Explore 151 historical events from 1540–1549.
Francis II of Saxe-Lauenburg, was the third son of Francis I of Saxe-Lauenburg and Sybille of Saxe-Freiberg, daughter of Duke Henry IV the Pious of Saxony. From 1581 on he ruled Sa…
Francis II, Duke of Saxe-Lauenburg (died 1619)
George I of Hesse-Darmstadt was the Landgrave of Hesse-Darmstadt from 1567 to 1596.
George I, Landgrave of Hesse-Darmstadt (died 1596)
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)
Philipp Nicodemus Frischlin was a German philologist, poet, playwright, mathematician, and astronomer, born at Erzingen, today part of Balingen in Württemberg, where his father was…
Philipp Nicodemus Frischlin, German philologist, mathematician, astronomer, and poet (died 1590)
Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra was a Spanish writer widely regarded as the greatest writer in the Spanish language and one of the world's pre-eminent novelists. He is best known for …
Miguel de Cervantes, Spanish novelist, poet, and playwright (died 1616)
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.
Justus Lipsius was a Brabantian Catholic philologist, philosopher, and humanist. Lipsius wrote a series of works designed to revive ancient Stoicism in a form that would be compati…
Justus Lipsius, Belgian philologist and scholar (died 1606)
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)
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)
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)
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)
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)