1542 in History

Orders severe punishment after recovering from the assassination attempt; women accused of involvement are executed.

Arrives at Goa on 6 May 1542, beginning the major Asian phase of his Jesuit missionary career.

Bristol gains city status in connection with the creation of the new cathedral diocese.

Parliament passes the attainder condemning Catherine Howard and Jane Rochford; Henry VIII gives effect to the measure through royal assent.

Is condemned for treason by parliamentary attainder rather than a conventional criminal trial.

Is created Viscount Lisle, advancing his position at Henry VIII's court.

Creates the Diocese of Bristol, with the former Augustinian abbey church becoming Bristol Cathedral.

Henry VIII opens his eighth Parliament at Westminster, beginning a session dealing with major Tudor political and religious business.

Is executed by beheading on Tower Green following the parliamentary attainder.

Is executed on Tower Green with Catherine Howard after being condemned for assisting the queen's meetings with Thomas Culpeper.

Retires to Falkland Palace seriously ill after the Solway Moss crisis; his condition worsens while he awaits news of the royal birth.

Is consecrated as the first Bishop of Bristol for the newly created diocese.

Is chosen Governor of Scotland during the minority of Mary Queen of Scots and takes responsibility for royal government.

Becomes heir presumptive behind the infant Queen Mary, strengthening his claim to lead the Scottish government.

Is appointed Lord High Admiral late in 1542 and assumes senior responsibility for English naval affairs.

Promotes a future marriage between Prince Edward and the infant Queen Mary, seeking a dynastic settlement favorable to England.

Leaves Goa for the Pearl Fishery Coast of southern India and begins sustained missionary work among coastal communities.

Allows captured Scottish nobles to return home under political conditions, seeking to turn prisoners from Solway Moss into supporters of English policy.

Organizes the palace response that saves the Jiajing Emperor and orders action against women implicated in the assassination attempt.

Survives an attempt by palace women to strangle him with a silk cord during the Renyin Palace Plot.

Serves among the leading cardinals of the newly established Roman Inquisition, becoming a central figure in its campaign against Protestant teaching.

Issues Licet ab initio, establishing a commission of six cardinals to judge cases of heresy and schism.

Leads a large English army into southern Scotland; the campaign burns Roxburgh and Kelso before withdrawing as supplies become difficult.

Serves as Speaker of the House of Commons during Henry VIII's 1542 parliamentary session.

Succeeds James V as Queen of Scots at six days old.

Is appointed to senior responsibility on the Scottish Marches during preparations for renewed war with Scotland.

Becomes queen dowager when James V dies at Falkland, leaving their six-day-old daughter Mary as Queen of Scots.

Is born at Umarkot in Sindh while his father Humayun is displaced from the Mughal throne.

Is born at Linlithgow Palace to James V and Mary of Guise.

Gives birth at Linlithgow Palace to Mary, the future Queen of Scots and heir to the Scottish crown.

Dies at Falkland Palace six days after the birth of his daughter Mary, leaving the Scottish crown to the infant queen.

Leads an English raiding army near Kelso but is defeated and captured when Scottish forces under the Earl of Huntly counterattack at Haddon Rig.

Commands the Scottish force that defeats Sir Robert Bowes's English army at Haddon Rig and captures English officers and men.

Benefits politically from the Scottish defeat and uses captured nobles to increase English pressure on Scotland.

Does not fight at Solway Moss. His army suffers a humiliating defeat while he remains away from the battlefield, already ill.

Leads much of the Scottish force before a disputed command change involving Oliver Sinclair. Leadership divisions contribute to the army's collapse, and Maxwell is captured.

Leads about 500 English cavalry in repeated attacks on the Scottish flank, worsening confusion as the Scots attempt to deploy and withdraw.

A royal command announcement naming Sinclair intensifies leadership divisions. He is captured with many nobles; around 1,200 Scots are taken, while other fugitives drown crossing the Esk.

Commands about 3,000 English troops against a Scottish army of roughly 17,000–18,000; English cavalry and Scottish disorder turn the encounter into a rapid English victory.