Year 1500 (MD) was a leap year starting on Wednesday in the Julian calendar. It was the last year of the 15th century. The year 1500 was not a leap year in the proleptic Gregorian calendar.
The year 1500 was seen as being especially important by many Christians in Europe, who thought it would bring the beginning of the end of the world. Their belief was based on the phrase "half-time after the time", when the apocalypse was due to occur, which appears in the Book of Revelation and was seen as referring to 1500. This time was also just after the Old World's discovery of the Americas in 1492, and therefore was influenced greatly by the New World.
Historically, the year 1500 is also often identified, somewhat arbitrarily, as marking the end of the Middle Ages and beginning of the early modern period.
The end of this year marked the halfway point of the 2nd millennium, as there were 500 years before it and 500 years after it.
Events
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January–March
April–June
July–September
- July 14 – The Muscovites defeat the Lithuanians and the Poles in the Battle of Vedrosha.
- July 24 – OttomanâÂÂVenetian War: The Turkish fleet of Kemal Reis defeats the Venetians in the Second Battle of Lepanto.
- August 9 – In the Venetian Republic, the Ottoman Empire Turks capture Modon and Coron, the "two eyes of the Republic".
- August 10 РDiogo Dias discovers an island which he names Ṣo Louren̤o, since August 10 is the feast day of Saint Lawrence, a Roman Catholic martyr of the 3rd century. The massive island is later known as Madagascar.
- August 23 – Francisco de Bobadilla, appointed to replace Admiral Christopher Columbus as Spanish Governor-General of the New World, arrives at Santo Domingo on the island of Hispanola. Bobadilla issues an order directing Christopher and Bartolomeo Columbus to appear before him at Santo Domingo.
- September 12 – George the Bearded begins a reign of more than 38 years as Duke of Saxony at the Saxon capital of Emden, after the death of his father, Albert III, who had ruled 36 years. George also becomes George II, Margrave of Meissen.
- September 13 – Pedro Cabral's fleet of nine ships arrives in India, more than six months after departing from Portugal, and lands at the port of Calicut, which had been visited two years earlier by Vasco da Gama.
- September 15 – Christopher Columbus (Cristobal Colon) is placed under arrest, along with his two brothers, Bartolome and Diego, after appearing before Francisco de Bobadilla, who had replaced him as the Spanish Governor of the New World. ("El 15 de septiemre Bobadilla presenta sus credenciales a Colon... Colon habia ejectuado a varios espanoles cargo de gran peso contra el, asi que al fin Bobadilla resolvio enviarlos presos a Espana para que alla se les juzgase."â "On the 15th of September of 1500, Bobadilla presented his credential to Columbus. Columbus had executed several Spaniards charged with great weight against him, so Bobadilla finally decided to send them prisoners to Spain so that they could be tried there.")
- September 23 – Bobadilla hears testimony from 22 witnesses and concludes that the Columbus brothers intended to overthrow him; he has them placed in manacles and chains for deportation to Spain. ("La pesquisa de Bobadilla contra Colon habia comenzado el 23-IX-1500."â "Bobadilla's investigation against Colon had begun on 23 September 1500.")
October–December
Date unknown
- Europe's population is estimated at 56.7 million people. The world's population is estimated to be between 425 million and 540 million.
- Saxony's mint at Annaberg begins producing guldengroschens, also known as guldiners.
- Although other reports exist, it is thought that the last wolf in England is killed this year, making the species extinct in that country. The wolf is thought to have been killed in Allithwaite, in Cumbria. However, reports of wolf sightings and laws concerning wolf bounties exist in rural areas of the north until the 18th century.
- A group of MÃÂori migrate east from the New Zealand mainland to the Chatham Islands, developing a distinct pacificist culture known as the Moriori (approx. date).</onlyinclude>
World population
Births
- January 6 – John of ÃÂvila, Spanish mystic and saint (d. 1569)
- January 20 – Jean Quintin, French priest, knight and writer (d. 1561)
- February 22 – Cardinal Rodolfo Pio da Carpi, Italian humanist (d. 1564)
- February 24 – Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor (d. 1558)
- February 27 РJọo de Castro, Portuguese nobleman and fourth viceroy of Portuguese India (d. 1548)
- March 3 – Reginald Pole, Archbishop of Canterbury (d. 1558)
- April 12 – Joachim Camerarius, German classical scholar (d. 1574)
- April 23
- Alexander Ales, Scottish theologian (d. 1565)
- Johann Stumpf, Swiss writer (d. 1576)
- April 27 РLouis, Count of Vaud̩mont, Italian bishop (d. 1528)
- May 17 – Federico II Gonzaga, Duke of Mantua (d. 1540)
- June 13 – Ernest of Bavaria, pledge lord of the County of Glatz (d. 1560)
- July 1 – Federico Cesi (cardinal), Italian cardinal (d. 1565)
- July 20 – Lorenzo Cybo, Italian condottiero (d. 1549)
- August 16 – Louis Gonzaga (Rodomonte), Italian-French dignitary and diplomat (d. 1532)
- September 5 – Maria of Jever, last ruler of the Lordship of Jever (d. 1575)
- September 7 – Sebastian Newdigate, Carthusian monk and martyr (d. 1535)
- September 17 – Sebastiano Antonio Pighini, Italian cardinal (d. 1553)
- October 17 – Alonso de Orozco Mena, Spanish Roman Catholic priest (d. 1591)
- November 3 – Benvenuto Cellini, Italian goldsmith and sculptor (d. 1571)
- December 6 – Nicolaus Mameranus, Luxembourgish soldier and historian (d. 1567)
- probable
- Johannes Aal, Swiss theologian and composer (d. 1553)
- Charles Dumoulin, French jurist (d. 1566)
- Wu Cheng'en, Chinese novelist (d. 1582)
- Heinrich Faber, German music theorist (d. 1552)
- Francisco de Moraes, Portuguese writer (d. 1572)
- Jeanne de la Font, French poet and culture patron (d. 1532)
- Solomon Molcho, Portuguese mystic (d. 1532)
Deaths
January–June
July–December
- July 14 – ÃÂñigo López de Mendoza y Luna, 2nd Duke of the Infantado, Spanish noble (b. 1438)
- July 19 – Miguel da Paz, Prince of Portugal (b. 1498)
- August 18 – Alfonso of Aragon, prince (b. 1481)
- August 26 – Philipp I, Count of Hanau-Münzenberg, German noble (b. 1449)
- August 30 – Victor, Duke of Münsterberg and Opava, Count of Glatz (b. 1443)
- September 12 – Albert III, Duke of Saxony (b. 1443)
- September 15 – John Morton, English Archbishop of Canterbury (b. c. 1420)
- October 1 – John Alcock, English Bishop of Ely (b. c. 1430)
- October 21 – Emperor Go-Tsuchimikado of Japan (b. 1442)
- November 13 РPhilip, Prince of Anhalt-K̦then, German prince (b. 1468)
- date unknown – Antonia of Savoy, Lady Consort of Monaco
Probable
References