Year 1539 was a common year starting on Wednesday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar.
Events of 1539
January - June
July - December
Undated
- Protestant Reformation: Lutheranism is forcefully introduced to Iceland, despite the opposition of Bishop Jón Arason.
- Beaulieu Abbey, Bolton Abbey, Colchester Abbey, St Albans Abbey and St Mary's Abbey, York fall prey to the Dissolution of the Monasteries.
- In a worse scenario than in 1531, when there was just a drought and locusts killing off the populace through starvation and cannibalism, this year in Henan province, China, during the Ming Dynasty, a severe drought with swarms of locusts is made worse by a large epidemic outbreak of the plague.
- Francis I of France issues an ordinance that places the whole of France under the jurisdiction of the royal law courts and makes French the language of those courts.
- Horse Racing began at Chester
Births
- See also Category: 1539 births.
Deaths
- February 6 - John III, Duke of Cleves (b. 1491)
- February 13 - Isabella d'Este, Marquise of Mantua (b. 1474)
- March 5 - Nuno da Cunha, Portuguese governor in India (b. 1487)
- March 12 - Thomas Boleyn, 1st Earl of Wiltshire, English diplomat and politician (b.1477)
- April 17 - George, Duke of Saxony (b. 1471)
- May 7 - Guru Nanak, founder of Sikhism (b. 1469)
- May 7 - Ottaviano Petrucci, Italian printer (b. 1466)
- July 5 - St Anthony Maria Zaccaria, Italian saint (b. 1502)
- August - Vannoccio Biringuccio, Italian metallurgist (b. 1480)
- September 8 - John Stokesley, English prelate (b. 1475)
- November 15 - Hugh Cook Faringdon, Abbot of Reading
- December 20 - Johannes Lupi, Flemish composer (b. c. 1539)
- date unknown
- See also Category: 1539 deaths.
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