Year 1502 ( MDII) was a

common year starting on Saturday A common year starting on Saturday is any non-leap year (i.e. a year with 365 days) that begins on Saturday, 1 January, and ends on Saturday, 31 December. Its dominical letter hence is B. The most recent year of such kind was 2022, and the next ...

of the

Julian calendar The Julian calendar is a solar calendar of 365 days in every year with an additional leap day every fourth year (without exception). The Julian calendar is still used as a religious calendar in parts of the Eastern Orthodox Church and in parts ...

Events

January–March

January 1 January 1 is the first day of the calendar year in the Gregorian Calendar; 364 days remain until the end of the year (365 in leap years). This day is also known as New Year's Day since the day marks the beginning of the year. __TOC__ Events ...

– Portuguese explorers, led by

Gonçalo Coelho Gonçalo Coelho (fl. 1501–04) was a Portuguese explorer who belonged to a prominent family in northern Portugal. He commanded two expeditions (1501–02 and 1503–04) which explored much of the coast of Brazil. Biography In 1501 Coelho was se ...

, sail into

Guanabara Bay Guanabara Bay (, , ) is an oceanic bay in Southeast Brazil in the state of Rio de Janeiro (state), Rio de Janeiro. On its western shore lie the cities of Rio de Janeiro (city), Rio de Janeiro and Duque de Caxias, Rio de Janeiro, Duque de Caxias, a ...

Brazil Brazil, officially the Federative Republic of Brazil, is the largest country in South America. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by area, fifth-largest country by area and the List of countries and dependencies by population ...

, mistaking it for the mouth of a river, which they name

Rio de Janeiro Rio de Janeiro, or simply Rio, is the capital of the Rio de Janeiro (state), state of Rio de Janeiro. It is the List of cities in Brazil by population, second-most-populous city in Brazil (after São Paulo) and the Largest cities in the America ...

. *

January 24 Events Pre-1600 * 41 – Claudius is proclaimed Roman emperor by the Praetorian Guard after they assassinate the previous emperor, his nephew Caligula. * 914 – Start of the First Fatimid invasion of Egypt. * 1438 – The Co ...

– Commissioners from

Scotland Scotland is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It contains nearly one-third of the United Kingdom's land area, consisting of the northern part of the island of Great Britain and more than 790 adjac ...

and

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

meet at

Richmond Palace Richmond Palace was a Tudor royal residence on the River Thames in England which stood in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. Situated in what was then rural Surrey, it lay upstream and on the opposite bank from the Palace of Westminste ...

in London to finalize an agreement on the marriage between Scotland's King James IV to the daughter of England's King Henry VII, the princess

Margaret Tudor Margaret Tudor (28 November 1489 – 18 October 1541) was List of Scottish royal consorts, Queen of Scotland from 1503 until 1513 by marriage to King James IV. She then served as regent of Scotland during her son's minority, and fought to exte ...

, with a dowry of 35,000 Scottish Punnds and an agreement for a "treaty of perpetual peace". The marriage will be completed by proxy on January 25, 1503. *

February 12 Events Pre-1600 * 1096 – Pope Urban II confirms the foundation of the abbey of La Roë under Robert of Arbrissel as a community of canons regular. * 1404 – The Italian professor Galeazzo di Santa Sofia performed the first post- ...

–

Isabella I Isabella I (; 22 April 1451 – 26 November 1504), also called Isabella the Catholic (Spanish: ''Isabel la Católica''), was Queen of Castile and List of Leonese monarchs, León from 1474 until her death in 1504. She was also Queen of Aragon ...

issues an edict outlawing Islam in the

Crown of Castile The Crown of Castile was a medieval polity in the Iberian Peninsula that formed in 1230 as a result of the third and definitive union of the crowns and, some decades later, the parliaments of the kingdoms of Kingdom of Castile, Castile and Kingd ...

, forcing virtually all her Muslim subjects to

convert to Christianity Conversion to Christianity is the religious conversion of a previously non-Christian person that brings about changes in what sociologists refer to as the convert's "root reality" including their social behaviors, thinking and ethics. The sociol ...

. *

February 13 Events Pre-1600 * 962 – Emperor Otto I, Holy Roman Emperor, Otto I and Pope Pope John XII, John XII co-sign the ''Diploma Ottonianum'', recognizing John as ruler of Rome. *1258 – Siege of Baghdad (1258), Siege of Baghdad: Hulegu Kh ...

– The new Viceroy of the New World,

Nicolás de Ovando Frey Nicolás de Ovando (c. 1460 – 29 May 1511Some sources place his death in 1518.) was a Spanish soldier from a noble family and a Knight of the Order of Alcántara, a military order of Spain. He was Governor of the Indies in the Columbian ...

, departs Spain with a fleet of 30 ships and orders to replace Viceroy

Francisco de Bobadilla Francisco de Bobadilla (c. 1448 – 11 July 1502) was an official under the Crown of Castile and a knight of the Order of Calatrava. He was also the nephew of Beatriz de Bobadilla, marchioness and of Peñalosa, a patron of Christopher Columbus ...

Santo Domingo Santo Domingo, formerly known as Santo Domingo de Guzmán, is the capital and largest city of the Dominican Republic and the List of metropolitan areas in the Caribbean, largest metropolitan area in the Caribbean by population. the Distrito Na ...

on the island of

Hispaniola Hispaniola (, also ) is an island between Geography of Cuba, Cuba and Geography of Puerto Rico, Puerto Rico in the Greater Antilles of the Caribbean. Hispaniola is the most populous island in the West Indies, and the second-largest by List of C ...

, and arrives in April. *

March 14 Events Pre-1600 * 1074 – Battle of Mogyoród: Dukes Géza and Ladislaus defeat their cousin Solomon, King of Hungary, forcing him to flee to Hungary's western borderland. * 1590 – Battle of Ivry: Henry of Navarre and the H ...

–

Christopher Columbus Christopher Columbus (; between 25 August and 31 October 1451 – 20 May 1506) was an Italians, Italian explorer and navigator from the Republic of Genoa who completed Voyages of Christopher Columbus, four Spanish-based voyages across the At ...

begins preparation for his fourth and final voyage, with a goal of finding a westward passage in the New World to link the Atlantic Ocean to the Indian Ocean. *

March 26 Events Pre-1600 * 590 – Emperor Maurice proclaims his son Theodosius as co-emperor of the Byzantine Empire. * 624 – First Eid al-Fitr celebration. * 1021 – The death of the Fatimid caliph al-Hakim bi-Amr Allah, kept secret ...

– The first recorded earthquake in what is now Croatia strikes at

Medvednica Medvednica (, ) is a mountain in central Croatia, just north of Zagreb, and marking the southern border of the historic region of Zagorje. Most of it is encompassed by the Medvednica Nature Park. The highest peak, at is Sljeme. Most of the are ...

with a Mercalli scale intensity estimated at VIII. (2000).

April–June

April 2 Events Pre-1600 * 1513 – Having spotted land on March 27, Spanish explorer Juan Ponce de León comes ashore on what is now the U.S. state of Florida, landing somewhere between the modern city of St. Augustine and the mouth of the St ...

–

Arthur, Prince of Wales Arthur, Prince of Wales (19/20 September 1486 – 2 April 1502), was the eldest son of King Henry VII of England and Elizabeth of York, and an older brother to the future King Henry VIII. He was Duke of Cornwall from birth, and he was crea ...

, the 15-year-old Duke of Cornwall and Earl of Chester, heir to the English throne as eldest son of King Henry VII, dies after a long illness less than five months after marrying

Catherine of Aragon Catherine of Aragon (also spelt as Katherine, historical Spanish: , now: ; 16 December 1485 – 7 January 1536) was List of English royal consorts, Queen of England as the Wives of Henry VIII, first wife of King Henry VIII from their marr ...

. Arthur's 10-year-old brother, Henry, Duke of York, becomes the new heir to the throne and will later succeed his father as King Henry VIII. *

April 11 Events Pre-1600 * 491 – Flavius Anastasius becomes Byzantine emperor, with the name of Anastasius I. * 1241 – Batu Khan defeats Béla IV of Hungary at the Battle of Mohi. *1512 – War of the League of Cambrai: Franco-Ferra ...

– Dmitry Ivanovich Vnuk, who had been the teenage co-ruler of the

Grand Duchy of Moscow The Grand Principality of Moscow, or Muscovy, known as the Principality of Moscow until 1389, was a late medieval Russian monarchy. Its capital was the city of Moscow. Originally established as a minor principality in the 13th century, the gra ...

since 1498 with his grandfather Ivan III, is arrested along with his mother, Elena of Moldavia on suspicion of conspiracy. Ivan designates his son (and Dmitry's uncle) Vasili Ivanovich as the new heir to the throne of Moscow. *

April 14 Events Pre-1600 * 43 BC – Legions loyal to the Roman Senate, commanded by Gaius Pansa, defeat the forces of Mark Antony in the Battle of Forum Gallorum. * 69 – Vitellius, commanding Rhine-based armies, defeats Roman emperor ...

– The formal coronation of Ivan the Great as

Grand Prince of Moscow The Grand Prince of Moscow (), known as the Prince of Moscow until 1389, was the ruler of the Grand Principality of Moscow. The Moscow principality was initially established in the 13th century as an appanage within the Vladimir-Suzdal grand prin ...

(encompassing most of the

Russian people Russians ( ) are an East Slavic ethnic group native to Eastern Europe. Their mother tongue is Russian, the most spoken Slavic language. The majority of Russians adhere to Orthodox Christianity, ever since the Middle Ages. By total numbers ...

's territory) to reflect that he is the nation's sole ruler. Ivan had been co-ruler of Moscow from 1449 to 1462, ruler from 1462 to 1471 and 1490 to 1498, and co-ruler with his eldest son (Ivan the Young, 1471-1490) and his grandson, Dmitry Ivanovich from 1498 onward. *

May 3 Events Pre-1600 * 752 – Mayan king Bird Jaguar IV of Yaxchilan in modern-day Chiapas, Mexico, assumes the throne. * 1481 – The largest of three earthquakes strikes the island of Rhodes and causes an estimated 30,000 casualties ...

– Portuguese navigator

João da Nova João da Nova (; ; ; in Maceda, Ourense, Galicia, Spain – July 16, 1509, in Kochi, India) was a Galician-born explorer in the service of Portugal. He is credited as the discoverer of Ascension and Saint Helena islands. The Juan de Nova ...

discovers the uninhabited island of

Saint Helena Saint Helena (, ) is one of the three constituent parts of Saint Helena, Ascension and Tristan da Cunha, a remote British overseas territory. Saint Helena is a volcanic and tropical island, located in the South Atlantic Ocean, some 1,874 km ...

. *

May 9 Events Pre-1600 * 328 – Athanasius is elected Patriarch of Alexandria. * 1009 – Lombard Revolt: Lombard forces led by Melus revolt in Bari against the Byzantine Catepanate of Italy. * 1386 – England and Portugal formall ...

–

leaves Cadiz in

Spain Spain, or the Kingdom of Spain, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe with territories in North Africa. Featuring the Punta de Tarifa, southernmost point of continental Europe, it is the largest country in Southern Eur ...

for his fourth and final trip to the

New World The term "New World" is used to describe the majority of lands of Earth's Western Hemisphere, particularly the Americas, and sometimes Oceania."America." ''The Oxford Companion to the English Language'' (). McArthur, Tom, ed., 1992. New York: ...

, taking with him 147 men on his flagship, ''Capitana'' and the companion ships ''Gallega'', ''Vizcaína'', and ''Santiago de Palos''.Lawrence Bergreen, ''Columbus: The Four Voyages, 1493–1504'' (Penguin Group, 2011) pp.298-299 He explores Central America, and discovers the

Isthmus of Panama The Isthmus of Panama, historically known as the Isthmus of Darien, is the narrow strip of land that lies between the Caribbean Sea and the Pacific Ocean, linking North America, North and South America. The country of Panama is located on the i ...

and the land now occupied by

Honduras Honduras, officially the Republic of Honduras, is a country in Central America. It is bordered to the west by Guatemala, to the southwest by El Salvador, to the southeast by Nicaragua, to the south by the Pacific Ocean at the Gulf of Fonseca, ...

, and

Costa Rica Costa Rica, officially the Republic of Costa Rica, is a country in Central America. It borders Nicaragua to the north, the Caribbean Sea to the northeast, Panama to the southeast, and the Pacific Ocean to the southwest, as well as Maritime bo ...

, and possibly the island of

St. Lucia Saint Lucia is an island country of the West Indies in the eastern Caribbean. Part of the Windward Islands of the Lesser Antilles, it is located north/northeast of the island of Saint Vincent (Saint Vincent and the Grenadines), Saint Vincent ...

as well *

May 26 Events Pre-1600 * 17 – Germanicus celebrates a triumph in Rome for his victories over the Cherusci, Chatti, and other German tribes west of the Elbe. * 451 – Battle of Avarayr between Armenian rebels and the Sasanian Empire ta ...

– Columbus and his men complete the rescue of stranded Portuguese soldiers in

Morocco Morocco, officially the Kingdom of Morocco, is a country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It has coastlines on the Mediterranean Sea to the north and the Atlantic Ocean to the west, and has land borders with Algeria to Algeria–Morocc ...

, then depart

Asilah Asilah () is a fortified town on the northwest tip of the Atlantic coast of Morocco, about south of Tangier. Its ramparts and gateworks remain fully intact. History The town's history dates back to 1500 B.C., when Phoenicians occupied a site ...

for a crossing of the Atlantic in 20 days. *

June 15 Events Pre-1600 * 763 BC – Assyrians record a solar eclipse that is later used to fix the chronology of Mesopotamian history. * 844 – Louis II is crowned as king of Italy at Rome by pope Sergius II. * 923 – Battle of So ...

– Columbus and his crew land on the island of

Martinique Martinique ( ; or ; Kalinago language, Kalinago: or ) is an island in the Lesser Antilles of the West Indies, in the eastern Caribbean Sea. It was previously known as Iguanacaera which translates to iguana island in Carib language, Kariʼn ...

and land at

Le Carbet Le Carbet (, ; ) is a village and Communes of France, commune in the France, French Overseas departments of France, overseas department of Martinique. Population See also *Communes of Martinique *Paul Gauguin Interpretation Centre References ...

. *

June 29 Events Pre-1600 * 226 – Cao Rui succeeds his father as emperor of Wei. * 1149 – Raymond of Poitiers is defeated and killed at the Battle of Inab by Nur ad-Din Zangi. * 1170 – A major earthquake hits Syria, badly damagi ...

– Columbus and his crew attempt to land at

in order to avoid being caught in a

hurricane A tropical cyclone is a rapidly rotating storm system with a low-pressure area, a closed low-level atmospheric circulation, strong winds, and a spiral arrangement of thunderstorms that produce heavy rain and squalls. Depending on its ...

, despite being ordered not to return to

, the Spanish Viceroy, refuses to let Columbus sail into harbor and does not believe the warnings of the hurricane, which strikes two days later.

July–September

July 1 Events Pre-1600 * 69 – Tiberius Julius Alexander orders his Roman legions in Alexandria to swear allegiance to Vespasian as Emperor. * 552 – Battle of Taginae: Byzantine forces under Narses defeat the Ostrogoths in Italy, and ...

– A powerful hurricane sweeps through the Caribbean Sea near

Puerto Rico ; abbreviated PR), officially the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, is a Government of Puerto Rico, self-governing Caribbean Geography of Puerto Rico, archipelago and island organized as an Territories of the United States, unincorporated territo ...

and the island of

, two days after

was denied permission to land at

. An estimated 500 people are killed when the winds wreck 20 of the 31 ships brought from Spain by the new Viceroy,

, including Ovando's flagship, ''El Dorado''. Former Viceroy

and administrator Francisco Roldán are among the people killed. A ship provided by Bobadilla for Columbus to transport the gold owed to him, the ''Aguja'', is one of the 11 to survive the hurricane and accusations are made that Columbus magically invoked the storm as an act of vengeance. *

July 28 Events Pre-1600 *1364 – Troops of the Republic of Pisa and the Republic of Florence clash in the Battle of Cascina. *1540 – Henry VIII of England marries his fifth wife, Catherine Howard. *1571 – La Laguna encomienda, known t ...

– At

Augsburg Augsburg ( , ; ; ) is a city in the Bavaria, Bavarian part of Swabia, Germany, around west of the Bavarian capital Munich. It is a College town, university town and the regional seat of the Swabia (administrative region), Swabia with a well ...

, Maximilian I, Germany's

King of the Romans King of the Romans (; ) was the title used by the king of East Francia following his election by the princes from the reign of Henry II (1002–1024) onward. The title originally referred to any German king between his election and coronatio ...

signs a treaty with representatives of King Henry VII of England, agreeing not to provide assistance to English rebels. *

July 30 Events Pre-1600 * 762 – Baghdad is founded. * 1419 – First Defenestration of Prague: A crowd of radical Hussites kill seven members of the Prague city council. * 1502 – Christopher Columbus lands at Guanaja in the Bay I ...

– The first encounter between Europeans and the

Maya people Maya () are an ethnolinguistic group of Indigenous peoples of the Americas, Indigenous peoples of Mesoamerica. The ancient Maya civilization was formed by members of this group, and today's Maya are generally descended from people who lived w ...

of Central America takes place when the Columbus brothers anchor at

Guanaja Guanaja is one of the Bay Islands Department, Bay Islands of Honduras and is in the Caribbean. It is about off the north coast of Honduras, and from the island of Roatan. One of the cays off Guanaja, also called Guanaja or Bonacca or Low Cay ...

, one of the Bay Islands off of the coast of what is now the nation of

. An unfortunate group of Mayan traders happens to arrive at Guanaja at the same time, and its cargo is looted by Bartolomeo Columbus and his crew. *

August 14 Events Pre-1600 * 74 BC – A group of officials, led by the Western Han minister Huo Guang, present articles of impeachment against the new emperor, Liu He, to the imperial regent, Empress Dowager Shangguan. * 29 BC – Octavian ...

–

and his crew land at Puerto Castilla in what is now the mainland of the nation of

, becoming the first Europeans to visit. *

September 18 Events Pre-1600 * 96 – Emperor Domitian is assassinated as a result of a plot by his wife Domitia and two Praetorian prefects. Nerva is then proclaimed as his successor. * 324 – Constantine the Great decisively defeats Licinius i ...

–

lands at Central America at what is now

. *

September 29 Events Pre-1600 * 61 BC – Pompey the Great celebrates his third triumph for victories over the pirates and the end of the Mithridatic Wars on his 45th birthday. * 1011 – Danes capture Canterbury after a siege, taking Ælfheah ...

– Anne of Foix-Candale is proclaimed Queen of Hungary upon her marriage to Vladislaus II, King of Hungary and Bohemia, at a ceremony in

Székesfehérvár Székesfehérvár (; ; ; ; Serbian language, Serbian: ''Стони Београд''; ), known colloquially as Fehérvár (), is a city in central Hungary, and the country's ninth-largest city. It is the Regions of Hungary, regional capital of C ...

October–December

October 1 Events Pre-1600 * 331 BC – Alexander the Great defeats Darius III of Persia in the Battle of Gaugamela. * 366 – Pope Damasus I is consecrated. * 959 – Edgar the Peaceful becomes king of all England, in succession to E ...

– An annular solar eclipse occurs. *

October 16 Events Pre-1600 * 456 – Ricimer defeats Avitus at Piacenza and becomes master of the Western Roman Empire. * 690 – Empress Wu Zetian ascends to the throne of the Tang dynasty and proclaims herself ruler of the Chinese Empire. * ...

– Columbus and his crew arrive at Almirante Bay in Panama. *

November 7 Events Pre-1600 * 335 – Athanasius, 20th pope of Alexandria, is banished to Trier on the charge that he prevented a grain fleet from sailing to Constantinople. * 680 – The Sixth Ecumenical Council commences in Constantinople. ...

–

Ismail I Ismail I (; 17 July 1487 – 23 May 1524) was the founder and first shah of Safavid Iran, ruling from 1501 until his death in 1524. His reign is one of the most vital in the history of Iran, and the Safavid period is often considered the beginn ...

founds the

Safavid dynasty The Safavid dynasty (; , ) was one of Iran's most significant ruling dynasties reigning from Safavid Iran, 1501 to 1736. Their rule is often considered the beginning of History of Iran, modern Iranian history, as well as one of the gunpowder em ...

and proclaims himself the Shah of Iran after defeating tribes of the

Aq Qoyunlu The Aq Qoyunlu or the White Sheep Turkomans (, ; ) was a culturally Persianate society, Persianate,Kaushik Roy, ''Military Transition in Early Modern Asia, 1400–1750'', (Bloomsbury, 2014), 38; "Post-Mongol Persia and Iraq were ruled by two trib ...

confederation. *

November 19 Events Pre-1600 * 461 – Libius Severus is declared emperor of the Western Roman Empire. The real power is in the hands of the ''magister militum'' Ricimer. * 636 – The Rashidun Caliphate defeats the Sasanian Empire at the Battle ...

– The " Cantino planisphere", a precise copy for an Italian spy of Portugal's secret Padrão Real map of the New World, is acquired by Alberto Cantino, agent for Ercole I d'Este, Duke of Ferrara, at a cost of 12 golden

ducat The ducat ( ) coin was used as a trade coin in Europe from the later Middle Ages to the 19th century. Its most familiar version, the gold ducat or sequin containing around of 98.6% fine gold, originated in Venice in 1284 and gained wide inter ...

s. *

December 26 Events Pre-1600 * 887 – Berengar I is elected as king of Italy by the lords of Lombardy. He is crowned with the Iron Crown of Lombardy at Pavia. * 1481 – Battle of Westbroek: An army of 4,000 to 5,000 soldiers raised by David of ...

–

Cesare Borgia Cesare Borgia (13 September 1475 – 12 March 1507) was a Cardinal (Catholic Church)#Cardinal_deacons, cardinal deacon and later an Italians, Italian ''condottieri, condottiero''. He was the illegitimate son of Pope Alexander VI of the Aragonese ...

kills Ramiro d'Orco; this incident is referenced in Machiavelli's ''

The Prince ''The Prince'' ( ; ) is a 16th-century political treatise written by the Italian diplomat, philosopher, and Political philosophy, political theorist Niccolò Machiavelli in the form of a realistic instruction guide for new Prince#Prince as gener ...

'' *

December 31 It is known by a collection of names including: Saint Sylvester's Day, New Year's Eve or Old Year's Day/Night, as the following day is New Year's Day. It is the last day of the year; the following day is January 1, the first day of the followi ...

–

(son of

Pope Alexander VI Pope Alexander VI (, , ; born Roderic Llançol i de Borja; epithet: ''Valentinus'' ("The Valencian"); – 18 August 1503) was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 11 August 1492 until his death in 1503. Born into t ...

) occupies

Urbino Urbino ( , ; Romagnol: ''Urbìn'') is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Italy, Italian region of Marche, southwest of Pesaro, a World Heritage Site notable for a remarkable historical legacy of independent Renaissance culture, especially und ...

, where he imprisons two potentially treacherous allies, Vitellozzo and Oliveretto; he executes them the next morning.

Date unknown

* The first African slaves brought to the

arrive at the island of

(modern-day

Haiti Haiti, officially the Republic of Haiti, is a country on the island of Hispaniola in the Caribbean Sea, east of Cuba and Jamaica, and south of the Bahamas. It occupies the western three-eighths of the island, which it shares with the Dominican ...

and

Dominican Republic The Dominican Republic is a country located on the island of Hispaniola in the Greater Antilles of the Caribbean Sea in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean. It shares a Maritime boundary, maritime border with Puerto Rico to the east and ...

). *

Bristol Bristol () is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city, unitary authority area and ceremonial county in South West England, the most populous city in the region. Built around the River Avon, Bristol, River Avon, it is bordered by t ...

merchants return from

Newfoundland Newfoundland and Labrador is the easternmost province of Canada, in the country's Atlantic region. The province comprises the island of Newfoundland and the continental region of Labrador, having a total size of . As of 2025 the population ...

(first so named this year from a letter) to

, carrying three native people and

cod Cod (: cod) is the common name for the demersal fish genus ''Gadus'', belonging to the family (biology), family Gadidae. Cod is also used as part of the common name for a number of other fish species, and one species that belongs to genus ''Gad ...

from the

Grand Banks The Grand Banks of Newfoundland are a series of underwater plateaus south-east of the island of Newfoundland on the North American continental shelf. The Grand Banks are one of the world's richest fishing grounds, supporting Atlantic cod, swordfi ...

. *

Moctezuma II Moctezuma Xocoyotzin . ( – 29 June 1520), retroactively referred to in European sources as Moctezuma II, and often simply called Montezuma,Other variant spellings include Moctezuma, Motewksomah, Motecuhzomatzin, Moteuczoma, Motecuhzoma, Motē ...

is elected

emperor The word ''emperor'' (from , via ) can mean the male ruler of an empire. ''Empress'', the female equivalent, may indicate an emperor's wife (empress consort), mother/grandmother (empress dowager/grand empress dowager), or a woman who rules ...

of the

Aztec The Aztecs ( ) were a Mesoamerican civilization that flourished in central Mexico in the Post-Classic stage, post-classic period from 1300 to 1521. The Aztec people included different Indigenous peoples of Mexico, ethnic groups of central ...

s, following the death of

Ahuitzotl Ahuitzotl (, ) was the eighth Aztec ruler, the '' Huey Tlatoani'' of the city of Tenochtitlan, son of princess Atotoztli II. His name literally means "Water Thorny" and was also applied to the otter. It is also theorized that more likely, the ...

. *

Meñli I Giray Meñli I GirayCrimean Tatar language, Crimean Tatar, Ottoman Turkish and (1445–1515) was thrice the List of Crimean khans, khan of the Crimean Khanate (1466, 1469–1475, 1478–1515) and the sixth son of Hacı I Giray. Biography Stru ...

defeats the

Golden Horde The Golden Horde, self-designated as ''Ulug Ulus'' ( in Turkic) was originally a Mongols, Mongol and later Turkicized khanate established in the 13th century and originating as the northwestern sector of the Mongol Empire. With the division of ...

and sacks their capital, Sarai. * Martin Luther University of Halle-Wittenberg, Wittenberg University is founded. * In Holy Roman Empire, Germany, Peter Henlein of Nuremberg uses iron parts and coiled springs to build a portable timepiece. * In Italy, Asher Lämmlein declares that the Jewish Messiah will arrive in the next 6 months, resulting in the ''year of penance''. * The King's School, Macclesfield, England, is founded by Sir John Percyvale. * Heinrich Cornelius Agrippa receives the degree of ''magister artium'' from the University of Cologne. * Wilhelm Bombast moves to Villach with his son, Paracelsus.

Births

*January 3 – Yi Hwang, Korean Neo-Confucian scholar (d.1571) * January 7 (Julian) (January 17 Gregorian)– Pope Gregory XIII, born Ugo Boncompagni, Bolognese-born pontiff (d. 1585) * January 20 – Sebastian de Aparicio, Spanish colonial industrialist and saint in Mexico (d. 1600) * February 2 – Damião de Góis, Portuguese philosopher (d. 1574) * March 4 – Elisabeth of Hesse, Hereditary Princess of Saxony (d. 1557) * March 18 – Philibert of Chalon, French nobleman (d. 1530) * March 20 – Pierino Belli, Italian soldier and jurist (d. 1575) *

– Susanna of Bavaria, German noble of the House of Wittelsbach (d. 1543) * April 10 – Otto Henry, Elector Palatine, Otto Henry, Count Palatine of Neuburg (1505–1559) and Elector Palatine (1556–1559) (d. 1559) * April 25 – Georg Major, German Lutheran theologian (d. 1574) * June 2 – Guillaume Bigot, French writer (d. 1550) * June 6 – King John III of Portugal (d. 1557) * July 26 – Christian Egenolff, German printer (d. 1555) * July 27 – Francesco Corteccia, Italian composer (d. 1571) *

– Pieter Coecke van Aelst, Flemish painter (d. 1550) * September 14 – Louis II, Count Palatine of Zweibrücken, Duke of Zweibrücken from 1514 to 1532 (d. 1532) * December 6 – Anna of Brunswick-Lüneburg (1502–1568), Anna of Brunswick-Lüneburg, Duchess consort of Pomerania (d. 1568) * December 13 – George III, Landgrave of Leuchtenberg (d. 1555) * ''date unknown'' ** Takeno Jōō, Japanese Sengoku period master of the tea ceremony and merchant (d. 1555) ** Miguel López de Legazpi, Spanish conquistador (d. 1572) ** Pedro Nunes, Portuguese mathematician (d. 1578) ** Francesco Spiera, Italian Protestant jurist (d. 1543) ** Anthony Maria Zaccaria, Cremonese founder of the Barnabite Order and saint (d. 1539) * ''probable'' ** Elizabeth Blount, English courtier, mistress of King Henry VIII of England (d. 1540) ** Cuauhtémoc, last Aztec ruler (Tlatoani) of Tenochtitlán and the last "Aztec Emperor" (d. 1525) ** Blaise de Lasseran-Massencôme, seigneur de Montluc, marshal of France (approximate date; d. 1577) ** Hurrem Sultan, Ruthenian-born Haseki sultan of the Ottoman Empire (d. 1558) ** Henry Percy, 6th Earl of Northumberland, English courtier (d. 1537)

Deaths

January–June

* February 18 – Hedwig Jagiellon, Duchess of Bavaria (b. 1457) * March – Francesco Laurana, Dalmatian-born sculptor (b. c. 1430) * March 2 – Jan I Carondelet, Burgundian jurist and politician (b. 1428) *

–

, English prince, eldest son of Henry VII of England (b. 1486) * April 15 – John IV of Chalon-Arlay, Prince of Orange (1475–1502) (b. 1443) * April 20 – Mary of Looz-Heinsberg, Dutch noble (b. 1424) * May 4 – Berthold II of Landsberg, Bishop of Verden (1470–1502) and Hildesheim (1481–1502) (b. 1464) * May 6 – James Tyrrell, English knight, alleged murderer of the princes in the Tower (executed) (b. c. 1450) * June 9 – Astorre III Manfredi, Italian noble (b. 1485)

July–December

* July 15 – Luka Radovanović, Catholic priest (b. 1425) * August 18 – Knut Alvsson, Norwegian nobleman and politician (b. 1455) * August 31 – Thomas Wode, Lord Chief Justice of the Common Pleas * September 1 – Sōgi, Japanese Buddhist priest and poet (b. 1421) * October 14 – Diego Hurtado de Mendoza y Quiñones, Spanish noble (b. 1444) * November 10 – George I of Münsterberg, Imperial Prince, Duke of Münsterberg and Oels, Graf von Glatz (b. 1470) * November 13 – Annio da Viterbo, Italian Dominican friar and scholar (b. 1432) *

** Oliverotto Euffreducci, Italian politician (b. 1475) ** Vitellozzo Vitelli, Italian condottiero (b. c. 1458) * ''date unknown'' **

, Aztec ruler of Tenochtitlan ** Giustina Rocca, Italian Renaissance lawyer, judge and diplomat ** Octavien de Saint-Gelais, French churchman, poet and translator (b. 1468) ** Gwerful Mechain, Welsh erotic poet (b. c. 1460?)

References

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