1512
| Years: 1509 1510 1511 - 1512 - 1513 1514 1515 | |
| Decades: 1480s 1490s 1500s - 1510s - 1520s 1530s 1540s | |
| Centuries: 15th century - 16th century - 17th century | |
Events
- April 11 - Battle of Ravenna. French forces under Gaston de Foix, Duc de Nemours defeat the Spanish under Raymond of Cardona, but Gaston is killed in the pursuit.
- November 1 - The ceiling of the Sistine Chapel, painted by Michelangelo Buonarroti, is exhibited to the public for the first time.
- Juan Ponce de León discovers the Turks and Caicos Islands.
- Selim I succeeds Beyazid II as Sultan of the Ottoman Empire.
- Moldavia is conquered by the Turks.
- Copernicus writes Commentariolus and moves the sun to the center of the solar system.
- First use of the word "masque" to denote a poetic drama.
- Florentine Republic is dismantled and the Medici family comes back into power.
Births
- January 31 - Henry of Portugal, seventeenth King of Portugal (died 1580)
- March 5 - Gerardus Mercator, Flemish cartographer (died 1594)
- April 10 - King James V of Scotland, king of Scotland (September 9 (died 1542)
- Galeazzo Alessi, Italian architect (died 1572)
- Henry Balnaves, Scottish politician and religious reformer (died 1579)
- Patrick Hepburn, 3rd Earl of Bothwell, Scottish renegade (died 1556)
- Edward Fiennes Clinton, English admiral (died 1585)
- Marcin Kromer, bishop of Warnia (died 1589)
- James Lainez, Jesuit General and theologian (died 1565)
- Anthony More, Dutch portrait painter (died 1576)
- Mikolaj Rudy Radziwill, Polish magnate (died 1584)
- Tabinshwehti, king who unified Burma
- Adrianus Turnebus, French classical scholar (died 1565)
- Jeronimo Zurita y Castro, Spanish historian (died 1580)
Deaths
- February 22 - Amerigo Vespucci, Italian merchant and cartographer (born 1454)
- May 21 - Pandolfo Petrucci, tyrant of Siena during the Renaissance (born 1450)
- May 26 - Beyazid II, sultan of the Ottoman Empire from 1481 to 1512 (born 1447)
- August 12 - Alessandro Achillini, Italian philosopher (born 1463)
- September 19 - John Stewart, 1st Earl of Atholl, Scottish peer (born 1440)
- November 8 - Emery d'Amboise, Grand Master of the Knights of Rhodes
- Hatuey, Taíno chief