1473 CE

Pope Sixtus IV lifts the order of interdict that had been placed by Pope Paul II on the late Bohemian King George of Poděbrady and his sons, granting absolution, after the sons convert to the Roman Catholic faith. The first complete inside edition of Avicenna's The Canon of Medicine (Latin translation) is published in Milan. At the Battle of Otlukbeli, Ottoman Sultan Mehmed II defeats the White Sheep Turkmens, led by Uzun Hasan.

In the 1470s, the 15th century.

Geopolitics & Diplomacy

  • January 22 – Muhammad Jiwa Shah becomes the new Sultan of Kedah, an absolute monarchy at the south of the Malay Peninsula and now part of Malaysia, upon the death of his father, Ataullah Muhammad Shah.source
  • 23 February – Charles the Bold gained the titles of Duke of Guelders and Count of Zutphen.Francesource

Conflict & Security

  • May 28 – The Earl of Oxford, commander of what remains of the Lancastrians during the Wars of the Roses against the Yorkists and King Edward IV of England, makes an unsuccessful attempt to land an army at Essex at the village of St Osyth.source
  • August 11 – At the Battle of Otlukbeli, Ottoman Sultan Mehmed II defeats the White Sheep Turkmens, led by Uzun Hasan.source
  • September 7 – In Germany, Gerhard VII, Duke of Jülich-Berg destroys the Tomburg Castle near Wormersdorf in what is now the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia. The one-day shelling of the castle with cannons takes place after a dispute with the Lord of Tomburg, Friedrich von Sombreff. The castle is never rebuilt and the ruins remain more than 550 years later.source
  • September 30 – The Trier Conference begins in the German city of Trier as Frederick III, Holy Roman Emperor and Charles the Bold, Duke of Burgundy make a grand entry into the city of Trier for a meeting of central European leaders to respond to the threat of an invasion by the Ottoman Empire.source
  • September 30 – The Earl of Oxford, John de Vere, seizes St Michael's Mount in Cornwall and defends it for the next five months against 6,000 troops of King Edward IV.source
  • November 20 – The Battle of Vodna Stream, near Râmnicu Sărat, ends after two days in what is now Romania, Stephen the Great, Prince of Moldavia, routs the army of Wallachia, commanded by Prince Radu the Handsome. Prince Radu then flees to Dâmbovița.source
  • November 23 – Prince Stephen of Moldavia begins the siege of Dâmbovița Fortress, where Wallachia's Prince Radu has taken refuge in a war between the two monarchs. Prince Radu escapes during the night, leaving behind his wife, his daughter and his treasury, and the fortress surrenders the next day.source
  • December 23 – Radu II returns as Prince of Wallachia one month after having been deposed briefly by Basarab the Old.source
  • Stephen the Great of Moldavia refuses to pay tribute to the Ottomans. This will attract an Ottoman invasion in 1475, resulting in the greatest defeat of the Ottomans so far.source
  • Axayacatl, Aztec ruler of Tenochtitlan, invades the territory of the neighboring Aztec city of Tlatelolco. The ruler of Tlatelolco is killed and replaced by a military governor; Tlatelolco loses its independence.source

Exploration & Expansion

  • January 1 – The uninhabited island of Annobón, off of the coast of West Africa, is claimed by Portuguese explorers who name it in honor of the New Year. A year later, it becomes the home of enslaved Africans who either marry or work of Portuguese citizens, or sold.source
  • Possible discovery of the island of "Bacalao" (possibly Newfoundland off North America) by Didrik Pining and João Vaz Corte-Real.source

Religion & Belief

  • January 9 – Pope Sixtus IV lifts the order of interdict that had been placed by Pope Paul II on the late Bohemian King George of Poděbrady and his sons, granting absolution, after the sons convert to the Roman Catholic faith.source
  • March 6 – The original University of Trier is founded in the Electorate of the Paletine in what is now Germany, 18 years after the Pope had granted the Archbishop of Trier, Jakob von Sierck, the papal dispensation to create a university. After 365 years, the university is closed in 1798, but re-established 172 years later in 1970.source
  • May 7 – Pope Sixtus IV appoints eight clerics to the College of Cardinals, the most in his career, the most since December 18, 1439 when 17 were appointed by Pope Eugene IV.source
  • June 29 – Gerontius, Bishop of Kolomna is appointed as the new Patriarch of the Russian Orthodox Church.source
  • August 6 – King James III of Cyprus becomes the de jure monarch of Cyprus from the moment he is born, 27 days after the death of his father, King James II, although the rule of Cyprus is carried out by his mother, Catherine, Queen regent. King James III lives for only one year and 20 days before dying on August 26, 1474.source
  • October 31 – The Trier Conference breaks up after Charles the Bold fails to persuade the Holy Roman Emperor Frederick to help Charles become King of the Romans or to enter into an alliance against King Loouis XI of France. Frederick II instead proposes an alliance between the Empire, Burgundy, and France. Charles threatens to leave unless he can secure an alliance by a treaty marriage.source
  • Florentine physician Marsilio Ficino becomes a Catholic priest.source
  • Constructions of the western tower of Saint-Omer Cathedral was started.Francesource
  • Aodh Ó hEidirsgeóil / Odo O'Driscoll, made Bishop of RossIrelandsource
  • Iollan Mac an Leagha began writing the work which would be categorised as "MS Celtique I" by the Bibliothèque Nationale de France, a work which would be finished by his son, Maoleachloinn.Irelandsource
  • Gilbert Debenham, future Chancellor of Ireland sent as emissary to IrelandIrelandsource

Technology & Infrastructure

  • Possible date – Recuyell of the Historyes of Troye is the first book to be printed in English, by William Caxton, in Bruges.source
  • The city walls and defensive moat are built in Celje, Slovenia.source

Science & Discovery

  • October 1 – Johannes Hennon publishes the medical treatise Commentarii in Aristotelis libros Physicorum.source
  • Almanach cracoviense ad annum 1474, an astronomical wall calendar, is published in Kraków, the oldest known printing in Poland.source

Climate & Environment

  • Severe heat and drought in Europesource

Culture & Society

  • February 12 – The first complete inside edition of Avicenna's The Canon of Medicine (Latin translation) is published in Milan.source
  • March 17 – An heir to the throne of Scotland is born to Queen Margaret and King James III. Prince James of the House of Stewart will become King James IV at the age of 15 in 1488.source
  • July 27 – René II, Count of Vaudémont becomes the new Duke of Lorraine, at the time an independent principality within the Holy Roman Empire, upon the death of his cousin, Nicholas I. after his mother, the Duchess Yolande gives up her rights to the throne.source
  • October 7 – At Trier, Charles the Bold, Duke of Burgundy, hosts an elaborate banquet for the Holy Roman Emperor Frederick II and various prince-electors of the electorates within the Empire, ostensibly to work towards a common union of nations to begin a new crusade against the Ottomans, but offends most of his guests because of his arrogant ambition.source
  • October 18 – Albert IV, Duke of Bavaria becomes the first of the guests to walk out of the Duke of Burgundy banquet.source
  • Thomas Butler, 7th Earl of Ormond, pardoned for his loyalties during the Wars of the RosesIrelandsource
  • 3 November – Peter II, Duke of Bourbon married Anne of France.Francesource
  • November 4 – The negotiators for Burgundy and the Holy Roman Empire tentatively agree on creating a Kingdom of Burgundy, ruled by Charles the Bold, that would become a member of the Empire and that would include Burgundy, Holland, Luxembourg, Savoy, Lorraine and other parts of what are now the Netherlands, Belgium and France. A coronation ceremony for Charles as King of Burgundy is tentatively scheduled to take place on November 25.source
  • November 25 – On the day set for the scheduled coronation at Trier of Charles the Bold as King of Burgundy, Charles learns that the Holy Roman Emperor Frederick had changed his mind and left overnight, and that the ceremony will never take place.source
  • December 7 – The first-known printed book about child care, Kinderbüchlein, is published by German physician Bartholomäus Metlinger.source

Births

  • February 19 – Nicolaus Copernicus, Polish astronomer and mathematician (died 1543)source
  • February 25 – Al-Mutawakkil Yahya Sharaf ad-Din, Imam of the Zaidi state in Yemen (died 1555)source
  • March 14 – Reinhard IV, Count of Hanau-Münzenberg (1500–1512) (died 1512)source
  • March 16 – Henry IV, Duke of Saxony (1539–1541) (died 1541)source
  • March 17 – James IV, King of Scots from 11 June 1488 to his death (died 1513)source
  • April 2 – John Corvinus, Hungarian noble (died 1504)source
  • July 4 – Matilda of Hesse, German noblewoman (died 1505)source
  • July 6 – James III of Cyprus, son of James II of Cyprus and Catherine Cornaro, king of Cyprus (died 1474)source
  • July – Maddalena de' Medici, Italian noble (died 1528)source
  • August 14 – Margaret Pole, 8th Countess of Salisbury (died 1541)source
  • August 17 – Richard, Duke of York, one of the Princes in the Tower (died 1483)source
  • August 25 – Margaret of Münsterberg, Duchess consort and regent of Anhalt (died 1530)source
  • September 24 – Georg von Frundsberg, German knight and landowner (died 1528)source
  • date unknown – Thomas Howard, 3rd Duke of Norfolk, English Tudor politician (died 1555)source
  • Charles II d'Amboise, French noble (died 1511)Francesource
  • René of Savoy, French noble (died 1525)Francesource

Deaths

  • January 24 – Conrad Paumann, German composer (born c. 1410)source
  • February 23 – Arnold, Duke of Guelders (born 1410)source
  • April 3 – Alessandro Sforza, Italian condottiero (born 1409)source
  • April 5 – Philip I, leader of the Russian Orthodox Church as Patriarch of Moscow since 1464, dies after a reign of almost nine years.source
  • April 15 – Yamana Sōzen, Japanese daimyō and monk (born 1404)source
  • May 8 – John Stafford, 1st Earl of Wiltshire, English politician (born 1420)source
  • June 6 – Hosokawa Katsumoto, Japanese nobleman (born 1430)source
  • June 28 – John Talbot, 3rd Earl of Shrewsbury, English nobleman (born 1448)source
  • 28 June – Pierre d'Amboise, French noble (born 1408)Francesource
  • July 10 – James II of Cyprus (born c. 1440)source
  • July 10 – James II, King of Cyprus, dies after a reign of nine years. In that his widow, the Queen Consort Catherine, is eight months pregnant with the couple's son, she becomes Queen Regent and the throne is deemed to remain vacant until the child is born.source
  • 27 July – Nicholas I, Duke of Lorraine (born 1448)Francesource
  • August 13 – Nicolò Marcello is elected as the new Doge of Venice following the July 28 death of Nicolo Tron.source
  • October – Contessina de' Bardi, politically active Florentine woman (born 1390)source
  • November 26 – Diego Fernández de la Cueva, 1st Viscount of Huelmasource
  • December 24 – John Cantius, Polish scholar and theologian (born 1390)source
  • Risdeárd de Búrca, 6th Mac William ÍochtarIrelandsource
  • Domhnall Ó Donnobháin, Bishop of RossIrelandsource