1540s

The 1540s decade ran from January 1, 1540, to December 31, 1549.

Events

1540

January–June

• January – Dunstable Priory falls prey to Henry VIII of England's Dissolution of the Monasteries.
• January 6 – King Henry VIII of England marries Anne of Cleves, his fourth Queen consort. The marriage lasts six months and ends in divorce in July.
• February 14 – Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor, enters Ghent without resistance, and executes the rebels.
• March – Waltham Abbey is the final priory to fall prey to the Dissolution of the Monasteries.
• May 17 – Battle of Kannauj: Sher Shah Suri defeats and deposes Mughal Emperor Humayan, establishing the Sur Empire.

July–December

• July 7 – Coronado captures Hawikuh, at this time known as part of Cíbola, but fails to find the legendary gold.
• July 9 – King Henry VIII of England divorces Anne of Cleves, his fourth Queen consort.
• July 28 – One of the most important political figures of the reign of Henry VIII of England, Thomas Cromwell, is executed on order from the king, on charges of treason. Henry marries his fifth wife, Catherine Howard, on the same day.
• August 15 – In Peru, the Spanish captain Garcí Manuel de Carbajal founded the Villa Hermosa de Arequipa, and one year after, Charles V of Germany and I of Spain gave the valley a status of 'city' by Royal Decree.
• September – Gibraltar is sacked by the fleet of Barbary pirate Ali Hamet, a Sardinian renegade in the service of the Ottoman Empire, and many of its leading citizens are taken as captives to Peñón de Vélez de la Gomera in Morocco.^[1] This leads to construction of the defensive Charles V Wall, at this time known as the Muralla de San Benito.
• September 3 – Gelawdewos succeeds his father Lebna Dengel, as Emperor of Ethiopia.
• September 27 – The Society of Jesus (Jesuits) is approved by Pope Paul III, in his bull Regimini militantis Ecclesiae.
• October 1 – Battle of Alborán: A Habsburg Spanish fleet, under the command of Bernardino de Mendoza, destroys an Ottoman fleet, commanded by Ali Hamet, off Alborán Island in the Mediterranean.
• October 18 – An expedition led by Spanish conquistador Hernando de Soto destroys the fortified village of Mabila in modern-day Alabama, killing paramount chief Tuskaloosa.

Date unknown

• Antwerp is besieged for three days, by Maarten van Rossum.
• Georg Joachim Rheticus publishes De libris revolutionum Copernici narratio prima in Danzig, an abstract of Copernicus' as yet unpublished De revolutionibus orbium coelestium, and the first printed publication of Copernican heliocentrism.
• Europe is hit by a heat wave and drought lasting for about seven months. Rivers such as the Rhine and Seine dry up, and many people die from dysentery and other illnesses, caused by lack of safe drinking water.^[2] However, this year's vintage from Würzburger Stein and other vineyards is particularly notable.^[3]
• Martin Luther expels theologian Caspar Schwenckfeld from Silesia.
• Paracelsus visits Villach.
• approximate date – The musket is introduced into Japan from Europe.

1541

January–June

• February 12 – Pedro de Valdivia founds Santiago del Nuevo Extremo, which will become the capital of Chile.
• April 7 – Francis Xavier leaves Lisbon, on a mission to the Portuguese East Indies.
• April 24 – Battle of Sahart: Gelawdewos is defeated by the forces of Imam Ahmad ibn Ibrahim al-Ghazi.
• May 8 – Spanish explorer Hernando de Soto reaches the Mississippi River, naming it the Rio de Espiritu Santo ("River of the Holy Spirit").
• May 23 – Jacques Cartier departs from Saint-Malo, France on his third voyage.
• June 18 – By the Crown of Ireland Act, the Parliament of Ireland declares King Henry VIII of England and his heirs to be Kings of Ireland, replacing the Lordship of Ireland with the Kingdom of Ireland.^[4]

July–December

• July 9 – Estêvão da Gama departs Massawa, leaving behind 400 matchlock men and 150 slaves under his brother Cristóvão da Gama, with orders to assist the Emperor of Ethiopia to defeat Ahmad ibn Ibrahim al-Ghazi, who has invaded his Empire.
• August 29 – The Janissaries of Suleiman the Magnificent take Buda by ruse, hiding themselves as visitors.
• September 9–11 – Spanish noblewoman Beatriz de la Cueva serves as governor of the colony of Guatemala, before she is killed in a mudslide from Volcán de Agua, which ruins the capital city, Ciudad Vieja.
• September 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.
• October – An Algerian military campaign by Charles V of Spain (Habsburg) is unsuccessful.
• December 10 – Thomas Culpeper and Francis Dereham are executed for having affairs with Catherine Howard, Queen of England and wife of Henry VIII.

Date unknown

• Ottoman Sultan Suleiman the Magnificent seals off The Golden Gate in Jerusalem.
• Iceland adopts the Lutheran faith.
• Gerardus Mercator makes his first globe.
• The first official translation of the entire Bible into Swedish is made.
• John Calvin translates his Institutio Christianae religionis into French, as L'Institution chrétienne.
• Elia Levita's chivalric romance, the Bovo-Bukh, is first printed, the earliest published secular work in Yiddish.

1542

January–June

• February 2 – Battle of Baçente: The Portuguese under Cristóvão da Gama capture a Muslim-occupied hillfort in northern Ethiopia.
• February 13 – Catherine Howard, the fifth wife of Henry VIII of England, is executed for adultery.
• February 14 – Guadalajara, Mexico, is founded by the Spaniards after three previous attempts failed, due to aggressive opposition from local tribes.
• March 8 – Antoine Escalin des Eymars, the French ambassador, returns from Constantinople, with promises of Ottoman aid in a war against Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor.
• March – Renyin palace rebellion: A group of Ming Dynasty palace women fail to murder the Jiajing Emperor, and are executed by slow-slicing.
• April 4–16 – Battle of Jarte in Ethiopia: The Portuguese under Cristóvão da Gama encounter the army of Imam Ahmad Gragn, and inflict upon him two successive defeats.
• May 19 – The Prome Kingdom, in modern-day central Burma, is conquered by the Taungoo Dynasty.

July–December

• July 12 – Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor declares war on King Francis I of France. This time King Henry VIII of England is allied to the Emperor, while James V of Scotland and Sultan Suleiman I are allied to the French.
• August – Battle of the Hill of the Jews: During the rainy season, Cristóvão da Gama captures a strategic position and many badly-needed horses.
• August 24 – Battle of Haddon Rig: Scotland defeats England.
• August 27 – Citizens of Hildesheim in the Holy Roman Empire profess themselves to the Lutheran teachings. 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.
• August 28 – Battle of Wofla in Ethiopia: Reinforced with at least 600 arquebusiers and cavalry, Imam Ahmad Gragn attacks the Portuguese camp. The Portuguese are scattered; Cristóvão da Gama is captured and executed.
• September 4 – The earliest recorded Preston Guild Court is held in Lancashire, England, in the modern sequence, which lasts unbroken until 1922.
• September 28 – Portuguese explorer Juan Rodríguez Cabrillo lands in what is now San Diego Bay, and names it "San Miguel"; it will later become the city of San Diego.
• October 7 – Cabrillo becomes the first European to set foot on Santa Catalina Island, California.
• November 24 – Battle of Solway Moss: An English army invades Scotland, and defeats a Scottish army.
• December 14 – Mary, Queen of Scots, aged six days, becomes queen regnant on the death of her father, James V of Scotland.

Date unknown

• The first contact of Japan with the West occurs when a Portuguese ship, blown off its course to China, lands Fernão Mendes Pinto, Francisco Zeimoto and António Mota in Japan. (some sources say 1543).
• Pope Paul III establishes the Holy Office, with jurisdiction over the Roman Inquisition.
• Bartolomé de las Casas completes A Short Account of the Destruction of the Indies, which will be published in 1552.^[5]

1543

January–June

• February 11 – King Henry VIII of England allies with Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor, against France.^[6]
• February 21 – Battle of Wayna Daga: A joint Ethiopian-Portuguese force of 8,500, under Emperor Gelawdewos of Ethiopia, defeats Imam Ahmad ibn Ibrahim al-Ghazi's army of over 14,000, ending the Ethiopian–Adal war.
• March
  • King Gustav Vasa's troops crush the forces of Swedish peasant rebel Nils Dacke in battle, ending the uprising. Dacke escapes, but is captured and killed in the summer.
  • Consolidating Act of Welsh Union: The Parliament of England establishes counties and regularises parliamentary representation in Wales.^[6]
• April – Campaign of Suleiman: Suleiman the Magnificent, Ottoman Sultan, revives the Little War in Hungary.
• May – Nicolaus Copernicus publishes De revolutionibus orbium coelestium (On the Revolutions of the Heavenly Spheres) in Nuremberg, offering mathematical arguments for the existence of the heliocentric universe, denying the geocentric model. Copernicus dies on May 24 in Frombork, at the age of 70.
• June – Andreas Vesalius publishes De humani corporis fabrica (On the Fabric of the Human Body), revolutionising the science of human anatomy.

July–December

• July 1 – The Treaty of Greenwich is signed between England and Scotland (repudiated by Scotland December 11).^[6]
• July 12 – King Henry VIII of England marries Catherine Parr. It is the sixth and last of Henry's marriages and the third of Catherine's. Princess Elizabeth attends the wedding. This month, the Parliament of England passes the Third Succession Act, restoring the Princesses Mary and Elizabeth I of England, Henry's daughters, to the line of succession to the English throne.
• July 25 – August 10 – Siege of Esztergom: Suleiman the Magnificent, Ottoman Sultan, besieges and takes Esztergom in Hungary.^[7]
• August 6–22 – Siege of Nice: Ottoman Empire and French forces (under the Franco-Ottoman alliance), led by Admiral Hayreddin Barbarossa, besiege and take Nice.
• August 25 – Led by the Chinese pirate Wang Zhi, the first Europeans and firearms arrive in Japan in Tanegashima island in southern Kyushu including Portuguese traders António Mota, António Peixoto, Francisco Zeimoto, and presumably Fernão Mendes Pinto^[8]
• September – October – Landrecies in Picardy is besieged by forces under Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor, but the siege is withdrawn on the approach of the French army.
• September – Campaign of Suleiman: Suleiman the Magnificent captures the Hungarian coronation city of Székesfehérvár.^[7] The city will be occupied by the Ottoman Empire for 145 years.
• September 9 – Mary Stuart is crowned the Queen of Scots in Stirling at nine months old.

Date unknown

• Martin Luther publishes On the Jews and Their Lies.
• Mikael Agricola publishes Abckiria.
• The Lighthouse of Genoa is completed in present form.^[9]
• Indians in the Spanish Empire are declared free, against the wishes of local settlers.

1544

January–June

• January 13 – At Västerås, the estates of Sweden swear loyalty to King Gustav Vasa and to his heirs, ending the traditional electoral monarchy in Sweden. Gustav subsequently signs an alliance with the Kingdom of France.
• February 20 – The Fourth Diet of Speyer is convened.
• April 11 – Battle of Ceresole: French forces under the Comte d'Enghien defeat forces of the Holy Roman Empire, under the Marques Del Vasto, near Turin.
• May – Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor, again invades eastern France.
• May 3 – Edward Seymour, Earl of Hertford, with an English army, captures Leith and Edinburgh from the Kingdom of Scotland.
• June 19–August 18 – Troops of the Holy Roman Empire besiege Saint-Dizier, in eastern France.

July–December

• July – Battle of the Shirts: The Clan Fraser of Lovat and Macdonalds of Clan Ranald fight over a disputed chiefship in Scotland; reportedly, five Frasers and eight Macdonalds survive.
• July 19–September 14 – Italian War of 1542–46 – First Siege of Boulogne: King Henry VIII of England besieges and captures Boulogne in northern France.
• August 17 – The University of Königsberg ("Albertina") is inaugurated (founding deed signed July 20 by Albert, Duke of Prussia).
• September 18 – Peace of Crépy: Peace is declared between Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor, and Francis I of France. The war between France and England continues.
• September 22 – Captain Juan Bautista Pastene leads the first European expedition to the estuary of Valdivia, Chile and Corral Bay.
• October 9 – Second Siege of Boulogne: French forces under the Dauphin assault Boulogne, but are ultimately unsuccessful.

Date unknown

• Mongols burn the suburbs of Peking in China.^[10]
• The Orto botanico di Pisa botanical garden is established by Cosimo I de' Medici, Grand Duke of Tuscany, in Italy, under the direction of botanist Luca Ghini, who also creates the first herbarium.
• Rats make their first appearance in North America.
• Portuguese explorers encounter the island of Taiwan, and call it Ilha Formosa ("Beautiful Island").

1545

January–June

• February 22 – A firman of the Ottoman Empire is issued for the dethronement of Radu Paisie as Prince of Wallachia.
• February 27 – Battle of Ancrum Moor: The Scots are victorious over numerically superior English forces.^[6]
• March 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.
• April 1 – Potosí is founded by the Spanish as a mining town after the discovery of huge silver deposits in this area of modern-day Bolivia. Silver mined from Huayna Potosí Mountain provides most of the wealth on which the Spanish Empire is based until its fall in the early 19th century.
• June 13 – Spanish explorer Yñigo Ortiz de Retez sets out to navigate the northern coast of New Guinea.

July–December

• July 18–19 – Battle of the Solent between the English and French fleets: The engagement is inconclusive, but on the second day Henry VIII of England's flagship, the Mary Rose, sinks.^[11]
• c. July 21 – Italian Wars: Battle of Bonchurch – The English reverse an attempted French invasion of the Isle of Wight, off the coast of England.^[6]
• c. September – Mobye Narapati succeeds as ruler of the Ava Kingdom and offers peace to the Taungoo Dynasty, ending the Taungoo–Ava War (1538–45), and leaving the Taungoo as the dominant rulers in Burma.
• October – The Siege of Kawagoe Castle begins, as part of an unsuccessful attempt by the Uesugi clan to regain Kawagoe Castle from the Late Hōjō clan in Japan.
• December 13 – The Council of Trent officially opens in northern Italy (closes 1563).

Undated

• Battle of Sokhoista: The army of the Ottoman Empire defeats an alliance of Georgian dynasties.
• Diogo I Nkumbi a Mpudi overthrows his uncle Pedro I of Kongo to become manikongo.
• In China, a large failure of the harvest in Henan province occurs due to excessive rainfall, which drives up the price of wheat, and forces many to flee their rural counties; those who stay behind are forced to survive by eating leaves, bark, and human flesh.
• In the territory of New Spain in modern-day Mexico, the Cocoliztli Epidemic of 1545–1548 begins.
• St. Anne's Church, Augsburg converts to Lutheranism.

1546

January–June

• May 19 – The Siege of Kawagoe Castle ends in defeat for the Uesugi clan, in their attempt to regain Kawagoe Castle from the Late Hōjō clan in Japan.
• June 7 – The Treaty of Ardres (also known as the Treaty of Camp) is signed, resulting in peace between the kingdoms of England and France, ending the Italian War of 1542–1546.^[12]

July–December

• July 10 – The Schmalkaldic War, a political struggle between imperial forces under Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor, and the Lutheran forces of the Schmalkaldic League, begins.
• November 4 – Christ Church, Oxford, is refounded as a college by Henry VIII of England under this name.
• December 19 – Trinity College, Cambridge, is founded by Henry VIII of England.^[6]

Date unknown

• Katharina von Bora flees to Magdeburg.
• Michelangelo is made chief architect of St. Peter's Basilica in Rome.
• The Spanish conquest of Yucatán is completed.

1547

January–June

• January 8 – The first Lithuanian-language book, a Catechism (Katekizmo paprasti žodžiai, Simple Words of Catechism), is published in Königsberg by Martynas Mažvydas.
• January 13 – Henry Howard, Earl of Surrey is sentenced to death for treason in England.^[13]
• January 16 – Grand Duke Ivan IV of Muscovy becomes the first Tsar of Russia, replacing the 264-year-old Grand Duchy of Moscow with the Tsardom of Russia.
• January 28 – King Henry VIII of England dies in London and is succeeded by his 9-year-old son Edward VI as King of England.^[14]
• February 20 – Edward VI of England is crowned at Westminster Abbey.^[15]
• March 31 – King Francis I of France dies at the Château de Rambouillet and is succeeded by his eldest surviving son Henry II (on his 28th birthday) as King of France.^[16][17]
• April 4 – Catherine Parr, widow of King Henry VIII of England, secretly marries Thomas Seymour, 1st Baron Seymour of Sudeley.
• April 24 – Battle of Mühlberg: Emperor Charles V defeats the Lutheran forces of the Schmalkaldic League.

July–December

• August 13 – The Duchy of Brittany unites with the Kingdom of France.
• September 10
  • Battle of Pinkie Cleugh: An English army under the Duke of Somerset, Lord Protector of England, defeats a Scottish army under James Hamilton, 2nd Earl of Arran, the Regent. The English seize Edinburgh.
  • Conspirators led by Ferrante Gonzaga murder Pier Luigi Farnese, Duke of Parma and son of the Pope, and hang his body from a window of his palace in Piacenza.

Date unknown

• Huguenots increasingly immigrate to the English county of Kent, especially Canterbury, from France.
• The Chambre Ardente is established in Paris for trying heretics.
• Work on construction of the Château de Chambord, in the Loire Valley, for Francis I of France, ceases.
• John Dee visits the Low Countries, to study navigation with Gemma Frisius.
• Edward VI of England outlaws execution by boiling.

1548

January–June

• February 14 – Battle of Uedahara: Firearms are used for the first time on the battlefield in Japan, and Takeda Shingen is defeated by Murakami Yoshikiyo.
• April 1 – Sigismund II Augustus succeeds his father, Sigismund I the Old, as King of Poland and Grand Duke of Lithuania.
• May 11 – The great fire in Brielle begins.
• June
  • Ming Chinese naval forces commanded by Zhu Wan destroy the pirate haven of Shuangyu, frequented by Chinese, Japanese and Portuguese smugglers.
  • John Dee starts to study at the Old University of Leuven.^[18]

July–December

• July 7 – A marriage treaty is signed between Scotland and France, whereby five-year-old Mary, Queen of Scots, is betrothed to the future King Francis II of France.
• August 7 – Mary, Queen of Scots, leaves for France.
• October 20 – The city of La Paz, Bolivia, is founded.
• October 31 – At the first sejm of King Sigismund II Augustus of Poland, deputies demand that the king renounce his wife Barbara Radziwiłł.
• December – Siam attacks Tavoy, beginning the Burmese–Siamese War of 1548.

1549

The Book of Common Prayer is introduced in England.

January–June

• January – Burmese–Siamese War (1547–49): King Tabinshwehti of Burma begins his invasion of the Ayutthaya Kingdom, which ends in retreat.
• February 3 – Burmese–Siamese War: Burmese viceroy Thado Dhamma Yaza I of Prome slays Sri Suriyothai, queen consort of the Ayutthaya Kingdom, on her war elephant, when she intervenes in battle to protect the life of her husband.
• March 29 – The city of Salvador da Bahia, Brazil's first capital, is founded by Tome de Sousa.

July–December

• June 9 – The Book of Common Prayer is introduced in English churches;^[11] the Prayer Book Rebellion against it breaks out in the West Country.^[12]
• July – Kett's Rebellion breaks out in East Anglia, against land enclosures;^[12] rebellion breaks out in Oxfordshire, against landowners associated with religious changes.^[19]
• July 27 – Francis Xavier arrives in Japan.
• August 8–9 – England and France declare war.^[6]
• August 17 – Battle of Sampford Courtenay in England: The Prayer Book Rebellion is quashed.
• August 26 – Battle of Dussindale in England: Kett's Rebellion is quashed.^[6]
• September 17 – The Council of Trent is prorogued indefinitely.
• November 4 – The Pragmatic Sanction is proclaimed by Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor. The Seventeen Provinces are declared inseparable.
• November 29 – The lengthy and large Papal conclave, 1549–50 goes into session in the Apostolic Palace in Rome, to decide on a successor to Pope Paul III.

Date unknown

• Peter Canisius starts the Counter-Reformation in Bavaria.
• The spire of Lincoln Cathedral in England is blown down,^[20] leaving St. Olaf's Church, Tallinn, in Estonia as the World's tallest structure.
• Although trade existed between the two beforehand, in this year the Portuguese begin to send regular seasonal maritime trade missions to Ming Dynasty China, at Sao João Island (also known as Shangchuan Island) near Macau.
• Siege of Kajiki: firearms are used for the first time in a siege in Japanese history. (The previous year's Battle of Uedahara was the first battle in which they were used.)
• Excerpta antiqua is published by Hervagius at Basel, Switzerland.
• Maidstone Grammar School is founded in England by Edward Seymour, Duke of Somerset.^[21]

Births

1540

John Sigismund Zápolya

Princess Cecilia of Sweden

• January 18 – Catherine, Duchess of Braganza, claimant to the Portuguese throne in 1580 (d. 1614)
• January 24 – Edmund Campion, English Jesuit and Roman Catholic martyr (d. 1581)
• January 28 – Ludolph van Ceulen, German mathematician (d. 1610)
• February 12 – Won Gyun, Korean general and admiral during the Joseon Dynasty (d. 1597)
• February 23 – Hedwig of Brandenburg, Duchess of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel (d. 1602)
• February 25 – Henry Howard, 1st Earl of Northampton, English aristocrat and courtier (d. 1614)
• March 1 – Enrique de Guzmán, 2nd Count of Olivares, Spanish noble (d. 1607)
• March 17 – Bernhard VII, Prince of Anhalt-Zerbst, German prince of the House of Ascania (d. 1570)
• April 3 – Maria de' Medici, Italian noble (d. 1557)
• April 8 – Toyotomi Hidenaga, Japanese warlord (d. 1591)
• May 9 – Maharana Pratap, Indian warrior king (d. 1597)
• May 14
  • Paolo Paruta, Italian historian (d. 1598)
  • Bartholomäus Scultetus, German mayor of Görlitz, astronomer (d. 1614)
• May 22 – James, Duke of Rothesay, Scottish prince (d. 1541)
• May 31 – Henry Cheyne, 1st Baron Cheyne, English politician and baron (d. 1587)
• June 3 – Charles II, Archduke of Austria, regent of Inner Austria (d. 1590)
• June 9 – Shima Sakon, Japanese samurai (d. 1600)
• June 11 – Barnabe Googe, English poet (d. 1594)
• June 29 – Ana de Mendoza, Princess of Eboli, Spanish countess (d. 1592)
• June 30 – Countess Palatine Elisabeth of Simmern-Sponheim, Duchess of Saxony (d. 1594)
• July 7 – John Sigismund Zápolya, King of Hungary (d. 1571)
• July 11 – Adolf of Nassau, Count of Nassau, Dutch soldier (d. 1568)
• July 16 – Alfonso Carafa, Italian cardinal (d. 1565)
• July 19 – Ludowika Margaretha of Zweibrücken-Bitsch, spouse of Count Philip V of Hanau-Lichtenberg (d. 1569)
• August 4 – Sisto Fabri, Italian theologian (d. 1594)
• August 5 – Joseph Justus Scaliger, French Protestant scholar (d. 1609)
• August 25 – Lady Catherine Grey, English noblewoman, potential successor to the throne (d. 1568)
• September 5 – Magnus, Duke of Holstein, Prince of Denmark (d. 1583)
• September 9 – John VII, Count of Oldenburg (d. 1603)
• October 1 – Johann Jakob Grynaeus, Swiss Protestant clergyman (d. 1617)
• November 12 – Anna of Veldenz, Margrave of Baden (d. 1586)
• November 16 – Princess Cecilia of Sweden (d. 1627)
• December 8 – Giovanni Vincenzo Gonzaga, Italian Catholic cardinal (d. 1591)
• December 21 – Thomas Schweicker, German artist (d. 1602)
• December 28 – Charles I, Duke of Mecklenburg (d. 1610)
• December 31 – Silvio Antoniano, Italian Catholic cardinal (d. 1603)
• date unknown
  • Andrea Andreani, Italian wood engraver (d. 1623)
  • Francis Drake, English sea captain, privateer, navigator, slaver, pirate and politician (d. 1596)
  • Christopher Hatton, English politician (d. 1591)
  • George Hastings, 4th Earl of Huntingdon, English nobleman (d. 1604)
  • Pierre Jeannin, French statesman (d. 1622)
  • François Viète, French mathematician (d. 1603)
  • Amago Yoshihisa, Japanese samurai and warlord (d. 1610)
• probable
  • William Byrd, English composer (d. 1623)
  • Bernardino de Mendoza, Spanish military commander (d. 1604)
  • Paschal Baylon, Spanish friar (d. 1592)

1541

• January 24 – Magdalena Moons, Dutch heroine (d. 1613)
• January 26 – Florent Chrestien, French writer (d. 1596)
• February 21 – Philipp V, Count of Hanau-Lichtenberg (d. 1599)
• March 25 – Francesco I de' Medici, Grand Duke of Tuscany (d. 1587)
• April 8 – Michele Mercati, Italian physician and gardener (d. 1593)
• April 12 – Ipatii Potii, Metropolitan of Kiev (d. 1613)
• September 7
  • Luigi Groto, Italian lutenist and poet (d. 1588)
  • Hernando de Cabezón, Spanish musician (d. 1602)
• September 16 – Walter Devereux, 1st Earl of Essex, English nobleman (d. 1576)
• September 17 – Roberto de' Nobili, Italian Catholic cardinal (d. 1559)
• September 21 – Anna of Nassau-Dillenburg, Countess consort of Nassau-Weilburg (d. 1616)
• November 9 – Menso Alting, Dutch preacher and reformer (d. 1612)
• November 25 – Michele Bonelli, Italian Catholic cardinal (d. 1598)
• December 12 – Johann Bauhin, Swiss botanist (d. 1613)
• date unknown
  • Pierre Charron, French philosopher (d. 1603)
  • El Greco, or Domênikos Theotokópoulos (Greek: Δομήνικος Θεοτοκόπουλος), Cretian painter, sculptor and architect (d. 1614)
  • Hatano Hideharu, Japanese samurai (d. 1579)
  • Mizuno Tadashige, Japanese nobleman (d. 1600)
  • Guðbrandur Þorláksson, Icelandic mathematician (d. 1627)
  • Hattori Hanzō, Japanese ninja who served under Tokugawa Ieyasu (d. 1596)

1542

Isabella de' Medici

Henriette of Cleves

• February 1 – John Scudamore, English politician (d. 1623)
• February 22 – Santino Garsi da Parma, Italian musician (d. 1604)
• March 19 – Jan Zamoyski, Polish nobleman (d. 1605)
• April 29 – Henry III, Duke of Münsterberg-Oels (d. 1587)
• May 5 – Thomas Cecil, 1st Earl of Exeter, English politician (d. 1623)
• May 11 – Jakob Christoph Blarer von Wartensee, Swiss Catholic bishop (d. 1608)
• May 16 – Anna Sibylle of Hanau-Lichtenberg, German noblewoman, daughter of Count Philip IV of Hanau-Lichtenberg (d. 1580)
• June 15 – Richard Grenville, English politician (d. 1591)
• June 24 – John of the Cross, Spanish Carmelite mystic, theologian, poet (d. 1591)
• July 25 – Magnus, Duke of Östergötland, Swedish prince (d. 1595)
• August 18 – Charles Neville, 6th Earl of Westmorland (d. 1601)
• August 27 – John Frederick, Duke of Pomerania and Protestant Bishop of Cammin (d. 1600)
• August 31 – Isabella de' Medici, Italian princess (d. 1576)
• September 25 – Elisabeth of Nassau-Dillenburg, sister of William the Silent (d. 1603)
• October 1 – Álvaro de Mendaña de Neira, Spanish explorer (d. 1595)
• October 4 – Robert Bellarmine, Italian saint (d. 1621)
• October 14 – Philip IV, Count of Nassau-Weilburg (d. 1602)
• October 15 – Akbar, Mughal Emperor (d. 1605)
• October 31 – Henriette of Cleves, Duchess of Nevers, Countess of Rethel (d. 1601)
• November 1 – Tarquinia Molza, Italian singer (d. 1617)
• November 9 – Anders Sørensen Vedel, Danish historian (d. 1616)
• November 11 – Scipione Gonzaga, Italian Catholic cardinal (d. 1593)
• December 8 – Mary, Queen of Scots (d. 1587)^[22]
• December 21 – Thomas Allen, English mathematician and astrologer (d. 1632)
• date unknown
  • Joris Hoefnagel, Dutch painter and engraver (d. 1601)
  • Toda Kazuaki, Japanese samurai in the service of Tokugawa Ieyasu (d. 1604)
  • Douglas Sheffield, Baroness Sheffield, lover of Robert Dudley, 1st Earl of Leicester (d. 1608)
  • John Speed, English historian (d. 1629)
  • Horio Yoshiharu, Japanese daimyō (d. 1611)
  • Kuki Yoshitaka, Japanese naval commander (d. 1600)

1543

Tokugawa Ieyasu

• January 18 (baptized) – Alfonso Ferrabosco, Italian composer (d. 1588)
• January 31 – Tokugawa Ieyasu, Japanese shōgun (d. 1616)
• February 4 – Johannes Heurnius, Dutch physician (d. 1601)
• February 4 – Giovanni Francesco Fara, Italian writer (d. 1591)
• February 16 – Kanō Eitoku, Japanese painter (d. 1590)
• February 18 – Charles III, Duke of Lorraine (d. 1608)
• February 25 – Sharaf Khan Bidlisi, Emir of Bitlis (d. 1603)
• March 7 – John Casimir of the Palatinate-Simmern, German prince and reigning count palatine of Simmern (d. 1592)
• April 1 – François de Bonne, Duke of Lesdiguières, Constable of France (d. 1626)
• April 11 – George John I, Count Palatine of Veldenz (d. 1592)
• May 2 – Jan Moretus, Belgian printer (d. 1610)
• June 8 – Petrus Albinus, German historian, local history researcher and poet (d. 1598)
• June 29 – Christine of Hesse, duchess consort of Holstein-Gottorp (1465-1486) (d. 1604)
• July 20 – Nils Svantesson Sture, Swedish diplomat (d. 1567)
• August 3 – Nicasius de Sille, Dutch diplomat (d. 1600)
• August 21 – Giovanni Bembo, Doge of Venice (d. 1618)
• September 14 – Claudio Acquaviva, Italian Jesuit (d. 1615)
• October 21 – Michael Hicks, English politician (d. 1612)
• November 2 – Kasper Franck, German theologian (d. 1584)
• November 8 – Lettice Knollys, Countess of Essex and later Countess of Leicester, lady-in-waiting to Elizabeth I of England (d. 1634)
• December 3 – Alessandro Riario, Italian Catholic cardinal (d. 1585)
• December 29 – Catherine of Nassau-Dillenburg, daughter of William I (d. 1624)
• date unknown
  • Nicolas de Neufville, seigneur de Villeroy, 2nd Prime Minister of France (d. 1617)
  • Thomas Deloney, English novelist and balladeer (d. 1600)
  • Domenico Fontana, Italian architect (d. 1607)
  • Sonam Gyatso, 3rd Dalai Lama, first Dalai Lama (d. 1588)
  • François Pithou, French lawyer and author (d. 1621)
  • Hayyim ben Joseph Vital, Syrian Jewish rabbi and mystic (d. 1620)
  • Chen Lin, Ming Dynasty general (d. 1607)
• probable
  • Giovanni Maria Nanino, Italian composer (d. 1607)
  • Federico Zuccari, Italian painter (d. 1609)

1544

Dorothea Susanne of Simmern

Anna of Saxony

• January 19 – King Francis II of France (d. 1560)
• January 24 – Gillis van Coninxloo, Flemish painter (d. 1607)
• February 3 – César de Bus, French Catholic priest (d. 1607)
• March 11 – Torquato Tasso, Italian poet (d. 1595)
• April – Thomas Fleming, English judge (d. 1613)
• April 20 – Renata of Lorraine, duchess consort of Bavaria (d. 1602)
• May 24 – William Gilbert, English scientist and astronomer (d. 1603)
• July 14 – Henry Compton, 1st Baron Compton, English politician (d. 1589)
• August 9 – Bogislaw XIII, Duke of Pomerania (d. 1606)
• September 1 – John Gordon, Scottish bishop (d. 1619)
• September 29 – Giovanni de' Medici, Italian Catholic cardinal (d. 1562)
• November 1 – Hasan Kafi Pruščak, Bosnian scholar and judge (d. 1615)
• November 15 – Dorothea Susanne of Simmern, Duchess of Saxe-Weimar (d. 1592)
• December 23 – Anna of Saxony, only child and heiress of Maurice, Elector of Saxony (d. 1577)
• date unknown
  • Richard Bancroft, Archbishop of Canterbury (d. 1610)
  • Thomas Hobson, English carrier and origin of the phrase Hobson's choice (d. 1631)
  • Ikeda Tomomasa, Japanese military commander (d. 1603)
  • Maddalena Casulana, Italian composer, lutenist and singer (d. 1590)
• probable
  • George Whetstone, English writer (d. 1587)

1545

Elisabeth of Valois

Anna Maria of Sweden

• January 1 – Magnus Heinason, Faroese naval hero (d. 1589)
• January 11 – Guidobaldo del Monte, Italian mathematician, astronomer and philosopher (d. 1607)
• March – Gaspare Tagliacozzi, Italian surgeon and anatomist (d. 1599)
• March 2 – Thomas Bodley, English diplomat and scholar, founder of the Bodleian Library, Oxford (d. 1613)
• March 18 – Julius Echter von Mespelbrunn, German bishop (d. 1617)
• March 25 – John II, Duke of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg, Duke of Schleswig-Holstein-Sønderburg (d. 1622)
• April 1 – Peder Claussøn Friis, Norwegian clergyman and author (d. 1614)
• April 2 – Elisabeth of Valois, queen of Philip II of Spain (d. 1568)
• April 15 – Karl II, Duke of Münsterberg-Oels, Duke of Oels (1565–1617), Duke of Bernstadt (1604–1617) (d. 1617)
• April 24 – Henry Wriothesley, 2nd Earl of Southampton, English earl (d. 1581)
• April 28 – Yi Sun-sin, Korean naval commander (d. 1598)
• May 1 – Franciscus Junius, French theologian (d. 1602)
• May 22 – Karl Christoph, Duke of Münsterberg (d. 1569)
• June 6 – Jerome Gratian, Spanish Carmelite and writer (d. 1614)
• June 13 – Naitō Nobunari, Japanese samurai and daimyō of Omi Province (d. 1612)
• June 19 – Princess Anna Maria of Sweden, Swedish royal (d. 1610)
• July 8 – Don Carlos of Spain, son of Philip II of Spain (d. 1568)
• August 1 – Andrew Melville, Scottish theologian and religious reformer (d. 1622)
• August 27 – Alexander Farnese, Duke of Parma (d. 1592)
• September 7 – Eitel Friedrich IV, Count of Hohenzollern, First Count of Hohenzollern-Hechingen (d. 1605)
• September 20 – Yamanaka Yukimori, Japanese samurai (d. 1578)
• October 15 – Elisabeth of Anhalt-Zerbst, Abbess of Gernrode and Frose, later Countess of Barby-Mühlingen (d. 1574)
• October 19 – John Juvenal Ancina, Italian oratorian and bishop (d. 1604)
• November 20 – Ernst Ludwig, Duke of Pomerania (d. 1592)
• November 25 – Ana de Jesús, Spanish Discalced Carmelite nun and spiritual writer (d. 1621)
• December 6 – Janus Dousa, Dutch historian and noble (d. 1604)
• December 7 – Henry Stuart, Lord Darnley, consort of Mary, Queen of Scots (d. 1567)
• date unknown
  • George Bannatyne, collector of Scottish poems (d. 1608)
  • John Field, British Puritan clergyman and controversialist (d. 1588)
  • John Gerard, English botanist (d. 1612)
  • Ismihan Sultan, Ottoman princess, daughter of Selim II and wife of Sokollu Mehmed Pasha (d. 1585)
  • William Morgan, Welsh Bible translator (d. 1604)
  • Azai Nagamasa, Japanese nobleman (d. 1573)
  • Mashita Nagamori, Japanese warlord (d. 1615)
• probable – Nicholas Breton, English poet and novelist (d. 1626)

1546

Tycho Brahe

• January 27 – Joachim Friedrich, Elector of Brandenburg (d. 1608)
• February 1 – Mogami Yoshiaki, Japanese daimyō of the Yamagata domain (d. 1614)
• February 4 – Jakob Monau, Polish writer and linguist (d. 1603)
• February 14 – Johann Pistorius, German historian (d. 1608)
• March 16 – Francesco Barbaro, Italian diplomat (d. 1616)
• March 21 – Bartholomeus Spranger, Flemish painter (d. 1611)
• March 25 – Giacomo Castelvetro, Italian writer (d. 1616)
• March 27 – Johannes Piscator, German theologian (d. 1625)
• March 29 – Anne d'Escars de Givry, French Catholic cardinal (d. 1612)
• April 1 – Nanbu Nobunao, Japanese daimyō (d. 1599)
• April 20 – Bernardo de Sandoval y Rojas, Spanish Catholic cardinal (d. 1618)
• June 13 – Tobias Matthew, English Archbishop of York (d. 1628)
• June 14 – Wolfgang, Count of Hohenlohe-Weikersheim, German count (d. 1610)
• June 24 – Robert Parsons, English Jesuit priest (d. 1610)
• June 29 – Dorothea of Denmark, Duchess of Brunswick-Lüneburg (1561-1592) (d. 1617)
• July 4 – Murat III, Ottoman Sultan (d. 1595)
• August 10 – Juliana of Nassau-Dillenburg, Dutch prince (d. 1588)
• August 13 – Jan Opaliński, Polish nobleman and Castellan of Rogozin (d. 1598)
• August 31 – Daniel Adam z Veleslavína, Czech lexicographer (d. 1599)
• September 6 – Pedro Álvarez de Toledo, 5th Marquis of Villafranca, Spanish noble and politician (d. 1627)
• September 11 – Arild Huitfeldt, Danish historian (d. 1609)
• September 13 – Isabella Bendidio, Italian singer and noble in Renaissance court of Ferrara (d. 1610)
• October 5 – Rudolph Snellius, Dutch linguist and mathematician (d. 1613)
• October 5 – Cyriakus Schneegass, German hymnwriter (d. 1597)
• November 11 – Richard Madox, English explorer (d. 1583)
• December 14 – Tycho Brahe, Danish astronomer (d. 1601)
• date unknown
  • William Barclay, Scottish jurist (d. 1608)
  • Luca Bati, Italian Baroque composer (d. 1608)
  • Philippe Desportes, French poet (d. 1606)
  • Thomas Digges, English astronomer (d. 1595)
  • Takeda Katsuyori, Japanese nobleman (d. 1582)
  • Mikołaj VII Radziwiłł, Polish magnate (d. 1565)
• probable – Lodewijk Elzevir, Dutch printer (d. 1617)

1547

Duchess Hedwig of Württemberg

Joanna of Austria, Grand Duchess of Tuscany

Miguel de Cervantes

Princess Sophia of Sweden

Claude of Valois

• January 15 – Duchess Hedwig of Württemberg, by marriage countess of Hesse-Marburg (d. 1590)
• January 20 – Laurence Bruce, Scottish politician (d. 1617)
• January 24 – Joanna of Austria, Grand Duchess of Tuscany, Austrian Archduchess (d. 1578)
• February 8 – Girolamo Mattei, Italian Catholic cardinal (d. 1603)
• February 18 – Bahāʾ al-dīn al-ʿĀmilī, Syrian Arab co-founder of the Isfahan School of Islamic Philosophy (d. 1621)
• February 24 – Don John of Austria, military leader (d. 1578)
• March 1 – Rudolph Goclenius, German philosopher (d. 1628)
• March 26 – Bernardino Bertolotti, Italian instrumentalist and composer (d. 1609)
• April 8 – Lucrezia Bendidio, noblewoman and singer in Renaissance Ferrara (d. 1584)
• May 15 – Magnus Pegel, German mathematician (d. 1619)
• May 19 – Gustaf Banér, Swedish nobleman and member of the Privy Council of Sweden (d. 1600)
• June 28 – Cristofano Malvezzi, Italian organist and composer (d. 1599)
• July 5 – Garzia de' Medici, Italian noble (d. 1562)
• August 10 – Francis II, Duke of Saxe-Lauenburg (d. 1619)
• September 10 – George I, Landgrave of Hesse-Darmstadt (d. 1596)
• September 14 – Johan van Oldenbarnevelt, Dutch statesman (d. 1619)
• September 22 – Philipp Nicodemus Frischlin, German philologist and poet (d. 1590)
• September 20 – Faizi, Indo-Persian poet and scholar (d. 1595)
• September 29 – Miguel de Cervantes, Spanish fiction writer (d. 1616)
• October 2 – Philipp Ludwig, Count Palatine of Neuburg (1569-1614) and Count Palatine of Sulzbach (1604-1614) (d. 1614)
• October 18 – Justus Lipsius, Flemish humanist (d. 1606)
• October 29 – Princess Sophia of Sweden, Swedish princess (d. 1611)
• November 7 – Rudolf Hospinian, Swiss writer (d. 1626)
• November 10
  • Martin Moller, German poet and mystic (d. 1606)
  • Gebhard Truchsess von Waldburg, Archbishop of Cologne (d. 1601)
• November 12 – Claude of Valois, daughter of King Henry II of France (d. 1575)
• November 26 – Nicolaus Taurellus, German philosopher and theologian (d. 1606)
• December 5 – Ubbo Emmius, Dutch historian and geographer (d. 1625)
• December 15 – Magdalena of Nassau-Dillenburg, German noblewoman (d. 1633)
• date unknown
  • Matteo Perez d'Aleccio, Italian painter (d. 1616)
  • Mateo Alemán, Spanish novelist and man of letters (d. 1609)
  • Peter Bales, English calligrapher (d. 1610)
  • Louis Carrion, Flemish humanist and classical scholar (d. 1595)
  • Oichi, Japanese noblewoman (d. 1583)
  • Krzysztof Mikołaj "the Thunderbolt" Radziwiłł, Polish nobleman (d. 1603)
  • Richard Stanihurst, English translator of Virgil (d. 1618)
  • Roemer Visscher, Dutch writer (d. 1620)
  • Stanisław Żółkiewski, Polish nobleman (d. 1620)

1548

Francisco Suarez

William V, Duke of Bavaria

• January 5 – Francisco Suárez, Spanish priest, philosopher, theologian and saint (d. 1617)
• February 6 – Francesco Panigarola, Italian bishop (d. 1594)
• March 13 – Sasbout Vosmeer, Dutch Apostolic Vicar (d. 1614)
• March 17 – Honda Tadakatsu, Japanese general (d. 1610)
• March 18 – Cornelis Ketel, Dutch painter (d. 1616)
• April 15 – Pietro Cataldi, Italian mathematician (d. 1626)
• May – Carel van Mander, Dutch painter and poet (d. 1606)
• May 8 – Giacomo Boncompagni, illegitimate son of a Pope (d. 1612)
• May 10 – Antonio Priuli, Doge of Venice (d. 1623)
• July 8 – Kim Jang-saeng, Korean scholar and writer (d. 1631)
• July 15 – George III, Count of Erbach-Breuberg (1564–1605) (d. 1605)
• August 26 – Bernardino Poccetti, Italian painter (d. 1612)
• September 2 – Vincenzo Scamozzi, Italian architect (d. 1616)
• September 7 – Filippo Boncompagni, Italian Catholic cardinal (d. 1586)
• September 29 – William V, Duke of Bavaria (d. 1626)
• October 4 – Matsumae Yoshihiro, Japanese daimyō of Ezochi (Hokkaidō) (d. 1616)
• November 27 – Jacopo Mazzoni, Italian philosopher (d. 1598)
• December 14 – Fernando Ruiz de Castro Andrade y Portugal, Grandee of Spain (d. 1601)
• December 30 – David Pareus, German theologian (d. 1622)
• approx. date – Ma Shouzhen, Chinese courtesan, painter, composer, and poet (d. 1604)
• date unknown
  • Giordano Bruno, Italian philosopher, astronomer, and occultist (d. 1600)
  • Oda Nagamasu, Japanese nobleman (d. 1622)
  • Luis Barahona de Soto, Spanish poet (d. 1595)
  • William Stanley, English soldier (d. 1630)
  • Saitō Tatsuoki, Japanese daimyō (d. 1573)
  • Sidonia von Borcke, German noble and alleged witch (d. 1620)
  • Tomás Luis de Victoria, Spanish composer (d. 1611)
• probable
  • Francesco Andreini, Italian actor (d. 1624)
  • Francesco Soriano, Italian composer (d. 1621)
  • Mariangiola Criscuolo, Italian painter (d. 1630)
  • Simon Stevin, Flemish mathematician and engineer (d. 1620)

1549

Françoise d'Orléans-Longueville

Duchess Sabine of Württemberg

Anne of Austria, Queen of Spain

• January 26 – Jakob Ebert, German theologian (d. 1614)
• January 26 – Francesco Bassano the Younger, Italian painter (d. 1592)
• February 3 – Louis of Valois, French prince (d. 1550)
• February 4 – Eustache Du Caurroy, French composer (d. 1609)
• February 15 – Barnim X, Duke of Pomerania (1569–1603) (d. 1603)
• February 20 – Francesco Maria II della Rovere, Duke of Urbino, last Duke of Urbino (d. 1631)
• March 10 – Francis Solanus, Spanish missionary and saint (d. 1610)
• March 11 – Hendrik Laurenszoon Spiegel, Dutch writer (d. 1612)
• April 5 – Françoise d'Orléans-Longueville, French princess (d. 1601)
• April 13 – Count Juraj IV Zrinski of Croatia (d. 1603)
• June 15 – Elizabeth Knollys, English noblewoman (d. 1605)
• July 2 – Duchess Sabine of Württemberg, by marriage Landgravine of Hesse-Kassel (d. 1581)
• July 5 – Francesco Maria del Monte, Italian Catholic cardinal (d. 1627)
• July 12 – Edward Manners, 3rd Earl of Rutland (d. 1587)
• July 20 – Pierre de Larivey, Italian-born French dramatist (d. 1619)
• July 30 – Ferdinando I de' Medici, Grand Duke of Tuscany (d. 1609)
• August 2 – Mikołaj Krzysztof "the Orphan" Radziwiłł, Polish nobleman (d. 1616)
• August 10 – Catherine of Brandenburg-Küstrin, daughter of Margrave John of Küstrin (d. 1602)
• September 1 – Charles Philippe de Croÿ, Marquis d’Havré, Belgian noble and politician (d. 1613)
• October 17 – Denis Godefroy (d. 1622)
• November 2 – Anna of Austria, Queen of Spain (d. 1580)
• November 5 – Philippe de Mornay, French writer (d. 1623)
• November 30 – Sir Henry Savile, English educator (d. 1622)
• December 9 – Costanzo Antegnati, Italian composer, organist (d. 1624)
• December 20 – John Petre, 1st Baron Petre, English politician and baron (d. 1613)
• December 24 – Kaspar Ulenberg, German theologian (d. 1617)
• date unknown
  • Kutsuki Mototsuna, Japanese military commander (d. 1632)
  • John Rainolds, English scholar and Bible translator (d. 1607)
  • Juan de Salcedo, Spanish conquistador (d. 1576)
  • Marek Sobieski, Polish noble (d. 1605)
  • Ogawa Suketada, Japanese warlord (d. 1601)

Deaths

1540

Angela Merici

Thomas Cromwell

Lebna Dengel

• c. January – Elizabeth Blount, mistress of Henry VIII of England (b. 1502)
• January 27 – Angela Merici, Italian religious leader and saint (b. 1474)
• March 30 – Matthäus Lang von Wellenburg, German statesman and archbishop of Salzburg (b. 1469)
• April 21 – Afonso of Portugal, Catholic cardinal (b. 1509)
• May 6 – Juan Luís Vives, Spanish scholar (b. 1492)
• May 22 – Francesco Guicciardini, Italian statesman and historian (b. 1483)
• June 16 – Konrad von Thüngen, German noble (b. c. 1466)
• July 22 – John Zápolya, King of Hungary (b. c. 1490)
• July 28 – Thomas Cromwell, 1st Earl of Essex, English statesman (executed) (b. c.1485)
• July 30
  • Thomas Abel, English priest (martyred) (b. c. 1497)
  • Robert Barnes, English reformer (martyred) (b. 1495)
  • Eric I, Duke of Brunswick-Lüneburg, Prince of Calenberg (1491–1540) (b. 1470)
• August 23 – Guillaume Budé, French scholar (b. 1467)
• August 24 – Girolamo Francesco Maria Mazzola (Parmigianino), Italian artist (b. 1503)
• August 28 – Federico II Gonzaga, Duke of Mantua (b. 1500)
• September 2 – Lebna Dengel, Emperor of Ethiopia (in battle) (b. 1501)
• September 16 – Enrique de Borja y Aragón, Spanish noble of the House of Borgia (b. 1518)
• September 20 – Infante Duarte, Duke of Guimarães, son of King Manuel I of Portugal (b. 1515)
• October 5 – Helius Eobanus Hessus, German Latin poet (b. 1488)
• date unknown – Francisco de Ulloa, Spanish explorer
• probable
  • Tristão da Cunha, Portuguese explorer (b. 1460)
  • Johann Georg Faust, German alchemist (b. 1480)

1541

Francisco Pizarro

Pedro de Alvarado

Henry IV, Duke of Saxony

• January 2 – Wang Gen, Chinese philosopher (b. 1483)
• January 5 – Philip of the Palatinate, Bishop of Freising and Naumburg (b. 1480)
• April – Jerzy Radziwiłł, Polish nobleman (b. 1480)
• April 21 – James, Duke of Rothesay, Scottish prince (b. 1540)
• April 24 – Celio Calcagnini, Italian astronomer (b. 1479)
• April 29 – Johann Gramann, German theologian (b. 1487)
• May 27 – Margaret Pole, 8th Countess of Salisbury (executed) (b. 1473)
• June 26 – Francisco Pizarro, Spanish conquistador (b. c. 1475)
• July 4 – Pedro de Alvarado, Spanish conquistador (b. 1495)
• August – Juan de Valdés, Spanish religious writer (b. 1500)
• August 1 – Simon Grynaeus, German scholar and theologian (b. 1493)
• August 18 – Henry IV, Duke of Saxony (1539–1541) (b. 1473)
• August 19 – Vincenzo Cappello, Venetian admiral and statesman (b. 1469)^[23]
• September 24 – Paracelsus, Swiss alchemist and physician (b. 1493)
• September – Beatriz de la Cueva, Governor of Guatemala (b. 1510)
• October 18 – Margaret Tudor, queen of James IV of Scotland (b. 1489)
• November – Wolfgang Fabricius Capito, German reformer (b. 1478)
• November 30 – Amago Tsunehisa, Japanese warlord (b. 1458)
• December 10 – Thomas Culpeper, English courtier (executed) (b. c. 1514)
• December 24 – Andreas Karlstadt, Christian theologian and reformer (b. 1486)
• date unknown
  • Jean Clouet, French miniature painter (b. 1480)
  • Margareta von Melen, Swedish noblewoman (b. 1489)
  • Gül Baba, Ottoman dervish poet
  • Giovanni Guidiccioni, Italian poet (b. 1480)
  • Gazi Husrev-beg, Ottoman statesmen (b. 1480)

1542

James V of Scotland

• January 21 – Azai Sukemasa, Japanese samurai and warlord (b. 1491)
• February – Nikolaus Federmann, German adventurer in Venezuela and Colombia (b. 1501)
• February 1 – Girolamo Aleandro, Italian cardinal (b. 1480)
• February 13 – Catherine Howard, fifth queen of Henry VIII of England (executed) (born c. 1522)
• March 3 – Arthur Plantagenet, 1st Viscount Lisle, illegitimate son of King Edward IV of England
• May 21 – Hernando de Soto, Spanish explorer, navigator and conquistador (b. c. 1500)
• June 14 – Christoph von Scheurl, German writer (b. 1481)
• June 19 – Leo Jud, Swiss reformer (b. 1482)
• July 15 – Lisa del Giocondo, Florentine noblewoman, believed to be the subject of the Mona Lisa (b. 1479)
• August 24 – Gasparo Contarini, Italian diplomat and cardinal (b. 1483)
• August 29 – Cristóvão da Gama, Portuguese soldier (b. c. 1516)
• September 21 – Juan Boscán Almogáver, Spanish poet (b. c. 1490)
• October 11 – Thomas Wyatt, English poet and diplomat (b. 1503)
• October 18 – Giovanni Gaddi, Italian priest (b. 1493)
• December 14 – King James V of Scotland (b. 1512)^[24]
• December 16 – Thomas Lovett III, High Sheriff of Northamptonshire (b. 1473)
• December 22 – Hieronymus Łaski, Polish diplomat (b. 1496)
• date unknown
  • Dosso Dossi, Italian painter (b. 1490)
  • Lucas Fernández, Spanish dramatist and musician (b. c. 1474)
  • Lapu-Lapu, Filipino king (b. 1491)

1543

Juan Rodríguez Cabrillo

Nicolaus Copernicus

Hans Holbein the Younger

Gian Matteo Giberti

• January 2 – Francesco Canova da Milano, Italian composer (b. 1497)
• January 3 – Juan Rodríguez Cabrillo, Portuguese explorer (b. 1499)
• January 9 – Guillaume du Bellay, French diplomat and general (b. 1491)
• February 13 – Johann Eck, German Scholastic theologian (b. 1486)
• February 21 – Ahmad ibn Ibrahim al-Ghazi, Imam of Adal (in battle) (b. c. 1506)
• March 2 – John Neville, 3rd Baron Latimer, English politician (b. 1493)
• March 6 – Baccio D'Agnolo, Florentine woodcarver (b. 1460)
• April 23 – Susanna of Bavaria, German noble, House of Wittelsbach (b. 1502)
• May 24 – Nicolaus Copernicus, Polish mathematician and astronomer (b. 1473)
• June 27 – Agnolo Firenzuola, Italian poet (b. 1493)
• July 19 – Mary Boleyn, English courtier, mistress of Kings Francis I of France and Henry VIII of England (b. 1500)
• August 1 – Magnus I, Duke of Saxe-Lauenburg, German noble (b. 1470)
• August 29 – Maria of Jülich-Berg, German duchess, Spouse of John III, Duke of Cleves (b. 1491)
• September 2 – Sultan Quli Qutb Mulk, founder of the Qutb Shahi dynasty of Golconda (b. 1470)
• September 20 – Thomas Manners, 1st Earl of Rutland (b. 1492)
• September 23 – Johanna von Hachberg-Sausenberg, Swiss countess regnant (b. 1485)
• November 29 – Hans Holbein the Younger, German artist, active in England
• December 27 – George, Margrave of Brandenburg-Ansbach (b. 1484)
• December 29 – Maria Salviati, Italian noble (b. 1499)
• December 30 – Gian Matteo Giberti, Italian Catholic bishop (b. 1495)
• date unknown
  • Polidoro da Caravaggio, Italian painter (b. 1492; murdered)^[25]
  • Madeleine Lartessuti, French shipper and banker (b. 1478)
  • Al-Mutawakkil III, last caliph of the Cairo-based Abbasid caliphate
  • Sehzade Mehmed, Ottoman prince (b. 1521)
• probable
  • Sebastian Franck, German freethinker (b. 1515)
  • Margaret Lee, English courtier, sister of poet Thomas Wyatt (b. 1506)

1544

Johannes Magnus

• March 16 – Louis V, Elector Palatine (1508–1544) (b. 1478)
• March 22 – Johannes Magnus, last Catholic Archbishop of Sweden (b. 1488)
• April 30 – Thomas Audley, Lord Chancellor of England (b. 1488)
• June 14 – Antoine, Duke of Lorraine (b. 1489)
• July 15 – René of Châlon, Prince of the House of Orange (b. 1519)
• June 23 – Eleonore of Fürstenberg, wife of Philip IV, Count of Hanau-Lichtenberg (b. 1523)
• August 19 – Hans Buser, Swiss noble (b. 1513)
• September 12 – Clément Marot, French poet (b. 1496)
• September 25 – Valerius Cordus, German physician and scientist (b. 1515)
• October 10 – Charles Blount, 5th Baron Mountjoy, English courtier and patron of learning (b. 1516)
• October 12 – Antonio Pucci, Italian Catholic cardinal (b. 1485)
• November 13 – Ursula van Beckum, Dutch Anapabtist (b. 1520)
• November 15 – Lucy Brocadelli, Dominican tertiary and stigmatic (b. 1476)
• November 29 – Jungjong of Joseon (b. 1488)
• December 9 – Teofilo Folengo, Italian poet (b. 1491)
• date unknown
  • Ulick na gCeann Burke, 1st Earl of Clanricarde
  • Chen Chun, Chinese painter (b. 1483)
  • Margaret Roper, English writer (b. 1505)
  • Nilakantha Somayaji, Indian mathematician and astronomer (b. 1444)
  • Manco Inca Yupanqui, Inca ruler (b. 1516)
  • Bonaventure des Périers, French author (b. 1500)

1545

Louis X, Duke of Bavaria

• January 16 – George Spalatin, German reformer (b. 1484)
• February 12 or April 2 – Stanisław Odrowąż, Polish noble (b. 1509)
• April 3 – Antonio de Guevara, Spanish chronicler and moralist (b. 1481)
• April 10 – Costanzo Festa, Italian composer (b. 1495)
• April 22 – Louis X, Duke of Bavaria (b. 1496)
• April 25 – Jobst II, Count of Hoya (b. 1493)
• May – Agnes Howard, Duchess of Norfolk, English noblewoman (b. c. 1477)
• May 22 – Sher Shah Suri, Indian ruler (b. 1486)
• June 4 – John Louis, Count of Nassau-Saarbrücken (1472–1545) (b. 1472)
• June 12 – Francis I, Duke of Lorraine (b. 1517)
• June 15 – Elizabeth of Austria, Polish noble (b. 1526)
• July 7 – Pernette Du Guillet, French poet (b. c. 1520)
• July 12 – Maria Manuela, Princess of Portugal (b. 1527)
• August 8 – Injong of Joseon, 12th king of the Joseon Dynasty of Korea (b. 1515)
• August 22 – Charles Brandon, 1st Duke of Suffolk, English politician and husband of Mary Tudor (b. c. 1484)
• August 27 – Piotr Gamrat, Polish Catholic archbishop (b. 1487)
• September
  • Hans Baldung, German artist (b. 1480)
  • Hkonmaing, king of the Ava kingdom (b. c. 1497)
• September 1 – Francis de Bourbon, Count of St. Pol, French noble (b. 1491)
• September 9 – Charles II de Valois, Duke of Orléans, (b. 1522)
• September 24 – Albert of Mainz, elector and archbishop of Mainz (b. 1490)
• October 18 – John Taverner, English composer (b. c. 1490)
• date unknown
  • William Latimer, English churchman and scholar (b. c. 1467)
  • Fernão Lopez, Portuguese renegade
  • Vicente Masip, Spanish painter (b. 1506)

1546

Martin Luther

Hayreddin Barbarossa

• January 11
  • Ernest I, Duke of Brunswick-Lüneburg (b. 1497)
  • Gaudenzio Ferrari, Italian painter and sculptor (b. c. 1471)
• February 18 – Martin Luther, German religious reformer (b. 1483)
• February 23 – Francis, Count of Enghien, French military leader (b. 1519)
• March 1 – George Wishart, Scottish religious reformer (martyred) (b. 1513)
• March 26 – Thomas Elyot, English diplomat and scholar (b. c. 1490)
• April 7 – Friedrich Myconius, German Lutheran theologian (b. 1491)
• May 17 – Philipp von Hutten, German explorer (b. 1511)
• May 28 – Ottaviano de' Medici, Italian politician (b. 1484)
• May 29 – David Beaton, Scottish Catholic cardinal (assassinated) (b. c. 1494)
• June 13 – Fridolin Sicher, Swiss composer (b. 1490)
• July 4 – Khair ad Din "Barbarossa", corsair ruler of Algiers (b. 1475)
• July 9 – Robert Maxwell, 5th Lord Maxwell, Scottish statesman (b. c. 1493)
• July 16 – Anne Askew, English Protestant (burned at the stake) (b. 1521)
• August 1 – Peter Faber, French Jesuit theologian (b. 1506)
• August 3
  • Étienne Dolet, French scholar and printer (b. 1509)
  • Antonio da Sangallo the Younger, Italian architect (b. 1484)
• August 12 – Francisco de Vitoria, Renaissance theologian (b. 1492)
• November 1 – Giulio Romano, Italian painter (b. 1499)

1547

King Henry VIII of England

King Francis I of France

Saint Cajetan

Hernán Cortés

• January 5
  • Albrecht VII, Duke of Mecklenburg (b. 1486)
  • Johann Heß, German theologian (b. 1490)
• January 16 – Johannes Schöner, German astronomer and cartographer (b. 1477)
• January 18 – Pietro Bembo, Italian cardinal and scholar (b. 1470)
• January 19 – Henry Howard, Earl of Surrey, English nobleman, politician and poet, beheaded (b. c.1517)^[13]
• January 27 – Anne of Bohemia and Hungary, Queen consort of the Romans, Bohemia and Hungary (b. 1503)
• January 28 – King Henry VIII of England (b. 1491)^[14]
• February 25 – Vittoria Colonna, marchioness of Pescara (b. 1490)
• February 28 – Philippa of Guelders, Duchess of Lorraine (b. 1467)
• March 31 – King Francis I of France (b. 1494)^[16]
• April 11 – Dorothea of Denmark, Duchess of Prussia, Danish princess (b. 1504)
• May 22 – Daniel, Metropolitan of Moscow (b. c. 1492)
• c. May – Edward Hall, English chronicler and lawyer (b. c.1496)
• June 21 – Sebastiano del Piombo, Italian painter (b. 1485)
• July 20 – Beatus Rhenanus, German humanist and religious reformer (b. 1485)
• August 7 – Saint Cajetan, Italian priest and saint (b. 1480)
• August 17 – Katharina von Zimmern, Swiss sovereign abbess (b. 1478)
• September 10 – Pier Luigi Farnese, Duke of Parma (b. 1503)
• September 17 – Frederick II of Legnica, Duke of Legnica from 1488 (until 1495 and 1505 with his brothers) (b. 1480)
• October 18 – Jacopo Sadoleto, Italian Catholic cardinal (b. 1477)
• December 2 – Hernán Cortés, Spanish conquistador of Mexico (b. 1485)^[26]
• December 28 – Konrad Peutinger, German humanist and antiquarian (b. 1465)
• date unknown
  • Jörg Breu the Younger, German painter (b. 1510)
  • Meera (Mirabai), Rajput princess (b. 1498)
  • Photisarath, King of Laos (b. 1501)

1548

King Sigismund I the Old

Saint Juan de Zumarraga

Joao de Castro

• January 9 – Matthäus Zell, German Lutheran pastor (b. 1477)
• January 23 – Bernardo Pisano, Italian composer (b. 1490)
• February 26 – Lorenzino de' Medici, Italian writer and assassin (b. 1514)
• March 23 – Itagaki Nobukata, Japanese retainer
• March 24 – Gissur Einarsson, first Lutheran bishop in Iceland
• April 1 – King Sigismund I the Old of Poland (b. 1467)
• June 3 – Juan de Zumárraga, Spanish Catholic bishop of Mexico (b. 1468)
• June 6 – João de Castro, Portuguese explorer (b. 1500)
• June 14 – Carpentras, French composer (b. c. 1470)
• July 4 – Philip, Duke of Palatinate-Neuburg, German duke (b. 1503)
• July 29 – Gian Gabriele I of Saluzzo, Italian abbot, Marquess of Saluzzo (b. 1501)
• August 2 – Henry II, Duke of Münsterberg-Oels and Count of Glatz (b. 1507)
• September 5 – Catherine Parr, sixth and last Queen of Henry VIII of England (b. c. 1512)
• September 8 – John III of Pernstein, Bohemian land-owner, Governor of Moravia and Count of Kladsko (b. 1487)
• October 27 – Johannes Dantiscus, Polish poet and Bishop of Warmia (b. 1485)
• November 16 – Caspar Creuziger, German humanist (b. 1504)
• December 27 – Francesco Spiera, Italian Protestant jurist (b. 1502)
• date unknown
  • Juan Diego Cuauhtlatoatzin, Mexican Catholic saint (b. 1474)
  • Chief Queen Sri Suriyothai, consort of King Maha Chakkrapat of Ayutthaya (killed in battle)
  • Strongilah, Jewish Ottoman businesswoman.

1549

Pope Paul III

• January 28 – Elia Levita, German Yiddish writer (b. 1469)
• February 14 – Il Sodoma, Italian painter (b. 1477)
• March – Mingyi Swe, Burmese viceroy of Toungoo
• March 14 – Lorenzo Cybo, Italian condottiero (b. 1500)
• March 20 – Thomas Seymour, 1st Baron Seymour of Sudeley, English politician and diplomat (b. 1508)
• March 25 – Veit Dietrich, German theologian, writer and reformer (b. 1506)
• April – Andrew Boorde, English traveller (b. 1490)
• April 3 – Matsudaira Hirotada, Japanese daimyo (b. 1526)
• April 15 – Christine of Saxony, German noble (b. 1505)
• April 24 – Ralph Neville, 4th Earl of Westmorland, English earl (b. 1498)
• May 11 – María de Toledo, Vicereine and regent of the Spanish Colony of Santo Domingo (b. 1490)
• June 26 – Luis Cáncer, Spanish Dominican priest, missionary, martyr and servant of God (b. 1500)
• July 19 – Edmund Sheffield, 1st Baron Sheffield, English baron (b. 1521)
• August 11 – Otto I, Duke of Brunswick-Harburg, Prince of Lüneburg and Baron of Harburg (b. 1495)
• September 10 – Anthony Denny, confidant of Henry VIII of England (b. 1501)
• September 21 – Benedetto Accolti the Younger, Italian Catholic cardinal (b. 1497)
• October 27 – Marie d'Albret, Countess of Rethel, French nobility (b. 1491)
• November 10 – Pope Paul III (b. 1468)^[27]
• November 26 – Henry Somerset, 2nd Earl of Worcester (b. 1496)
• December 7 – Robert Kett, English rebel (executed)
• December 21 – Marguerite de Navarre, queen of Henry II of Navarre (b. 1492)
• date unknown
  • Daniel Bomberg, Brabantian printer

References