1487 CE

Cardinal John Morton, Archbishop of Canterbury since January 21, becomes the new Lord Chancellor of England, succeeding the late Thomas Bourchier. The witch-hunters' manual Malleus Maleficarum, written by Heinrich Kramer with Jacob Sprenger, is approved by Catholic theologians from the University of Cologne and at Speyer in the Holy Roman Empire. The preface states that all readers should know that "in the year since the Birth of Our Lord 1487, in the fifth indiction, on Saturday, the 19th day of May, at five in the afternoon or thereabouts," professors Henricus Institoris and Jacobus Sprenger certified the text on behalf of Pope Innocent VIII. The preface notes that although some preachers of the Word of God claim in sermons "that sorceresses do not exist", the authors' intention is "to alleviate this ignorance" and to "exterminate the sorceresses" by "appropriate methods of sentencing.". The Battle of Aldy Charrish takes place in Scotland as the Clan Mackay defeats the Clan Ross.

In the 1480s, the 15th century.

Geopolitics & Diplomacy

  • June 5 – The rebel army led by Lambert Simnel, who has proclaimed himself as "King Edward VI" lands on Piel Island at Lancashire.source
  • August 18 – The Catholic Monarchs Ferdinand and Isabella make a triumphant entrance into the newly captured city of Malaga.source
  • October 1 – Royal assent is given by King James III of Scotland to acts passed by the Scottish Parliament, including the Royal Burghs Act 1487 (requiring annual meetings of the commissioners of Scotland's town governments); the annexation of Lochmaben Castle; the Sea Fishing Act (regulating the herring industry); and the Goods of Convicts Act (allowing the confiscation of possessions of persons arrested for trespassing).source
  • November 9 – The second parliament of King Henry VII assembles at Westminster with John Mondurant as Speaker of the House of Commons. The parliament lasts for slightly more than five weeks.source
  • December 18 – The second parliament of King Henry VII is dissolved in England after 39 days.source

Conflict & Security

  • February 2 – Acting on rumors of a rebellion in England, led by a person posing as Edward Plantagenet, 17th Earl of Warwick, King Henry VII convenes a meeting of the Privy Council at Sheen Palace in Richmond, to discuss a response to the situation. The first measure is to bring Edward, son of the last Earl of Warwick, out of imprisonment at the Tower of London and to parade him through London to dispel the rumors.source
  • February 8 – Arrest warrants for treason are issued by the English Privy Council for Henry Bodrugan, John Beaumont and other persons accused of having traveled to the counties of Devon and Cornwall to "stir up sedition and rebellion.source
  • 19 March – Charles, Count of Angoulême surrenders during the Mad WarFrancesource
  • March – Sigismund, Archduke of Austria, largely on the poor advice of his counselors, declares war on Venice, and seizes silver mines in and around the Sugana Valley.source
  • April 27 – In Spain, the town of Vélez in Muslim Granada becomes the first conquest by the invasion by Christian Castile and Aragon, surrendering after 10 days.source
  • May 7 – After failed attempts by King Ferdinand of Aragon to negotiate Granada's surrender of the city of Malaqa, the siege of Málaga begins, with the Granadan General Hamet el Zegri defending against a larger contingent of Aragonese and Castilian troops. At the same time, the Spanish fleet blocks the harbor and all access to Malaga from the sea. The city surrenders after three months.source
  • May 18 – The army of the Grand Principality of Moscow begins the siege of Kazan as troops led by Daniil Kholmsky after a dispute begins over the succession to the throne of the Khanate of Kazan.source
  • May 24 – Lambert Simnel, a supporter of the late King Richard III who is leading a rebellion against King Henry VII, is crowned King "Edward VI of England" in Christ Church Cathedral, Dublin, Ireland. He claims to be Edward Plantagenet, 17th Earl of Warwick, and challenges Henry VII for the throne of England, where he lands on June 5.source
  • June 16 – At the Battle of Stoke Field: the army of the pretender Lambert Simnel, led by John de la Pole, Earl of Lincoln, and Francis Lovell, 1st Viscount Lovell, is crushed by troops loyal to Henry VII.source
  • June 19 – French–Breton War: The siege of the city of Nantes in the Duchy of Brittany is started by King Charles VIII of France, but fails after less than two months and is lifted on August 6.source
  • July 9 – The Khanate of Khazan surrenders after a siege of seven weeks, and Khazan becomes a vassal of the Russians in the Grand Principality of Moscow.source
  • July 11 – The Battle of Aldy Charrish takes place in Scotland as the Clan Mackay defeats the Clan Ross.source
  • August 6 – French–Breton War: King Charles VIII of France ends the siege of Nantes after seven weeks.source
  • 6 August – King Charles VIII ends the siege of Nantes after seven weeks as part of the French–Breton War.Francesource
  • August 10 – The County of Tyrol within the Holy Roman Empire defeats the attack of the Republic of Venice at the Battle of Calliano, with 1,400 of the Venetians and 700 of the Tyroleans killed.source
  • August 13 – The siege of Málaga ends, when the Spanish take the Granadan city. Most of the 11,000 surviving residents are taken prisoner and then sold into slavery in Castile and Andalusia.source
  • August 17 – Wiener Neustadt, the last town in Lower Austria to resist Hungary's King Matthias Corvinus, surrenders to his army.source
  • December 16 – The war between Hungary and Austria is ended with an armistice signed at Sankt Pölten between Duke Albert III of Saxony (on behalf of the Holy Roman Empire) and Hungary's King Matthias Corvinus.source
  • December 19 – (7 Panquetzaliztli of the year 8 acatl) During the reign of the Mexican Aztec Emperor Ahuitzotl, the Temple of Huitzilopochtli, sixth in a series is completed and dedicated in Tenochtitlan to the Aztec god of war.source
  • Late May – 15,000 French troops enter Brittany as part of the French–Breton War.Francesource

Exploration & Expansion

  • May 7 – The Kingdom of Portugal dispatches Pêro da Covilhã and Afonso de Paiva across Europe and Africa to inquire about a sea route to India, as well as to inquire about the enigmatic Prester John. Covilha reaches Ethiopia but is not allowed to leave, while de Paiva is never heard from again.source
  • August – Bartolomeu Dias leaves Lisbon, on his voyage to the Cape of Good Hope.source
  • December 8 – Bartolomeu Dias and his crew, sailing southward along the African coast in the caravels São Cristóvão and São Pantaleão arrive at what is now Namibia's Walvis Bay, which Dias calls O Golfo de Santa Maria da Conceição.source

Religion & Belief

  • January 29 – Richard Foxe becomes Bishop of Exeter.source
  • February 11 – Pope Innocent VIII renews the designation of Tomás de Torquemada as the Grand Inquisitor of Spain in the kingdoms of Castile, Leon, Aragon, and Valencia.source
  • February 26 – At the insistence of Cardinal Rodrigo de Borja Pope Innocent VIII, authorizes a Christian crusade and against the Muslim Moors, to start on September 1 and to be funded for one year.source
  • March 6 – Cardinal John Morton, Archbishop of Canterbury since January 21, becomes the new Lord Chancellor of England, succeeding the late Thomas Bourchier.source
  • March 27 – Pope Innocent VIII issues an order designating the Roman Catholic Archbishop of St. Andrews, Robert Blackadder, as the Primate of All Scotland, outraging the bishops in Glasgow and the rest of Scotland.source
  • May 19 – The witch-hunters' manual Malleus Maleficarum, written by Heinrich Kramer with Jacob Sprenger, is approved by Catholic theologians from the University of Cologne and at Speyer in the Holy Roman Empire. The preface states that all readers should know that "in the year since the Birth of Our Lord 1487, in the fifth indiction, on Saturday, the 19th day of May, at five in the afternoon or thereabouts," professors Henricus Institoris and Jacobus Sprenger certified the text on behalf of Pope Innocent VIII. The preface notes that although some preachers of the Word of God claim in sermons "that sorceresses do not exist", the authors' intention is "to alleviate this ignorance" and to "exterminate the sorceresses" by "appropriate methods of sentencing."source
  • May 24 – Lambert Simnel is crowned "King Edward VI" in Christ Church Cathedral, Dublin.Irelandsource
  • August 11 – The Papal States and the Kingdom of Naples sign a peace treaty to end the war that had started a year and half earlier.source
  • December 31 – Pope Innocent VIII establishes the office of the Secretary of State of the Vatican by approving the apostolic constitution Non Debet Reprehensibile, with 24 apostolic secretaries, the most important being the Secretarius Domesticus.source
  • Date unknown – Consecration of Church of Saint-François-des-CordeliersFrancesource
  • Date unknown Pierre de Castelbajac appointed Bishop of PamiersFrancesource

Technology & Infrastructure

  • Italian architects work on the Moscow Kremlin.source

Culture & Society

  • May 27 – At Chiang Mai, in what is now part of northern Thailand, King of Lan Na, Prince Yotchiangrai becomes the new reigning monarch upon the death of his father, King Tilokaraj.source
  • November 30 – Albert IV, Duke of Bavaria promulgates the Reinheitsgebot, specifying three ingredients – water, malt and hops – for the brewing of beer.source
  • Stockport Grammar School is founded, in the north of England.source

Births

  • February 7 – Queen Dangyeong, Korean royal consort (died 1557)source
  • February 8 – Ulrich, Duke of Württemberg (died 1550)source
  • February 15 – Henry of the Palatinate, bishop of Utrecht (died 1552)source
  • April 10 – William I, Count of Nassau-Siegen (died 1559)source
  • July 5 – Johann Gramann, German theologian (died 1541)source
  • July 17 – Ismail I, Shah of Persia (died 1524)source
  • August 27 – Anna of Brandenburg, Duchess of Schleswig and Holstein (died 1514)source
  • September 10 – Pope Julius III (died 1555)source
  • October 5 – Ludwig of Hanau-Lichtenberg, German nobleman (died 1553)source
  • November 14 – John III of Pernstein, Bohemian land-owner, Governor of Moravia and Count of Kladsko (died 1548)source
  • November – Anne Lascaris, Countess of Tende and VillarsFrancesource
  • Pedro de Mendoza, Spanish conquistador (died 1537)source
  • Piotr Gamrat, Polish Catholic archbishop (died 1545)source
  • Michael Stifel, German mathematician (died 1567)source
  • Fray Tomás de Berlanga, Bishop of Panama (died 1551)source
  • Date unknown – Yolande Louise of SavoyFrancesource
  • Gerald FitzGerald, 9th Earl of Kildare (died 1534)Irelandsource

Deaths