1545 - Political Events

Political Events

Scottish forces defeat their English invaders February 25 at Ancrum Moor. The English retreat but invade once again in September.

An English fleet leaves Portsmouth July 19 to engage the French in Solent. Henry VIII's 36-year-old flagship H.M.S. Mary Rose was uprated to 700 tons 9 years ago and fitted with more efficient guns, but her lower gun ports were cut only 16 inches above the waterline. Manned by 400 bowmen and 300 others, she fires a broadside, but a strong gust of wind causes her to heel. Her guns break loose, she capsizes, and the overloaded vessel sinks in less than a minute as the king watches from the shore. Divers will find her timbers in 1836.

The emperor Charles V makes a truce with Suleiman the Magnificent at Adrianople in November.

The former Mughal emperor Humayun takes Kandahar with support from Persian forces granted by Shah Tahmasp. Humayun's rival emperor Sher Shah has reformed the empire's administration but is killed by a cannon ball while besieging the Rajput stronghold of Kalanjar. Humayun will not regain his throne, however, for another 10 years (see Kabul, 1547).

Vietnamese forces loyal to the Le dynasty regain control of territories south of the Red River delta (see 1527); civil war will continue for another 50 years before the Le regain Hanoi and the rest of the north (see 1558).

Portuguese naval officer João de Castro, 45, commands a fleet that helps end another Ottoman-Indian siege of the fort at Diu (see 1509). The fort was besieged again a few years ago.