1536

1536 was a leap year in the Julian calendar and a year of notable religious and political change in Europe. In England, it was a defining year for the English Reformation. On 19 May, Anne Boleyn was executed at the Tower of London as Henry VIII's marriage to her was annulled; later, on 30 May, Henry married Jane Seymour, who became queen. The year also saw the consolidation of the Dissolution of the Monasteries, including the Dissolution of the Lesser Monasteries, part of Henry VIII's project to restructure the English church and crown revenue.

In continental Protestant thought, John Calvin published the first edition of the Institutes of the Christian Religion in Basel, marking a major theological statement that would influence Reformed theology.

In the broader world, European exploration and imperial expansion continued. The Spanish and Portuguese enterprises in the Americas and Asia persisted, alongside ongoing religious and political conflicts characteristic of the period.

Erasmus of Rotterdam, a leading humanist and critic of scholasticism, died in Basel on 12 July 1536, leaving a lasting impact on Christian scholarship.

This year stands as a point of transition in mid-16th-century politics, religion, and ideas, with events in England illustrating a shift in royal authority over church matters, and publications in theology influencing later reform movements.