1477 CE

Mary of Burgundy, the daughter of Charles the Bold and the new Duches, is forced by her disgruntled subjects to sign the Great Privilege, by which the Flemish cities recover all the local and communal rights which have been abolished by the decrees of the dukes of Burgundy, in their efforts to create a centralized state in the Low Countries. Uppsala University is founded, becoming the first university in Sweden and all of Scandinavia. The University of Tübingen, one of the 11 German Excellence Universities, is founded in Württemberg by Count Eberhard I.

In the 1470s, the 15th century.

Geopolitics & Diplomacy

  • February 11 – Mary of Burgundy, the daughter of Charles the Bold and the new Duches, is forced by her disgruntled subjects to sign the Great Privilege, by which the Flemish cities recover all the local and communal rights which have been abolished by the decrees of the dukes of Burgundy, in their efforts to create a centralized state in the Low Countries.source
  • July 21 – The 1475 Treaty of Picquigny between the Kingdom of England and the Kingdom of France, is extended by agreement between England's King Edward IV and France's King Louis XI, with a provision that the cessation of hostilities will continue for one year after the death of one of the two monarchs.Louis.source
  • August 4 – Martin Truchsess von Wetzhausen is elected as the new Grand Master of the Teutonic Knights to succeed the late Heinrich Reffle von Richtenberg as ruler of a few territories in Prussia.source
  • December 1 – King Matthias Corvinus of Hungary signs a treaty with Frederick III, Holy Roman Emperor at Korneuburg, ending the Hungarian blockade of Vienna in return for Frederick's support for making Matthias King of Bohemia and an indemnity of 100,000 florins.source
  • Ivan III of Russia marches against the Novgorod Republic, marking the beginning of Russian Colonialism.source
  • Garret More, the Great Earl of Kildare starts his rule (ruled until his death in 1513).Irelandsource

Conflict & Security

  • January 5 – At the Battle of Nancy in France, Charles the Bold of Duke of Burgundy, who had begun the siege of the capital of the Duchy of Lorraine on October 22, is forced to retreat from a larger force of troops from Lorraine, Alsace and the Swiss Army. During the retreat, the Burgundians pursued and then surrounded by the Swiss. Charles is struck in the head by a halberd and killed, while most of the Burgundian troops are slaughtered. The defeat brings an end to the Burgundian Wars.source
  • March 26 – Two months after the death in battle of the Duke of Burgundy, an uprising and rioting take place in Bruges, and 15 local officials, including former mayor Anselm Adornes, are arrested by Burgundian troops, though they are later released without being charged.source
  • June 10 – Emperor Frederick II confirms his support of Vladislav Jagellonský as King of Bohemia, leading to Matthias Corvinus declaring war on the Holy Roman Empire.source

Exploration & Expansion

  • The first edition of The Travels of Marco Polo is printed.source
  • Christopher Columbus, a Genoese merchant, visits Galway on a trading voyage.Irelandsource

Religion & Belief

  • May 12 – Pope Sixtus IV grants a special dispensation for Richard of Shrewsbury, Duke of York, the three-year-old son of King Edward IV, is betrothed to 4-year-old Anne de Mowbray, 8th Countess of Norfolk, in a waiver of canon law that sets a minimum age for marriage as 14 for boys and 12 for girls. The children's wedding will take place on January 15, 1478.source

Science & Discovery

  • Thomas Norton (alchemist) writes Ordinall of Alchemy.source

Crime & Justice

  • Giovanni Pico della Mirandola starts to study canon law, at the University of Bologna.source

Culture & Society

  • February 27 – Uppsala University is founded, becoming the first university in Sweden and all of Scandinavia.source
  • August 18 – Mary, Duchess of Burgundy, marries Prince Maximilian, son of the Holy Roman Emperor, in Ghent, bringing her Flemish and Burgundian lands into the Holy Roman Empire, and detaching them from France.source
  • September 14 – King Ferrante of Napoli marries Princess Juana, daughter of the Spanish King John II of Aragon and Navarre after being brought to Naples by King Ferrante's son Prince Alfonso, Duke of Calabria.source
  • October 9 – The University of Tübingen, one of the 11 German Excellence Universities, is founded in Württemberg by Count Eberhard I.source
  • November 18 – William Caxton produces Earl Rivers' translation into English of Dictes or Sayengis of the Philosophres, at his press in Westminster, the first full-length book printed in England on a printing press.source

Births

  • January 13 – Henry Percy, 5th Earl of Northumberland (died 1527)source
  • January 14 – Hermann of Wied, German Catholic archbishop (died 1552)source
  • January 16 – Johannes Schöner, German astronomer and cartographer (died 1547)source
  • January 25 – Anne of Brittany, sovereign duchess of Brittany, queen of Charles VIII of France (died 1514)source
  • 25 January – Anne of Brittany, Duchess of Brittany (died 1514).Francesource
  • March 20 – Jerome Emser, German theologian (died 1527)source
  • June 22 – Thomas Grey, 2nd Marquess of Dorset, English noble (died 1530)source
  • July 4 – Johannes Aventinus, Bavarian historian and philologist (died 1534)source
  • July 12 – Jacopo Sadoleto, Italian cardinal (died 1547)source
  • September 1 – Bartolomeo Fanfulla, Italian mercenary (died 1525)source
  • September 19 – Ferrante d'Este, Ferrarese nobleman and condottiero (died 1540)source
  • September 21 – Matthäus Zell, German Lutheran pastor (died 1548)source
  • Il Sodoma, Italian painter (died 1549)source
  • Thomas Boleyn, 1st Earl of Wiltshire, English diplomat (died 1539)source
  • Giorgione, painter in Italian High Renaissance (died 1510)source

Deaths

  • January 2 – Gerolamo Olgiati, Italian assassin (executed)source
  • January 2 – Carlo Visconti, Italian assassin (executed)source
  • January 2 – Franzone, Italian assassin (executed)source
  • January 5 – Charles the Bold, Duke of Burgundy (in battle) (born 1433)source
  • January 6 – Jean VIII, Count of Vendômesource
  • January 15 – Adriana of Nassau-Siegen, consort of Count Philip I of Hanau-Münzenberg (born 1449)source
  • April 3 – William Hugonet, former chancellor of Burgundy (executed)source
  • April 3 – William Hugonet, formerly the Chancellor of the Duchy of Burgundy during the reign of Charles the Bold, is beheaded in Ghent by citizens who had blamed him for having reduced their independence. Hugonet is executed along with the Marshal of Brabant, Guy of Brimeu (Lord Humbercourt) and the Burgundian treasurer Jan van Melle.source
  • May 10 – In England, John Stacy, Thomas Burdet and Thomas Blake are convicted of high treason after being charged with "imagining and compassing" the death of King Edward IV. Stacy and Burdet are hanged, drawn and quartered the next day.source
  • June 1 – Charlotte de Brézé, French countess (born 1446)source
  • June 27 – Adolf, Duke of Guelders and Count of Zutphen (1465–1471) (born 1438)source
  • August 4 – Jacques d'Armagnac, Duke of Nemourssource
  • August 11 – Latino Orsini, Italian Catholic cardinal (born 1411)source
  • December 19 – Maria of Mangup, Princess-consort of Moldaviasource
  • Charles the Bold, Duke of Burgundy (born 1433)Francesource
  • Jean V de Bueil, count of Sancerre, viscount of Carentan (born 1406)Francesource
  • Louis II de Beaumont-Bressuire, chamberlain (born 1407)Francesource
  • Thomas FitzGerald, 7th Earl of KildareIrelandsource