1540
*
January 6 - King
Henry VIII of England marries
Anne of Cleves, his fourth Queen consort.
*
July 9 - King
Henry VIII of England divorces
Anne of Cleves, his fourth Queen consort.
*
July 28 - One of the most important political figures of the reign of
Henry VIII of England,
Thomas Cromwell, is executed on order from the king on charges of
treason. Henry marries his fifth wife,
Catherine Howard, on the same day.
*
September 3 -
Gelawdewos succeeds his father Lebna Dengel as Emperor of Ethiopia.
*
Spain, Foundation of
Society of Jesus,
Catholicism*French translation of
John Calvin's
L'Institution chrétienne (originally in
Latin)
*Antwerp is besieged for three days by Maarten van Rossum
*
January 24 -
Edmund Campion, English Jesuit and Roman Catholic martyr (died
1581)
*
January 28 -
Ludolph van Ceulen, German mathematician (died
1610)
*
June 3 - Archduke
Charles II of Austria, regent of Inner Austria (died
1590)
*
June 11 -
Barnabe Googe, English poet (died
1594)
*
August 26 - King
Magnus of Livonia (died
1583)
*
October 1 -
Johann Jakob Grynaeus, Swiss protestant clergyman (died
1617)
*
November 16 -
Cecilia of Sweden (died
1627)
*
Jose de Acosta, Jesuit missionary and naturalist (died
1600)
*
Andrea Andreani, Italian engraver on wood (died
1623)
*
William Byrd, English composer (died
1623)
*
Christopher Hatton, English politician (died
1591)
*
George Hastings, 4th Earl of Huntingdon, English nobleman (died
1604)
*
Pierre Jeannin, French statesman (died
1622)
*
Lettice Knollys, lady-in-waiting to
Elizabeth I of England (died
1634)
*
Bernardino de Mendoza, Spanish military commander (died
1604*
Henry Howard, 1st Earl of Northampton (died
1614)
*
Zofia Odrowaz, Polish noblewoman (died
1580)
*
Juan de Oñate, Spanish explorer (died
1626)
*
Leonhard Rauwolf, German physician and botanist (died
1596)
*
Joseph Justus Scaliger, French protestant scholar (died
1609)
*
Hugh O'Neill, 2nd Earl of Tyrone, Irish rebel (died
1616)
*
François Viète, French mathematician (died
1603)
*
Amago Yoshihisa, Japanese samurai and warlord (died
1610)
*
Gaspar de Zuniga y Azevedo, Spanish colonial administrator and viceroy of Mexico (died
1606)
*
GacktJuly 4 Japanese Pop singer
See also :Category: 1540 births.*
March 30 -
Matthäus Lang von Wellenburg, German statesman and archbishop of Salzburg (born
1469)
*
May 6 -
Juan Luís Vives, Spanish scholar
*
May 22 -
Francesco Guicciardini, Italian statesman and historian (born
1483)
*
July 28 -
Thomas Cromwell, English statesman (executed)
*
July 30 -
Thomas Abel, English priest (martyred)
*July 30 -
Robert Barnes, English reformer (martyred) (born
1495)
*
August 23 -
Guillaume Budé, French scholar
*
August 24 -
Girolamo Francesco Maria Mazzola, Italian artist (b.
1503)
*
September 2 -
Lebna Dengel,
Emperor of Ethiopia (died in battle) (born
1501)
*
October 5 -
Helius Eobanus Hessus, German Latin poet (born
1488)
*
Elizabeth Blount, mistress of
Henry VIII of England (born
1502)
*
Tristão da Cunha, Portuguese explorer (born
1460)
*
Johann Georg Faust, German alchemist (born
1480)
*
Federico II of Gonzaga, Marquis of Mantua (born
1500)
*
Angela Merici, Italian religious leader and saint born in Desenzano del Garda (born
1474)
*
Francisco de Ulloa, Spanish explorer
See also :Category: 1540 deaths.
