Francisco Álvarez de Toledo, Count of Oropesa, was Spanish viceroy of Peru from November 26, 1569 to September 23, 1581. Toledo became the fifth viceroy of Peru in 1569. He was appointed viceroy by Philip II after serving as a steward in th...

Johann Weyer (in Dutch Jan/Johan/Johannes Wier, in Latin Ioannes Wierus and Piscinarius), was a Dutch physician, occultist and demonologist, disciple and follower of Heinrich Cornelius Agrippa. He was among the first to publish against the...

The principle of a list of forbidden books was adopted at the Fifth Lateran Council in 1515, then confirmed by the Council of Trent in 1546. The first edition of the Index Librorum Prohibitorum, dated 1557 was published by Pope Paul IV. T...

First published in 1516, Thomas More's Utopia is one of the most important works of European humanism. Through the voice of the mysterious traveler Raphael Hythloday, More describes a pagan, communist city-state governed by reason. Addressi...

The Ottoman–Mamluk War of 1516–1517 was a conflict between the Egyptian Mamluk Sultanate and the Ottoman Empire, which led to the fall of the Mamluk Sultanate and the incorporation of Syria, Egypt and the Arabian Peninsula as provinces of t...

Mary I was the Queen of England and Ireland from July 1553 until her death. She is best known for her aggressive and bloody attempt to reverse the English Reformation, which had begun during the reign of her father, Henry VIII. Her pursuit...

The Ninety-Five Theses (original Latin: Disputatio pro declaratione virtutis indulgentiarum) were written by Martin Luther in 1517 and are widely regarded as the initial catalyst for the Protestant Reformation. The disputation protests agai...

John Foxe was an English historian and martyrologist, the author of what is popularly known as Foxe's Book of Martyrs, (properly The Acts and Monuments), an account of Christian martyrs throughout Western history but emphasizing the sufferi...

The Protestant Reformation was the schism within Western Christianity initiated by Martin Luther, John Calvin, and other early Protestants. Although there had been significant attempts at reform before Luther (notably those of John Wycliffe...

Tintoretto was an Italian painter and a notable exponent of the Venetian Renaissance school. For his phenomenal energy in painting he was termed Il Furioso. His work is characterized by its muscular figures, dramatic gestures and bold use o...

René of Châlon was a Prince of Orange and stadtholder of Holland, Zeeland, Utrecht and Gelre. René was born in Breda, the only son of Count Henry III of Nassau-Breda and Claudia of Châlon. Claudia's brother, Philibert of Châlon, and the anc...

Henry II was King of France from 31 March 1547, until his death in 1559. Henry was born in the royal Château de Saint-Germain-en-Laye, near Paris, the son of Francis I and Claude, Duchess of Brittany (daughter of Louis XII of France and Ann...

Pedro Menéndez de Avilés was a Spanish admiral and explorer, best remembered for founding St. Augustine, Florida in 1565. This was the first successful Spanish foothold in La Florida and remained the most significant city in the region for...

Uluj Ali was a Muslim corsair of Italian origin, who converted to Islam and later became an Ottoman admiral (Reis) and Chief Admiral of the Ottoman Fleet in the 16th century. He was also known by several other names in the Christian countri...

Catherine de' Medici was born in Florence, Italy, as Caterina Maria Romula di Lorenzo de' Medici. Both of her parents, Lorenzo II de' Medici, Duke of Urbino, and Madeleine de La Tour d'Auvergne, Countess of Boulogne, died within weeks of h...