1540 CE

Thomas Cromwell, is executed for treason publicly in London on the orders of king Henry VIII of England. Henry marries his fifth wife, Catherine Howard, on the same day. At Smithfield, London, three Lutheran pastors, Robert Barnes, Thomas Gerrard and William Jerome, are burnt at the stake on a charge of heresy and three Roman Catholic priests, Thomas Abel, Richard Fetherstone and Edward Powell, are hanged, drawn and quartered on a charge of high treason. In Peru, Spanish captain Garcí Manuel de Carbajal founds the Villa Hermosa de Arequipa; one year later, Charles V of Germany and I of Spain will give the valley a status of 'city' by royal decree.

Geopolitics & Diplomacy

April 3– Estêvão da Gama becomes the new Governor of Portuguese India.source
September 3 – Gelawdewos succeeds his father Lebna Dengel as Emperor of Ethiopia.source

Conflict & Security

February 14 – Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor, enters Ghent without resistance, and executes rebels, ending the Revolt of Ghent (1539–1540).source
May 17 – Battle of Kannauj: Sher Shah Suri defeats and deposes Mughal Emperor Humayan, establishing the Sur Empire.source
July 28 – Thomas Cromwell, is executed for treason publicly in London on the orders of king Henry VIII of England. Henry marries his fifth wife, Catherine Howard, on the same day.source
September 10 – Gibraltar is sacked by the fleet of Barbary pirate Ali Hamet, a Sardinian renegade in the service of the Ottoman Empire, and many of its leading citizens are taken as captives to Peñón de Vélez de la Gomera in Morocco. This leads to construction of the defensive Charles V Wall, at this time known as the Muralla de San Benito.source
October 1 – Battle of Alborán: A Habsburg Spanish fleet, under the command of Bernardino de Mendoza, destroys an Ottoman fleet commanded by Ali Hamet off Alborán Island in the Mediterranean.source
December 20 – Stephen V, Prince of Moldavia, is assassinated by two of the Moldavian nobles (boyars), Mihul and Trotsanul, after word arrives that he will be replaced by Petru Rareş, who had paid a bribe to the Ottoman Sultan Suleiman in order to be appointed the new Prince. Alexandru Cornea is crowned temporarily as Prince Alexandru III.source

Exploration & Expansion

July 7 – Spanish conquistador Francisco Vázquez de Coronado captures Hawikuh in modern-day New Mexico, at this time known as part of Cíbola, but fails to find the legendary gold.source
August 15 – In Peru, Spanish captain Garcí Manuel de Carbajal founds the Villa Hermosa de Arequipa; one year later, Charles V of Germany and I of Spain will give the valley a status of 'city' by royal decree.source
October 18 – An expedition led by Spanish conquistador Hernando de Soto destroys the fortified village of Mabila in modern-day Alabama, killing paramount chief Tuskaloosa.source
December 31 – Estêvão da Gama, Governor of Portuguese India, departs from Goa with a plan to sail into the Red Sea, and destroy the Ottoman Empire's access to the Indian Ocean by plundering Suez. The planned attack fails.source

Religion & Belief

March 23 – Waltham Abbey is the last to be closed as part of Henry VIII of England's dissolution of the monasteries.source
April 7– The English cathedral priories of Canterbury and Rochester are transformed into secular cathedral chapters on Easter Sunday, concluding the Dissolution of the monasteries.source
April 12– Printing of the first translation of the New Testament into the Icelandic language is completed after King Christian III of Denmark finishes having Oddur Gottskálksson's text compared to the original Latin.source
July 30 – At Smithfield, London, three Lutheran pastors, Robert Barnes, Thomas Gerrard and William Jerome, are burnt at the stake on a charge of heresy and three Roman Catholic priests, Thomas Abel, Richard Fetherstone and Edward Powell, are hanged, drawn and quartered on a charge of high treason.source
September 27 – The Society of Jesus (Jesuits) is approved by Pope Paul III, in his bull Regimini militantis Ecclesiae.source
Martin Luther expels theologian Caspar Schwenckfeld from Silesia.source

Science & Discovery

Georg Joachim Rheticus publishes De libris revolutionum Copernici narratio prima in Danzig, an abstract of Copernicus' as yet unpublished De revolutionibus orbium coelestium.source

Health & Medicine

approximate date – The musket is introduced into Japan from Europe.source

Crime & Justice

June 10 – Thomas Cromwell, Chief Minister for King Henry VIII, is arrested at meeting of the Privy Council of England at Westminster and charged with treason. Cromwell is removed from his positions as Chancellor of the Exchequer, Lord Privy Seal, Lord Great Chamberlain and Governor of the Isle of Wight, and will be executed on July 28.source
November 8 – William Whorwood becomes the new Attorney General for England and Wales, succeeding Sir John Bakersource

Climate & Environment

Europe is hit by a heat wave and drought lasting for about seven months. Rivers such as the Rhine and Seine dry up, and many people die from dysentery and other illnesses, caused by lack of safe drinking water.source

Culture & Society

January 6 – King Henry VIII marries Anne of Cleves, his fourth Queen consort; the marriage lasts six months.source
July 9 – English King Henry VIII's marriage to Anne of Cleves, his fourth Queen consort, is annulled.source
December 16 – Honoré I, Lord of Monaco reaches the age of 19 and after the future principality of Monaco had been administered by regents for more than 18 years.source

Births

January 18 – Catarina of Portugal, Duchess of Braganza, claimant to the Portuguese throne in 1580 (d. 1614)source
January 25 – Edmund Campion, English Jesuit and Roman Catholic martyr (d. 1581)source
February 12 – Wŏn Kyun, Korean general and admiral during the Joseon Dynasty (d. 1597)source
February 23 – Hedwig of Brandenburg, Duchess of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel (d. 1602)source
February 25 – Henry Howard, 1st Earl of Northampton, English aristocrat and courtier (d. 1614)source
March 1 – Enrique de Guzmán, 2nd Count of Olivares, Spanish noble (d. 1607)source
May 14 – Bartholomäus Scultetus, German mayor of Görlitz, astronomer (d. 1614)source
June 11 – Barnabe Googe, English poet (d. 1594)source
June 29 – Ana de Mendoza y de Silva, Princess of Éboli, Spanish countess (d. 1592)source
June 30 – Countess Palatine Elisabeth of Simmern-Sponheim, Duchess of Saxony (d. 1594)source
July 19 – Ludowika Margaretha of Zweibrücken-Bitsch, spouse of Count Philip V of Hanau-Lichtenberg (d. 1569)source
August 5 – Joseph Justus Scaliger, French Protestant scholar (d. 1609)source
August 25 – Lady Catherine Grey, English noblewoman, potential successor to the throne (d. 1568)source
November 16 – Princess Cecilia of Sweden (d. 1627)source

Deaths

January 27 – Angela Merici, Italian religious leader and saint (b. 1474)source
March 30 – Matthäus Lang von Wellenburg, German statesman and archbishop of Salzburg (b. 1469)source
April 21 – Cardinal-Infante Afonso of Portugal, Catholic cardinal (b. 1509)source
May 6 – Juan Luís Vives, Spanish scholar (b. 1492)source
May 22 – Francesco Guicciardini, Italian statesman and historian (b. 1483)source
July 28 – Thomas Cromwell, 1st Earl of Essex, English statesman (executed) (b. c.1485)source
July 30 – Robert Barnes, English reformer (martyred) (b. 1495)source
July 30 – Eric I, Duke of Brunswick-Lüneburg, Prince of Calenberg (1491–1540) (b. 1470)source
August 23 – Guillaume Budé, French scholar (b. 1467)source
August 24 – Girolamo Francesco Maria Mazzola (Parmigianino), Italian artist (b. 1503)source
August 28 – Federico II Gonzaga, Duke of Mantua (b. 1500)source
September 16 – Enrique de Borja y Aragón, Spanish noble of the House of Borgia (b. 1518)source
September 20 – Infante Duarte, Duke of Guimarães, son of King Manuel I of Portugal (b. 1515)source
c. January – Elizabeth Blount, mistress of Henry VIII of England (b. 1502)source