CACrown ArchivesThe cinema collection
Menu
Research dossier · General Reference

1521

year

Cross-disciplinary reference desk with index cards, atlas, dictionary and catalogue
General referenceInterpretive dossier study · Crown Archives visual atlas
Record originEnglish Wikipedia
Text licenseCC BY-SA 4.0
Source revisionSep 8, 2026
Entity authorityQ6288
Source-derived summary

1521 (MDXXI) was a common year starting on Tuesday of the Julian calendar, the 1521st year of the Common Era (CE) and Anno Domini (AD) designations, the 521st year of the 2nd millennium, the 21st year of the 16th century, and the 2nd year of the 1520s decade.

Events

January–March

January 3 – Pope Leo X excommunicates Martin Luther, in the papal bull Decet Romanum Pontificem.

January 22 – Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor, opens the Diet of Worms in Worms, Germany.

January 27 – Suleiman the Magnificent suppresses a revolt by the ruler of Damascus, Janbirdi al-Ghazali.

February 2 – The Nydala Abbey Bloodbath takes place at Nydala Abbey, Sweden; the abbot and many monks are murdered by Danes.

March 6

Ferdinand Magellan makes the first European contact with Guam, most likely landing in Tumon.

Martin Luther is summoned to appear before the Diet of Worms.

March 16 – Ferdinand Magellan reaches the Philippines, in eastern Samar. In 1 month 11 days would find himself a surprise

March 31 – The First Mass in the Philippines is held.

April–June

April 7

Ferdinand Magellan arrives at Cebu.

Editorial summary

The public source identifies “1521” as year. This brief keeps that definition visible, then builds a research path around year.

Editorial reviewA dependable orientation record for establishing vocabulary, names and a first evidence trail. The current lead gives the account dated anchors—1521—that can be checked directly. The selected authority fields contribute no independent date. Its value is orientation rather than verdict, with year providing the first useful test.
Editorial analysis

Why this record matters

A short description can identify a subject without explaining its stakes. For “1521”, the useful work is to connect “year” to the records capable of establishing context and consequence.

Evidence profile

Named sources, stable identifiers and responsible institutions provide the strongest route from overview to verifiable evidence. The source revision retrieved here is dated Sep 8, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q6288. None of the 0 selected statements returned an explicit reference. The first chronological checks are 1521.

Critical limits

The absence of detail may reflect summary conventions rather than a lack of surviving documentation. The lead is largely declarative, so disagreement and counter-evidence require a deliberate search beyond the opening account. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.

How to read it

Use the entry as an orientation point, then follow its citations and revision history. Names, dates and institutional relationships should be checked against the original record.

Best used for
  • Subject orientation
  • Search vocabulary
  • Locating named sources
Verify next

The closest primary source, responsible institution and strongest cited specialist reference.

Three-step research path

  1. Establish the record: confirm the title “1521”, its source revision and the description used here.
  2. Expand the search: follow 1521 primary sources, 1521 archive and year research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
  3. Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.

Questions for further research

  1. Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “1521”?
  2. Which cited source is closest to the event, object or claim?
  3. Which institution is responsible for the underlying evidence?
Subject index

Search terms from this dossier

Source & attribution

This entry incorporates text from 1521” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.