istoryworld
All Events
Francis Xavier reaches Goa, at the start of the great mission to the east that will last the nine years until his death
Pope Paul III establishes the Roman Inquisition, with the specific task of fighting against the Protestant heresy
Henry VIII's fourth wife, Catherine Howard, is beheaded on a charge of adultery with Thomas Culpeper
A one-week-old Scottish infant, daughter of James V, inherits the throne as Mary Queen of Scots
Polish astronomer Nicolaus Copernicus publishes a book suggesting that the earth moves round the sun
The first Europeans reach Japan by accident, blown ashore in a storm
Flemish anatomist Andreas Vesalius publishes a seven-volume work which for the first time lays bare human anatomy
Humayun, driven west into Afghanistan by Sher Shah, loses his family's new inheritance in India
Rich seams of silver are discovered at Potosi, in modern Bolivia
3000 Waldenses are massacred as heretics in the villages of Provence
Ambroise Paré, the greatest surgeon of his day, publishes an account of how to treat gunshot wounds
The Italian players of the commedia dell'arte first feature in the records in this year
A council of the Roman Catholic church is convened in Trent, to establish the tenets of the Counter-Reformation
David Beaton, the archbishop of St Andrews, burns a leading Protestant, George Wishart, as a heretic and is murdered in retaliation
Hungary is divided, by agreement between the Turkish sultan Suleiman I and the Habsburg ruler Ferdinand I
On the death of Henry VIII his 10-year-old son becomes king of England as Edward VI
Ivan IV is crowned tsar of Russia and becomes known as Ivan the Terrible
The first book describing the game of draughts, or checkers, is published in Spain
John Knox is captured in St Andrews and is sent to serve in the French fleet as a galley slave
La Paz is founded on the trade route between Lima and the newly discovered silver mines at Potosi
Brazil becomes a Portuguese royal province, under the control of a governor general
The first Portuguese governor general of Brazil selects Bahia (now Salvador) as his capital
The first version of the English prayer book, or Book of Common Prayer, is published with text by Thomas Cranmer
Joachim du Bellay publishes a manifesto for the group of new French poets who become known as the Pléiade
Thomas Cranmer is burnt at the stake in Oxford, after reasserting his Protestant beliefs
