1540
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| Years: 1537 1538 1539 - 1540 - 1541 1542 1543 | |
| Decades: 1510s 1520s 1530s - 1540s - 1550s 1560s 1570s | |
| Centuries: 15th century - 16th century - 17th century | |
Events
- 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.
- Spain, Foundation of Society of Jesus, Catholicism
- French translation of John Calvin's L'Institution chrétienne (originally in Latin)
- Gelawdewos succeeds his father Lebna Dengel as Emperor of Ethiopia.
Births
- 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)
- October 1 - Johann Jakob Grynaeus, Swiss Protestant divine (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, most celebrated of early English composers (died 1623)
- Christopher Hatton, English politician (died 1591)
- Toyotomi Hidenaga, half-brother of Toyotomi Hideyoshi
- 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
- 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)
Deaths
- 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 (born 1483)
- July 28 - Thomas Cromwell, English statesman (executed) (born 1485)
- July 30 - Robert Barnes, English reformer and martyr (born 1495)
- July 30 - Thomas Abel, English priest and martyr (born 1497)
- August 23 - Guillaume Budé, French scholar
- September 2 - Lebna Dengel, Emperor of Ethiopia (died in battle) (born 1501)
- October 5 - Helius Eobanus Hessus, German Latin poet (born 1488)
- Angela Merici, Italian religious leader and saint born in Desenzano del Garda (born 1474)
- Elizabeth Blount, mistress of Henry VIII of England (born 1502)
- Johann Georg Faust, German alchemist (born 1480)
- Federico II of Gonzaga, Marquis of Mantua (born 1500)
- Parmigianino, Italian painter (born 1503)
- Francisco de Ulloa, Spanish explorer
- Tristão da Cunha, Portuguese explorer (born 1460)af:1540
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