1542

Year '1542' (MDXLII) was a common year starting on Sunday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar.

Contents

Events of 1542

January - June

July - December

Undated

Births

Deaths

Events of 1542

January - June

★ War resumes between Francis I of France and Emperor Charles V. This time Henry VIII of England is allied to the Emperor, while James V of Scotland and Sultan Suleiman I are allied to the French.

★ February 2 - Ethiopia: Portuguese under Christovão da Gama capture a Moslem-occupied hillfort in northern Ethiopia in the Battle of Baçente.

★ February 13 - Catherine Howard, the fifth wife of Henry VIII of England, is executed for adultery.

★ April 4-16 - Ethiopia: The Portuguese under Christovão da Gama encounter the army of Imam Ahmad Gragn in the Battle of Jarte, and inflict upon the Imam two successive defeats.

July - December

★ August - Battle of the Hill of the Jews: During the rainy season, Christovão da Gama captures a strategic position and many badly-needed horses.

★ August 24 - Battle of Haddon Rig, Scotland beats England

★ August 28 - Ethiopia: Reinforced with at least 600 arquebusiers and cavalry, Imam Ahmad Gragn attacks the Portuguese camp in the Battle of Wofla. The Portuguese are scattered; Christovão da Gama is captured and executed.

★ September 28 - Juan Rodríguez Cabrillo landed in what is now San Diego Bay and named it "San Miguel", which will later become San Diego

★ November 24 - Battle of Solway Moss. An English army invades Scotland and defeats a Scottish army.

★ December 14 - Queen Mary I of Scotland (Mary Queen of Scots) becomes queen at the age of only one week.

Undated

★ The first contact of Japan with the West occurs when a Portuguese ship, blown off its course to China, lands in Japan.

Births

★ March 19 - Jan Zamoyski, Polish nobleman (died 1605)

★ June 6 - Richard Grenville, Elizabethan soldier and explorer (died 1591)

★ June 24 - St. John of the Cross, Spanish Carmelite friar and poet (died 1591)

★ October 4 - Robert Bellarmine, Italian saint (d. 1621)

★ October 15 - Akbar, Jellaladin Mahommed, Mughal Emperor (died 1605)

★ December 8 - Queen Mary I of Scotland (died 1587)

★ ''date unknown''

★
★ Toda Kazuaki, samurai in the service of Tokugawa Ieyasu (died 1604)

★
★ John Speed, historian (died 1629)

★
★ Horio Yoshiharu, Japanese daimyo (died 1611)

★
★ Kuki Yoshitaka, Japanese naval commander (died 1600)
: ''See also .''

Deaths

★ February - Nikolaus Federmann, German adventurer in Venezuela and Colombia (born 1501)

★ February 1 - Girolamo Aleandro, Italian cardinal (born 1480)

★ February 13 - Catherine Howard, fifth wife of Henry VIII of England (executed) (born c1522)

★ March 3 - Arthur Plantagenet, 1st Viscount Lisle, illegitimate son of King Edward IV of England

★ May 21 - Hernando de Soto, Spanish explorer, navigator and conquistador (born c1500)

★ June 19 - Leo Jud, Swiss reformer (born 1482)

★ July 15 - Lisa Gherardini, believed to be the model for the ''Mona Lisa''

★ August 24 - Gasparo Contarini, Italian diplomat and cardinal (born 1483)

★ August 29 - Cristovão da Gama, Portuguese soldier (born c.1516)

★ September 21 - Juan Boscán Almogáver, Spanish poet (born c1490)

★ October 6 - Thomas Wyatt, English poet and diplomat (born 1503)

★ December 14 - King James V of Scotland (born 1512)

★ ''date unknown''

★
★ Dosso Dossi, Italian painter (born 1490)

★
★ Lucas Fernández, Spanish dramatist and musician (born c1474)

★
★ Lapu-Lapu, Filipino warrior (born 1491)
: ''See also .''