Chronology of the 16th Century

19 August 1493–12 January 1519 – Maximilian I is Archduke of Austria:

16 February 1486–12 January 1519 – King of the Romans
4 February 1508–12 January 1519 – Holy Roman Emperor

1500–15101500
1504–1516 – Ferdinand II of Aragon is King of Naples

1505
1505–1610 – fictional date of life of Vigo the Carpathian (Vigo Von Homburg Deutschendorf) in Carpathia (in Hungary?) and Moldavia

6 November 1505–13 December 1533 – Vasily III is Grand Prince of Moscow (Rurikid)

c. 1506 – fictional siege of the castle of Klatka and killing of Ezzelin von Klatka in Karl von Wachsmann’s novella The Mysterious Stranger in the Karst Plateau

18 April 1506–18 November 1626 – the construction of new St. Peter’s Basilica

20 May 1506 – death of Christopher Columbus in Valladolid, Spain

25 September 1506–25 October 1555 – Charles V is Lord of the Netherlands and Duke of Burgundy:

23 January 1516–16 January 1556 – Charles V is King of Spain
12 January 1519–28 April 1521 – Charles V is Archduke of Austria
28 June 1519–27 August 1556 – Charles V is Holy Roman Emperor
26 October 1520 – Charles V is crowned as King of the Germans in Germany
22 February 1530 – Charles V is crowned King of Italy
24 February 1530 – Charles V is crowned Holy Roman Emperor in Bologna

10 July 1509–27 May 1564 – life of John Calvin

1510s1510 – Ferdinand of Aragon orders the expulsion of Jews from Naples

12 March 1510 – assassination of Mihnea cel Rău in the Roman Catholic Church of Sibiu while attending Mass

c. 1514 – John Knox born in or near Haddington, the county town of East Lothian

1 January 1515–31 March 1547 – Francis I is king of France (House of Valois)

1516–22 January 1517 – the Ottoman–Mamluk War of 1516–1517 between Mameluke Sultanate and the Ottoman Empire

13 March 1516–29 August 1526 – Louis II is king of Hungary (Jagiellon)

24 January 1517 – the Battle of Ridaniya near Cairo between Selim I and Tuman Bay, in which the Mamelukes were defeated

31 October 1517 – Martin Luther nailed his Ninety-five Theses to the door of All Saints’ Church, Wittenberg

1519
12 January 1519 – death of Maximilian I in Wels, Upper Austria

April 1519 – Hernán Cortés (1485–1547) and 700 soldiers land near Tabasco on the Yucatan Peninsula of Mexico

28 June 1519–27 August 1556 – Charles V (grandson of Maximilian I) is Holy Roman Emperor

1520s1520
22 May 1520 – massacre in the Great Temple of the Aztec capital Tenochtitlan

1 July 1520 – the Aztec emperor Moctezuma was killed

30 September 1520–6/7 September 1566 – Suleiman I is Ottoman Sultan

1521
3 January 1521 – Martin Luther excommunicated by Pope Leo X in the bull Decet Romanum Pontificem

28 January–25 May 1521 – Diet of Worms, the general assembly of the estates of the Holy Roman Empire in Worms, on the Rhine, with Emperor Charles V presiding

28 April 1521–25 July 1564 – Ferdinand I is Archduke of Austria:

24 October 1526 – the Bohemian Diet elects Ferdinand King of Bohemia
24 October 1526–25 July 1564 – Ferdinand I is King of Bohemia
17 December 1526–25 July 1564 – Ferdinand I is King of Hungary
5 January 1531–3 May 1558 – Ferdinand I is King of the Romans
January 1556 – Charles V abdicats as Emperor
3 May 1558 – Imperial Diet accepts the abdication of Charles V
27 August 1556–25 July 1564 – Ferdinand I is Holy Roman Emperor
14 March 1558 – coronation in Frankfurt of Ferdinand I as Holy Roman Emperor
28 November 1562–25 July 1564 – Maximilian II is King of the Romans

c. May 1521–6 March 1522 – Martin Luther at Wartburg Castle at Eisenach

13 August 1521 – the Aztec Empire was captured

1521–1524 – Cortés personally governed Mexico

1522
26 June–22 December 1522 – the second siege of Rhodes of 1522, in which Knights of Rhodes are expelled by Ottomans

29 August 1526 – the battle of Mohács between king Louis II of Hungary and Suleiman the Magnificent, fought near Mohács, Kingdom of Hungary

29 August 1526 – death of Louis II (king of Hungary) after the battle of Mohács

11 November 1526–16 August 1570 – rival kings of Hungary:

House of Zápolya (1526–1570)
11 November 1526–22 July 1540 – John Zápolya King of Hungary
13 September 1540–16 August 1570 – John II Sigismund

House of Habsburg (1526–1780)
17 December 1526–25 July 1564 – Ferdinand I
26 July 1564–12 October 1576 – Maximilian

1529
27 September–15 October 1529 – siege of Vienna led by Suleiman the Magnificent

1530
1530–1534 – Stephen (VIII) Báthory of Somlyó is voivode of Transylvania

13 December 1533–28 March 1584 – Ivan IV the Terrible is Grand Prince of Moscow (Tsar from 26 January 1547)

13 September 1540 – the Diet of Hungary elected John Sigismund king

13 September 1541 – return of John Calvin to Geneva, Switzerland

1545 – fictional date of Hernando de Estrada’s expedition of 40 men through West Texas, with the vampire Don Santiago de Valdez in Robert Ervin Howard’s “The Horror from the Mound”

18 February 1546 – death of Martin Luther at 2:45 a.m., aged 62, in Eisleben

16 January 1547–28 March 1584 – Ivan IV the Terrible is Tsar of All Rus’ (Grand Prince of Moscow from 13 December 1533)

16 January 1547 – coronation of Ivan IV the Terrible

31 March 1547 – death of Francis I at the Château de Rambouillet

31 March 1547–10 July 1559 – Henry II of France is king of France (House of Valois)

1550s18 July 1551 – unsuccessful Ottoman invasion of Malta

July 1551 – Ottoman invasion of the island of Gozo, of the Maltese archipelago

15 August 1551 – the siege of Tripoli: the Ottomans besieged and conquered the Knights of Malta in the fortress of Tripoli, modern Libya

15 August 1551–3 April 1559 – the Italian War of 1551 (Habsburg–Valois War; Last Italian War) between Henry II of France and Emperor Charles V with the goal of recapturing Italy

1553
13 August 1553 – Michael Servetus arrives in Geneva

25 October 1555 – Charles V announces to the States General of the Netherlands his abdication of those territories and the county of Charolais

1556
January 1556 – Charles V abdicates as ruler of the Spanish Empire

16 January 1556–13 September 1598 – Philip II is king of Spain:

25 July 1554–13 September 1598 – King of Naples and Sicily (as Philip I)
16 April 1581–13 September 1598 – King of Portugal and the Algarves

27 August 1556 – Charles V abdicated as Holy Roman Emperor in favour of his brother Ferdinand

5 February 1557 – Charles V and a small court move into a residence near the monastery of Yuste in Extremadura

24 February 1558–25 July 1564 – Ferdinand I is Holy Roman Emperor

21 September 1558 – death of Charles V in the Monastery of Yuste in Extremadura

3 April 1559 – peace of Cateau-Cambrésis signed between Henry II of France and Philip II of Spain at Le Cateau-Cambrésis, 20 kilometres south-east of Cambrai

10 July 1559–5 December 1560 – Francis II is king of France (House of Valois)

28 September 1559 – Philip II meets Don John of Austria in the Monastery of Santa María de La Santa Espina

1560
August 1560 – the Scottish Parliament establishes the Church of Scotland (the Kirk), a Presbyterian national church of Scotland, by abolishing the jurisdiction of the Pope and establishing a new confession of faith

5 December 1560–30 May 1574 – Charles IX is king of France (House of Valois)

1564
27 May 1564 – death of John Calvin in Geneva, Switzerland

25 July 1564–12 October 1576 – Maximilian II is Holy Roman Emperor

25 July 1564–10 July 1590 – Charles II is Archduke of Austria and ruler of Inner Austria (Styria, Carniola and Carinthia)

18 May–11 September 1565 – the Great Siege of Malta: the Ottomans invade the island of Malta, held by the Knights Hospitaller, who withstood the siege and repelled the invaders

29 September 1566–21 December 1574 – Selim II is Ottoman Sultan

24 July 1567–27 March 1625 – James VI (later James I) is King of Scotland

1568–1648 – Dutch Revolt: the northern, largely Protestant Seven Provinces of the Low Countries rebel against King Philip II of Spain

May 1568–28 May 1573 – Marian civil war in Scotland between supporters of James VI (a minor) and Mary (Queen of Scots) after she escaped to England

13 April 1569–autumn 1570 – Don John of Austria is Captain General in the war against the Rebellion of the Alpujarras

1570s1570
c. 1570 – construction of the current Predjama Castle, Carniola

16 August 1570–14 March 1571 – John Sigismund Zápolya is Prince of Transylvania

1571
February 1571 – Philip II signs the decree of expulsion of all the moriscos from the Kingdom of Granada

25 May 1571–1576 – Stephen Báthory is voivode of Transylvania

7 October 1571 – naval battle of Lepanto between the Holy League (led by the Venetian Republic and the Spanish Empire) and the Ottoman Empire in the Gulf of Patras, Ionian Sea

1572
24 November 1572 – death of John Knox in Edinburgh, Scotland

1573
12 November 1573 – charter promulgated of Jesuit College of Graz

1574
30 May 1574–2 August 1589 – Henry III is king of France (House of Valois)

22 December 1574–16 January 1595 – Murad III is Ottoman Sultan

1575
8 May 1575 – marriage of Elizabeth Báthory and Ferenc Nádasdy at the palace of Vranov nad Topľou

c. May 1575 – Elizabeth Báthory moves to Nádasdy Castle in Sárvár

1 May 1576–12 December 1586 – Stephen Báthory is King of Poland is Grand Duke of Lithuania

12 October 1576–20 January 1612 – Rudolf II is Holy Roman Emperor:

1576–1608 – Archduke of Austria
1576–1611 – King of Bohemia
12 October 1576–26 June 1608 – King of Hungary and Croatia (as Rudolf I)

1 October 1578 – death of Don John of Austria

1580s26 July 1581 – signing in the Hague of the Act of Abjuration, the declaration of independence by many provinces of the Netherlands from Philip II during the Dutch Revolt

1582
24 February 1582 – Pope Gregory XIII issues the Inter gravissimas papal bull to reform the Julian calendar; the reform was later regarded as a new calendar called the Gregorian calendar

1584
28 March 1584–17 January 1598 – Feodor I is Tsar of All Rus’ (Rurikid)

14 April 1586 – Jesuit College of Graz turned into the University of Graz by papal bull of Pope Sixtus V

December 1586–23 March 1598 – Sigismund Báthory is Prince of Transylvania

2 August 1589–14 May 1610 – Henry IV is king of France (House of Bourbon)

1590s29 July 1593–11 November 1606 – Long Turkish War (Thirteen Years’ War), between the Habsburg Monarchy and the Ottoman Empire, over the Principalities of Wallachia, Transylvania and Moldavia

11 October 1593–9 August 1601 – Michael the Brave (Mihail I Viteazul) is Prince of Wallachia:

October 1599 – Michael the Brave elected as voivode of Transylvania
1600 – Michael the Brave is prince of Moldavia

27 January 1595–20/21 December 1603 – Mehmed III is Ottoman Sultan

21 February 1598–13 April 1605 – Boris Godunov is Tsar of All Rus’ (Godunov)

18 October 1599 – battle of Şelimbăr (Battle of Sellenberk), in which Michael the Brave defeated Andrew Báthory near the village of Șelimbăr

October 1599 – Michael the Brave elected as voivode of Transylvania

1600s9 August 1601 – assassination of Michael the Brave near Câmpia Turzii

4 January 1604 – death of Ferenc Nádasdy

28 September 1604–23 June 1606 – the Bocskai uprising in Hungary, Transylvania and modern Slovakia, against Rudolf II, led by István Bocskai, a Protestant Hungarian nobleman

21 February 1605 – Stephen Bocskai is elected Prince of Transylvania by Transylvanian noblemen and Székelys in Nyárádszereda (now Miercurea Nirajului in Romania):

21 February 1605–29 December 1606 – Stephen Bocskai
12 February 1607–5 March 1608 – Sigismund Rákóczi
7 March 1608–21 October 1613 – Gabriel Báthory
October 1613–15 November 1629 – Gabriel Bethlen
15 November 1629–21 September 1630 – Catherine of Brandenburg

20 April 1605 – Stephen Bocskai acclaimed prince of Hungary by delegates of 22 counties from Upper Hungary and Partium at Szerencs

April–summer 1606? – fictional date of Karl von Wachsmann’s The Mysterious Stranger

23 June 1606 – signing of the Treaty of Vienna between Stephen Bocskay and Rudolph: all constitutional and religious rights and privileges were granted to the Hungarians in both Transylvania and Royal Hungary

24 October–11 November 1606 – negotiations for the Peace of Zsitvatorok at the former mouth of the Žitava River

11 November 1606 – the Peace of Zsitvatorok (or Treaty of Sitvatorok) between the Ottomans and Habsburgs

12 February 1607–5 March 1608 – Sigismund Rákóczi is Prince of Transylvania

5 March 1608 – Sigismund Rákóczi abdicates as Prince of Transylvania at the Diet in Kolozsvár

7 March 1608–21 October 1613 – Gabriel Báthory is Prince of Transylvania

25 June 1608 – Rudolf II cedes Hungary, Austria and Moravia to Matthias

30 December 1610 – arrest of Elizabeth Báthory at Čachtice Castle by György Thurzó, the Palatine of Hungary

7 January 1611 – second trial of Elizabeth Báthory

c. January 1611–21 August 1614 – imprisonment of Elizabeth Báthory in Čachtice Castle

March 1611 – Matthias enters Prague

April 1611 – Matthias declared king of Bohemia

20 January 1612 – death of Rudolf II

13 June 1612–20 March 1619 – Matthias is Holy Roman Emperor

October 1613–15 November 1629 – Gabriel Bethlen is Prince of Transylvania

23 May 1618–15 May 1648 – Thirty Years’ War