Explore 129 historical events from 1540–1549.
Johan van Oldenbarnevelt, Heer van Berkel en Rodenrijs (1600), Gunterstein (1611) and Bakkum (1613), was a Dutch statesman and revolutionary who played an important role in the Dut…
Johan van Oldenbarnevelt, Dutch politician (died 1619)
Sebastiano del Piombo was an Italian painter of the High Renaissance and early Mannerist periods, famous as the only major artist of the period to combine the colouring of the Vene…
Sebastiano del Piombo, Italian painter and educator (born 1485)
Gaetano dei Conti di Thiene, known in English as Saint Cajetan, was an Italian Catholic priest and religious reformer, co-founder of the Theatines. He is recognised as a saint in t…
Cajetan, Italian priest and saint (born 1480)
Katharina von Zimmern, also known as the imperial abbess of Zürich and Katharina von Reischach, was the last abbess of the Fraumünster Abbey in Zürich.
Katharina von Zimmern, Swiss sovereign abbess (born 1478)
Henry II was King of France from 1547 until his death in 1559. The second son of Francis I and Claude, Duchess of Brittany, he became Dauphin of France upon the death of his elder …
Henry II was crowned King of France at Reims Cathedral.
The Anglo-Scottish Wars comprise the various battles which continued to be fought between the Kingdom of England and the Kingdom of Scotland from the time of the Wars of Independen…
Anglo-Scottish Wars: English forces defeated the Scots at the Battle of Pinkie near Musselburgh, Lothian, Scotland.
Robert Persons, later known as Robert Parsons, was an English Jesuit priest. He was a major figure in establishing the 16th-century "English Mission" of the Society of Jesus.
Robert Persons, English Jesuit priest, insurrectionist, and author (died 1610)
Murad III was the sultan of the Ottoman Empire from 1574 until his death in 1595.
Murad III, Ottoman sultan (died 1595)
Philipp von Hutten was a German adventurer and an early European explorer and conquistador of Venezuela. He is a significant figure in the history of Klein-Venedig, the concession …
Philipp von Hutten, German explorer (born 1511)
David Beaton was Archbishop of St Andrews and the last Scottish cardinal prior to the Reformation.
David Beaton, Scottish cardinal and politician, Lord Chancellor of Scotland (born 1494)
Hayreddin Barbarossa, also known as Hayreddin Pasha, Hızır Hayrettin Pasha, and simply Hızır Reis, was an Ottoman corsair and later admiral of the Ottoman Navy. Barbarossa's naval …
Hayreddin Barbarossa, Ottoman admiral (born 1478)
Anne Askew, married name Anne Kyme, was an English writer, poet, and Protestant preacher who was condemned as a heretic during the reign of Henry VIII of England. She and Margaret …
Anne Askew, English author and poet (born 1520)
Peter Faber, SJ was a Savoyard Catholic priest, theologian and co-founder of the Society of Jesus, along with Ignatius of Loyola and Francis Xavier. Pope Francis announced his cano…
Peter Faber, French Jesuit theologian (born 1506)
Antonio da Sangallo the Younger, also known as Antonio Cordiani, was an Italian architect active during the Renaissance, mainly in Rome and the Papal States. He worked on the desig…
Antonio da Sangallo the Younger, Italian architect, designed the Apostolic Palace (born 1484)
Étienne Dolet was a French scholar, translator and printer. He was a controversial figure throughout his lifetime, which was buffeted by the opposing forces of the Renaissance and …
Étienne Dolet, French scholar and translator (born 1509)
Robert Maxwell, 5th Lord Maxwell was a Scottish nobleman, politician and soldier who was a member of the Council of Regency (1536) of the Kingdom of Scotland and Regent of the Isl…
Robert Maxwell, 5th Lord Maxwell, Scottish statesman (born c. 1493)
Francisco de Vitoria, also known as Francisco de Victoria, was a Spanish Catholic philosopher, theologian, and jurist of Renaissance Spain. He is the founder of the tradition in ph…
Francisco de Vitoria, Spanish theologian (born 1492)
In England and Wales, the Tudor period occurred between 1485 and 1603, including the Elizabethan era. The Tudor period coincides with the reign of the House of Tudor, which began w…
The Tudor warship Mary Rose sinks off Portsmouth; in 1982 the wreck is salvaged in one of the most complex and…
The Isle of Wight is an island off the south coast of England. It is a unitary authority and also a ceremonial county. It is separated from the mainland county of Hampshire by the …
The first landing of French troops on the coast of the Isle of Wight during the French invasion of the Isle of Wight.
Henry Wriothesley, 2nd Earl of Southampton, was an English peer.
Henry Wriothesley, 2nd Earl of Southampton, English Earl (died 1581)
Yi Sun-sin was a Korean admiral and military general known for his victories against the Japanese navy during the Imjin War in the Joseon period. Yi's courtesy name was Yŏhae (여해),…
Yi Sun-sin, Korean commander (died 1598)
Franciscus Junius the Elder was a Reformed scholar, Protestant reformer and theologian. Born in Bourges in central France, he initially studied law, but later decided to study theo…
Franciscus Junius, French theologian (died 1602)
Don Carlos, Prince of Asturias, was the eldest son and heir apparent of King Philip II of Spain. His mother was Maria Manuela of Portugal, daughter of John III of Portugal. Carlos …
Carlos, Prince of Asturias (died 1568)
Andrew Melville was a Scottish scholar, theologian, poet and religious reformer. His fame encouraged scholars from the European continent to study at Glasgow and St. Andrews.
Andrew Melville, Scottish theologian and scholar (died 1622)