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The 1540s: 1540–1549
1540–1549 · worldwide, all places
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Henry VIII grew obese and tyrannical through the decade and died in 1547, leaving three heirs of alternating religions. The Council of Trent opened in 1545 to reform the Catholic Church from within, and Ivan IV crowned himself tsar in Moscow in 1547.
1547 buried a king in London and crowned one in Moscow. C.J. Sansom's Heartstone investigates a case in the Portsmouth of 1545 as a French invasion threatens, and River of Darkness retraces Orellana's 1541 voyage down the Amazon. Open the 1540s on the StoryTerra map and explore its stories by place.
10 famous stories set in the 1540s
Live snapshot of the top 10 most popular catalogue items (2026-09-05). Click any card to open this entry on the live map.
Browse 14 books and 2 movies set in the 1540s (1540–1549).
Heartstone
Summer, 1545. England is at war. Henry VIII's invasion of France has gone badly wrong. Meanwhile Matthew Shardlake is given an intriguing legal case by an old servant of Queen Catherine Parr. He is asked to investigate…
Lamentation
As Henry VIII lies on his deathbed, an incendiary manuscript threatens to tear his court apart in the new installment of C.J. Sansom's Shardlake series.Autumn, 1546. King Henry VIII is slowly, painfully dying. His…
The Children of Henry VIII
At his death in 1547, King Henry VIII left four heirs to the English throne: his only son, the nine-year-old Prince Edward; the Lady Mary, the adult daughter of his first wife, Catherine of Aragon; the Lady Elizabeth,…
Henry VIII and His Six Wives
1547 King Henry VIII's life has taken a turn for the worse and he is forced to look back over his life and the many loves which had brought him his three children only one of which was the desired male heir to secure…
Elizabeth I: Red Rose of the House of Tudor, England, 1544
Newbery Honor author Kathryn Lasky introduces readers to young Elizabeth I and the intrigue of her father's court from 1544-1546.
Marie Stuart
Reine d'Ecosse à l'âge de six jours, en 1542, puis reine de France à dix-sept ans par son mariage avec François II, Marie Stuart est un des personnages les plus romanesques de l'histoire. Veuve en 1560, elle rentre en…
My Heart Is My Own: The Life of Mary Queen of Scots
A long-overdue and dramatic reinterpretation of the life of Mary, Queen of Scots by one of the leading historians at work today.She was crowned Queen of Scotland at nine months of age, and Queen of France at sixteen…
River of Darkness: Francisco Orellana's Legendary Voyage of Death and Discovery Down the Amazon
From the acclaimed author of Conquistador comes this thrilling account of one of history’s greatest adventures of discovery. With cinematic immediacy and meticulous attention to historical detail, here is the true story…
The Death Relic
The New World, 1545... Vanquished by the Spanish Empire, little remains of the Aztec and Mayan civilizations. From the ashes of their cities, a unified legend emerges: the Christians who conquered them possessed a…
The Rose Without a Thorn
From the pen of legendary historical novelist Jean Plaidy comes an unforgettable true story of royalty, passion, and innocence lost.Born into an impoverished branch of the noble Howard family, young Katherine is plucked…
The 10 stories above are just a sample of the 16 in the catalogue for this entry. For the live 1540–1549 catalogue, use the button above — or browse the whole 16th century. On the live map you can also filter by the exact time the stories take place — any year, decade or century, from BCE to the future.
Relevant picks from this decade
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1530s · 16th century · Time hub · All places · 1550s