Explore 109 historical events from 1540–1549.
Hernando de Soto was a Spanish explorer and conquistador, who was involved in expeditions in Nicaragua and the Yucatan Peninsula. He played an important role in Francisco Pizarro's…
Hernando de Soto, Spanish-American explorer (born 1496)
Leo Jud, known to his contemporaries as Meister Leu, was a Swiss reformer who worked with Huldrych Zwingli in Zürich.
Leo Jud, Swiss theologian and reformer (born 1482)
Lisa del Giocondo was an Italian noblewoman and member of the Gherardini family of Florence and Tuscany. Her name was given to the Mona Lisa, her portrait commissioned by her husba…
Lisa del Giocondo, subject of Leonardo da Vinci's painting Mona Lisa (born 1479)
Gasparo Contarini was an Italian diplomat, cardinal, and Bishop of Belluno. He advocated for dialogue with Protestants during the Reformation. Born in Venice, he served as the Repu…
Gasparo Contarini, Italian cardinal (born 1483)
The Ottoman–Portuguese conflicts also known as the Ottoman–Portuguese War, were a period of conflict during the Ottoman–Portuguese confrontations and series of armed military encou…
Ottoman–Portuguese conflicts: During the Battle of Wofla, the Portuguese commander Cristóvão da Gama was captured by…
Henry VIII was King of England from 22 April 1509 until his death in 1547. After the Pope refused to annul his marriage to Catherine of Aragon, Henry passed legislation that severe…
King Henry VIII orders English-language Bibles be placed in every church
Francisco Pizarro was a Spanish conquistador, best known for his expeditions that led to the Spanish conquest of the Inca Empire.
Francisco Pizarro is assassinated in Lima by the son of his former companion and later antagonist, Diego de Almagro the
Jacques Cartier was a French maritime explorer from Brittany. Jacques Cartier was the first European to describe and map the Gulf of Saint Lawrence and the shores of the Saint Lawr…
French explorer Jacques Cartier lands near Quebec City in his third voyage to Canada.
Hernando de Soto was a Spanish explorer and conquistador, who was involved in expeditions in Nicaragua and the Yucatan Peninsula. He played an important role in Francisco Pizarro's…
Hernando de Soto stops near present-day Walls, Mississippi, and sees the Mississippi River (then known by the Spanish as
Margaret Plantagenet, Countess of Salisbury, was the only surviving daughter of George Plantagenet, Duke of Clarence, and his wife Isabel Neville. As a result of Margaret's marriag…
Margaret Pole, Countess of Salisbury (born 1473)
Francisco Pizarro was a Spanish conquistador, best known for his expeditions that led to the Spanish conquest of the Inca Empire.
Francisco Pizarro, Spanish explorer and politician, Governor of New Castile (born c
Pedro de Alvarado was a Spanish conquistador, adelantado, governor and captain general of Guatemala. He participated in the conquest of Cuba, in Juan de Grijalva's exploration of t…
Pedro de Alvarado, Spanish general and explorer (born 1495)
Simon Grynaeus was a German scholar and theologian of the Protestant Reformation.
Simon Grynaeus, German theologian and scholar (born 1493)
Vincenzo Cappello was a Venetian nobleman and statesman, best known as the admiral of the Venetian navy in the Battle of Preveza.
Vincenzo Cappello, Venetian admiral and statesman (born 1469)
Hernando de Alarcón was a Spanish explorer and navigator of the 16th century, noted for having led a 1540 expedition to the Colorado River Delta, during which he became one of the …
Hernando de Alarcón sets sail on an expedition to the Gulf of California
Henry VIII was King of England and Lord of Ireland from 22 April 1509, and King of Ireland from 18 June 1542, until his death in 1547.
English King Henry VIII commands his fourth wife, Anne of Cleves, to leave the court
Henry VIII was King of England and Lord of Ireland from 22 April 1509, and King of England and Ireland from the commencement of the Crown of Ireland Act 1542, creating the title of…
King Henry VIII of England annuls his marriage to his fourth wife, Anne of Cleves.
Henry VIII was King of England and Ireland from 22 April 1509 until his death in 1547.
Henry VIII of England marries his fifth wife, Catherine Howard.
Thomas Cromwell was an English statesman and lawyer who served as chief minister to King Henry VIII from 1534 until mid-1540, at which time he was beheaded on Henry's orders, a los…
Thomas Cromwell is executed after having been condemned untried, using a bill of attainder which Cromwell had used…
Arequipa is a city in southern Peru and the capital of Arequipa Province and the Department of Arequipa. With a projected population of 1,195,700 in 2025, it is the country's secon…
Arequipa, Peru is founded.
Pratap Singh I, popularly known as Maharana Pratap, was king of the Kingdom of Mewar, in north-western India in the present-day state of Rajasthan, from 1572 until his death in 159…
Maharana Pratap, Indian ruler (died 1597)
Charles II Francis of Austria was an Archduke of Austria and a ruler of Inner Austria from 1564. He was a member of the House of Habsburg.
Charles II, Archduke of Austria (died 1590)
Barnabe Googe, also spelt Barnabe Goche and Barnaby Goodge, was a poet and translator, one of the earliest English pastoral poets.
Barnabe Googe, English poet and translator (died 1594)
Joseph Justus Scaliger was a Franco-Italian Calvinist religious leader and scholar, known for expanding the notion of classical history from Greek and Ancient Roman history to incl…
Joseph Justus Scaliger, French philologist and historian (died 1609)