Events

• January 25 - King Henry VIII of England marries Anne Boleyn, his second Queen consort.
• March 30 - Thomas Cranmer becomes Archbishop of Canterbury
• May 23 - King Henry VIII of England marriage with Catherine of Aragon officially declared annulled. Catherine refuses to accept and continues to believe herself the wife of Henry till her death.
• June 1 - Henry VIII of England's new wife, Anne Boleyn, is crowned as queen.
• July 11 Henry VIII is excommunicated by Pope Clement VII
• Russia, Ivan IV succeeds his father Vasili III as Grand Prince of Muscovy at 3 years old.
• Peru, Inca Atahualpa pays Francisco Pizarro ransom of approx. $100 million in gold; Pizarro executes him anyway.
• Peace treaty divides Hungary between Suleiman I and King Ferdinand

Births

• February 9 - Shimazu Yoshihisa, Japanese daimyo and samurai (d. 1611)
• February 28 - Michel de Montaigne, French essayist (d. 1592)
• April 8 - Claudio Merulo, Italian composer and organist (d. 1604)
• April 24 - William I of Orange, Dutch leader (d. 1584)
• September 7 - Queen Elizabeth I of England (d. 1603)
• December 13 - King Eric XIV of Sweden (d. 1577)

Deaths

• April 10 - Frederick I of Denmark (b. 1471)
• July 6 - Ludovico Ariosto, Italian poet (b. 1474)
• Atahualpa, last Inca of Peru (executed)
• Lucas van Leyden, Dutch artist (b. 1494)
• Grand Prince Vasili III of Muscovy (b. 1479)