1544

Millennium:	2nd millennium
Centuries:	15th century 16th century 17th century
Decades:	1520s 1530s 1540s 1550s 1560s
Years:	1541 1542 1543 1544 1545 1546 1547

1544 in various calendars

Gregorian calendar	1544 MDXLIV
Ab urbe condita	2297
Armenian calendar	993 ԹՎ ՋՂԳ
Assyrian calendar	6294
Balinese saka calendar	1465–1466
Bengali calendar	951
Berber calendar	2494
English Regnal year	35 Hen. 8 – 36 Hen. 8
Buddhist calendar	2088
Burmese calendar	906
Byzantine calendar	7052–7053
Chinese calendar	癸卯年 (Water Rabbit) 4241 or 4034     — to — 甲辰年 (Wood Dragon) 4242 or 4035
Coptic calendar	1260–1261
Discordian calendar	2710
Ethiopian calendar	1536–1537
Hebrew calendar	5304–5305
Hindu calendars
- Vikram Samvat	1600–1601
- Shaka Samvat	1465–1466
- Kali Yuga	4644–4645
Holocene calendar	11544
Igbo calendar	544–545
Iranian calendar	922–923
Islamic calendar	950–951
Japanese calendar	Tenbun 13 (天文１３年)
Javanese calendar	1462–1463
Julian calendar	1544 MDXLIV
Korean calendar	3877
Minguo calendar	368 before ROC 民前368年
Nanakshahi calendar	76
Thai solar calendar	2086–2087
Tibetan calendar	阴水兔年 (female Water-Rabbit) 1670 or 1289 or 517     — to — 阳木龙年 (male Wood-Dragon) 1671 or 1290 or 518

April 11: Battle of Ceresole.

1544 (MDXLIV) was a leap year starting on Tuesday of the Julian calendar, the 1544th year of the Common Era (CE) and Anno Domini (AD) designations, the 544th year of the 2nd millennium, the 44th year of the 16th century, and the 5th year of the 1540s decade. As of the start of 1544, the Gregorian calendar was 10 days ahead of the Julian calendar, which was the dominant calendar of the time.

Events

January–June

• January 13 – At Västerås, the estates of Sweden swear loyalty to King Gustav Vasa and to his heirs, ending the traditional electoral monarchy in Sweden. Gustav subsequently signs an alliance with the Kingdom of France.
• February 20 – The Fourth Diet of Speyer is convened.
• April 11 – Battle of Ceresole: French forces under the Comte d'Enghien defeat forces of the Holy Roman Empire, under the Marques Del Vasto, near Turin.
• May – Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor, again invades eastern France.
• May 3 – Edward Seymour, Earl of Hertford, with an English army, captures Leith and Edinburgh from the Kingdom of Scotland.
• June 19–August 18 – Troops of the Holy Roman Empire besiege Saint-Dizier, in eastern France.

July–December

• July – Battle of the Shirts: The Clan Fraser of Lovat and Macdonalds of Clan Ranald fight over a disputed chiefship in Scotland; reportedly, five Frasers and eight Macdonalds survive.
• July 19–September 14 – Italian War of 1542–46 – First Siege of Boulogne: King Henry VIII of England besieges and captures Boulogne in northern France.
• August 17 – The University of Königsberg ("Albertina") is inaugurated (founding deed signed July 20 by Albert, Duke of Prussia).
• September 18 – Peace of Crépy: Peace is declared between Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor, and Francis I of France. The war between France and England continues.
• September 22 – Captain Juan Bautista Pastene leads the first European expedition to the estuary of Valdivia, Chile and Corral Bay.
• October 9 – Second Siege of Boulogne: French forces under the Dauphin assault Boulogne, but are ultimately unsuccessful.

Date unknown

• Mongols burn the suburbs of Peking in China.
• The Orto botanico di Pisa botanical garden is established by Cosimo I de' Medici, Grand Duke of Tuscany, in Italy, under the direction of botanist Luca Ghini, who also creates the first herbarium.
• Rats make their first appearance in North America.
• Portuguese explorers encounter the island of Taiwan, and call it Ilha Formosa ("Beautiful Island").

Births

Dorothea Susanne of Simmern

Anna of Saxony

• January 19 – King Francis II of France (d. 1560)
• January 24 – Gillis van Coninxloo, Flemish painter (d. 1607)
• February 3 – César de Bus, French Catholic priest (d. 1607)
• March 11 – Torquato Tasso, Italian poet (d. 1595)
• April – Thomas Fleming, English judge (d. 1613)
• April 20 – Renata of Lorraine, duchess consort of Bavaria (d. 1602)
• May 24 – William Gilbert, English scientist and astronomer (d. 1603)
• July 14 – Henry Compton, 1st Baron Compton, English politician (d. 1589)
• August 9 – Bogislaw XIII, Duke of Pomerania (d. 1606)
• September 1 – John Gordon, Scottish bishop (d. 1619)
• September 29 – Giovanni de' Medici, Italian Catholic cardinal (d. 1562)
• November 1 – Hasan Kafi Pruščak, Bosnian scholar and judge (d. 1615)
• November 15 – Dorothea Susanne of Simmern, Duchess of Saxe-Weimar (d. 1592)
• December 23 – Anna of Saxony, only child and heiress of Maurice, Elector of Saxony (d. 1577)
• date unknown
  • Richard Bancroft, Archbishop of Canterbury (d. 1610)
  • Thomas Hobson, English carrier and origin of the phrase Hobson's choice (d. 1631)
  • Ikeda Tomomasa, Japanese military commander (d. 1603)
  • Maddalena Casulana, Italian composer, lutenist and singer (d. 1590)
• probable
  • George Whetstone, English writer (d. 1587)

Deaths

Johannes Magnus

• March 16 – Louis V, Elector Palatine (1508–1544) (b. 1478)
• March 22 – Johannes Magnus, last Catholic Archbishop of Sweden (b. 1488)
• April 30 – Thomas Audley, Lord Chancellor of England (b. 1488)
• June 14 – Antoine, Duke of Lorraine (b. 1489)
• July 15 – René of Châlon, Prince of the House of Orange (b. 1519)
• June 23 – Eleonore of Fürstenberg, wife of Philip IV, Count of Hanau-Lichtenberg (b. 1523)
• August 19 – Hans Buser, Swiss noble (b. 1513)
• September 12 – Clément Marot, French poet (b. 1496)
• September 25 – Valerius Cordus, German physician and scientist (b. 1515)
• October 10 – Charles Blount, 5th Baron Mountjoy, English courtier and patron of learning (b. 1516)
• October 12 – Antonio Pucci, Italian Catholic cardinal (b. 1485)
• November 13 – Ursula van Beckum, Dutch Anapabtist (b. 1520)
• November 15 – Lucy Brocadelli, Dominican tertiary and stigmatic (b. 1476)
• November 29 – Jungjong of Joseon (b. 1488)
• December 9 – Teofilo Folengo, Italian poet (b. 1491)
• date unknown
  • Ulick na gCeann Burke, 1st Earl of Clanricarde
  • Chen Chun, Chinese painter (b. 1483)
  • Margaret Roper, English writer (b. 1505)
  • Nilakantha Somayaji, Indian mathematician and astronomer (b. 1444)
  • Manco Inca Yupanqui, Inca ruler (b. 1516)
  • Bonaventure des Périers, French author (b. 1500)