1501 1502 1503 1504 1505 1506 1507 1508 1509 1510
Contents: political eventshuman rights, social justice exploration, colonization religion art architecture, real estate food and drink |
A Spanish fleet seizes Taranto in March as Ferdinand II of Aragon supports the claims of Louis XII to Naples.
Florence elects former ambassador to France Piero di Tommaso Soderini, 50, to a lifetime position as gonfalonier in an effort to stablize its republican government. A onetime prior who won the support of the late Piero di Lorenzo de' Medici, Soderini will rule with moderation and wisdom until 1512, but hardly with brilliance.
Cesare Borgia, 26, attacks Urbino in north central Italy while the duchy's artillery is away helping Cesare's father, Pope Alexander VI. Guidobaldo da Montefeltro, duke of Urbino, now 30, and his wife, Elizabetta, flee, and Cesare adds Urbino to the pope's possessions. Pope Alexander offers Elizabetta an annulment of her marriage to the ailing duke and a potent French husband to replace him, and Cesare Borgia promises her a pension. Although she is living on Venetian charity in exile with her husband, she refuses the offer. Cesare receives French aid in putting down a revolt of his captains at Sinigaglia in December (see 1503).
The Crimean khan destroys the last of the Golden Horde whose Mongol and Turkic warriors terrorized so much of the world in the 13th and 14th centuries.
The Safavid dynasty that will rule Persia until 1736 is founded by the rebel leader Ismail, who has himself proclaimed shah (see 1501). He will reign until 1524 (see 1508).
Montezuma II ascends the throne of the Aztec Empire at Tenochtitlan at age 22 (see 1325; Juan de Grijalva, 1518).
Santo Domingo's Spanish governor Nicolás de Ovando imports a few Spanish-born black slaves into Hispaniola—the first importation of blacks to the New World. The rapid decimation of natives in the West Indies has created a labor shortage that the governor takes steps to alleviate (see 1503).
Castile expels the last of the Moors, who have been in the country since 711 and contributed substantially to her culture and prosperity. The Spaniards legalize shipments of slaves to America.
Ferdinand and Isabella return all the titles and honors that were taken from Christopher Columbus after his arrest 2 years ago; he embarks at Cádiz May 9 on a fourth voyage to the New World, this time with 150 men in four caravels that take 3 months to make the Atlantic crossing, forcing the crews to eat wormy biscuit (dried bread), sharkmeat, and ships' rats in order to survive. Evading a hurricane, Columbus discovers St. Lucia, the island of Guanaja off Honduras, Honduras itself, Costa Rica, and the Isthmus of Panama (see 1503).
Some 2,500 new colonists arrive at Hispaniola in the largest fleet ever to cross the Atlantic. Ferdinand II of Aragon installs Nicolás de Ovando, 51, as first royal governor of the new colony, replacing Francisco de Bobadilla as governor of all Spanish colonies in the West Indies. Having failed to restore order at Santo Domingo, Bobadilla sets sail for Spain in June, a hurricane off the coast of Hispaniola destroys almost his entire fleet, he is lost with all the rest on his ship, but a few ships escape, including one carrying Christopher Columbus's gold.
Christopher Columbus lands June 15 on what later will be called Martinique, an island he sighted 9 years ago; he leaves some pigs and goats (see 1635) and arrives at Santo Domingo on Hispaniola June 29. Refused entry by the royal governor Nicolás de Ovando, he reaches Bonacca Island off Honduras July 30 and tries to find a strait leading west (see 1503).
Amerigo Vespucci returns to Lisbon July 2 from a second voyage to the New World (see 1501). An account of this voyage will be the basis of the name America (see 1504; Waldseemüller, 1507).
Bologna-born adventurer Ludovico di Varthema, 34, embarks at Venice in late December on a journey that will take him to Egypt, Syria, Arabia, Persia, India, Ceylon, Burma, Malaya, Java, Malacca, Sumatra, and Banda (see 1503).
Persia's new shah Ismail I executes Sunnis who do not accept the state Shiite brand of Islam.
Christopher Columbus and his crew hold their first Mass on the American mainland August 14 at what later will be Trujillo, Honduras.
Painting: St. Jerome by German painter-engraver Lucas Cranach, 29.
The Tempietto at St. Pietro in Montorio is completed by the Vatican architect Bramante (Donato d'Agnolo), 58, with a sculptured chapel that interrelates convex and concave elements.
Christopher Columbus is given a drink of what the natives call xocoatl (pronounced chocoatl) aboard ship in the Gulf of Honduras. It is made from beans that have, according to native mythology, been grown by the gods in the Garden of Life. Quetzalcoatl, god of the air, is believed to have come to earth for a time and taught mortals how to cultivate various crops, including the cacao tree. While awaiting Quetzalcoatl's return, the people in the Western Hemisphere's midriff have for centuries kept his memory alive with religious rites that involve cocoa. Mixed with honey, spices, and vanilla, xocoatl is served cold and frosty. Columbus thinks little of it; he brings some of the beans home with him, but only as a curiosity (see Cortéz, 1519).
1501 1502 1503 1504 1505 1506 1507 1508 1509 1510
