The 16th century begins with the
Julian year
1501 (
MDI) and ends with either the Julian or the
Gregorian year
1600 (
MDC) (depending on the reckoning used; the Gregorian calendar introduced a lapse of 10 days in October 1582).[1]
Spain and Portugal colonized large parts of
Central and
South America, followed by France and England in
Northern America and the
Lesser Antilles. The Portuguese became the masters of trade between
Brazil, the coasts of Africa, and their possessions in the
Indies, whereas the Spanish came to dominate the
Greater Antilles,
Mexico,
Peru, and opened trade across the
Pacific Ocean, linking the Americas with the Indies. English and French
privateers began to practice persistent theft of Spanish and Portuguese treasures. This era of
colonialism established
mercantilism as the leading school of economic thought, where the economic system was viewed as a
zero-sum game in which any gain by one party required a loss by another. The mercantilist
doctrine encouraged the many intra-European wars of the period and arguably fueled European
expansion and
imperialism throughout the world until the
19th century or early
20th century.
The
Reformation in central and northern Europe gave a major blow to the authority of the
papacy and the
Catholic Church. In
England, the British-Italian
Alberico Gentili wrote the first book on public international law and divided
secularism from
canon law and Catholic theology. European politics became dominated by religious conflicts, with the groundwork for the epochal
Thirty Years' War being laid towards the end of the century.
In the
Middle East, the
Ottoman Empire continued to expand, with the
Sultan taking the title of
Caliph, while dealing with a resurgent Persia. Iran and Iraq were caught by a major popularity of the
Shia sect of
Islam under the rule of the
Safavid dynasty of warrior-mystics, providing grounds for a Persia independent of the majority-
SunniMuslim world.[2]
Japan suffered a severe civil war at this time, known as the
Sengoku period, and emerged from it as a unified nation. China was ruled by the Ming dynasty and came into conflict with Japan and Japanese piracy over the control of Korea.
1505:
Sultan Trenggono builds the first Muslim kingdom in Java, called
Demak, in Indonesia. Many other small kingdoms were established in other islands to fight against Portuguese. Each kingdom introduced local language as a way of communication and unity.
1509: The Portuguese king sends
Diogo Lopes de Sequeira to find
Malacca, the eastern terminus of Asian trade. After initially receiving Sequeira,
Sultan Mahmud Shah captures and/or kills several of his men and attempts an assault on the four Portuguese ships, which escape.[7] The
Javanese fleet is also destroyed in Malacca.
1512: The first Portuguese exploratory expedition was sent eastward from Malacca (in present-day Malaysia) to search for the '
Spice Islands' (
Maluku) led by
Francisco Serrão. Serrão is shipwrecked but struggles on to
Hitu (northern
Ambon) and wins the favour of the local rulers.[9]
1518: The
Treaty of London was a non-aggression pact between the major European nations. The signatories were Burgundy, France, England, the Holy Roman Empire, the Netherlands, the Papal States and Spain, all of whom agreed not to attack one another and to come to the aid of any that were under attack.
1518:
Leo Africanus, also known as al-Hasan ibn Muhammad al-Wazzan al-Fasi, an Andalusian Berber diplomat who is best known for his book Descrittione dell’Africa (Description of Africa), is captured by Spanish pirates; he is taken to Rome and presented to
Pope Leo X.
Europe at the time of the accession of
Charles V in 1519
1519:
Wang Yangming, the Chinese philosopher and governor of
Jiangxi province, describes his intent to use the firepower of the fo-lang-ji, a
breech-loading Portuguese
culverin, in order to suppress the rebellion of Prince
Zhu Chenhao.
1520: The first European diplomatic mission to
Ethiopia, sent by the
Portuguese, arrives at
Massawa 9 April, and reaches the imperial encampment of Emperor
Dawit II in
Shewa 9 October.
1520: Sultan
Ali Mughayat Shah of
Aceh begins an expansionist campaign capturing Daya on the west
Sumatran coast (in present-day Indonesia), and the pepper and gold producing lands on the east coast.
1520: The
Portuguese established a
trading post in the village of Lamakera on the eastern side of
Solor (in present-day Indonesia) as a transit harbour between
Maluku and
Malacca.
1521:
Pati Unus leads the invasion of
Malacca (in present-day Malaysia) against the Portuguese occupation. Pati Unus was killed in this battle, and was succeeded by his brother, sultan
Trenggana.
1527: The last ruler of
Majapahit falls from power. This state (located in present-day Indonesia) was finally extinguished at the hands of the
Demak. A large number of courtiers, artisans, priests, and members of the royalty moved east to the island of Bali; however, the power and the seat of government transferred to Demak under the leadership of Pangeran, later
Sultan Fatah.
1527: June 22, The Javanese Prince
Fatahillah of the
Cirebon Sultanate successfully defeated the Portuguese armed forces at the site of the
Sunda Kelapa Harbor. The city was then renamed
Jayakarta, meaning "a glorious victory." This eventful day came to be acknowledged as Jakarta's Founding Anniversary.
1535: The Portuguese in Ternate depose Sultan
Tabariji (or Tabarija) and send him to Portuguese Goa where he converts to Christianity and bequeaths his Portuguese godfather
Jordao de Freitas the island of
Ambon.[12]Hairun becomes the next sultan.
1540:
Sher Shah Suri founds the
Suri dynasty in
South Asia, an ethnic
Pashtun (
Pathan) of the house of
Sur, who supplanted the
Mughal dynasty as rulers of North
India during the reign of the relatively ineffectual second Mughal emperor
Humayun. Sher Shah Suri decisively defeats Humayun in the Battle of Bilgram (May 17, 1540).
1548:
Askia Daoud, who reigned from 1548 to 1583, establishes public libraries in
Timbuktu (in present-day Mali).
1548: The
Ming Dynasty government of
China issues a decree banning all foreign trade and closes down all seaports along the coast; these
Hai jin laws came during the
Wokou wars with
Japanese pirates.
1549:
Arya Penangsang with the support of his teacher, Sunan Kudus, avenges the death of Raden Kikin by sending an envoy named Rangkud to kill Sunan Prawoto by
Keris Kyai Satan Kober (in present-day Indonesia).
1556: Publication in
Venice of Delle Navigiationi et Viaggi (terzo volume) by
Giovanni Battista Ramusio, secretary of Council of Ten, with plan La Terra de Hochelaga, an illustration of the
Hochelaga.[13]
1559: Sultan
Hairun of Ternate (in present-day Indonesia) protests the Portuguese's
Christianisation activities in his lands. Hostilities between
Ternate and the Portuguese.
1562: Portuguese
Dominican priests build a palm-trunk fortress which
JavaneseMuslims burned down the following year. The fort was rebuilt from more durable materials and the Dominicans commenced the
Christianisation of the local population.[12]
1565:
Miguel López de Legazpi establishes in
Cebu the first Spanish settlement in the
Philippines starting a period of Spanish colonization that would last over three hundred years.
1565: Spanish navigator
Andres de Urdaneta discovers the maritime route from Asia to the Americas across the
Pacific Ocean, also known as the tornaviaje.
1568: Hadiwijaya sent his adopted son and son in-law
Sutawijaya, who would later become the first ruler of the
Mataram dynasty of Indonesia, to kill
Arya Penangsang.
1578: The Portuguese establish a fort on
Tidore but the main centre for Portuguese activities in Maluku becomes Ambon.[12]
1578:
Sonam Gyatso is conferred the title of
Dalai Lama by Tumed Mongol ruler,
Altan Khan. Recognised as the reincarnation of two previous Lamas, Sonam Gyatso becomes the third Dalai Lama in the lineage.[15]
1579: The British navigator
Sir Francis Drake passes through Maluku and transit in
Ternate on his circumnavigation of the world. The Portuguese establish a fort on
Tidore but the main centre for Portuguese activities in Maluku becomes Ambon.[16]
1580:
Drake's royal reception after his attacks on Spanish possessions influences
Philip II of Spain to build up the
Spanish Armada. English ships in Spanish harbours are impounded.
1582:
Pope Gregory XIII issues the
Gregorian calendar. The last day of the Julian calendar was Thursday, 4 October 1582 and this was followed by the first day of the Gregorian calendar, Friday, 15 October 1582
1584–
1585: After the
siege of Antwerp, many of its merchants flee to
Amsterdam. According to Luc-Normand Tellier, "At its peak, between 1510 and 1557,
Antwerp concentrated about 40% of the world trade...It is estimated that the port of Antwerp was earning the Spanish crown seven times more revenues than the
Americas."[17]
1584:
Ki Ageng Pemanahan died. Sultan Pajang raised Sutawijaya, son of Ki Ageng Pemanahan as the new ruler in
Mataram, titled "Loring Ngabehi Market" (because of his home in the north of the market).
1587: Troops that would invade Pajang
Mataram Sultanate storm ravaged the eruption of Mount Merapi. Sutawijaya and his men survived.
1588: Mataram into the kingdom with Sutawijaya as Sultan, titled "Senapati Ingalaga Sayidin Panatagama" means the warlord and cleric Manager Religious Life.
1595: First Dutch expedition to Indonesia sets sail for the East Indies with two hundred and forty-nine men and sixty-four cannons led by
Cornelis de Houtman.[18]
1596: June, de Houtman's expedition reaches
Banten the main pepper port of West Java where they clash with both the Portuguese and Indonesians. It then sails east along the north coast of
Java losing twelve crew to a Javanese attack at
Sidayu and killing a local ruler in
Madura.[18]
1599: The van Neck expedition returns to Europe. The expedition makes a 400 per cent profit.[18] (to 1600)
1599: March, Leaving Europe the previous year, a
fleet of eight ships under
Jacob van Neck was the first Dutch fleet to reach the ‘Spice Islands’ of Maluku.[18]
1600: The Portuguese win a major naval battle in the bay of Ambon.[19] Later in the year, the Dutch join forces with the local Hituese in an anti-Portuguese alliance, in return for which the Dutch would have the sole right to purchase spices from Hitu.[19]
^
Modern reference works on the period tend to follow the introduction of the Gregorian calendar for the sake of clarity; thus
NASA's lunar eclipse catalogue states "The Gregorian calendar is used for all dates from 1582 Oct 15 onwards. Before that date, the Julian calendar is used." For dates after 15 October 1582, care must be taken to avoid confusion of the two styles.
^Miller, George, ed. (1996). To The Spice Islands and Beyond: Travels in Eastern Indonesia. New York: Oxford University Press. pp. xv.
ISBN967-65-3099-9.