Events of 1534

Martin Luther's 1534 Bible.

January–June

• February 27 – A group of Anabaptists, led by Jan Matthys, seize Münster in Westphalia and declare it "The New Jerusalem" as they begin to exile dissenters and forcibly baptize all others.

• April 5 – On Easter Sunday, Anabaptist Jan Matthys is killed by the Landsknechte, who lay siege to Münster on the day he predicted as The Second Coming of Christ. His follower John of Leiden takes control of the city.

• May 10 – Jacques Cartier explores Newfoundland while searching for the Northwest Passage.

• June 9 – Jacques Cartier is the first European to discover the St. Lawrence River.

• June 23 – Copenhagen opens its gates to Count Christopher of Oldenburg leading the army of Lübeck (and the Hanseatic League), nominally in the interests of the deposed King Christian II of Denmark. The surrenders of Copenhagen and, a few days later, of Malmö represent the high point of the Count's War for the forces of the League. These victories presumably led the Danish nobility to recognize Christian III as King on July 4.

July–December

• July 4 – Christian III is elected King of Denmark and Norway in the town of Rye.

• July 7 – The first known exchange occurs between Europeans and natives of the Gulf of St. Lawrence, in New Brunswick.

• October 13 – Pope Paul III succeeds Pope Clement VII as the 220th pope.

• October 18 – Huguenots post placards all over France attacking the Catholic Mass, provoking a violent sectarian reaction.

Undated

Church of England separates.

• Cambridge University Press is given a Royal Charter by Henry VIII and becomes the first of the privileged presses.

• Henry VIII, angry at the Pope's refusal to grant him a divorce from Catherine of Aragon, declares himself Supreme Head of the English church, the Church of England (see also: The derivative but more widely spread: Anglican Communion Church). The Supremacy Act is published.

• The Act for the Submission of the Clergy requires English churchmen to submit to the king, and forbids the publication of ecclesiastical laws without royal permission.

• Gargantua is published by François Rabelais.

• Martin Luther's translation of the complete Christian Bible into German appears. He had already published the New Testament in 1522.

Births

• February 5 – Giovanni de' Bardi, Italian writer, composer, and soldier (d. 1612)

• March 19 – José de Anchieta, Spanish Jesuit missionary in Brazil (d. 1597)

• April 18 – William Harrison, English clergyman (d. 1593)

• June 15 – Henri I de Montmorency, Marshal of France (d. 1614)

• June 23 – Oda Nobunaga, Japanese warlord (d. 1582)

• July 1 – King Frederick II of Denmark (d. 1588)

• July 18 – Zacharius Ursinus, German theologian (d. 1583)

• September 24 – Guru Ram Das, fourth Sikh Guru (d. 1581)

• date unknown

• *Lodovico Agostini, Italian composer (d. 1590)

• *Isaac Luria, Jewish scholar and mystic (d. 1572)

• *Henry Herbert, 2nd Earl of Pembroke, statesman of the Elizabethan era (d. 1601)

• *Paul Skalić, Croatian encyclopedist, humanist and adventurer (d. 1573)

• probable

• *Zofia Tarnowska, Polish noble lady (d. 1570)

Deaths

• January 9 – Johannes Aventinus, Bavarian historian and philologist (b. 1477)

• January 25 – Magdalena of Saxony (b. 1507)

• March 5 – Antonio da Correggio, Italian painter (b. 1488)

• April 5 – Jan Matthys, Anabaptist reformer and prophet

• April 20 – Elizabeth Barton, English nun (executed) (b. 1506)

• August 9 – Thomas Cardinal Cajetan, Italian theologian (b. 1470)

• September 25 – Pope Clement VII (b. 1478)

• December 27 – Antonio da Sangallo the Elder, Florentine architect (b. 1453)

• date unknown

• *István Báthory, Hungarian noble (b. 1477)

• *Edward Guilford, Lord Warden of the Cinque Ports (b. 1474)

• *Michael Glinski, Lithuanian prince (b. c. 1470)

• *Cesare Hercolani, Italian soldier (b. 1499)

• *Humphrey Kynaston, English highwayman (b. 1474)

• *William Blount, 4th Baron Mountjoy, scholar and patron

• *Amago Okihisa, Japanese nobleman

• probable

• *Antonio Pigafetta, Italian navigator (b. 1491)

• *John Taylor, Master of the Rolls (b. 1480)