• Leonardo da Vinci famous artist and inventor and scientist (1452 – 1519).
• Henry VII of England, founder of the Tudor dynasty. Introduced ruthlessly efficient mechanisms of taxation which restored the kingdom after a state of virtual bankruptcy due to the effects of the Wars of the Roses (1457 – 1509).
• Desiderius Erasmus Roterodamus (sometimes known as Desiderius Erasmus of Rotterdam) (October 27, 1466/1469, Rotterdam– July 12, 1536 Basel was a Dutch Renaissance humanist and Catholic Christian theologian.
• Zygmunt I the Old, King of Poland, established a conscription army and the bureaucracy needed to finance it (1467 – 1548).
• György Dózsa, leader of the peasants' revolt in Hungary (1470 – 1514)
• Michelangelo Buonarroti, Italian painter and sculptor (1475 – 1564).
• Raphael, Italian painter, (1483 – 1520)
• Martin Luther, German religious reformer (1483 – 1546).
• Giovanni Battista Ramusio (20 July 485 – 10 July 1557), diplomat and secretary of council of Ten of Venice Italy, author of Delle Navigationi et Viaggi. Third volume (terzo volume) containing plan La Terra de Hochelaga showing village of Hochelaga.
• King Henry VIII of England, founder of Anglicanism (1491 – 1547).
• Anne Boleyn, second wife of King Henry VIII. She was the first Queen of England to be executed, and the mother of Queen Elizabeth I. (c. 1501 - 1536)
• William Shakespeare, 1564 - 1616)[a] was an English poet and playwright, widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist.[1] He is often called England's national poet and the "Bard of Avon".[
• Ignatius of Loyola, founder of the Society of Jesus (1491 – 1556).
• Paracelsus (11 November or 17 December 1493 in Einsiedeln, Switzerland – 24 September 1541 in Salzburg, Austria), Renaissance physician, botanist, alchemist, astrologer, and general occultist.
• King Francis I of France, considered the first Renaissance monarch of his Kingdom (1494 – 1547).
• Suleiman the Magnificent, Sultan of the Ottoman Empire. Conqueror and legal reformer (1494 – 1566).
• King Gustav I of Sweden, restored Swedish sovereignty and introduced Protestantism in Sweden (1496–1560).
• Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor and the first to reign as King of Spain. Involved in almost constant conflict with France and the Ottoman Empire while promoting the Spanish colonization of the Americas (1500 – 1558).
• Cuauhtémoc, the last Tlatoani of the Aztec, led the native resistance against the Conquistadores (1502 – 1525).
• Michel Nostradamus, French astrologer and doctor, author of Les Propheties, a book of world prophecies (1503 – 1566).
• Ahmad ibn Ibrihim al-Ghazi, Somali Imam and general (1507 – 1543).
• Andrea Palladio (November 30, 1508 – August 19, 1580), one of the most influential architect of the Western architecture
• John Calvin, theologian, and reformer. Founder of Calvinism (1509 – 1564).
• Manus Ó Domhnaill (Manus O'Donnell), King of Tír Chonaill in Ulster. Irish Renaisance prince (d. 1564).
• Andreas Vesalius, anatomist, physician, and author of one of the most influential books on human anatomy, De humani corporis fabrica (On the Workings of the Human Body).(1514–1564)
• Mary I of England. Attempted to counter the Protestant Reformation in her domains. Nick-named Bloody Mary for her Religious persecution (1516 – 1558).
• Andrea Amati, (c. 1520 – c. 1578) was the earliest maker of violins whose instruments still survive today.
• John Knox (c. 1510 – 1572) was a Scottish clergyman and leader of the Protestant Reformation who is considered the founder of the Presbyterian denomination.
• King Philip II of Spain, self-proclaimed leader of Counter-Reformation (1527 – 1598).
• Ivan IV of Russia, first Russian tsar (1533–1584).
• William the Silent, William I of Orange-Nassau, main leader of the Dutch revolt against the Spanish (1533–1584).
• Elizabeth I of England, central figure of the Elizabethan era (1533 – 1603). She was the granddaughter of the aforementioned Henry VII, daughter of Henry VIII and paternal half-sister of Mary I. Though some within her court thought of her merely as a bastard, because her father executed her supposedly criminal mother Anne Boleyn, her reign is still considered one of the greatest ever in England's history.
• Oda Nobunaga , daimyo of the Sengoku period of Japanese civil war. First ruler of the Azuchi-Momoyama period (1534 – 1582).
• Toyotomi Hideyoshi , daimyo of the Sengoku period of Japanese civil war. Second ruler of the Azuchi-Momoyama period (1536 – 1598).
• Edward VI of England, notable for further differentiating Anglicanism from the practices of the Roman Catholic Church (1537 – 1553).
• Lady Jane Grey, Queen regnant of England and Ireland. Notably deposed by popular revolt (1537 – 1554).
• Mary, Queen of Scots, First female head of the House of Stuart (1542 – 1587).
• Johan van Oldenbarnevelt, Dutch politician and Grand Pensionary, played a pivotal role in organizing the Dutch revolt against Spain (1542 – 1619).
• Admiral Yi Sun-sin , Korean admiral, respected as one of the greatest admirals in world history. (1545 – 1598).
• Matteo Ricci, Italian Jesuit who traveled to Macau, China in 1582, and died in Beijing, (1552 – 1610)
• King Henry IV of France and Navarre, ended the French Wars of Religion and reunited the kingdom under his command (1553 – 1610).
• Michael the Brave, ruler of Walachia, national symbol of Romanians for uniting the three provinces under his rule in 1600 (1558 – 1601)
• Wanli Emperor, Emperor of China during the Ming Dynasty, aided Korea in the Imjin War, (1563 – 1620)
• Sigismund III Vasa, the first and only monarch of the Polish–Swedish union; his long reign in the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth coincided with the apex of the Commonwealth's prestige, power and economic influence (1566 – 1632).

Exploration

• Vasco Núñez de Balboa (c. 1475 – 1519) – Spanish explorer. The first European to cross the Isthmus of Panama and view the Pacific ocean from American shores.
• Pedro Álvares Cabral, Portuguese navigator. The first European to arrive in Brazil in 22 April 1500 (c. 1467 – 1520).
• Jacques Cartier (1491 – 1557) – French explorer. Discovered Canada.
• Francisco Vásquez de Coronado (c. 1510 – 1554) – Spanish explorer. Searched for the Seven Cities of Gold and discovered the Grand Canyon in the process
• Hernán Cortés, Spanish Conquistador (1485 – 1547).
• Sir Francis Drake (c. 1540 – 1596) – English explorer. The first English captain to sail around the world and survive.
• Juan Sebastián Elcano (1476 – 1526) – Spanish explorer. Completed the first circumnavigation of the globe in a single expedition after its captain, Magellan, was killed.
• Vasco da Gama, Portuguese navigator. The first one to sail around the Cape of Good Hope (c. 1469 – 1524).
• Juan Ponce de León (c. 1460 – 1521) – Spanish explorer. He explored Florida while attempting to locate a Fountain of Youth.
• Ferdinand Magellan, Portuguese navigator who sailed around the world (1480 – 1521).
• Francisco de Orellana (1511–1546) – Spanish explorer in 1541–42 sails the length of the Amazon River.
• Francisco Pizarro (c. 1475 – 1541) – Spanish explorer. Conquered the Inca Empire.
• Hernando de Soto (c. 1496 – 1542) – Spanish explorer. Explored Florida, mainly northwest Florida, and discovered the Mississippi River.
• Luis Váez de Torres (c. 1565–1607) Spanish or Portuguese navigator. Explored the Pacific for the Spanish crown.
• Giovanni da Verrazzano (c. 1485 – 1528) – Italian explorer for France. Explored the northeast coast of America, from about present day South Carolina to Newfoundland.

Visual artists

• Michelangelo Buonarroti, Italian painter and sculptor (1475 – 1564).
• Caravaggio, Italian artist (1571 – 1610).
• Albrecht Dürer, German artist, (1471 – 1528)
• Hans Holbein the Younger, German artist, (1497 – 1543)
• Raphael, Italian painter, (1483 – 1520)
• Donato Bramante (1444 – March 11, 1514)
• Titian, Italian painter, (c. 1485 – 1576)
• Paolo Veronese, Italian painter, (1528 – April 19, 1588)
• Leonardo da Vinci famous artist and inventor and scientist (1452 – 1519).
• Qiu Ying, Chinese painter who belonged to the Wu School and used gongbi brush style (1494 – 1552)
• Pieter Bruegel the Elder, (c. 1525 – September 9, 1569)
• Jan Brueghel the Elder (1568 – January 13, 1625)
• Tintoretto (real name Jacopo Comin; September 29, 1518 – May 31, 1594)
• Lucas Cranach the Elder (1472–1553)
• Lucas Cranach the Younger (1515–1586)
• El Greco (1541 – April 7, 1614) was a painter, sculptor, and architect of the Spanish Renaissance
• Mimar Sinan (1489 – 1588) was a civil engineer and chief architect of the Ottoman Empire
• Domenico Fontana (1543 – June 28, 1607) was an architect

Musicians and Composers

• Andrea Amati (c. 1520 – c. 1578)
• Felice Anerio (c. 1560–1614)
• Adriano Banchieri (c. 1557–1634)
• Giovanni Bassano (c. 1558–1617)
• William Brade (1560–1630)
• John Bull (c. 1562–1628)
• Giulio Caccini (c. 1545–1618)
• Dario Castello (c. 1560–c. 1640)
• Emilio de' Cavalieri (c. 1550–March 11, 1602)
• Jacques Champion (before 1555–1642)
• Manuel Rodrigues Coelho (c. 1555–c. 1635)
• John Dowland (1563–1626)
• Giles Farnaby (1565–1640)
• Alfonso Fontanelli (1557–1622)
• Hans Leo Hassler (1562–1612)
• Sebastian Aguilera de Heredia (1565–1627)
• Ascanio Mayone (1565–1627)
• Giovanni Bernardino Nanino (c. 1560–1623)
• Johannes Nucius (c. 1556–1620)
• Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina, (1525–1594)
• Jacopo Peri (1561–1633)
• Peter Philips (c. 1560–1628)
• Hieronymus Praetorius (1560–1629)
• Paolo Quagliati (c. 1555–1628)
• Jan Pieterszoon Sweelinck (1562–1621)
• Jean Titelouze (1563–1633)
• Lodovico Grossi da Viadana (1564–1627)

Literature

• Juan Martínez de Jáuregui y Aguilar, Spanish poet and painter, (1483 – 1541)
• Luís de Camões, Portuguese poet (c. 1524 –1580).
• Baldassare Castiglione, Italian author (1478 – 1529)
• Miguel de Cervantes, Spanish author (1547 – 1616).
• John Donne, English metaphysical poet (1572 – 1631)
• John Ford, English dramatist (1586 – c. 1640).
• Thomas Heywood, English dramatist (c, early 1570s – 1641)
• Ben Jonson, English dramatist c.1572 – 1637)
• Jan Kochanowski, Polish poet (1530 – 1584)
• Fuzuli, Azerbaijani poet (1483 – 1556)
• Thomas Kyd, English dramatist (1558 – 1594)
• Thomas Lodge, English dramatist (1558 – 1625)
• Niccolò Machiavelli, Italian author (1469 – 1527)
• Christopher Marlowe, English poet and dramatist (1564 – 1593).
• Michel de Montaigne, French essayist (1533 – 1592).
• Thomas More, English politician and author (1478 – 1535).
• Miyamoto Musashi, famous warrior in Japan, author of The Book of Five Rings, a treaty on strategy and martial combat. (1584 – 1645)
• François Rabelais, French author (c. 1493 – 1553).
• Mikołaj Rej, Polish writer (1505 – 1569).
• Pierre de Ronsard, French poet. Called the 'Prince of poets' of his generation. (1524 – 1585).
• William Shakespeare, English playwright (1564 – 1616).
• Edmund Spenser, English poet (c. 1552 – 1599)
• Bâkî, Ottoman Turkish poet. He was known as "Sultan of poets" (1526 – 1600)
• Lope de Vega, Spanish dramatist (1562 – 1635).

Science and Philosophy

• Sir Francis Bacon, (1561 – 1626) was an English philosopher, statesman, and essayist. He is also known as a catalyst of the scientific revolution.
• Tycho Brahe, (1546 – 1601), Danish astronomer.
• Giordano Bruno, Italian philosopher and astronomer/astrologer (1548 – 1600).
• Nicolaus Copernicus, (1473 – 1543) astronomer, developed the heliocentric (Sun-centered) theory using scientific methods.
• Galileo Galilei (1564(7) – 1642) was a Tuscan (Italian) physicist, mathematician, astronomer, and philosopher who played a major role in the scientific revolution.
• Konrad Gessner (1516 – 1565) was a Swiss naturalist, bibliographer, Botanist, His three-volume Historiae animalium (1551–1558) is considered the beginning of modern zoology
• William Gilbert, also known as Gilbard, (1544 – 1603) was an English physician and a natural philosopher.
• Johannes Kepler, (1571 - 1630), mathematician, astronomer, and philosopher who played a major role in the scientific revolution.
• Gerardus Mercator (5 March 1512 – 2 December 1594), famous cartographer
• Emery Molyneux (died June 1598), was an Elizabethan maker of globes, mathematical instruments and ordnance. His terrestrial and celestial globes, first published in 1592, were the first to be made in England and the first to be made by an Englishman.
• Andreas Vesalius (Brussels, December 31, 1514 – Zakynthos, October 15, 1564) was an anatomist, physician, and author of one of the most influential books on human anatomy, De humani corporis fabrica (On the Workings of the Human Body). Vesalius is often referred to as the founder of modern human anatomy.
• Edward Wright, (baptized 1561; died 1615), English mathematician and cartographer who determined the mathematical basis of the Mercator projection and produced the first maps in England according to this method

Inventions, discoveries, introductions

• The Columbian Exchange introduces many plants, animals and diseases to the Old and New Worlds.
• Introduction of the spinning wheel revolutionizes textile production in Europe.
• The letter J is introduced into the English alphabet.
• 1500: First portable watch is created by Peter Henlein of Germany.
• 1513: Juan Ponce de León sights Florida and Vasco Núñez de Balboa sights the eastern edge of the Pacific Ocean.
• 1519–22: Ferdinand Magellan and Juan Sebastián Elcano lead the first circumnavigation of the World.
• 1519–1540: In America, Hernando de Soto expeditions map the Gulf of Mexico coastline and bays.
• 1525: Modern square root symbol (√ )
• 1540: Francisco Vásquez de Coronado sights the Grand Canyon.
• 1541–42: Francisco de Orellana sails the length of the Amazon River.
• 1543: Copernicus publishes his theory that the Earth and the other planets revolve around the Sun
• 1545: Theory of complex numbers is first developed by Gerolamo Cardamo of Italy.
• 1558: Camera obscura is first used in Europe by Giambattista della Porta of Italy.
• 1559–1562: Spanish settlements in Alabama/Florida and Georgia confirm dangers of hurricanes and local native warring tribes.
• 1565: Spanish settlers outside New Spain (Mexico) colonize Florida's coastline at St. Augustine.
• 1565: Invention of the graphite pencil (in a wooden holder) by Conrad Gesner. Modernized in 1812.
• 1568: Gerardus Mercator creates the first European Mercator Projection map, after Su Song in 11th century China.
• 1572: Supernova SN 1572 is observed by Tycho Brahe in the Milky Way.
• 1582: Gregorian calendar is introduced in Europe by Pope Gregory XIII and adopted by catholic countries.
• c. 1583: Galileo Galilei of Pisa, Italy identifies the constant swing of a pendulum, leading to development of reliable timekeepers.
• 1585: earliest known reference to the 'sailing carriage' in China.
• 1589: William Lee invents the stocking frame.
• 1591: First flush toilet is introduced by Sir John Harrington of England, the design published under the title 'The Metamorphosis of Ajax'.
• 1593: Galileo Galilei invents a thermometer.
• 1596: William Barents discovers Spitsbergen.
• 1597: Opera in Florence by Jacopo Peri.

See also

• Entertainment in the 16th century

References

1. Polybius: "The Rise Of The Roman Empire", Page 36, Penguin, 1979.



2. 16th Century Timeline (1501 to 1600)



3. "History of Smallpox – Smallpox Through the Ages". Texas Department of State Health Services.



4. WEB, A LIST OF NATIONAL EPIDEMICS OF PLAGUE IN ENGLAND 1348-1665,weblinkweblink 2009-05-03, no, 2009-04-25,



5. The Sweating Sickness. Story of London.. Accessed 2009-04-25. Archived 2009-05-03.



6. Life Span of Suleiman the Magnificent 1494-1566



7. Drake (1978, p.1). The date of Galileo's birth is given according to the Julian calendar, which was then in force throughout the whole of Christendom. In 1582 it was replaced in Italy and several other Catholic countries with the Gregorian calendar. Unless otherwise indicated, dates in this article are given according to the Gregorian calendar.

Decades and years