- South America
Some thousand nations at contact
On the eve of European arrival, perhaps two to four million people in hundreds of distinct nations inhabit the territory of present-day Brazil.
Era: Indigenous Peoples Before Contact
Sources: Brazil · Encyclopaedia Britannica, Indigenous Peoples (Indigenas) · IBGE, Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics
- Europe
The Dalmatian towns under Venice
Coastal cities such as Trogir flourished under Venetian rule, acquiring fine Romanesque, Renaissance and Baroque buildings; the historic island town of Trogir is preserved as a UNESCO World Heritage Site of the Venetian period.
Era: Venetian Dalmatia, the Republic of Ragusa and the Ottoman Wars
Sources: Historic City of Trogir · UNESCO World Heritage Centre, Croatia: History · Encyclopaedia Britannica
- Europe
First stone of the new Saint Peter's
Pope Julius II laid the foundation stone of an entirely new Saint Peter's Basilica to replace the failing fourth-century church; it was completed in 1626.
Era: The Renaissance Papacy and the New Saint Peter's
Sources: St. Peter's Basilica · Encyclopaedia Britannica
- Europe
Origins of the Vatican Museums
The Vatican Museums trace their founding to 1506, when Julius II displayed the newly excavated ancient sculpture of the Laocoon, beginning the papal collections.
Era: The Renaissance Papacy and the New Saint Peter's
Sources: The Vatican Museums · Encyclopaedia Britannica
- Europe
Michelangelo paints the Sistine Chapel ceiling
Commissioned by the papacy in Rome, Michelangelo's Sistine Chapel ceiling became one of the supreme achievements of High Renaissance art.
Era: The Renaissance and the City-States
Sources: Florence and Central Italy, 1400–1600 A.D. (Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History) · The Metropolitan Museum of Art
- Europe
Michelangelo paints the Sistine ceiling
Commissioned by Julius II, Michelangelo painted the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel between 1508 and 1512, one of the supreme achievements of Renaissance art.
Era: The Renaissance Papacy and the New Saint Peter's
Sources: History of the Sistine Chapel · Vatican Museums (museivaticani.va), St. Peter's Basilica · Encyclopaedia Britannica
- Europe
Skaryna prints the first East Slavic book
Francysk Skaryna, born in Polotsk, issued his Psalter from his press in Prague, the first book printed in an East Slavic language, followed by further biblical books in 1517-1519.
Era: Heart of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania
Sources: Francysk Skaryna and the First Printed Books in the GDL · Orbis Lituaniae, Vilnius University, History of Belarus · Encyclopaedia Britannica
- Europe
Mir Castle and the Radziwiłł magnates
The Gothic castle at Mir, begun in the 1520s and rebuilt in Renaissance style under the Radziwiłł family, became one of the great fortified residences of the Grand Duchy and is now a UNESCO World Heritage site.
Era: Heart of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania
Sources: Mir Castle Complex · UNESCO World Heritage Centre, Architectural, Residential and Cultural Complex of the Radziwill Family at Nesvizh · UNESCO World Heritage Centre
- Asia
Magellan's expedition reaches Brunei
The ships of Ferdinand Magellan's circumnavigation anchor off Brunei and record a wealthy capital ruled by the great Bolkiah, who controls Borneo and neighbouring islands.
Era: The Golden Age of the Maritime Empire
Sources: History of Brunei · Encyclopaedia Britannica, Ferdinand Magellan · Encyclopaedia Britannica
- Europe
A printing press in Vilnius
Moving his workshop to Vilnius, capital of the Grand Duchy, Skaryna produced the Little Travel Book and later The Apostle, the first books printed within the Grand Duchy of Lithuania itself.
Era: Heart of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania
Sources: Francysk Skaryna and the First Printed Books in the GDL · Orbis Lituaniae, Vilnius University
- North America
First university in the Americas
A royal charter establishes the University of Santo Domingo, the first university in the New World, in a city already home to its first cathedral and hospital.
Era: Quisqueya, Columbus, and the First Colony
Sources: Santo Domingo · Encyclopaedia Britannica, Colonial City of Santo Domingo · UNESCO World Heritage Centre
- Europe
The complete Swedish Bible
The first full Bible in Swedish, the work of the reformers Olaus and Laurentius Petri, was printed, advancing the Lutheran cause and shaping the Swedish written language and popular literacy.
Era: The Vasa Monarchy and the Swedish Reformation
Sources: Gustav Vasa and the Reformation · Swedish History Museum (Historiska museet)
- Europe
Copernicus publishes 'On the Revolutions'
The Polish astronomer Nicolaus Copernicus published his heliocentric theory, placing the Sun rather than the Earth at the centre of the cosmos and helping to launch modern astronomy.
Era: The Piast and Jagiellonian Kingdom
Sources: Nicolaus Copernicus · Encyclopaedia Britannica
- Europe
Mikael Agricola and written Finnish
The Reformation-era bishop Mikael Agricola created written Finnish, translating the New Testament in 1548 and laying the foundation of Finnish literary culture.
Era: The Finnic Peoples and Six Centuries as Part of Sweden
Sources: Main outlines of Finnish history · thisisFINLAND (Finland Promotion Board)
- Europe
First books printed in Slovene
Primoz Trubar published the Catechismus and Abecedarium, the first printed books in the Slovene language, founding the literary language as a product of the Protestant Reformation.
Era: The Habsburg Duchies and the Birth of Written Slovene
Sources: Primoz Trubar · Encyclopaedia Britannica, Protestantism and the First Slovene Books · Culture.si, Tracing the Slovenian Reformation · Slovenian Tourist Board (slovenia.info)
- North America
- Europe
The Mehmed Paša Sokolović Bridge, Višegrad
The eleven-arch Ottoman bridge over the Drina at Višegrad was built to designs by the imperial architect Sinan; it was inscribed as UNESCO World Heritage in 2007.
Era: Ottoman Bosnia and the Making of a Multi-Confessional Land
Sources: Mehmed Paša Sokolović Bridge in Višegrad (inscribed 2007) · WorldAtlas
- Europe
The Old Bridge at Mostar (Stari Most)
The single-arch Old Bridge over the Neretva, a masterpiece of Ottoman engineering, gave Mostar its name; the Old City of Mostar was inscribed by UNESCO in 2005 after the bridge's wartime destruction and reconstruction.
Era: Ottoman Bosnia and the Making of a Multi-Confessional Land
Sources: Old Bridge Area of the Old City of Mostar (inscribed 2005) · World Heritage Travel
- Europe
Dalmatin's Bible and Bohoric's grammar
Jurij Dalmatin published a complete Slovene translation of the Bible and Adam Bohoric the first Slovene grammar, proving the new written language fit for the most demanding texts.
Era: The Habsburg Duchies and the Birth of Written Slovene
Sources: History of Slovenia · Government of Slovenia (gov.si), Tracing the Slovenian Reformation · Slovenian Tourist Board (slovenia.info)
- Asia
Shah Abbas moves the capital to Isfahan
At the height of Safavid power, Shah Abbas the Great relocates the capital to Isfahan and builds the grand Naqsh-e Jahan (Imam) Square, a UNESCO World Heritage masterpiece of urban design.
Era: Turkic and Mongol Rule and the Safavids
Sources: Meidan Emam, Esfahan — UNESCO World Heritage List · UNESCO World Heritage Centre, Safavid dynasty · Encyclopaedia Britannica
Culture & IdeasThe 16th century
Culture & Ideas in the 16th century
Every event in the Terralore archive tagged culture and ideas — art, language, science and learning, narrowed to the 16th century — 20 of them, drawn from 14 nations, running from 1500 to 1598. Each entry keeps the sources it was verified against and links back to the chronicle it came from.
- Events
- 20
- Nations
- 14
- Earliest
- 1500
- Latest
- 1598
- Europe
- 15
- Asia
- 2
- North America
- 2
- South America
- 1
Every entry below is the same record, with the same sources, as the one on its nation’s chronicle.