1537
| Years: 1534 1535 1536 - 1537 - 1538 1539 1540 | |
| Decades: 1500s 1510s 1520s - 1530s - 1540s 1550s 1560s | |
| Centuries: 15th century - 16th century - 17th century | |
Events
- January 6 - Alessandro de Medici assassinated
- August 25 - The Honourable Artillery Company, the oldest surviving regiment in the British Army, and the second most senior, was formed.
- Pope Paul III publishes the encyclical Sublimis Deus, which declares the natives of the New World to be rational beings with souls who must not be enslaved or robbed.
- Manco II establishes neo-Inca independent state at Vilacampa, Peru
- Recife is founded by the Portuguese in Brazil.
- The Portuguese bring the potato to Europe
- Christian III forces introduction of Lutheran protestantism in Denmark and Norway
- Dissolution of religious buildings by Henry VIII, including
- Bisham Abbey founded by Henry VIII in place of Bisham Priory
Births
- June 3 - Joćo de Portugal, eighth son of King John III of Portugal (died 1554)
- June 28 - Philip Howard, 20th Earl of Arundel, English nobleman (died 1595)
- October 12 - King Edward VI of England (died 1553)
- October 12 - Lady Jane Grey, claimant of the throne of England (died 1554)
- December 5 - Ashikaga Yoshiaki, Japanese shogun (died 1597)
- December 24 - King John III of Sweden (died 1592)
- Fadrique Alvarez de Toledo, Duke of Alva, commander in the Spanish army during the Eighty Years' War (died 1583)
- Longqing Emperor, emperor of China (Ming dynasty) between 1567-1572
- Hieronymus Fabricius, Italian anatomist (died 1619)
- Shimizu Muneharu, Japanese military commander (died 1582)
- Jan Krzysztof Tarnowski, Polish noble (died 1567)
- Arnaud d'Ossat, French diplomat and writer
Deaths
- January 6 - Baldassare Peruzzi, Italian architect and painter (b. 1481)
- February 8 - Otto von Pack, German conspirator
- July 7 - Madeleine de Valois, princess of France and Queen of Scotland (born 1520)
- October 24 - Jane Seymour, queen of Henry VIII of England (complications of childbirth)
- Lorenzo di Credi, Florentine painter and sculptor (born 1459)
- Jerome Emiliani, Italian humanitarian and saint (born 1481)
- John Kite, Archbishop of Armagh and Bishop of Carlisle
- Alessandro de' Medici, Duke of Florence (born 1510)
- Pedro de Mendoza, Spanish conquistador (born 1487)
- Thomas Murner, German satirist (born 1475)
- Henry Percy, 6th Earl of Northumberland (born 1502)
- Thomas FitzGerald, 10th Earl of Kildare (born 1513)