January 20– Italian conquistador Vasco Núñez de Balboa writes a letter to King Ferdinand II of Aragon advocating genocide against the native peoples of the Caribbean islands, and begins the killing of hundreds of residents of Caribbean villages.
March 4– The conclave of the Roman Catholic Cardinals begins at the Niccoline Chapel in the Apostolic Palace in Rome, with 25 of the 31 Cardinals participating. In the first round of balloting, none of the Cardinals receives the required 17 votes necessary for a three-fourth's majority, though Cardinal Jaime Serra I Cau of Spain, Bishop of Albano, receives 13.
March 9– Cardinal Giovanni di Lorenzo de' Medici, the Apostolic Administrator of Amalfi but not ordained as a priest, is selected to succeed the late Pope Julius II as the 217th Pope of the Roman Catholic Church. After two days, the selection is announced to the public and Medici takes the name of Pope Leo X, despite a strong challenge by Italian cardinal Raffaele Riario and his group of seniors, or cardinals that were elected by Sixtus IV and Innocent VIII, who are opposed to the relatively newer juniors that includes Medici.
March 26– On Easter Sunday, Afonso de Albuquerque, Governor of Portuguese India, makes an unsuccessful attempt to capture the port city of Aden, on the Arabian Peninsula, from the Mamluk Sultanate, using 20 ships and 2,500 soldiers. The 1,700 Portuguese, along with 800 mercenaries from Malabar, lose at least 100 killed during the attack and retreat.
June 28–Pope Leo X sends a letter to Scotland's King James IV, threatening him with ecclesiastical censure or excommunication for breaking his peace treaties with England.
July 25– Scotland's Earl of Arran departs from the Firth of Forth with 22 ships on a plan to join France in cutting off England's communications with the rest of Europe.
August 5– A force of 7,000 Scottish border troops, commanded by Lord Home, invades England and begins the destruction and pillaging of villages in Northumberland.
Battle of Flodden: King James IV of Scotland is defeated and killed by an English army under Thomas Howard, Earl of Surrey. James's infant son, the Duke of Rothesay, becomes James V, King of Scots. At least 5,000 Scots and 1,500 English troops are killed.
Johann Reuchlin is summoned for an inquisition trial, initiated by Jacob van Hoogstraaten.:152 The verdict of the trial is never revealed, as when it is about to be announced on October 12, the archbishop of Mainz orders the court to go into recess on threat of resigning the court, and the trial never continues.:157 Eventually, in March 1514, an ecclesiastical court presided over by George, Bishop of Speyer clears Reuchlin of any charges and orders Hoogstraten to pay the cost of 111 guldens,:158–162 although this is overturned by Leo X in a papal decision in 1520.
September 19– Upon confirming that King James IV of Scotland has been killed in battle, the 35 Lords of Council of the Realm meet at Stirling Castle and agree to rule Scotland in the name of James's widow, Margaret Tudor, and his son, the infant James V.
September 30– A major rock avalanche occurs in the Southern side of the Swiss Alps at Monte Crenone, which destroys the village of Biasca, floods Bellinzona, and forms a lake of 390 m.a.s.l.
October 17– At Edirne, the Ottoman sultan Selim II confirms the renewal of peace treaties with Venice, under terms that are accepted by the Venetian government on December 3.
October 21– The coronation of James V, 17 months old, as King of Scotland takes place in the Chapel Royal at Stirling Castle.
Louis XII makes peace with the Papal States by issuing a decree disavowing the Council of Pisa and promising his future adherence to the Lateran Council.
December– Louis attempts to make peace with Spain by offering King Ferdinand the hand of his daughter Renée for one of his grandsons along with renouncing his claims on Naples. The proposal is never accepted.
↑Gattina, Ferdinando Petruccelli della (1864). Histoire diplomatique des Conclaves (in French). Librairie Internationale. p.493. Retrieved July 14, 2023.
↑Zheng, Yongnian (November 22, 2022). Civilization and the Chinese Body Politic. Taylor & Francis. ISBN978-1-000-64239-1. Retrieved July 14, 2023. The first Portuguese explorer to land in Southern China was Jorge Alvares, who in May 1513 arrived in Lintin Island in the Pearl River Delta to engage in trade.
123Price, David (November 3, 2010). "Inquisition". Johannes Reuchlin and the Campaign to Destroy Jewish Books. Oxford University Press. Retrieved July 15, 2023.
↑Price, David (November 3, 2010). "The Luther Affair". Johannes Reuchlin and the Campaign to Destroy Jewish Books. Oxford University Press. p.202. Retrieved July 15, 2023.
12Mackay, Aeneas James George; McNeill, George Powell; Burnett, George; Stuart, John (1891). The exchequer rolls of Scotland = Rotuli scaccarii regum Scotorum. Series of chronicles and memorials. Vol.13. Edinburgh: General Register House. p.clxxxviii. Retrieved July 16, 2023.