Events
1450
January–December
- February 7 – John de la Pole, 2nd Duke of Suffolk, marries Lady Margaret Beaufort. [1]
- February 26 – Francesco Sforza enters Milan after a siege, becoming Duke of the city-state, and founding a dynasty that will rule Milan for a century.
- March – French troops under Guy de Richemont besiege the English commander in France, Edmund Beaufort, 1st Duke of Somerset, in Caen.
- April 15 – Battle of Formigny: French troops under the Comte de Clermont defeat an English army under Sir Thomas Kyriel and Sir Matthew Gough, which was attempting to relieve Caen.
- May 8 – Jack Cade's Rebellion: Kentishmen revolt against King Henry VI of England.
- May 9 – Abdal-Latif Mirza, a Timurid dynasty monarch, is assassinated.
- May 13 – Charles VIII of Sweden, also serving as Carl I of Norway, is declared deposed from the latter throne, in favor of Christian I of Denmark.
- June 18 – Battle of Solefields (Sevenoaks): Jack Cade's rebels are driven from London by loyal troops.
- July 6 – Caen surrenders to the French.
- July 12 – Jack Cade is slain in a skirmish.
- August 12 – Cherbourg, the last English territory in Normandy, surrenders to the French.
- October 5 – Jews are expelled from Lower Bavaria, by order of Duke Ludwig IX.
- November 3 – The University of Barcelona is founded.
- November 23 – First Siege of Krujë: Albanian troops are victorious, forcing an Ottoman army of approximately 100,000 men to retreat from Albania.
Date unknown
- Machu Picchu (Quechua: Machu Pikchu, "Old mountain"), a pre-Columbian Inca site located 2,400 meters (7,875 ft) above sea level, is believed to be under construction. [2]
- A religious sacrifice of over a hundred children is performed around this time, outside of the ancient city of Chan Chan (near modern Trujillo), on the north coast of Peru. [3] [4]
- Johannes Gutenberg has set up his movable type printing press, as a commercial operation in Mainz, by this date. [5]
1451
January–December
- January 7 – Pope Nicholas V issues a Papal Bull [6] to establish The University of Glasgow; classes are initially held in Glasgow Cathedral.
- February 3 – Murad II, Sultan of the Ottoman Empire, dies and is succeeded (on February 18) by his son, Mehmed II.
- February 14 – Louis XI of France marries Charlotte of Savoy.
- April 11 – Celje acquires market town status and town rights, by orders from Count Frederic II of Celje.
- April 19 – In the Delhi Sultanate, the Afghan Lodi Dynasty succeeds the Turkish Sayyid Dynasty.
- June 30 – French troops under Jean de Dunois invade Guyenne, and capture Bordeaux.
- August 20 – The French capture Bayonne, the last English stronghold in Guyenne.
- October – After assassinating Bogdan II of Moldavia, Petru Aron takes up the throne.
- October 28 – Revolt of Ghent: Ghent takes up arms against Philip the Good, Duke of Burgundy.
Date unknown
- The Great Peacemaker along with Jigonhsasee and Hiawatha, found the Haudenosaunee, commonly called the Iroquois Confederacy
1452
January–December
- February – Alexăndrel retakes the throne of Moldavia, in his long struggle with Petru Aron.
- February 22 – William Douglas, 8th Earl of Douglas is killed by James II of Scotland, at Stirling Castle.
- March 17 – Reconquista – Battle of Los Alporchones (around the city of Lorca in Murcia): The combined forces of the Kingdom of Castile, and its subsidiary kingdom of Murcia, defeat the Emirate of Granada. [7]
- March 19 – Frederick III, Holy Roman Emperor, becomes the last to be crowned in Rome. [8]
- May 31 – Revolt of Ghent: Philip the Good, Duke of Burgundy, officially declares war on Ghent.
- June 18 – Pope Nicholas V issues the bull Dum Diversas , legitimising the colonial slave trade.
- October
- English troops under John Talbot, 1st Earl of Shrewsbury, land in Guyenne, France, and retake most of the province without a fight.
- Byzantine–Ottoman Wars: The Ottoman governor of Thessaly, Turakhan Beg, breaks through the Hexamilion wall for the fourth time, and ravages the Peloponnese Peninsula to prevent the Byzantine Despotate of the Morea from assisting Constantinople, during the final Ottoman siege of the imperial capital. [9]
Date unknown
- A major volcanic eruption, 1452/1453 mystery eruption, has a subsequent global cooling effect (the eruption releases more sulfate than any other event in the previous 700 years).
- Portuguese navigator Diogo de Teive discovers the islands of Corvo and Flores, in the Azores.
- Battle of Bealach nam Broig, a Scottish clan battle.
- Edinburgh officially becomes the capital of the Kingdom of Scotland. [10]
1453
January–December
- April – Tarabya and Studius are taken by the Ottoman Empire, in preparation for the assault on Constantinople, as are the Prince Islands, by the Ottoman fleet under Admiral Baltaoglu.
- April 6 – May 29 – Siege and Fall of Constantinople: The Ottoman Sultan Mehmed the Conqueror puts a decisive final end to the Roman Empire, nearly one and a half thousand years after its foundation by Augustus, by capturing the capital, Constantinople. [11] Mortars are (perhaps) used in battle for the first time in this action. The consequent closure of the traditional overland route from Western Europe to the Far East, and need to identify new maritime routes, leads to the Age of Discovery, and ends the Middle Ages. [12]
- May 22 – May 1453 lunar eclipse, a partial eclipse, is visible during the siege of Constantinople.
- July 17 – Battle of Castillon: In the last pitched battle of the Hundred Years' War, the French under Jean Bureau defeat the English under the Earl of Shrewsbury, who is killed. [13]
- July 23 – Battle of Gavere in Flanders: Philip the Good, Duke of Burgundy, is victorious over the rebels of Ghent, leading to surrender of their city and the end of the Revolt of Ghent.
- October 19 – The French recapture Bordeaux, ending the Hundred Years' War and leaving the English retaining only Calais on French soil.
- October 28 – Ladislaus the Posthumous is crowned King of Bohemia, although George of Poděbrady remains in control of the government.
- November 10 – Sejo of Joseon kills his enemy General Kim Jong-seo and gains control of the government in Joseon Korea (where this rebellion is called Gyeyujeongnan).
1454
January–December
- February 4 – Thirteen Years' War: The Secret Council of the Prussian Confederation sends a formal act of disobedience to the Grand Master, and the citizens of Toruń rebel against the Teutonic Knights, beginning the conflict.
- March 6 – Casimir IV of Poland renounces allegiance to the Teutonic Knights.
- March 27 – Richard Plantagenet, Duke of York, becomes Protector for King Henry VI of England, who is in a catatonic state.
- April 9 – Treaty of Lodi: Francesco Sforza forms a triple alliance between the Duchy of Milan, the Republic of Florence and Kingdom of Naples. [14]
- August – In Moldavia, Petru Aron retakes the throne from Alexăndrel.
- September 18 – Thirteen Years' War – Battle of Chojnice: The Polish army is defeated by a smaller but more professional Teutonic army.
- December – King Henry VI of England having regained his sanity dismisses the Duke of York as Protector.
Date unknown
- The press of Johannes Gutenberg (at Mainz on the Rhine) produces the first printed documents bearing a date.
- Isaac Zarfati sends a circular letter to Rhineland, Swabia, Moravia and Hungary, praising the happy conditions of the Jews under the crescent, in contrast to the "great torture chamber" under the cross, and urging them to come to the Ottoman Empire. [15]
- The Statutes of Nieszawa are enacted in Poland.
- The Drought of One Rabbit is recorded in Aztec history.
1455
January–December
- January 8 – Pope Nicholas V publishes Romanus Pontifex , an encyclical addressed to King Afonso V of Portugal, which sanctions the conquest of non-Christian lands, and the reduction of native non-Christian populations to 'perpetual slavery'. (Later there will be a dramatic reversal when, in 1537, the bull Sublimis Deus of Pope Paul III forbids the enslavement of non-Christians.)
- February 23 – The Gutenberg Bible is the first book printed with movable type. [16]
- April 8 – Pope Calixtus III succeeds Pope Nicholas V, as the 209th pope.
- Spring – The Wars of the Roses begin in England.
- May 1 – Battle of Arkinholm: Forces loyal to King James II of Scotland defeat the supporters of the Earl of Douglas.
- May 22 – First Battle of St Albans: Richard, Duke of York, defeats and captures King Henry VI of England. [17]
- November 15 – The conflict between Vladislav II of Wallachia and John Hunyadi escalates, so the latter decides to support Vlad the Impaler for the throne of Wallachia, the following year.
1456
January–December
- May 18 – Second Battle of Oronichea (1456): Ottoman Forces of 15,000 are sent to capture Albania, but are met and swiftly defeated by Skanderbeg's smaller forces.
- June 9 – Halley's Comet makes an appearance, as noted by the humanist scholar Platina.
- July 7 – A retrial of Joan of Arc acquits her of heresy, 25 years after her execution.
- July 22 – Battle of Nándorfehérvár (Belgrade): The Hungarians under John Hunyadi rout the Turkish army of Sultan Mehmed II. The noon bell ordered by Pope Callixtus III commemorates the victory throughout the Christian world (and hence is still rung).
- August 20 – Vladislav II, reigning Prince of Wallachia, is killed in hand-to-hand combat by Vlad the Impaler, who succeeds him.
- October 17 – The University of Greifswald is established, making it the second oldest university in Northern Europe. Due to border changes, from 1648 to 1815 it was the oldest in Sweden, and from 1815 to 1945 the oldest in Prussia.
- December 5 – Two earthquakes in central Italy kills 12,000–70,000 people. [18]
Date unknown
- Lazar Branković becomes despot of Serbia.
- Alvise Cadamosto discovers some of the Cape Verde Islands.
- Diogo Gomes reaches the Geba River in Guinea Bissau, and explores the Gambia River.
- Emperor Zara Yaqob of Ethiopia founds the city of Debre Berhan.
- Muscovy and the Novgorod Republic conclude the Treaty of Yazhelbitsy.
- Petru Aron becomes the first ruler of Moldavia to pay tribute to the Ottomans.
1457
January–December
- February 11 – After years of captivity and absence from the Ming throne, the Zhengtong Emperor of China is reinstated, as the Tianshun Emperor.
- February 24 – Charles VIII of Sweden is declared deposed. The Archbishop of Sweden, Jöns Bengtsson Oxenstierna, and statesman Erik Axelsson Tott become co-regents of Sweden. The throne is then offered to Christian I of Denmark and Norway.
- March 6 – King James II of Scotland decrees that ". . . ye futebawe and ye golf be uterly cryt done and not usyt . . ", the first historical mention of the game of golf.
- April 12 – Ştefan cel Mare secures the throne of Moldavia, which he retains for the next 47 years.
- June 23 – Christian I is elected king of Sweden, ending the war between Sweden and Denmark and restoring the Kalmar Union.
- June 29 – The Dutch city of Dordrecht is devastated by fire. [19]
- August 14 – The Mainz Psalter, the second major book printed with movable type in the West, the first to be wholly finished mechanically (including colour), and the first to carry a printed date, is printed for the Elector of Mainz.
- September 2 – Battle of Ujëbardha: One of Skanderbeg's most important victories is won against the Ottoman army, in the open field.
Date unknown
- Albrechts University is founded at Freiburg im Breisgau.
- Edo Castle is built by Ōta Dōkan in modern-day Tokyo.
1458
January–December
- January 24 – Matthias Corvinus becomes king of Hungary, at age 14. [20]
- March 25 – The Loveday is staged in London, by which Henry VI of England attempts to unite the warring factions who have triggered the War of the Roses. [21]
- August 19 – Pope Pius II succeeds Pope Callixtus III, as the 210th pope. [22]
- October 24 – King Afonso V of Portugal conquers Ksar es-Seghir, in North Africa. [23]
Date unknown
- Magdalen College, Oxford, is founded. [24]
- George of Poděbrady becomes king of Bohemia. [25]
- The Ottoman authorities issue a decree to protect the Acropolis, after they conquer Athens. [26]
- The Jewish community is expelled from Erfurt (Germany); their houses are sold, and the synagogue turned into an arsenal. [27]
- Moctezuma I, Tlatoani of Tenochtitlán, leads an expedition to the city-state Coixtlahuaca in Mixtec territory, but is defeated.
- A major volcano erupts. [28]
1459
January–December
- January 18 – The Order of Our Lady of Bethlehem is founded by Pope Pius II, to defend the island of Lemnos.
- September 23 – Wars of the Roses: Battle of Blore Heath in England – Yorkists under Richard Neville, 5th Earl of Salisbury, defeat a Lancastrian force. [29]
- October 12 – Wars of the Roses: With a royal force advancing on his fortress at Ludlow, Richard Plantagenet, Duke of York, flees to Ireland, while his ally Richard Neville, 16th Earl of Warwick (Warwick the Kingmaker, eldest son of the Earl of Salisbury) goes to Calais.
Date unknown
- The Wallachian town of Bucharest is first mentioned. [30]
- The city of Jodhpur, in western India, is founded by Rao Jodha of Marwar.
- Richard, Duke of York, Lord Lieutenant of Ireland, returns on a second visit to Ireland. [31] The Irish Parliament, meeting at Drogheda, upholds his authority against Henry VI, and an English Act of Attainder.
- Richard Hygons, English composer, begins fifty years of service at Wells Cathedral.
Religion
- King Thomas of Bosnia forces the clergy of the Bosnian Church into exile.
- According to a legend, the wedding of Christian Rosenkreuz takes place.
