1554
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England's Queen Mary releases the duke of Suffolk from prison in a show of clemency toward those who took arms against her last year, but she hardens her position when Suffolk again proclaims his daughter Lady Jane Grey queen and tries to rally Leicestershire to her support. Sir Thomas Wyatt summons his Kentish followers to the Wyatt castle of Allington January 22 and raises a new insurgent army that occupies Rochester January 26. Wyatt reaches Southwark February 3. His followers tear down Kingston Bridge across the Thames in an effort to block Mary's marriage to the Spanish infante. Some of his men are cut off, others desert, and Wyatt is forced to surrender. Lady Jane Grey and her husband, Guildford Dudley, are executed February 12, 5 months after the execution of Dudley's father, the duke of Northumberland. Sir Thomas Wyatt is brought to trial for treason March 15 and beheaded at London April 11 at age 32.
England's Princess Elizabeth, now 20, is sent to the Tower of London in March as the Spanish cry for her execution. Edward Courtenay, 28, earl of Devonshire, has been released from the Tower after 15 years of imprisonment in connection with his father's aspirations to the crown. Foiled in his effort to marry the new queen, he has plotted to marry Elizabeth and join her on the throne. Elizabeth is released from the Tower in May, Mary and the Spanish infante Felipe are married July 25. Felipe receives the kingdoms of Naples and Sicily plus the duchy of Milan from his father, the Holy Roman Emperor Charles V.
Thomas Howard, 3rd duke of Norfolk, dies at Kenninghall, Norfolk, August 25 at age 80, having failed to suppress Sir Thomas Wyatt's uprising or the marriage of Queen Mary to the Spanish infante.
France's Henri II invades the Spanish Lowlands. François de Lorraine, 2nd duc de Guise, routs an imperial army at Renty.
Mehedia on the Tunisian coast falls to Algerians led by the corsair Dragut, who succeeded to the leadership of the corsairs (pirates) after the death of Khair ad-Din at Constantinople in 1546. The Spanish will be driven from the North African coast in the next 2 years.
Burmese forces under their king Braginoco (Bayinnaung) advance against Shan chiefs who have captured the ancient Burmese capital of Ava (see 1551; 1555).
Conquistador Pedro de Valdivia is killed in January at age 55 (approximate) while directing a campaign against the Araucanian Federation at Tucapel in the Viceroyalty of Peru, having founded the cities of Santiago and Concepcíon. His wife arrives from Spain soon afterward and finds herself responsible for debts of 200,000 pesos that he has accumulated (see 1549). Explorer-colonial leader Francisco Vásquez de Coronado dies at Mexico City September 22 at age 44.
São Paulo has its beginnings in a Brazilian school founded January 25 by Portuguese Jesuit priests led by José de Anchieta, 19, and Manoel de Nobréga, 36, who have hiked from the coast into the Serro do Mar on a mission to convert the natives (see Bahia, 1549). Settlers (bandeirantes) bent on enslaving the natives will follow, the mud huts will become a village in 1560, the village will become a city in 1711, and it will grow to the world's sixth largest (see Rio de Janeiro, 1565).
Botanist-priest-physician Hieronymus Bock dies at Hornbach February 21 at age 55 (approximate).
French physician-astronomer-mathematician Fernelius (Jean Fernel), 57, codifies the practical and theoretical medicine of the Renaissance, rejecting astrology and magic but emphasizing the functions of the organs.
Painting: Danaë and Venus and Adonis by Titian.
Sculpture: St. John the Baptist (marble) and a bronze portrait of Tommaso Rangone over the entrance to Venice's Church of San Giuliano by Jacopo Sansovino.
French privateer François le Clerc (known for his wooden leg as "Jambe de Bois") sacks the Spanish port of Santiago de Cuba (see 1559; Fleury, 1523; Drake, 1572).
Parliament increases the number of England's fish days, partly to decrease demand for meat, partly to encourage shipbuilding and thus help build a source of manpower for the Royal Navy. Saturday becomes a fish day as well as Friday (see 1534; 1563).
Parliament reenacts the Corn Law of 1436 and enacts other statutes to encourage farming in England (see 1463). The Corn Law regulates export and import of grain according to prices. Other laws forbid the enlargement of farms and place restrictions on storing, buying, and selling grain, but none of the measures relieves England's food shortages or lowers food prices (see 1773).
Cruydeboek by the Dutch botanist Dodonaeus (Rembert Dodoens), 37, makes the first mention of kohlrabi and brussels sprouts, both varieties of cabbage (see Gerard, 1597).
Flemish hop growers emigrate to England and start growing hops in Kent for the English brewery trade (see restaurants, 1551).
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