Year by year · 16th century

1520

1520 in world history: 11 events, 5 births and 8 deaths. 1,009 recorded states existed that year.

Events

  1. 30 June

    Cortés flees Tenochtitlan on the Noche Triste

    Under attack by the Mexica, Cortés's forces fought their way out of the city along the causeways at night, losing hundreds of Spaniards and many more Tlaxcalan allies. He returned to besiege it in 1521.

    TenochtitlanMexica

  2. 28 November

    Magellan's ships enter the Pacific

    After 38 days navigating the strait at the tip of South America, Ferdinand Magellan's three remaining ships reached the open ocean. He named it the Pacific for its calm waters.

    South America

  3. 10 December

    Luther burns the papal bull against him

    Outside Wittenberg's Elster Gate, Martin Luther burned Leo X's bull threatening him with excommunication, along with books of canon law. Rome excommunicated him the following month.

  4. Battle

    Battle of Raichur

    The Battle of Raichur was fought in 1520 between the Vijayanagara Empire under Krishnadevaraya and the Bijapur Sultanate under Ismail Adil Shah near the fortress of Raichur in the Deccan.

  5. Event

    Stockholm Bloodbath

    The Stockholm Bloodbath was the mass execution of some eighty Swedish nobles, clergy and burghers in Stockholm in November 1520, ordered by Christian II of Denmark after his conquest of Sweden.

ProfileState887 states with a known seat in 1520Open the atlas at 1520 →

In the profiles

  • Adal SultanateSultan Abu Bakr moves the capital from Dakkar to Harar
  • Aztec EmpireSpanish flee Tenochtitlan on La Noche Triste; smallpox then ravages the city
  • Vijayanagara EmpireKrishnadevaraya defeats Bijapur at the Battle of Raichur
  • Purépecha EmpireKing Zuangua dies, probably of smallpox, and Tangaxuan II succeeds him
  • TlaxcalaThe Spaniards shelter in Tlaxcala after La Noche Triste and the Battle of Otumba

Wars and longer events

Born in 1520 5

Died in 1520 8

All years → The 16th century →

Cite this page
APA
The Epoch Institute. (2026). 1520. In The Epoch Institute, Year by Year. https://the-epoch-institute.org/years/1520
MLA
“1520.” The Epoch Institute, Year by Year, The Epoch Institute, 2026, https://the-epoch-institute.org/years/1520. Accessed .
Chicago
The Epoch Institute. “1520.” The Epoch Institute, Year by Year. 2026. https://the-epoch-institute.org/years/1520.
Harvard
The Epoch Institute (2026) ‘1520’, The Epoch Institute, Year by Year. Available at: https://the-epoch-institute.org/years/1520 (Accessed: ).