1520 - Definition and Overview

Events

• January 18 - King Christian II of Denmark and Norway defeats the Swedes at Lake Asunde.
• June - Moctezuma II, Aztec ruler of Tenochtitlan is declared deposed due to his captivity by conquistador Hernán Cortés. His brother Cuitláhuac rises to the throne.
• June 7 - Field of Cloth of Gold. Famous meeting between King Henry VIII of England and King Francis I of France.
• July 1 - The forces of Cuitláhuac, Aztec ruler of Tenochtitlan gain a major victory against the forces conquistador Hernán Cortés. This La Noche Triste (Night of Sorrow), results in the death of about 400 conquistadors and some 2,000 of their Native American allies. However Cortés and the most skilled of his men manage to escape and later regroup.
• September 22 - Suleiman I succeeds his father Selim I as Sultan of the Ottoman Empire.
• October - Cuitláhuac, Aztec ruler of Tenochtitlan dies from smallpox. He is succeeded by his nephew Cuauhtémoc.
• November 8 - Stockholm Bloodbath begins: A successful invasion of Sweden by Danish forces under the command of Christian II of Denmark results in the execution of around 100 persons (mostly nobility and clergy involved in the previous Swedish war effort).
• November 28 - After navigating through the South American strait, three ships under the command of Portuguese explorer Ferdinand Magellan reach the Pacific Ocean, becoming the first Europeans to sail from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific (the strait was later named the Strait of Magellan).

Births

• August 1 - King Sigismund II Augustus of Poland
• August 10 - Madeleine de Valois, princess of France, Queen of Scotland (d. 1537)
• Choi Hyong Ung (known as Seosan) in Joseon
• Jean Ribault, French navigator, in Dieppe
• Vincenzo Galilei, Italian music theorist, lutenist and composer, member of Florentine Camerata and father of Galileo Galilei

Deaths

• February 5 - Sten Sture the younger, viceroy of Sweden
• April 6 - Rafael, Italian painter and architect
• July - Moctezuma II, deposed Aztec ruler of Tenochtitlan.
• September 22 - Ottoman Sultan Selim I
• October - Cuitláhuac, Aztec ruler of Tenochtitlan (smallpox).