1551

Millennium:	2nd millennium
Centuries:	15th century; 16th century; 17th century;
Decades:	1530s; 1540s; 1550s; 1560s; 1570s;
Years:	1548; 1549; 1550; 1551; 1552; 1553; 1554;

Year1551(MDLI) was acommon year starting on Thursday(link will display the full calendar) of theJulian calendar.

Events

January–March

January 4–Luca Spinolais elected to a two-year term as the newDogeof theRepublic of Genoa,succeedingGaspare Grimaldi Bracelli.^[1]
January 11(5th wa xing of Tabodwe 912 ME) – KingBayinnaungof Burma is successful in capturing his ancestral city ofToungoofrom his rebellious half-brotherMinkhaung II,and sets about to make Toungoo the capital for the first time since 1539.^[2]Minkhaung is forgiven by King Bayinnaung rather than being executed, and assists in the King's campaign to capture the neighboringKingdom of Prome.
January–Macarius, Metropolitan of Moscow,and TsarIvan IV of Russiapreside over the reformingStoglavy Synod( "Hundred-Chapter" ) church council.^[3]A calendar of the saints and an ecclesiastical law code (Stoglav) are introduced.
February 14–Alice Ardenand her lover, Richard Mosbey, carry out the murder-for-hire of her husband,Thomas Ardenof Faversham with the assistance of ahighwaymanknown as "Black Will", two of Arden’s domestic servants (Michael Saunderson and Elizabeth Stafford) and Mosbye's sister (Cicely Pounder). The body is carried outside, and Thomas is reported as missing, but a discovery is made that the murder was committed inside the house. The conspirators are later executed.^[4]
February 23– At theKremlininMoscow,Tsar Ivan IVandthe Metropolitan Macarius,present the proposed code of laws, drafted by theStoglavy Synod,to the clergy, nobility and principal Russian citizens for their approval.^[5]
March 27– French mechanical engineerAubin Olivierbecomes the director of the new Royal Mint, theMoulin des Etuveson theÎle de la Citéin Paris after having learned the technique of producing uniformmilled coinageduring a sabbatical in Germany.^[6]

April–June

April 4–Ferdinand I, Holy Roman Emperor,issues an edict to reduce tensions among the three major ethnic groups in the Kingdom of Hungary, with an administration to have equal representation of for ethnic Hungarians, Slovaks and Germans.^[7]
May 1– TheCouncil of Trentreconvenes by order ofPope Julius IIIafter having been adjourned on September 17,1549.^[8]
May 12– TheNational University of San Marcosis founded inLimain theViceroyalty of Peru,being the first officially established university in theAmericas.^[9]
May 27–Italian War of 1551–1559:A defensive alliance, placing theDuchy of Parma and Piacenzaunder the protection ofFrance,is signed between representatives of KingHenry II of FranceandOttavio Farnese, Duke of Parmasigned placing Parma under French protection.
May 30–Ilie II Rareș,Ruler of Moldavia since 1556, is forced by the Ottoman Empire to abdicate the throne.^[10]
June 11– With the approval of the Ottoman SultanSuleiman the Magnificent,Prince Ilie's brotherȘtefan VI Rareșbecomes the newPrince of Moldavia.^[10]
June 27– TheEdict of Châteaubriantis promulgated in France by King Henri II, providing for an increasingly severe series of measures in the Roman Catholic Kingdom to be taken against Protestants, considered to beheretics.^[11]

July–September

July 7– The fifth, and final outbreak ofsweating sicknessinEnglandreachesLondon,as documented byHenry Machynin his diary, and continues until July 19. Machyn notes that "ther ded from the vii day of July unto the xix ded of the swett in London of all dyssesus viij/c, iij/xx and xij and no more in alle, and so the chanseller is sertefiyd." ( "There died from the 7th day of July unto the 19th dead of the sweat in London of all diseases 8 hundred, 3 score and 12 [i.e., 872], and no more in all, and so the Chancellor is certified." )^[12]John CaiusofShrewsburywrites the first full contemporary account of the symptoms of the disease.
July 12– Theregency over the Kingdom of SpainbyArchduchess Mariaand her husband,Archduke Maximilian of Austria,ends after almost three years when Maria's brotherCrown Prince Philipreturns toMadrid.^[13]Philip resumes his role as regent forKing Charles I,the father of both Maria and Philip; Maria and Maximilian had served during the absence of both the King and the Crown Prince starting on October 1, 1548.
July 18–Invasion of Gozo:Ottoman TurksandBarbary piratesinvade the Mediterranean island ofGozo(now part ofMalta), and enslave almost all of its 6,000 inhabitants.^[14]
July 19– TheTreaty of Weissenburggoes into effect asJohn Sigismund Zápolya,King of Hungarysince 1540, abdicates in favor ofArchduke Ferdinand of Austria.^[15]In addition, the independent Kingdom ofTransylvania,ruled byIsabella Jagiellon,is ceded to theKingdom of Hungaryas part of peace with Ferdinand.
July 30– With the surrender of the island of Gozo, the Ottoman place 6,000 survivors on ships and transporting them toTarhuna Wa Msalata(in modern-dayLibya), where they are sold into slavery. The only natives left on the island are 300 persons who escaped the citadel and 41 elderly residents.^[14]
August 15– TheSiege of Tripoliends, with theKnights of MaltasurrenderingTripolito theOttoman Empire.
August 30(1st wa xing ofThadingyut 913 ME)– King Bayinnaung of Burma conquers the rebelliousKingdom of Prome(with a capital atPyay) and kills the rebel Thado Thu, a former servant who had proclaimed himself asKing Thado Dhamma Yazaafter the 1550 assassination of KingTabinshwehti.^[16]
September 21– TheRoyal and Pontifical University of Mexicois founded inMexico City(Mexico), being the second officially established university in theAmericas.
September 30– (1st day of 9th month ofTenbun21)Tainei-ji incident:A coup inYamaguchi,by the military establishment of theŌuchi clan,forces their lordŌuchi Yoshitakato commit suicide, and the city is burned.^[17]

October–December

October 11–John Dudley, Earl of Warwick,de factoLord Protectorof theKingdom of England,is createdDuke of Northumberland.^[18]
November 20– The Office ofCardinal Secretary of State,the second highest position in the Roman Catholic Church after the Pope, is created to temporarily fill the vacancy between the death of one Pontiff and the election of another. CardinalGirolamo Dandiniis appointed byPope Julius IIIto serve as the first Secretary of State.
December 16–George Martinuzzi,the Hungarian Archbishop of Esztergom and the Governor of Transylvania, is assassinated by Marco Aurelio Ferrari on orders of Ferdinand, King of Hungary. Martinuzzi had been suspected of treason after attempting to negotiate a separate peace treaty with the Ottoman Empire.^[19]

Date unknown

Qizilbash forces under the command ofTahmasp Iraid and destroy the cave monastery ofVardziainGeorgia.
InHenanprovince,China,during theMing dynasty,a severe frost in the spring destroys the winter wheat crop. Torrential rains in mid summer cause massive flooding of farmland and villages (by some accounts submerged in a metre of water). In the fall, a largetornadodemolishes houses and flattens much of the buckwheat in the fields. Famine victims either flee, starve, or resort tocannibalism.This follows a series of natural disasters in Henan in the years1528,1531,1539,and1545.
InSlovakia,Guta (modern-dayKolárovo) receives town status.
Portugalfounds a sugarcolonyatBahia.
Juan de Betanzosbegins to write hisNarrative of theIncas.
The new edition of theGenevan psalter,Pseaumes octantetrois de David,is published, withLouis Bourgeoisas supervising composer, including the first publication of thehymn tuneknown as theOld 100th.

Births

January 5–Jean Chapeauville,Belgian theologian and historian (d.1617)
January 14–Abu'l-Fazl ibn Mubarak,Grand vizier of the Mughal emperorAkbar(d.1602)
January 26–Robert Dormer, 1st Baron Dormer,English politician (d.1616)
February 2–Nicolaus Reimers,German astronomer (d.1600)
March 9–Alessandro Alberti,Italian painter (d.1596)
March 21–Maria Anna of Bavaria(d.1608)
March 30–Salomon Schweigger,German theologian (d.1622)
April 9–Peter Monau,German physician (d.1588)
April 30–Jacopo da Empoli,Italian painter (d.1640)
May 2–William Camden,English historian (d.1623)^[20]
May 8–Thomas Drury,English government informer and swindler (d.1603)
May 17–Martin Delrio,Flemish theologian and occultist (d.1608)
September 19– KingHenry III of France(d.1589)^[21]
October 4–Philip VI, Count of Waldeck(1567–1579) (d.1579)
October 8–Giulio Caccini,Italian composer (d.1618)
October 26–Charlotte de Sauve,French courtesan (d.1617)
November 11–Giovanni I Cornaro,Doge of Venice (d.1629)
date unknown
- Bhai Gurdas– original scribe ofGuru Granth Sahib
- George Tuchet, 1st Earl of Castlehaven(d.1617)
- Fausto Veranzio,Dalmatian/Croatian polymath, bishop, humanist (d.1617)
- Job of Pochayiv,Ukrainian Christian Orthodox Saint (d.1651)
probable
- Patrick Galloway,Moderator of the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland (d. c.1626)
- Boris Godunov,Tsar of Russia (d.1605)
- Stanisław Stadnicki,Polish nobleman (d.1610)

Deaths

February 4–John V, Prince of Anhalt-Zerbst,Prince of Anahlt-Dessau (1516–1544) and Anhalt-Zerbst (1544–1551) (b.1504)
February 28–Martin Bucer,German Protestant reformer (b.1491)^[22]
April 6–Joachim Vadian,Swiss humanist (b.1484)
April 8–Oda Nobuhide,Japanese warlord (b.1510)
May 8–Barbara Radziwiłł,queen ofSigismund II of Poland(b.1523)
May 17–Shin Saimdang,Korean artist, calligrapher and writer (b.1504)
May 18–Domenico di Pace Beccafumi,Italian painter (b.1486)
June 24–Charles II de Croÿ,Belgian duke (b.1522)
July –Adriaen Isenbrandt,Flemish painter (b.1490)
July 13–John Wallop,English soldier and diplomat (b.1490)
July 14–Henry Brandon, 2nd Duke of Suffolk(b.1535)
August 8–Fray Tomás de Berlanga,Bishop of Panama (b.1487)
August 12–Paul Speratus,German Lutheran (b.1484)
August 26–Margaret Leijonhufvud,queen ofGustav I of Sweden(b.1516)
September 30–Ōuchi Yoshitaka,Japanese warlord (b.1507)
November 20–Hindal Mirza,Mughal Empire emperor (b.1519)
date unknown
- Sagara Taketō,Japanese samurai (b.1498)
- Helena Ungler,Polish printer
- Alice Arden,English murderer (b.1516;executed by burning)^[23]

References

^Buonadonna, Sergio.Rosso doge: I dogi della Repubblica di Genova dal 1339 al 1797(in Italian). Da Ferrari.
^Kala, U(1724).Maha Yazawin(in Burmese). Vol. 1 (2006, 4th printing ed.). Yangon: Ya-Pyei Publishing. p. 201.
^Steven Runciman,The Great Church in Captivity(Cambridge University Press, 1985) p.329.
^"Alice Arden of Feverham, Executed with her lover Mosbie and Others in the Year 1551 for the Murder of her Husband",Newgate Calendar on Ex-Classics Web Site
^John S. C. Abbott,The Empire of Russia from the Remotest Period to the Present Time(Mason Brothers, 1859, reprinted 2020)( "On the 23rd of February, 1551, a larger convention of the clergy..." )
^Porteous, John (1969).Coins In History.New York: Putnam. pp. 178–180..
^Martin Štefánik – Ján Lukačka et al. 2010, Lexikón stredovekých miest na Slovensku, Historický ústav SAV, Bratislava, 2010, p. 532-534,ISBN 978-80-89396-11-5.http://forumhistoriae.sk/-/lexikon-stredovekych-miest-na-slovensku Archived2017-03-26 at theWayback Machine
^Trenkle, Franz Sales (March 3, 2003)."Council of Trent".RetrievedMay 24,2018.
^National Geographic."1551: Oldest University in Americas Established".Archived fromthe originalon May 20, 2020.RetrievedJanuary 18,2018.
^^a ^bFischer, Emil (1908)."Über den Ursprung der rumänischen Bojarenfamilien".Zeitschrift für Ethnologie.40(3): 343–361.JSTOR 23030256.
^Raymond A. Mentzer, Jr., "The Legal Response to Heresy in Languedoc, 1500-1560"Sixteenth Century Journal4.1 (April 1973:19-30) p. 22.
^Henry Machin (1848),The Diary of Henry Machyn 1550–1563,pp. 7–8
^Kamen, Henry(1998).Philip of Spain.Yale University Press. p. 49.ISBN 978-0-300-07800-8.
^^a ^bBadger, George Percy (1838).Description of Malta and Gozo.Malta:M. Weiss. p.292.
^Volkmer, Gerald (2002).Das Fürstentum Siebenbürgen 1541-1691: Außenpolitik und völkerrechtliche Stellung (The Principality of Transylvania 1541-1691. Foreign policy and international legal status)(in German).Heidelberg:Arbeitskreis für Siebenbürgische Landeskunde. Archived fromthe originalon February 4, 2008.RetrievedJanuary 27,2007.
^Royal Historical Commission of Burma(2003) [1832].Hmannan Yazawin(in Burmese). Vol. 2. Yangon:Ministry of Information, Myanmar.pp. 262–268.
^Arai, Hakuseki(1982).Lessons from history: the Tokushi yoron.Translated by Ackroyd, Joyce Irene.University of Queensland Press.ISBN 9780702214851.
^David Loades(1996):John Dudley, Duke of Northumberland 1504–1553.Clarendon Press.ISBN 0-19-820193-1.pp. 180–181
^Bain, Robert Nisbet(1911)."Martinuzzi, George".InChisholm, Hugh(ed.).Encyclopædia Britannica.Vol. 17 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. p. 803.
^Charles W. J. Withers; Hayden Lorimer (October 27, 2011).Geographers Volume 27: Biobibliographical Studies.A&C Black. p. 28.ISBN 978-1-4411-8011-7.
^Jayne Maloof Williamson (1968).The War of the Three Henries: Why?: The Motives Prompting Henri de Navarre, Henry de Guise, and Henri III to Engage in War, 1585-1589.University of Wisconsin--Madison. p. 96.
^Constantin Hopf (December 1, 2012).Martin Bucer and the English Reformation.Wipf and Stock Publishers. p. 58.ISBN 978-1-72523-244-0.
^The Newgate Calendar: "Alice Arden of Feversham"

[1] Buonadonna, Sergio.Rosso doge: I dogi della Repubblica di Genova dal 1339 al 1797(in Italian). Da Ferrari.

[2] Kala, U(1724).Maha Yazawin(in Burmese). Vol. 1 (2006, 4th printing ed.). Yangon: Ya-Pyei Publishing. p. 201.

[3] Steven Runciman,The Great Church in Captivity(Cambridge University Press, 1985) p.329.

[4] "Alice Arden of Feverham, Executed with her lover Mosbie and Others in the Year 1551 for the Murder of her Husband",Newgate Calendar on Ex-Classics Web Site

[5] John S. C. Abbott,The Empire of Russia from the Remotest Period to the Present Time(Mason Brothers, 1859, reprinted 2020)( "On the 23rd of February, 1551, a larger convention of the clergy..." )

[6] Porteous, John (1969).Coins In History.New York: Putnam. pp. 178–180..

[7] Martin Štefánik – Ján Lukačka et al. 2010, Lexikón stredovekých miest na Slovensku, Historický ústav SAV, Bratislava, 2010, p. 532-534,ISBN 978-80-89396-11-5.http://forumhistoriae.sk/-/lexikon-stredovekych-miest-na-slovensku Archived2017-03-26 at theWayback Machine

[8] Trenkle, Franz Sales (March 3, 2003)."Council of Trent".RetrievedMay 24,2018.

[9] National Geographic."1551: Oldest University in Americas Established".Archived fromthe originalon May 20, 2020.RetrievedJanuary 18,2018.

[Unsprung-10] Fischer, Emil (1908)."Über den Ursprung der rumänischen Bojarenfamilien".Zeitschrift für Ethnologie.40(3): 343–361.JSTOR 23030256.

[11] Raymond A. Mentzer, Jr., "The Legal Response to Heresy in Languedoc, 1500-1560"Sixteenth Century Journal4.1 (April 1973:19-30) p. 22.

[12] Henry Machin (1848),The Diary of Henry Machyn 1550–1563,pp. 7–8

[13] Kamen, Henry(1998).Philip of Spain.Yale University Press. p. 49.ISBN 978-0-300-07800-8.

[Badger-14] Badger, George Percy (1838).Description of Malta and Gozo.Malta:M. Weiss. p.292.

[15] Volkmer, Gerald (2002).Das Fürstentum Siebenbürgen 1541-1691: Außenpolitik und völkerrechtliche Stellung (The Principality of Transylvania 1541-1691. Foreign policy and international legal status)(in German).Heidelberg:Arbeitskreis für Siebenbürgische Landeskunde. Archived fromthe originalon February 4, 2008.RetrievedJanuary 27,2007.

[16] Royal Historical Commission of Burma(2003) [1832].Hmannan Yazawin(in Burmese). Vol. 2. Yangon:Ministry of Information, Myanmar.pp. 262–268.

[17] Arai, Hakuseki(1982).Lessons from history: the Tokushi yoron.Translated by Ackroyd, Joyce Irene.University of Queensland Press.ISBN 9780702214851.

[18] David Loades(1996):John Dudley, Duke of Northumberland 1504–1553.Clarendon Press.ISBN 0-19-820193-1.pp. 180–181

[19] Bain, Robert Nisbet(1911)."Martinuzzi, George".InChisholm, Hugh(ed.).Encyclopædia Britannica.Vol. 17 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. p. 803.

[20] Charles W. J. Withers; Hayden Lorimer (October 27, 2011).Geographers Volume 27: Biobibliographical Studies.A&C Black. p. 28.ISBN 978-1-4411-8011-7.

[21] Jayne Maloof Williamson (1968).The War of the Three Henries: Why?: The Motives Prompting Henri de Navarre, Henry de Guise, and Henri III to Engage in War, 1585-1589.University of Wisconsin--Madison. p. 96.

[22] Constantin Hopf (December 1, 2012).Martin Bucer and the English Reformation.Wipf and Stock Publishers. p. 58.ISBN 978-1-72523-244-0.

[23] The Newgate Calendar: "Alice Arden of Feversham"

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