Early Modern
Zwingli and the Zurich Reformation (1523): Swiss Reform
The Zurich city council adopted Zwingli's Scripture-based reform, abolishing the Mass by 1525 and founding the Reformed tradition of Protestantism.
Era · c. 1500 – 1800
Early Modern
Voyages of exploration, the Reformation and the age of revolutions that reshaped Europe and the wider world.
Early Modern
Pedro de Alvarado's Conquest of Guatemala (1524-1527)
The main highland Maya kingdoms were defeated and Spanish Guatemala was founded, though Maya resistance continued for years.
Early Modern
Giovanni da Verrazzano's Voyage (1524): New York Harbor
Verrazzano mapped much of the Atlantic coast of North America for France and showed it was a continuous landmass, though he found no passage to Asia.
Early Modern
German Peasants' War (1524–1525): Europe's Great Revolt
The princes and the Swabian League crushed the rebel armies; an estimated 70,000–100,000 people died and most demands went unmet.
Early Modern
Loaísa Expedition (1525-1536): Spain's Second Moluccas Voyage
The expedition failed to secure the Moluccas; most of its men died, and Spain gave up its claim in the Treaty of Zaragoza of 1529.
Early Modern
Battle of Pavia (1525): Francis I Captured by Charles V's Army
Decisive imperial victory; Francis I was captured and the French were driven out of Lombardy.
Early Modern
Middle Passage: The Atlantic Crossing of Enslaved Africans
An estimated 12.5 million Africans were forced aboard slave ships, of whom about 10.7 million survived the crossing to the Americas.
Early Modern
Sebastian Cabot's Río de la Plata Expedition (1526-1530)
The expedition never reached the Moluccas; it explored the Paraná and Paraguay rivers and founded a short-lived fort, but Cabot returned in disgrace.
Early Modern
Babur: Timurid Prince and Founder of the Mughal Dynasty
Babur conquered the Delhi Sultanate and founded the Mughal dynasty, which ruled much of South Asia until the 18th century.
Early Modern
First Battle of Panipat (1526): Babur Founds Mughal Rule
Decisive victory for Babur; Ibrahim Lodi was killed, the Lodi sultanate fell and Babur took Delhi and Agra.
Early Modern
Battle of Mohács (1526): The Fall of Medieval Hungary
Decisive Ottoman victory; Louis II died and Hungary split between rival kings, leading to Ottoman-Habsburg partition.
Early Modern
Leo Africanus and the Description of Africa (1526)
The Description of Africa became the main European source on North and West Africa, including Timbuktu, for about two centuries.