As a means of recording the passage of time, the 16th century lasted from 1501 to 1600. During the 16th century, Spain and Portugal explored and conquered the world seas. Latin America became a Spanish colony, while Portugal became the master of the Indian Ocean. In Europe, the Protestant Reformation gave a major blow to the authority of the Papacy and the Roman Catholic Church. European politics became dominated by religious conflicts, with the groundwork for the epochal Thirty Years' War being laid towards the end of the century. In the Middle East, the Ottoman Empire continued to expand, with the Sultan taking the title of Caliph, while dealing with a resurgent Persia. Iran and Iraq were caught by major popularity of the once-obscure Shiite sect of Islam under the rule of the Safavid dynasty of warrior-mystics, providing grounds for a Persia independent of the majority-Sunni Muslim world. China evacuated the coastal areas, because of Japanese piracy. Japan was suffering under a severe civil war at the time. Mughal Emperor Akbar the Great tried to reconcile the major religions by founding a new religion, Din-i-Ilahi. Akbar was convinced that no religion has the absolute truth. [edit] Events [edit] Undated [edit] 1500–1509  Spanish conquistadors with their Tlaxcallan allies fighting against the Otomies of Metztitlan in present day Mexico, a 16th century codex. - 1509–10: The 'great plague' afflicts various parts of Tudor England.[4]
- 1511: Alfonso de Albuquerque of Portugal conquers Malacca, the capital of the Sultanate of Malacca.
- 1512: Copernicus writes Commentariolus, and moves the sun to the center of the solar system.
- 1512: The southern part (historical core) of the Kingdom of Navarre is invaded by Castile and Aragon.
- 1513: Machiavelli writes The Prince, a treatise about political philosophy
- 1513: The Portuguese mariner Jorge Álvares lands at Macau, China, during the Ming Dynasty.
- 1513: Henry VIII crush the French at the Battle of the Spurs.
- 1513: The Battle of Flodden Field in which invading Scots are defeated by Henry VIII's forces.
- 1513: Sultan Selim I ("The Grim") orders the massacre of Shia Muslims in Anatolia.
- 1514: The Battle of Orsha halts Muscovy's expansion into Eastern Europe.
- 1515: The Ottoman Empire wrests Eastern Anatolia from the Safavids after the Battle of Chaldiran.
- 1516–17: The Ottomans defeat the Mamluks and gain control of Egypt, Arabia, and the Levant.
- 1517: The Sweating sickness epidemic hits Tudor England.[5]
- 1517: The Protestant Reformation begins when Martin Luther posts his 95 Theses in Saxony.
- 1518: Mir Chakar Khan Rind leaves Baluchistan and settled in Punjab.
- 1519: Leonardo da Vinci dies of natural causes at May 2.
- 1519: Wang Yangming, the Chinese philosopher and governor of Jiangxi province, describes his intent to use the fire power of the fo-lang-ji, a breech-loading Portuguese culverin, in order to suppress the rebellion of Prince Zhu Chen-hao.
- 1519: Barbary pirates led by Hayreddin Barbarossa raid Provence and Toulon in southern France.
- 1519: Charles I of Spain becomes Emperor of Holy Roman Empire as Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor (ruled until 1556).
- 1519–22: Spanish expedition commanded by Magellan and Elcano first to circle Earth
- 1519–21: Hernán Cortés leads the Spanish conquest of Mexico.
- 1550: Mongols led by Altan Khan invade China and besiege Beijing.
- 1550–1551: Valladolid debate concerning the existence of souls in Native Americans
- 1551: Fifth outbreak of sweating sickness in England. John Caius of Shrewsbury writes the first full contemporary account of the symptoms of the disease.
- 1551: North African pirates enslave the entire population of the Maltese island Gozo, between 5,000 and 6,000, sending them to Libya.
- 1552: Russia conquers the Khanate of Kazan.
- 1553: Mary I Tudor becomes the first queen regnant of England.
- 1553: Portuguese found a settlement at Macau.
- 1554: Portuguese missionaries José de Anchieta and Manuel da Nóbrega establishes São Paulo, southeast Brazil.
- 1555: The Muscovy Company is the first major English joint stock trading company.
- 1556: Publication in Venice of Delle Navigiationi et Viaggi (terzo volume) by Giovanni Battista Ramusio, secretary of Council of Ten, with plan La Terra de Hochelaga, an illustration of Native American village Hochelaga. See [1]
- 1556: The Shaanxi Earthquake in China is history's deadliest known earthquake.
- 1556: Georgius Agricola, the "Father of Mineralogy", publishes his De re metallica.
- 1556: Akbar the Great defeats the Sultan of Bengal at the Second battle of Panipat
- 1556: Russia conquers the Astrakhan Khanate.
- 1556–1605: During his reign, Akbar expands the Mughal Empire in a series of conquests.
- 1556: Mir Chakar Khan Rind captured Delhi with Emperor Humayun.
- 1556: Pomponio Algerio, radical theologian, is executed by boiling in oil as part of the Roman inquisition.
- 1557: The Portuguese settle in Macau.
- 1557: Spain became the first sovereign nation in history to declare bankruptcy. Philip II of Spain had to declare four state bankruptcies in 1557, 1560, 1575 and 1596.
- 1558–1603: The Elizabethan era is considered the height of the English Renaissance.
- 1558–83: Livonian War between Poland, Grand Principality of Lithuania, Sweden, Denmark and Russia.
- 1558: After 200 years, the Kingdom of England loses Calais to France.
- 1559: With the Peace of Cateau Cambrésis, the Italian Wars conclude.
[edit] Significant people - Desiderius Erasmus Roterodamus (sometimes known as Desiderius Erasmus of Rotterdam) (October 27, 1466/1469, Rotterdam– July 12, 1536 Basel was a Dutch Renaissance humanist and Catholic Christian theologian.
- Paracelsus (11 November or 17 December 1493 in Einsiedeln, Switzerland – 24 September 1541 in Salzburg, Austria), Renaissance physician, botanist, alchemist, astrologer, and general occultist.
- Henry VII of England, founder of the Tudor dynasty. Introduced ruthlessly efficient mechanisms of taxation which restored the kingdom after a state of virtual bankruptcy due to the effects of the Wars of the Roses (1457 – 1509).
- Zygmunt I the Old, King of Poland, established a conscription army and the bureaucracy needed to finance it (1467 – 1548).
- György Dózsa, leader of the peasants' revolt in Hungary (1470 – 1514)
- Martin Luther, German religious reformer (1483 – 1546).
- King Henry VIII of England, founder of Anglicanism (1491 – 1547).
- Ignatius of Loyola, founder of the Society of Jesus (1491 – 1556).
- King Francis I of France, considered the first Renaissance monarch of his Kingdom (1494 – 1547).
- Suleiman the Magnificent, Sultan of the Ottoman Empire. Conqueror and legal reformer (1494 – 1566).
- King Gustav I of Sweden, restored Swedish sovereignty and introduced Protestantism in Sweden (1496–1560).
- Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor and the first to reign as King of Spain. Involved in almost constant conflict with France and the Ottoman Empire while promoting the Spanish colonization of the Americas (1500 – 1558).
- Cuauhtémoc, the last Tlatoani of the Aztec, led the native resistance against the Conquistadores (1502 – 1525).
- Michel Nostradamus, French astrologer and doctor, author of Les Propheties, a book of world prophecies (1503 – 1566).
- Ahmad ibn Ibrihim al-Ghazi, Somali Imam and general (1507 – 1543).
- John Calvin, theologian, and reformer. Founder of Calvinism (1509 – 1564).
- Andreas Vesalius, anatomist, physician, and author of one of the most influential books on human anatomy, De humani corporis fabrica (On the Workings of the Human Body).(1514–1564)
- Mary I of England. Attempted to counter the Protestant Reformation in her domains. Nick-named Bloody Mary for her Religious persecution (1516 – 1558).
- Andrea Amati, (c. 1520 – c. 1578) was the earliest maker of violins whose instruments still survive today.
- John Knox (c. 1510 – 1572) was a Scottish clergyman and leader of the Protestant Reformation who is considered the founder of the Presbyterian denomination.
- King Philip II of Spain, self-proclaimed leader of Counter-Reformation (1527 – 1598).
- Ivan IV of Russia, first Russian tsar (1533–1584).
- William the Silent, William I of Orange-Nassau, main leader of the Dutch revolt against the Spanish (1533–1584).
- Wanli Emperor, Emperor of China during the Ming Dynasty, aided Korea in the Imjin War, (1563 – 1620)
- Elizabeth I of England, central figure of the Elizabethan era (1533 – 1603). She was the granddaughter of the aforementioned Henry VII, daughter of Henry VIII and paternal half-sister of Mary I. Though some within her court thought of her merely as a bastard, due to the fact that her father executed her supposedly criminal mother Anne Boleyn, her reign is still considered one of the greatest ever in England's history.
- Oda Nobunaga , daimyo of the Sengoku period of Japanese civil war. First ruler of the Azuchi-Momoyama period (1534 – 1582).
- Toyotomi Hideyoshi , daimyo of the Sengoku period of Japanese civil war. Second ruler of the Azuchi-Momoyama period (1536 – 1598).
- Edward VI of England, notable for further differentiating Anglicanism from the practices of the Roman Catholic Church (1537 – 1553).
- Lady Jane Grey, Queen regnant of England and Ireland. Notably deposed by popular revolt (1537 – 1554).
- Mary I of Scotland, First female head of the House of Stuart (1542 – 1587).
- Johan van Oldenbarnevelt, Dutch politician and Grand Pensionary, played a pivotal role in organizing the Dutch revolt against Spain (1542 – 1619).
- Admiral Yi Sun-sin , Korean admiral, respected as one of the greatest admirals in world history. (1545 – 1598).
- Michelangelo Buonarroti, Italian painter and sculptor (1475 – 1564).
- Leonardo da Vinci famous artist and inventor and scientist (1452 – 1519).
- Raphael, Italian painter, (1483 – 1520)
- King Henry IV of France and Navarre, ended the French Wars of Religion and reunited the kingdom under his command (1553 – 1610).
- Michael the Brave, ruler of Walachia, national symbol of Romanians for uniting the three provinces under his rule in 1600 (1558 – 1601)
- Giovanni Battista Ramusio, diplomat and secretary of council of Ten of Venice Italy, author of Delle Navigationi et Viaggi. Third volume (terzo volume) containing plan La Terra de Hochelaga showing village of Hochelaga (1585 – 1657). See [2]
- Matteo Ricci, Italian Jesuit who traveled to Macau, China in 1582, and died in Beijing, (1552 – 1610)
- Andrea Palladio (November 30, 1508 – August 19, 1580), one of the most influential architect of the Western architecture
[edit] Exploration [edit] Visual artists - Michelangelo Buonarroti, Italian painter and sculptor (1475 – 1564).
- Caravaggio, Italian artist (1571 – 1610).
- Albrecht Dürer, German artist, (1471 – 1528)
- Hans Holbein the Younger, German artist, (1497 – 1543)
- Raphael, Italian painter, (1483 – 1520)
- Donato Bramante (1444 – March 11, 1514)
- Titian, Italian painter, (c. 1485 – 1576)
- Paolo Veronese, Italian painter, (1528 – April 19, 1588)
- Leonardo da Vinci famous artist and inventor and scientist (1452 – 1519).
- Qiu Ying, Chinese painter who belonged to the Wu School and used gongbi brush style (1494 – 1552)
- Pieter Bruegel the Elder, (c. 1525 – September 9, 1569)
- Jan Brueghel the Elder (1568 – January 13, 1625)
- Tintoretto (real name Jacopo Comin; September 29, 1518 – May 31, 1594)
- Lucas Cranach the Elder (1472–1553)
- Lucas Cranach the Younger (1515–1586)
- El Greco (1541 – April 7, 1614) was a painter, sculptor, and architect of the Spanish Renaissance
- Sinan (1489 – 1588) was a civil engineer and chief architect of the Ottoman Empire
- Domenico Fontana (1543 – June 28, 1607) was an architect
[edit] Musicians and Composers [edit] Literature - Juan Martínez de Jáuregui y Aguilar, Spanish poet and painter, (1483 – 1541)
- Luís de Camões, Portuguese poet (c. 1524 –1580).
- Baldassare Castiglione, Italian author (1478 – 1529)
- Miguel de Cervantes, Spanish author (1547 – 1616).
- John Donne, English metaphysical poet (1572 – 1631)
- John Ford, English dramatist (1586 – c. 1640).
- Thomas Heywood, English dramatist (c, early 1570s – 1641)
- Ben Jonson, English dramatist c.1572 – 1637)
- Jan Kochanowski, Polish poet (1530 – 1584)
- Fuzuli, Azerbaijani poet (1483 – 1556)
- Thomas Kyd, English dramatist (1558 – 1594)
- Thomas Lodge, English dramatist (1558 – 1625)
- Niccolò Machiavelli, Italian author (1469 – 1527)
- Christopher Marlowe, English poet and dramatist (1564 – 1593).
- Michel de Montaigne, French essayist (1533 – 1592).
- Thomas More, English politician and author (1478 – 1535).
- Miyamoto Musashi, famous warrior in Japan, author of The Book of Five Rings, a treaty on strategy and martial combat. (1584 – 1645)
- François Rabelais, French author (c. 1493 – 1553).
- Mikołaj Rej, Polish writer (1505 – 1569).
- Pierre de Ronsard, French poet. Called the 'Prince of poets' of his generation. (1524 – 1585).
- William Shakespeare, English playwright (1564 – 1616).
- Edmund Spenser, English poet (c. 1552 – 1599)
- Bâkî, Ottoman Turkish poet. He was known as "Sultan of poets" (1526 – 1600)
- Lope de Vega, Spanish dramatist (1562 – 1635).
[edit] Science and Philosophy - Sir Francis Bacon, (1561 – 1626) was an English philosopher, statesman, and essayist. He is also known as a catalyst of the scientific revolution.
- Tycho Brahe, (1546 – 1601), Danish astronomer.
- Giordano Bruno, Italian philosopher and astronomer/astrologer (1548 – 1600).
- Nicolaus Copernicus, (1473 – 1543) astronomer, developed the heliocentric (Sun-centered) theory using scientific methods.
- Galileo Galilei (1564[7] – 1642) was a Tuscan (Italian) physicist, mathematician, astronomer, and philosopher who played a major role in the scientific revolution.
- Konrad Gessner (1516 – 1565) was a Swiss naturalist, bibliographer, Botanist, His three-volume Historiae animalium (1551–1558) is considered the beginning of modern zoology
- William Gilbert, also known as Gilbard, 1544 – 1603) was an English physician and a natural philosopher.
- Gerardus Mercator (5 March 1512 – 2 December 1594), famous cartographer
- Emery Molyneux (died June 1598), was an Elizabethan maker of globes, mathematical instruments and ordnance. His terrestrial and celestial globes, first published in 1592, were the first to be made in England and the first to be made by an Englishman.
- Andreas Vesalius (Brussels, December 31, 1514 – Zakynthos, October 15, 1564) was an anatomist, physician, and author of one of the most influential books on human anatomy, De humani corporis fabrica (On the Workings of the Human Body). Vesalius is often referred to as the founder of modern human anatomy.
- Edward Wright, (baptized 1561; died 1615), English mathematician and cartographer who determined the mathematical basis of the Mercator projection and produced the first maps in England according to this method
[edit] Inventions, discoveries, introductions - Related article: List of 16th century inventions.
[edit] See also [edit] References [edit] Decades and years |
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