Year 1545 (MDXLV) Overview
Year 1545 was a common year that commenced on a Thursday in the Julian calendar.
Events
January–March
January 1 – King Francis I of France issues the “Arrêt de Mérindol“, aiming to eliminate the Protestant Waldensians of Provence.
January 4 – Giovanni Battista De Fornari begins a 2-year term as the Doge of Genoa, succeeding Andrea Centurione Pietrasanta.
February 22 – A firman from the Ottoman Empire is issued for the dethronement of Radu Paisie as Prince of Wallachia.
February 27 – The Battle of Ancrum Moor sees victorious Scots defeating significantly larger English forces.
March 17 – Mircea the Shepherd enters Bucharest as the new ruler of Wallachia, which is now part of modern Romania.
March 24 – At a diet in Worms, Germany, summoned by Pope Paul III, German Protestant princes demand a national religious settlement for Germany, which Holy Roman Emperor Charles V refuses.
April–June
April 1 – The Spanish found Potosí as a mining town following the discovery of vast silver deposits in what is now Bolivia. The silver from Huayna Potosí Mountain becomes a cornerstone of the Spanish Empire’s wealth until the early 19th century.
May 20 – Sher Shah Suri, ruler of the Sur Empire in northern India, dies after being injured by an explosion from one of his own cannons during the siege of Kalinjar Fort.
In Vietnam, the warlord Nguyễn Kim of the Lê dynasty is poisoned after eating a watermelon offered by Dương Chấp Nhất of the Mạc dynasty.
May 27 – Prince Jalal Khan is crowned as the new King of the Suri Empire, taking the regnal name Islam Shah Suri.
May 31 – During the Italian War, a French expeditionary force under Claude d’Annebault lands in Scotland, initiating an invasion of Britain.
June 13 – Spanish explorer Yñigo Ortiz de Retez embarks on a journey to navigate the northern coast of New Guinea.
June 20 – Ortiz claims a large island in the South Pacific, naming it “Nueva Guinea” upon observing that the natives resemble those on the Guinea coast of West Africa.
July–September
July 18 – The Battle of the Solent commences between English and French navies.
July 19 – The Mary Rose, flagship of the Royal Navy, sinks with 365 of its 400 crew during the battle, which concludes inconclusively.
July 21 – The Battle of Bonchurch occurs, where the English repel a French invasion of the Isle of Wight.
August 5 – Scottish nobleman Domhnall Dubh seeks to invade Scotland with an alliance from King Henry VIII of England but dies before the plans can materialize.
August 8 – King Injong of Joseon, the Korean Empire, dies under suspicious circumstances at the age of 30.
August 16 – The elaborate Tomb of Sher Shah Suri is completed three months after his death in Bihar, India.
September 16 – The Duchy of Parma and Piacenza is established in Italy by Pope Paul III to be governed by his son, Pier Luigi Farnese.
In a single-day campaign during the Rough Wooing border war, English generals destroy multiple Scottish towns along the River Teviot.
c. September – Mobye Narapati ascends as ruler of the Ava Kingdom, leading to a peace offer to the Taungoo Dynasty, effectively ending the Taungoo–Ava War.
October–December
October 20 – The “New Laws” are repealed less than a year after their enactment by King Carlos of Spain.
October 31 – The Siege of Kawagoe Castle begins, marking an unsuccessful attempt by the Uesugi clan to reclaim the castle from the Late Hōjō clan in Japan.
November 9 – Pietro Lando, the Doge of Venice, dies; Francesco Donato is elected as his successor.
November 10 – A truce is finalized between the Holy Roman Empire and the Ottoman Empire post the Siege of Nice.
November 15 – Empress consort Hamida Banu Begum of India’s Mughal Empire returns to Agra after a three-year absence.
November 23 – King Henry VIII reconvenes the Parliament of England for its ninth session, lasting until December 24.
December 13 – The Council of Trent officially opens in northern Italy, which will continue until 1563.
December 24 – King Henry VIII gives royal assent to multiple acts passed by the English Parliament, including significant reforms.
Undated Events
- Battle of Sokhoista: The Ottoman Empire claims victory over an alliance of Georgian dynasties.
- Diogo I Nkumbi a Mpudi overthrows his uncle Pedro I of Kongo to become manikongo.
- A significant harvest failure occurs in Henan, China, due to heavy rainfall, leading to dire food shortages.
- The Cocoliztli Epidemic begins in the territory of New Spain, present-day Mexico.
- St. Anne’s Church in Augsburg converts to Lutheranism.
- Mathematician Gerolamo Cardano publishes “Ars Magna”, containing groundbreaking algebraic solutions.
Births
- January 1 – Magnus Heinason, Faroese naval hero (d. 1589)
- January 11 – Guidobaldo del Monte, Italian mathematician (d. 1607)
- March – Gaspare Tagliacozzi, Italian surgeon (d. 1599)
- March 2 – Thomas Bodley, founder of the Bodleian Library (d. 1613)
- March 18 – Julius Echter von Mespelbrunn, German bishop (d. 1617)
- March 25 – John II, Duke of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg (d. 1622)
- April 1 – Peder Claussøn Friis, Norwegian author (d. 1614)
- April 2 – Elisabeth of Valois, queen of Philip II of Spain (d. 1568)
- April 15 – Karl II, Duke of Münsterberg-Oels (d. 1617)
- April 24 – Henry Wriothesley, 2nd Earl of Southampton (d. 1581)
- April 28 – Yi Sun-sin, Korean naval commander (d. 1598)
- May 1 – Franciscus Junius, French theologian (d. 1602)
- May 22 – Karl Christoph, Duke of Münsterberg (d. 1569)
- June 6 – Jerome Gratian, Spanish writer (d. 1614)
- June 13 – Naitō Nobunari, Japanese daimyō (d. 1612)
- June 19 – Princess Anna Maria of Sweden (d. 1610)
- July 8 – Don Carlos of Spain (d. 1568)
- August 1 – Andrew Melville, Scottish theologian (d. 1622)
- August 27 – Alexander Farnese, Duke of Parma (d. 1592)
- September 7 – Eitel Friedrich IV, Count of Hohenzollern (d. 1605)
- September 20 – Yamanaka Yukimori, Japanese samurai (d. 1578)
- October 15 – Elisabeth of Anhalt-Zerbst, later Countess of Barby-Mühlingen (d. 1574)
- October 19 – John Juvenal Ancina, Italian bishop (d. 1604)
- November 20 – Ernst Ludwig, Duke of Pomerania (d. 1592)
- November 25 – Ana de Jesús, Spanish nun (d. 1621)
- December 6 – Janus Dousa, Dutch historian (d. 1604)
- December 7 – Henry Stuart, Lord Darnley (d. 1567)
- date unknown – George Bannatyne, Scottish poet collector (d. 1608)
Deaths
- January 16 – George Spalatin, German reformer (b. 1484)
- February 12 or April 2 – Stanisław Odrowąż, Polish noble (b. 1509)
- April 3 – Antonio de Guevara, Spanish chronicler (b. 1481)
- April 10 – Costanzo Festa, Italian composer (b. 1495)
- April 22 – Louis X, Duke of Bavaria (b. 1496)
- April 25 – Jobst II, Count of Hoya (b. 1493)
- May – Agnes Howard, Duchess of Norfolk (b. c. 1477)
- May 22 – Sher Shah Suri, Indian ruler (b. 1486)
- June 4 – John Louis, Count of Nassau-Saarbrücken (b. 1472)
- June 12 – Francis I, Duke of Lorraine (b. 1517)
- June 15 – Elizabeth of Austria, Polish noble (b. 1526)
- July 7 – Pernette Du Guillet, French poet (b. c. 1520)
- July 12 – Maria Manuela, Princess of Portugal (b. 1527)
- August 8 – Injong of Joseon (b. 1515)
- August 22 – Charles Brandon, 1st Duke of Suffolk (b. c. 1484)
- August 27 – Piotr Gamrat, Polish archbishop (b. 1487)
- September
- September 1 – Francis de Bourbon, Count of St. Pol (b. 1491)
- September 9 – Charles II de Valois, Duke of Orléans (b. 1522)
- September 24 – Albert of Mainz, elector (b. 1490)
- October 18 – John Taverner, English composer (b. c. 1490)
- date unknown – William Latimer, English scholar (b. c. 1467)