| January 24 | Francois I signs classified treaty with evangelical German monarchy |
| February 26 | Pope Paul II affirms George van Egmond as bishop of Utrecht |
| March 26 | Lubeck accept free Dutch ships into East Sea |
| April 17 | Sir Thomas Moore confined in London Tower |
| May 10 | French navigator Jacques Cartier reaches Newfoundland |
| May 12 | Wurttemberg becomes Lutherian |
| June 9 | Jacques Cartier 1st sails into mouth of St. Lawrence River |
| June 12 | Turkish Admiral Chaireddin "Barbarossa" allows Giulia Gonzaga to kidnap and plunder Naples |
| June 29 | Jacques Cartier discovers Prince Edward Islands Canada |
| July 24 | Jacques Cartier, lands in Canada, claims it for France |
| August 15 | Ignatius of Loyola forms society of Jesus/Jesuits |
| August 20 | Turkish Admiral Chaireddin"Barbarossa" occupies Tunis |
| October 13 | Alessandro Farnese elected as Pope Paul III |
| October 18 | New pursuit of French protestants |
| October 26 | Charles V names Joris of Egmont, bishop of Utrecht |
| October 30 | English Parliament passes Act of Supremacy, making King Henry VIII head of the English church - a role formerly held by the Pope |
| November 3 | English parliament accepts Act of Supremacy: Henry VIII church leader |
| November 6 | Zealand hit by heavy storm |
| December 4 | Turkish sultan Suleiman occupies Baghdad |
| December 6 | Quito, Ecuador founded by Spanish |
