1520s

The 1520s decade ran from January 1, 1520, to December 31, 1529.

Events

1520

January–June

• January 19 – King Christian II of Denmark and Norway defeats the Swedes, at Lake Åsunden in Sweden. The Swedish regent Sten Sture the Younger is mortally wounded in the battle. He is rushed towards Stockholm, in order to lead the fight against the Danes from there, but dies from his wounds on February 3.
• April 16 – Revolt of the Comuneros: Citizens of Toledo, Castile opposed to the rule of the Flemish-born Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor, rise up when the royal government attempts to unseat radical city councilors.
• June – Moctezuma II, Aztec ruler of Tenochtitlan, is declared deposed due to his captivity by conquistador Hernán Cortés. His brother Cuitláhuac rises to the throne.
• June 7 – King Henry VIII of England and King Francis I of France meet at the famous Field of Cloth of Gold.
• June 10 – Revolt of the Comuneros: Segovia is blockaded.
• June 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.

July–December

• July 1 – La Noche Triste (Night of Sorrow): The forces of Cuitláhuac, Aztec ruler of Tenochtitlan, gain a major victory against the forces of conquistador Hernán Cortés. This results in the death of about 400 conquistadors, and some 2,000 of their Native American allies. However, Cortés and the most skilled of his men manage to escape and later regroup.
• July 7 – Otumba near Lake Texcaco: The Spaniards defeat the Aztecs.
• August – Martin Luther writes To the Christian Nobility of the German Nation.
• September 7 – Christian II makes his triumphant entry into Stockholm, which had surrendered to him a few days earlier. Sten Sture's widow Christina Gyllenstierna, who has led the fight after Sten's death, and all other persons in the resistance against the Danes, are granted amnesty and are pardoned for their involvement in the resistance.
• September 22 – Suleiman I succeeds his father Selim I as Sultan of the Ottoman Empire.
• October – Cuitláhuac, Aztec ruler of Tenochtitlan, dies from smallpox. He is succeeded by his nephew Cuauhtémoc.
• October 21 (Feast of St. Ursula) – The islands of Saint Pierre and Miquelon are discovered by Portuguese explorer João Álvares Fagundes, off Newfoundland. He names them Islands of the 11,000 Virgins, in honour of Saint Ursula.
• October 26 – Charles V is crowned King of Germany.
• November 1–4 – Christian II is crowned king of Sweden. The coronation is followed by a three-day feast in Stockholm.
• November 7 – At the end of the third day of Christian's coronation feast, several leading figures of the Swedish resistance against the Danish invasion are imprisoned, and tried for high treason.
• November 8–10 – Stockholm Bloodbath: 82 noblemen and clergymen, having been sentenced to death for their involvement in the Swedish resistance against the Danish invasion, are executed by beheading.
• November 28 – After navigating through the South American strait, three ships under the command of Portuguese explorer Ferdinand Magellan reach the Pacific Ocean, becoming the first Europeans to sail from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific (the strait is later named the Strait of Magellan).
• December 10 – Martin Luther burns a copy of The Book of Canon Law (see Canon Law), and his copy of the Papal bull Exsurge Domine.

Date unknown

• The 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.
• Duarte Barbosa returns to Cananor.
• Aleksandra Lisowska (Roxelana) is given as a gift to Suleiman I on the occasion of his accession to the throne.
• King Manuel I creates the public mail service of Portugal, the Correio Público.

1521

Neacșu's letter, the oldest surviving document written in Romanian has the oldest appearance of the word "Rumanian"

January–June

• January 3 – Pope Leo X excommunicates Martin Luther, in the papal bull Decet Romanum Pontificem.^[1]
• January 22 – Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor, opens the Diet of Worms in Worms, Germany.
• January 27 – Suleiman the Magnificent suppresses a revolt by the ruler of Damascus.
• January 28 – The Diet of Worms begins, lasting until May 25.
• February 2 – The Nydala Abbey Bloodbath take place in Nydala Abbey, Sweden.
• March 6
  • Ferdinand Magellan discovers Guam.
  • Martin Luther is summoned to appear before the Diet of Worms.

• March 16 – Ferdinand Magellan reaches the Philippines.
• March 31 – The First Mass in the Philippines is held.
• April – The Battle of Tunmen occurs, in Tuen Mun (present-day Hong Kong), where the Ming Dynasty navy defeats the Portuguese navy. Arguably the first Sino-European battle in world history.
• April 7
  • Ferdinand Magellan arrives at Cebu.
  • Martin Luther preaches an inflammatory sermon to students at Erfurt, while on his way to Worms.
• April 16–18 – Martin Luther is examined before Emperor Charles V and the Diet of Worms, where he proclaims, "Here I stand", regarding his belief in the Bible alone, as the standard of Christian doctrine.
• April 24 – Revolt of the Comuneros – Battle of Villalar: Castilian royalists defeat the rebels and execute their three leaders.
• April 26 – Martin Luther leaves Worms and disappears for a year – he is rumored to be murdered, but is actually in hiding at the Wartburg castle.
• April 27 – Battle of Mactan: Ferdinand Magellan is killed in the Philippines.
• May – The Italian War of 1521–26 breaks out between Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor, and Francis I of France.
• May 17 – Edward Stafford, 3rd Duke of Buckingham, is executed for treason in London.
• May 20 – Battle of Pampeluna: Allied French-Navarrese forces defeat the Spanish.
• May 25 – The Diet of Worms ends when Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor issues the Edict of Worms, declaring Martin Luther an outlaw.
• May 27 – Jiajing Emperor ascends the throne of the Ming Dynasty.
• June 25 – Suleiman the Magnificent begins the siege of Belgrade.
• June 29 or 30 – The oldest surviving dateable document written primarily in the Romanian language: Neacșu's letter, written by a trader from Câmpulung, to Johannes Benkner, the mayor of Brașov, warning that the Ottoman Empire is preparing its troops to cross into Wallachia and Transylvania; the script used is Romanian Cyrillic.
• June 30 – Battle of Esquiroz: French forces under Henri d'Albret, exiled King of Navarre, are defeated by the Spanish, and forced to abandon their attempt to recover Henri's kingdom.

July–December

• July – Pfaffensturm: Students rebel against priests in Erfurt.
• August 8 – Fall of Tenochtitlan: Hernán Cortés and allied local indigenous peoples of the Americas defeat the Aztec forces of Cuauhtémoc, the last Tlatoani (Aztec Emperor), at Tenochtitlan in the Valley of Mexico.
• August 13 – Fall of Tenochtitlan: Cuauhtémoc surrenders to Cortés, thus incorporating the Aztec Empire into the Spanish Empire and ending the Late Postclassic period in Mesoamerica.
• August 29 – Belgrade is captured by the Ottoman army of Suleiman the Magnificent.
• November 23 – Spanish–German–Papal forces under Prospero Colonna force French Marshal Odet de Lautrec to abandon Milan.
• December 27 – The Zwickau prophets arrive in Wittenberg, disturbing the peace and preaching the Apocalypse.

Date unknown

• Jacopo Berengario da Carpi publishes Commentaria cum amplissimus additionibus super anatomiam Mundini in Bologna, including observation of the vermiform appendix.
• San Juan Bautista is founded in the archipelago of Puerto Rico.
• The Principality of Ryazan is annexed by the Grand Duchy of Moscow.

1522

January–June

• January 9 – Pope Adrian VI (born Adriaan Florenszoon Boeyens, Dedens or Dedel;^[2] Hadrianus in Latin) succeeds Pope Leo X, as the 218th pope. The only Dutch pope, he will be the last non-Italian elected for more than 450 years.
• January 26 – Spanish conquistador Gil González Dávila sets out from the gulf of Panama to explore the Pacific coast of Central America. He explores Nicaragua and names Costa Rica when he finds copious quantities of gold in Pacific beaches.
• April 27 – Battle of Bicocca: French and Swiss forces under Odet de Lautrec are defeated by the Spanish in their attempt to retake Milan, and are forced to withdraw into Venetian territory.
• May – England presents an ultimatum to France and Scotland.^[3]
• June 19 – Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor visits King Henry VIII of England, and signs the Treaty of Windsor, pledging a joint invasion of France, bringing England into the Italian War of 1521–1526.^[4]

July–December

• July – The English army attacks Brittany and Picardy from Calais, burning and looting the countryside.^[5]
• July 28 – Ottoman Sultan Suleiman I begins his siege to expel the Knights of St. John in Rhodes.
• August – The Knights' Revolt erupts in Germany.
• September 6 – The Vittoria, one of the surviving ships of Ferdinand Magellan's expedition, returns to Sanlúcar de Barrameda in Spain, under the command of Juan Sebastián Elcano, becoming the first ship to circumnavigate the world.
• September 21 – Luther Bible: Martin Luther's translation of the Bible's New Testament into Early New High German from Greek, Das newe Testament Deutzsch, is published in Germany, selling thousands in the first few weeks.
• November – The Diet of Nuremberg opens.
• September 22 – 1522 Almería earthquake: It is a major 6.8 to 7.0 M_w earthquake, that occurs in the capital of Almeria and the Andarax Valley, near Alhama de Almería. It has a maximum felt intensity of X–XI (extreme), and kills about 2,500 people, making it the most destructive earthquake in Spanish history. The city of Almería is totally destroyed, and there is serious destruction in 80 other towns; in Granada, large cracks are observed in various walls and towers.^[6]
• October 21-October 22 – The 1522 Vila Franca earthquake takes place in the municipality of Vila Franca do Campo, at the time the provincial capital, located on São Miguel Island, in the Portuguese archipelago of the Azores.
• December 18 – The Ottomans finally break into Rhodes, but the Knights continue fierce resistance in the streets.
• December 20 – Suleiman the Magnificent accepts the surrender of the surviving Knights, who are allowed to evacuate. They eventually re-settle on Malta, and become known as the Knights of Malta.

Date unknown

• The third edition of Erasmus's Greek Textus Receptus of the New Testament, Novum Testamentum (with parallel Latin text), is published in Basel.
• Chinese Ming dynasty War Ministry official He Ru is the first to acquire the Portuguese breech-loading culverin, while copies of them are made by two Westernized Chinese at Beijing, Yang San (Pedro Yang) and Dai Ming.
• Australia is sighted by a Portuguese expedition led by Cristóvão de Mendonça, who maps the continent and names it Jave la Grande ("The Greater Java"), according to the theory of the Portuguese discovery of Australia.
• The Portuguese ally with the Sultanate of Ternate and begin the construction of Fort Kastela.
• The Portuguese along with King Ilato of the Goratalo kingdom constructs the Otanaha Fortress.

1523

January–June

• January 20 – Christian II is forced to abdicate as King of Denmark and Norway.
• May – The Ningbo Incident: Two rival trade delegations from Japan feud in the Chinese city of Ningbo, resulting in the pillage and plunder of the city.
• June 6 – Gustav Vasa is elected king of Sweden, finally establishing the full independence of Sweden from Denmark, which marks the end of the Kalmar Union. This event is also traditionally considered to be the establishment of the modern Swedish nation.

July–December

• c. July – Martin Luther's translation of the Pentateuch into German (Das allte Testament Deutsch) is published.
• July 1 – Jan van Essen and Hendrik Vos become the first Flemish Lutheran martyrs, burned at the stake by Roman Catholic authorities in Brussels.
• July 7 – Wijerd Jelckama, a Frisian warlord and military commander, is executed in Leeuwarden, ending the Frisian rebellion fought by the Arumer Black Heap.
• September 22 – Spanish conquest of Nicaragua: Agreement for an expedition by conquistadores into Nicaragua.
• November 19 – Following the death of Pope Adrian VI, the Medici cardinal is elected 219th pope as Clement VII.

Date unknown

• The Ming dynasty Chinese navy captures two Western ships with Portuguese breech–loading culverins aboard, which the Chinese call a fo–lang–ji (Frankish culverin). According to the Ming Shi, these cannons are soon presented to the Jiajing Emperor by Wang Hong, and their design is copied in 1529.^[7]
• Franconian War: The Swabian League destroys 23 robber baron castles.

1524

January–June

• January 17 – Florentine explorer Giovanni da Verrazzano, on board La Dauphine in the service of Francis I of France, sets out from Madeira for the New World, to seek out a western sea route to the Pacific Ocean.
• March – Spanish conquistador Pedro de Alvarado destroys the K'iche' kingdom of Q'umarkaj, taking the capital, Quiché.
• March 1 (approximate date) – da Verrazzano's expedition makes landfall at Cape Fear.
• April 17 – Verrazzano's expedition makes the first European entry into New York Bay, and sights the island of Manhattan.^[8][9]
• April 30 – Battle of the Sesia: Spanish forces under Charles de Lannoy defeat the French army in Italy, under William de Bonnivet. The French, now commanded by François de St. Pol, withdraw from the Italian Peninsula.
• May 26 – Atiquipaque, the most important city of the Xinca people is conquered by the Spanish resulting in a significant reduction in the Xinca population.
• June 8 – Battle of Acajutla: Spanish conquistador Pedro de Alvarado defeats a battalion of Pipiles, in the neighborhoods of present day Acajutla, El Salvador.

July–December

• Summer – Paracelsus visits Salzburg; he also visits Villach during the year.
• July 8 – Verrazzano's expedition returns to Dieppe.
• August–September – Marseille is besieged by Imperial forces, under the Duke of Bourbon.
• August – Protestant theologians Martin Luther and Andreas Karlstadt dispute at Jena.
• October 28 – A French army invading Italy, under King Francis, besieges Pavia.
• December 8 – Francisco Hernandez de Cordoba founds the city of Granada, Nicaragua, the oldest Hispanic city in the mainland of the Western Hemisphere.

1525

January–June

• January 21 – The Swiss Anabaptist Movement is born when Conrad Grebel, Felix Manz, George Blaurock, and about a dozen others baptize each other in the home of Manz's mother on Neustadt-Gasse, Zürich, breaking a thousand-year tradition of church-state union.
• February 24 – Battle of Pavia: Spanish forces under Charles de Lannoy and the Marquis of Pescara defeat the French army, and capture Francis I of France, after his horse is wounded by Cesare Hercolani. While Francis is imprisoned in Madrid, the first attempts to form a Franco-Ottoman alliance with Suleiman the Magnificent against the Habsburg Empire are made.
• February 28 – The last Aztec Emperor, Cuauhtémoc, is killed by Hernán Cortés.
• March 20 – In the German town of Memmingen, the pamphlet The Twelve Articles: The Just and Fundamental Articles of All the Peasantry and Tenants of Spiritual and Temporal Powers by Whom They Think Themselves Oppressed is published, the first human rights related document written in Europe.
• April 4 – German Peasants' War in the Holy Roman Empire: Battle of Leipheim – Peasants retreat.
• April 10 – Albert, Duke of Prussia commits Prussian Homage.
• May 14–15 – German Peasants' War: Battle of Frankenhausen – Insurgent peasants led by radical pastor Thomas Müntzer are defeated.
• June 13 – Martin Luther marries ex-nun Katharina von Bora. The painter Lucas Cranach the Elder is one of the witnesses.
• June 16 – Henry VIII of England appoints his six-year old illegitimate son Henry FitzRoy Duke of Richmond and Somerset.
• June 23–24 – German Peasants' War: Battle of Pfeddersheim – Peasants defeated in the last significant action of the war, in which over 75,000 peasants have been killed.

July–December

• July 29 – Santa Marta, the first city in Colombia, is founded by Spanish conquistador Rodrigo de Bastidas.
• December – The first French ambassador to reach the Sublime Porte, Jean Frangipani, sets out for Constantinople.

Date unknown

• Mixco Viejo, capital of the Pocomam Maya State, falls to the Spanish conquistadores of Pedro de Alvarado (in modern-day Guatemala) after a three-month siege.
• European-brought diseases sweep through the Andes, killing thousands, including the Inca.
• The Bubonic plague spreads in southern France.
• Printing of the first edition of William Tyndale's New Testament Bible translation into English in Cologne is interrupted by anti-Lutheran forces (finished copies reach England in 1526).
• The Navarre witch trials (1525-26) begin.
• The Chinese Ministry of War under the Ming dynasty orders ships having more than one mast sailing along the southeast coast to be seized, investigated, and destroyed; this in an effort to curb piracy and limit private commercial trade abroad.
• The Age of Samael ends, and the Age of Gabriel begins, according to Johannes Trithemius.

1526

January–June

• January 14 – Treaty of Madrid: Peace is declared between Francis I of France and Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor. Francis agrees to cede Burgundy and abandons all claims to Flanders, Artois, Naples, and Milan.
• April 21 – Battle of Panipat: Babur becomes Mughal emperor, invades northern India and captures Delhi, beginning the richest dynasty in the world, the Mughal Empire, which lasts until 1857.
• May 22 – Francis repudiates the Treaty of Madrid and forms the League of Cognac against Charles, including Pope Clement VII, Milan, Venice, and Florence.
• May 24 – A transit of Venus occurs, the last before optical filters allow astronomers to observe them.
• June 9 – Emperor Go-Nara ascends to the throne of Japan.

July–December

• July – The Spanish ship Santiago, from García Jofre de Loaísa's expedition, reaches the Pacific Coast of Mexico, the first to navigate from Europe to the west coast of North America.
• July 24 – Milan is captured by the Spanish.
• August 21 – Spanish explorer Alonso de Salazar becomes the first European to sight the Marshall Islands, in the Pacific Ocean.^[10]
• August 29 – Battle of Mohács: The Ottoman army of Sultan Suleiman I defeats the Hungarian army of King Louis II, who is killed in the retreat. Suleiman takes Buda, while Archduke Ferdinand of Austria and John Zápolya, Prince of Transylvania, dispute the succession. As a result of the battle, Dubrovnik achieves independence, although it acknowledges Turkish overlordship.
• December – Paracelsus arrives at Strasbourg.

Date unknown

• Spring – The first complete printed translation of the New Testament of the Bible into the English language by William Tyndale arrives in England from Germany, printing having been completed in Worms by Peter Schöffer the younger (with other copies being printed in Amsterdam). In October, Cuthbert Tunstall, Bishop of London, attempts to collect all the copies in his diocese and burn them.
• The first official translation is made of the New Testament into Swedish; the entire Bible is completed in 1541.
• Gunsmith Bartolomeo Beretta (in Italian) establishes the Beretta Gun Company, which will still be in business in the 21st century, making it one of the world's oldest corporations.

1527

January–June

• January 1 – Croatian nobles elect Ferdinand I of Austria as King of Croatia in the Parliament on Cetin.
• January 5 – Felix Manz, co-founder of the Swiss Anabaptists, is drowned in the Limmat in Zürich, by the Zürich Reformed state church.
• March 17 – Battle of Khanwa: Babur defeats Rajput ruler Rana Sanga. This and two other major Moghul victories lead to their domination of northern India. Dhaulpur fort is taken by Babur.
• March
  • Paracelsus is appointed as town physician of Basel, Switzerland.
  • The Confederation of Shan States sack Ava, the capital of the Ava Kingdom.
• April 30 – The Treaty of Westminster (1527), an alliance during the War of the League of Cognac, is signed.
• May 6 – Sack of Rome: Spanish and German troops led by the Duke of Bourbon sack Rome, forcing 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.
• May 16 – In Florence, the Piagnon, a group devoted to the memory of Girolamo Savonarola, drive out the Medici for a second time, re-establishing the Republic of Florence until 1530.
• June 17 – The Narváez expedition to conquer Florida sets sail from Spain.
• June 17 – The Protestant Reformation begins in Sweden. The Riksdag of the Estates in Västerås adopts Lutheranism as the state religion, in place of Roman Catholicism. This results in the confiscation of church property and dissolution of Catholic convents in accordance with the Reduction of Gustav I of Sweden.
• June 21 – Niccolò Machiavelli, Italian historian, politician, diplomat, philosopher and humanist dies in Florence, Italy.
• June 22 – Jakarta, current capital of Indonesia, is founded as Jayakarta.
• June 23 – Paracelsus burns the books of Avicenna.

July–December

• August 3 – The first known letter is sent from North America by John Rut, while at St. John's, Newfoundland.
• August 20 – Sixty Anabaptists meet at the Martyrs' Synod in Augsburg.
• August 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.^[11][12]
• September 27 – Battle of Tarcal: Ferdinand, future Holy Roman Emperor, defeats John Zápolya and takes over most of Hungary. John appeals to the Ottomans for help.

Date unknown

• The Spanish conquest of Guatemala's highlands is completed; the first city in Guatemala, Ciudad Vieja is founded.
• Members of the University of Wittenberg flee to Jena, in fear of the bubonic plague.
• Bishop Vesey's Grammar School (at Sutton Coldfield, in the West Midlands of England) is founded by Bishop John Vesey.
• Sir George Monoux College is founded as a grammar school at Walthamstow, England, by Sir George Monoux, draper and Lord Mayor of London.
• The Ming dynasty government of China greatly reduces the quotas for taking grain, severely diminishing the state's capacity to relieve famines through a previously successful granary system.
• The second of the Dalecarlian rebellions breaks out in Sweden.

1528

January–June

• January 12 – Gustav I of Sweden is crowned king of Sweden, having already reigned since his election in June 1523.
• February
  • Peasant uprising in Dalarna, Sweden: The rebel campaign fails, and the rebel leader, later known as Daljunkern, flees to Rostock.
  • Diego García de Moguer explores the Sierra de la Plata along the Río de la Plata, and begins to travel up the Paraná River.^[13]
  • Paracelsus visits Colmar in Alsace.
• April 28 – Battle of Capo d'Orso: The French fleet, under mercenary captain Filippino Doria, crushes the Spanish squadron trying to run the blockade of Naples.

July–December

• September 12 – Andrea Doria defeats his former allies, the French, and establishes the independence of Genoa.
• October 3 – Álvaro de Saavedra Cerón arrives in the Maluku Islands.
• October 13 – Cardinal Thomas Wolsey founds a college in his birthplace of Ipswich, England, which becomes the modern-day Ipswich School (incorporating institutions in the town dating back to 1299).
• October 20 – The Treaty of Gorinchem is signed between Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor, and Charles, Duke of Guelders.
• November 6 – Spanish conquistador Álvar Núñez Cabeza de Vaca and his companions become the first known Europeans to set foot on the shores of what is present-day Texas.

Date unknown

• Montenegro gains autonomy under Ottoman power.
• Spanish Conquistador Francisco de Montejo attempts an invasion of the Yucatán, but is driven out by the Maya peoples.
• Spain takes direct control of Acapulco.
• Bubonic plague breaks out in England.^[14]
• The fourth major outbreak of the sweating sickness occurs in England. This time the disease also spreads to northern Europe.
• St George's Chapel in Windsor Castle is completed.
• Chateau Fontainebleau in France is begun.
• Michelangelo Buonarroti begins work on the fortifications of Florence.
• Baldassare Castiglione publishes The Book of the Courtier.
• In Henan province, China, during the mid Ming dynasty, a vast drought deprives the region of harvests for the next two years, killing off half the people in some communities, due to starvation and cannibalism.^[15]
• Paracelsus leaves Basel.

1529

January–June

• February 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.
• March – Battle of Shimbra Kure: Imam Ahmad ibn Ibrahim al-Ghazi, with 200 men armed with matchlocks, defeats the army of Dawit II, Emperor of Ethiopia.
• March 25 – Blood libel against the Jewish community of Bosen (formerly in Hungary, today in Slovakia), on the first day of Passover. Three Jews are accused and killed, while the boy is discovered alive, kidnapped for the benefit of the scheme.
• April 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.^[16]
• April 9 – The Westrogothian rebellion breaks out in Sweden.
• April 19 – Diet of Speyer: A group of rulers (German: Fürst) and independent cities (German: Reichsstadt) protest the reinstatement of the Edict of Worms, beginning the Protestant movement.
• April 22 – The Treaty of Zaragoza divides the eastern hemisphere between the Spanish and Portuguese empires, stipulating that the dividing line should lie 297.5 leagues or 17° east of the Moluccas.
• May–July – Cardinal Thomas Wolsey, Archbishop of York, presides over a legatine court at Blackfriars, London, to rule on the legality of King Henry VIII of England's marriage to Catherine of Aragon.^[3]
• May 10 – The Ottoman army under Suleiman I leaves Constantinople, to invade Hungary once again.
• June 21 – War of the League of Cognac – Battle of Landriano: French forces in northern Italy are decisively defeated by Spain.

July–December

• July 30 – The only continental outbreak of English sweating sickness reaches Lübeck, spreading from there into Schleswig-Holstein in the next few months.^[17]
• August 5 – Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor, and Francis I of France sign the Treaty of Cambrai, or Ladies' Peace in the War of the League of Cognac: Francis abandons his claims in Italy, but is allowed to retain the Duchy of Burgundy. Henry VIII of England accedes on August 27.^[4]
• September 1 – Sancti Spiritu, the first European settlement in Argentina, is destroyed by local natives.
• September 8
  • Buda is recaptured by the invading forces of the Ottoman Empire.
  • The city of Maracaibo, Venezuela is founded by Ambrosius Ehinger.
• September 27 – Siege of Vienna: Vienna is besieged by the Ottoman forces of Suleiman the Magnificent.
• October 15 – With the season growing late, Suleiman abandons the Siege of Vienna (a turning point in the Ottoman wars in Europe).
• October 26 – Cardinal Wolsey falls from power in England, due to his failure to prevent Habsburg expansion in Europe, and obtain an annulment of Henry VIII's marriage. Thomas More succeeds him as Lord Chancellor.^[4]
• November 4–December 17 – The English Reformation Parliament is first seated.^[4]

Date unknown

• Aylesbury is granted the county town of Buckinghamshire, England by King Henry VIII.
• Stephen Báthory becomes governor of Transylvania.
• Borommarachathirat IV succeeds Ramathibodi II as king of Ayutthaya.
• Fluorite is first described, by Georg Agricola.
• Giorgio Vasari visits Rome.
• Pietro Bembo becomes historiographer of Venice.
• Heinrich Bullinger becomes pastor of Bremgarten, Switzerland.
• Paracelsus uses that name for the first time and visits Nuremberg.
• Occultist Heinrich Cornelius Agrippa publishes Declamatio de nobilitate et praecellentia foeminei sexus ("Declamation on the Nobility and Preeminence of the Female Sex"), a book pronouncing the theological and moral superiority of women.
• A summit level canal between Alster and the Trave in Germany opens to navigation.^[18]

Births

1520

Barbara Radziwiłł

• January 7 – Peder Oxe, Danish finance minister (d. 1575)
• January 30 – William More, English courtier (d. 1600)
• February 22 – Frederick III of Legnica, Duke of Legnica (d. 1570)
• March 3 – Matthias Flacius, Croatian Protestant reformer (d. 1575)
• June 29 – Nicolás Factor, Spanish artist (d. 1583)
• July 27 – Gonzalo II Fernández de Córdoba, Governor of the Duchy of Milan (d. 1578)
• August 1 – King Sigismund II Augustus of Poland (d. 1572)
• August 10 – Madeleine of Valois, queen of James V of Scotland (d. 1537)
• August 21 – Bartholomäus Sastrow, German official (d. 1603)
• August 31 – Heinrich Sudermann, German politician (d. 1591)
• September 13 – William Cecil, 1st Baron Burghley, English statesman, chief advisor to Queen Elizabeth I (d. 1598)
• October 5 – Alessandro Farnese, Italian cardinal (d. 1589)
• November 10 – Dorothea of Denmark, Electress Palatine, Princess of Denmark, Sweden and Norway (d. 1580)
• December 6 – Barbara Radziwiłł, queen of Poland (d. 1551)
• December 24 – Martha Leijonhufvud, politically active Swedish noble (d. 1584)
• date unknown
  • Patriarch Metrophanes III of Constantinople (d. 1580)
  • Seosan, Korean monk
  • Jean Ribault, French navigator (d. 1565)
  • Vincenzo Galilei, Italian music theorist, lutenist, and composer (d. 1591)
  • Aben Humeya, last independent king of Granada (d. 1568)
  • Ijuin Tadaaki, Japanese nobleman (d. 1561)
  • Agatha Streicher, German physician (d. 1581)
  • Katarina Bengtsdotter Gylta, Swedish abbess (d. 1593)
  • Jacques Cujas, French legal expert (d. 1590)
  • Johannes Acronius Frisius, German doctor and mathematician (d. 1564)
• probable
  • Hans Eworth, Flemish portrait painter (d. 1574)
  • Katharina Gerlachin, German printer (d. 1592)
  • Jorge de Montemor, Spanish novelist and poet (d. 1561)
  • Giovanni Battista Moroni, Italian mannerist painter (d. 1578)
• possible
  • Catherine Howard, Fifth Queen of Henry VIII of England, (born in between 1518 and 1524; d. 1542)

1521

Maria of Portugal, Duchess of Viseu

• March 21 – Maurice, Elector of Saxony (d. 1553)
• April 5 – Francesco Laparelli, Italian architect (d. 1570)
• April 14 – Johann Marbach, German theologian (d. 1581)
• April 18 – François de Coligny d'Andelot, French general (d. 1569)
• May 8 – Petrus Canisius, Dutch Jesuit (d. 1597)
• May 10 – John Ernest, Duke of Saxe-Coburg, (d. 1553)
• June 18 – Maria of Portugal, Duchess of Viseu, daughter of King Manuel I (d. 1577)
• June 21 – John II, Duke of Schleswig-Holstein-Haderslev (d. 1580)
• August 4 – Pope Urban VII (d. 1590)
• August 19 – Lodovico Guicciardini, Italian historian (d. 1589)
• October 1 – Frederick Magnus I, Count of Solms-Laubach, (d. 1561)
• November 22 – Edmund Sheffield, 1st Baron Sheffield, English baron (d. 1549)
• November 29 – Marcantonio Maffei, Italian Catholic archbishop and cardinal (d. 1583)
• December 1 – Takeda Shingen, Japanese warlord (d. 1573)
• December 13 – Pope Sixtus V (d. 1590)
• date unknown
  • Anne Askew, English Protestant martyr (d. 1546)
  • John Aylmer, English divine (d. 1594)
  • Sue Harukata, Japanese retainer and later daimyō under Ouchi Yoshitaka (d. 1555)
  • Thomas Chaloner, English statesman and poet (d. 1565)
  • Philippe de Monte, Flemish composer (d. 1603)
  • Rokkaku Yoshikata, Japanese daimyō (d. 1598)
  • Thomas Wyatt the Younger, English rebel (d. 1554)
• possible
  • Catherine Howard, Fifth Queen of Henry VIII of England, (b. between 1518 and 1524; d. 1542)

1522

Dirck Coornhert

Mihrimah Sultan

• January 22 – Charles II de Valois, Duke of Orléans, (d. 1545)
• February 2
  • Lodovico Ferrari, Italian mathematician (d. 1565)
  • Francesco Alciati, Italian Catholic cardinal (d. 1580)
• March 10 – Miyoshi Nagayoshi, Japanese samurai and daimyō (d. 1564)
• March 22 – Daniel Brendel von Homburg, Roman Catholic archbishop (d. 1582)
• March 28 – Albert the Warlike, German prince (d. 1557)
• April 23 – Catherine of Ricci, Italian prioress (d. 1590)
• May 24 – John Jewel, English bishop (d. 1571)
• June 1 – Dirck Volckertszoon Coornhert, Dutch writer and scholar (d. 1590)
• July 5 – Margaret of Austria, regent of the Netherlands (d. 1586)
• July 13 – Sophia Jagiellon, Duchess of Brunswick-Lüneburg (d. 1575)
• July 25 – Anna of Lorraine (d. 1568)
• July 31 – Charles II de Croÿ, Belgian duke (d. 1551)
• August 4 – Udai Singh II, King of Mewar (d. 1572)
• August 28 – Severinus of Saxony, Prince of Saxony; died young (d. 1533)
• September 11 – Ulisse Aldrovandi, Italian naturalist (d. 1605)
• October 4 – Gabriele Paleotti, Italian Catholic cardinal (d. 1597)
• October 14 – Lucas Maius, Lutheran Reformation pastor, theologian and playwright (d. 1598)
• November 1 – Andrew Corbet, English landowner and politician (d. 1578)
• November 4 – Albert de Gondi, Marshal of France (d. 1602)
• November 9 – Martin Chemnitz, Lutheran reformer (d. 1586)
• November 18 – Lamoral, Count of Egmont, Flemish general and statesman (d. 1568)
• December 16 – Honoré I, Lord of Monaco (d. 1581)
• date unknown
  • Mihrimah Sultan, Ottoman princess (d. 1578)
  • Moses ben Jacob Cordovero, Spanish Jewish rabbi and kabbalist (d. 1570)
  • Philothei, Greek saint (d. 1589)
• probable
  • Emperor Gelawdewos of Ethiopia (d. 1559)
• possible
  • Catherine Howard, fifth queen of Henry VIII of England, (b. between 1518 and 1524; d. 1542)

1523

Margaret of France, Duchess of Berry

Queen Anna

• January 29 – Enea Vico, Italian engraver (d. 1567)
• February 1 – Francesco Abbondio Castiglioni, Italian Catholic cardinal (d. 1568)
• February 13 – Valentin Naboth, German astronomer and mathematician (d. 1593)
• February 20 – Jan Blahoslav, Czech writer (d. 1571)
• March 17 – Giovanni Francesco Commendone, Italian Catholic cardinal (d. 1584)
• March 21 – Kaspar Eberhard, German theologian (d. 1575)
• April 5 – Blaise de Vigenère, French diplomat and cryptographer (d. 1596)
• April 21 – Marco Antonio Bragadin, Venetian lawyer and military officer (d. 1571)
• June 5 – Margaret of France, Duchess of Berry (d. 1574)
• July 4 – Pier Francesco Orsini, Italian condottiero and art patron (d. 1583)
• July 18 – Duke George II of Brieg (1547–1586) (d. 1586)
• September 21 – Sancho d'Avila, Spanish general (d. 1583)
• September 22 – Charles, Cardinal de Bourbon, French church leader and pretender to the throne (d. 1590)
• October 10 – Ludwig Rabus, German martyrologist (d. 1592)
• October 11 – Eleonore of Fürstenberg, wife of Philip IV, Count of Hanau-Lichtenberg (d. 1544)
• October 18 – Anna Jagiellon, daughter of Sigismund I of Poland (d. 1596)
• date unknown
  • Gabriele Falloppio, Italian anatomist and physician (d. 1562)
  • Martín Cortés, Spanish conquistador (d. 1589)
  • Francisco Foreiro, Portuguese Dominican theologian and biblist (d. 1581)
  • Gaspara Stampa, Italian poet (d. 1554)
• probable – Crispin van den Broeck, Flemish painter (d. 1591)
• possible – Catherine Howard, fifth queen of Henry VIII of England, (b. between 1518 and 1524; executed 1542)

1524

Elizabeth of Denmark, Duchess of Mecklenburg

• February 10 – Albrecht Giese, German politician and diplomat (d. 1580)
• February 17 – Charles, Cardinal of Lorraine, French cardinal (d. 1574)
• May 28 – Selim II, Ottoman Sultan (d. 1574)
• June 12 – Achilles Statius, Portuguese humanist (d. 1581)
• June 24 – Johann Stössel, German theologian (d. 1576)
• August 14 – Elizabeth of Denmark, Duchess of Mecklenburg, Danish princess (d. 1586)
• August 23 – François Hotman, French Protestant lawyer and writer (d. 1590)
• September 7 – Thomas Erastus, Swiss theologian (d. 1583)
• September 11 – Pierre de Ronsard, French poet (d. 1585)
• October 4 – Francisco Vallés, Spanish physician (d. 1592)
• October 5 – Rani Durgavati, Queen of Gond (d. 1564)
• October 9 – Ottavio Farnese, Duke of Parma (d. 1586)
• October 16 – Nicolas, Duke of Mercœur, French Catholic bishop (d. 1577)
• November 12 – Diego de Landa, Bishop of the Yucatán (d. 1579)
• date unknown
  • Jan Borukowski, royal secretary of Poland (d. 1584)
  • Armand de Gontaut, baron de Biron, French soldier (d. 1592)
  • Jean Pithou, French lawyer and author (d. 1602); and his twin brother, Nicolas Pithou, French lawyer and author (d. 1598)
  • Joseph Nasi, Portuguese Sephardi diplomat and administrator (d. 1579)
  • Thomas Tusser, English poet and farmer (d. 1580)
  • Luís de Camões, Portuguese poet (d. 1580)
  • Plautilla Nelli, Italian painter (d. 1588)
  • Wenceslaus III Adam, Duke of Cieszyn (d. 1579)
  • Catherine Carey, cousin of Elizabeth I of England (d. 1569)
• possible
  • Catherine Howard, fifth queen of Henry VIII of England, (b. between 1518 and 1524; d. 1542)

1525

Pieter Bruegel the Elder

• January 6 – Caspar Peucer, German reformer (d. 1602)
• January 29 – Lelio Sozzini, Italian Renaissance humanist and anti-Trinitarian reformer (d. 1562)
• February 5 – Juraj Drašković, Croatian Catholic cardinal (d. 1587)
• March 19 – Caspar Cruciger the Younger, German theologian (d. 1597)
• March 25 – Richard Edwardes, English choral musician, playwright and poet (d. 1566)
• March 26 – Katharina of Hanau, Countess of Wied, German noblewoman (d. 1581)
• June 29 – Peter Agricola, German Renaissance humanist, educator, classical scholar, theologian, diplomat and statesman (d. 1585)
• September 1 – Christoffer Valkendorff, Danish politician (d. 1601)
• September 11 – John George, Elector of Brandenburg (d. 1598)
• September 25 – Steven Borough, English explorer (d. 1584)
• November 7 – Georg Cracow, German lawyer and politician (d. 1575)
• December 1 – Tadeáš Hájek, Czech astronomer (d. 1600)
• December 23 – John Albert I, Duke of Mecklenburg (d. 1576)
• date unknown
  • Maharal of Prague, Talmudic scholar, Jewish mystic and philosopher (d. 1609)
  • Melchor Cano, Spanish theologian (d. 1560)
  • Edward Sutton, 4th Baron Dudley (d. 1586)
• probable
  • Pieter Bruegel the Elder, Flemish painter (d. 1569)
  • Baldassare Donato, Italian composer and singer (d. 1603)
  • Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina, Italian composer (d. 1594)
  • Hans Staden, German soldier and sailor (d. 1579)

1526

Carolus Clusius

Catherine Jagiellon

• January 1 – Louis Bertrand, Spanish missionary to Latin America, patron saint of Colombia (d. 1581)
• January 20 – Rafael Bombelli, Italian mathematician (d. 1572)
• January 25 – Adolf, Duke of Holstein-Gottorp (d. 1586)
• February 1 – Niiro Tadamoto, Japanese samurai (d. 1611)
• February 2 – Konstanty Wasyl Ostrogski, Polish noble (d. 1608)
• February 19 – Charles de L'Ecluse, Flemish botanist (d. 1609)
• February 23 – Gonçalo da Silveira, Portuguese Jesuit missionary (d. 1561)
• March 4 – Henry Carey, 1st Baron Hunsdon (d. 1596)
• March 11 – Heinrich Rantzau, German humanist writer, astrologer, and astrological writer (d. 1598)
• April 8 – Elisabeth of Brunswick-Calenberg, Countess of Henneberg (d. 1566)
• April 12 – Muretus, French humanist (d. 1585)
• April 30 – Beate Clausdatter Bille, Danish noblewoman (d. 1605)
• June 9 – Matsudaira Hirotada, Japanese daimyō (d. 1549)
• June 25 – Elisabeth Parr, Marchioness of Northampton, English noble (d. 1565)
• July 9 – Elizabeth of Austria, Polish noble (d. 1545)
• July 10 – Philipe de Croÿ, Duke of Aerschot (d. 1595)
• July 31 – Augustus, Elector of Saxony (d. 1586)
• August 18 – Claude, Duke of Aumale, third son of Claude (d. 1573)
• August 22 – Adolph of Nassau-Saarbrücken, Count of Nassau (d. 1559)
• September 23 – Henry Manners, 2nd Earl of Rutland (d. 1563)
• September 26 – Wolfgang, Count Palatine of Zweibrücken (d. 1569)
• October 1 – Dorothy Stafford, English noble (d. 1604)
• October 30 – Hubert Goltzius, Dutch Renaissance painter-engraver (d. 1583)
• November 1 – Catherine Jagiellon, queen of John III of Sweden (d. 1583)
• November 12 – Andreas Gaill, German jurist and statesman (d. 1587)
• December 12 – Álvaro de Bazán, 1st Marquis of Santa Cruz, Spanish admiral (d. 1588)
• December 26 – Rose Lok, English businesswoman and Protestant exile during the Tudor period (d. 1613)
• December 28 – Anna Maria of Brandenburg-Ansbach, German princess (d. 1589)
• date unknown
  • Kenau Simonsdochter Hasselaer, Dutch war heroine (d. 1588)
  • Ikoma Chikamasa, Japanese daimyō in the Azuchi-Momoyama and Edo periods (d. 1603)
  • Azai Hisamasa, Japanese warlord (d. 1573)
• probable
  • Taqi ad-Din Muhammad ibn Ma'ruf, Ottoman Muslim scientist (d. 1585)
  • Henry Manners, 2nd Earl of Rutland, Lord Lieutenant of Nottinghamshire (d. 1563)

1527

Anna Sophia of Prussia

Maria Manuela, Princess of Portugal

• March 4 – Ludwig Lavater, Swiss Reformed theologian (d. 1586)
• March 5 – Ulrich, Duke of Mecklenburg (d. 1603)
• March 10 – Alfonso d'Este, Lord of Montecchio, Italian nobleman (d. 1587)
• March 21 – Hermann Finck, German composer and music theorist (d. 1558)
• March 28 – Isabella Markham, English courtier (d. 1579)
• March 31 – Edward Fitton, the elder, Irish politician (d. 1579)
• April 14 – Abraham Ortelius, Flemish cartographer and geographer (d. 1598)
• c. May 1 – Johannes Stadius, German astronomer, astrologer, mathematician (d. 1579)
• May 21 – Philip II, King of Spain (d. 1598)
• May 31 – Agnes of Hesse, German noble, by marriage, Princess of Saxony (d. 1555)
• June 11 – Anna Sophia of Prussia, Duchess of Prussia and Duchess of Mecklenburg (d. 1591)
• June 24 – Jean Vendeville, French law professor, Roman Catholic bishop (d. 1592)
• July 8 – Saitō Yoshitatsu, Japanese daimyō (d. 1561)
• July 13 – John Dee, English mathematician, astronomer, and geographer (d. 1608)
• July 31 – Maximilian II, Holy Roman Emperor (d. 1576)
• August 10 – Barbara of Brandenburg, Duchess of Brieg, German princess (d. 1595)
• September 29 – John Lesley, Scottish bishop (d. 1596)
• October 2 – William Drury, English politician (d. 1579)
• October 15 – Maria Manuela, Princess of Portugal (d. 1545)
• October 21 – Louis I, Cardinal of Guise, French Catholic cardinal (d. 1578)
• November 1
  • Pedro de Ribadeneira, Spanish hagiologist (d. 1611)
  • William Brooke, 10th Baron Cobham, English noble and politician (d. 1597)
• November 3 – Tilemann Heshusius, Gnesio-Lutheran theologian (d. 1588)
• November 18 – Luca Cambiasi, Italian painter (d. 1585)
• December 6 – Bernhard VIII, Count of Lippe (d. 1563)
• December 23 – Hugues Doneau, French lawyer (d. 1591)
• date unknown
  • Giuseppe Arcimboldo, Italian artist (d. 1593)
  • Luis de León, Spanish lyric poet and mystic (d. 1591)
  • Sakuma Nobumori, Japanese retainer and samurai (d. 1581)
  • Annibale Padovano, Italian composer and organist (d. 1575)
• probable
  • John Dudley, 2nd Earl of Warwick, English nobleman (d. 1554)
  • Lawrence Humphrey, English clergyman and educator (d. 1590)

1528

Jeanne III of Navarre

• February 29
  • Domingo Báñez, Spanish theologian (d. 1604)
  • Albert V, Duke of Bavaria (d. 1579)
• March 10 – Akechi Mitsuhide, Japanese samurai and warlord (d. 1582)
• March 25 – Jakob Andreae, German theologian (d. 1590)
• June 7 – Cyriacus Spangenberg, German theologian and historian (d. 1604)
• June 21 – Maria of Austria, Holy Roman Empress (d. 1603)
• June 29 – Julius, Duke of Brunswick-Lüneburg (d. 1589)
• July 7 – Archduchess Anna of Austria, Duchess of Bavaria (d. 1590)
• July 8 – Emmanuel Philibert, Duke of Savoy (d. 1580)
• July 26 – Diego Andrada de Payva, Portuguese theologian (d. 1575)
• August 10 – Eric II, Duke of Brunswick-Lüneburg (d. 1584)
• September 25 – Otto II, Duke of Brunswick-Harburg (d. 1603)
• October 4? – Francisco Guerrero, Spanish composer (d. 1599)
• October 10 – Adam Lonicer, German botanist (d. 1586)
• November 2 – Petrus Lotichius Secundus, German Neo-Latin poet (d. 1560)
• November 6 – Gabriel Goodman, Dean of Westminster (d. 1601)
• November 12 – Qi Jiguang, Chinese military general (d. 1588)
• November 14 – Francisco Pérez de Valenzuela, Spanish noble (d. 1599)
• November 16 – Jeanne d'Albret, Queen of Navarre (d. 1572)
• November 29 – Anthony Browne, 1st Viscount Montagu, English politician (d. 1592)
• date unknown
  • Igram van Achelen, Dutch statesman (d. 1604)
  • Adam von Bodenstein, Swiss alchemist and physician (d. 1577)
  • Jean-Jacques Boissard, French antiquary and Latin poet (d. 1602)
  • Andrey Kurbsky, Russian writer (d. 1583)
  • George Talbot, 6th Earl of Shrewsbury, English statesman (d. 1590)
  • Phùng Khắc Khoan, Vietnamese military strategist, politician, diplomat and poet (d. 1613)
  • Sabina, Duchess of Bavaria (d. 1578)
  • Tanegashima Tokitaka, Japanese daimyō (d. 1579)
  • Thomas Whythorne, English musician and author (d. 1595)
• probable
  • Ambrose Dudley, 3rd Earl of Warwick, English general (d. 1590)
  • Paul de Foix, French diplomat (d. 1584)
  • Jean de Ligne, Duke of Arenberg, stadtholder of the Dutch provinces of Friesland (d. 1568)
  • Costanzo Porta, Italian composer (d. 1601)

1529

Franciscus Patricius

• January 8 – John Frederick II, Duke of Saxony (d. 1595)
• January 13 – Ebba Månsdotter, Swedish noble (d. 1609)
• February 14 – Markus Fugger, German businessman (d. 1597)
• February 23 – Onofrio Panvinio, Augustinian historian (d. 1568)
• April 3 – Michael Neander, German mathematician and historian (d. 1581)
• April 25 – Francesco Patrizi, Italian philosopher and scientist (d. 1597)
• May 12 – Sabina of Brandenburg-Ansbach, German princess (d. 1575)
• June 7 – Étienne Pasquier, French lawyer, poet and author (d. 1615)
• June 14 – Ferdinand II, Archduke of Austria, regent of Tyrol and Further Austria (d. 1595)
• July 16 – Petrus Peckius the Elder, Dutch jurist, writer on international maritime law (d. 1589)
• July 24 – Charles II, Margrave of Baden-Durlach (d. 1577)
• August 10 – Ernst Vögelin, German publisher (d. 1589)
• September 1 – Taddeo Zuccari, Italian painter (d. 1566)
• September 25 – Günther XLI, Count of Schwarzburg-Arnstadt (d. 1583)
• October 26 – Anna of Hesse, Countess Palatine of Zweibrücken (d. 1591)
• December 11 – Fulvio Orsini, Italian humanist historian (d. 1600)
• December 16 – Laurent Joubert, French physician (d. 1582)
• date unknown
  • Titu Cusi, Inca ruler of Vilcabamba (d. 1571)
  • Giambologna, Italian sculptor (d. 1608)
  • Henry Sidney, lord deputy of Ireland (d. 1586)
  • Michał Wiśniowiecki, Ruthenian prince at Wiśniowiec (d. 1584)
  • George Puttenham, English critic (d. 1590)

Deaths

1520

Raphael

• January 10 – Jo Gwang-jo, Korean philosopher (b. 1482)
• February 3 – Sten Sture the Younger, Viceroy of Sweden (b. 1493)
• February 7 – Alfonsina de' Medici, née Orsini, Regent of Florence (b. 1472)
• April 6 – Raphael, Italian painter and architect (b. 1483)
• May 22 – Jan Lubrański, Polish bishop (b. 1456)
• June 24 – Hosokawa Sumimoto, Japanese samurai commander (b. 1489)
• June 29 – Moctezuma II, 9th Tlatoani (emperor) of the Aztecs, assassinated or possibly killed in a riot, 1502-1520 (b. 1466)^[19]
• August 6 – Kunigunde of Austria, Archduchess of Austria (b. 1465)
• September 3 – Ippolito d'Este, Italian Catholic cardinal (b. 1479)
• September 22 – Selim I, Ottoman Sultan (b. 1465)
• October – Cuitláhuac, 10th Tlatoani (emperor) of the Aztecs, 1520, brother of Moctezuma II, smallpox (b. c. 1476)^[20]
• November 9 – Bernardo Dovizi, Italian Catholic cardinal (b. 1470)
• date unknown
  • Cacamatzin, king of Texcoco (altepetl) (modern Mexico) (b. 1483)^[21]
  • Ratna Malla, first Raja of Kantipur
  • Visoun, king of Lan Xang (b. 1465)
  • Sheikh Hamdullah, Ottoman calligrapher (b. 1436)
  • Clara Tott, German court singer (b. 1440)
• probable – Filippo de Lurano, Italian composer (b. 1475)

1521

Emperor Zhengde

Ferdinand Magellan

Juan Ponce de Leon

Saint Margaret of Lorraine

Pope Leo X

King Manuel I of Portugal

Blessed Domenico Spadafora

• January 6 – Cardinal William de Croÿ (b. 1497)
• March 15 – John II, Duke of Cleves (b. 1458)
• April 20 – Zhengde Emperor of China (b. 1491)
• April 24 – Spanish rebels (executed)
  • Juan López de Padilla
  • Juan Bravo
  • Francisco Maldonado
• April 27 – Ferdinand Magellan, Portuguese explorer (b. 1480)
• April 28 – Suzanne, Duchess of Bourbon (b. 1491)
• May 10 – Sebastian Brant, German humanist and satirist (b. 1457)
• May 17 – Edward Stafford, 3rd Duke of Buckingham (executed) (b. 1478)
• June 15 – Tamás Bakócz, Hungarian Catholic cardinal and statesman (b. 1442)
• June 22 – Leonardo Loredan, Doge of Venice (b. 1436)
• July 9 – Raffaele Riario, Italian cardinal (b. 1461)
• July – Juan Ponce de León, Spanish conquistador (b. 1460)
• August 27 – Josquin des Prez, Flemish composer (b. c. 1450)
• October 7 – Margaret of Anhalt-Köthen, Princess of Anhalt by birth, Duchess consort of Saxony (b. 1494)
• October 22 – Edward Poynings, Lord Deputy to King Henry VII of England (b. 1459)
• October 24 – Robert Fayrfax, English Renaissance composer (b. 1464)
• November 2 – Margaret of Lorraine, French Duchess of Alençon, Roman Catholic nun and blessed (b. 1463)
• December 1 – Pope Leo X (b. 1475)^[22]
• December 13 – King Manuel I of Portugal (b. 1469)
• December 21 – Domenico Spadafora, Italian Roman Catholic priest and blessed (b. 1450)

• 1521 in art
• 

  March–April: Ferdinand Magellan's voyage around the world.

• 

  May 25: Martin Luther outlawed.

• 

  Hans Maler zu Schwaz, Portrait of a beardless man with the inscription:
  „ALS MAN. 1521. ZALT. WAS. ICH. 33. IAR ALT“
  (mutatis mutandis to English: „as we had in 1521, I was 33 years old)

• 

  Lorenzo Lotto, Christ Taking Leave of His Mother

1522

Johann Reuchlin

• January 25 – Raffaello Maffei, Italian theologian (b. 1451)
• January 29 – Wolfgang I of Oettingen, German count (b. 1455)
• February 25 – William Lilye, English classical scholar (b. c. 1468)
• April – Queen Eleni of Ethiopia
• April 10 – Francesco Cattani da Diacceto, Italian philosopher (b. 1466)
• June 13 – Piero Soderini, Florentine statesman (b. 1450)
• June 24 – Elisabeth of the Palatinate, Landgravine of Hesse, German noble (b. 1483)
• June 25 – Franchinus Gaffurius, Italian composer (b. 1451)
• June 30 – Johann Reuchlin, German humanist and Hebrew scholar (b. 1455)
• August 28- Giovanni Antonio Amadeo, sculptor, engineer and architect
• September – Gavin Douglas, Scottish poet and bishop (b. c. 1474)
• October 30 – Jean Mouton, French composer (b. c. 1459)
• November 14 – Anne of France, Princess and Regent of France (b. 1461)
• date unknown – Fiorenzo di Lorenzo, Italian painter (b. 1440)

1523

Pope Adrian VI

Pietro Perugino

• February 4 – Thomas Ruthall, English chancellor of the University of Cambridge
• March 28 – Louis I, Count of Löwenstein, founder of the House of Löwenstein-Wertheim (b. 1463)
• April 6 – Henry Stafford, 1st Earl of Wiltshire, English nobleman (b. 1479)
• May 7
  • Antonio Grimani, Italian admiral (b. 1434)
  • Franz von Sickingen, German knight (b. 1481)
• May 23 – Ashikaga Yoshitane, Japanese shōgun (b. 1466)
• May 24 – Henry Marney, 1st Baron Marney, English politician (b. 1447)
• July 1 – Johann Esch and Heinrich Voes, Flemish Lutheran martyrs
• July 7 – Wijerd Jelckama, Frisian rebel and warlord (b. 1490)
• August 13 – Gerard David, Flemish artist (b. c. 1455)
• August 27 – Domenico Grimani, Italian nobleman (b. 1461)
• August 29 – Ulrich von Hutten, Lutheran reformer (b. 1488)
• September 14 – Pope Adrian VI (b. 1459)
• October 5 – Bogislaw X, Duke of Pomerania (1474–1523) (b. 1454)
• October 11 – Bartolomeo Montagna, Italian painter (b. 1450)
• November 10 – Lachlan Cattanach Maclean, 11th Chief, Scottish clan chief (b. 1465)
• October – William Cornysh, English composer (b. 1465)
• date unknown
  • Cecilia Månsdotter, Swedish noble (b. c. 1476)
  • Alessandro Alessandri, Italian jurist (b. 1461)
  • Pietro Perugino, Italian painter (b. 1446)

1524

Ismail I

Camilla Battista da Varano

Diego Velazquez de Cuellar

Vasco da Gama

• January 5 – Marko Marulić, Croatian poet (b. 1450)
• January 6 – Amalie of the Palatinate, duchess consort of Pomerania (b. 1490)
• February 10 – Catherine of Saxony, Archduchess of Austria (b. 1468)
• February 11 – Isabella of Aragon, Duchess of Milan, daughter of King Alfonso II of Naples (b. 1470)
• February 20 – Tecun Uman, K'iche' Mayan ruler (b. c. 1500)
• March 28
  • Elisabeth of Brandenburg, Duchess of Württemberg (b. 1451)
  • Ingrid Persdotter, Swedish nun and letter writer
• April 14 – William Conyers, 1st Baron Conyers, English baron (b. 1468)
• April 30 – Pierre Terrail, seigneur de Bayard, French soldier (b. 1473)
• May 17 – Francesco Soderini, Italian Catholic cardinal (b. 1453)
• May 21 – Thomas Howard, 2nd Duke of Norfolk, English soldier and statesman (b. 1443)
• May 23 – Ismail I, Safavid Dynasty Shah of Persia (b. 1487)
• May 31 – Camilla Battista da Varano, Italian Roman Catholic nun and saint (b. 1458)
• June 12 – Diego Velázquez de Cuéllar, Spanish conquistador (b. 1465)
• July 9 – Sibylle of Brandenburg, Duchess of Jülich and Berg (b. 1467)
• July 20 – Claude of France, queen consort of Louis XII of France (b. 1499)
• August 4 – Helen of the Palatinate, Duchess of Pomerania (b. 1493)
• August 24 – Sir William Scott, English Lord Warden of the Cinque Ports (b. 1459)
• September 18 – Charlotte of Valois, French princess (b. 1516)
• October 5 – Joachim Patinir, Flemish landscape painter (b. c. 1480)
• October 20 – Thomas Linacre, English humanist and physician (b. 1460)
• October 26 – Philip II, Count of Waldeck-Eisenberg (1486–1524) (b. 1453)
• November 12 – Juan Rodríguez de Fonseca, Spanish archbishop and courtier (b. 1451)
• December 24 – Vasco da Gama, Portuguese explorer (b. c. 1469)
• date unknown
  • Hans Holbein the Elder, German painter (b. 1460)
  • Andrea Solari, Italian painter (b. 1460)
  • Tang Yin, Chinese painter (b. 1470)

1525

Franciabigio

Jakob Fugger

• January 24 – Franciabigio, Florentine painter (b. 1482)
• February 24 (in action at the Battle of Pavia)
  • Guillaume Gouffier, seigneur de Bonnivet, French soldier (b. c. 1488)
  • Jacques de La Palice, French nobleman and military officer (b. 1470)
  • Richard de la Pole, last Yorkist claimant to the English throne (b. 1480)
  • Louis II de la Trémoille, French military leader (b. 1460)
  • Bartolomeo Fanfulla, Italian mercenary (b. 1477)
  • René de Brosse, French noble
• February 28 – Cuauhtémoc, last Tlatoani of the Aztec Empire (b. c. 1495)
• April 3 – Giovanni di Bernardo Rucellai, Italian Renaissance man of letters (b. 1475)
• May 5 – Frederick III, Elector of Saxony (b. 1463)
• May 12 – Anna of Mecklenburg-Schwerin, Mecklenburgian royal (b. 1485)
• May 18 – Pietro Pomponazzi, Italian philosopher (b. 1462)
• May 27 – Thomas Müntzer, German pastor and rebel leader (b. 1489) (executed)
• July 5 – Johann of Brandenburg-Ansbach, Viceroy of Valencia, German noble (b. 1493)
• July 22 – Richard Wingfield, English diplomat (b. c. 1456)
• August 4 – Andrea della Robbia, Italian artist (b. 1435)
• October 24 – Thomas Dacre, 2nd Baron Dacre, Knight of Henry VIII of England (b. 1467)
• November 17 – Eleanor of Viseu, queen of João II of Portugal (b. 1458)
• December 30 – Jakob Fugger, German banker (b. 1459)
• date unknown
  • Nicholas Storch, German weaver and reformer
• probable
  • Jean Lemaire de Belges, Walloon poet and historian (b. 1473)
  • Anna Bielke, Swedish noble and commander (b. 1490)

1526

Isabella of Austria

Louis II of Hungary and Bohemia

• January 16 – Catherine of the Palatinate, Abbess of Neuburg am Neckar (b. 1499)
• January 19 – Isabella of Burgundy, queen of Christian II of Denmark (b. 1501)
• February 23 – Diego Colón, Spanish Viceroy of the Indies (b. c. 1479)
• March 15 – Charles Somerset, 1st Earl of Worcester (b. 1460)
• March 24 – Adolph II, Prince of Anhalt-Köthen, German prince (b. 1458)
• March 30 – Konrad Mutian, German humanist (b. 1471)
• April 21 – Ibrahim Lodi, last Sultan of Delhi (in battle)
• May 19 – Emperor Go-Kashiwabara of Japan (b. 1464)
• June 4 – Francisco Fernández de la Cueva, 2nd Duke of Alburquerque, Spanish duke (b. 1467)
• July 14 – John de Vere, 14th Earl of Oxford, English noble (b. 1499)
• July 20 – García Jofre de Loaísa, Spanish explorer (b. 1490)
• August 4 – Juan Sebastián Elcano, Spanish explorer (b. 1476)
• August 29 – King Louis II of Hungary and Bohemia (in battle) (b. 1506)
• September 5 – Alonso de Salazar, Spanish explorer
• October 18 – Lucas Vázquez de Ayllón, Spanish explorer (b. 1480)
• November 5 – Scipione del Ferro, Italian mathematician (b. 1465)
• November 30 – Giovanni dalle Bande Nere, Italian condottiero (b. 1498)
• December 12 – Le Chieu Tong, Emperor of Đại Việt, was killed by Mạc Đăng Dung (b. 1506)
• date unknown
  • Abu Bakr ibn Muhammad, sultan of Adal (assassinated)
  • Francisco Hernández de Córdoba, founder of the Spanish colony of Nicaragua (b. c. 1475)
  • Thado Minsaw of Prome, Burmese king of Prome
  • Binnya Ran II, Burmese king of Hanthawaddy (b. 1469)
  • Conrad Grebel, co-founder of the Anabaptist movement (b. 1498)

1527

Juan de Grijalva

Niccolo Machiavelli

Rodrigo de Bastidas

• January 5 – Felix Manz, leader of the Swiss Anabaptists (executed) (b. 1498)
• January 21 – Juan de Grijalva, Spanish conqueror (b. 1489)
• March 14 – Shwenankyawshin, Burmese king of Ava (b. 1476)
• March 17 – Rana Sanga, Indian ruler (b. 1484)
• April 19
  • Christoph I, Margrave of Baden-Baden (b. 1453)
  • Henry Percy, 5th Earl of Northumberland (b. 1477)
• April/May – Sir Thomas Docwra, English Grand Prior of the Knights Hospitaller (b. 1458)
• May 6 – Charles III, Duke of Bourbon, Count of Montpensier and Dauphin of Auvergne (b. 1490)
• June 21 – Niccolò Machiavelli, Italian writer and statesman (b. 1469)
• June 28 – Bernardo de' Rossi, Italian bishop (b. 1468)
• July 28 – Rodrigo de Bastidas, Spanish conqueror and explorer (b. c. 1460)
• September 21 – Casimir, Margrave of Brandenburg-Bayreuth, Margrave of Bayreuth (b. 1481)
• October 27 – Johann Froben, Swiss printer and publisher (b. c. 1460)
• November 15 – Catherine of York, English princess (b. 1479)
• November 8 – Jerome Emser, German theologian (b. 1477)
• date unknown – Luisa de Medrano, Spanish scholar (b. 1484)
  • Francesco Colonna, Italian Dominican priest (b. 1433)
  • Div Sultan Rumlu, Persian military leader
  • Petrus Thaborita, Frisian historian and monk (b. c. 1450)
  • Cristoforo Solari, Italian sculptor and architect (b. c. 1460)
  • Jan "Ciężki" Tarnowski, Polish nobleman (b. c. 1479)
  • Huayna Capac, Sapa Inca of the Inca Empire (b. 1493)
  • Ludovico Vicentino degli Arrighi, Italian calligrapher and type designer (b. 1475)
  • Anna Swenonis, Swedish manuscript illuminator
• probable – Jane Shore, mistress of King Edward IV of England

1528

Albrecht Dürer

• January 30 – Maharana Sangram Singh, Rana of Mewar (b. 1484)
• February 29 – Patrick Hamilton, Scottish religious reformer (martyred) (b. 1504)
• March 10 – Balthasar Hübmaier, influential German/Moravian Anabaptist leader (b. 1480)
• April 1 – Francisco de Peñalosa, Spanish composer (b. c. 1470)
• April 6 – Albrecht Dürer, German artist, writer, and mathematician (b. 1471)
• July – Palma il Vecchio, Italian painter (b. 1480)
• August 15 – Odet de Foix, Vicomte de Lautrec, French military leader (b. 1485)
• August 20 – Georg von Frundsberg, German knight and landowner (b. 1473)
• August 23 – Louis, Count of Vaudémont, Italian bishop (b. 1500)
• August 31 – Matthias Grünewald, German artist (b. 1470)
• September – Pánfilo de Narváez, Spanish conqueror and soldier in the Americas (b. 1480)
• October 5 – Richard Foxe, English churchman (b. c. 1448)
• October 18 – Michele Antonio, Marquess of Saluzzo (b. 1495)
• October 21 – Johann of Schwarzenberg, German judge and poet (b. 1463)
• November 17 – Jakob Wimpfeling, Renaissance humanist (b. 1450)
• December 7 – Margaret of Saxony, Duchess of Brunswick-Lüneburg (b. 1469)
• date unknown
  • Giovanni da Verrazzano, Italian explorer (b. 1485)
  • Peter Vischer the Younger, German sculptor (b. 1487)
  • Mahmud Shah of Malacca, Malaccan sultan
  • Daljunkern, Swedish rebel leader who may have been pretender Nils Sture (b. 1512)
  • Barbro Stigsdotter, Swedish noblewoman and heroine (b. 1472)

1529

Baldassare Castiglione

• January 7 – Peter Vischer the Elder, German sculptor (b. 1455)
• January 9 – Wang Yangming, Chinese Neo-Confucian scholar (b. 1472)
• February 2 – Baldassare Castiglione, Italian writer and diplomat (b. 1478)
• February 4 – Ludwig Haetzer, German Protestant reformer (executed) (b. 1500)
• March 28 – Philipp II, Count of Hanau-Münzenberg (b. 1501)
• April 20 – Silvio Passerini, Italian cardinal and lord of Florence (b. 1469)
• May 12 – Cecily Bonville, 7th Baroness Harington (b. c. 1460)
• June 21 – John Skelton, English poet (b. c. 1460)
• September 6 – George Blaurock, Swiss founder of the Anabaptist Church (b. 1491)
• September 27 – George of the Palatinate, German nobleman; Bishop of Speyer (1513–1529) (b. 1486)
• November 20 – Karl von Miltitz, German papal nuncio (b. c. 1490)
• date unknown
  • Krishnadevaraya, Vijaynagar emperor
  • Richard Pynson, Norman-born English printer (b. 1448)
  • Andrea Sansovino, Italian sculptor (b. 1467)
  • Petrus Särkilahti, Finnish Lutheran and scientist
  • Paulus Aemilius Veronensis, Italian historian (b. 1455)
• probable – Lo Spagna, Italian painter
• possible – La Malinche, Nahua (native Mexican) interpreter and translator for Hernán Cortés, during the Conquest of Mexico

References