1485 CE

The siege of Vienna, capital of the Holy Roman Empire, is started by the Black Army of the Kingdom of Hungary in the ninth year of the ongoing Austrian-Hungarian War. Vienna is defended by a force of only 3,000 soldiers and cavalry, against 28,000 soldiers and cavalry of the Black Army, and the city falls to Hungary within four months. Three days after returning to Germany following his pilgrimage to the Holy Land, John V, Count of Nassau-Siegen founds the Franciscan monastery at his capital in Siegen. At the Battle of Bosworth Field, King Richard III of England is killed in battle by the soldiers of Rhys ap Thomas and Sir William Stanley, in the service of Henry Tudor, Earl of Richmond. With the death of King Richard, the Yorkist troops retreat. King Richard's remains will lie undiscovered for 517 years until 2012when they are found during the excavation of a parking lot in Leicester.

In the 1480s, the 15th century.

Geopolitics & Diplomacy

  • April 27 – King Charles VIII of France convenes a lit de justice, a special session of the Parlement de Paris at Rouen, confirms the Charter to the Normans, the French acknowledgment of the autonomy of the Duchy of Normandy within the Kingdom of France.source
  • May 26 – King James III of Scotland gives royal assent to numerous acts passed by the Scottish Parliament, including the England Act (regarding the peace between "betuix our soverane lord and Richard king of Ingland", and "the marriage and alliance appointed to be made and performed.")source
  • August 15– Henry Tudor's army begins crossing the border from Wales into England at Mathafarn, then marches towards London.source
  • November 7 – The first session of the English Parliament under King Henry VII is opened, with Lovell elected as the Speaker of the House of Commons.source
  • December 10 – Members of the House of Commons ask King Henry VII to marry Elizabeth of York.source

Conflict & Security

  • January 29 – The siege of Vienna, capital of the Holy Roman Empire, is started by the Black Army of the Kingdom of Hungary in the ninth year of the ongoing Austrian-Hungarian War. Vienna is defended by a force of only 3,000 soldiers and cavalry, against 28,000 soldiers and cavalry of the Black Army, and the city falls to Hungary within four months.source
  • February 9 – The Adana campaign begins when the Mamluk Sultanate, based in the Middle East, begins a siege to recover the city of Adana (now in Turkey), recently captured by the Ottoman Empire. General Uzbek min Tutuh, Governor of Damascus, leads the Mamluk troopssource
  • May 22 – In Spain, the Christian Crown of Castile seizes the city of Ronda from the Islamic Emirate of Granada.source
  • June 1 – King Matthias Corvinus of Hungary secures the surrender of Vienna, the Holy Roman Empire's capital, after a siege of four months. Frederick III, Holy Roman Emperor, had departed the city before the siege began.source
  • June 22 – King Richard III of England, alerted to news that Henry Tudor, Earl of Richmond, is planning to invade England, orders his lords to be fully alert.source
  • August 7– After departing France and sailing around the south coast of the island of Britain, Henry Tudor and his troops enter Mill Bay and land near Dale, Pembrokeshire Wales without opposition, and begin marching toward London to attack King Richard, camping at Haverfordwest. From there, the Tudor supporters march north to Cardigan; Llwyn Dafydd; Llanilar, Aberystwyth; Machynlleth, then turn eastward at Mathafarn on August 14.source
  • August 11– News of Henry's landing at Wales reaches Richard, who issues a mobilization order that his lords received on August 14.source
  • September 8 – The army of the Grand Duchy of Moscow forces, led by Ivan III, invades the city of Tver, ruled by Mikhail III and capital of the Duchy of Tver. Within 10 days, Ivan is able to claim the Duchy.source
  • September 15 – Less than four weeks after the Battle of Bosworth and the defeat of Richard III, King Henry VII summons the English Parliament, directing the members of the House of Lords and the House of Commons to assemble at Westminster for the November 7 opening of the English Parliament.source
  • November 2 – The Peace of Bourges temporarily stops the civil war in France, dubbed "the Mad War". (la Guerre folle)source
  • Louis XII, future king of France challenges the regency of Anne of France, starting the Mad war.Francesource

Exploration & Expansion

  • August 1– Accompanied by his own troops and French mercenaries, Henry Tudor sets sail from Honfleur in France with 30 ships to begin his second attempt to invade the Kingdom of England.source

Religion & Belief

  • February 3 – Three days after returning to Germany following his pilgrimage to the Holy Land, John V, Count of Nassau-Siegen founds the Franciscan monastery at his capital in Siegen.source
  • October 12 – Thomas Lovell is appointed for life as England's Chancellor of the Exchequer by King Henry. He will serve for 39 years before his death in 1524.source

Technology & Infrastructure

  • From about this date, Leonardo da Vinci produces a number of designs for flying machines, including the aerial screw or helicopter (probably unworkable).source

Science & Discovery

  • March 16 – A solar eclipse crosses northern South America and Central Europe. (March 8 O.S.) Although King Richard III's wife, the Queen Consort, dies on March 16, 1485 as well, the Julian calendar date is eight days sooner than the Gregorian calendar date of March 24.source

Health & Medicine

  • August 5– The first outbreak of sweating sickness in England begins.source

Culture & Society

  • October 30 – The coronation of King Henry VII as King of England is held.source
  • Leon Battista Alberti's De Re Aedificatoria (written 1443–1452 and published posthumously) becomes the first printed work on architecture.source

Births

  • April 26 – Sibylle of Baden, Countess consort of Hanau-Lichtenberg (died 1518)source
  • June 24 – Johannes Bugenhagen, German religious reformer (died 1558)source
  • June 24 – Elizabeth of Denmark, Electress of Brandenburg (1502–1535) (died 1555)source
  • July 20 – Giovanni Battista Ramusio, Italian geographer (died 1557)source
  • August 22 – Beatus Rhenanus, German humanist and religious reformer (died 1547)source
  • September 14 – Anna of Mecklenburg-Schwerin, Mecklenburgian royal (died 1525)source
  • October 1 – Johannes Dantiscus, Polish poet and bishop (died 1548)source
  • October 8 – Antonio Pucci, Italian Catholic cardinal (died 1544)source
  • November 30 – Veronica Gambara, Italian poet and stateswoman (died 1550)source
  • December 16 – Catherine of Aragon, first queen of Henry VIII of England, and daughter of Ferdinand II of Aragon and Isabella I of Castile (died 1536)source
  • Thomas Cromwell, 1st Earl of Essex, English statesman (died 1540)source
  • Hernán Cortés, Spanish conquistador (died 1547)source
  • Sebastiano del Piombo, Italian painter (died 1547)source
  • Giovanni da Verrazzano, Italian explorer (approximate date; d. c. 1528)source
  • Jean Duvet, engraver and goldsmith (died after 1561).Francesource
  • Antoine Vérard, publisher, bookmaker and bookseller (died 1512)Francesource
  • Odet of Foix, Viscount of Lautrec, military leader (died 1528)Francesource
  • Nicolau Chanterene, sculptor and architect (died 1551)Francesource

Deaths

  • January 6 – Saint Leopold of Babenburg, who died almost 350 years earlier in 1136, is canonized as a Roman Catholic saint by Pope Innocent VIII. Saint Leopold will be celebrated as the patron saint of Austria in the centuries that follow.source
  • March 16 – Anne Neville, queen of Richard III of England (born 1456)source
  • April 16 – Vuk Grgurevic Brancovic, the Despot of Serbia under Hungarian rule, dies after a reign of 14 years, bringing the Brankovic dynasty to an end, leaving the office vacant and prompting Hungary's King Matthias Corvinus to find a suitable heir.source
  • 19 July – Pierre Landais, politician.(b.1430)Francesource
  • August 7 – Alexander Stewart, Duke of Albany, Scottish prince (born c. 1454)source
  • August 22 – John Howard, 1st Duke of Norfolk (born 1430) — killed in the Battle of Bosworth Fieldsource
  • August 22 – King Richard III of England (born 1452) — killed in the Battle of Bosworth Fieldsource
  • August 22 – William Brandon, supporter of Henry VII (born 1456) — killed in the Battle of Bosworth Fieldsource
  • August 22 – At the Battle of Bosworth Field, King Richard III of England is killed in battle by the soldiers of Rhys ap Thomas and Sir William Stanley, in the service of Henry Tudor, Earl of Richmond. With the death of King Richard, the Yorkist troops retreat. King Richard's remains will lie undiscovered for 517 years until 2012when they are found during the excavation of a parking lot in Leicester.source
  • August 22 – James Harrington, Yorkist knight — killed in the Battle of Bosworth Fieldsource
  • August 25 – William Catesby, supporter of Richard III (executed) (born 1450)source
  • September 15 – Peter Arbues is assaulted while praying in the cathedral at Zaragoza in the Kingdom of Aragon, now part of Spain; he dies on September 17. He had been appointed Inquisitor of Aragon by the Inquisitor General, Tomás de Torquemada, in the campaign against heresy and Spanish Judaism.source
  • October 17 – John Scott of Scott's Hall, Warden of the Cinque Portssource
  • October 27 – Rodolphus Agricola, Dutch scholar (born 1443)source
  • November 4 – Giovanni Mocenigo, Doge of Venice (born 1408)source
  • André de Laval-Montmorency, Marshal of France (born c.1408)Francesource
  • Françoise d'Amboise (born 1427)Francesource
  • Ulick Ruadh Burke, the 5th ClanricardeIrelandsource