On This Day

Historical Events in 1553

  • Apr 29 Flemish woman introduces practice of starching linen into England

Event of Interest

Jun 12 King Edward VI accepts Archbishop Cranmer's "42 Articles"

Edward VI
King of England and Ireland Edward VI
  • Jun 26 Christ's Hospital in England granted a charter
  • Jul 9 Battle at Sievershausen: Saxons-Brunwick alliance led by Elector Maurice defeat forces of Margrave Albert Alcibiades of Brandenburg-Bayreuth in a bloody battle with 4,000 killed

Event of Interest

Jul 10 Lady Jane Grey, daughter of the Duke of Suffolk, proclaimed Queen of England, succeeds Edward VI, who proclaimed his half-sisters illegitimate. Reigns for nine days.

Jane Grey
Queen of England Jane Grey
Edward VI
King of England and Ireland Edward VI
  • Jul 19 15-year-old Lady Jane Grey deposed as England's Queen after 9 days
  • Jul 20 John Dudley, Lord President of the Council under Edward VI, captured in Cambridge

Event of Interest

Aug 12 Pope Julius III orders confiscation & burning of Jewish Talmud

Julius III
Counter-Reformation Pope Julius III

Event of Interest

Aug 13 Spanish theologian and physician Michael Servetus arrested as a heretic in Geneva (put on trial the next day, eventually found guilty of heresy and burned to death)

John Calvin
Protestant Reformer and Theologian John Calvin
  • Aug 23 Bishop Stephen Gardiner appointed English Lord Chancellor
  • Sep 9 The Roman Inquisition burns all copies of the Talmud and other Jewish texts in Rome's Campo de Fiori
  • Sep 13 English bishop Hugh Latimer arrested
  • Oct 27 Condemned as a heretic, Michael Servetus is burned at the stake just outside Geneva
  • Nov 13 English Lady Jane Grey and Archbishop Thomas Cranmer accused of high treason
  • Dec 25 Battle of Tucapel: Mapuche rebels under Lautaro defeats the Spanish conquistadors and exetutes the governor of Chile Pedro de Valdivia.

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