1500–1599 (A.D.) World History
Updated August 9, 2022 |
Infoplease Staff
- 1500
- On April 22nd, Brazil was conquered by the Portuguese Crown when Pedro Álvares Cabral took possession of it in the name of King Manuel I.
- 1501
- First black slaves in America brought to Spanish colony of Santo Domingo.
- c. 1503
- Leonardo da Vinci paints the Mona Lisa. Michelangelo sculpts the David (1504).
- 1506
- St. Peter's Church started in Rome; designed and decorated by such artists and architects as Bramante, Michelangelo, da Vinci, Raphael, and Bernini before its completion in 1626.
- 1509
- Henry VIII ascends English throne. Michelangelo paints the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel.
- 1513
- Balboa becomes the first European to encounter the Pacific Ocean. Machiavelli writes The Prince.
- 1517
- Turks conquer Egypt, control Arabia. Martin Luther posts his 95 theses denouncing church abuses on church door in Wittenberg—start of the Reformation in Germany.
- 1519
- Ulrich Zwingli begins Reformation in Switzerland. Hernando Cortes conquers Mexico for Spain. Charles I of Spain is chosen Holy Roman Emperor Charles V. Portuguese explorer Ferdinand Magellan sets out to circumnavigate the globe.
- 1520
- Luther excommunicated by Pope Leo X. Suleiman I (“the Magnificent”) becomes Sultan of Turkey, invades Hungary (1521), Rhodes (1522), attacks Austria (1529), annexes Hungary (1541), Tripoli (1551), makes peace with Persia (1553), destroys Spanish fleet (1560), dies (1566). Magellan reaches the Pacific, is killed by Philippine natives (1521). One of his ships under Juan Sebastián del Cano continues around the world, reaches Spain (1522).
- 1524
- Verrazano, sailing under the French flag, explores the New England coast and New York Bay.
- 1527
- Troops of the Holy Roman Empire attack Rome, imprison Pope Clement VII—the end of the Italian Renaissance. Castiglione writes The Courtier. The Medici family expelled from Florence.
- 1532
- Pizarro marches from Panama to Peru, kills the Inca chieftain, Atahualpa, of Peru (1533). Machiavelli's The Prince published posthumously.
- 1535
- Reformation begins as Henry VIII makes himself head of English Church after being excommunicated by Pope. Sir Thomas More executed as traitor for refusal to acknowledge king's religious authority. Jacques Cartier sails up the St. Lawrence River, basis of French claims to Canada.
- 1536
- Henry VIII executes second wife, Anne Boleyn. John Calvin establishes Reformed and Presbyterian form of Protestantism in Switzerland, writes Institutes of the Christian Religion. Danish and Norwegian Reformations. Michelangelo's Last Judgment.
- 1541
- John Knox leads Reformation in Scotland, establishes Presbyterian church there (1560).
- 1543
- Publication of On the Revolution of Heavenly Bodies by Polish scholar Nicolaus Copernicus—giving his theory that the earth revolves around the sun.
- 1545
- Council of Trent to meet intermittently until 1563 to define Catholic dogma and doctrine, reiterate papal authority.
- 1547
- Ivan IV (“the Terrible”) crowned as czar of Russia, begins conquest of Astrakhan and Kazan (1552), battles nobles (boyars) for power (1564), kills his son (1580), dies, and is succeeded by his weak and feeble-minded son, Fyodor I.
- 1553
- Roman Catholicism restored in England by Queen Mary I.
- 1556
- Akbar the Great becomes Mogul emperor of India, conquers Afghanistan (1581), continues wars of conquest (until 1605).
- 1558
- Queen Elizabeth I ascends the throne (rules to 1603). Restores Protestantism, establishes state Church of England (Anglicanism). Renaissance will reach height in England—Shakespeare, Marlowe, Spenser.
- 1561
- Persecution of Huguenots in France stopped by Edict of Orleans. French religious wars begin again with massacre of Huguenots at Vassy. St. Bartholomew's Day Massacre—thousands of Huguenots murdered (1572). Amnesty granted (1573). Persecution continues periodically until Edict of Nantes (1598) gives Huguenots religious freedom (until 1685).
- 1568
- Protestant Netherlands revolts against Catholic Spain; independence will be acknowledged by Spain in 1648.
- 1570
- Japan permits visits of foreign ships. Queen Elizabeth I excommunicated by Pope. Turks attack Cyprus and war on Venice. Turkish fleet defeated at Battle of Lepanto by Spanish and Italian fleets (1571). Peace of Constantinople (1572) ends Turkish attacks on Europe.
- 1580
- Francis Drake returns to England after circumnavigating the globe; knighted by Queen Elizabeth I (1581). Montaigne's Essays published.
- 1582
- Pope Gregory XIII implements the Gregorian calendar.
- 1583
- William of Orange rules the Netherlands; assassinated on orders of Philip II of Spain (1584).
- 1587
- Mary, Queen of Scots, executed for treason by order of Queen Elizabeth I. Monteverdi's First Book of Madrigals.
- 1588
- Defeat of the Spanish Armada by English. Henry, King of Navarre and Protestant leader, recognized as Henry IV, first Bourbon king of France. Converts to Roman Catholicism in 1593 in attempt to end religious wars.
- 1590
- Henry IV enters Paris, wars on Spain (1595), marries Marie de Medici (1600), assassinated (1610). Spenser's The Faerie Queen. El Greco's St. Jerome. Galileo's experiments with falling objects.
- 1598
- Boris Godunov becomes Russian czar. Tycho Brahe describes his astronomical experiments.
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