1400s (24 events)
1400
ID: 2170
Medici bank pioneers double-entry bookkeeping for international branches - creating internal law of accounts, foundation for corporate accounting
ID: 2170
1400
ID: 2465
Epiphany Rising fails - attempt to restore Richard II crushed, conspirators executed
ID: 2465
1400
ID: 2466
Owen Glendower proclaimed Prince of Wales - Welsh rebellion begins, lasts 15 years
ID: 2466
1400
ID: 5532
Joseon Dynasty adopts Neo-Confucianism as state ideology, begins suppressing Buddhism
ID: 5532
1400
ID: 5741
Venetian spice markup reaches 4000% - nutmeg bought for 1 ducat in Alexandria sold for 40+ ducats in Europe
ID: 5741
1400
ID: 5742
Cloves grow only on five tiny Moluccan islands - Ternate and Tidore control world's clove supply, sultans become fabulously wealthy
ID: 5742
1400
ID: 5764
Spice taxes provide third of Mamluk revenue - Sultan's monopoly charges duties at Jeddah, Suez, Cairo, and Alexandria
ID: 5764
1400
ID: 2464
February 14, 1400
Death of Richard II at Pontefract Castle - starved or murdered, Henry IV displays body to prove death
ID: 2464
1401
ID: 4752
Timur destroys Damascus and Baghdad - depopulates Syria, builds towers of 20,000 skulls
ID: 4752
1401
ID: 5161
Competition for Florence Baptistery doors - Ghiberti defeats Brunelleschi, beginning of Renaissance art
ID: 5161
1402
ID: 4753
Battle of Ankara - Timur captures Ottoman Sultan Bayezid I, saves Constantinople for 50 years
ID: 4753
1402
ID: 5166
Medici bank opens Rome branch - manages papal finances, becomes most profitable branch
ID: 5166
1403
ID: 2171
Statute of Henry IV recognizes cestui que use - beneficiary of trust can transfer beneficial interest, legitimizing trust mechanism
ID: 2171
1403
ID: 2467
July 21, 1403
Battle of Shrewsbury - Henry IV defeats Percy rebellion, Harry Hotspur killed, Prince Hal (future Henry V) wounded
ID: 2467
1405
ID: 2468
Archbishop Scrope's rebellion - executed for treason, Henry IV said to develop leprosy as divine punishment
ID: 2468
1405
ID: 4186
Mordiford Dragon slain - green wyvern raised by child, grows dangerous, killed by condemned criminal (Herefordshire chronicles)
ID: 4186
1405
ID: 4719
Zheng He's first voyage - massive treasure fleets reach Southeast Asia, India, Africa
ID: 4719
1405
ID: 4754
Death of Timur - dies invading China in winter, empire fragments, estimated 17 million killed in campaigns
ID: 4754
1405
ID: 5114
Venice conquers Padua and Verona - begins major mainland expansion, becomes territorial state beyond maritime empire
ID: 5114
1406
ID: 117
St. Colette reforms Poor Clares - receives vision from St. Francis to restore original poverty
ID: 117
1407
ID: 2172
Casa di San Giorgio established in Genoa - joint-stock company managing public debt, prototype of modern corporation
ID: 2172
1408
ID: 2469
Battle of Bramham Moor - Earl of Northumberland killed, Percy rebellions finally ended
ID: 2469
1409
ID: 2173
English Chancellor begins systematic equity jurisdiction - developing parallel legal system to correct rigidities of common law
ID: 2173
1409
ID: 5895
Polish kings reserve aurochs hunting - only royalty may hunt remaining aurochs in Polish forests, populations declining
ID: 5895
1410s (23 events)
1410
ID: 98
Jan van Eyck perfects oil painting technique - achieving unprecedented realism, light seems to emanate from within
ID: 98
1410
ID: 148
Image of Our Lady of Good Counsel miraculously appears on church wall in Genazzano
ID: 148
1412
ID: 25
St. Joan of Arc born in Domremy
ID: 25
1412
ID: 127
St. Vincent Ferrer simultaneously preaches in different languages - each hears in own tongue
ID: 127
1412
ID: 3552
St. Vincent Ferrer (age 62) raising the dead in Spain - Documented case: Child crushed by cart, Vincent prays, child rises whole
ID: 3552
1413
ID: 3553
St. Vincent Ferrer: Gift of tongues manifests powerfully - Speaks only Spanish/Latin but Germans, French, Greeks all hear in native language - 'Christ lives! Christ reigns! Christ commands!'
ID: 3553
1413
ID: 2470
March 20, 1413
Death of Henry IV - dies in Jerusalem Chamber at Westminster, fulfilling prophecy he would die in Jerusalem
ID: 2470
1413
ID: 2471
March 21, 1413
Henry V becomes king - transforms from wild Prince Hal to pious warrior king
ID: 2471
1413
ID: 2472
April 9, 1413
Henry V crowned - ceremony in snowstorm seen as ill omen, but reign will bring greatest military glory
ID: 2472
1414
ID: 2473
Lollard rebellion crushed - Sir John Oldcastle's uprising fails, Henry V establishes religious orthodoxy
ID: 2473
1414
ID: 5167
Medici bank finances Council of Constance - Giovanni de' Medici accompanies Pope John XXIII
ID: 5167
1415
ID: 70
July 6, 1415
Jan Hus burned at Council of Constance despite imperial safe conduct
ID: 70
1415
ID: 5060
July 6, 1415
Jan Hus burned at Constance - Bohemian reformer executed for heresy despite safe conduct
ID: 5060
1415
ID: 2474
August 13, 1415
Henry V invades France - lands at Harfleur with 12,000 men, dysentery soon decimates army
ID: 2474
1415
ID: 71
October 25, 1415
Battle of Agincourt - English defeat French against overwhelming odds
ID: 71
1415
ID: 2475
October 25, 1415
Battle of Agincourt - Henry V's 6,000 defeats 25,000 French, longbows destroy flower of French nobility on St. Crispin's Day
ID: 2475
1416
ID: 2476
Emperor Sigismund visits England - makes Henry V member of Order of Dragon, recognizes English claims
ID: 2476
1416
ID: 3554
St. Rita's husband murdered - she prays sons won't seek revenge - Both sons fall ill, die after forgiving father's murderers
ID: 3554
1417
ID: 29
Poggio Bracciolini discovers Lucretius's 'De Rerum Natura' - Epicurean materialism recovered
ID: 29
1417
ID: 72
Council of Constance ends Great Schism - Martin V elected sole pope
ID: 72
1417
ID: 2477
Henry V's second invasion of France - systematic conquest of Normandy begins, different from earlier raids
ID: 2477
1419
ID: 3555
St. Vincent Ferrer dies - 800,000 converts attributed to his preaching - Raises 28 people from dead (documented) - 'Sinners, you have forgotten your sins, but God has not forgotten them!'
ID: 3555
1419
ID: 2478
January 19, 1419
Fall of Rouen - six-month siege ends with Norman capital surrendering, 12,000 civilians dead from starvation
ID: 2478
1420s (22 events)
1420
ID: 73
Hussite Wars begin - first successful resistance to crusade, early firearms used
ID: 73
1420
ID: 99
First blast furnaces in Rhine Valley produce cast iron - temperature reaches 1500°C, weapons and tools revolutionized
ID: 99
1420
ID: 2174
Chancellor enforces uses (trusts) in conscience - creating body of trust law outside common law courts
ID: 2174
1420
ID: 4187
Lambton Worm defeated - John Lambton kills dragon after returning from Crusades, family cursed for nine generations (Durham records)
ID: 4187
1420
ID: 4718
Forbidden City completed - Yongle Emperor moves capital from Nanjing to Beijing
ID: 4718
1420
ID: 5765
Venice pays 10,000 ducats annually to Mamluk Sultan - ensures exclusive access, other Europeans blocked from spice trade
ID: 5765
1420
ID: 2479
May 21, 1420
Treaty of Troyes - Henry V recognized as heir to France, marries Catherine of Valois, disinherits Dauphin
ID: 2479
1421
ID: 100
Giovanni de' Medici's bank uses double-entry bookkeeping to manage branches from London to Constantinople
ID: 100
1421
ID: 2287
Genoa develops accomandita partnership form - sleeping partners with limited liability, active partners with unlimited liability
ID: 2287
1421
ID: 4190
Dragon of Mount Pilatus seen - cooper encounters dragon on Mount Pilatus, survives by staying still (Swiss chronicles)
ID: 4190
1421
ID: 2480
December 6, 1421
Birth of Henry VI - born at Windsor while father conquering France, will lose all his father won
ID: 2480
1422
ID: 2481
August 31, 1422
Death of Henry V at Vincennes - dies of dysentery at 35, never crowned King of France, infant son inherits
ID: 2481
1422
ID: 2482
November 6, 1422
Henry VI proclaimed King of England and France - nine-month-old baby inherits two crowns, longest minority in English history begins
ID: 2482
1425
ID: 26
St. Joan of Arc first hears voices - St. Michael appears in father's garden
ID: 26
1425
ID: 116
St. Frances of Rome sees guardian angel constantly - founds Oblates while remaining married
ID: 116
1425
ID: 3556
St. Joan of Arc (age 13): First hears voices in father's garden at noon - St. Michael appears: 'Be good and go to church often' - 'I was terrified at first, but afterward I knew it was St. Michael'
ID: 3556
1425
ID: 5162
Masaccio paints Holy Trinity in Santa Maria Novella - first use of mathematical perspective in painting
ID: 5162
1428
ID: 3557
St. Joan: Voices become urgent - 'Go to France! Go! Go!' - St. Catherine and St. Margaret appear: 'God has great pity on the people of France'
ID: 3557
1429
ID: 2483
Henry VI crowned King of England - seven-year-old child crowned at Westminster, regency continues
ID: 2483
1429
ID: 3558
St. Joan (age 17): Identifies disguised Dauphin at Chinon among 300 courtiers - Tells him secret only God could know (his private prayer doubting legitimacy)
ID: 3558
1429
ID: 3762
Sound Toll established at Helsingør - Denmark controls Baltic trade, major revenue source for centuries
ID: 3762
1429
ID: 27
May 8, 1429
St. Joan lifts siege of Orleans - arrow through shoulder, continues fighting
ID: 27
1430s (17 events)
1430
ID: 101
Portuguese develop the caravel - combining lateen and square sails, exploration of African coast begins
ID: 101
1430
ID: 3559
St. Bernardine of Siena: 30,000 attend his sermons - Promotes 'IHS' devotion - 'Make three tabernacles in your heart: one for joy, one for sorrow, one for neither - and dwell in the third'
ID: 3559
1431
ID: 28
May 30, 1431
St. Joan burned at Rouen - dies crying 'Jesus!' Heart found intact in ashes
ID: 28
1431
ID: 2484
December 16, 1431
Henry VI crowned King of France at Notre-Dame - only English king crowned in France, but Joan of Arc has changed the war
ID: 2484
1432
ID: 3560
Our Lady of Tears - Miraculous weeping of Madonna image in Cascia, Italy - Same year St. Rita enters monastery - Tears analyzed by authorities, found to be human - Violence ceases after processions
ID: 3560
1433
ID: 4720
China ends naval exploration - last Zheng He voyage, China turns inward
ID: 4720
1433
ID: 5554
King Sigismund crowned Holy Roman Emperor, having already been King of Hungary, Germany, and Bohemia
ID: 5554
1434
ID: 5127
Cosimo de' Medici returns from exile and takes control of Florence - begins 30-year unofficial rule as 'Pater Patriae'
ID: 5127
1435
ID: 5168
Medici bank at peak - branches in Rome, Venice, Geneva, Bruges, London, Avignon, Milan, Pisa
ID: 5168
1436
ID: 4804
Paolo Uccello paints Hawkwood monument - fresco in Florence Cathedral, 'Giovanni Acuto' immortalized
ID: 4804
1436
ID: 5128
Brunelleschi completes dome of Florence Cathedral - engineering marvel without scaffolding, largest masonry dome ever built
ID: 5128
1437
ID: 2485
Henry VI begins personal rule - weak, pious king interested only in education and religion, founds Eton and King's College
ID: 2485
1438
ID: 74
Pachacuti founds Inca Empire - beginning American highland civilization
ID: 74
1439
ID: 102
Gutenberg begins experiments with movable type - combining wine press, metallurgy, and oil-based ink
ID: 102
1439
ID: 4783
Council of Florence - desperate Byzantines accept union with Rome for military aid, people reject
ID: 4783
1439
ID: 5050
Council of Florence - another reunion attempt under Pope Eugenius IV, Greeks agree then reject upon return home
ID: 5050
1439
ID: 5129
Council of Florence attempts reunion of Eastern and Western Churches - Cosimo hosts Byzantine Emperor John VIII
ID: 5129
1440s (10 events)
1440
ID: 75
Gutenberg develops movable type printing press - revolution in knowledge transmission
ID: 75
1440
ID: 5163
Cosimo commissions Fra Angelico to paint San Marco monastery - creates devotional frescoes in each cell
ID: 5163
1442
ID: 114
St. Rita receives thorn wound on forehead after praying before crucifix - wound remains 15 years until death
ID: 114
1442
ID: 134
St. Bernardino of Siena's reforms spread - promotes Holy Name devotion, IHS monogram appears everywhere
ID: 134
1443
ID: 5531
King Sejong the Great creates Hangul, Korean phonetic alphabet - promulgated in 1446
ID: 5531
1444
ID: 5130
Cosimo de' Medici founds Biblioteca Medicea (Medici Library) - first European library open to public
ID: 5130
1444
ID: 76
November 10, 1444
Battle of Varna - Ottoman victory, last major crusade defeated
ID: 76
1445
ID: 4164
Vierzehnheiligen vision - shepherd boy sees fourteen children who identify as Holy Helpers, basilica later built at site
ID: 4164
1445
ID: 2486
April 23, 1445
Henry VI marries Margaret of Anjou - strong-willed queen will dominate weak king, becomes partisan leader
ID: 2486
1447
ID: 3561
St. Rita: Wound temporarily heals for pilgrimage to Rome (Holy Year) - Returns immediately after - her sharing in Christ's crown of thorns
ID: 3561
1450s (26 events)
1450
ID: 2175
Feoffment to uses widespread - majority of English land held in trust to avoid feudal obligations and control inheritance
ID: 2175
1450
ID: 2487
Jack Cade's Rebellion - Kentish rebels protest corruption and losses in France, briefly take London
ID: 2487
1450
ID: 5688
Coffee cultivation begins in Yemen - Mocha becomes major coffee port, Ottoman Empire controls trade
ID: 5688
1450
ID: 5766
Cairo-Alexandria spice caravan takes 10 days - heavily guarded camel trains carry fortunes in pepper, cinnamon, cloves
ID: 5766
1451
ID: 3562
St. John of Capistrano (age 65): Leading crusade against Turkish invasion - Carries only banner with Holy Name, no weapons - 40,000 Turks flee from 4,000 Christians at Belgrade
ID: 3562
1453
ID: 2176
Fall of Constantinople brings Byzantine legal manuscripts West - Greek texts of Justinian trigger humanist legal scholarship
ID: 2176
1453
ID: 3563
Shroud transferred to Savoy - Duke Louis obtains from Charny family - Blind child receives sight after touching reliquary
ID: 3563
1453
ID: 3564
Holy Face of Genoa (separate from Shroud) performs miracle - Image on cloth spontaneously appears during Mass - Byzantine emperor's gift authenticated by bleeding
ID: 3564
1453
ID: 4784
Constantine XI dies on walls - last emperor refuses surrender, body never found, empire ends
ID: 4784
1453
ID: 5131
Donatello completes bronze David for Medici palace - first free-standing nude sculpture since antiquity
ID: 5131
1453
ID: 5743
Ottomans capture Constantinople - spice prices triple in Europe, desperate search for alternative routes begins
ID: 5743
1453
ID: 77
May 29, 1453
Fall of Constantinople - Constantine XI dies on walls, Byzantine Empire ends after 1,123 years
ID: 77
1453
ID: 103
May 29, 1453
Mehmed II's giant cannon 'Basilica' breaches Constantinople's walls - 1000-year-old Theodosian walls fall to gunpowder
ID: 103
1453
ID: 2488
July 17, 1453
Battle of Castillon ends Hundred Years War - English lose all French territory except Calais
ID: 2488
1453
ID: 2489
August 1453
Henry VI's first madness begins - complete mental breakdown, catatonic for 17 months, York becomes Protector
ID: 2489
1454
ID: 2490
October 13, 1454
Birth of Edward of Westminster - Henry VI's only son born during his madness, paternity questioned
ID: 2490
1455
ID: 78
Gutenberg Bible printed - first major book in the West using movable type
ID: 78
1455
ID: 2491
May 22, 1455
First Battle of St. Albans - Wars of the Roses begin, York defeats royal army, Somerset killed in street fighting
ID: 2491
1456
ID: 104
Gutenberg Bible demonstrates printing press - 180 copies in time it took to make one manuscript
ID: 104
1456
ID: 115
St. John of Capistrano at 70 leads crusade at Belgrade - dying two months after victory
ID: 115
1456
ID: 5555
John Hunyadi defeats Ottomans at Siege of Belgrade, stopping Ottoman advance for 70 years
ID: 5555
1456
ID: 79
July 22, 1456
Siege of Belgrade - Hunyadi defeats Ottomans, bells ring at noon in perpetuity
ID: 79
1457
ID: 3565
May 22, 1457
St. Rita dies - Rose blooms in winter at her request - Bees that entered her mouth as infant emerge from wound, fly to heaven - 'Lord, here burn, here cut, but spare me in eternity'
ID: 3565
1458
ID: 5556
Matthias Corvinus becomes king, creates Europe's second largest library and professional Black Army
ID: 5556
1459
ID: 5132
Cosimo founds Platonic Academy in Florence - Marsilio Ficino leads revival of Platonism in West
ID: 5132
1459
ID: 2492
October 12, 1459
Rout of Ludford Bridge - Yorkist army melts away, York flees to Ireland, Warwick to Calais
ID: 2492
1460s (21 events)
1460
ID: 2177
Fortescue writes De Laudibus Legum Angliae - defending English common law against Roman law, articulating distinct English legal tradition
ID: 2177
1460
ID: 2493
July 10, 1460
Battle of Northampton - Yorkists capture Henry VI, Queen Margaret flees to Scotland with prince
ID: 2493
1460
ID: 2494
October 1460
Act of Accord - Richard of York recognized as Henry VI's heir, disinheriting Prince Edward
ID: 2494
1460
ID: 2495
December 30, 1460
Battle of Wakefield - Richard of York killed, head displayed with paper crown at York
ID: 2495
1461
ID: 80
Wars of the Roses begin - York vs Lancaster for English throne
ID: 80
1461
ID: 2496
February 2, 1461
Battle of Mortimer's Cross - Edward of York sees parhelion (three suns), adopts sun in splendor badge
ID: 2496
1461
ID: 2497
March 29, 1461
Battle of Towton - bloodiest battle on English soil, 28,000 dead in snowstorm, Edward IV wins throne
ID: 2497
1461
ID: 2498
June 28, 1461
Edward IV crowned - 19-year-old Yorkist king begins reign, Henry VI flees to Scotland
ID: 2498
1462
ID: 3566
Ficino translates Plato and Hermes Trismegistus (1462-1463) - Medici commission - Hermetic texts believed ancient - Mix of magic, astrology, alchemy - 'As above, so below'
ID: 3566
1462
ID: 5976
Ivan III becomes Grand Prince of Moscow - begins 'gathering of Russian lands', refuses tribute to Golden Horde
ID: 5976
1464
ID: 5169
Medici bank begins decline under Piero - bad loans to princes, mismanagement by agents
ID: 5169
1464
ID: 2499
May 1, 1464
Edward IV secretly marries Elizabeth Woodville - widow commoner instead of foreign princess, Warwick furious
ID: 2499
1464
ID: 5133
August 1, 1464
Death of Cosimo de' Medici - 'Father of the Fatherland' buried in San Lorenzo crypt
ID: 5133
1465
ID: 2500
Henry VI captured - found wandering in Lancashire, imprisoned in Tower of London
ID: 2500
1467
ID: 2288
Medici bank develops holding company structure - separate partnerships in each city under central control, early corporate group
ID: 2288
1467
ID: 3567
St. Nicholas of Flüe: Leaves family for hermitage (with wife's permission) - Vision of Christ as pilgrim tests his resolve - Begins 19-year fast - living only on Eucharist
ID: 3567
1467
ID: 5498
Onin War begins in Kyoto, initiating Sengoku (Warring States) period of constant warfare
ID: 5498
1469
ID: 81
Marriage of Isabella and Ferdinand unites Castile and Aragon
ID: 81
1469
ID: 2501
Warwick rebels against Edward IV - 'Kingmaker' switches sides, captures Edward at Edgecote
ID: 2501
1469
ID: 5134
Lorenzo the Magnificent becomes ruler of Florence at age 20 - begins golden age of Renaissance
ID: 5134
1469
ID: 5164
Ficino completes Latin translation of Plato's complete works - first in West, transforms European philosophy
ID: 5164
1470s (16 events)
1470
ID: 33
St. Nicholas of Flue begins 19-year fast - living only on Eucharist, verified by authorities
ID: 33
1470
ID: 3568
St. Nicholas: Authorities investigate his fasting - Locked under guard for month - survives without food or water - 'The food which nourishes me is the Body of Christ'
ID: 3568
1470
ID: 2502
October 1470
Readeption of Henry VI - Warwick restores mad king to throne, Edward IV flees to Burgundy
ID: 2502
1471
ID: 2503
March 14, 1471
Edward IV returns from exile - lands at Ravenspur like Henry IV, reclaims throne
ID: 2503
1471
ID: 2504
April 14, 1471
Battle of Barnet - Edward IV defeats Warwick in fog, Kingmaker killed, Oxford attacks own men
ID: 2504
1471
ID: 2505
May 4, 1471
Battle of Tewkesbury - Prince Edward killed, last Lancastrian heir dead, Margaret of Anjou captured
ID: 2505
1471
ID: 2506
May 21, 1471
Murder of Henry VI in Tower - killed while at prayer, allegedly by Richard of Gloucester
ID: 2506
1472
ID: 5170
Medici bank's Bruges branch collapses - Tommaso Portinari's loans to Charles the Bold fail
ID: 5170
1474
ID: 2178
Venice passes first patent statute - granting exclusive rights to inventors for 10 years, birth of intellectual property law
ID: 2178
1474
ID: 3569
St. Catherine of Genoa: Sudden conversion during confession - Vision of Christ's blood flowing: 'My daughter, see this blood - it is for love of you!' - 'No more world! No more sins!'
ID: 3569
1475
ID: 105
First arquebuses appear in European armies - personal firearms begin replacing crossbows
ID: 105
1475
ID: 145
First Rosary Confraternity established in Cologne - 15 mysteries formalized for meditation
ID: 145
1478
ID: 82
Spanish Inquisition established by Ferdinand and Isabella
ID: 82
1478
ID: 5977
Ivan III conquers Novgorod Republic - ends medieval democracy, centralizes Russian state under Moscow
ID: 5977
1478
ID: 2507
February 18, 1478
Execution of George, Duke of Clarence - drowned in butt of malmsey wine in Tower for treason
ID: 2507
1478
ID: 5135
April 26, 1478
Pazzi Conspiracy - Giuliano de' Medici murdered in cathedral during Mass, Lorenzo wounded but escapes
ID: 5135
1480s (28 events)
1480
ID: 3570
Our Lady of Częstochowa - Multiple miraculous defenses of Jasna Góra monastery (1480-1490) - 1430: Image slashed by Hussite raiders - wounds remain visible
ID: 3570
1480
ID: 4755
Great Stand on Ugra River - Ivan III faces down Golden Horde, ends Mongol domination of Russia
ID: 4755
1481
ID: 2179
Consulado del Mar printed - spreading Mediterranean commercial law throughout Europe, standardizing maritime trade law
ID: 2179
1481
ID: 3571
St. Nicholas of Flüe: Prevents Swiss civil war at Stans - Deputies accept hermit's compromise when all politics fail - 'Don't make the fence too wide' (limiting foreign alliances)
ID: 3571
1482
ID: 5136
Botticelli paints Birth of Venus for Medici villa - Neo-Platonic allegory becomes icon of Renaissance
ID: 5136
1483
ID: 2508
April 9, 1483
Death of Edward IV - dies suddenly at 40, names brother Richard as Protector for 12-year-old Edward V
ID: 2508
1483
ID: 2509
April 30, 1483
Richard intercepts Edward V at Stony Stratford - takes control of young king, arrests Woodville escorts
ID: 2509
1483
ID: 2510
June 13, 1483
Lord Hastings executed - Richard accuses him of treason at council meeting, immediate beheading
ID: 2510
1483
ID: 2511
June 22, 1483
Dr. Shaw's sermon at St. Paul's - declares Edward IV's children bastards, Richard rightful king
ID: 2511
1483
ID: 2512
June 26, 1483
Richard III accepts crown - Parliament petitions him to take throne, Princes in Tower never seen again
ID: 2512
1483
ID: 2513
July 6, 1483
Richard III crowned - lavish ceremony cannot hide questionable legitimacy, North supports, South suspicious
ID: 2513
1483
ID: 2514
October 1483
Buckingham's Rebellion - former ally rebels, crushed by rain and floods, Henry Tudor emerges as claimant
ID: 2514
1484
ID: 2515
April 9, 1484
Death of Edward of Middleham - Richard III's only son dies at 10, succession crisis deepens
ID: 2515
1485
ID: 2180
Court of Chancery fully established - equity jurisdiction formalized under Chancellor as 'keeper of king's conscience'
ID: 2180
1485
ID: 5978
Ivan III adopts title 'Sovereign of All Russia' - claims inheritance of Byzantine Empire after marrying Sophia Paleologus
ID: 5978
1485
ID: 2516
March 16, 1485
Death of Queen Anne Neville - Richard III's wife dies, rumors he poisoned her to marry niece
ID: 2516
1485
ID: 2517
August 7, 1485
Henry Tudor lands at Milford Haven - with 2,000 French mercenaries, marches through Wales gathering support
ID: 2517
1485
ID: 83
August 22, 1485
Battle of Bosworth Field - Richard III killed, Tudor dynasty begins
ID: 83
1485
ID: 2518
August 22, 1485
Battle of Bosworth Field - Richard III killed fighting, crown found in hawthorn bush, Henry VII proclaimed on battlefield
ID: 2518
1485
ID: 2519
August 22, 1485
End of Plantagenet dynasty - after 331 years and 14 kings, last Plantagenet king dies crying 'Treason! Treason!'
ID: 2519
1485
ID: 2520
October 30, 1485
Henry VII crowned - Tudor dynasty begins, marries Elizabeth of York to unite roses
ID: 2520
1486
ID: 30
Pico della Mirandola's 'Oration on Dignity of Man' - man as self-creator
ID: 30
1486
ID: 5137
Pico della Mirandola writes 'Oration on the Dignity of Man' - Renaissance manifesto on human potential, protected by Lorenzo
ID: 5137
1487
ID: 2181
Star Chamber court formalized - using Roman law procedures in England for state trials, bypassing common law protections
ID: 2181
1487
ID: 3572
St. Nicholas dies - 20 years without earthly food verified - Light seen ascending from his cell - Final words: 'I'm going home'
ID: 3572
1488
ID: 106
Bartolomeu Dias rounds Cape of Good Hope in caravel - Portuguese ship design proves capable of ocean navigation
ID: 106
1489
ID: 5115
Venice acquires Cyprus - last Queen Caterina Cornaro abdicates, Venice gains valuable sugar and wine producing kingdom
ID: 5115
1489
ID: 5138
13-year-old Michelangelo joins Medici household - Lorenzo recognizes genius, treats him as son
ID: 5138
1490s (23 events)
1490
ID: 107
Leonardo da Vinci designs flying machines, tanks, and submarines - though unbuildable, shows mechanical imagination unleashed
ID: 107
1492
ID: 5691
Columbus observes natives smoking tobacco in Cuba - first European encounter with tobacco
ID: 5691
1492
ID: 84
January 2, 1492
Fall of Granada - Reconquista complete after 781 years
ID: 84
1492
ID: 5139
April 8, 1492
Death of Lorenzo the Magnificent - end of Florence's golden age, Savonarola claims deathbed reconciliation
ID: 5139
1492
ID: 85
October 12, 1492
Columbus reaches Americas - two worlds meet, changing history forever
ID: 85
1493
ID: 5666
Columbus returns to Spain with maize - first New World crop introduced to Europe, initially used as animal feed
ID: 5666
1493
ID: 5693
Columbus encounters chili peppers - mistakes them for black pepper (hence 'pepper'), brings to Spain
ID: 5693
1493
ID: 5702
Columbus brings sugar cane to Caribbean - establishes plantation system that drives Atlantic slave trade
ID: 5702
1493
ID: 5469
November 10, 1493
Philippus Aureolus Theophrastus Bombastus von Hohenheim (Paracelsus) born in Einsiedeln, Switzerland, son of physician Wilhelm Bombast von Hohenheim
ID: 5469
1494
ID: 86
Treaty of Tordesillas - Pope divides New World between Spain and Portugal
ID: 86
1494
ID: 108
Luca Pacioli publishes 'Summa de arithmetica' including double-entry bookkeeping - spreading Venetian method across Europe
ID: 108
1494
ID: 2182
Luca Pacioli publishes Summa de Arithmetica including double-entry bookkeeping - spreading legal framework for corporate accounting
ID: 2182
1494
ID: 2289
Augsburg Fugger bank pioneers double-entry bookkeeping for bankruptcy proceedings - systematic accounting of assets and liabilities
ID: 2289
1494
ID: 5140
Piero the Unfortunate expelled from Florence - Medici bank collapses, Savonarola establishes theocracy
ID: 5140
1494
ID: 5745
Spain and Portugal divide world for spice trade - Treaty of Tordesillas splits globe, all for control of spice routes
ID: 5745
1495
ID: 141
Children in Florence report visions of hell during Savonarola's preaching - mass conversions follow
ID: 141
1497
ID: 5979
Ivan III issues Sudebnik (law code) - first unified legal code for all Russia, establishes centralized justice
ID: 5979
1497
ID: 5141
February 7, 1497
Bonfire of the Vanities - Savonarola's followers burn art, books, cosmetics, mirrors in Piazza della Signoria
ID: 5141
1498
ID: 109
Vasco da Gama reaches India using caravel and compass - 27,000 mile journey guided by needle pointing north
ID: 109
1498
ID: 128
Savonarola burned but many consider him saint - Dominican reformer's 'bonfire of vanities' consumed by flames
ID: 128
1498
ID: 5744
Vasco da Gama reaches Kerala spice markets - breaks Arab-Venetian monopoly, pepper prices drop 90% in Lisbon
ID: 5744
1498
ID: 87
May 23, 1498
Savonarola burned in Florence - reformer becomes ash in Piazza della Signoria
ID: 87
1498
ID: 5142
May 23, 1498
Savonarola burned at stake in Florence - executed where he held Bonfire of Vanities, ashes thrown in Arno
ID: 5142