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Genoese nobleman Gian Luigi Fieschi, 24, Il Giovanne, brings heavily armed men from his fiefs into town, seizes galleys in the port January 2, and gains control of the city's gates in an effort to overthrow the doge Andrea Doria, whose son Giannettino rushes to the port and is killed (Fieschi has suspected Giannettino of making love to his wife, Eleanora Ciba, marchesa de Massa). Andrea Doria escapes from the city, and Fieschi drowns after falling into the water while boarding one of the galleys. The Genoese senate grants amnesty to Fieschi's followers, but Andrea Doria returns January 4, confiscates the vast Fieschi estates, captures the young man's brother Girolamo and his confederate Giovanni Verrina, and executes them after a trial in which they have been tortured. Fieschi's brother Ottobuono escapes but will be apprehended in 1555 and executed on orders from Doria.
The grand duke of Muscovy Ivan IV has himself crowned czar (caesar) January 16, the first Russian ruler formally to assume that title. Now 16, Ivan has ruled personally since age 14. He has virgins brought from all over Russia for his inspection and on February 3 selects as his wife Anastasia Zakharina-Koshkina of the ancient and noble family that will later take the name Romanov. Ivan establishes a council of selected advisers to counter the power of the boyars in their duma.
Henry VIII dies of syphilis and liver cirrhosis at London January 28 at age 55 after a 38-year reign. News of the king's death is kept from his 10-year-old son by the boy's uncle Edward Seymour, earl of Hertford, until he has obtained the youth's consent to become protector of England with power to act with or without advice of counsel. Jane Seymour's son thereupon ascends the throne and will reign until 1553 as Edward VI. Poet Henry Howard, 29, earl of Surrey and eldest son of Thomas Howard, 3rd duke of Norfolk, has been beheaded January 19 on trumped up charges of treason (he had blocked the projected marriage of his sister, the duchess of Richmond, to Thomas Seymour, 39, the lord high admiral, who now plots to displace his older brother Edward as guardian of the king). Thomas Howard, 3rd duke of Norfolk, is imprisoned on suspicion of treason; now 73, he will not be released until 1553.
François I dies at Rambouillet March 31 at age 52 (his unpopular mistress Anne d'Heilly, duchesse d'Etampes, reportedly cries out, "O earth, swallow me!" and flees to Limoges). French has become the universal language of France in his 32-year reign, and François is succeeded by his 28-year-old son, who will reign until 1559 as Henri II. Catherine de' Medici becomes queen of France, but the new king is dominated by his beautiful mistress Diane de Poitiers, now 48, who will have great influence over him throughout his reign (see 1536).
Brittany becomes fully united with the French crown under the new king Henri II (see 1532).
The Battle of Mühlberg April 24 ends in victory for the Holy Roman Emperor Charles V, who owes his success in large part to Fernando, duque de Alva, now 39, who has demanded rigorous training and discipline of his troops, developed the tactical use of firearms, and resisted the madcap proposals of his less temperate officers. He captures the elector of Saxony and lays siege to the elector's capital of Wittenberg, but the brief Schmalkaldic War soon ends with the Protestant German states retaining some independence. Charles restores Württemberg to her duke, Ulrich, upon payment of a large war indemnity.
Scottish royalist forces besieging St. Andrews castle capture the Lutheran reformer John Knox, 42, July 31. He is exiled and condemned to work on a French galley.
The Battle of Pinkie Cleugh seven miles west of Edinburgh September 10 ends in victory for the earl of Hertford, who routs a much larger force, crushing Scottish resistance to the new boy king. Now king in all but name, the protector (who is now Baron Seymour, duke of Somerset) defeats James Hamilton, 32, 2nd earl of Arran, duke of Chatelherault, and regent for Mary, Queen of Scots. Arran has 23,000 infantrymen with artillery (but almost no cavalry). Somerset 4,000 cavalry; 12,000 infantry; and 80 guns. The English suffer only 500 casualties, the Scots about 10,000, most of them cut down while fleeing the field after the last formal battle between national armies in the British Isles. Although soundly trounced at Pinkie, the Scots thwart a plan by Somerset to enforce a marriage treaty between young Edward and his 4-year-old half sister; they hastily arrange a marriage between the 5-year-old Mary, Queen of Scots, and the 2-year-old French dauphin.
The Mughal emperor Humayun exploits disputes among potential successors of the late Sher Shah Suri to regain some of his Indian territories and capture Kabul, but his disloyal brother Kamram takes Kabul and Humayun will have to seize the city twice again (see 1550).
The Laotian king Photisarath of Lan Xang dies in an accident at age 46 (approximate) while hunting wild elephants. Dead after a 27-year reign in which his ambitions for territorial expansion have embroiled him in wars, Lan Xang is succeeded by his 13-year-old son, whom he has placed on the Chiang Mai throne of northern Siam (see 1546). The new king will join Chiang Mai with Lan Xang, remain king of Chiang Mai until 1551, make Vien Chan (later Vientiane) his capital in 1560, have the Emerald Buddha (actually made of green jasper) moved from Chiang Mai to Vientiane, and reign until 1571 as Setthathirat I, marrying a Siamese princess to form an alliance against Burma (see 1565).
Conquistador Hernándo Cortéz dies outside Seville December 2 at age 63. His remains will be quietly removed to Mexico in 1836.
Augsburg merchant Anton Fugger gives up some of his Hungarian mines, whose yield has declined, as have those in the Tyrol (see 1525). Political pressures in Spain have forced him to renounce the leases on some of his mercury mines, but loans to various European monarchs have remained profitable, as have sales of fustian cloth in England, and Fugger as of last year had amassed a fortune of 5.1 million guilders. He has established commercial ties in Chile and Peru, engaged in mining ventures in Norway and Sweden, participated in the slave trade, and really prospered in the spice trade and in importing Hungarian cattle (see 1560).
Parliament repeals the Statute of the Six Articles enacted in 1539 to define heresy.
Poetry: Les Marguerites de la Marguerite des princesses by Marguerite d'Angoulême, queen of Navarre, now 55. England's late Henry Howard, earl of Surrey, was a poet who translated much of Virgil's Aeneid, introduced into English the blank verse form of five iambic feet, and introduced from Italy the sonnet form of three quatrains and a couplet.
Painting: Madonna of Purity (date approximate) by Luis de Morales. Sebastiano de Piombo dies at Rome June 21 at age 61.
France's new king Henri II gives the Château de Chenonceaux in the Loire Valley to his mistress Diane de Poitiers, who will add an Italian garden and a bridge over the Cher River (see 1521; 1560).
The population of New Spain falls to 6 million, down from 11 million in 1518 before the arrival of Hernándo Cortéz. Economic upheaval, exploitation, and new diseases have taken a heavy toll among the Mayans and other tribespeople (see 1605).
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