1542

Year 1542 (MDXLII) was a common year starting on Sunday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar.

Events of 1542

January - June

* February 2 - Battle of Baçente: The Portuguese under Christovão da Gama capture a Moslem-occupied hillfort in northern Ethiopia.
* February 13 - Catherine Howard, the fifth wife of Henry VIII of England, is executed for adultery.
* February 14 - Guadalajara, Mexico, is founded by the Spaniards after 3 previous attempts failed, due to aggressive opposition from local tribes.
* April 4-16 - Ethiopia - Battle of Jarte: The Portuguese under Christovão da Gama encounter the army of Imam Ahmad Gragn and inflict upon him two successive defeats.

July - December

* August - Battle of the Hill of the Jews: During the rainy season, Christovão da Gama captures a strategic position and many badly-needed horses.
* August 24 - Battle of Haddon Rig: Scotland beats England.
* August 27 - Advice and citizenry of Hildesheim (Germany) profess themselves to the Lutheran teachings. As a pledge owner, the city Hildesheim provides for the execution of the Reformation in the city and office of Peine. The priests from the localities of Clauen, Hohenhameln, Sossmar, Schmedenstedt, Lengede and Rosenthal resume their offices in the sense of the Reformation.
* August 28 - Ethiopia - Battle of Wofla: Reinforced with at least 600 arquebusiers and cavalry, Imam Ahmad Gragn attacks the Portuguese camp. The Portuguese are scattered; Christovão da Gama is captured and executed.
* September 28 - Juan Rodríguez Cabrillo lands in what is now San Diego Bay and named it "San Miguel", which will later become San Diego.
* November 24 - Battle of Solway Moss: An English army invades Scotland and defeats a Scottish army.
* December 14 - Queen Mary I of Scotland (Mary, Queen of Scots) becomes queen at the age of only one week.

Undated

* War resumes between Francis I of France and Emperor Charles V. This time Henry VIII of England is allied to the Emperor, while James V of Scotland and Sultan Suleiman I are allied to the French.
* The first contact of Japan with the West occurs when a Portuguese ship, blown off its course to China, lands in Japan.
* Pope Paul III establishes the Holy Office with jurisdiction over the Roman Inquisition.

Births

* March 19 - Jan Zamoyski, Polish nobleman (d. 1605)
* June 6 - Richard Grenville, Elizabethan soldier and explorer (d. 1591)
* June 24 - St. John of the Cross, Spanish Carmelite friar and poet (d. 1591)
* October 4 - Robert Bellarmine, Italian saint (d. 1621)
* October 15 - Akbar, Jellaladin Mahommed, Mughal Emperor (d. 1605)
* December 8 - Queen Mary I of Scotland (d. 1587)
*"date unknown"
**Toda Kazuaki, samurai in the service of Tokugawa Ieyasu (d. 1604)
**John Speed, English historian (d. 1629)
**Horio Yoshiharu, Japanese daimyo (d. 1611)
**Kuki Yoshitaka, Japanese naval commander (d. 1600)
**Juan de la Cruz, spanish saint and poet (d. 1591)

: "See also ."

Deaths

* February - Nikolaus Federmann, German adventurer in Venezuela and Colombia (b. 1501)
* February 1 - Girolamo Aleandro, Italian cardinal (born 1480)
* February 13 - Catherine Howard, fifth wife of Henry VIII of England (executed) (born c1522)
* March 3 - Arthur Plantagenet, 1st Viscount Lisle, illegitimate son of King Edward IV of England
* May 21 - Hernando de Soto, Spanish explorer, navigator and conquistador (b. c. 1500)
* June 19 - Leo Jud, Swiss reformer (b. 1482)
* July 15 - Lisa del Giocondo, believed to be the subject of the "Mona Lisa"
* August 24 - Gasparo Contarini, Italian diplomat and cardinal (b. 1483)
* August 29 - Cristovão da Gama, Portuguese soldier (b. c. 1516)
* September 21 - Juan Boscán Almogáver, Spanish poet (b. c. 1490)
* October 6 - Thomas Wyatt, English poet and diplomat (b. 1503)
* December 14 - King James V of Scotland (b. 1512)
*"date unknown"
**Dosso Dossi, Italian painter (b. 1490)
**Lucas Fernández, Spanish dramatist and musician (b. c. 1474)
**Lapu-Lapu, Filipino warrior (b. 1491)

: "See also ."