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Chronology of World Events

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1303Pope Boniface VIII dies a broken man about a month after being beaten up by a gang of toughs sent by King Philip IV of France.
1304Francesco Petrarch, who will become known as the "Father of Humanism," is born.
1309The pope moves the capital of his government to the French border town of Avignon, beginning the so-called "Babylonian Captivity" of the church.
1316The Great Famine strikes much of Europe.
1321The poet Dante, author of the epic poem Divine Comedy, dies.
c. 1325The Aztecs settle in the area around modern Mexico City.
1337Edward II is crowned king of England and begins the Hundred Years' War with France.
1340Defeat of the Moors in Spain leaves the kingdom of Granada as the only Arab possession in Iberia.
The English attack the French fleet off the coast of the Netherlands in order to secure the English Channel for an invasion of France.

1341Petrarch is crowned with laurel at Rome, a ceremony that imitates the ancient Roman custom of naming poet laureates.
1346The Battle of Crécy is fought in the ongoing war between England and France. It is the first battle to use cannons, and is a decisive victory for England.
1347The Black Death strikes Europe. Over the next three years it will claim perhaps as much as a third of the entire population, and the disease will recur many times over the following three centuries.
1348Giovanni Boccaccio begins to write his Decameron.
1349Pogroms (organized massacres) against Jews rage in Germany and France in the wake of the Black Death. Jews are blamed for causing the disease, either through magic or through poisoning wells.
1350War breaks out between the two Italian powers of Venice and Genoa over their rights to navigate in the Black Sea.
Sixteen-year-old Javan ruler Hayam Wuruk takes the throne of the Hindu state of Majapahit when his mother, Tribhuvana, abdicates. Along with his powerful minister Gajah Mada, he extends Javan control throughout Indonesia.

Ramathibodi I, a Utong (Thai) general, becomes king and moves the capital to Ayutthaya, a settlement on an island north of Bangkok. He engages in warfare against the Cambodians—who are defeated, but they introduce Khmer culture into that of their conquerors—and establishes coded laws. He becomes a Buddhist priest and rules until his death in 1369.
1352The Ottoman Turks establish a settlement on Gallipoli, near Tzympe.
Arab traveler Ibn Battutah crosses the Sahara and visits the Mandingo Empire.
1353Fa Ngum unites the Laotian people and introduces Khmer civilization. He leads his country until he is exiled in 1371.
Chinese general Hsü Ta and rebel Hungwu join their forces and fight against the Mongols, eventually leading to the downfall of Mongol control and the start of a new Chinese dynasty.
1354Forces of the Ottoman Turks capture the Byzantine province of Thrace in the Balkans.
1355Chu Yüan-chang becomes leader of rebel forces in China, after the death of KuoTzu-hsing.
1356The English Black Prince attacks the French at the Battle of Poitiers, capturing the French king John the Good. England demands much of southwestern France and the port of Calais, in addition to a large ransom, to return John. A temporary lull in the hostilities begins.
Yüan-chang's forces take the city of Nanking.
Mobarez od-Din Mohammad, son of southern Iranian ruler Sharaf od-Din Mozaffar, captures Tabriz in northwest Iran.

1358In France, the peasant rebellion of the Jacquerie begins.
Od-Din Mohammad is deposed by his sons Qotb od-Din Shah Mahmud and Jalal od-Din Shah Shoja', who divide the kingdom between themselves.
1359At London, a treaty signed between France and England forces the former to give control over a large portion of its territory. The following year the English king Edward III will fail in his attempt to try to capture the French throne during an unsuccessful campaign on the continent.
Angora (later Ankara) is captured by the Ottomans. It will become the capital of modern Turkey.
1360The Ottoman Turks seize the important city of Adrianople from the Byzantine Empire. In the same year Murad I assumes the throne of the empire, establishing the powerful force of troops that will become known as the Janissaries. The Janissaries are made up of prisoners of war and Christians, and they remain a powerful Turkish force until the nineteenth century.
Mari Jata II becomes the mansa of the Mali Empire in West Africa. He rules until 1374.
1362Adrianople (now Edirne, Turkey) is captured by the Ottomans under Murad I.
1364Javan minister Gajah Mada dies, possibly after being poisoned by Hayam Wuruk, who may have feared the influence of his powerful subordinate.
1365Indonesian poet Prapanca writes Nāgarakertāgama, an epic poem featuring the rule of Wuruk.
1368The Yüan dynasty in China, a period of Mongol control initiated by Kublai Khan in 1260, ends. It is replaced by the Ming dynasty, founded by the monk Chu Yüanchang, whose forces capture Khahbalik (later Beijing). Ashikaga Yoshimitsu becomes a shogun in Japan. He serves in many government posts, reorganizes civil service and suppresses piratical activities.

1369The peace that has reigned between England and France ends with the outbreak of renewed hostilities in the Hundred Years' War between the two countries.
1370King Timur or Tamerlane assumes the throne of the state of Samarkand (in modern Uzbekistan). During his reign he will subdue much of Central Asia and the Middle East.
c. 1371Arab jurist ad-Damīrī writes the Hayāt al-hayawān, an encyclopedia of animals that appear in the Koran.
1373Sam Sene Thai becomes the ruler of the Lan Xang kingdom of Laos and rules for forty-four years of peace and prosperity.
1375Suleiman-Mar wins independence for the Songhai, who controlled the western Sahara, from the Mali Kingdom.
1377Islamic traditionalist theologian al-Jurjānī arrives to teach in Shiīrāz for ten years. He is best known for his dictionary Kitāb at-ta' rifāt.
1378In Florence, members of the guilds rebel against the great masters and seize control of the city government in the Revolt of the Ciompi.
Pope Gregory XI dies in Rome while preparing the way for the return of papal court to its ancient capital. Competition between Avignon and Rome, however, gives rise to the Great Schism.
1381English peasants revolt under the leadership of Wat Tyler. During their brief rebellion, they slay the archbishop of Canterbury and other British nobles.
1382The Mongols are decisively expelled from China, making way for the rise of the Ming dynasty.
1385Japanese poet Kanami, who is credited with transforming primitive dance into Nō drama, dies.

1386Serbian prince Lazar Hrebeljanovíc defeats the Turks at the battle of Pločnik.
1389Hrebeljanovíc is killed, and his forces are crushed by the Turks at the battle of Kosovo. Also killed, however, is the Ottoman sultan Murad I, who is replaced by Bayazid I.
1390Bayazid I captures Anatolia.
1391A massacre of Jews in Seville in Iberia claims as many as 4,000 lives.
1392Korean general Yi So'nggye overthrows the Koryo' dynasty, names his kingdom Choso'n, and establishes his capital at Hanyang (Seoul). The Yi dynasty rules Korea until 1910, when Japan annexes the country.
1393The Thais invade Cambodia, capturing Angkor and ninety thousand people. The policy of seizing and subjugating whole populations, often removing them to the home state, leads to much intermixing of peoples in the region.
1394King Charles VI expels all Jews from France.
Turkish ruler Timur captures Baghdad and controls Mesopotamia.
1395Thai king Ramesuan dies and is replaced by his son Ramraja. Fourteen years of peace follow.
1397The Ming law code is introduced in China, reinforcing traditional authority and the responsibility of the paterfamilias along hereditary groupings. A system of social organization (ten-family groups organized into one-hundred-family communities) is developed to regulate and indoctrinate the populace.
1398Timur's Turkish troops invade India, destroying the province of Delhi and massacring more than one hundred thousand Hindus before capturing the city of the same name.

1399Faraj becomes ruler of Egypt. He allows a defensive alliance with the Turks to lapse and is later captured by the Turks while trying to regain Syria.
c. 1400Five Iroquois nations (Mohawk, Oneida, Onondaga, Cayuga, and Seneca) emerge as distinct tribal entities in North America.
1400Damascus and Aleppo in Syria fall to Timur's armies.
1402Bayazid is defeated, and later dies in captivity, by Timur at the Battle of Angora.
1403Prince Paramesvara founds Malacca (Melaka) on the west coast of the Malay Peninsula. The area will become a major supplier of spices.
1405Chinese explorer Cheng Ho (Zheng He) begins the first of seven expeditions, which will last until 1433, to Asia, India, East Africa, Egypt, Ceylon, and the Persian Gulf.
Timur dies during an expedition to conquer China. Shah Rokh, his son, begins his reign of Persia (Iran) and Central Asia, which lasts until 1447.
1406The city of Florence conquers nearby Pisa, granting it an access to the Mediterranean.
1407Civil conflicts rage among the nobility of France.
1408The king of Ceylon is taken to China as a prisoner.
1409Thai prince Nakonin overthrows Ramraja and takes the Intharaia.
1410Sultan Ahmad Jalayir of Iraq is killed in a dispute with the chief of the Black Sheep Turkmen tribal confederation from eastern Anatolia.
1411The once powerful Teutonic Knights are forced to relinquish control over much of their Eastern European territory after defeat by an alliance of Polish, Lithuanian, Russian, and other ethnic groups' forces.

1412Faraj is killed by the Turks in Damascus while trying to recapture Syria.
1413Henry V begins to press his claim to the throne of France.
1414Khizr Khan, former governor of the Punjab, becomes ruler of the Delhi sultanate, beginning a reign known as the Sayyid dynasty, because the leaders claimed to be descendants of the Prophet Muhammad. North India is divided among military chiefs for half a century.
1415The Great Schism is brought to an end through the work of the Council of Constance.
Although his forces are outnumbered four to one, Henry V defeats the French at the Battle of Agincourt.
1416A revolt begins in Iznik, Turkey, initiated by the communalistic social theories pushed by Moslem theologian Bedreddin, who had been exiled to the city. He is captured and hanged after the rebellion is crushed by Mehmed I.
1418Le Loi begins a Vietnamese independence movement in the Red River basin against the Chinese.
1419In Portugal, Prince Henry begins to support voyages of exploration down the coast of West Africa.
Sejong becomes the king of Korea. His reign, which lasts until 1450, is known for cultural achievement, development of a phonetic alphabet, and reduction of the power of the Buddhists.
1420The Duchy of Burgundy supports Henry V as king of France. The southern part of the kingdom remains loyal to the heir of Charles the Mad.
1421Murad II becomes the Ottoman sultan.
China establishes its capital at Beijing.
1422Indian Bahami Shihāb-ud-Dīn Ahmad I becomes sultan of the Deccan and expands the territorial holdings of his country during his reign, which lasts until 1436.

1423Mongol leader Aruqtai, chief of the As, declares himself khan of the Mongols and attacks North China.
1425The lands and rule of the Mentese Dynasty of the Mugla-Milas region of southwestern Anatolia are annexed by the Ottomans.
1427In Florence, a census is undertaken of all the population, and an income tax is introduced.
1428Joan of Arc's visions begin to play a vital role in French opposition to English occupation.
Aztec ruler Itzcóatl begins his reign, which lasts until 1440.
1429Charles VII is crowned King of France with Joan of Arc at his side.
1430Philip the Good of Burgundy founds the Order of the Golden Fleece on the occasion of his marriage. The order's aims are to defend the code of chivalry and the church.
1431Joan of Arc is burned at the stake after being captured by Burgundian forces and sold to the English.
1432The Kara Koyunlu destroy remnants of the Jalayirid dynasty of Iraq, which had fled to areas around Basra.
1435Chu Ch'i-chen, son of Chu Chan-chi, begins his rule of China.
1438In France, the Pragmatic Sanction of Bourges limits the rights of the pope in that country.
Pachacuti begins his 33-year reign, expanding and reorganizing the social and political system of the Inca Empire. His domain stretches from present-day Ecuador to southern Peru.
1440The Praquerie, a rebellion of nobles against the French king, fails in France.

Venice and Florence combine to defeat the Duchy of Milan.
Aztec ruler Montezuma I begins his reign, which lasts until 1469. He extends the control of his people over what will become known as Mexico.
1442The Portuguese begin trading in Berber slaves they capture in North Africa.
1444The Ottomans, led by Murad II, who had been coaxed out of retirement from public life, defeat Christian Hungarians, led by János Hunyadi, at Varna.
1446A revolt of the Janissaries, who opposed a planned attack on Constantinople, calls Murad II back to Edirne from a second retirement because of the weakness of his fourteen-year-old son Mehmet's rule.
1447Tartar prince Ulugh Beg becomes ruler of Turkestan. His short reign, which lasts until 1449, marks the transition of Central Asia, as after his death the Timurid Empire breaks up.
1450The French defeat English forces at the Battle of Formigny, paving the way for France to reclaim its possessions in Normandy.
1451Ottoman sultan Mehmed II (Mehmed the Conqueror) succeeds his father, Murad II. He is considered the true founder of the Ottoman Empire.
Afghan king Bahlul Lodī begins his reign, initiating the Lodī dynasty.
1453Constantinople falls to the Turks and is renamed Istanbul.
The English are defeated in the Hundred Years' War and withdraw from France.
1454The Greek Orthodox Patriarchate is restored to Istanbul by Mehmed, who also allows a Jewish rabbi and Armenian patriarch into the city.
1455Johann Gutenberg von Mainz perfects the first press with movable type and prints the first book, the Bible.

The War of the Roses breaks out between the Houses of York and Lancaster in England.
1456Tun Perak, the chief minister of Malacca, leads his forces to a victory over the invading Siamese.
1457Chu Ch'i-chen returns as emperor of China, remaining on the throne until his death in 1464.
1458Herāt, an ancient town on the trade route through Afghanistan, is captured by Jahān Shān of Azerbaijan.
1460The Portuguese prince Henry the Navigator, supporter of that country's explorations, dies.
Le Thanh Tong becomes ruler of Vietnam. He institutes Chinese-style government, develops an efficient provincial system, employs centrally appointed officials, institutes new taxes, and promotes education.
1462The Portuguese found a colony on the Cape Verde Islands.
In Russia, Ivan III assumes the title of Grand Prince of Moscow. He will be a strong ruler committed to expelling foreign influences in the country.
1464Sonni 'Alī–(Alī the Great) becomes king Sonni 'Alī of Gao and Songhai, beginning an expansion of territory that leads to the development of the Songhai Empire.
1468Mengli Giray begins nearly half a century of rule as Khan of the Crimean Tartars.
Sonni 'Alī drives the Tuaregs out of Tim-Sonni 'Alī buktu.
1469The two Medici brothers, Lorenzo the Magnificent and Giuliano, assume control of government in Florence.
1471The conquest of Champa by Le Thanh Tong, who establishes military colonies in the southern parts of Vietnam, is completed. This victory allows the Vietnamese the freedom to take border areas from the Cambodians.

Topa Inca Yupanqui, son of Pachacuti, assumes the Incan throne.
1472Chinese Ming philosopher Wang Yangming is born. Trained as a Taoist, he brings new interpretations to Confucianism, advocating the philosophy of subjectivism. He serves as a governor and war minister in the Chinese government.
1474Isabel of Castile seizes the throne of her native kingdom from her sister. As ruler of Castile, Isabel is also married to Ferdinand of Aragon. Their union begins the process of forging a united Spanish kingdom in Iberia.
1476Japanese painter and art critic No–ami compiles a catalogue of Chinese artists, titled the Kundaikan sayu.
1478The Pazzi Conspiracy at Florence fails. The conspiracy had been planned by enemies of the Medici and was timed to occur during a Mass in Florence's Cathedral. One of the Medici brothers, Giuliano, is killed, but Lorenzo survives and puts down the plot by executing a number of conspirators and their supporters, including Florence's bishop. These executions cause disputes between Florence and the papacy that last for several years.
1479The Spanish claim the Canary Islands.
1481Sultan Mehmed II dies, possibly from poisoning, and is replaced by his elder son Bayezid II, despite the dead leader's wish that his favorite son, Cem, get the throne. Cem attempts a revolt, but is defeated and exiled to Rhodes. Bayezid rules until 1512.
1482The Portuguese begin to develop trade links with the African state of the Congo.
The mouth of the Congo River is located by Portuguese navigator Diogo Cāo, who soon finds the Kongo people. Trade between Kongo and Portugal commences, and the Kongo people become Christianized and Europeanized.

1483Bābur (Zahī rud-Din Muhammad), founder of the Mughal dynasty in India and its first emperor, is born. He rules until 1530.
1485King Richard III is killed at the Battle of Bosworth Field, and the Earl of Richmond, his attacker, assumes the throne of England as Henry VII. Henry thus establishes the Tudor dynasty that will last until 1603.
Saluva Narasimha begins a new dynasty in India, opening ports on the west coast to trade, revitalizing the army, and establishing centralized rule.
1486Japanese poet Ike So–gi, a Buddhist monk and master of linked verse, writes Minase Sangin Hyakuin.
1487The Fugger family of Augsburg founds an international banking empire that soon competes successfully against the Medici Bank.
The Court of Star Chamber is established in England to hear cases against the nobility in secret.
Chu Chien-shen's son Chu Yu-t'ang begins his rule, a mostly peaceful reign, of China. He controls the throne until his death in 1505.
1488King Trailok dies and is replaced by his son and deputy Boromaraja III, who leads the Thais for only three years.
The True Pure Land Sect in northern Japan rebels against a local lord and kills him, leading to a series of uprisings by this group.
1492Columbus sails west in hopes of finding a route to India. Instead, he discovers the Caribbean.
The Jews are expelled from Spain.

1494The Treaty of Tordesillas is signed between Spain and Portugal. It establishes a line approximately 1,200 leagues west of the Cape Verde Islands. Portugal is to be allowed to colonize east of the line in modern Brazil and Africa, while Spain is to control the area west of the marker.
France invades Italy, touching off the "Italian Wars" that will last intermittently until 1559 and produce a bitter rivalry between the Hapsburgs and the French Valois for territory in the peninsula.
1497The Italian explorer John Cabot sets sail on a voyage underwritten by King Henry VII of England. His intentions are to find a route to India, but he finds lands in modern Labrador and Newfoundland instead.
1498The Portuguese explorer Vasco da Gama discovers a route to India by sailing around the Cape of Good Hope in Africa.
1499War between Venice and the Ottoman Turks begins, and a Venetian fleet is defeated in the same year.
Switzerland's independence from the Holy Roman Empire is recognized.
c. 1500The Aztec empire has by this date grown into a vast and powerful force in Central America.
The Portuguese explorer Pedro Alvares Cabral claims Brazil for his king.
For approximately forty years, two queens, Rafohy and Rangita, successively rule the island nation of Imerinanjaka, located on Madagascar.
1501The French conquer the kingdom of Naples.
The enslavement of Africans is introduced into the West Indies to replace the rapidly dying off Native American population, which had been pressed into service. Nicolás de Ovando of Hispaniola imports some Spanish-born blacks for the purpose of using them as slaves.

1505Emperor Chu Yu-t'ang dies, leaving the throne in the hands of his son, Chu Houchao, whose reign is marked with rampant corruption, dominance by the eunuchs, and internal strife.
Ozolua (the Conqueror) dies after a twenty-three year reign as king of Benin (Nigeria). He expanded the size of his kingdom and traded with the Portuguese.
1506The king of the African Kongo, Alfonso I, converts to Christianity.
1507Martin Waldseemüller publishes his imposing atlas, Cosmographie Introductio, naming the continents of the Western Hemisphere "America," after the Italian navigator, Amerigo Vespucci.
1509An Arab-Egyptian fleet is destroyed off Diu (northwest of Bombay, India) by a Portuguese navy led by Francisco de Almeida, who had established forts along the Indian coast.
1510The Portuguese establish trading colonies at Calcutta and Gao in India, thus establishing their powerful position in the European spice trade.
1512Selim I (the Grim) becomes sultan upon the abdication of his father, Bayezid II. He doubles Ottoman territory, moves the capital to Istanbul, brings the Arab world into the Ottoman Empire, and becomes an Islamic caliph (or protector) of the Sunni Muslims. He rules until 1520.
Afonso I of Kongo signs a treaty with Manuel I of Portugal.
1513The Spanish explorer Balboa crosses Panama, discovering the Pacific Ocean.
1515The Turks capture Anatolia and Kurdistan.
1516King Ferdinand of Aragon dies in Spain, and Charles I assumes the throne.
Ang Chan becomes the king of Cambodia, resists Thai dominance, and rules until 1566.

Syria is annexed by the Ottoman Empire.
1517Martin Luther's 95 Theses begins to excite controversy in Germany.
Spain allows the importation of slaves from Africa in its New World colonies.
1519The Spanish conquistador Cortés conquers Mexico, making the once powerful ruler Montezuma into a puppet.
Charles I of Spain is elected Holy Roman Emperor. Charles now controls a vast empire that includes Spain, the New World, the Netherlands, Austria, and parts of Italy.
1520Cuauhtémoc becomes the last emperor of the Aztecs, but is hanged in 1522 by Cortés.
Babur invades northern India.
Photisarath becomes ruler of Lan Chang (Laos), builds monasteries and temples, and promotes Buddhism. He rules until 1547.
1521After a short revolt, the Aztec capital Tenochtitlan falls to the Spanish.
Magellan is the first European to sight one of the Polynesian Islands, that of Pukapuka.
1522Ferdinand Magellan completes his circumnavigation of the globe.
1526The Muslim Moguls, rulers of an empire centered at Kabul (in modern Afghanistan), invade India, subduing a large part of the subcontinent.
The Turks defeat Hungarian forces at the Battle of Mohács.
1527Imperial forces of Charles V sack Rome and take the pope hostage.
Somali chieftan Ahmed Gran, a Moslem, invades Ethiopia.
1529Spain names Mexico City, built on the site of the former Tenochtitlán, capital of the viceroyalty of New Spain.

The Turks attack the city of Vienna in Austria.
1530Atahualpa assumed the throne of the Incan Empire in Peru.
1531Tabinshweti becomes the king of Burma.
1533Francisco Pizarro conquers Cuzco, capital of Peru, and secures a large quantity of gold from the former empire.
Four-year-old Prince Ratsadatiratkumar becomes ruler of Siam, but is killed by his half brother Prince Prajai.
1534The French explorer Jacques Cartier sails to the Gulf of St. Lawrence in modern Canada.
1535The first printing press in the Western Hemisphere is established in the colony of Mexico.
1536The Spaniard Pedro de Mendoza leads an expedition into modern Argentina.
1537A period of peace and stability in China begins with the ascension to the throne of Chu Tsai-kou, son of Chu Hou-tsung.
1539In Ghent in the Low Countries, a revolt begins against the rule of the emperor Charles V. It fails, but Charles stations a permanent garrison of troops in the city.
Tabinshweti conquers the kingdom of Pegu (Myanmar).
1543Portuguese naval ships arrive in Japan, the first time Europeans visit these islands.
The English perfect the iron cannon, a weapon that is stronger and cheaper to produce than those made out of bronze.
Altan Khan becomes chief of the eastern Mongols. His army breaches the Great Wall of China in 1550.
1544The city of Lima is named the capital of the Spanish province of Peru.
Hindu religious reformer Dādu founder of the Dādupanthīs sect, is born.

1545Spanish conquistadors discover a large lode of silver at Potosi in modern Bolivia.
1548Sinan, considered the greatest Ottoman architect, builds the Sehzade Mosque in Istanbul. He is credited with designing more than three hundred buildings.
1549Spanish missionary Francis Xavier, who helped found the Jesuit Order and preached in Gao and India, arrives in Kagoshima, Japan, where he works for two years. He returns to India in 1551 and dies on Sancian Island.
1550Jón Arason, a prelate of Iceland who resists the expansion of Lutheranism into his country, is beheaded.
Arab traveler Leo Africanus's Descittione dell' Africa, the only source of information on the Sudan, is published.
1555The Peace of Augsburg in Germany resolves religious tensions between Protestants and Catholics and establishes the principle, "He who rules, his religion," a settlement that will hold until 1618 when hostilities once again break out between the two factions. At the end of that conflict, the so-called Thirty Years' War in 1648, the principles of the Peace of Augsburg ("He who rules, his religion") are reiterated.
Turkish poet Bâkî gains the favor of Sultan Süleyman I, helping to revitalize lyric poetry in Turkey.
1556Abu-ul-Fath Jala–l-ud Din Muhammad Akbar (Akbar the Great) becomes the Mughal emperor of India. He reigns until 1605, conquers most of India, and promotes reforms, learning, and art.
1557Spanish troops defeat the French at the Battle of Saint-Quentin, forcing them to abandon Italy.–h ibn Iskandar
Shaybanid ruler 'Abd Alla conquers Bukhara in Central Asia, as well as several regional kingdoms, and attacks Persia (1593–1594, 1595–1596).

1559King Henri II of France dies as a result of a wound he received in a jousting tournament.
The Treaty of Cateau-Cambrésis ends hostilities between France and Spain and allows the latter to remain dominant in the peninsula.
1562The Wars of Religion between Protestants and Catholics commence in France. They will last until 1598.
A cargo of African slaves is deposited in Hispaniola by Englishman John Hawkins, the first of three such voyages, initiating English participation in the trade.
1563Burmese king Bayinnaung invades Siam, assaulting the capital of Ayutthaya.
1564England surrenders its claim to the port of Calais.
1566Selim II becomes sultan of the Ottoman Empire.
1568The Azuchi-Momoyama period begins in Japan, an era of unification under military rule that lasts until the turn of the century.
1569The Flemish mapmaker Gerardus Mercator perfects the Mercator Projection map.
c. 1570The Iroquois League is established between various tribes of Oneida, Mohawks, Onondaga, Cayuga, and Seneca in the modern northeastern United States and Canada.
1571Forces of Venice and Spain combine to produce a navy of about 200 ships. They capture an Ottoman navy at the Battle of Lepanto, thus stopping for a time the advance of the Turks into the Mediterranean.
The Spanish conquer the Philippine Islands.
The Ottomans capture Cyprus.
Safavid philosopher-author Mullah Sadra is born; he will lead the Iranian cultural renaissance into the early seventeenth century.

1572The Dutch declare their independence from Spain, thus precipitating a long conflict between the two countries.
1574Murad III, the son of Selim II, becomes the sultan of the Ottomans.
Rās Dās becomes the fourth Sikh Guru Ra and founds Amritsar (in Punjab, India).
Hindu poet Tulsīdās writes Rāmcaritmānas (Lake of the Acts of Rama), one of the greatest Hindi literary works.
The Spanish are pushed out of Tunis by the Turks. While the Spanish are losing in Tunis, they are establishing a settlement in Angola.
1576In an attempt to destroy a rebellion in the Netherlands, Spanish forces advance on Antwerp. There they wreak devastation on the city when Spain is unable to pay them.
1578The Jesuit missionary Matteo Ricci journeys to China and works to promote Christianity. In 1601, he founds a mission in Beijing.
1580Chinese dramatist Liang Ch'en-yü, whose K'un-shan style of singing dominates Chinese theater for nearly three centuries, dies.
1581King Bhueng Noreng of Burma, who had conquered the Thais, is succeeded by his son Nanda Bhueng.
1582Pope Gregory XIII establishes the Gregorian Calendar in place of the older Julian styled one that had been used in Europe since the first century C.E. It will be adopted in Portugal, Germany, and Spain the following year.
1584Queen Elizabeth I authorizes Sir Walter Raleigh to undertake an expedition to the New World. The colony that Raleigh establishes at Roanoke Island fails the following year, and another settlement will fail in 1587.

1586Japanese dancer Izumo Okuni, considered the founder of Kabuki, begins performing works inspired by Buddhist prayers.
1587An expedition of Spaniards visits Japan. The Inquisition is established in Portugal.
1588Elizabeth I's navy defeats the Spanish Armada after a storm comes to the aid of her forces. More than half the Spanish navy is destroyed in the conflict.
Abba–s I (Abbas the Great), the son of Sha–h Soltān Mohammad, begins his reign Sha in Persia. He rules the empire, defeating the Uzbeks and Ottoman Turks and regaining Persian lands, until 1629.
1589King Henri III of France is assassinated by a monk, thus paving the way for the Protestant Henri of Navarre to come to the throne as Henri IV. Civil war again breaks out in France.
1590Japan, including the islands of Shikoku and Kyushu, is united under the leadership of Hideyoshi Toyotomi. He brings peace and infrastructural improvements, and will lead his nation (though he relinquishes his official title), until his death in 1598.
1591The kingdom of Aragon rebels against King Philip II of Spain.

1592Ming troops defending Korea battle Hideyoshi's Japanese army in its unsuccessful attempt to capture the country.
1593Henri IV renounces his Protestant faith, and is crowned the following year as King of France.
1596Mexican historian Agustin Dávila Padilla publishes Historia de la fundación de la provincial de Santiago de México de la Orden de predicadores.
1597Hugh O'Neill leads an uprising against the English in Ulster; Irish forces will eventually be reinforced by Spanish armies, but the uprising will be finally subdued in 1603.
1598Henri IV of France promulgates the Edict of Nantes, granting a limited degree of toleration to French Protestants. King Philip II of Spain dies.
Abbās I defeats the Uzbeks near Herāt.
Trade between Ayutthaya and Spain begins.
1599Manchurian chief Nurhachi begins conquering the Juchen tribes in his quest to unite the Manchu, which will become the Ch'ing dynasty starting in 1644.
1600The East India Company is founded to regulate England's trade with India.

Chronology of World Events

By Philip M. Soergel and

Melanie Casey

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Chronology of World Events from Arts and Humanities Through the Eras. ©2005-2006 Thomson Gale, a part of the Thomson Corporation. All rights reserved.
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