1539 e.v.

Lutheranism is forcibly introduced into Iceland, despite the opposition of Bishop Jón Arason.

Beaulieu Abbey, Bolton Abbey, Colchester Abbey, Newstead Abbey, St Albans Abbey, St Mary's Abbey, York and Hartland Abbey (the last) fall prey to the Dissolution of the Monasteries in England. Laurence Tomson, English Calvinist, is born (will die in 1608). Humphrey Gilbert, English adventurer, explorer, member of Parliament and soldier, is born (will die in 1583). James Beaton, Scottish church leader, dies (was born in 1473)

The first edition of the Calvinist Genevan Psalter is published.

In Henan province, China, a severe drought with swarms of locusts is made worse, by a major epidemic outbreak of the plague.

The first printing press in North America is set up in Mexico City.

Teseo Ambrogio's *Introductio in Chaldaicam lingua, Syriaca atq Armenica, & dece alias linguas*, published in Pavia, introduces several Middle Eastern languages to western Europe for the first time.

José Luis Carvajal y de la Cueva, Portuguese explorer, is born (will die in 1590)

Hasegawa Tōhaku, Japanese painter, is born (will die in 1610)

Cura Ocllo, Inca queen, dies.

## January

**Toungoo–Hanthawaddy War – Battle of Naungyo, Burma:** The Toungoos decisively defeat the Hanthawaddys.

### 12th

**Treaty of Toledo:** Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor (and Charles I of Spain) and Francis I of France agree to make no further alliances with England. The treaty comes after Henry VIII of England's split with Rome and Pope Paul III.

### 24th

Anneke Esaiasdochter, Dutch Anabaptist writer, dies (was born in 1509)

### 28th

Nicolò Donato, Doge of Venice, is born (will die in 1618)

## February

Narapati of Prome, king of Prome in Burma.

### 6th

John III, Duke of Cleves, dies (was born in 1491)

### 9th

The first horse race is held at Chester Racecourse, the oldest in use in England.

### 13th

Elisabeth of Hesse, Electress Palatine by marriage, is born (will die in 1582)

Isabella d'Este, Marquise of Mantua, dies (was born in 1474)

### 23rd

Henry XI of Legnica, thrice Duke of Legnica, is born (will die in 1588)

Salima Sultan Begum, Empress of the Mughal Empire as a wife of Emperor Akbar, is born (will die in 1613)

### 27th

Franciscus Raphelengius, Dutch printer, is born (will die in 1597)

## March

Canterbury Cathedral surrenders and reverts to its previous status of 'a college of secular canons'.

### 5th

Christoph Pezel, German theologian, is born (will die in 1604)

Nuno da Cunha, Portuguese governor in India, dies (was born in 1487)

### 12th

Thomas Boleyn, 1st Earl of Wiltshire, English diplomat and politician, dies (was born in 1477)

### 18th

Maria of Nassau, Countess of Nassau, is born (will die in 1599)

### 19th

Lord Edmund Howard, English nobleman, dies (was born in 1478)

## April

### 5th

George Frederick, Margrave of Brandenburg-Ansbach, is born (will die in 1603)

### 6th

Amalia of Neuenahr, German noble, is born (will die in 1602)

### 7th

Tobias Stimmer, Swiss artist, is born (will die in 1584)

Strange Jørgenssøn, Norwegian businessman, is born (will die in 1610)

### 17th

George, Duke of Saxony, dies (was born in 1471)

### 19th

Katarzyna Weiglowa, Jewish martyr, dies (was born in 1460)

### 30th

Archduchess Barbara of Austria, Austrian archduchess, is born (will die in 1572)

John Bourchier, 1st Earl of Bath, English noble, dies (was born in 1470)

## May

The Six Articles, an Act of the Parliament of England, reaffirms certain Catholic principles in Henry VIII's Church of England.

### 1st

Isabella of Portugal, Holy Roman Empress, dies (was born in 1503)

### 7th

Ottaviano Petrucci, Italian printer, dies (was born in 1466)

Guru Nanak, founder of Sikhism, dies (was born in 1469)

### 22nd

Edward Seymour, 1st Earl of Hertford, is born (will die in 1621)

### 29th

Thomas Pounde, English Jesuit lay brother, is born (will die in 1613)

### 30th

Hernando de Soto lands at Tampa Bay, Florida with 600 soldiers, with the goal to find gold. He also introduces pigs into North America.

## June

### 6th

Catherine Vasa, Regent of East Frisia, is born (will die in 1610)

### 13th

Jost Amman, Swiss printmaker, is born (will die in 1591)

### 20th

Philip III, Count of Waldeck-Eisenberg, dies (was born in 1486)

### 23rd

William Darrell of Littlecote, English politician, is born (will die in 1589)

### 26th

Battle of Chausa in modern-day Buxar, India: Sher Shah Suri defeats the Mughal emperor, Humayun (Sher Shah goes on to form the Sur Empire and take control of nearly all Mughal territory).

## July

### 4th

Louis VI, Elector Palatine, is born (will die in 1583)

### 5th

St Anthony Maria Zaccaria, Italian saint, dies (was born in 1502)

### 9th

Adrian Fortescue, English Roman Catholic martyr, dies (was born in 1476)

## August

Vannoccio Biringuccio, Italian metallurgist, dies (was born in 1480)

### 15th

King Francis I of France issues the Ordinance of Villers-Cotterêt, that places the whole of France under the jurisdiction of the royal law courts, and makes French the language of those courts, and the official language of legal discourse.

## September

### 7th

Guru Angad Dev becomes the second Guru of the Sikhs.

### 8th

John Stokesley, English prelate, dies (was born in 1475)

### 18th

Louis Gonzaga, Duke of Nevers, Italian-French dignitary and diplomat, is born (will die in 1595)

## October

### 1

Peter Vok, Czech noble, is born (will die in 1611)

### 4

Henry VIII contracts to marry Anne of Cleves.

## November

### 1st

Joachim II Hector introduces Lutheranism in the Margraviate of Brandenburg, becoming the second Prince-Elector after the Prince-Elector of Saxony to turn Protestant.

Pierre Pithou, French lawyer and scholar, is born (will die in 1596)

### 14th

Hugh Cook Faringdon, English Abbot of Reading, dies.

### 26th

Abbot Marmaduke Bradley and 31 monks sign the deed surrendering Fountains Abbey to the English Crown.

## December

### 5th

Fausto Paolo Sozzini, Italian theologian, is born (will die in 1604)

### 12th

Bartolomeo degli Organi, Italian musician, dies (was born in 1474)

### 20th

Paulus Melissus, German composer, is born (will die in 1602)

Johannes Lupi, Flemish composer, dies (was born in 1506)

### 31st

John Radcliffe, English politician, is born (will die in 1568)

## The Symphony That Never Ends

The Council of Verona begins to reform the worst abuses of the Church and condemns Protestant doctrines.