1455 CE
In Egypt, the Sultan Sayf al-Din Inal confronts a revolt of 500 of his ethnic Circassian slave-troops (mamluks) after rejecting the soldiers' requests for camels to accompany them on an expedition against Bedouin invaders in the Nile Delta. After attempting to assassinate the Sultan's secretary, Yunus al-Aqba'i, the rebels join discontented Zahiri troops and besieged the Cairo Citadel. Facing a withdrawal of support from the Egyptian Caliph, the Sultan eventually meets the rebels' demands. Prince João, the new son of King Afonso V of Portugal, is approved as the heir to the throne by the representatives of the three estates of the realm (nobility, clergy and bourgeoisie) in the Portuguese Cortes at Lisbon. Threatened with an invasion by the Ottoman Empire, the Principality of Moldavia sends its first tribute to the Ottoman Sultan, paying 2,000 ducats (equivalent to 6.99 kg of gold) in response to an ultimatum.
In the 1450s, the 15th century.
Geopolitics & Diplomacy
- July 4 – King Danjong of Korea, ruler since the death in 1452 of his father, King Munjong, is forced to abdicate. He is promoted to the figurehead post of King Emeritus (Sangyang).source
- August 4 – Prince Sejo, son of the late King Sejong, becomes the new monarch of Korea in Hanseong following the forced abdication of King Danjong.source
- September 15 – Ludwig von Erlichshausen, Grand Master of the Teutonic Order, signs the Treaty of Mewe, selling the Order's territory of the Neumark back to the Electorate of Brandenburg after having owned it for 34 years. Grand Master Ludwig had earlier "pawned" the territory to Brandenburg on February 22, 1454, in return for a loan approved by the Elector Frederick II.source
Conflict & Security
- May 1 – Battle of Arkinholm: Forces loyal to King James II of Scotland defeat the supporters of the Earl of Douglas.source
- 1 May – Battle of Arkinholm ends in a decisive victory for supporters of James II against the rebel DouglasesScotlandsource
- May 22 – The Wars of the Roses begin in England at the Battle of St Albans, as Richard, Duke of York, captures King Henry VI as a prisoner of war.source
- 22 May – Richard, Duke of York defeats the army of Henry VI at the First Battle of St Albans. Henry is captured, marking the beginning of the Wars of the Roses.Englandsource
- May 25 – Petru Aron retakes the position of Prince of Moldavia after forcing Prince Alexăndrel (who had taken the throne from him on February 24) to flee the country.source
- May – The garrison of English Calais mutinies over pay arrears.Englandsource
- June 1 – Novo Brdo, the last defense of Serbia, falls to the Ottoman Turks after a siege of 40 days. All high ranking Serbian officials are executed and younger men and boys are taken captive to serve in the Ottoman Army, while 700 women and girls are taken as wives by Ottoman commanders.source
- June 15 – In Egypt, the Sultan Sayf al-Din Inal confronts a revolt of 500 of his ethnic Circassian slave-troops (mamluks) after rejecting the soldiers' requests for camels to accompany them on an expedition against Bedouin invaders in the Nile Delta. After attempting to assassinate the Sultan's secretary, Yunus al-Aqba'i, the rebels join discontented Zahiri troops and besieged the Cairo Citadel. Facing a withdrawal of support from the Egyptian Caliph, the Sultan eventually meets the rebels' demands.source
- June 21 – In what is now the nation of Kosovo, the city of Prizren is captured from the Serbian Despotate by the Ottoman Turkish invaders.source
- July 14 – In the Thirteen Years' War, the Teutonic Order wins the Battle for Kneiphof, though the Order will eventually lose with the signing of a treaty at Thorn.source
- October 5 – Threatened with an invasion by the Ottoman Empire, the Principality of Moldavia sends its first tribute to the Ottoman Sultan, paying 2,000 ducats (equivalent to 6.99 kg of gold) in response to an ultimatum.source
- 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.source
- November–December – Bonville–Courtenay feud leads to continued rioting and rebellion in Devon including sacking of Exeter.Englandsource
- December 15 – At the Battle of Clyst Heath, part of the Bonville–Courtenay feud fought during the Wars of the Roses, Thomas Courtenay, Earl of Devon defeats the Baron William Bonville. Bonville had made the attack after the October 23 murder of his councillor, the lawyer Nicholas Radford.source
- 15 December – The first battle of Clyst Heath is fought as part of the Bonville–Courtenay feudEnglandsource
Exploration & Expansion
Religion & Belief
- 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.)source
- February 23 – The Gutenberg Bible is the first book printed with movable type.source
- March 2 – After an agreement reached in Venice on August 30, the Italic League (Lega Italica) comes into being as a 25-year truce and mutual defense agreement between the Republic of Venice, the Papal States, the Duchy of Milan, the Republic of Florence, and the Kingdom of Naples.source
- April 4 – The papal conclave to replace the late Pope Nicholas V begins. For the first time, the conclave is held at the Apostolic Palace in Rome. In the first rounds of ballots, the two front-running candidates are Cardinal Latino Orsini and Cardinal Prospero Colonna, and Colonna receives a plurality of votes, but not the required two-thirds majority.source
- April 8 – Cardinal Alfons de Borja is elected as the 209th Roman Catholic pontiff and takes the name Pope Calixtus III.source
- June 3 – Saint Vincent Ferrer is canonized 36 years after his death by Pope Callixtus III in a ceremony at the Dominican church of Santa Maria sopra Minerva in Rome.source
- September 8 – Pope Calixtus III decides to send Christians on a crusade against the Ottoman Empire in an attempt to recapture Constantinople. At a ceremony at St. Peter's Basilica in Rome, the Pope provides Cardinal Alain de Coëtivy with the crusader's cross and sends him on a mission to meet with King Charles VII of France in hopes of getting French support for the proposed crusade.source
Technology & Infrastructure
Health & Medicine
Crime & Justice
Culture & Society
- February 24 – Alexăndrel of Moldavia retakes the position of Prince of Moldavia after forcing out Petru Aron.source
- June 25 – Prince João, the new son of King Afonso V of Portugal, is approved as the heir to the throne by the representatives of the three estates of the realm (nobility, clergy and bourgeoisie) in the Portuguese Cortes at Lisbon.source
- 19 November – The Duke of York is reinstated as Lord Protector, acting as regent for the King.Englandsource
Births
- January 9 – William IV, Duke of Jülich-Berg, Count of Ravensberg (died 1511)source
- January 29 – Johann Reuchlin, German-born humanist and scholar (died 1522)source
- February 2 – King John of Denmark, Norway, and Sweden (died 1513)source
- March 3 – King John II of Portugal (died 1495)source
- March 3 – Ascanio Sforza, Italian Catholic cardinal (died 1505)source
- March 15 – Pietro Accolti, Italian Catholic cardinal (died 1532)source
- April 17 – Andrea Gritti, Doge of Venice (died 1538)source
- June 1 – Anne of Savoy, Savoy royal (died 1480)source
- July 9 – Frederick IV of Baden, Dutch bishop (died 1517)source
- July 15 – Queen Yun, Korean queen (died 1482)source
- August 2 – John Cicero, Elector of Brandenburg (died 1499)source
- August 15 – George, Duke of Bavaria (died 1503)source
- November 9 – John V, Count of Nassau-Siegen, Stadtholder of Guelders and Zutphen (died 1516)source
- María de Ajofrín, Spanish visionary (died 1489)source
- John Spencer, landowner (died 1522)Englandsource
- Marquess of Dorset, nobleman and courtier (died 1501)Englandsource
- Thaddeus McCarthy, Bishop of Ross (Ireland), then Bishop of Cork and Cloyne (died 1492)Irelandsource
Deaths
- February 18 – Fra Angelico, Italian painter (born 1395)source
- March 24 – Pope Nicholas V (born 1397)source
- April 1 – Zbigniew Oleśnicki, Polish Catholic cardinal and statesman (born 1389)source
- May 1 – Archibald Douglas, Earl of Moray (in battle)source
- May 22 – Edmund Beaufort, 2nd Duke of Somerset, Lancastrian commander (born 1406) — killed at the First Battle of St Albanssource
- May 22 – Henry Percy, 2nd Earl of Northumberland, Lancastrian commander (born 1393) — killed at the First Battle of St Albanssource
- May 22 – Thomas Clifford, 8th Baron de Clifford, Lancastrian commander (born 1414) — killed at the First Battle of St Albanssource
- September 3 – Alonso Tostado, Spanish Catholic bishopsource
- October 22 – Johannes Brassart, Flemish composersource
- October 28 – Guillaume-Hugues d'Estaing, French Catholic cardinalsource
- 28 October - Guillaume-Hugues d'Estaing, cardinalFrancesource
- December 1 – Lorenzo Ghiberti, Italian sculptor and metal smith (born 1378)source
- December 2 – Isabel of Coimbra, queen of Portugal (born 1432)source
- Henry Percy, 2nd Earl of Northumberland, politician (born 1393)Englandsource
- Edmund Beaufort, 2nd Duke of Somerset, commander (born 1406)Englandsource
- Hugh Douglas, Earl of Ormonde, nobleman (unknown)Scotlandsource