Early Modern
Battle of Cajamarca (1532): The Capture of Atahualpa
Spanish victory; Atahualpa was captured, paid a huge ransom in gold and silver, and was executed in July 1533.
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
Spanish Conquest of the Inca Empire (1532-1572): Pizarro
The Inca Empire was destroyed and replaced by the Spanish Viceroyalty of Peru, though an Inca state survived in Vilcabamba until 1572.
Early Modern
Jacques Cartier's Voyages to Canada (1534-1542)
Cartier mapped the St Lawrence and established France's claim to Canada, but his attempted colony of 1541-1543 failed.
Early Modern
Münster Rebellion (1534–1535): The Anabaptist Kingdom
The besieging army of the prince-bishop took the city in June 1535; the Anabaptist leaders were executed in January 1536 and their bodies displayed in cages on St Lambert's Church.
Early Modern
Henry VIII and the English Reformation: The Break with Rome
England rejected papal authority and Parliament recognised the king as Supreme Head of the Church of England, opening the way to the English Reformation.
Early Modern
Execution of Thomas More (1535): Death of a Lord Chancellor
More was convicted of treason for denying the king's supremacy over the Church and beheaded; he was canonised as a Catholic saint in 1935.
Early Modern
Viceroyalty of New Spain (1535): Spanish Rule from Mexico City
New Spain became the richest and most populous part of the Spanish Empire, governed from Mexico City until Mexican independence in 1821.
Early Modern
Spanish Conquest of the Muisca (1536-1540): Jiménez de Quesada
The Muisca were brought under Spanish rule, Bogotá was founded in 1538 and the region became the New Kingdom of Granada.
Early Modern
Siege of Cusco (1536-1537): Manco Inca's Great Rebellion
The Spanish garrison held Cusco; Manco Inca withdrew and founded an independent Inca state in Vilcabamba that lasted until 1572.
Early Modern
Pilgrimage of Grace (1536): Northern Revolt Against Henry VIII
The rebels dispersed after a royal pardon and promises in December 1536, but after new risings in early 1537 Henry had the leaders and some 200 others executed.
Early Modern
Execution of Anne Boleyn (1536): Fall of Henry VIII's Queen
Anne was convicted of adultery, incest and treason on charges most historians consider false, and beheaded; Henry married Jane Seymour eleven days later.
Early Modern
Dissolution of the Monasteries (1536–1541): Henry VIII's Seizure
More than 800 religious houses were closed, their lands passed to the crown and then largely to the gentry, and monastic life ended in England for centuries.