1540s in England:

Other decades

1520s 1520s in England Events from the 1520s in England.-Events:* 1520** 26 May–31 May - Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor visits King Henry VIII at Dover and Canterbury.** 7 June–24 June - King Henry VIII and King Francis I of France meet at the Field of the Cloth of Gold....  | 1530s 1530s in England Events from the 1530s in England.-Events:* 1530** 26 January - Thomas Boleyn becomes Keeper of the Privy Seal.** 6 February - Charles Brandon becomes Lord President of the Council.** May - William Tyndale's Bible publicly burned as heretical....  | 1540s | 1550s 1550s in England Events from the 1550s in England.-Incumbents:Monarch* King Edward VI * Lady Jane Grey * Queen Mary I and Philip * Queen Elizabeth I-Events:* 1550...  | 1560s 1560s in England Events from the 1560s in England.-Events:* 1560** 6 July - Treaty of Edinburgh between England, France and Scotland. The French withdraw from Scotland and recognise Elizabeth I of England.* 1561** May - St...

Incumbents

Events

• 1540
  • January - Dunstable Priory
    Dunstable Priory
    The Priory Church of St Peter with its monastery was founded in 1132 by Henry I for Augustinian Canons in Dunstable, Bedfordshire, England. St Peter’s today is a large and impressive building, but this is only the nave of what remains of an originally much larger Augustinian priory church...
    
     closed down as part of the Dissolution of the Monasteries
    Dissolution of the Monasteries
    The Dissolution of the Monasteries, sometimes referred to as the Suppression of the Monasteries, was the set of administrative and legal processes between 1536 and 1541 by which Henry VIII disbanded monasteries, priories, convents and friaries in England, Wales and Ireland; appropriated their...
    
    .
  • 6 January - King Henry VIII
    Henry VIII of England
    Henry VIII was King of England from 21 April 1509 until his death. He was Lord, and later King, of Ireland, as well as continuing the nominal claim by the English monarchs to the Kingdom of France...
    
     marries Anne of Cleves
    Anne of Cleves
    Anne of Cleves was a German noblewoman and the fourth wife of Henry VIII of England and as such she was Queen of England from 6 January 1540 to 9 July 1540. The marriage was never consummated, and she was not crowned queen consort...
    
    , his fourth Queen consort
    Queen consort
    A queen consort is the wife of a reigning king. A queen consort usually shares her husband's rank and holds the feminine equivalent of the king's monarchical titles. Historically, queens consort do not share the king regnant's political and military powers. Most queens in history were queens consort...
    
    .
  • March - Waltham Abbey
    Waltham Abbey (abbey)
    The Abbey Church of Waltham Abbey has been a place of worship since at least 1030, and is in the town of Waltham Abbey, Essex, England. The Prime Meridian passes through its grounds. Harold Godwinson is said to be buried just outside the present abbey...
    
     is the final priory
    Priory
    A priory is a house of men or women under religious vows that is headed by a prior or prioress. Priories may be houses of mendicant friars or religious sisters , or monasteries of monks or nuns .The Benedictines and their offshoots , the Premonstratensians, and the...
    
     to close due to the Dissolution of the Monasteries.
  • 9 July - Henry divorces Anne of Cleves.
  • 28 July - Thomas Cromwell
    Thomas Cromwell, 1st Earl of Essex
    Thomas Cromwell, 1st Earl of Essex, , was an English statesman who served as chief minister of King Henry VIII of England from 1532 to 1540....
    
    , is executed on order from the king on charges of treason
    Treason
    In law, treason is the crime that covers some of the more extreme acts against one's sovereign or nation. Historically, treason also covered the murder of specific social superiors, such as the murder of a husband by his wife. Treason against the king was known as high treason and treason against a...
    
    . Henry marries his fifth wife, Catherine Howard
    Catherine Howard
    Catherine Howard , also spelled Katherine, Katheryn or Kathryn, was the fifth wife of Henry VIII of England, and sometimes known by his reference to her as his "rose without a thorn"....
    
    , on the same day.
  • Statute of Wills
    Statute of Wills
    The Statute of Wills was an Act of the Parliament of England. It made it possible, for the first time in English history, for landholders to determine who would inherit their land upon their death by permitting bequest by will...
    
     makes it possible to dispose of real estate
    Real estate
    In general use, esp. North American, 'real estate' is taken to mean "Property consisting of land and the buildings on it, along with its natural resources such as crops, minerals, or water; immovable property of this nature; an interest vested in this; an item of real property; buildings or...
    
     by will
    Will (law)
    A will or testament is a legal declaration by which a person, the testator, names one or more persons to manage his/her estate and provides for the transfer of his/her property at death...
    
    .
  • Regius Professor
    Regius Professor
    Regius Professorships are "royal" professorships at the ancient universities of the United Kingdom and Ireland - namely Oxford, Cambridge, St Andrews, Glasgow, Aberdeen, Edinburgh and Dublin. Each of the chairs was created by a monarch, and each appointment, save those at Dublin, is approved by the...
    
    ships endowed at Cambridge University.
• 1541
  • 23 June - Henry proclaimed King of Ireland
    King of Ireland
    A monarchical polity has existed in Ireland during three periods of its history, finally ending in 1801. The designation King of Ireland and Queen of Ireland was used during these periods...
    
    .
• 1542
  • 13 February - Catherine Howard
    Catherine Howard
    Catherine Howard , also spelled Katherine, Katheryn or Kathryn, was the fifth wife of Henry VIII of England, and sometimes known by his reference to her as his "rose without a thorn"....
    
    , the fifth wife of Henry VIII, is executed for adultery
    Adultery
    Adultery is sexual infidelity to one's spouse, and is a form of extramarital sex. It originally referred only to sex between a woman who was married and a person other than her spouse. Even in cases of separation from one's spouse, an extramarital affair is still considered adultery.Adultery is...
    
    .
  • 24 August - Battle of Haddon Rig
    Battle of Haddon Rig
    The Battle of Hadden Rig was a battle fought about 3 miles east of Kelso, in the Scottish Borders, between Scotland and England on August 24, 1542, during the reign of King James V of Scotland. The English army was led by Robert Bowes, Deputy Warden of the English East March...
    
    : Scottish
    Scotland
    Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...
    
     victory over the English.
  • 24 November - Battle of Solway Moss
    Battle of Solway Moss
    The Battle of Solway Moss took place on Solway Moss near the River Esk on the English side of the Anglo-Scottish Border in November 1542 between forces from England and Scotland.-Background:...
    
    : English victory over the Scots.
  • Act of Parliament creates six new diocese
    Diocese
    A diocese is the district or see under the supervision of a bishop. It is divided into parishes.An archdiocese is more significant than a diocese. An archdiocese is presided over by an archbishop whose see may have or had importance due to size or historical significance...
    
    s: Bristol
    Diocese of Bristol
    The Diocese of Bristol is a Church of England diocese in the Province of Canterbury, England. It is based in the city of Bristol and covers South Gloucestershire and parts of north Wiltshire to Swindon...
    
    , Chester
    Diocese of Chester
    The Diocese of Chester is a Church of England diocese in the Province of York based in Chester, covering the county of Cheshire in its pre-1974 boundaries...
    
    , Gloucester
    Diocese of Gloucester
    The Diocese of Gloucester is a Church of England diocese based in Gloucester, covering the non-metropolitan county of Gloucestershire. The cathedral is Gloucester Cathedral and the bishop is the Bishop of Gloucester...
    
    , Oxford
    Diocese of Oxford
    -History:The Diocese of Oxford was created in 1541 out of part of the Diocese of Lincoln.In 1836 the Archdeaconry of Berkshire was transferred from the Diocese of Salisbury to Oxford...
    
    , Peterborough
    Diocese of Peterborough
    The Diocese of Peterborough forms part of the Province of Canterbury in England. Its seat is the Cathedral Church of Saint Peter, Saint Paul and Saint Andrew, which was originally founded as a monastery in AD 655 and re-built in its present form between 1118 and 1238.Founded at the Dissolution...
    
     and Westminster
    Diocese of Westminster
    The Diocese of Westminster was a short-lived diocese of the Church of England, extant from 1540 - 1550.The Diocese was created from part of the Diocese of London, and comprised Westminster , and the county of Middlesex, with the exception of Fulham...
    
    .
• 1543
  • 11 February - Henry allies with Emperor Charles V against France
    France
    The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
    
    .
  • March - Consolidating Act of Welsh Union: Parliament
    Parliament of England
    The Parliament of England was the legislature of the Kingdom of England. In 1066, William of Normandy introduced a feudal system, by which he sought the advice of a council of tenants-in-chief and ecclesiastics before making laws...
    
     establishes counties and regularises parliamentary representation in Wales
    Wales
    Wales is a country that is part of the United Kingdom and the island of Great Britain, bordered by England to its east and the Atlantic Ocean and Irish Sea to its west. It has a population of three million, and a total area of 20,779 km²...
    
    .
  • 1 July - Treaty of Greenwich
    Treaty of Greenwich
    The Treaty of Greenwich contained two agreements both signed on July 1, 1543 in Greenwich between representatives of England and Scotland. The accord, overall, entailed a plan developed by Henry VIII of England to unite both kingdoms...
    
     between England and Scotland (repudiated by Scotland 11 December).
  • 12 July - King Henry VIII marries his sixth and final wife, Catherine Parr
    Catherine Parr
    Catherine Parr ; 1512 – 5 September 1548) was Queen consort of England and Ireland and the last of the six wives of King Henry VIII of England. She married Henry VIII on 12 July 1543. She was the fourth commoner Henry had taken as his consort, and outlived him...
    
    .
  • Thomas Tallis
    Thomas Tallis
    Thomas Tallis was an English composer. Tallis flourished as a church musician in 16th century Tudor England. He occupies a primary place in anthologies of English church music, and is considered among the best of England's early composers. He is honoured for his original voice in English...
    
     becomes a Gentleman of the Chapel Royal
    Chapel Royal
    A Chapel Royal is a body of priests and singers who serve the spiritual needs of their sovereign wherever they are called upon to do so.-Austria:...
    
    .
• 1544
  • March - Third Succession Act
    Third Succession Act
    The Third Succession Act of Henry VIII's reign was passed by the Parliament of England in July 1543, and returned both Mary and Elizabeth to the line of the succession behind Prince Edward....
    
    , reinstating Princesses Mary
    Mary I of England
    Mary I was queen regnant of England and Ireland from July 1553 until her death.She was the only surviving child born of the ill-fated marriage of Henry VIII and his first wife Catherine of Aragon. Her younger half-brother, Edward VI, succeeded Henry in 1547...
    
     and Elizabeth
    Elizabeth I of England
    Elizabeth I was queen regnant of England and Ireland from 17 November 1558 until her death. Sometimes called The Virgin Queen, Gloriana, or Good Queen Bess, Elizabeth was the fifth and last monarch of the Tudor dynasty...
    
     to the line of royal succession, given Royal Assent
    Royal Assent
    The granting of royal assent refers to the method by which any constitutional monarch formally approves and promulgates an act of his or her nation's parliament, thus making it a law...
    
     (having been passed by Parliament in July 1543).
  • 3 May - Edward Seymour, Earl of Hertford
    Edward Seymour, 1st Duke of Somerset
    Edward Seymour, 1st Duke of Somerset, 1st Earl of Hertford, 1st Viscount Beauchamp of Hache, KG, Earl Marshal was Lord Protector of England in the period between the death of Henry VIII in 1547 and his own indictment in 1549....
    
     captures Leith
    Leith
    -South Leith v. North Leith:Up until the late 16th century Leith , comprised two separate towns on either side of the river....
    
     and Edinburgh
    Edinburgh
    Edinburgh is the capital city of Scotland, the second largest city in Scotland, and the eighth most populous in the United Kingdom. The City of Edinburgh Council governs one of Scotland's 32 local government council areas. The council area includes urban Edinburgh and a rural area...
    
     from Scotland.
  • 19 July–18 September - Italian War of 1542–1546: Henry VIII leads the First Siege of Boulogne in France.
  • The Rough Wooing
    The Rough Wooing
    The War of the Rough Wooing was fought between Scotland and England. War was declared by Henry VIII of England, in an attempt to force the Scots to agree to a marriage between his son Edward and Mary, Queen of Scots. Scotland benefited from French military aid. Edward VI continued the war until...
    
     of Scotland begins.
  • English coinage debased
    Debasement
    Debasement is the practice of lowering the value of currency. It is particularly used in connection with commodity money such as gold or silver coins...
    
    .
• 1545
  • 25 February - Scottish victory over the English at the Battle of Ancrum Moor
    Battle of Ancrum Moor
    The Battle of Ancrum Moor was fought during the War of the Rough Wooing in 1545. The Scottish victory put a temporary end to English depredations in the Scottish border and lowlands.-Background :...
    
    .
  • Italian Wars
    Italian Wars
    The Italian Wars, often referred to as the Great Italian Wars or the Great Wars of Italy and sometimes as the Habsburg–Valois Wars, were a series of conflicts from 1494 to 1559 that involved, at various times, most of the city-states of Italy, the Papal States, most of the major states of Western...
    
    : The French
    France
    The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
    
     attempt to invade the Isle of Wight
    French invasion of the Isle of Wight (1545)
    The French invasion of the Isle of Wight occurred during the Italian Wars. France had a long history of attacking the Island, and the 1545 campaign proved to be the last time the French would attempt to take it...
    
    .
  • 19 July - Henry VIII's flagship the Mary Rose
    Mary Rose
    The Mary Rose was a carrack-type warship of the English Tudor navy of King Henry VIII. After serving for 33 years in several wars against France, Scotland, and Brittany and after being substantially rebuilt in 1536, she saw her last action on 1545. While leading the attack on the galleys of a...
    
    sinks during the Battle of the Solent
    Battle of the Solent
    The naval Battle of the Solent took place on 18 and 19 July 1545 during the Italian Wars, fought between the fleets of Francis I of France and Henry VIII of England, in the Solent channel off the south coast of England between Hampshire and the Isle of Wight...
    
    .
  • The French are defeated at the Battle of Bonchurch
    Battle of Bonchurch
    The Battle of Bonchurch took place sometime in late July 1545 at Bonchurch on the Isle of Wight. No source of information states a specific date, although it could have happened on 21 July. The battle was a part of the wider Italian War of 1542-1546, and the battle took place during the 1545...
    
    .
  • Sir Thomas Cawarden
    Thomas Cawarden
    Thomas Cawarden of Bletchingley was Master of Revels to Henry VIII of England, Edward VI, and Mary.Thomas was the son of William Carden, a cloth-fuller and citizen of London...
    
     becomes the first Master of the Revels
    Master of the Revels
    The Master of the Revels was a position within the English, and later the British, royal household heading the "Revels Office" or "Office of the Revels" that originally had responsibilities for overseeing royal festivities, known as revels, and later also became responsible for stage censorship,...
    
     to be head of an independent office.
• 1546
  • 7 June - Treaty of Ardres ends the Italian War, Henry VIII returns territories captured from France.
  • December - Trinity College, Cambridge
    Trinity College, Cambridge
    Trinity College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. Trinity has more members than any other college in Cambridge or Oxford, with around 700 undergraduates, 430 graduates, and over 170 Fellows...
    
     founded.
  • Navy Board
    Navy Board
    The Navy Board is today the body responsible for the day-to-day running of the British Royal Navy. Its composition is identical to that of the Admiralty Board of the Defence Council of the United Kingdom, except that it does not include any of Her Majesty's Ministers.From 1546 to 1831, the Navy...
    
     established.
• 1547
  • 19 January - Execution of Henry Howard, Earl of Surrey
    Henry Howard, Earl of Surrey
    Henry Howard, KG, , known as The Earl of Surrey although he never was a peer, was an English aristocrat, and one of the founders of English Renaissance poetry.-Life:...
    
     for treason.
  • 28 January - Edward VI
    Edward VI of England
    Edward VI was the King of England and Ireland from 28 January 1547 until his death. He was crowned on 20 February at the age of nine. The son of Henry VIII and Jane Seymour, Edward was the third monarch of the Tudor dynasty and England's first monarch who was raised as a Protestant...
    
     succeeds his father Henry VIII
    Henry VIII of England
    Henry VIII was King of England from 21 April 1509 until his death. He was Lord, and later King, of Ireland, as well as continuing the nominal claim by the English monarchs to the Kingdom of France...
    
     as King.
  • 31 January - Edward Seymour becomes Lord Protector of England.
  • 20 February - Edward VI is crowned at Westminster Abbey
    Westminster Abbey
    The Collegiate Church of St Peter at Westminster, popularly known as Westminster Abbey, is a large, mainly Gothic church, in the City of Westminster, London, United Kingdom, located just to the west of the Palace of Westminster. It is the traditional place of coronation and burial site for English,...
    
    .
  • 10 September - Battle of Pinkie: An English army under Edward Seymour, now the Duke of Somerset
    Edward Seymour, 1st Duke of Somerset
    Edward Seymour, 1st Duke of Somerset, 1st Earl of Hertford, 1st Viscount Beauchamp of Hache, KG, Earl Marshal was Lord Protector of England in the period between the death of Henry VIII in 1547 and his own indictment in 1549....
    
    , defeats a Scottish army under James Hamilton, 2nd Earl of Arran
    James Hamilton, 2nd Earl of Arran
    James Hamilton, Duke of Châtellerault and 2nd Earl of Arran was a Scottish nobleman.-Biography:He was the eldest legitimate son of James Hamilton, 1st Earl of Arran....
    
    , the Regent. The English seize Edinburgh
    Edinburgh
    Edinburgh is the capital city of Scotland, the second largest city in Scotland, and the eighth most populous in the United Kingdom. The City of Edinburgh Council governs one of Scotland's 32 local government council areas. The council area includes urban Edinburgh and a rural area...
    
    .
  • Edward Seymour begins the construction of Somerset House
    Somerset House
    Somerset House is a large building situated on the south side of the Strand in central London, England, overlooking the River Thames, just east of Waterloo Bridge. The central block of the Neoclassical building, the outstanding project of the architect Sir William Chambers, dates from 1776–96. It...
    
    , London.
  • Treason Act
    Treason Act 1547
    The Treason Act 1547 was an Act of the Parliament of England. It is mainly notable for being the first instance of the rule that two witnesses are needed to prove a charge of treason, a rule which still exists today in the United States Constitution.-Abolition of new offences:During the reign of...
    
     makes it high treason
    High treason
    High treason is criminal disloyalty to one's government. Participating in a war against one's native country, attempting to overthrow its government, spying on its military, its diplomats, or its secret services for a hostile and foreign power, or attempting to kill its head of state are perhaps...
    
     to interrupt the line of succession to the throne established by the Act of Succession; and requires two witness
    Witness
    A witness is someone who has firsthand knowledge about an event, or in the criminal justice systems usually a crime, through his or her senses and can help certify important considerations about the crime or event. A witness who has seen the event first hand is known as an eyewitness...
    
    es to prove a charge of treason
    Treason
    In law, treason is the crime that covers some of the more extreme acts against one's sovereign or nation. Historically, treason also covered the murder of specific social superiors, such as the murder of a husband by his wife. Treason against the king was known as high treason and treason against a...
    
    .
  • Six Articles repealed.
• 1548
  • John Bale
    John Bale
    John Bale was an English churchman, historian and controversialist, and Bishop of Ossory. He wrote the oldest known historical verse drama in English , and developed and published a very extensive list of the works of British authors down to his own time, just as the monastic libraries were being...
    
     writes Kynge Johan, the earliest English historical drama.
• 1549
  • 15 January - Act of Uniformity
    Act of Uniformity
    Over the course of English parliamentary history there were a number of acts of uniformity. All had the basic object of establishing some sort of religious orthodoxy within the English church....
    
     imposes the Book of Common Prayer
    Book of Common Prayer
    The Book of Common Prayer is the short title of a number of related prayer books used in the Anglican Communion, as well as by the Continuing Anglican, "Anglican realignment" and other Anglican churches. The original book, published in 1549 , in the reign of Edward VI, was a product of the English...
    
    .
  • 9 June
    • Book of Common Prayer introduced in churches.
    • Prayer Book Rebellion
      Prayer Book Rebellion
      The Prayer Book Rebellion, Prayer Book Revolt, Prayer Book Rising, Western Rising or Western Rebellion was a popular revolt in Cornwall and Devon, in 1549. In 1549 the Book of Common Prayer, presenting the theology of the English Reformation, was introduced...
      
       against the Book of Common Prayer breaks out at Sampford Courtenay
      Sampford Courtenay
      Sampford Courtenay is a village and civil parish in West Devon in England, most famous for being the place where the Western Rebellion, otherwise known as the Prayerbook rebellion, first started, and where the rebels made their final stand...
      
       in Devon
      Devon
      Devon is a large county in southwestern England. The county is sometimes referred to as Devonshire, although the term is rarely used inside the county itself as the county has never been officially "shired", it often indicates a traditional or historical context.The county shares borders with...
      
       and in Cornwall
      Cornwall
      Cornwall is a unitary authority and ceremonial county of England, within the United Kingdom. It is bordered to the north and west by the Celtic Sea, to the south by the English Channel, and to the east by the county of Devon, over the River Tamar. Cornwall has a population of , and covers an area of...
      
      .
  • July - Kett's Rebellion
    Kett's Rebellion
    Kett's Rebellion was a revolt in Norfolk, England during the reign of Edward VI. The rebellion was in response to the enclosure of land. It began in July 1549 but was eventually crushed by forces loyal to the English crown....
    
     in Norfolk
    Norfolk
    Norfolk is a low-lying county in the East of England. It has borders with Lincolnshire to the west, Cambridgeshire to the west and southwest and Suffolk to the south. Its northern and eastern boundaries are the North Sea coast and to the north-west the county is bordered by The Wash. The county...
    
     against land enclosures; rebellion in Oxfordshire
    Oxfordshire
    Oxfordshire is a county in the South East region of England, bordering on Warwickshire and Northamptonshire , Buckinghamshire , Berkshire , Wiltshire and Gloucestershire ....
    
     against landowners associated with religious changes.
  • 6 August - Prayer Book Rebellion: Battle of Clyst Heath - John Russell, 1st Earl of Bedford
    John Russell, 1st Earl of Bedford
    John Russell, 1st Earl of Bedford, KG, PC, JP was an English royal minister in the Tudor era. He served variously as Lord High Admiral and Lord Privy Seal....
    
     defeats rebels.
  • 8 August - France declares war on England.
  • 9 August - England declares war on France.
  • 17 August - Battle of Sampford Courtenay
    Battle of Sampford Courtenay
    The Battle of Sampford Courtenay was one of the chief actions in the Western Rebellion of 1549.-Preparations:By mid August 1549, Humphrey Arundell, the leader of the rebel troops, regrouped his forces at Sampford Courtenay when he received a promise from Winchester that 1,000 men would join his...
    
    : Prayer Book Rebellion quashed.
  • 26 August - Battle of Dussindale, near Norwich
    Norwich
    Norwich is a city in England. It is the regional administrative centre and county town of Norfolk. During the 11th century, Norwich was the largest city in England after London, and one of the most important places in the kingdom...
    
    : Kett's Rebellion quashed.
  • 10 October - Edward Seymour, 1st Duke of Somerset
    Edward Seymour, 1st Duke of Somerset
    Edward Seymour, 1st Duke of Somerset, 1st Earl of Hertford, 1st Viscount Beauchamp of Hache, KG, Earl Marshal was Lord Protector of England in the period between the death of Henry VIII in 1547 and his own indictment in 1549....
    
     loses the position of Lord Protector
    Lord Protector
    Lord Protector is a title used in British constitutional law for certain heads of state at different periods of history. It is also a particular title for the British Heads of State in respect to the established church...
    
    , John Dudley, Earl of Warwick
    John Dudley, 1st Duke of Northumberland
    John Dudley, 1st Duke of Northumberland, KG was an English general, admiral, and politician, who led the government of the young King Edward VI from 1550 until 1553, and unsuccessfully tried to install Lady Jane Grey on the English throne after the King's death...
    
     assumes his powers but does not acquire the title.
  • 5 December - Cardinal Reginald Pole receives 26 votes at the Papal conclave
    Papal conclave, 1549–1550
    The papal conclave from November 29, 1549 to February 7, 1550, which was convened after the death of Pope Paul III, and eventually elected Giovanni Del Monte to the papacy as Pope Julius III. It was the second-longest papal conclave of the 16th century, and the largest papal conclave in history in...
    
    , only two short of the requisite two-thirds majority to be elected as Pope.
  • The spire
    Spire
    A spire is a tapering conical or pyramidal structure on the top of a building, particularly a church tower. Etymologically, the word is derived from the Old English word spir, meaning a sprout, shoot, or stalk of grass....
    
     of Lincoln Cathedral
    Lincoln Cathedral
    Lincoln Cathedral is a historic Anglican cathedral in Lincoln in England and seat of the Bishop of Lincoln in the Church of England. It was reputedly the tallest building in the world for 249 years . The central spire collapsed in 1549 and was not rebuilt...
    
     is blown down.

Births

• 1540
  • 24 January - Edmund Campion
    Edmund Campion
    Saint Edmund Campion, S.J. was an English Roman Catholic martyr and Jesuit priest. While conducting an underground ministry in officially Protestant England, Campion was arrested by priest hunters. Convicted of high treason by a kangaroo court, he was hanged, drawn and quartered at Tyburn...
    
    , Jesuit and Roman Catholic martyr (died 1581)
  • c. February or March - Sir Francis Drake
    Francis Drake
    Sir Francis Drake, Vice Admiral was an English sea captain, privateer, navigator, slaver, and politician of the Elizabethan era. Elizabeth I of England awarded Drake a knighthood in 1581. He was second-in-command of the English fleet against the Spanish Armada in 1588. He also carried out the...
    
    , explorer and soldier (d. 1596)
  • 11 June - Barnabe Googe
    Barnabe Googe
    Barnabe Googe or Gooche was a poet and translator, one of the earliest English pastoral poets.-Early life:...
    
    , poet (died 1594)
  • William Byrd
    William Byrd
    William Byrd was an English composer of the Renaissance. He wrote in many of the forms current in England at the time, including various types of sacred and secular polyphony, keyboard and consort music.-Provenance:Knowledge of Byrd's biography expanded in the late 20th century, thanks largely...
    
    , composer (died 1623)
  • Christopher Hatton
    Christopher Hatton
    Sir Christopher Hatton was an English politician, Lord Chancellor of England and a favourite of Elizabeth I of England.-Early days:...
    
    , politician (died 1591)
  • George Hastings, Earl of Huntingdon
    George Hastings, 4th Earl of Huntingdon
    Sir George Hastings, 4th Earl of Huntingdon was an English nobleman.He was a son of Francis Hastings, 2nd Earl of Huntingdon and Catherine Pole. He was a younger brother of Henry Hastings, 3rd Earl of Huntingdon and older brother of Francis Hastings...
    
    , nobleman (died 1604)
  • Lettice Knollys
    Lettice Knollys
    Lettice Knollys , Countess of Essex and Countess of Leicester , was an English noblewoman and mother to the courtiers Robert Devereux, 2nd Earl of Essex and Lady Penelope Rich; through her marriage to Elizabeth I's favourite, Robert Dudley, Earl of Leicester, she incurred the Queen's undying...
    
    , lady-in-waiting to Queen Elizabeth I
    Elizabeth I of England
    Elizabeth I was queen regnant of England and Ireland from 17 November 1558 until her death. Sometimes called The Virgin Queen, Gloriana, or Good Queen Bess, Elizabeth was the fifth and last monarch of the Tudor dynasty...
    
     (died 1634)
  • Henry Howard, 1st Earl of Northampton
    Henry Howard, 1st Earl of Northampton
    Henry Howard, 1st Earl of Northampton was a significant English aristocrat and courtier. He was suspect as a crypto-Catholic throughout his life, and went through periods of royal disfavour, in which his reputation suffered greatly. He was distinguished for learning, artistic culture and his...
    
     (died 1614)
• 1541
  • Walter Devereux, 1st Earl of Essex
    Walter Devereux, 1st Earl of Essex
    Walter Devereux, 1st Earl of Essex, KG , an English nobleman and general. From 1573 until his death he fought in Ireland in connection with the Plantation of Ulster, where he ordered the massacre of Rathlin Island...
    
    , nobleman (died 1576)
• 1542
  • 6 June - Richard Grenville
    Richard Grenville
    Sir Richard Grenville was an English sailor, sea captain and explorer. He took part in the early English attempts to settle the New World, and also participated in the fight against the Spanish Armada...
    
    , soldier and explorer (died 1591)
• 1543
  • Thomas Deloney
    Thomas Deloney
    Thomas Deloney was an English novelist and balladist.He appears to have worked as a silk-weaver in Norwich, but was in London by 1586, and in the course of the next ten years is known to have written about fifty ballads, some of which got him into trouble, and caused him to keep a low profile for...
    
    , novelist and balladeer (died 1600)
• 1544
  • April - Thomas Fleming
    Thomas Fleming (judge)
    Sir Thomas Fleming was an English member of Parliament and judge, whose most famous case was the trial of Guy Fawkes in relation to the Gunpowder Plot...
    
    , judge (died 1613)
  • 24 May - William Gilbert, scientist (died 1603)
  • Thomas Hobson
    Thomas Hobson
    Thomas Hobson , sometimes called "The Cambridge Carrier", is best known as the name behind the expression Hobson's choice....
    
    , carrier and origin of the phrase "Hobson's choice
    Hobson's choice
    A Hobson's choice is a free choice in which only one option is offered. As a person may refuse to take that option, the choice is therefore between taking the option or not; "take it or leave it". The phrase is said to originate with Thomas Hobson , a livery stable owner in Cambridge, England...
    
    " (died 1631)
  • George Whetstone
    George Whetstone
    George Whetstone was an English dramatist and author.He was the third son of Robert Whetstone , a member of a wealthy family that owned the manor of Walcot at Barnack, near Stamford, Lincolnshire...
    
    , writer (died 1587)
• 1545
  • 2 March - Thomas Bodley
    Thomas Bodley
    Sir Thomas Bodley was an English diplomat and scholar, founder of the Bodleian Library, Oxford.-Biography:...
    
    , diplomat and library founder (died 1613)
  • John Field
    John Field (divine)
    John Feild , also called John Feilde, was a British Puritan clergyman and controversialist.-Life:We know very little of his early life, but when he was ordained by Edmund Grindal in 1566 at the age of 21, he was called a bachelor of arts of Christ Church, Oxford...
    
    , Puritan clergyman and controversialist (died 1588)
  • John Gerard
    John Gerard
    John Gerard aka John Gerarde was an English herbalist notable for his herbal garden and botany writing. In 1597 he published a large and heavily illustrated "Herball, or Generall Historie of Plantes", which went on to be the most widely circulated botany book in English in the 17th century...
    
    , botanist (died 1612)
  • Nicholas Breton
    Nicholas Breton
    Nicholas Breton , English poet and novelist, belonged to an old family settled at Layer Breton, Essex.-Life:...
    
    , poet and novelist (died 1626)
  • Lady Douglas Sheffield
    Lady Douglas Sheffield
    Douglas Sheffield , Baroness Sheffield, née Howard, was an English noblewoman and the mother of the explorer and cartographer Sir Robert Dudley, illegitimate son of Robert Dudley, 1st Earl of Leicester...
    
    , lover of Robert Dudley, Earl of Leicester
    Robert Dudley, 1st Earl of Leicester
    Robert Dudley, 1st Earl of Leicester, KG was an English nobleman and the favourite and close friend of Elizabeth I from her first year on the throne until his death...
    
     (died 1608)
• 1546
  • 5 May - Thomas Cecil, 1st Earl of Exeter
    Thomas Cecil, 1st Earl of Exeter
    Thomas Cecil, 1st Earl of Exeter, KG , known as Lord Burghley from 1598 to 1605, was an English politician and soldier.-Life:...
    
    , politician (died 1623)
  • 24 June - Robert Parsons
    Robert Parsons (priest)
    Robert Persons , later known as Robert Parsons, was an English Jesuit priest.-Early life:...
    
    , Jesuit priest (died 1610)
  • Thomas Digges
    Thomas Digges
    Sir Thomas Digges was an English mathematician and astronomer. He was the first to expound the Copernican system in English but discarded the notion of a fixed shell of immoveable stars to postulate infinitely many stars at varying distances; he was also first to postulate the "dark night sky...
    
    , astronomer (died 1595)
  • Tobias Matthew
    Tobias Matthew
    Tobias Matthew was Archbishop of York.-Life:He was the son of Sir John Matthew of Ross in Herefordshire, England, and of his wife Eleanor Crofton of Ludlow. He was born at Bristol and was educated at Wells, Somerset, and then in succession at University College and Christ Church, Oxford...
    
    , archbishop of York (died 1628)
• 1547
  • Peter Bales
    Peter Bales
    Peter Bales , English calligrapher, one of the inventors of shorthand writing, was born in London in 1547, and is described by Anthony Wood as a "most dexterous person in his profession, to the great wonder of scholars and others"...
    
    , calligrapher (died 1610)
  • George Carey, Baron Hunsdon
    George Carey, 2nd Baron Hunsdon
    George Carey, 2nd Baron Hunsdon KG was the eldest son of Henry Carey, 1st Baron Hunsdon and Anne Morgan. His father was first cousin to Elizabeth I of England....
    
    , politician (died 1603)
  • Richard Stanyhurst
    Richard Stanyhurst
    Richard Stanyhurst was an Irish alchemist, translator, poet and historian, born in Dublin.His father, James Stanyhurst, was recorder of the city, and Speaker of the Irish House of Commons in 1557, 1560 and 1568. Richard was sent in 1563 to University College, Oxford, and took his degree five years...
    
    , translator of Virgil (died 1618)
• 1548
  • Edward Manners, Earl of Rutland
    Edward Manners, 3rd Earl of Rutland
    Edward Manners, 3rd Earl of Rutland, 15th Baron de Ros of Helmsley, KG was the son of Henry Manners, 2nd Earl of Rutland, whose titles he inherited in 1563....
    
     (died 1587)
  • William Stanley
    William Stanley (Elizabethan)
    Sir William Stanley , son of Sir Rowland Stanley of Hooton , was a member of the Stanley family. He was an officer and a recusant, who served under Elizabeth I of England and is most noted for his surrender of Deventer to the Spanish in 1587.-Early career:Stanley was educated with Dr. Standish at...
    
    , soldier (died 1630)
• 1549
  • 30 November - Sir Henry Savile, educator (died 1622)
  • John Rainolds
    John Rainolds
    John Rainolds , English divine, was born about Michaelmas 1549 at Pinhoe, near Exeter.He was educated at Merton and Corpus Christi Colleges, Oxford, becoming a fellow of the latter in 1568. In 1572-73 he was appointed reader in Greek, and his lectures on Aristotle's Rhetoric laid the sure basis of...
    
    , scholar and Bible translator (died 1607)

Deaths

• 1540
  • 28 July - Thomas Cromwell, 1st Earl of Essex
    Thomas Cromwell, 1st Earl of Essex
    Thomas Cromwell, 1st Earl of Essex, , was an English statesman who served as chief minister of King Henry VIII of England from 1532 to 1540....
    
    , statesman (executed) (born c. 1485)
  • 30 July - Thomas Abel
    Thomas Abel
    The Blessed Thomas Abel was an English priest who was martyred during the reign of Henry VIII. The place and date of his birth are unknown....
    
    , priest (martyred) (born c. 1497)
  • 30 July - Robert Barnes, reformer (martyred) (born 1495)
  • Elizabeth Blount
    Elizabeth Blount
    Elizabeth Blount , who was better known by her nickname of "Bessie", was a mistress of Henry VIII of England.-Early life:She was the daughter of Sir John Blount and Catherine Pershall, of Kinlet, Bridgnorth, Shropshire...
    
    , mistress of King Henry VIII
    Henry VIII of England
    Henry VIII was King of England from 21 April 1509 until his death. He was Lord, and later King, of Ireland, as well as continuing the nominal claim by the English monarchs to the Kingdom of France...
    
     (born 1502)
• 1541
  • 27 May - Margaret Pole, Countess of Salisbury
    Margaret Pole, 8th Countess of Salisbury
    Margaret Pole, Countess of Salisbury was an English peeress, one of two women in sixteenth-century England to be a peeress in her own right with no titled husband, the daughter of George of Clarence, the brother of King Edward IV and King Richard III...
    
     (executed) (born 1473)
  • 24 November - Margaret Tudor
    Margaret Tudor
    Margaret Tudor was the elder of the two surviving daughters of Henry VII of England and Elizabeth of York, and the elder sister of Henry VIII. In 1503, she married James IV, King of Scots. James died in 1513, and their son became King James V. She married secondly Archibald Douglas, 6th Earl of...
    
    , daughter of King Henry VII
    Henry VII of England
    Henry VII was King of England and Lord of Ireland from his seizing the crown on 22 August 1485 until his death on 21 April 1509, as the first monarch of the House of Tudor....
    
     and queen of James IV of Scotland
    James IV of Scotland
    James IV was King of Scots from 11 June 1488 to his death. He is generally regarded as the most successful of the Stewart monarchs of Scotland, but his reign ended with the disastrous defeat at the Battle of Flodden Field, where he became the last monarch from not only Scotland, but also from all...
    
     (born 1489)
  • 10 December - Thomas Culpeper
    Thomas Culpeper
    Sir Thomas Culpeper was a courtier of Henry VIII and the lover of Henry's fifth queen, Catherine Howard. He was born to Alexander Culpeper of Bedgebury, to the south of Maidstone in Kent, and his second wife, Constance Harper. He was the middle child and his older brother, also named Thomas, was a...
    
    , courtier (executed) (year of birth unknown)
• 1542
  • 13 February - Catherine Howard
    Catherine Howard
    Catherine Howard , also spelled Katherine, Katheryn or Kathryn, was the fifth wife of Henry VIII of England, and sometimes known by his reference to her as his "rose without a thorn"....
    
    , fifth wife of King Henry VIII
    Henry VIII of England
    Henry VIII was King of England from 21 April 1509 until his death. He was Lord, and later King, of Ireland, as well as continuing the nominal claim by the English monarchs to the Kingdom of France...
    
     (executed) (born c. 1522)
  • 3 March - Arthur Plantagenet, 1st Viscount Lisle
    Arthur Plantagenet, 1st Viscount Lisle
    Arthur Plantagenet, 1st Viscount Lisle, KG was an illegitimate son of King Edward IV of England, and an important figure at the court of Henry VIII...
    
    , illegitimate son of King Edward IV
    Edward IV of England
    Edward IV was King of England from 4 March 1461 until 3 October 1470, and again from 11 April 1471 until his death. He was the first Yorkist King of England...
    
     (year of birth unknown 1461–1475)
  • 6 October - Thomas Wyatt
    Thomas Wyatt (poet)
    Sir Thomas Wyatt was a 16th-century English lyrical poet credited with introducing the sonnet into English. He was born at Allington Castle, near Maidstone in Kent – though his family was originally from Yorkshire...
    
    , poet and diplomat (born 1503)
• 1543
  • 19 July - Mary Boleyn
    Mary Boleyn
    Mary Boleyn , was the sister of English queen consort Anne Boleyn and a member of the Boleyn family, which enjoyed considerable influence during the reign of King Henry VIII of England...
    
    , mistress of Kings Francis I of France
    Francis I of France
    Francis I was King of France from 1515 until his death. During his reign, huge cultural changes took place in France and he has been called France's original Renaissance monarch...
    
     and Henry VIII of England
    Henry VIII of England
    Henry VIII was King of England from 21 April 1509 until his death. He was Lord, and later King, of Ireland, as well as continuing the nominal claim by the English monarchs to the Kingdom of France...
    
     (born 1500)
  • 20 September - Thomas Manners, 1st Earl of Rutland
    Thomas Manners, 1st Earl of Rutland
    Thomas Manners, 1st Earl of Rutland, 13th Baron de Ros of Helmsley was created an earl by King Henry VIII of England in 1525.-Family background:...
    
     (born 1492)
  • Margaret Lee, lady-in-waiting, sister of poet Thomas Wyatt
    Thomas Wyatt (poet)
    Sir Thomas Wyatt was a 16th-century English lyrical poet credited with introducing the sonnet into English. He was born at Allington Castle, near Maidstone in Kent – though his family was originally from Yorkshire...
    
     (born 1506)
• 1544
  • 30 April - Thomas Audley, 1st Baron Audley of Walden
    Thomas Audley, 1st Baron Audley of Walden
    Thomas Audley, 1st Baron Audley of Walden, KG, PC, KS , Lord Chancellor of England, born in Earls Colne, Essex, the son of Geoffrey Audley, is believed to have studied at Buckingham College, Cambridge...
    
    , Lord Chancellor
    Lord Chancellor
    The Lord High Chancellor of Great Britain, or Lord Chancellor, is a senior and important functionary in the government of the United Kingdom. He is the second highest ranking of the Great Officers of State, ranking only after the Lord High Steward. The Lord Chancellor is appointed by the Sovereign...
    
     (born 1488)
• 1545
  • 24 August - Charles Brandon, 1st Duke of Suffolk
    Charles Brandon, 1st Duke of Suffolk
    Charles Brandon, 1st Duke of Suffolk, 1st Viscount Lisle, KG was the son of Sir William Brandon and Elizabeth Bruyn. Through his third wife Mary Tudor he was brother-in-law to Henry VIII. His father was the standard-bearer of Henry Tudor, Earl of Richmond and was slain by Richard III in person at...
    
    , politician and husband of Mary Tudor (born c. 1484)
  • 18 October - John Taverner
    John Taverner
    John Taverner was an English composer and organist, regarded as the most important English composer of his era.- Career :...
    
    , composer (born c. 1490)
  • William Latimer
    William Latimer
    William Latimer was an English clergyman and scholar of Ancient Greek.Latimer studied at Oxford University, attaining the degree of Bachelor of Arts before being admitted as a fellow of All Souls College, Oxford in 1489...
    
    , churchman and scholar (born c. 1467)
  • Agnes Howard, Duchess of Norfolk
    Agnes Howard, Duchess of Norfolk
    Agnes Howard was the second wife of Thomas Howard, 2nd Duke of Norfolk. Two of King Henry VIII's Queens were her step-granddaughters, Anne Boleyn, and Katherine Howard...
    
    , noblewoman (born c. 1477)
• 1546
  • 26 March - Thomas Elyot
    Thomas Elyot
    Sir Thomas Elyot was an English diplomat and scholar.-Early Life:Thomas was the child of Sir Richard Elyot's first marriage with Alice De la Mare, but neither the date nor place of his birth is accurately known...
    
    , diplomat and scholar (born c. 1490)
  • 16 July - Anne Askew
    Anne Askew
    Anne Askew was an English poet and Protestant who was condemned as a heretic...
    
    , Protestant (burned at the stake) (born 1521)
• 1547
  • 19 January - Henry Howard, Earl of Surrey
    Henry Howard, Earl of Surrey
    Henry Howard, KG, , known as The Earl of Surrey although he never was a peer, was an English aristocrat, and one of the founders of English Renaissance poetry.-Life:...
    
    , poet (born 1517)
  • 28 January - King Henry VIII
    Henry VIII of England
    Henry VIII was King of England from 21 April 1509 until his death. He was Lord, and later King, of Ireland, as well as continuing the nominal claim by the English monarchs to the Kingdom of France...
    
     (born 1491)
  • Edward Hall
    Edward Hall
    Edward Hall , English chronicler and lawyer, was born about the end of the 15th century, being a son of John Hall of Northall, Shropshire....
    
    , chronicler and lawyer (born 1498)
• 1548
  • 7 September - Catherine Parr
    Catherine Parr
    Catherine Parr ; 1512 – 5 September 1548) was Queen consort of England and Ireland and the last of the six wives of King Henry VIII of England. She married Henry VIII on 12 July 1543. She was the fourth commoner Henry had taken as his consort, and outlived him...
    
    , queen of Henry VIII (born c. 1512)
• 1549
  • 10 March - Thomas Seymour, 1st Baron Seymour of Sudeley
    Thomas Seymour, 1st Baron Seymour of Sudeley
    Thomas Seymour, 1st Baron Seymour of Sudeley, KG was an English politician.Thomas spent his childhood in Wulfhall, outside Savernake Forest, in Wiltshire. Historian David Starkey describes Thomas thus: 'tall, well-built and with a dashing beard and auburn hair, he was irresistible to women'...
    
    , politician and diplomat (born 1508)
  • April - Andrew Boorde
    Andrew Boorde
    Andrew Boorde was an English traveller, physician and writer.Born at Boords Hill, Holms Dale, Sussex, he was educated at Oxford University, and was admitted a member of the Carthusian order while under age...
    
    , traveller (born 1490)
  • 15 April - Henry Somerset, Earl of Worcester
    Henry Somerset, 2nd Earl of Worcester
    Henry Somerset, 2nd Earl of Worcester was an English nobleman, son of Charles Somerset, 1st Earl of Worcester and Elizabeth Herbert, 3rd Baroness Herbert. On his father's death on 15 April 1526, he succeeded as the second Earl of Worcester...
    
     (born 1496)
  • 7 December - Robert Kett, rebel (executed) (year of birth unknown)