Early Modern
Suleymaniye Mosque: Sinan's Imperial Masterpiece in Istanbul
Completed in 1557, the mosque and its complex became the largest Ottoman foundation in Istanbul and the burial place of Suleiman, Hurrem Sultan and Sinan.
Region
Europe
Early Modern
Willoughby and Chancellor Voyage (1553): England Reaches Russia
Willoughby and the crews of two ships died on the Kola Peninsula, but Chancellor reached Moscow, leading to the founding of the Muscovy Company in 1555.
Early Modern
Lady Jane Grey (1553): The Nine Days' Queen of England
Mary I took the throne without a battle; Jane was imprisoned, condemned for treason and beheaded in February 1554.
Early Modern
Wyatt's Rebellion (1554): Revolt Against Mary I's Spanish Match
The rising collapsed at Ludgate on 7 February 1554; Wyatt, Lady Jane Grey and about a hundred others were executed, and Mary married Philip in July.
Early Modern
Abdication of Charles V (1555): The Emperor Divides His Empire
The Habsburg inheritance was split into a Spanish branch under Philip II and an Austrian branch under Ferdinand I, and Charles retired to the monastery of Yuste.
Early Modern
Peace of Augsburg (1555): Cuius Regio, Eius Religio
Lutheranism became legal in the Holy Roman Empire, with each ruling prince choosing the religion of his territory, but Calvinists were excluded.
Early Modern
Marian Persecutions (1555–1558): Mary I Burns Protestants
Around 280 Protestants were burned, but the campaign failed to crush English Protestantism and gave Mary the lasting name Bloody Mary.
Early Modern
Plantin Press in Antwerp (1555): A Renaissance Printing Empire
Plantin built one of the largest printing businesses in sixteenth-century Europe; his house and workshop survive as the Plantin-Moretus Museum, a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
Early Modern
Portuguese Macau (1557): Europe's First Foothold in China
The Portuguese gained a tolerated, rent-paying settlement under Ming authority that became the main European gateway to China and Japan for nearly a century.
Early Modern
Florentine Codex: Sahagún's Nahua Encyclopedia of Mexico
A twelve-book bilingual, illustrated encyclopedia of Nahua culture and the conquest survived in Florence and became a key source on the Aztec world.
Early Modern
Loss of Calais (1558): England's Last French Possession Falls
France captured Calais and the surrounding Pale, ending England's last foothold on the French mainland.
Early Modern
Treaty of Cateau-Cambrésis (1559): End of the Italian Wars
France gave up its claims in Italy, Spain's dominance of the peninsula was confirmed, and France kept Calais and the Three Bishoprics.