16th century

1501 – 1600 · 47 events

What happened around the world

1508–1512 Sistine Chapel ceiling — Michelangelo paints the summit of the High Renaissance
1517 Luther's Ninety-five Theses — A protest against indulgences sparks the Reformation
1534 Henry VIII breaks with Rome — The king heads the Church himself — Anglicanism is born
1543 Copernicus publishes heliocentrism — The Sun at the centre — the scientific revolution begins
1571 Battle of Lepanto — The Holy League halts Ottoman expansion at sea
1572 St Bartholomew's Day Massacre — A Paris royal wedding turns into a massacre of Protestants
1572 Tycho's supernova — A new star beyond the Moon shatters the idea of fixed heavens
1582 Gregorian calendar — Ten days vanish from the calendar most of the world now uses
1588 Defeat of the Spanish Armada — England repels invasion and turns toward sea power
1598 Edict of Nantes — Henry IV grants Huguenots freedom of worship, ending the wars
1600 East India Company founded — A trading company that would come to rule India

1526 Battle of Mohács — Hungary's king falls and his realm is carved into three
1547 Ivan IV crowned Tsar — A grand prince takes the title of tsar for the first time
1552 Siege of Kazan — Ivan IV annexes the khanate and gains the Volga
1555–1561 Saint Basil's Cathedral — Nine churches in one, built to mark the fall of Kazan
1564 Ivan Fyodorov's Apostol — The first precisely dated Russian printed book
1565–1572 Oprichnina — Ivan the Terrible's private domain of executions and seizures
1569 Union of Lublin — Poland and Lithuania merge into a single Commonwealth
1582 Yermak's conquest of Sibir — Cossacks defeat Kuchum, opening Russia's road to the Pacific
1589 Establishment of the Moscow Patriarchate — The Russian Church gains rank equal to the Eastern patriarchates
1598–1613 Time of Troubles — Famine, pretenders and invasion — until the Romanovs are chosen

1501 Founding of Safavid Iran — Shah Ismail makes Shia Islam the faith of all Iran
1514 Battle of Chaldiran — Ottoman cannon defeat Shah Ismail's army
1520–1566 Reign of Suleiman the Magnificent — Ottoman power peaks, from Mohács to the gates of Vienna
1550–1557 Süleymaniye Mosque — Sinan's masterpiece crowns the Ottoman golden age
c. 1598 Abbas I rebuilds Isfahan — Shah Abbas turns Isfahan into 'half the world'

c. 1509 Afonso I becomes King of Kongo — A Catholic king binds Kongo to Portugal
1517 Battle of Ridaniya and conquest of Egypt — The Ottomans take Egypt and the holy cities of Arabia
1529–1543 Ahmad Gragn invades Ethiopia — Christian Ethiopia nearly falls; Portuguese muskets save it
1578 Battle of Alcácer Quibir — King Sebastian falls, and Portugal loses its independence
1591 Battle of Tondibi and fall of Songhai — Moroccan muskets topple West Africa's largest empire

1511 Portuguese capture of Malacca — Portugal seizes the key to the spice trade
1526 First Battle of Panipat — Babur's guns found the Mughal Empire
1556 Shaanxi earthquake — Loess cave homes collapse in history's deadliest disaster
1556 Akbar and the Second Battle of Panipat — A 13-year-old ruler wins back northern India for the Mughals
1565 Battle of Talikota — One battle, and the splendid city of Vijayanagara lies in ruins
1571 Spanish Manila and the Manila galleons — Silver for silk: the first regular link of Asia and America
1592–1598 Imjin War — Korea and Ming China hold back a Japanese invasion
1600 Battle of Sekigahara — Tokugawa's victory brings Japan two and a half centuries of peace

1519–1522 Magellan's circumnavigation — The Victoria becomes the first ship to sail around the world
1521 Fall of Tenochtitlan — The Aztec empire ends and Mexico City rises from its ruins
1531 Apparition of Our Lady of Guadalupe — The shrine that became a symbol of Mexico
1532 Capture of Atahualpa at Cajamarca — A small band of Spaniards captures the Inca ruler
1542 Orellana sails down the Amazon — Tales of warrior women named the world's greatest river
1545–1548 Cocoliztli epidemic — A mystery fever wipes out much of Mexico's native population
1545 Silver discovered at Potosí — Andean silver reshapes the world economy
1600 Eruption of Huaynaputina — Peruvian ash chills the north and likely brings famine to Russia

Rus and Russia: Ivan III 1462 – 1505, Vasily III 1505 – 1533, Ivan the Terrible 1533 – 1584, Feodor I 1584 – 1598, Boris Godunov 1598 – 1605
England and Britain: Henry VII 1485 – 1509, Henry VIII 1509 – 1547, Edward VI 1547 – 1553, Mary I 1553 – 1558, Elizabeth I 1558 – 1603
Franks and France: Louis XII 1498 – 1515, Francis I 1515 – 1547, Henry II 1547 – 1559, Francis II 1559 – 1560, Charles IX 1560 – 1574, Henry III 1574 – 1589, Henry IV 1589 – 1610
Holy Roman Empire & Austria: Maximilian I 1493 – 1519, Charles V 1519 – 1556, Ferdinand I 1556 – 1564, Maximilian II 1564 – 1576, Rudolf II 1576 – 1612
Ottoman Empire: Bayezid II 1481 – 1512, Selim I the Grim 1512 – 1520, Suleiman the Magnificent 1520 – 1566, Selim II 1566 – 1574, Murad III 1574 – 1595, Mehmed III 1595 – 1603
China: dynasties: Ming 1368 – 1644
Japan: shoguns & emperors: Ashikaga Yoshizumi 1494 – 1508, Ashikaga Yoshitane 1508 – 1521, Ashikaga Yoshiharu 1521 – 1546, Ashikaga Yoshiteru 1546 – 1565, Ashikaga Yoshihide 1568 – 1568, Ashikaga Yoshiaki 1568 – 1573, Oda Nobunaga 1573 – 1582, Toyotomi Hideyoshi 1582 – 1598, Council of Five Elders 1598 – 1600, Tokugawa Ieyasu 1600 – 1616
India: empires: Delhi Sultanate 1206 – 1526, Mughal Empire 1526 – 1857