thomas Cromwell, the former Chief Minister of England.source
1538June 18 – The formal wedding of Mary of Guise and King James V of Scotland takes place at St Andrews Cathedral.source
1538June 19 – Dissolution of the monasteries in England: The newly founded Bisham Abbey is dissolved.source
1538November 30 – Sucre, Bolivia, is founded under the name Ciudad de la Plata de la Nueva Toledo.source
1538November 30 – Dissolution of the Monasteries in England: Byland Abbey is dissolved.source
1538December 17 – Pope Paul III confirms the excommunication of Henry VIII of England from the Roman Catholic church.source
1538December – the Franciscan Friary at Cashel is rented to Edmund Butler, Archbishop of Cashel.Ireland source
1538Ferns Abbey (abbot and canons leave 31 March).Ireland source
1538Ulick na gCeann Burke deposes his uncle Richard Bacach Burke as The Clanricarde and Chief of the Name.Ireland source
1538Newry Abbey becomes a secular collegiate church.Ireland source
1538Timolin Priory (held by Edmund Eustas from 14 January).Ireland source
1538Conrad von Pyhy appointed Lord High Chancellor of Sweden.Sweden source
1539March 30 – Canterbury Cathedral surrenders, and reverts to its previous status of 'a college of secular canons.source
1539April 17 – At Dresden in Germany, Heinrich IV of the House of Wettin, nicknamed "Heinrich der Fromme" (Henry the Pious) becomes the new Duke of Saxony within the Holy Roman Empire upon the death of his older brother, Georg der Bärtige ("George the Bearded").source
1539May 5 – The English House of Lords creates a committee, balanced between religious reformers and religious conservatives, to examine and determine doctrine, eventually forming the "Six Articles".source
1539June 28 – The Six Articles, an Act of the Parliament of England, is given royal assent reaffirms certain Catholic principles in Henry VIII's Church of England.source
1539July 13 – Lütfi Pasha becomes the new Grand vizier of the Ottoman Empire after being appointed by the Sultan Suleiman the Magnificent following the death of Ayas Mehmed Pashasource
1539September 7 – Guru Angad Dev becomes the second Guru of the Sikhs.source
1539November 1 – Joachim II Hector introduces Lutheranism in the Margraviate of Brandenburg, becoming the second Prince-Elector after the Prince-Elector of Saxony to turn Protestant.source
1539November 26 – Abbot Marmaduke Bradley and 31 monks sign the deed surrendering Fountains Abbey to the English Crown.source
1539December 7 – Juan Pardo de Tavera, Archbishop of Toledo, begins his administration as the Grand Inquisitor of Spain.source
1539Beaulieu Abbey, Bolton Abbey, Colchester Abbey, Newstead Abbey, St Albans Abbey, St Mary's Abbey, York and Hartland Abbey (the last) fall prey to the Dissolution of the monasteries in England.source
1539Lutheranism is forcibly introduced into Iceland, despite the opposition of Bishop Jón Arason.source
1539Guru Angad Dev becomes second guru of Sikhism.India source
1539Tintern Abbey (County Wexford) (seized 25 July).Ireland source
1539St. Mary's Abbey, Dublin (28 October).Ireland source
15404 January - Prince Erik is officially greeted as heir to the throne by nobility and bishops in Örebro.Sweden source
1540March 23 – Waltham Abbey is the last to be closed as part of Henry VIII of England's dissolution of the monasteries.source
1540April 7– The English cathedral priories of Canterbury and Rochester are transformed into secular cathedral chapters on Easter Sunday, concluding the Dissolution of the monasteries.source
1540April 12– Printing of the first translation of the New Testament into the Icelandic language is completed after King Christian III of Denmark finishes having Oddur Gottskálksson's text compared to the original Latin.source
1540July 30 – At Smithfield, London, three Lutheran pastors, Robert Barnes, Thomas Gerrard and William Jerome, are burnt at the stake on a charge of heresy and three Roman Catholic priests, Thomas Abel, Richard Fetherstone and Edward Powell, are hanged, drawn and quartered on a charge of high treason.source
1540September 27 – The Society of Jesus (Jesuits) is approved by Pope Paul III, in his bull Regimini militantis Ecclesiae.source
1540Martin Luther expels theologian Caspar Schwenckfeld from Silesia.source
1540Black Abbey, Grey Friary, Kilkenny Abbey and St. John's Abbey, Kilkenny.Ireland source
1540Cashel Dominican and Franciscan Friaries.Ireland source
1540Monasteranenagh Abbey, Co. Limerick.Ireland source
1540Augustinian Friary of the Holy Trinity and Franciscan Friary, Dublin.Ireland source
1541September 13 – After three years of exile, John Calvin returns to Geneva to reform the church under a body of doctrine that comes to be known as Calvinism.source
1541December 3 – The Holy Roman Emperor Charles V is finally able to return to Spain, arriving at Cartagenasource
1541Elia Levita's chivalric romance, the Bovo-Bukh, is first printed, the earliest published secular work in Yiddish.source
1541Iceland adopts the Lutheran faith.source
1541Ottoman Sultan Suleiman the Magnificent seals off The Golden Gate in Jerusalem, likely because of a prophecy that the Messiah would return through this gate to Jerusalem.source
1541The first official translation of the entire Bible into Swedish is made, and is called the Gustav Vasa Bible.source
1541Bhoi Dynasty of Orissa established by Govinda Vidyadhara who serves as its first leader until 1549. The dynasty continues until 1881India source
1541St. Katherine's Abbey, Monisternagalliaghduff.Ireland source
1541Grey Abbey, Greyabbey (1 February).Ireland source
1541Cathedral of the Holy Trinity, Dublin.Ireland source
1542February–March – first Jesuit mission to Ireland.Ireland source
1542July 21 – Pope Paul III establishes the Holy Office with the bull Licet ab initio, with jurisdiction over the Roman Inquisition.source
1542August 8 – St Macartan's Cathedral, Clogher, is created from the former abbey church.Ireland source
1542August 27 – Citizens of Hildesheim in the Holy Roman Empire profess themselves to the Lutheran teachings, thus joining the Schmalkaldic League. As a pledge owner, the city provides for the carrying out of the Protestant Reformation in the city and Peine. Priests from the localities of Clauen, Hohenhameln, Soßmar, Schmedenstedt, Lengede and Rosenthal resume their offices in the interest of the Reformation.source
1542September 7 – Bernard O'Higgins is consecrated as Roman Catholic Bishop of Elphin.Ireland source
1542November 9 – King James V of Scotland writes a letter to Pope Paul III and notes that he defied Henry VIII's attempts to convert him to the Protestant faith.source
1542Woodburn Abbey, Co. Antrim (1 March).Ireland source
1542Kells Abbey, Co. Antrim (1 February).Ireland source
1542Rattoo Abbey, Ballyduff, County Kerry.Ireland source
1543January 8 – The burial of King James V of Scotland is carried out at Holyrood Abbey.source
1543April 19 – George Dowdall is nominated as Archbishop of Armagh (Church of Ireland) by King Henry VIII of England following the death of George Cromer; he is consecrated in December.Ireland source
1543May 5 – Elizabeth of Austria, daughter of Archduke Ferdinand I, marries Sigismund II Augustus, King of Poland. Her coronation as Queen consort of Poland takes place three days later at Kraków Cathedral as the Archbishop of Gniezno, Piotr Gamrat, places the crown of Hedwig of Kalisz upon her head.source
1543May 12 – King Henry VIII of England gives royal assent to numerous laws passed by parliament, including the Act for the Advancement of True Religion, restricting the reading of the Bible to clerics, noblemen, and upper class society. The Act will be repealed in 1547 during the reign of King Edward VI.source
1543July 1 – Murrough O'Brien surrenders his Irish royalty to King Henry VIII of England and in the same year becomes a member of the Privy Council of England and is raised to the Peerage of Ireland as 1st Earl of Thomond and 1st Baron Inchiquin and may have reconstructed Dromoland Castle.Ireland source
1544January 13 - The Västerås arvförening declare Sweden to be a Hereditary monarchy, with the right of the eldest legitimate son to be heir to the throne and the younger sons to be Dukes. It is also officially declared a Protestant Kingdom: Requiem, the worship of saints and pilgrimages is banned, crucifixes is removed from the churches, and the opposition to the new religious order is declared heretics.Sweden source
1544February 20 – The Fourth Diet of Speyer is convened.source
1544March 16 – Friedrich II becomes the new Elector Palatine of Germany's Rhineland within the Holy Roman Empire upon the death of his brother Ludwig V at Heidelberg.source
1544December 9 – Crown Prince Yi Ho becomes the new King of Korea upon the death of his father, King Joseon. Yi Ho reigns for eight months before being poisoned by his own mother, and is posthumously named as King Injong of Joseon.source
1544The former nuns of the Skänninge Abbey are forcibly moved to Vreta Abbey.Sweden source
1545January 1 – King Francis I of France issues the "Arrêt de Mérindol", to destroy the Protestant Waldensians of Provence.source
1545February 22 – A firman of the Ottoman Empire is issued for the dethronement of Radu Paisie as Prince of Wallachia.source
1545March 24 – At a diet in Worms, Germany, summoned by Pope Paul III, the German Protestant princes demand a national religious settlement for Germany. Holy Roman Emperor, Charles V refuses.source
1545September 16 – The Duchy of Parma and Piacenza is created in Italy by order of Pope Paul III, formerly Alessandro Farnese, to be ruled by his son, Pier Luigi Farnese.source
1545November 6 – Redmond O'Gallagher is appointed Bishop of Killala by Pope Paul III.Ireland source
1545December 13 – The Council of Trent officially opens in northern Italy (it closes in 1563).source
1545St. Anne's Church, Augsburg converts to Lutheranism.source
1545Olaus Magnus represents Sweden at the Council of Trent.Sweden source
1546February 12 – The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Mexico, one of the largest in the world, with over four million Catholics, is createdsource
1546February 15 – Martin Luther delivers his final sermon, three days before his death about "obdurate Jews, whom it was a matter of great urgency to expel from all German territory,"source
1546April 8 – The Council of Trent, by a vote of 24 to 15, with 16 abstentions, issues the Decretum de Canonicis Scripturis for the scripture considered to be canon by the Roman Catholic Church. The decree recites that if anyone declines to receive all parts of the Vulgate edition of the Bible, they are in contempt of the Church and should be excommunicated. and approves the 4th century Vulgate of Jerome as its official Biblesource
1546April 17 – Dionysius II, the Eastern Orthodox Metropolitan of Nicomedia, is elected as the Patriarch of Constantinople to succeed Jeremias.source
1546April 18 – Hermann of Wied, the German Archbishop of Cologne, is excommunicated by Pope Paul III after his conversion to Protestantism.source
1546May 16 – Writing from Portuguese India, Jesuit missionary Francis Xavier asks King João III of Portugal, proposing what will become the Goa Inquisition of 1561.source
1546May 28 – Edward Whitchurch and Richard Grafton are granted the exclusive right to publish prayer books for the Church of England by order of King Henry VIII.source
1546May 30 – Cornelius O'Dea is nominated by Henry VIII as first Church of Ireland Bishop of Killaloe (consecrated 12 July).Ireland source
1546June 17 – The Council of Trent approves its second decree on Roman Catholic doctrine, Decretum de Pecatto Originali, regarding original sin, declaring that excommunication should be applied to any person who denies the teaching that the sins of Adam in the Garden of Eden condemned all of humanity, or that Christian baptism remits the guilt of original sin.source
1546July 4 – After the death of Martin Luther, the leaders of the Lutheran Schmalkaldic League German states (Saxony, Hesse, the Palatinate, Württemberg, Pomerania and Anhalt-Köthen) gather at Ichtershausen as the guests of Saxon Elector John Frederick I in order to make plans to defend against the Roman Catholic forces of the Holy Roman Empire.source
1546July 20 – Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor, imposes a Reichsacht declaring Schmalkadic leaders John Frederick I, Elector of Saxony and Philip I, Landgrave of Hesse to be outlaws, and directs Maurice, Duke of Saxony to enforce it.source
1546September 23 –Pier Luigi Farnese, already the Duke of Parma and Piacenza, is given control of the Italian cities of Camerino and Nepi by after a donation to the Papal States, ruled by Pope Paul III.source
1546Michelangelo is made chief architect of St. Peter's Basilica in Rome.source
15461546 - the Salimgarh Fort was constructed.India source
1546Sir John Alan, Lord Chancellor of Ireland, is removed from office by the Privy Council of England on a complaint of corruption, and Sir Richard Reade is sent to Dublin to replace him.Ireland source
1547January 16 – Grand Prince Ivan IV is crowned as Tsar of all Russia at the Dormition Cathedral in Moscow, thereby proclaiming the Tsardom of Russia.source
1547February 20 – Edward VI of England is crowned at Westminster Abbey.source
1547May 19 – John Frederick I signs the Capitulation of Wittenberg in order to have his life spared by the Holy Roman Empire.source
1547June 21 – The apparition of Mary, mother of Jesus is seen by several women in the Sicilian city of Alcamo. She becomes the patron saint of the city and is celebrated as the Madonna of Miracles (la Madonna dei Miracoli)source
1547July 25 – The coronation of Henri II as King of France at the Reims Cathedral.source
154725 December – Wyndham burns Balmerino Abbey.Scotland source
1548March 8 – Order of communion issued.Ireland source
1548April 22 – Sir Edward Bellingham is appointed Lord Deputy of Ireland.Ireland source
1548May 15 – The Diet of Augsburg approves a decree of Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor, the "Declaration of His Roman Imperial Majesty on the Observance of Religion Within the Holy Empire Until the Decision of the General Council", informally referred to as the Augsburg Interim, directing German Protestants to resume the doctrine of the Roman Catholic Church, including observance of the Seven Sacraments. As a concession, the Emperor allows the continuation of some Protestant customs, including the right of Protestant clergy to marry and for believers to receive the Protestant communion of bread and wine.source
1548June 30 – The Augsburg Interim, approved May 15, is codified into law in the Holy Roman Empire.source
1548c. November–December – Brian O'Connor of Offaly (brother of Cahir) and Patrick O'More submit to the Lord Deputy and are sent to England.Ireland source
1549January 21 – The Act of Uniformity 1548 is passed by the Parliament of England and establishes the 1549 version of the Book of Common Prayer as the sole legal prayer book in England, replacing the use of different versions of the Latin-language Missal.source
1549January – William St Loe is knighted in Dublin for services in Ireland.Ireland source
1549April 8 – Giovanni Angelo Medici is appointed as a Roman Catholic cardinal by Pope Paul III, effective May 10. In 1559, Medici is elected as Pope Pius IV.source
1549April 15 – Spanish Jesuit missionary Francis Xavier departs from Goa on a mission to bring Christian ministry to Japan.source
1549July 21 – Thomas Cranmer, Archbishop of Canterbury, delivers his most important sermon, speaking at St Paul's Cathedral to defend the Church of England's reasons for uniformly requiring the use of The Book of Common Prayer.source
1549July 27 – (Tenbun 18, 3rd day of the 7th month) European Jesuit Francis Xavier arrives in Japan at the port of Kagoshima, the first Christian missionary there, but is not allowed to go to shore until three weeks later.source
1549August 15 – Francis Xavier, his translator Anjirō, and three other Jesuit priests are allowed to come ashore at Kagoshima in Japan.source
1549September 17 – The Council of Trent is prorogued indefinitely.source
1549December 3 – The papal conclave to decide on a successor to Pope Paul III, goes into session in the Apostolic Palace in Rome with 51 cardinal electors.Participants at the papal conclave agree to elect the next Pope by secret ballot.source
1549The spire of Lincoln Cathedral in England is blown down, leaving St. Olaf's Church, Tallinn, in Estonia as the World's tallest structure.source
1549The male section of the Vadstena Abbey is dissolved and the monks are forced to leave, while the nuns are allowed to remain.Sweden source
1550February 7 – After a 10-week conclave in Rome to elect a new Pope, Giovanni Maria Ciocchi del Monte, Bishop of Palestrina, is selected on the 61st ballot after Reginald Pole of England falls two votes short of winning. Ciocchi del Monte takes the name Pope Julius III and is crowned the next day, succeeding the late Pope Paul III.source
1550May 15 – The vestments controversy is resolved in the Church of England with a compromise on the style of clothing worn by Anglican priests. John Hopper is allowed ordination as the Bishop of Gloucester without being required to wear Anglican vestments, but must not forbid anyone in his bishopric from wearing the vestments if they wish.source
1550July 21 – The Society of Jesus (Jesuits) is approved by Pope Julius III.source
1550August 5 – The University of Santa Catalina is authorized in Spain by a canonical bull from Pope Julius III.source
1550The first book in Slovene, Catechismus, written by Protestant reformer Primož Trubar, is printed in Schwäbisch Hall, Holy Roman Empire.source
1551January– Macarius, Metropolitan of Moscow, and Tsar Ivan IV of Russia preside over the reforming Stoglavy Synod ("Hundred-Chapter") church council. A calendar of the saints and an ecclesiastical law code (Stoglav) are introduced.source
1551February 23– At the Kremlin in Moscow, Tsar Ivan IV and the Metropolitan Macarius, present the proposed code of laws, drafted by the Stoglavy Synod, to the clergy, nobility and principal Russian citizens for their approval.source
1551May 1 – The Council of Trent reconvenes by order of Pope Julius III after having been adjourned on September 17, 1549.source
1551June 27 – The Edict of Châteaubriant is promulgated in France by King Henri II, providing for an increasingly severe series of measures in the Roman Catholic Kingdom to be taken against Protestants, considered to be heretics.source
155127 June – Edict of Châteaubriant prohibits possessing any books listed on the University of Paris's Index, translating the Bible or works of the Church Fathers, importing books from Geneva or other places not under the Catholic Church's control, or printing or selling any religious books written in the last 40 years.France source
1551Juan de Betanzos begins to write his Narrative of the Incas.source
1551Qizilbash forces under the command of Tahmasp I raid and destroy the cave monastery of Vardzia in Georgia.source
1551An edition of the Book of Common Prayer printed by Humphrey Powell, de facto King's Printer in Dublin, becomes the first book printed in Ireland.Ireland source
1552February 12 – Pedro de Valdivia founds the Chilean city of Valdivia, as Santa María la Blanca de Valdivia.source
1552March 26 – Guru Amar Das becomes the Third Sikh Guru.source
1552April 11 – Metz Cathedral is consecrated.source
1552April 15 – The Act of Uniformity is given royal assent and imposes use of the Protestant Book of Common Prayer on England.source
1552April 28 – The delegates to the Council of Trent adjourn for two years after learning that the Holy Roman Emperor is fleeing from Maurice of Saxony.source
1552August 2 – The Peace of Passau revokes the Augsburg Interim of 1548, and promises religious freedom to the Protestant princes.source
1552October 22 – John Bale is nominated Bishop of Ossory.Ireland source
1552October 28 – Hugh Goodacre is nominated Archbishop of Armagh by the king, the Catholic George Dowdall being deemed to have vacated the episcopal see.Ireland source
1552November 18 – Simeon Sulaka arrives in Rome from the Middle Eastern city of Mosul and brings a letter asking Pope Julius III to appoint him as the Patriarch of the Church of the East, leader of the Chaldean Catholic Church.source
1552November 24 – Thomas Cranmer, Archbishop of Canterbury and top cleric of the Church of England, delivers the proposed Forty-two Articles to the Privy Council of King Edward VI.source
1552December 4 – Croft leaves Ireland; Sir Thomas Cusack and Sir Gerald Aylmer, Lord Justices, serve in his place.Ireland source
1552December 26 – Pope Julius III issues a papal brief revoking resolutions passed by the colegii Papal State of Bologna in Italy.source
1552Guru Amar Das becomes third guru of Sikhism (until 1554)India source
1553February 2 – Hugh Goodacre is consecrated as Archbishop of Armagh (Church of Ireland) and John Bale as Bishop of Ossory.Ireland source
1553February 21 – Lieutenant General Luis Álvarez de Toledo y Osorio temporarily serves as the Spanish Viceroy of Naples (in modern-day Italy) upon the death of his father, Pedro Álvarez de Toledo. Luis steps down after Pedro Pacheco de Villena is appointed as the new Viceroy in June.source
1553April 28 – Shimun VIII Yohannan Sulaqa, leader of the Chaldean Catholic Church in modern-day Iraq, is recognized by Pope Julius III as the Patriarch of Mosul.source
1553May 12 – St Albans, in England, receives its first royal charter as a borough.source
1553June 15 – On his deathbed, King Edward summons prominent English judges and signs his devise of the throne to Lady Jane Grey.source
1553July 19 – Mary I is proclaimed Queen of England and Ireland following the death of Edward VI, leading to restoration of Papal authority (until 1558).Ireland source
1553September – Anglican bishops in England are arrested, and Roman Catholic bishops are restored.source
1553October 23 – George Dowdall is reinstated as Archbishop of Armagh, restoring the Roman Catholic succession.Ireland source
1553October – Anthony St Leger is reappointed as Lord Deputy of Ireland.Ireland source
1553November 17 (13th waxing of Natdaw 915 ME) – Bayinnaung, King of Burma, commissions the building of the Kanbawzathadi Palace in his capital, Pegu (modern-day Bago in Myanmar). The palace is completed in 1556 but is burned down in 1599.source
1553Bartholomew Ball was elected Lord Mayor of Dublin, his wife, Margaret Ball, subsequently a Catholic martyr, became Lady Mayoress.Ireland source
1554April 14 – George Dowdall, Archbishop of Armagh, is commissioned to deprive married clergy of their offices.Ireland source
1554June 29 – Edward Staples, Bishop of Meath, is deprived of his office as being a married priest. The Cistercian William Walsh is appointed to succeed him on 22 November by letters patent.Ireland source
1554July 25– Queen Mary I of England marries King Prince Philip of Naples, the only son of Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor and heir to the throne of Spain, at Winchester Cathedral just two days after their first meeting.source
1554Mikael Agricola becomes the bishop of Turku.source
1554Date unclear – Firuz Shah Suri succeeds Islam Shah Suri as Sultan of DelhiIndia source
1555May 23 – Giovanni Pietro Carafa, Cardinal of Naples, is elected as the new Pope after Giacomo del Pozzo fails to obtain the necessary two-thirds approval. Carafa, the 223rd Pope, takes the name Pope Paul IV.source
155523 May - Election of Paul IV (Gian Pietro Carafa), 223rd Pope of the Catholic Church (end of the pontificate in 1559). He succeeds Pope Marcellus II, dead after 22 days of reign. He reforms the Dataria and the Inquisition. Coming from an ancient Neapolitan family, traditionally hostile to the Aragonese, he makes an alliance with the King of France to expel the Habsburgs from Naples.France source
1555May 30 – Foundation of Trinity College, Oxford, England, to teach Catholic theology.source
1555July 12 – Pope Paul IV creates the Roman Ghetto, the first Jewish ghetto in Rome.source
1555August 24 – England's Thomas Thirlby, the first and only Roman Catholic Archbishop of Norwich and Queen Mary's envoy to Pope Paul IV, returns to London from bearing a papal bull that confirms Queen Mary's jurisdiction over Ireland.source
1555September 25 – The Peace of Augsburg is signed between Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor, and the Lutheran Schmalkaldic League, establishing the principle Cuius regio, eius religio, that is, rulers within the Empire can choose the religion of their realm.source
1555November 13 – Thomas Cranmer is officially removed from office as the Protestant Archbishop of Canterbury by order of Pope Paul IV and Queen Mary I.source
1555December 11 – Cardinal Reginald Pole is made a cardinal-priest in the Roman Catholic Church and made the administrator of the See of Canterbury in England, though he will not become the new Archbishop of Canterbury until the following March 20.source
1555Jean Calvin sends Jacques l'Anglois from Geneva to the reformed church of Poitiers. The latter is the first Calvinist missionary in France.France source
1555The first Reformed Churches are created. Nobles begin to join the Protestant movement.France source
1555Pope Paul IV issues a Papal Bull recognising Philip II of Spain and Mary I of England as rightful King and Queen of Ireland.Ireland source
1555William Annyas becomes the mayor of Youghal in County Cork, the first Jewish Mayor in Ireland.Ireland source
1555A Description of the Northern Peoples, written by Bishop Olaus Magnus, was printed in Rome in 1555.Sweden source
155610 January - Breeding farms for cattle and horses are introduced by decree of the monarch.Sweden source
1556March 22 – Reginald Pole, a Roman Catholic Cardinal, is appointed by Queen Mary of England as the new Archbishop of Canterbury and head of the Catholic Archdiocese of Canterbury.source
1556April – Thomas, Viscount Fitzwalter is appointed Lord Deputy of Ireland.Ireland source
1556August 15 – Work begins on the Peresopnytsia Gospel at the Monastery of the Holy Trinity in the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, and continues for the next five years.source
1556November 17 – In the Holy Roman Empire, the Steter Kriegsrat is founded as a War Council with five generals and five civil servants to advise the Habsburg rulers.source
1556December 27 – Péter Erdődy is appointed as the Ottoman Viceroy of Croatia after the death on September 7 of Nikola IV Zrinski.source
1556December 31 – All military authorities in the Holy Roman Empire are ordered to submit to the decisions of the Imperial War Council.source
1557January 13 – Sigismund II Augustus, King of Poland and Grand Duke of Lithuania, issues an edict against Protestants, at the urging of the Archbishop Mikołaj Dzierzgowski, Primate of Poland.source
1557February 4 – Pope Paul IV creates the metropolitan archdiocese of Portuguese India (based in Goa) separating the Goan diocese from the ecclesiastical province of Lisbon.source
1557April 12 – The Spanish settlement of Cuenca, Ecuador, is founded.source
1557May 23 – The Shwezigon Pagoda Bell, weighing 7,560 lb, is dedicated. The Bell, commissioned by King Bayinnaung and located in the Myanmar city of Bagan, bears a detailed inscription of the 16th century Burmese conquest of the Shan States.source
1557July 24 – The Edict of Compiègne is issued by King Henri II of France, providing for the death penalty to be applied to Protestants for a variety of crimes, including a relapse after having renounced Protestantism; unauthorized travel to Geneva; publication of Protestant books; possessing graven images; and unauthorized participation in Protestant religious gatherings, whether public or private.source
1557September 11– The Colloquy of Worms convenes in Germany as a dialog on religious issues between clerics of the German Catholic Church and the Lutheran Church.source
1557September 12– The Spanish occupation of the Papal States is confirmed as Pope Paul IV signs a separate peace treaty, the Peace of Cave-Palestrina, with Spain's Duke of Alba, who has massed troops outside of Rome in preparationfor an attack.source
1557October 8 – The Colloquy of Worms is adjourned with no resolution on reconciling the differences between Catholicism and Protestantism, after the parties are unable to agree on the concepts of original sin and theological justification.source
1557Gonville and Caius College, Cambridge, is refounded by John Caius.source
1558Petrus Follingius is appointed and consecrated as Bishop of Turku, succeeding Mikael Agricola.Sweden source
1558May 3 – The Imperial Diet of the Holy Roman Empire gives recognition to Ferdinand as Holy Roman Emperor, two months after his proclamation on March 14 as the successor to his brother Charles V.source
1558August 22 – In Spain, Bartolomé Carranza, the Roman Catholic Archbishop of Toledo, is arrested at Torrelaguna on orders of the Grand Inquisitor, Fernando de Valdés y Salas. Carranza is brought a prisoner to Valladolid to face accusations of heresy. He remains in prison for eight years before being transferred to Rome for the Pope to hear his appeal.source
1558November 6 – On her deathbed, Queen Mary of England designates her half-sister, Elizabeth, as her successor. Both Mary and Elizabeth are daughters of the late King Henry VIII.source
1558November 17 – the Protestant Elizabeth I succeeds as Queen of England and Ireland upon the death of her Catholic half-sister Mary I. The Elizabethan Religious Settlement follows.Ireland source
1559January 15 – Elizabeth I of England is crowned, in Westminster Abbey.source
1559February 27 – Queen Elizabeth I establishes the Church of England, with the Act of Uniformity 1558 and the Act of Supremacy 1558. The Oath of Supremacy is reinstated.source
1559March 31 – The Westminster Conference 1559 opens at Westminster Hall in London with nine leading Catholic churchmen, and nine Protestant reformers of the Church of England. The conference adjourns on April 3 for Easter and never reconvenes.source
1559June 11 – Scottish Reformation: A Protestant mob, incited by the preaching of John Knox, sacks St Andrews Cathedral.source
1559July 31 – Pope Paul IV authorizes the creation of the University of Douai (which will later become the University of Lille).source
1559September 5 – The papal conclave to elect a new pope opens 18 days after the death of Pope Paul IV at the Apostolic Palace in Rome with 47 of the 55 Roman Catholic cardinals present. The conclave lasts 101 days before a successor to Pope Paul is elected.source
1559October 27 – Frederick III is terminated from his post as Duke of Legnica on orders of Ferdinand I, Holy Roman Emperor. The Emperor Ferdinand orders Frederick placed under house arrest, and restores Frederick's son, Henry XI as Duke of Legnica.source
1559December 25 – After a conclave of almost four months, Giovanni Angelo Medici is elected as the 224th pope, and takes the name Pope Pius IV.source
1559Pope Paul IV promulgates the Pauline Index, an early version of the Index Librorum Prohibitorum.source
1559The Ancient Diocese of Saint-Omer established.France source
1559Approximate date – the Church of Ireland Bishopric of Mayo is united with the Archdiocese of Tuam.Ireland source
1560April 15 – Denmark–Norway buys the Estonian island of Ösel, from its last prince-bishop.source
1560August 17 – The Scottish Reformation Parliament adopts a Protestant confession of faith and rejects papal authority, beginning the Scottish Reformation, and disestablishing Roman Catholicism in Scotland.source
156017 August – Papal Jurisdiction Act 1560: The Scottish Reformation Parliament rejects papal authority, beginning the Scottish Reformation and disestablishing Roman Catholicism in Scotland.Scotland source
1560December 6 – Charles IX of France succeeds his elder brother, Francis II, at the age of ten.France source
1560Queen Elizabeth I of England and Ireland orders the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland, the Earl of Sussex, to appoint John Challoner of Dublin as the first Chief Secretary for Ireland "because at this present there is none appointed to be Clerk of our Council there, and considering how more meet it were, that in our realm there were for our honour one to be our Secretary there for the affairs of our Realm".Ireland source
1560Arch Bishop Laurentius Petri bans priests from baptizing or burying romani.Sweden source
1561January 4 – Paolo Battista Giudice Calvi is elected as the new Doge of the Republic of Genoa, but serves for only eight months before dying in September.source
1561April 17 – Diego López de Zúñiga, 4th Count of Nieva becomes the fourth Spanish Viceroy of Peru, administering most of South America after the death on March 30 of Andrés Hurtado de Mendoza.source
1561April 19 – The Edict of 19 April, confirming the recent recommendation by the Estates General, is promulgated by the regency council for King Charles IX of France in an attempt to prevent a civil war between the Roman Catholic and the Protestant Huguenot citizens of Francesource
1561July 12 – Saint Basil's Cathedral in Moscow (started in 1534) is finished.source
15619 September to 9 October – The Colloquy of Poissy, a religious conference which object was to effect a reconciliation between Catholics and Protestants, took place in Poissy.France source
1561September 28 – An inconclusive three day debate begins in Maybole, Ayrshire, Scotland between Protestant reformer John Knox and Quintin Kennedy, commendator of Crossraguel Abbey, on transubstantiation. The Reformation, confirmed by the Scottish government in 1560, continues.source
1561c. July – English troops garrison Armagh Cathedral.Ireland source
1562January 17 – Huguenots are recognized under the Edict of Saint-Germain.source
1562January 18 – The Council of Trent reconvenes, after a gap of 10 years.source
1562January – The Edict of Saint-Germain grants Protestants limited freedom of worship inside houses or outside city walls.France source
1562February 12 – After Catherine of Austria, the former Queen Consort of Portugal decides to step down as regent for her grandson, the 8-year-old King Sebastian at the age of 55, she turns the responsibility over to her late husband King João III's younger brother, Cardinal Henrique de Aviz.source
156222 May – The burgh council of Edinburgh decides to have a ducking stool at the Nor Loch for punishing "fornicatouris" and adulterers.Scotland source
1562June 10 – English Catholic printer Thomas Somerset is jailed at Fleet Prison "for translating an oratyon out of Frenche, made by the Cardinall of Lorraine, and putting the same without authority in prynte." On June 27, he is summoned before the Lords of the Council for a parole hearing, but is turned down because "he seamed to go about to justifye his cause" and returned to Fleet, "there to remaine until he shall have better considered of himself." He remains imprisoned for more than 19 years before finally being released on February 28, 1582.source
1562July 12 – Fray Diego de Landa, acting Bishop of Yucatan, burns the sacred books of the Maya.source
1563January 11 (January 2, 1563 O.S., January 11, 1563 N.S.) – The convocation of bishops and clerics of the Church of England is opened at St Paul's Cathedral in London by the Dean of the Arches, Robert Weston to agree upon the wording of what will become the Thirty-nine Articles, with the assembly adopting all but three of the Forty-two Articles promulgated during the reign of King Edward VI in 1553. The conference lasts for three months before agreeing upon the Articles to be submitted for further modification.source
1563March 19 – The Edict of Amboise is signed at the Château d'Amboise by Catherine de' Medici, acting as regent for her son Charles IX of France, having been negotiated between the Huguenot Louis I, Prince of Condé, and Anne, duc de Montmorency, Constable of France. It accords some toleration to the Huguenots, especially to aristocrats. It officially ends the first phase of the French Wars of Religion, and the combined Huguenot and royal armies then march north to besiege the English in Le Havre.source
1563March 19 – Edict of Amboise is signed at the Château d'Amboise by Catherine de' Medici, acting as regent for her son Charles IX of France, having been negotiated between the Huguenot Louis, Prince of Condé, and Anne, duc de Montmorency, Constable of France, according some toleration to Huguenots, especially to aristocrats; this officially ends the first phase of the French Wars of Religion, and the combined Huguenot and royal armies then march north to besiege the English in Le HavreFrance source
1563May 18 – commission for administration of the Oath of Supremacy to all ecclesiastics and state servants.Ireland source
1563November 11 – The Council of Trent amends existing Roman Catholic canon law to deter unannounced marriages. In order for a marriage to be recognized by the Church, the names of the bride and groom are to be announced publicly in a chapel during Mass, and registered with the parish priests of both parties.source
1563December 4 – The Council of Trent (which had opened on December 13, 1545) officially closes. It reaffirms all major Roman Catholic doctrines, and declares the Deuterocanonical books of the Old Testament to be canonical, along with the rest of the Bible. Chapter 1, Session 24, promulgates the decree Tametsi, stipulating that for a marriage to be valid, consent (the essence of marriage) as expressed in the vows has to be given publicly before witnesses, one of whom has to be the parish priest.source
1564July 25 – Maximilian II becomes the new Holy Roman Emperor upon the death of his father, Ferdinand I. Ferdinand's son Charles succeeds his father as the new Archduke of Austria.source
1565January 1 – Recognized as the first day of the year by the royal chancellery according to the Edict of Roussillon (1564) article 39.France source
1565April 27 – Cebu City is established as San Miguel by López de Legazpi, becoming the first Spanish settlement in the Philippines.source
1565September 8 – St. Augustine, Florida (named after Augustine of Hippo), is established by Pedro Menéndez de Avilés, becoming the oldest surviving European settlement in the modern-day United States, and a mass of Thanksgiving is said.source
1565Miler Magrath is appointed Roman Catholic Bishop of Down and Connor (12 October; consecrated 4 November).Ireland source
1565Connacht is shired into counties Clare (formerly Thomond), Galway, Leitrim (separated from Roscommon), Mayo and Galway.Ireland source
1565First ever Jesuit school is established at Limerick by David Wolfe, apostolic visitor of the Roman Catholic Church, but this is dispersed by the royal authorities in October.Ireland source
1566March 28 – The foundation stone of Valletta, which will become Malta's capital city, is laid by Jean Parisot de Valette, Grand Master of the Sovereign Military Order of Malta.source
1566May 25 – King Philip II of Spain issues laws against the remaining Spanish Muslims, including a ban against use of the Arabic language, wearing of traditional Arab or Muslim clothing, a requirement that doors in their homes and buildings be kept open every Friday and on Muslim feast days (in order to verify that Muslim rituals are not observed), and forces the tearing down of public and private bathhouses (to prevent purification rites).source
1566July 22 – Pope Pius V issues an edict to expel most prostitutes from Rome, and the Papal States. The edict is soon reversed because of the loss of revenue from the taxation of houses of prostitution.source
1566July 25 – Feodor Stefanovich Kolychov is consecrated as the patriarch of the Russian Orthodox Church as Philip II, Metropolitan of Moscow with the approval of the Tsar Ivan the Terrible, but soon defies the Tsar. Philip will be deposed in 16 months later and put to death on December 23, 1568.source
1566July 31 – King Philip II of Spain sends a final letter to the administrators and Catholic bishops of the Spanish Netherlands, rejecting a request to abolish ordinances treating Protestants as heretics. The decision leads to an uprising against Spain by Calvinists and ultimately to the Eighty Years War.source
1566August 16 – The Beeldenstorm arrives at Ypres and the St Martin's Cathedral is plundered, with the library and artifiacts of Bishop Martin Rythovius burned.source
1566August – Shane O'Neill burns Armagh Cathedral in defiance of Archbishop Richard Creagh.Ireland source
1566November 23 – By decree of King Philip II of Spain, the content of gold in the Spanish gold escudo, is raised from 350 maravedis (equivalent to 338 centigrams) of gold to 400 (386 cg) and equivalent to 16 silver reales.source
156617 December – James is baptised at Stirling Castle.Scotland source
1567August 8 – Dr. Robert Weston is sworn in as Lord Chancellor of Ireland. Although a layman, he is also appointed Dean of St. Patrick's Cathedral, Dublin.Ireland source
1567October 7 – Bible translations into Welsh: The New Testament is first published in Welsh, in William Salesbury's translation from the Greek.source
1568January 6 – In the Eastern Hungarian Kingdom, the delegates of Unio Trium Nationum to the Diet of Torda convene in a session that ends on January 13, during which freedom of religion is debated.source
1568January 28 – The Edict of Torda, Europe's first declaration of religious freedom, is adopted by the Kingdom of Hungary.source
1568March 23 – The Peace of Longjumeau ends the Second War of Religion in France. Again Catherine de' Medici and Charles IX make substantial concessions to the Huguenots.source
1568June 13 – Thomas Lancaster is consecrated as the Archbishop of Armagh, spiritual leader of the Church of Ireland, succeeding Archbishop Adam Loftus.source
1569January 11 — The first recorded lottery in England begins and continues, nonstop, at the west door of St Paul's Cathedral in London until May 6, when the winner is drawn. Each share costs ten shillings, and proceeds are used to repair harbours, and for other public works.source
156926 January - The deposition of Eric XIV in favor of John III is formally confirmed by the royal council.Sweden source
1569February 26 — Pope Pius V issues a papal bull expelling all Jews from Italian and French territories.source
1569September 17 – Pope Pius V issues the papal bull Consueverunt Romani Pontifices setting specific elements for the devotion of the Rosary.source
1569Mughal Emperor Akbar founds Fatehpur Sikri, to honor the Muslim holy man Shaikh Salim Chisti, who has foretold the birth of Akbar's son and heir, Jahangir.source
157014 February – Funeral of Regent Moray at St Giles' Cathedral.Scotland source
1570February 25 – Pope Pius V excommunicated Queen Elizabeth I of England with the papal bull Regnans in Excelsis.source
1570April 7 – In Scotland, Colin Campbell of Glenorchy receives permission from the Regent, the Earl of Morton, to execute the chief of Clan Gregor, his son-in-law Gregor Roy MacGregor, and carries out MacGregor's beheading at Balloch in front of the Earl of Atholl.source
1570April 27 – Pope Pius V excommunicates Queen Elizabeth I of England, and all persons who show allegiance to her, with the bull Regnans in Excelsis.source
1570July 14 – Pope Pius V issues Quo primum, promulgating the 1570 edition of the Roman Missal.source
1570August 8 – The Peace of Saint-Germain ends the Third War of Religion in France. Again, the Huguenots are promised religious freedom and political autonomy.source
1570Construction of the original Catedral Nuestra Señora de La Asunción, the oldest church in Venezuela, begins.source
1571January 11 – The Austrian nobility are granted freedom of religion.source
1571February 3 – Miler Magrath is appointed Church of Ireland Archbishop of Cashel (being translated from Clogher) while simultaneously retaining the title of Roman Catholic Bishop of Down and Connor. He will retain his new post until his death in 1622.Ireland source
1571March 18 – The Order of the Knights of Saint John transfers the capital of Malta, from Birgu to Valletta.source
1571April 17 – Pope John XIV of Alexandria begins a 15-year reign as leader of the Coptic Christian Church.source
1571May 25 – The Holy League is established as an alliance of the Papal States, the Republic of Venice, the Republic of Genoa, the Grand Duchy of Tuscany, the Duchy of Savoy, the Duchy of Urbino, the Kingdom of Naples and Kingdom of Sicily under the rule of the Spanish Empire and the Knights of Malta for mutual defense against attacks by the Ottoman Empire on ships in the Mediterranean Sea.source
1571May 29 – Queen Elizabeth I of England gives royal assent to laws that had been passed by the 3rd Parliament, including the Bulls from Rome Act 1571 to prevent the publication in England of papal bulls as well as "writings or instruments and other superstitious things from the See of Rome"source
1571May – King Charles IX issues the edict of Gaillon for taxing printers and book sales.France source
1571August 29 – Liliw, Laguna, Philippines is founded by Gat Tayaw, followers and residents as a municipality of Laguna.source
1571November 4 – The Mexican Inquisition, for investigation and punishment of heresy against the Roman Catholic Church in the New World, begins with the first session of the Tribunal of the Holy Office of the Inquisition in New Spain.source
1571November 16 – Michele Bonelli is sent as the legate a latere by Pope Pius V to work directly with King Charles IX of France. From June 18 until his new assignment, Bonelli had been the legate to the King of Spain and the King of Portugal.source
1571The Swedish Church Ordinance 1571 creates the first complete order of the Protestant Swedish church. The church ordinance also includes a chapter about schooling, in which all children in the cities, regardless of sex, are to be given elementary schooling.source
1571First printing in the Irish language in Dublin, Aibidil Gaoidheilge agus Caiticiosma, a primer printed by John Kearney.Ireland source
1572March 11 – Pope Pius V issues the papal bull Supremi omnipotentis Dei, granting an indulgence reducing 50 days of punishment in the afterlife for Roman Catholics who recited the penitential psalms.source
1572May 13 – Pope Gregory XIII succeeds Pope Pius V, as the 226th pope.source
1572July 4 – The city council of Haarlem, one of the largest cities of the Netherlands, votes to join the Dutch Revolt against King Philip II of Spain. King Philip orders sent an army north under command of Don Fadrique, son of the Duke of Alva, to lead an army to conquer the rebelling cities.source
1572September 25 – The coronation of Rudolf as King of Hungary takes place at St. Martin's Cathedral in Pozsony (now Bratislava, Slovakia).source
1573January 28 – Articles of the Warsaw Confederation are signed, sanctioning religious freedom in Poland.source
1573February 23 – James FitzMaurice FitzGerald submits to John Perrot, Lord Deputy of Ireland, at Kilmallock.Ireland source
1573July 6 – Córdoba, in the Viceroyalty of Peru, is founded by Jerónimo Luis de Cabrera.source
1573July 11 – The Edict of Boulogne is signed by Charles IX of France, granting limited rights to Huguenots, and ending the Fourth War of Religion in France.source
1573December 23 – In the Republic of Venice, the Council of Ten votes to grant safe conduct to Venice for Spanish and Portuguese Jews.source
1573Apr 30 - The spire of Beauvais Cathedral, France, which made it the tallest human-made monument in the world at the time, collapses (never rebuilt)France source
1573Sidi Saiyyed Mosque, Ahmedabad built.India source
1573c. October – David Wolfe, papal legate to Ireland, goes to Spain.Ireland source
1574January 22 – Mohammed II becomes the new Sultan of Morocco upon the death of his father, Abdallah al-Ghalib.source
1574August 30 – Guru Ram Das becomes the fourth of the Sikh gurus.source
1574November 5 – Edmund Tanner (died 1579 in Ireland) is appointed Roman Catholic Bishop of Cork and Cloyne and consecrated in Rome.Ireland source
1574The Liturgical Battle royal between the Reformation and Counter Reformation begins in Sweden, and continues until the Uppsala Synod of 1593.source
1574Dissolution of Sko Abbey: the last nuns, however, benefit from a state pension until at least 1588.Sweden source
1574The Catechism of Martin Luther is translated to Finnish by Paul Juusten.Sweden source
1575February 13 – The formal coronation of Henry III as King of France takes place at the Reims Cathedral. Henry inherited the throne on May 30, 1574, upon the death of his older brother, Charles IX. He marries Louise of Lorraine.source
1575May 24 – In an attempt to reform the Eastern Orthodox Church, Lutheran missionaries meet with Jeremias II Tranos, the Ecumenical Patriarch, at his residence in Constantinople, and present him with a Greek translation of the Augsburg Confession. Jeremias sends the missionaries, Jakob Andreae and Martin Crusius, three rebuttals to define the objections he has to the Lutheran document, declaring the reasons why the Eastern Orthodoxy has no desire for reformation.source
1575July 26 – Edmund Grindal succeeds Matthew Parker as Archbishop of Canterbury.source
1575September 25 – At St. Vitus Cathedral in Prague, Rudolf of Habsburg, son of the Holy Roman Emperor Maximilian II, is crowned King of Bohemia by the Archbishop Antonín Brus of Mohelnice.source
1575December 12 – Under pressure from Papal nuncio Vincenzo Lauro when a majority of the Sejm has still not agreed on a candidate, the Primate of Poland, Jakub Uchański, declares Maximilian II new King of Poland and Grand Duke of Lithuania.source
1575Venceslaus Agrippa Lituanus is the Great Scribe of Lithuania.source
1575Approximate date – the manuscript now known as Royal Irish Academy, MS 23 N 10 is copied at Ballycumin, County Roscommon, by Aodh, Dubhthach and Torna of the Ó Maolconaire family.Ireland source
1576January 20 – The establishment of Roman Catholic Diocese of Macau.source
1576May 6 – The Edict of Beaulieu, negotiated by Monsieur Francois, Duke of Anjou and brother of King Henry III of France, ends the Fifth War of Religion. By the terms of the "Peace of Monsieur" that led to agreement on the Edict, freedom of worship is granted again to the Protestant Hugueonots.source
1576September 4 – In Brussels, rebels led by Jacques de Glymes of Brabant arrest the members of the Council of State that administers the city.source
1576September 16 – The States of Flanders convene a meeting near Ghent, where the Roman Catholic clergy, led by Martinus Rythovius, insist on measures to protect the practice of the Catholic faith in the predominantly Protestant Low Countries.source
1576October 26 – In Germany, Ludwig of Simmern becomes the new Elector Palatine of the Rhine 10 days after the death of his father, Frederick III, taking office at the Palatinate capital at Heidelberg as Ludwig VI.source
1576December 6 – Representatives of France's three estates convene at the Estates General of 1576 in Blois at the invitation of King Henri III. Of the 383 delegates, the 187 of the Third Estate (commoners) narrowly vote in favor of outlawing Protestantism and expelling Protestant pastors from the kingdom, while the 110 of the First Estate (clergy) and 86 of the Second Estate (the nobility) strongly oppose ending hostility in the name of religious tolerance.source
1576December 22 – Representatives of the clergy of the First Estate join the Second vote in favor of outlawing Protestantism. By January, the Edict of Beaulieu fails and the Sixth War of Religion begins later in 1577.source
1576The Loci Communes of Peter Martyr Vermigli (died 1562), edited by Robert le Maçon, are published in London.source
1576Foundation of the controversial Catholic academy Collegium Regium Stockholmense under Laurentius Nicolai in Stockholm, which provokes the Protestants.Sweden source
1577October 28 – In Flanders (now part of Belgium), two Protestant members of the city council of Ghent, Jan van Hembyze and François van Ryhove, proclaim the Calvinist Republic of Ghent. The stadtholder of Flanders, Philippe III de Croÿ, Duke of Aarschot is arrested, along with the Roman Catholic bishops Martin Rythovius of Ypres and Remi Drieux of Bruges. The Calvinist Republic will exist for seven years until the Spanish conquest of Ghent in 1584.source
1577The church in San Pedro de Atacama is built, in the Atacama Desert in Chile.source
1578February 6 – Pope Gregory XIII issues the papal bull Illius fulti praesidio and creates the Diocese of Manila, the first Roman Catholic diocese in the Philippines, with Domingo de Salazar as the first Bishop of Manila. The diocese will be raised to the status of archdiocese on August 14, 1595.source
1578February 8 – The city council of Amsterdam in the Netherlands ratifies a treaty placing the city under the authority of Willem, Prince of Orange, and joining the States of Holland.source
1578May 26 – The Alteratie takes place in Amsterdam, expelling the 24 Catholic members of the 40-man city government, and forming a new council is formed with 30 Calvinist Protestants and 10 Catholics.source
1578Sonam Gyrso receives from Prince Atlan Khan the title of Talaï, and becomes the third Dalai Lama of Tibet.source
1579September 28 – In Switzerland, a mutual assistance pact was signed at Lucerne between representatives of Roman Catholic cantons by the efforts of the Catholic Bishop of Basel, Jakob Christoph Blarer von Wartensee.source
1579November 23 – Jeremias II Tranos is removed from office as Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople, leader of the Eastern Orthodox Church, and replaced by his rival Metrophanes III of Constantinople, whom he deposed on May 4, 1572.source
1579December 16 – After Willem van Pamele, the Spanish Governor of Flanders, is forced to flee during the Dutch Revolt, the Duke of Parma orders Pamele and the Catholic members of the Council of Flanders to convene at Douai as the temporary Flemish capital.source
1579December 25 – In France, Protestant French troops under the command of Matthieu Merle, make a surprise attack on the Roman Catholic cathedral in the village of Mende during Mass, and kill 400 civilians.source
1579Akbar issues a mazhar signed by the leading ulamas, putting himself as the highest religious authority, allowing him to interpret the Quran.source
1579The Bible of Kralice begins publication. The first complete translation of the Bible into the Czech language (with notes), it is prepared by the Unity of the Brethren, and published at Kralice nad Oslavou, Bohemia.source
1579The municipality of Boac in Marinduque, Philippines is founded.source
1579In the Mughal Empire in India, Akbar abolishes the jizya, the tax placed upon non-Muslim residents.source
1579Members of the Glasgow Trades House defend Glasgow Cathedral from depredation.Scotland source
1580February 28 – Three Jesuit priests from Portuguese Goa, including Rodolfo Acquaviva, arrive in Agra on the mainland of India as guests of the Mughal Emperor, Akbar the Great, who is curious about Christianity. The Emperor grants land to the Jesuit fathers for the building of the first Roman Catholic Church in the Mughal Empire.source
1580March 1 – Michel de Montaigne signs the preface to his most significant work, Essays. They are published later this year.source
1580March 1 – Michel de Montaigne signs the preface to his most significant work, Essays. They are published later the same year.France source
158014 March – Miler Magrath is deposed as Roman Catholic Bishop of Down and Connor by Pope Gregory XIII for heresy, having for a decade simultaneously held bishoprics in the Protestant Church of Ireland.Ireland source
1580May 29 – Stephen Báthory is formally crowned as Grand Duke of Lithuania at the Vilnius Cathedral.source
1580July 12 – The Ostrog Bible, the first complete printed Bible translation into a Slavic language (Old Church Slavonic), is first printed at Ostroh in the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth (modern-day Ukraine) by Ivan Fyodorov.source
1580August - Antonio Possevino inspect the Vadstena Abbey. During his visitation the abbey was reformed according to the latest regulations of the Catholic Church, and Katarina Bengtsdotter Gylta and her prioress swore the Tridentian oath from 1564.Sweden source
1580The first session of the Jewish Vaad (Council of Four Lands) is held in Lublin, Poland; 70 delegates of Jewish local qahals meet to discuss taxation, and other issues important to Jewish communities.source
1581March 18 – The Parliament of England's Act against Reconciliation to Rome imposes heavy fines, for practising Roman Catholicism.source
1581July 11 – The Knights Hospitaller depose Jean de la Cassière as Grandmaster and appoint Mathurin Romegas in his place.source
1581November 4 – Jean de la Cassière is restored as Grandmaster of the Knights Hospitaller, by Pope Gregory XIII.source
1581Guru Arjan Dev becomes the fifth Guru of Sikhs, succeeding his father Guru Ram Das.source
1581The last Bishop of Meissen, John IX of Haugwitz, resigns his office in the wake of the Reformation.source
1581Dermot O'Hurley appointed Archbishop of Cashel by Pope Gregory XIII, but is unable to enter Ireland until 1583 when he was imprisoned in Dublin Castle and hanged for treason in 1584.Ireland source
1582February 24 (Julian) (March 6 Gregorian) – Pope Gregory XIII proclaims the Gregorian calendar, to come into effect in October. Under the order, the date on the Julian calendar will be advanced by 10 days in order to synchronize the calendar date back to the equinoxes and solstices, since the gap has been increasing by one day every 100 years since the 6th century and is 10 days off schedule.source
1582March 9 – Scryer Edward Kelley arrives at John Dee's house in London. They practice angelic magic together and Dee develops the Enochian language.source
1582July – Lord Grey, Lord Deputy of Ireland, is recalled to England. Sir Henry Wallop and Adam Loftus, Archbishop of Dublin, are appointed lords justices responsible for the government of Ireland to succeed him.Ireland source
1582October 4 (Julian) (October 14 Gregorian) – The Julian calendar is discarded at the end of the day in Italy, Poland, Portugal, and Spain as Pope Gregory XIII implements the Gregorian calendar. In the nations where the calendar is accepted, Thursday, October 4 is followed the next day by Friday, October 15.source
1582The temple complex of Kumbum is founded in Tibet.source
1582Hazira Maqbara mausoleum constructed in VadodaraIndia source
1582Mosque established at RohinkhedIndia source
1583February 4 – Gebhard Truchsess von Waldburg, newly converted to Calvinism, formally marries Agnes von Mansfeld-Eisleben, a former canoness of Gerresheim, while retaining his position as Archbishop-Elector of Cologne.source
1583May 22 – Ernest of Bavaria is elected as Roman Catholic Archbishop of Cologne, in opposition to Gebhard Truchsess von Waldburg. The opposition rapidly turns into armed struggle, the Cologne War within the Electorate of Cologne, beginning with the Destruction of the Oberstift.source
1583October 18 – In South America, the Third Council of Lima comes to an end after two months after being convened to provide a consistent doctrine for the Roman Catholic Church in the Viceroyalty of Peru. Among other things, the Council approves the treatment of the native population "not like slaves but as free men" as part of evangelism and conversion to Christianity, as well as the use of the Quechua language and the Aymara language to spread the gospel. The use of Spanish is ordered for church services, and Latin is forbidden.source
1583November 13 – In India, the city of Allahabad (modern-day Prayagraj in the state of Uttar Pradesh) is founded as a strategic fortress by Akbar, Emperor of the Mughal Empire.Surendra Nath Sinha (1974).source
1583Dermot O'Hurley, appointed Archbishop of Cashel in 1581, lands on Holmpatrick Strand in County Dublin.Ireland source
1584February 22 – After being falsely accused of various charges, Jeremias II Tranos, leader of the Eastern Orthodox Church as Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople, is deposed by his fellow bishops and exiled to the island of Rhodes. Jeremias is replaced by Pachomius II Patestos.source
1584August 7 – In Lima in the Viceroyalty of Peru, Italian printer Antonio Ricardo receives official permission to set up the first printing press in South America, and prints the first publication there, Pragmatica, a four-page outline of how the new Gregorian calendar (adopted 1582) works.source
1584August 11 – (Tenshō 12, 16th day of the 7th month) The Tenshō embassy, Japan's first diplomatic mission to Europe, arrives in Portugal with four teenagers— Julião Nakaura, Mancio Itō, Martinho Hara and Miguel Chijiwa— who had become converts to Christianity.source
1585January 21 – Robert Nutter, Thomas Worthington, and 18 other Roman Catholic priests are "perpetually banished" from England by order of Queen Elizabeth, placed on the ship Mary Martin of Colchester, and transported to France.source
1585February 16 – Pachomius II is deposed by fellow bishops from his position as Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople, head of the Eastern Orthodox Church, and replaced by the Metropolitan of Philippoupolis, Theoleptus II.source
1585April 21 – The papal conclave begins at the Vatican in Rome on Easter Sunday, with only 42 of the 60 cardinals attending. Early voting favors Cardinals Pier Donato Cesi and Guglielmo Sirleto, neither of whom receives a majority.source
1585April 24 – Cardinal Felice Piergentile of the church of San Girolamo dei Croati is unanimously elected as the 227th Pope, and takes the regnal name Pope Sixtus V.source
1585May 1 – The coronation of Pope Sixtus V takes place in Rome.source
1585September 15 – English Catholic priest John Adams is banished from England along with 72 other Catholic priests, and transported by ship to Boulogne in France.source
1585September 21 – King Henry III of Navarre, who is also the heir presumptive to France's King Henry III, is excommunicated from the Roman Catholic Church by Pope Sixtus V, who effectively declares that French Catholics are not required to recognize his claim to the throne.source
1585September 21 – Pope Sixtus V excommunicates King Henry IV, the heir presumptive to Henry III and declares him ineligible to inherit the crown.France source
158514 December – Nicholas Walsh, Church of Ireland Bishop of Ossory, is stabbed to death in his house in Kilkenny by a disaffected member of his flock.Ireland source
1585Nicolas de Montreux publishes 3 pastorals named Athlette and the first volume of Les Bergeries de Juliette. The following four volumes were published in the years leading up to 1598.France source
1586February 11 – In Dresden, Christian I becomes the new Elector of Saxony, after the death of his father Augustus.source
1586February 14 – In India, Yakub Shah Chak becomes the new Sultan of Kashmir after the death of his father, the Sultan Yousuf Shah.source
1586March 12 – Greek-born Spanish artist Domḗnikos Theotokópoulos, known better as El Greco, is commissioned to paint his most famous work, The Burial of the Count of Orgaz, which he finishes in early 1588.source
1586March 25 – Forty Martyrs of England and Wales: The most infamous case in England of a torture and execution by Peine forte et dure— slowly piling heavy stones upon a prisoner until they make a plea or die — is carried out against Margaret Clitherow of York after she refuses to enter a plea on charges of harboring Roman Catholic priests. She will be canonized as a Catholic saint in 1970 by Pope Paul VI.source
1586September 14 – In one of the most spectacular feats of engineering up to that time, devised by Domenico Fontana, the 82 ft tall, 327-ton Vatican obelisk is erected at St. Peter's Square in Rome after being transported between April 30 and May 17 from its previous location on orders of Pope Sixtus V.source
1586English topographer William Harrison becomes canon of Windsor.source
1586The cities of Voronezh, Samara, and Tyumen in Russia are founded.source
1586Hazira Maqbara, a mausoleum of Qutb-ud-din Muhammad Khan, is builtIndia source
1586The Örebro Kyrkomöte (Örebro Church Meeting) is held as a protest to the pro-Catholic church policy of king John. The gathering is influnced by the Riksföreståndare and future king Charles IX of Sweden. The articles adopted during the meeting served as the charter for the church within Charles' duchySweden source
1587February 27 – Sir Anthony Cope, a member of the English Parliament, is imprisoned in the Tower of London after presenting a Puritan revision of the Anglican Book of Common Prayer to the Speaker of the House of Commons, Sir John Puckering. He is released on March 23.source
1587June 20 – Gabriel VIII becomes the new Pontiff of the Coptic Christian Church in Egypt, being enthroned as Pope Gabriel VIII and filling a vacancy that had existed for nine months since the death of Pope John XIV of Alexandria. Gabriel will reign until his death on May 14, 1603.source
1587October 1 – Shāh ‘Abbās I "The Great" succeeds as Shahanshah of Iran.source
1587November 14 – Davide Vacca is elected to a two-year term as the new Doge of the Republic of Genoa in Italy in a vote by the Grand Council of the Republic.source
1587St. Dominic's Church, Macau is established.source
1587Hailuoto, an island in the Bothnian Bay, is separated from the grand parish of Saloinen into an independent parish.source
1587Pope Sixtus V establishes the canon law office of 'Promoter of the Faith' (promotor fidei), popularly known as the "Devil's advocate" (advocatus diaboli).source
1587Collège de France instituted Arabic lessons, with Arnoult de Lisle being the first professor of the chair of Arabic.France source
1587Jami Masjid constructed in HajipurIndia source
1587Nara Narayan ruler of the Koch Kingdom comes to an end with his death (reigned since 1540)India source
1588January 22 – Pope Sixtus V issues the papal bull Immensa aeterni Dei, a major reorganization of the Roman Curia creating 15 congregations of cardinals, including the Congregation of the Index Librorum Prohibitorum, the Church list of forbidden books; the Congregation of the Inquisition; and the Congregation of the Vatican Press.source
15886 February – General Assembly of the Church of Scotland called to defend against the Spanish Armada.Scotland source
1588March 20 – The ascension of Shah Abbas I as Emperor in Iran, of the Safavid Empire, is made official on the first day of the New Year on the Zoroastrian Calendar. Abbas has ruled since October 16, 1587.source
1588December 5 – The Order of Augustinian Recollects is formally recognised as a separate province from the Order of Saint Augustine, an event later known as the Día de la Recolección or Day of Recollection.source
1588December 23 – Henry III of France strikes his ultra-Catholic enemies, having the Duke of Guise and his brother, Louis II de Lorraine, cardinal de Guise, killed, and holding the Cardinal de Bourbon a prisoner. As a result, large parts of France reject Henry III as their king, forcing him to side with Henry of Navarre.source
158911 January – Richard Meredith nominated Church of Ireland Bishop of Leighlin (consecrated in April).Ireland source
1589January 26 – Job of Moscow is elected as the first Patriarch of Moscow and All Russia.source
1589July 4 – Jeremias II Tranos is appointed as the Patriarch of Constantinople, leader of the Eastern Orthodox Church, by Ottoman Sultan Murad III.source
1589August 20 – King James VI of Scotland, the future James I of England, contracts a proxy marriage with the 14-year-old Anne of Denmark at Kronborg. The formal ceremony takes place on November 23 at the Old Bishop's Palace in Oslo.source
158923 November – James VI and Anne of Denmark marry formally at the Old Bishop's Palace in OsloScotland source
15895 December – Sir Richard Bingham is cleared by the Lord Deputy and council of charges of misgovernment in Connacht and on 12 December is commissioned to prosecute the Burkes and other Connacht rebels.Ireland source
1589December 25 (Christmas Day) – The monks of the Pechenga Monastery, the northernmost in the world, are massacred by Swedes, led by a Finnish peasant chief, in the course of the Russo-Swedish War.source
1589Hiroshima is founded, by the Japanese warlord Mōri Terumoto.source
1590May 17 – Anne of Denmark is crowned queen consort of Scotland, at Holyrood Abbey in Edinburgh.source
159017 May – Anne of Denmark is crowned as queen consort of Scotland at Holyrood Abbey.Scotland source
1590September 15 – After the eight day conclave, Giovanni Battista Castagna, the Cardinal-Priest of San Marcello al Corso receives the necessary two-thirds majority despite support for Cardinal Marco Antonio Colonna. Castagna becomes Pope Urban VII but contracts malaria and dies 12 days later.source
1590October 6 – Two days before the scheduled papal conclave begins, Enrique de Guzmán, 2nd Count of Olivares, Spain's ambassador to the Papal States, presents the cardinals with the recommendations of King Philip II of Spain, a set of candidates whom the Spanish cardinals will support, and 30 whom they are instructed not to vote for.source
1590October 8 – The second papal conclave in less than four weeks opens at the Apostolic Palace in Rome, 23 days after the previous conclave had been concluded, and 53 cardinals arrive.source
1590December 5 – Niccolò Sfondrato, Cardinal-priest of Santa Cecilia in Trastevere, is elected as the new pope and takes the name Pope Gregory XIV. Sfondrato is selected as a compromise candidate after Gabriele Paleotti falls 3 votes short of being elected.source
1590Orthodox Patriarch of Alexandria Meletius I succeeds Silvester.source
1591February 7 – Pope Gregory XIV, who had succeeded Pope Urban VII in December, appoints Cardinal Marco Antonio Colonna and six other cardinals to a commission to revise the Sixtine Vulgate Latin translation of the Bible, published in 1590 under the editorship of Pope Sixtus V, to which the College of Cardinals has taken exception. The revision of the revision, dubbed the Sixto-Clementine Vulgate, will be completed in 1592 and be the official version used by the Catholic Church until 1979.source
1591February 25 – Poet Edmund Spenser is granted an annual pension of 50 pounds sterling by Queen Elizabeth I of England in recognition of his publication of The Faerie Queen. The pension is paid in quarterly installments of 12s. 10d. on March 25, June 24, September 29 and December 25.source
1591March 1 – Pope Gregory XIV excommunicates King Henry IV of France and orders the clergy, nobles, judicial functionaries and the Third Estate of France to renounce the nation's king.source
159120 March – Seamus Ó hÉilidhe is appointed Roman Catholic Archbishop of Tuam.Ireland source
1591March 21 – Pope Gregory XIV issues the papal bull Cogit nos, prohibiting the placing of bets on the outcome of papal elections, the length of time that a pope will reign, or who will be appointed as a cardinal.source
1591April 10 – The emancipation of Filipino slaves in the Spanish Philippines along with reparations to former slaves, with the threat of excommunication of any Spanish slaveholder who refuses to comply, is ordered by Pope Gregory XIV in the papal bull Cum Sicuti.source
1591October 19 – The Islamic calendar year 1000 A.H. begins with the first day of the month of Muharram, with concerns that the new year will herald the end of the world. When the year ends on October 7, 1592, without an apocalypse, the official interpretation among Ottoman Muslims is that the Ottoman Empire "had come closer to perfection than any other Muslim state.source
1591October 29 – Giovanni Antonio Facchinetti is elected on the third ballot to succeed the late Pope Gregory XIV, after Cardinal Ludovico Madruzzo withdraws his candidacy. and takes the name Pope Innocent IX.source
1591November 4 – The coronation of Pope Innocent IX takes place in Rome as Cardinal Andreas von Österreich places the crown on the head of Giovanni Facchinetti.source
1591November – Barnabe Riche proposes action against Roman Catholic recusants.Ireland source
1591December 18 – Pope Innocent IX begins a tour of the seven pilgrimage churches around Rome, despite being unwell, and his illness worsens. He dies 12 days later.source
1591Hyderabad, India established by Muhammad Quli Qutb Shah and Charminar builtIndia source
1591Canongate Tolbooth built in EdinburghScotland source
1592January 29 – Cardinal Ippolito Aldobrandini of San Pancrazio is elected as the new Pontiff of the Roman Catholic Church after Ludovico Madruzzo and Giulio Antonio Santori withdraw following 19 rounds of voting by the 54 cardinals present. Cardinal Santori had received 28 votes on the first ballot, eight short of the necessary two-thirds majority required, and fewer on the rounds that followed. Aldobrandini is crowned the next day as Pope Clement VIII, the 231st pope. Clement succeeds Pope Innocent IX, who died on December 30, 1591. He immediately recalls the Sixtine Vulgate.source
1592April 4 – The future Henry IV of France, King designate of Henry III of France, announces in a declaration, so-called "Expedient," his intention to take instruction in, and convert to, the Catholic religion.source
1592June – James VI enacts the "Golden Act" recognising the power of Presbyterianism within the Scottish church.Scotland source
1592November 3 – The city of San Luis Potosí is founded.source
1592November 9 – The Sixto-Clementine Vulgate, an updated edition of the Latin language translation of the Bible, is promulgated by the Roman Catholic Church.source
1592November 12 – The Collegium Melitense is founded in Malta by Bishop Garagallo.source
159217 November - John III is succeeded by his son, the Polish electoral monarch Sigismund III Vasa, which create a personal union between Protestant Sweden and Catholic Poland. This is opposed by both the Royal Council and Duke Charles, who unite against him.Sweden source
1593January 26 – The Conseil of the Catholic League convenes the Estates General in Paris to receive the decisions of the Council of Trent and to consider the election of a Catholic sovereign, even if it means calling into question the Salic law. Isabella Clara Eugenia, Sovereign of the Habsburg Netherlands, Charles Emmanuel I, Duke of Savoy, Charles III, Duke of Lorraine, and two Catholic Bourbons are candidates. However, Henry IV of France takes the court of deputies by surprise in announcing his intention to return to the Catholic faith on May 17.France source
1593March 7 (February 25 Old Style) – The Uppsala Synod discontinues; the Liturgical Struggle between the Swedish Reformation and Counter-Reformation ends in Sweden.source
1593March - The Uppsala Synod introduce the confession of faith and ends the Liturgical Battle.Sweden source
159323 June – in a skirmish at Skeanavart in County Roscommon as part of Hugh Maguire (Lord of Fermanagh)'s raid into Connacht, Edmund MacGauran (Roman Catholic Archbishop of Armagh) is among those killed.Ireland source
1593July 25 – As he promised in January, Henry IV of France abjures Protestantism at the Basilica of Saint-Denis. Legend attributes to him the saying Paris vaut bien une messe ("Paris is well worth a mass").source
1593July 25 – The king abjures Protestantism at the Basilica of Saint-Denis. Legend attributes to him the saying Paris vaut bien une messe ("Paris is well worth a mass").France source
1593August 3 – Poland's council of nobles, the Sejm, grants permission to King Sigismund III Vasa and his wife, Queen consort Anne, to travel to Sweden to claim the Swedish crown.source
1593November 8 – Assembly of Protestants of the kingdom at Mantes (ends 23 January 1594).France source
1593December 8 – Henri I de Montmorency, one of the 'Malcontents', becomes Grand Constable of France.France source
1593Robert Bellarmine's Disputationes de Controversiis Christianae Fidei adversus hujus temporis Haereticos concludes publication in Ingolstadt.source
1593c. 1593–1604 – According to John Warwick Montgomery, the Rosicrucian manifestos are initially composed by Tobias Hess, in anticipation of the opening of the vault in 1604, according to Simon Studion's apocalyptic timetable.source
1593Henry Constable's Spirituall Sonnettes are written.source
1593The parish of Laukaa was founded.source
1593In Lisbon, John Houling, SJ, and Fr. Peter Fonseca establish the College of St. Patrick for the education of young Irish Roman Catholics.Ireland source
1593Emergence of the Presbytery of Glasgow within the developing Presbyterian polity.Scotland source
1594February 27 – The coronation of Henry IV as King of France takes place at Chartres Cathedral.source
1594April 17 – Hyacinth of Poland is canonized by Pope Clement VIII.source
159418 August – the monks of the abbey on Innisfallen Island are dispossessed by the Crown.Ireland source
1594December 2 – The proposal for the Union of Brest (moving the Metropolitan of Kiev, Galicia and all Rus from the ecclesiastical jurisdiction of the Eastern Orthodox Church to the Roman Catholic Church) is made in a petition by the Metropolitan Michael Rohoza in a petition to Sigismund, monarch of Poland, Lithuania, Sweden and Finland. After a similar petition to Pope Clement VIII on June 12, 1595, the Union will be proclaimed on October 8, 1596.source
1595January 24 – Matthias of Habsburg is appointed by his brother Rudolf II, Holy Roman Emperor, to become the Archduke of die Vorlande, the possessions of the Austrian Habsburgs in Southern Germany outside of Austria, also called Further Austria (Vorderösterreich). The appointment follows the death of their uncle, Ferdinand II. Matthias will later become Archduke of Austria (in 1608) and the Emperor in 1612.source
15954 September – Lieutenant Colonel Richard Wingfield is wounded in a clash with Tyrone's troops in Ulster. He is knighted by the Lord Deputy of Ireland, Sir William Russell, in Christ Church Cathedral, Dublin, on 9 November before returning to England.Ireland source
1595September–October – The Riksdag of Söderköping elects Duke Charles Regent (though not monarch) and formally bans the Catholic mass.Sweden source
1595November 17 – In the remodeling of the Church of Saint Sylvester in Rome, the ashes of Pope Anterus are discovered almost 1,360 years after his death. Anterus had served as Pope for six weeks before dying on January 3, 236.source
159513 December – The last remaining Catholic convent in Sweden, Vadstena Abbey, is officially dissolved by order of Duke Charles. The remaining nuns, including abbess Karin Johansdotter, leave the abbey and flee to Poland.Sweden source
1596June 5 – Pope Clement VIII appoints 16 new Cardinals.source
1596August 29 – The coronation of Christian IV as King of Denmark and King of Norway takes place at the Vor Frue Kirke cathedral in Copenhagen. The Bishop of Zealand, Peder Virstrup, places the crown upon the head of King Christian IV, who had become the monarch in 1588 at the age of 11.source
1596October 10 – The Union of Brest: The Ukrainian Church west of the Dnieper becomes known as the Ukrainian Rite of Catholicism, whereas the East officially renounces the authority of the Pope.source
1596October 19 – The Spanish galleon San Felipe founders in Japan, leading to 26 Christians being martyred the next year.source
1596December 5 – Damat Ibrahim Pasha is appointed the Grand Vizier of the Ottoman Empire by Sultan Mehmed III for the second time in less than a year, replacing Cigalazade Yusuf Sinan Pasha, who succeeded him on October 27.source
1596The Church of Our Lady of Salvation, or the Portuguese Church is established in Dadar, MumbaiIndia source
1597January 4 – Japan's Chancellor of the Realm, Toyotomi Hideyoshi, sends 26 European Christians, arrested on December 8, 1596, on a forced march from Kyoto to Nagasaki.source
1597August 24 – Christian IV of Denmark-Norway refuses to let Tycho Brahe return to Denmark.source
1597December 23 – The Roman Catholic order of the Congregatio Patrum Doctrinae Christianae, which will later be more commonly known as the Christian Doctrine Fathers, is approved by Pope Clement VIII. Founded on September 29, 1592, the order continues to operate more than four centuries later and is headquartered in Rome.source
1597Tobias Hess corresponds with Simon Studion and agrees with him that the Papacy must fall in 1604.source
1597Dom Francisco de Gama becomes viceroy of India (until 1600)India source
1597Scottish Poor Laws make parishes rather than the church responsible for the administration of poor relief.Scotland source
1598January 30 – In Italy Cesare d'Este moves the capital of the Duchy of Modena and Reggio to the city of Modena, after the Duchy of Ferrara is declared by Pope Clement VIII to be at an end.source
1598April 13 – Edict of Nantes (promulgated April 30): Henry IV of France grants French Huguenots equal rights with Catholics; this is considered the end of the French Wars of Religion.source
1598April – signing of the Edict of Nantes.France source
1598May 6 – King Philip II of Spain announces that his eldest daughter, Isabella Clara Eugenia, will marry Albert of Austria (at the time a Roman Catholic cardinal and Archbishop of Toledo), and that the two will jointly govern the Habsburg Netherlands (now Belgium).source
1598August 16 (Keichō 3, 15th day of the 7th month) – The Council of Five Elders, to serve in Japan as regents after the death of General Hideyoshi, is gathered at Fushimi on orders of Hideyoshi, and the members vow their allegiance to Hideyoshi's son, Hideyori.source
1598September 5 (Keichō 3, 5th day of the 8th month) – With his own death imminent, General Toyotomi Hideyoshi of Japan issues an order directing the Council of Five Elders to bring their children to the Osaka Castle to join Hideyoshi's designated successor, his son Hideyori.source
1598September 13 – Philip III becomes the new King of Spain upon the death of his father Philip II.source
1598November 15 – Pope Clement VIII authorizes the marriage between Albert of Austria and Isabella Clara Eugenia of Spain. The two will be married on April 18.source
159828 December – Issue in Edinburgh by William Schaw, Master of Work to the Crown of Scotland and General Warden of the master stonemasons, of the First Schaw Statutes, "The Statutis and ordinananceis to be obseruit by all the maister maoissounis within this realme", significant in the development of freemasonry.Scotland source
1598December 29 – Pope Clement VIII refuses to allow dispensation for Henry of Lorraine, who is Catholic, to marry Catherine of Bourbon, a Protestant Calvinist. King Henry IV of France then intimidates the Catholic Archbishop of Reims into authorizing the marriage.source
1599January 8 – The Jesuit educational plan, known as the Ratio Studiorum, is issued.source
1599February 21 – Lorenzo Sauli becomes the new Doge of the Republic of Genoa, succeeding Lazzaro Grimaldi Cebà. Sauli will serve until 1601.source
1599February 21 – At Southwark, near London on the south bank of the River Thames, the land upon which the Globe Theatre will be built is leased by Nicholas Brend to a team of investors led by William Shakespeare, Thomas Pope, actors Cuthbert and Richard Burbage, and three others.source
1599June 1 – Bishops' Ban of 1599: The Archbishop of Canterbury, John Whitgift, and the Bishop of London, Richard Bancroft order a ban on a selection of literary works, including Microcynicon: Six Snarling Satires, by Thomas Middleton.source
1599June 20 – The Synod of Diamper is convened.source
159928 December – issue at Holyroodhouse by William Schaw, Master of Work to the Crown of Scotland and General Warden of the master stonemasons, of the Second Schaw Statutes, significant in the history of freemasonry, particularly in relation to Lodge Mother Kilwinning. The earliest records of the Lodge of Edinburgh (Mary's Chapel) date from this year.Scotland source
1599The Toyokuni Shrine in Kyoto and Oyama Shrine, dedicated to Maeda Toshiie, were founded.source
1599The first Capuchin friar is entombed in the Catacombe dei Cappuccini in Palermo (Sicily).source
1599Nauraspur founded by Ibrahim Adil Shah II (destroyed 1624).India source
1599Founding of Oyama Shrine, dedicated to Maeda ToshiieJapan source
1599Founding of Toyokuni Shrine in KyotoJapan source