January–June

• January – Juan Díaz de Solís discovers the Río de la Plata (in future Argentina).
• January 23 – With the death of Ferdinand II of Aragon, his grandson, Charles of Ghent, becomes King of Spain.
• March 1 – Desiderius Erasmus publishes a new Greek translation of the New Testament, Novum Instrumentum omne, in Basel.
• April 23 – The Reinheitsgebot is instituted in Ingolstadt, Bavaria, regulating the purity of beer permissible for sale.

July–December

• July – Selim I of the Ottoman Empire declares war on the Mamluk Sultanate of Cairo and invades Syria.
• August 13 – The Treaty of Noyon is signed. Francis I of France recognizes Charles I of Spain's claim to Naples, and Charles recognizes Francis's claim to Milan.
• August 18 – King Francis I of France and Pope Leo X sign the Concordat of Bologna, agreeing on the relationship between church and state in France.
• August 24– Battle of Marj Dabiq (Ottoman–Mamluk War (1516–17)): The Otoman Sultan Selim I defeats the mamluk forces commanded by the sultan Al-Ashraf Qansuh Al-Ghuri.
• October 28 – Battle of Yaunis Khan (Ottoman–Mamluk War (1516–17)): Ottoman forces under the Grand Vizier Sinan Pasha defeat the Mamluks near Gaza.
• December 4 – Treaty of Brussels: Peace is declared between the Kingdom of France and the Holy Roman Empire.
• c. December – Thomas More's most famous work, Utopia, completed this year, is published in Leuven (in Latin).

Date unknown

• Italian explorer Rafael Perestrello, a cousin of Christopher Columbus, commands an expedition from Portuguese Malacca to land on the shores of mainland southern China, and trade with Chinese merchants at Guangzhou, during the Ming Dynasty.
• Portuguese soldier Fernão Lopes becomes the first known permanent inhabitant of Saint Helena.
• The Venetian Ghetto is instituted, the first ghetto anywhere in the world.
• Leonardo da Vinci accepts Francis I's invitation to France.
• Gillingham School is founded, the oldest in Dorset, England.
• The predecessor of the Royal Mail, known as the Master of the Posts, is established by Henry VIII of England.
• Fuggerei is established in Augsburg (Bavaria), as the world's oldest social housing complex still in use.
• The fall of the Nantan meteorite is possibly observed near the city of Nantan, Nandan County, Guangxi (China).

Births

• January 1 – Margaret Leijonhufvud, queen of Gustav I of Sweden (d. 1551)
• January 14 – Herluf Trolle, Danish admiral (d. 1565)
• January 16 – Bayinnaung, King of Burma (d. 1581)
• February 2 – Girolamo Zanchi, Italian theologian (d. 1590)
• February 16 – Prospero Spani, Italian sculptor (d. 1584)
• February 18 – Queen Mary I of England, daughter of King Henry VIII of England and Queen Catherine of Aragon (d. 1558)
• March 26 – Conrad Gessner, Swiss naturalist (d. 1565)
• April 16 – Tabinshwehti, King of Burma (d. 1550)
• April 23 – Georg Fabricius, Protestant German poet (d. 1571)
• June 28 – Charles Blount, 5th Baron Mountjoy, English courtier and patron of learning (d. 1544)
• July 27 – Emilie of Saxony, German nobleman (d. 1591)
• July 28 – William, Duke of Jülich-Cleves-Berg, German nobleman (d. 1592)
• August 13 – Hieronymus Wolf, German historian (d. 1580)
• September 2 – Francis I, Duke of Nevers (d. 1561)
• September 21 – Matthew Stewart, 4th Earl of Lennox (d. 1571)
• October 4 – Archangelo de' Bianchi, Italian cardinal (d. 1580)
• October 23 – Charlotte of Valois, French princess (d. 1524)
• October 27 – Ruy Gómez de Silva, Portuguese noble (d. 1573)
• November 5 – Martin Helwig, German cartographer of Silesia (d. 1574)
• December 21 – Giuseppe Leggiadri Gallani, Italian poet and dramatist (d. 1590)
• date unknown
  • Antonio Bernieri, Italian painter during the Renaissance period (d. 1565)
  • John Foxe, biographer (d. 1587)
  • Manco Inca Yupanqui, ruler of the Inca (d. 1544)
  • Canghali of Kazan, khan of Qasim and Kazan
  • Margaretha Coppier, Dutch heroine (d. 1597)
  • Shri Gusainji, son of Shri Vallabhacharyaji.
• probable
  • James Hamilton, Duke of Châtellerault (d. 1572)

Deaths

• January 20 – Juan Díaz de Solís, Spanish navigator and explorer (b. 1470)
• January 23 – King Ferdinand II of Aragon (b. 1452)
• February 4 – Anthony of Supraśl, Polish Orthodox priest and saint
• March 13 – Vladislaus II, king of Bohemia, Hungary and Croatia (b. 1456)
• March 17 – Giuliano de' Medici, Duke of Nemours, ruler of Florence (b. 1449)
• April 25 – John Yonge, English diplomat (b. 1467)
• June 14 – King John III of Navarre (b. 1469)
• July 10 – Alice FitzHugh, English heir (b. 1448)
• July 30 – Johann V of Nassau-Vianden-Dietz, Dutch count (b. 1455)
• August 9 (bur.) – Hieronymus Bosch, Dutch painter (b. 1450)
• August 21 – John III of Egmont, Dutch count (b. 1438)
• c. November 26? – Giovanni Bellini, Venetian painter (b. 1430)
• December 13 – Johannes Trithemius, German scholar and cryptographer (b. 1462)
• date unknown – Giuliano da Sangallo, Florentine sculptor and architect (b. 1443)

References