1534
Act of Supremacy
The English Parliament declared Henry VIII the supreme head of the Church of England, severing a thousand-year tie with Rome. Refusing to swear the oath became treason. Within a year Thomas More and John Fisher would lose their heads, and the English monasteries would begin to fall. The declaration that the king was supreme head of the Church severed England's ties to Rome and initiated a Reformation driven by royal authority.
Cartier Enters the Saint Lawrence
The Breton mariner Jacques Cartier, sent by Francis I, nosed into the Gulf of Saint Lawrence and planted a cross at Gaspe. He kidnapped two sons of the Iroquoian chief Donnacona to take back to France as proof of discovery. A French claim to Canada had been clumsily planted. The kidnapping of Donnacona's sons as interpreters established a troubling pattern of coercive contact in early French-Indigenous relations.
Inca Puppet Manco Inca Crowned
Francisco Pizarro installed Manco Inca Yupanqui, a young son of Huayna Capac, as a Spanish-controlled Sapa Inca in Cuzco. Manco would rebel within two years, lay siege to his own capital, and withdraw into the remote fastness of Vilcabamba, where Inca resistance continued for another thirty-five years. Manco's 1536 rebellion and siege of Cuzco came closer to driving out the Spanish than any later Inca resistance.
Sultanate of Oman Confronts Portuguese
Portuguese naval commanders extended their control of the Arabian Sea by installing garrisons at Muscat and other Omani ports. The local population periodically resisted, and Portuguese abuses fueled decades of anti-European sentiment that would culminate in the Omani expulsion of the Portuguese later in the next century. Portuguese abuses fueled decades of anti-European sentiment that culminated in the Omani expulsion of Portugal the following century.
Ignatius Founds the Jesuits
In a chapel on Montmartre, the Basque soldier-turned-mystic Ignatius of Loyola and six companions took vows of poverty and chastity and swore to go wherever the pope sent them. The Society of Jesus would become the Catholic Reformation's commando force, from Rio to Beijing. The Society's combination of military obedience and intellectual rigor made it the Catholic Reformation's most effective instrument worldwide.
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Frequently asked
What happened in the year 1534?
Saeculum lists 5 curated events from 1534. The most significant is Act of Supremacy: The English Parliament declared Henry VIII the supreme head of the Church of England, severing a thousand-year tie with Rome.
What era was 1534 part of?
1534 falls within the Renaissance (1501-1650). Reformation, conquest, and the world drawn whole.
Which regions saw notable events in 1534?
The curated events from 1534 span Europe, North America, South America and Middle East.