"I came, I saw, and God won."
- Holy Roman Emperor Charles V, paraphrasing Julius Caesar in describing
his overwhelming victory at against the Protestants at the Battle of Mühlberg, April 1547.
"Sangallo...has departed from the truth. That this is so, anyone with an unimpassioned eye can see....Sangallo...takes away all the light...leaving so many dark, lurking places above and below that they afford ample opportunity for innumerable rascalities, such as the hiding of exiles, the coining of base money, the ravishing of nuns...so that at night, when the church closes, it would need twenty-five men to seek out those who remained hidden inside."
- Newly appointed designer of St. Peter's Basilica Michelangelo,
furiously rejecting the design of his predecessor Antonio da Sangallo the Younger.
In the year AD 1547...
- Despite the death of English king Henry VIII at the beginning the the year, his attempt to forcibly unite the crowns of Scotland and England in the "Rough Wooing" continues under Edward Seymour, 1st Duke of Somerset. Somerset leads a large army into Scotland, where he crushes Scottish regent James Hamilton, Earl of Arran at the Battle of Pinkie. Despite the disastrous defeat, however, the Scots refuse to come to terms, and the war continues.
- The First Schmalkaldic War continues between the Lutheran Schmalkaldic League and the Catholic Holy Roman Empire under Emperor Charles V.
- The Emperor decides to take personal command of Imperial troops. After occupying the Lutheran cities Ulm and Württemberg and subduing Frederick II, Elector Palatine, Charles crushes Lutheran forces led by the head of the Schmalkaldic League, John Frederick I, Elector of Saxony, at the Battle of Mühlberg. John Frederick is captured and condemned to death and only spares his own life by renouncing all his lands and titles in the humiliating Capitulation of Wittenberg. Thereafter the League all but collapses.
- Meanwhile, Imperial forces under 19-year-old Duke Eric II of Brunswick-Calenberg have been unsuccessfully laying siege to the Lutheran city of Bremen in Northern Germany. When a large Protestant army under Albrecht VII von Mansfeld comes to break the siege, Eric moves to intercept them, but his forces are almost entirely wiped out in the ensuing Battle of Drakenburg, and Eric himself barely survives by swimming with great difficulty across the swollen Weser River. As a result of Eric's defeat, although wining the broader war and crushing the League, Charles is forced to allow Lutheranism to continue in Northern Germany.
- In the Siege of St. Andrews Castle, the Scottish Protestant stronghold of St. Andrews Castle at Fife is besieged by 21 French galleys under the command of Italian siege expert Leone Strozzi. After a furious bombardment, the castle surrenders and many Scottish protestants, including the famous religious reformer John Knox, are taken prisoner, with Knox and several others being forced to become galley slaves for two years.
- Prince of Moscow Ivan the Terrible is crowned the first Tsar of the Russian Empire.
- Now in his 70s, Michelangelo is coerced by Pope Paul III into taking over design of St. Peter's Basilica from Antonio da Sangallo the Younger, who had died the previous year. Michelangelo would throw out much of Sangallo's design and the final structure would be primarily based on Michelangelo's vision.
- With just 9 light galleys and a mere 230 men, the Portuguese obliterate the navy of the Aceh Sultanate at the Battle of Perlis River, destroying or capturing 45 out of 60 Acehnese ships and killing or capturing over 4,000 Acehnese troops, thereby successfully defending Portuguese Malacca from attempted conquest by the Acehnese.
- An apparition of the Virgin Mary is seen by several women in the Sicilian town of Alcamo. She becomes the patron saint of the city and is celebrated to this day as the Madonna of Miracles.
- Henry VIII's widow Catherine Parr publishes her book The Lamentation of a Sinner.
These people were born in 1547:
- Spanish author Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra. His brilliant satire Don Quixote is widely considered the first modern novel.
- Legendary Dutch statesman and revolutionary against Spain Johan van Oldenbarnevelt.
- Flemish Catholic philologist, philosopher, and humanist Justus Lipsius, founder of the intellectual movement of Neostoicism.
- Chinese female general Qin Liangyu, famous for defending the Ming Dynasty against attacks by the Manchus.
- Arab poet, philosopher, architect, mathematician and astronomer Baha al-Din al-Amili, one of the main founders of the Isfahan School of Islamic philosophy.
- Indo-Persian poet Faizi.
- Indian poet of the Malayalam language Poonthanam Nambudiri.
- German poet and mystic Martin Moller.
- Chinese painter Ding Yunpeng.
- Japanese noblewoman Oichi, the sister of warlord Oda Nobunaga, and the mother of Chacha, Ohatsu, and Oeyo.
- Japanese noblewoman Maeda Matsu, the politically savvy wife of warlord Maeda Toshiie.
These people died in 1547:
- English king King Henry VIII, succeeded by his 9-year-old son Edward VI.
- French king Francis I, succeeded by his 28-year-old son Henry II.
- King of Laos Photisarath.
- Duke of Parma and illegitimate son of Pope Paul III Pier Luigi Farnese, murdered by conspirators led by Governor of Milan Ferrante Gonzaga, with the connivance of Holy Roman Emperor Charles V, who hoped see Milan and Parma united.
- Chinese empress consort Xiaolie, burned to death in a palace fire.
- Queen of the Holy Roman Empire Anne of Bohemia and Hungary.
- Spanish conquistador of Mexico Hernán Cortés.
- Italian Catholic priest, religious reformer, and co-founder of the Theatines Saint Cajetan.
- Italian scholar, poet, literary theorist, Knight Hospitaller, Roman Catholic cardinal, and codifier of the Italian language Pietro Bembo.
- Italian noblewoman and poet Vittoria Colonna.
- German humanist, jurist, diplomat, politician, economist, and archaeologist Konrad Peutinger.
- English historian Edward Hall.
- Dutch Catholic mystic Maria van Oisterwijk.
1546 - 1547 - 1548
16th century
How they were made