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Contents: political eventshuman rights, social justice exploration, colonization commerce education art theater, film agriculture food and drink |
The Holy Roman Emperor Maximilian I dies at Weis in Upper Austria January 12 at age 59, and Spain's 19-year-old king Carlos I is elected emperor after the Fuggers and other Augsburg merchants bribe some electors. (Jakob Fugger II raises nearly 544,000 guilders of the total 852,000 needed to give Carlos the crown.) Louise of Savoy has dispensed liberal bribes to swing the election to her son, France's François I, but has been outbid by the agents of Carlos I, who last year bought the support of his French relative Charles, duc de Bourbon. The election plunges Europe into political turmoil that will culminate in war: François tests Charles's loyalty by sending a messenger to propose that the duke, now 28, marry the king's widowed mother, Louise, now 45; Bourbon replies that he would not marry her "for all the wealth in Christendom," François and Louis lay claim to Bourbon's French estates, their respective lawyers will argue for 18 months over the rights to ownership of inherited land tracts, François meanwhile will offer all of his other female relatives as prospective brides, but Bourbon will open secret negotiations with Carlos (see 1523).
The Swabian League expels Ulrich, duke of Württemberg, who has breached the peace several times since the Treaty of Tübingen 4 years ago. The League will sell Ulrich's duchy to the new emperor Charles V next year, and Charles will grant the territory to his brother Ferdinand, now 16 (see 1534).
Isabella d'Este's husband, Francesco Gonzaga of Mantua, dies April 4, leaving her a widow of 44. Her son, Federico, now 20, is formally declared marquis of Mantua with Isabella as regent. He falls in love with Isabella Boschetti, a matron who will be his mistress.
Madeleine de' Medici gives birth to a baby girl, Catarina (Catherine), April 13 at Florence but dies April 28 at age 17 (the infant's maternal aunt Clarice Strozzi will raise her and have her tutored by Giulio Cardinal de' Medici). Madeleine's widowed husband, Lorenzo, dies of the pox (syphilis) and tuberculosis at Florence May 4 at age 27.
Lucrezia Borgia dies at Ferrara June 24 at age 39 after giving birth to a stillborn child.
The Ottoman Empire's first Celali (Jelali) Revolt breaks out near Tokat in Anatolia under the leadership of the Shiite preacher Celal. Heavy taxation, depreciated currency, a decline in the devsirme system of conscripting Christian boys, admission of Muslims into the army, and a growth in the number and dominance of the Janissaries both at Constantinople and in the provinces have combined to antagonize the cavalrymen (spahis, who are maintained by land grants that many have lost to court favorites) and the irregular troops of musketeers (sekbans), recruited from the peasantry, who are not paid during peacetime, support themselves by banditry at such times, and are called Jalalis (see 1526).
Bengal's Husein Shah Ala ad-Din dies after an illustrious 26-year reign in which he has expanded his territory by annexation, accorded equal rights to the Hindu minority, built public works, and been an active patron of the arts. He is succeeded by his son, who will reign as Nusrat Shah (see Babar, 1529).
The governor of China's southern Kiangsi Province Wang Yingming (Wang Ying-ming) is called upon to suppress a rebellion in Fukien province and learns en route that the Prince of Ning Chu Ch'en-hao has rebelled. He surrounds the prince's base at Nan-ch'ang and when the prince comes out to do battle 4 days later he is captured, but envious officials at Beijing (Peking) find that Wang has been in contact with the prince and accuse him of having plotted the rebellion and attacked the prince only after hearing that imperial armies were on their way. He has sent one of his students to negotiate with the prince, the student is imprisoned, but the situation is soon clarified, and Wang is made governor of all of Kiangsi (see 1521).
The Spanish governor of Darién becomes convinced that charges of incapacity and unfitness to govern that have been leveled against him by his critics will bring him to ruin (see 1514); now 78, Pedro Arias Dávila summons home conquistador-explorer Vasco Nuñez de Balboa, who is put on trial, convicted of rebellion, treason, and mistreatment, condemned to death, and beheaded at Acla, near Darién in Panama January 12 at age 44 (approximate). Arias Dávila goes on to found Panama City.
The Spanish parliament at Barcelona hears a stirring defense in December of the West Indian natives (see 1516); the eloquence of Bartolomé de Las Casas persuades Carlos I to accept Las Casas's project of founding "towns of free Indians" where Spaniards and natives can work together to create a new civilization (see exploration, 1520).
Spanish adventurer Hernándo Cortéz sails from Cuba with 500 Castilians, nearly 300 natives, and 16 horses—10 stallions, five mares, and a foal—to conquer New Spain (see de Grijalva, 1518). Now 34, he burns his ships to discourage any thoughts about a return to Cuba and pays a ransom to secure the release of Geronimo de Aguilar, who was wrecked off the coast of Yucatán in 1511 and has learned the Mayan dialect. Cortéz discovers in March that a 15-year-old Tabascan slave girl named Malinali speaks not only Mayan but also her native language, Nahuatl, the tongue of the Aztec and other subject people. She is baptized along with nearly 20 other women, given the name Doña Marina, and taken aboard ship when the Spaniards move north along the coast. By translating from Nahuatl to Mayan, she enables Aguilar to communicate with the Aztec and soon finds herself speaking for Cortéz himself in negotiations with the natives, who use the name Malintzin, or Malinche, both for Cortéz and the woman who speaks for him. Montezuma II meets with them November 8 at the gates of his capital, Tenochtitlán, and Malinche persuades the Aztec king that he will be safe under the protection of Cortéz. The Aztec believe Cortéz to be the bearded white god Quetzelcoatl, whose return has been predicted by legend, and an allied army of Totonacs helps Cortéz take advantage of the confusion to win an easy victory over Montezuma II. The conquistador enlists another army of Tlaxcalans, vanquishes the Cholulans, takes Montezuma prisoner, and by year's end is ruling the country through Montezuma (see 1520).
Portuguese navigator Ferdinand Magellan (Fernao de Magelhaes, or Hernándo de Magellanes), 39, leaves Seville August 10 with a fleet of five ships, remains at the mouth of the Guadalquivir for more than 5 weeks, and puts to sea September 20. Financed by an Antwerp banker, he sails in quest of spices from the Orient (see 1520).
The dollar has its origin in the thaler minted at the mining town of Jáchymov in Bohemia's Joachimsthal Valley, where the large coin will be commonly called the Joachimsthaler because Joachimstalergulden and Joachimsthalergroschen are too hard to pronounce. Count Hieronymus Schlick will receive official permission January 20 of next year to mint the coins from silver that was discovered in the area 3 years ago west of the mines at Kutná Hora that have been yielding silver for centuries. The longer words will be shortened to talergroschen and then to taler or thaler.
Hugh Oldham, bishop of Exeter, dies June 25, having contributed funds for the founding of Oxford's Corpus Christi College 2 years ago; St. Paul's, London, school founder John Colet dies at Sheen, Surrey, September 16 at age 53 (approximate), having collaborated with Erasmus and John Lyly on a Latin grammar that will remain in use for years.
Painting: The Raising of Lazarus and Christopher Columbus by Sebastiano del Piombo. Leonardo da Vinci dies May 2 at age 67 in Amboise castle on the Loire.
Theater: The Ship of Heaven (Auto de la Barca de la Gloyia) by Gil Vicente.
The wild turkeys of the Yucatán found by Cortéz cannot be domesticated, but another variety, Meleagris gallopalo, from north of the Río Balsas, will be brought back to Europe and enjoy wide popularity (see 1523).
Spaniards discover that natives in the New World grow some foods that have long been familiar in Europe and the Middle East, among them certain berries and squashes, including pumpkins. Hernándo Cortéz hears of bearded men in Mayan towns and pays a ransom to secure the release of Geronimo de Aguilar, who was shipwrecked off the coast of Yucatán in 1511 and who describes the foods he has eaten as a slave to a Mayan chief. The foods include cacahuates (peanuts), camotes (sweet potatoes), and uahs (tortillas). Cortéz also discovers turkeys, tomatoes, vanilla, papaya, and beans, which the Maya call avacotl, a word that the Spanish will turn into habicuela and the French into haricot (see 1528).
An officer serving with Cortéz sees Montezuma drinking xocoatl (or tchocolatl)—fifty flagons of it a day. The Aztec believe it cures diarrhea and dysentery and sometimes make it with wine instead of water, seasoning it with vanilla, pimiento, and pepper. Cortéz tries the thick, bitter beverage and, never having tasted tea or coffee, believes that the Aztec drink, if sweetened with sugar, may have possibilities. He writes back to his patron Carlos I, calling xocoatl a "drink that builds up resistance and fights fatigue." His Aztec hosts consider the beverage to have aphrodisiac powers and consume it at wedding ceremonies (see 1528).
A Spaniard in Brazil finds the natives there eating sweet potatoes (ipomoea batatas). The tuberous root is 4 to 10 percent sugar and will be considered an aphrodisiac when it is introduced to Europe.
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