1541

Years: 1538 1539 1540 - 1541 - 1542 1543 1544

Decades: 1510s 1520s 1530s - 1540s - 1550s 1560s 1570s

Events of 1541

January–June

• February 12 – Pedro de Valdivia founds Santiago de Chile.
• April 7 – Francis Xavier leaves Lisbon on a mission to the Portuguese East Indies.
• April 24 – Battle of Sahart: The Emperor of Ethiopia defeated an attack by the forces of Imam Ahmad Gragn.
• May 8 – Spanish explorer Hernando de Soto reaches the Mississippi River, naming it the Rio de Espiritu Santo ("River of the Holy Spirit").
• May 23 – Jacques Cartier departs from Saint-Malo, France on his third voyage.
• The first official translation of the entire Bible into Swedish is made.

July–December

• July 9 – Estevão da Gama departs Massawa, leaving behind 400 matchlock men and 150 slaves under his brother Christovão da Gama, with orders to assist the Emperor of Ethiopia to defeat Ahmad ibn Ibrihim al-Ghazi, who has invaded his Empire.
• August 29 – The Janissaries of Suleiman the Magnificent take Buda by ruse, hiding themselves as visitors.

• October – An Algerian military campaign by Charles V of Spain (Habsburg) is unsuccessful.

Undated

• Ottoman Sultan Suleiman the Magnificent seals off The Golden Gate in Jerusalem.
• The Parliament of Ireland declares Henry VIII of England King of Ireland, replacing the Lordship of Ireland with the Kingdom of Ireland.
• Iceland adopts the Lutheran faith.
• Gerardus Mercator makes his first globe.
• The Portuguese defeat the Muslims near Lake Tana.