What Happened in 1512?

Pope Julius II (Wikimedia)

Five hundred years ago, Pope Julius II was walking back his overly successful League of Cambria, an alliance he'd formed in 1508 to weaken his chief rival Venice. All the major powers of Europe wanted a piece of Venice's rich holdings, but by 1510 Julius began to worry that the once powerful Venetian army would be totally diminished in the onslaught, leaving the Papal States alone against the large armies of Europe. So Julius turned against Louis XII of France and allied with Venice in what would be called the Holy League. France was expelled from Italy in 1512.

Gaston de Foix (Wikimedia)

Gaston of Foix, Duke of Nemours earned the nickname the Thunderbolt of Italy while commanding French troops against the Holy League in 1511-12. He was shot and killed in April 1512 while leading cavalry against Spanish infantry in northeastern Italy at the Battle of Ravenna.

Martin Luther, as Augustinian monk, 1505- 1520. (Wikimedia)

Martin Luther earned his Doctorate of Theology and joined the faculty of the University of Wittenburg.

Sistene Chapel (Smithsonian)

Michelangelo's ceiling at the Sistene Chapel was displayed for the first time.

The Laws of Burgos were the first attempt to develop guidance for Spaniards on how to act towards the indigenous peoples of the New World territories of Hispanola, Puerto Rico and Jamaica. The laws had to be revised and augmented several times, eventually becoming part of the Laws of the Indies.