1481 CE

King James III of Scotland gives royal assent to the six Defence of the Realm Acts and to the Benefices Act 1481, passed by his parliament in anticipation of a war with England. King Christian I of Denmark and Norway dies at the age of 55. Although his eldest son, Prince Hans of Oldenburg, is accepted as the new King of Denmark, the Riksrådet (Council of the Realm) of the Kingdom of Norway postpones its decision pending negotiations to possibly reunite with the Kingdom of Sweden. Ayas Pasha, the Ottoman Empire's sanjak of Bosnia, captures the city of Herceg Novi after a month-long siege when the Duke Vlatko Hercegović agrees to surrender.

In the 1480s, the 15th century.

Geopolitics & Diplomacy

  • August 29 – John II of Portugal starts to rule in his own right.source
  • 10 December – The Duchy of Anjou and the Provence revert to the French crown.Francesource
  • December 22 – The Canton of Fribourg and the Canton of Solothurn are admitted as cantons of Switzerland by the Swiss Confedderationsource
  • The Constitució de l'Observança is approved by the Catalan Courts, establishing the submission of royal power to the laws of the Principality of Catalonia.source

Conflict & Security

  • April 2 – King James III of Scotland gives royal assent to the six Defence of the Realm Acts and to the Benefices Act 1481, passed by his parliament in anticipation of a war with England.source
  • September 10 – Alphonso II of Naples recaptures the city of Otranto.source
  • November 16 – At Târgoviște, Basarab Țepeluș cel Tânăr replaces his successor, Vlad Călugărul as the voivode (prince) of Wallachia (now part of Romania)source
  • December 14 – Ayas Pasha, the Ottoman Empire's sanjak of Bosnia, captures the city of Herceg Novi after a month-long siege when the Duke Vlatko Hercegović agrees to surrender.source
  • December 26 – At the Battle of Westbroek, Holland defeats the troops of Utrecht.source
  • December 28 – The city of Zahara de la Sierra, now part of Spain, is captured by the Moorish Emir Abu'l-Hasan Ali of Granada in a surprise attack, leading to a counterattack by the Kingdom of Castile two months later.source

Religion & Belief

  • April 8 – Pope Sixtus IV issues the papal bull Cogimur jubente altissimo, calling for Roman Catholics to participate in a crusade against the Ottoman Empire, starting with the Turkish-occupied southern Italian area in and around Otranto, with the liberation of Valona (now in Albania) to follow.source
  • June 21 – The papal bull Aeterni Regis grants Portugal first option to all newly conquered African and Asian lands south of the Canary Islands to Portugal.source
  • October 13 – The bodies of the Martyrs of Otranto, who had been killed in Italy in 1480 by the Ottomans who had conquered the city of Otranto, are discovered in the city's cathedral "uncorrupted", and the group as a whole is celebrated as martyrs to the Roman Catholic faith. The 813 martyrs will be canonized more than 500 years later on May 12, 2013.source
  • Dominick Dubh Lynch, founder of Galway city, married Juliana Dene, with permission from Pope Sixtus IV despite their kinshipIrelandsource

Economy & Finance

  • Robert St Lawrence, Baron Howth, launched a legal dispute with Dublin Corporation over customs arrangementsIrelandsource

Science & Discovery

  • The Aztec Calendar Stone or Sun Stone is carved.source

Crime & Justice

  • February 6 – The first execution during the Spanish Inquisition is carried out in Seville in an auto-da-fé as six people convicted of heresy are burned alive. As a result of this and other murders, thousands of conversos— mostly Jewish people who had converted to Christianity— flee their homes.source
  • Conn O'Neill (died 1482), Lord of Clandeboye captures and blinds Patrick Savage, seneschal of Ulster, his title to be passed to Roland SavageIrelandsource
  • Aodh Ruadh Ó Domhnaill, King of Tir Chonaill, captured Conn son of Énri O'NeillIrelandsource

Disasters & Accidents

  • July 24 – Fire destroys the roof and the spires of Reims Cathedral.source

Climate & Environment

  • March 15 – The first of a series of earthquakes to affect the island of Rhodes occurs, leading up to the deadly earthquake in May.source
  • May 3 – The 1481 Rhodes earthquake, the largest of a series, strikes the island of Rhodes, causing an estimated 30,000 casualties.source

Culture & Society

  • December 10 – With the death of Duke Charles IV of Anjou, Anjou reverts to the French crown under Louis XI, as does the Provence, which until then was part of the Holy Roman Empire.source

Births

  • January 15 – Ashikaga Yoshizumi, Japanese shōgun (died 1511)source
  • March 2 – Franz von Sickingen, German knight (died 1523)source
  • March 7 – Baldassare Peruzzi, Italian architect and painter (died 1536)source
  • May 3 – Juana de la Cruz Vázquez Gutiérrez, Spanish abbess of the Franciscan Third Order Regular (died 1534)source
  • May 14 – Ruprecht of the Palatinate, German bishop (died 1504)source
  • July 1 – King Christian II of Denmark, Scandinavian monarch under the Kalmar Union (died 1559)source
  • August 21 – Jorge de Lencastre, Duke of Coimbra (died 1550)source
  • August 28 – Francisco de Sá de Miranda, Portuguese poet (died 1558)source
  • November 11 – Christoph von Scheurl, German writer (died 1542)source
  • December 18 – Sophie of Mecklenburg, Duchess of Mecklenburg, Duchess of Saxony (died 1503)source
  • December 27 – Casimir, Margrave of Brandenburg-Bayreuth, Margrave of Bayreuth (died 1527)source
  • Antonio de Guevara, Spanish chronicler and moralist (died 1545)source
  • Imperia La Divina, Roman courtesan (died 1512)source
  • Yan Song, Chinese prime minister (died 1568)source
  • Claude de Longwy de Givry, bishop and Cardinal (died 1561)Francesource

Deaths

  • January 6 – Ahmed Khan bin Küchük, Khan of the Great Horde, is killed by the Khan of Sibir, Ibak Khan in battle and is succeeded by his son, Sheikh Ahmed.source
  • January 6 – Akhmat Khan, khan of the Great Hordesource
  • 22 February – Charles I d'Amboise, politician and military figure (born 1430)Francesource
  • April 5 – Mahmud Gawan, the chief minister (peshwa) of India's Bahmani Kingdom (now in the state of Karnataka) is executed in Bidar on orders of the Sultan Muhammad Shah III Lashkari, after being falsely convicted of treason. The preparer of the forged document that led to Gawan's overthrow, Malik Hasan Bahri, becomes the new peshwa.source
  • April 30 – Ichijō Kaneyoshi, Japanese court noble (born 1402)source
  • May 3 – Mehmed II, Sultan of the Ottoman Empire, dies and is succeeded by his son, Bayezid II.source
  • May 3 – Mehmed II, Ottoman Sultan (born 1432)source
  • May 21 – King Christian I of Denmark and Norway (born 1426)source
  • May 21 – King Christian I of Denmark and Norway dies at the age of 55. Although his eldest son, Prince Hans of Oldenburg, is accepted as the new King of Denmark, the Riksrådet (Council of the Realm) of the Kingdom of Norway postpones its decision pending negotiations to possibly reunite with the Kingdom of Sweden.source
  • May – Karamanlı Mehmet Pasha, Ottoman (Turkish) grand viziersource
  • August 23 – Thomas de Littleton, English judge and legal author (born c. 1407)source
  • August 28 – King Afonso V of Portugal (born 1432)source
  • September 3 – Amalie of Brandenburg, Countess Palatine and Duchess of Zweibruecken and Veldenz (born 1461)source
  • September 5 – John I, Duke of Cleves (born 1419)source
  • 22 October – Michael, Bishop of GlendaloughIrelandsource
  • November 19 – Anne de Mowbray, 8th Countess of Norfolk (born 1472)source
  • 10 December – Charles IV of Anjou, nobleman from House of Valois-Anjou (born 1446)Francesource
  • Maolmórdha O'Reilly of East Breifne killedIrelandsource