date: August 2

text: August 2 – The Jews are expelled from Spain on the Tisha B'Av fast day, pursuant to the Alhambra Decree. More than 40,000 and perhaps as many as 200,000 leave. Sultan Bayezid II of the Ottoman Empire, learning of this, dispatches the Ottoman Navy to bring the Jews safely to Ottoman lands, mainly to the cities of Thessaloniki (in modern-day Greece) and İzmir (in modern-day Turkey); others settle in Sarajevo.

source_section: Events › July—September


date: October 3

section: Conflict & Security

text: October 3 – The English army besieges Boulogne.

source_section: Events › October—December


date: October 10

text: October 10 – The day before sighting land for the first time in a month, Columbus quells an attempt at mutiny by sailors who demand that he turn the Niña around to sail back to Spain.


date: January 15

section: Exploration & Expansion

text: January 15 – Christopher Columbus meets Ferdinand and Isabella at the Alcázar de los Reyes Cristianos in Córdoba, Andalusia, and persuades them to support his Atlantic voyage intended to find a new route to the East Indies.

source_section: Events › January—March


date: May 23

text: May 23 – At the shipbuilding town of Palos de la Frontera in Spain, an April 30 decree of Queen Isabella of Castile and King Ferdinand of Aragon is read aloud to the residents, directing that two ships are to be delivered to Christopher Columbus and people chosen by the Pinzon brothers will be required to travel on the voyage westward "by command of Their Highnesses").

source_section: Events › April—June


date: August 3

text: August 3 – The Genoese navigator Christopher Columbus sails with three ships (Niña, Pinta and Santa María) from Palos de la Frontera, in the service of the Crown of Castile, on his first voyage across the Atlantic Ocean, intending to reach Asia.


date: September 6

text: September 6 – Christopher Columbus sails from La Gomera in the Canary Islands, his final port of call before crossing the Atlantic Ocean for the first time.


date: October 7

text: October 7 – The Columbus expedition, having seen no land for 29 days while sailing westward, and with some of its sailors threatening to mutiny, spots large flocks of birds, confirming that land is ahead. Christopher Columbus orders a change of course to follow the flight direction of the birds.


date: October 12

text: October 12 – Believing he has reached the East Indies, Christopher Columbus and his expedition of three ships make landfall in the Caribbean and land on the island of Guanahani, now part of the Bahamas. He names the island "San Salvador". Earlier in the day, sailor Rodrigo de Triana on the Pinta had become the first person to spot land. Because of his belief that he is in the East Indies, Columbus refers to the natives as "indios".


date: December 5

text: December 5 – Christopher Columbus becomes the first European to set foot on the island of Hispaniola in present day northwestern Haiti.


text: Martin Behaim constructs the first surviving globe of Earth, the Erdapfel. As Columbus would only return from his voyage in 1493, this globe does not show the New World yet.

source_section: Events › Unknown dates


text: In Ming dynasty China, the commercial transportation of grain to the northern border, in exchange for salt certificates, is monetized.


date: January 16

section: Religion & Belief

text: January 16 – Antonio de Nebrija publishes Gramática de la lengua castellana, the first grammar text for the Castilian Spanish language, in Salamanca, which he introduces to the Catholic Monarchs, Isabella I of Castile and Ferdinand II of Aragon, newly restored to power in Andalusia, as "a tool of empire".


date: January 23

text: January 23 – The Soncino Bible, which includes the Pentateuch, Song of Songs, Ruth, Lamentations, Ecclesiastes, and Esther is printed.


date: February 1

text: February 1 – The Titulus Crucis relic is discovered, during the renovation of Santa Croce in Gerusalemme Church in Rome.


date: March 31

text: March 31 – Ferdinand and Isabella sign the Alhambra Decree, expelling all Jews from Spain unless they convert to Roman Catholicism.


date: May 31

text: May 31 – Pope Innocent VIII and members of the College of Cardinals meet at the church of Santa Maria del Popolo in Rome with diplomatic envoys sent by the Ottoman Sultan Bayezid II. The envoys present the Pope a gift, said to be the Holy Lance, from the Sultan, along with the Sultan's proposal, payment of 120,000 crowns of gold and an annual subsidy of 45,000 ducats in return for the continued imprisonment of Cem Sultan, a half-brother of Bayezid and a rival claimant to the throne.


date: August 8

text: August 8 – The papal conclave, the first to be held in the Sistine Chapel, begins balloting with 23 of the 27 members of the College of Cardinals in attendance. With 16 votes needed for the required two-thirds majority, the first ballot is split among three candidates, with Oliviero Carafa receiving 9, Rodrigo Borja 7 and Giuliano della Rovere 5, while two cast a blank vote.


date: August 11

text: August 11 – Cardinal Rodrigo Borja is unanimously elected on the fourth ballot of the papal conclave, and takes the name of Pope Alexander VI, 214th pope of the Roman Catholic Church.


date: November 10

text: November 10 – The Catholic Monarchs of Spain issue an Ordinance legalizing the return of Sephardi Jews who had been expelled in August and the terms for remaining. In both cases, all need a baptism as Christian converts in the Roman Catholic church.


section: Technology & Infrastructure

text: The first arboretum to be designed and planted is the Arboretum Trsteno, near Dubrovnik in current-day Croatia.


text: Russians build the Ivangorod Fortress, on the eastern banks of the Narva River.


text: Stiegl brewery first recorded in Salzburg.


date: November 7

section: Science & Discovery

text: November 7 – The Ensisheim meteorite, a 127 kg lb meteorite, lands in a wheat field near the village of Ensisheim in Alsace.


date: December 25

section: Disasters & Accidents

text: December 25 – Columbus' ship Santa María runs aground off Cap-Haïtien in present day Haiti, and is abandoned. The local chief, Guacanagaríx, allows 39 men of Columbus' crew to remain on the island after his departure.


date: July 30

section: Culture & Society

text: July 30 – Alexander Jagiellon is crowned as Grand Duke of Lithuania.


text: Marsilio Ficino publishes his translation and commentary of Plotinus.


text: Ermysted's Grammar School, Skipton, North Yorkshire, is founded.


date: January 22

section: Births

text: January 22 – Beatrix of Baden, Margravine of Baden, Countess Palatine consort of Simmern (d. 1535)

source_section: Births


date: March 21

text: March 21 – John II, Count Palatine of Simmern, Count Palatine of Simmern (1509-1557) (d. 1557)


date: March 27

text: March 27 – Adam Ries, German mathematician (d. 1559)


date: April 4

text: April 4 – Ambrosius Blarer, influential reformer in southern Germany and north-eastern Switzerland (d. 1564)


date: April 6

text: April 6 – Maud Green, English noble (d. 1531)


date: April 11

text: April 11 – Marguerite de Navarre, queen of Henry II of Navarre (d. 1549)


date: April 20

text: April 20 – Pietro Aretino, Italian author (d. 1556)


date: April 24

text: April 24 – Duchess Sabina of Bavaria (d. 1564)


date: May 8

text: May 8 – Andrea Alciato, Italian jurist and writer (d. 1550)


date: June 4

text: June 4 – Hirate Masahide, Japanese retainer and tutor of Oda Nobunaga (d. 1553)


date: September 12

text: September 12 – Lorenzo de' Medici, Duke of Urbino (d. 1519)


date: October 11

text: October 11 – Charles Orlando, Dauphin of France, French noble (d. 1495)


date: October 30

text: October 30 – Anne d'Alençon, French noblewoman (d. 1562)


date: November 12

text: November 12 – Johan Rantzau, German general (d. 1565)


date: January 25

section: Deaths

text: January 25 – Ygo Gales Galama, Frisian warlord and freedom-fighting rebel (murdered) (b. 1443)

source_section: Deaths


date: June 7

text: June 7 – Casimir IV Jagiellon, of the Jagiellon Royal House, dies, ending his reign over Poland and Lithuania.


date: June 8

text: June 8 – Elizabeth Woodville, the last living Yorkist queen consort, dies in England.


date: July 25

text: July 25 – Pope Innocent VIII, leader of the Roman Catholic Church since 1484, dies at the age of 59 from catarrh.


date: August 9

text: August 9 – Beatrice of Silva, Spanish Dominican and Roman Catholic nun and a saint


date: September 20

text: September 20 – Anne Neville, Countess of Warwick (b. 1426)


date: September 23

text: September 23 – Peter Courtenay, English bishop and politician


text: September 23 – Jan I Olbracht is crowned as King of Poland, more than three months after the death of his father, King Casimir IV.


date: October 12

text: October 12 – Piero della Francesca, Italian artist (b. c. 1412)


date: October 25

text: October 25 – Thaddeus McCarthy, Irish bishop (b. c. 1455)


date: November 6

text: November 6 – In what is now the West African nation of Mali, Sonni Baru becomes the new monarch of the Songhai Empire following death of his father, the Emperor Sonni Ali.


text: November 6 – Antoine Busnois, French composer and poet (b. c. 1430)


date: November 9

text: November 9 – Jami, Persian poet (b. 1414)


date: November 24

text: November 24 – Loys of Gruuthuse, Earl of Winchester (b. c. 1427)


date: January 19

section: Geopolitics & Diplomacy

text: January 19 – In the Treaty of Barcelona, King Charles VIII of France returns Cerdagne and Roussillon to King Ferdinand of Aragon.

source_section: Events › January–March


date: May 23

text: May 23 – The Treaty of Senlis is signed in France at the city of Senlis (in the modern Oise département) between King Charles VIII of France and Maximilian I, King of the Romans, ending the War of the Burgundian Succession between France and the Holy Roman Empire and dividing the Burgundian lands.

source_section: Events › April–June


date: July

text: July – In India, at Srinagar, Muhammad Shah Mir resumes his rule as the Sultan of Kashmir, replacing Fateh Shah Miri, who had ruled since 1486.

source_section: Events › July–September


text: Huayna Capac becomes emperor of the Inca Empire.

source_section: Events › Date unknown


text: James IV of Scotland seizes lands of John of Islay, Earl of Ross, putting an end to the Lord of the Isles.


date: April 12

text: April 12 – Battle of Anfao: Askia Mohammad I defeats Sonni Baru in what becomes the African nation of Mali, and usurps the throne of the Songhai Empire.


date: September 9

text: September 9 – At the Battle of Krbava Field in southern Croatia, forces of the Ottoman Empire defeat those of the Kingdom of Croatia.


date: January 15

text: January 15 – Christopher Columbus and his crew begin their voyage back to Europe on their two remaining ships, the caravel La Niña (guided by Columbus) and the Pinta (piloted by Martín Alonso Pinzón), departing from the island of Hispanola and what becomes known as the Bay of Rincón in the Dominican Republic. The decision to return to Spain comes two days after the crew's battle with the indigenous residents, the Ciguayos.


date: February 14

text: February 14 – A storm east of the Azores threatens to capsize both of the remaining ships, the Niña and the Pinta, on the expedition of Christopher Columbus as the crew are returning to Europe after being the first to reach the "New World". The two ships are separated and neither crew knows the fate of the other. The crew takes a vow for one of them to make a pilgrimage if they survive the storm. Columbus himself later makes a pilgrimage to the cathedral at Moguer in Andalusia in Spain.


date: February 15

text: February 15 – Columbus begins writing his first account of his voyage to the New World, titled "Letter of Columbus, on the islands of India beyond the Ganges recently discovered", an account later printed and sold throughout Europe. His reference to the Ganges river in India confirms that he thought he had reached Asia.


date: March 1

text: March 1 – Martín Alonso Pinzón returns in the Pinta to the city of Bayona in Spain from Christopher Columbus's voyage of discovery, sending the first notice about the discovery to the Catholic Monarchs. Columbus himself is delayed by a storm in the Azores.


date: March 4

text: March 4 – Christopher Columbus anchors in Lisbon and completes his February 15 letter on the first voyage, conveying the news of his discoveries.


date: March 15

text: March 15 – Christopher Columbus and Martín Alonso Pinzón return to Palos de la Frontera, the original port in Spain from where they started the first voyage of discovery.


date: March 30

text: March 30 – In light of his success, Christopher Columbus is granted the title of "Admiral of the Ocean Sea" ("Almirante del mar Océano") and "Viceroy and Governor of the islands which he has discovered in the Indies".


date: September 24

text: September 24 – Christopher Columbus leaves Cádiz on his second voyage of exploration.


date: November 19

text: November 19 – Christopher Columbus lands on the coast of the island of Borinquen, which he renames San Juan (modern-day Puerto Rico).

source_section: Events › October–December


date: May 4

text: May 4 – In the papal bull Inter caetera, Pope Alexander VI decrees that all lands discovered 100 leagues (or further west) of the Azores are Spanish.


date: June 25

text: June 25 – Friar Bernardo Buil, a Catalan monk in Spain, is appointed by Pope Alexander VI as the first Christian "Vicar Apostolic of the New World". Friar Buil will depart from Cadiz on September 25 on the second voyage of Christopher Columbus, and will begin his mission at La Isabela, a Spanish settlement on the island of Hispanola in what becomes the Dominican Republic.


date: July 12

text: July 12 – The Nuremberg Chronicle, written in Latin by Hartmann Schedel as Liber Chronicarum and described as "a history of the world from the Creation to the year 1493", with woodcut illustrations by Michael Wohlgemut and Wilhelm Pleydenwurff, is first printed. The expense is undertaken by two German merchants in Nuremberg, Sebald Schreyer and Sebastian Kammermeister.


date: August 19

text: August 19 – Maximilian I succeeds his father, Frederick III, as Holy Roman Emperor.


date: September 26

text: September 26 – Pope Alexander VI issues the bull Dudum siquidem to the Catholic Monarchs, extending the grant of newly discovered lands he made them in Inter caetera.


date: October 24

text: October 24 – Spain's Royal Council issues a Provision setting harsh sanctions against Spanish Christians who slander people who have newly converted from Judaism to Christianity, particularly with the term tornadizos.


text: Leonardo da Vinci creates the first known design for a helicopter.


date: June 8

section: Crime & Justice

text: June 8 – In the most well-documented surgical procedures in the 15th century, the left leg of the Holy Roman Emperor Frederick III is amputated. The surgery is performed at the Linz castle under the direction of the surgeon Hans Seyff.


text: England imposes sanctions on Burgundy for supporting Perkin Warbeck, the pretender to the English throne.


date: December 8

text: December 8 – The first Roman Catholic Mass in the New World is celebrated, with Friar Juan Pérez of the Order of Friars Minor conducting the services at Point Concepcion on the island of Hispaniola.


date: January 6

text: January 6 – Olaus Petri, Swedish clergyman (d. 1552)


date: January 9

text: January 9 – Johann of Brandenburg-Ansbach, Viceroy of Valencia, German noble (d. 1525)


date: January 26

text: January 26 – Giovanni Poggio, Italian cardinal and diplomat (d. 1556)


text: March 15 – Anne de Montmorency, 1st Duke of Montmorency, Constable of France (d. 1567)


date: April 11

text: April 11 – George I, Duke of Pomerania from the House of Griffins (d. 1531)


date: May 6

text: May 6 – Girolamo Seripando, Catholic cardinal (d. 1563)


date: June 5

text: June 5 – Justus Jonas, German Protestant reformer (d. 1555)


date: September 28

text: September 28 – Agnolo Firenzuola, Italian poet and litterateur (d. 1543)


date: October 17

text: October 17 – Bartolommeo Bandinelli, Renaissance Italian sculptor (d. 1560)


date: November 11

text: November 11 or December 17 – Paracelsus, born Philippus von Hohenheim, Swiss physician and scientist (d. 1541)


date: November 17

text: November 17 – John Neville, 3rd Baron Latimer, English politician (d. 1543)


date: November 25

text: November 25 – Osanna of Cattaro, Dominican visionary and anchoress (d. 1565)


date: December 9

text: December 9 – Íñigo López de Mendoza, 4th Duke of the Infantado (d. 1566)


date: December 31

text: December 31 – Eleonora Gonzaga, Duchess of Urbino, Italian politically active duchess (d. 1570)


date: May 10

text: May 10 – Colin Campbell, 1st Earl of Argyll, Scottish politician (b. c. 1433)


date: May 14

text: May 14 – Nannina de' Medici, member of de' Medici family (b. 1448)


date: May

text: May – Pietro Antonio Solari, Italian architect (b. 1450)


date: June 14

text: June 14 – Ermolao Barbaro, Italian scholar (b. 1454)


date: August 19

text: August 19 – Frederick III, Holy Roman Emperor (b. 1415)


date: September 9

text: September 9 – Mirko Derenčin, Croatian leader


date: October 11

text: October 11 – Eleanor of Naples, Duchess of Ferrara (b. 1450)


date: October 22

text: October 22 – James Douglas, 1st Earl of Morton


date: November 6

text: November 6 – Andrey Bolshoy, Russian prince (b. 1446)


text: Martín Alonso Pinzón, Spanish navigator and explorer (b. c. 1441)


text: Isabel Bras Williamson, Scottish merchant (b. 1430)


text: Kim Si-sŭp, Korean scholar and author (b. 1435)


text: Tupac Inca Yupanqui, Inca ruler of Tahuantinsuyu


text: Ahmad Zarruq, Moroccan scholar and Sufi sheikh (b. 1442)


date: January 25

text: January 25 – Alfonso II becomes King of Naples.


date: February 5

text: February 5 – The war between the Grand Duchy of Moscow and the Grand Duchy of Lithuania ends after almost seven years, with the Tsar Ivan III signing a "treaty of Eternal Peace" with Lithuania's Grand Duke Alexander Jagiellon. Lithuania is guaranteed its independence in return for ceding its territories captured by Moscow.


date: June 7

text: June 7 – Treaty of Tordesillas: Spain and Portugal divide the New World between themselves.


date: July 2

text: July 2 – Spain ratifies the Treaty of Tordesillas to divide the lands discovered outside of Europe between Spain (the Kingdoms of Castile and Aragon) and Portugal, essentially granting Spain almost all of the lands in the Americas and Portugal all of the lands in Africa.


date: July 29

text: July 29 – Jan V Zatorski, ruler of the Duchy of Zator, sells the Duchy to King Jan I Olbracht of Poland for 80,000 florins, on condition that he retains his title and the right to continue to live in his castle for the rest of his life.


date: September 5

text: September 5 – The Kingdom of Portugal ratifies its agreement with Spain, the Treaty of Tordesillas, conceding that Spain has jurisdiction of most of the New World, with the exception of what will eventually become the Portuguese colony of Brazil, initially a longitude of 42°30' W.


date: September 11

text: September 11 – King Charles VIII of France and Ludovico Sforza, regent for the Duke of Milan, meet in Asti and conclude an alliance against King Alfonso II of Naples.


date: October 13

text: October 13 – The British administrator assigned to Ireland, Sir Edward Poynings, arrives at Ireland with about 1,000 men and lands at Howth.


date: December 1

text: December 1 – The Irish Parliament opens at Drogheda on the first Monday after Saint Andrew's Day as summoned by Sir Edward Poynings, to pass the two "Poynings' Laws" restricting Irish self-government. The more drastic of the two laws provides that laws already enacted in England apply to Ireland as well, while the other law directs that the Irish Parliament cannot be summoned without prior approval by the King of England.


text: Charles VIII of France purchases the right to the Byzantine Empire from exiled pretender, Andreas Palaiologos.


date: May 7

text: May 7 – The infant Amda Seyon II succeeds his father Eskender as Emperor of Ethiopia.


date: May 31

text: May 31 – First Battle of Acentejo: Natives of the island of Tenerife, known as Guanches, defeat the invading Spanish forces.


text: July 2 – In a battle fought at the village of Igris (now part of western Romania) in territory claimed by Hungary and the Ottoman state of Wallachia, the Hungarian General Pál Kinizsi defeats Turkish armies led by the Ottoman governor Basarab II of Wallachia.


date: September 8

text: September 8 – The three day Battle of Rapallo, fought as part of the Italian War of 1494–1495 between the Kingdom of France and the Kingdom of Naples, is won by the French naval fleet, which then captures and loots Rapallo, near Genoa, after the Neapolitans flee.


date: October 21

text: October 21 – France and Milan, with at least 14,000 troops, capture the town of Mordano, part of the Lordship of Imola, an ally of Naples. The French then begin killing at least 300 of the Mordano defenders and pillaging the town, while the Kingdom of Naples refuses to come to Mordano's defense.


date: October 26

text: October 26 – Amda Seyon II is deposed and killed, and his uncle Na'od succeeds him as Emperor of Ethiopia.


date: November 8

text: November 8 – Facing little opposition in his march across Italy, King Charles VIII of France captures Pisa.


date: November 17

text: November 17 – Italian War of 1494–98: The armies of King Charles VIII of France enter Florence. Charles is dissuaded from destroying the city by the Florentine leader, Girolamo Savonarola, who had recently taken control from the Medici family. After being persuaded that he has a divine role of reformation of the Roman Catholic Church, King Charles spares Florence from destruction and leaves the city on November 28, guiding his troops onward toward Rome.


date: December 25

text: December 25 – Second Battle of Acentejo: The Spanish crush the native forces of the island of Tenerife, leading to the subjugation of this last bastion of resistance in the Canary Islands.


text: Aztec forces conquer and sack Mitla.


date: April 30

text: April 30 – On his second voyage to the New World, Columbus and his crew become the first Europeans to sail into what is now Guantanamo Bay in Cuba.


date: May 5

text: May 5 – Christopher Columbus first sights Jamaica.


date: August 29

text: August 29 – King Charles VIII of France departs from Grenoble with 30,000 troops and 10,000 naval crew on his way toward Italy, in order to assert his claim to become King of Naples


date: January 4

text: January 4 – The Cetinje Octoechos (Цетињски октоих, an Eastern Orthodox octoechos (liturgy), first tone), the first incunabulum written in the Serbian recension of Church Slavonic, and the first book printed in Cyrillic in Southeast Europe, is completed in Cetinje.


date: May

text: May – Maximilian I, Holy Roman Emperor, recognises the pretender Perkin Warbeck as rightful King of England.


date: December 31

text: December 31 – King Charles VIII of France and the French Army peacefully march into Rome after being granted free passage by Pope Alexander VI.


date: November 9

section: Economy & Finance

text: November 9 – The Medici Bank becomes insolvent and the House of Medici is expelled from Florence.


text: Johann Reuchlin publishes De verbo mirifico.


date: March 24

section: Climate & Environment

text: March 24 – An earthquake estimated centuries later at 5.5 magnitude, strikes the Chinese city of Qujing, destroying 200 homes.


date: September 24

text: September 24 – The earliest hurricane to be specifically recorded by historians, strikes the island of Hispaniola near the Spanish colonial capital, La Isabela, the day after Christopher Columbus arrives at Saona, following five months of explorations.


date: March 16

text: March 16 – Maximilian, King of the Romans, marries Bianca Maria Sforza, sister of the Duke of Milan after the annulment of his marriage to Anne, Duchess of Brittany.


date: November 10

text: November 10 – Fra Luca Pacioli's Summa de arithmetica, geometria, proportioni et proportionalità is published in Venice, containing the first printed account of algebra in the vernacular, and the first published description of the double-entry accounting system.


date: February 2

text: February 2 – Bona Sforza, queen of Sigismund I of Poland (d. 1557)


date: February 11

text: February 11 – Takeda Nobutora, Japanese warlord (d. 1574)


date: February 20

text: February 20 – Johan Friis, Danish statesman (d. 1570)


text: March 24 – Georgius Agricola, German mineralogist and scholar (d. 1555)


date: March 25

text: March 25 – Elisabeth of Brandenburg-Ansbach-Kulmbach, Margravine (d. 1518)


date: April 20

text: April 20 – Johannes Agricola, German Protestant reformer (d. 1566)


date: April 25

text: April 25 – Juan Téllez-Girón, 4th Count of Ureña, Spanish count (d. 1558)


date: May 24

text: May 24 – Pontormo, Italian painter (d. 1557)


date: September 8

text: September 8 – Sri Chand, Indian founder of the ascetic sect of Udasi (d. 1629)


date: September 11

text: September 11 – Elisabeth of Brunswick-Lüneburg, Duchess of Guelders (1518–1538) (d. 1572)


date: October 31

text: October 31 – Wolfgang of the Palatinate, Count Palatine of Neumarkt (1524–1558), governor of the Upper Palatinate (d. 1558)


date: November 5

text: November 5 – Hans Sachs, German meistersinger ("mastersinger") (d. 1576)


date: November 12

text: November 12 – Margaret of Anhalt-Köthen, Princess of Anhalt by birth, Duchess consort of Saxony (d. 1521)


date: November

text: November (probable) – François Rabelais, French Renaissance writer (d. 1553)


date: January 11

text: January 11 – Domenico Ghirlandaio, Italian artist (b. 1449)


date: January 20

text: January 20 – Seongjong of Joseon, King of Joseon (b. 1457)


date: May 7

text: May 7 – Eskender, Emperor of Ethiopia (b. 1471)


date: August 1

text: August 1 – Giovanni Santi, Italian artist and father of Raphael (b. c. 1435)


date: August 11

text: August 11 – Hans Memling, Flemish painter (b. c. 1430)


date: September 24

text: September 24 – Poliziano, Italian humanist (b. 1454)


date: October 21

text: October 21 – Gian Galeazzo Sforza, Duke of Milan (b. 1469)


date: October 22

text: October 22 – Ludovico Sforza becomes Duke of Milan upon the death of his nephew, the Duke Gian Galeazzo Sforza, and invites Charles VIII of France to invade Italy in support of his claim, beginning the First Italian War in the Italian Wars.


date: October 26

text: October 26 – Amda Seyon II, Emperor of Ethiopia (b. c. 1487)


date: November 8

text: November 8 – Melozzo da Forlì, Italian painter (b. c. 1438)


date: November 15

text: November 15 – William Calthorpe, English knight (b. 1410)


date: November 16

text: November 16 – Theda Ukena, countess regent of East Frisia (b. 1432)


date: November 17

text: November 17 – Giovanni Pico della Mirandola, Italian humanist (b. 1463)


date: December 19

text: December 19 or December 20 – Matteo Maria Boiardo, Italian poet (b. c. 1434-1441)


date: January 23

text: January 23 – King Alfonso II of Naples abdicates after almost a year on the throne as the army of King Charles VIII of France approaches the Neapolitan border. Alfonso's son becomes the new monarch as King Ferdinand II.


date: March 26

text: March 26 – The inaugural session of the Diet of Worms (Wormser Reichstag), a gathering of the electors and princes of the Holy Roman Empire to discuss reforms of the government, is opened at Worms, Germany, by Maximilian I, the acting Holy Roman Emperor.


date: September 15

text: September 15 – King Henry VII of England summons the English Parliament for the first time in more than three years, directing the members of the House of Commons and the House of Lords to assemble at Westminster on October 14.


date: October 24

text: October 24 – The fifth parliament of England's King Henry VII opens at Westminster.


date: December 22

text: December 22 – At the close of the 1495 Parliament, King Henry VII of England gives royal assent to numerous new laws, including the Treason Act 1495 (An Acte that noe person going with the Kinge to the Warres shalbe attaynt of treason); the Vagabonds and Beggars Act 1495 ("Vagabonds, idle and suspected persons shall be set in the stocks for three days and three nights and have none other sustenance but bread and water and then shall be put out of Town."); and the Suing in Forma Pauperis Act 1495 (allowing "such persons as are poor" to file suit without having to pay court costs).


text: Poynings' Law comes into effect, placing the Parliament of Ireland under the authority of the Parliament of England.


date: February 22

text: February 22 – Italian War of 1494–98: King Charles VIII of France enters the city of Naples, to claim the throne of the Kingdom of Naples. A few months later, he decides to return to France, and leaves Naples with most of his army, leaving a force under his cousin Gilbert, Count of Montpensier as viceroy. Syphilis is first definitely recorded in Europe during this invasion. (perhaps from French forces who may have contacted Croats fleeing an Ottoman army in the east).


date: March 24

text: March 24 – The first military combat between the Old World and the New World takes place at the Battle of Vega Real. In his role as the Spanish Governor of Hispaniola, Christopher Columbus and his ally, the Taino Chief (cacique) Guacanagaríx of Marién and begin a war of retaliation against the cacique Caonabo of Maguana, who had led the 1493 massacre of the Spanish colonists at La Navidad.


date: May 2

text: May 2 – At the Battle of Rapallo, 11 ships of the Republic of Genoa Navy commanded by Francesco Spinola and Fabrizio Giustiniani, defeat a French 11-ship force led by Louis de Miolans, who is taken prisoner of war when he and his ships are all captured. Rapallo, captured by the French a year earlier, is retaken by Genoa and 300 women held hostage by the French are freed.


date: May 26

text: May 26 – A Spanish army under Gonzalo Fernández de Córdoba lands in Calabria, with the purpose of ousting the French and restoring Ferdinand II of Naples to the throne.


date: June 11

text: June 11 – Louis, Duke of Orleans, at the time a French general, opens a new front in the Italian War as he and his troops are allowed to occupy the city of Novara in the Duchy of Milan.


date: June 28

text: June 28 – Battle of Seminara: The deposed King Ferdinand II of Naples and the reigning Spanish King Ferdinand II of Aragon, with forces commanded by Gonzalo Fernandez, are defeated by a French army commanded by Bernard Stewart, Lord of Aubigny.


date: July 3

text: July 3 – At the Battle of Deal, Perkin Warbeck's troops land in Kent, in support of his claim to the English crown, backed by Margaret of York, Duchess of Burgundy. They are routed before Warbeck himself can disembark, and he retreats to Ireland and then to Scotland.


date: July 7

text: July 7 – With Charles VIII forced to retreat from Naples, Ferdinand II returns to the throne as the Neapolitan King.


date: July 19

text: July 19 – The League of Venice (with troops from Venice, Milan and Mantua) begins the two-month Siege of Novara in the Duchy of Milan to drive out the French occupiers led by the Duke of Orleans.


date: July 23

text: July 23 – After failing at the Battle of Deal, Perkin Warbeck and his troops land with 11 ships at the Ireland port of Waterford to gain a foothold in his attempt to invade England. Warbeck is joined by an Irish noble, Maurice FitzGerald, Earl of Desmond, and begins an 11-day siege. The defenders of Waterford protect the walled city by damming the St. John's River to flood the marshes around Warbeck's soldiers, and fire the fortresses cannons at Warbeck's ships.


date: August 3

text: August 3 – After the sinking of two of his ships, Perkin Warbeck ends this siege of Waterford and retreats from Ireland along with his remaining fleet and warriors.


date: September 24

text: September 24 – The League of Venice, with troops commanded by Beatrice d'Este, Duchess of Milan and Ludovico Sforza, Duke of Milan, succeeeds after more than three months in liberating the Milanese city of Novara from French control, and forces Louis of Orleans to flee.


date: November 30

text: November 30 – An explosion at Vyborg Castle deters the Russian forces, who have invaded Sweden through Karelia.


date: January 28

text: January 28 – Prince Cem Sultan, brother of the Ottoman Sultan Bayezid II, imprisoned since 1482 after being captured by the Knights Hospitaller, and held captive in Rome since 1489, is released from to French custody by Pope Alexander VI at the request of King Charles of France.


date: February 10

text: February 10 – King's College, Aberdeen, predecessor of the University of Aberdeen in Scotland, is founded with the issuance of the papal bull Primo Erectio Universitatis by Pope Alexander VI on the petition of William Elphinstone, Bishop of Aberdeen.


date: March 31

text: March 31 – In response to the French invasion and rapid subjugation of the Italian nations, the League of Venice is formed by representatives of Pope Alexander, King Ferdinand of Spain, the acting Holy Emperor Maximilian, and Ludovico, Duke of Milan.


date: June 1

text: June 1 – Brother John Cor of Lindores Abbey pays duty on 8 bolls of malt to the Exchequer in Scotland to make aqua vitae for King James IV; the record in the Exchequer Rolls is the first written reference to Scotch whisky.


text: Piero Pacini da Pescia publishes Epistles, Gospels, and Popular Readings in the Tuscan Language


text: The Reichskammergericht of the Holy Roman Empire is founded in Frankfurt.


text: The oldest extant cable railway, the Reisszug, is created by order of the Archbishop Leonhard von Keutschach shortly after his election on July 7, 1495. The railway is used for the manual pulling of a wheeled cart up an incline, to provide goods for the Hohensalzburg Fortress, at Salzburg in Austria.


text: Henry VII of England commissions the world's first dry dock, at Portsmouth.


date: August 7

section: Health & Medicine

text: August 7 – The Diet of Worms is adjourned in the Holy Roman Empire after more than four months, with an agreement among the constituent states to enact the Ewiger Landfriede (Eternal Peace), outlawing feuds between the states and the Holy Roman Empire's family groups, and to resolve controversies in a new Imperial Court (Reichskammergericht) and the Aulic Council.


date: February 4

text: February 4 – Francesco II Sforza, Duke of Milan (d. 1535)


text: February 4 – Jean Parisot de Valette, Grand Master of the Knights Hospitaller (d. 1568)


date: March 6

text: March 6 – Luigi Alamanni, Italian poet and statesman (d. 1556)


date: March 8

text: March 8 – John of God, Portuguese friar and saint (d. 1550)


date: April 16

text: April 16 – Petrus Apianus, German humanist (d. 1552)


date: August 1

text: August 1 – Jan van Scorel, Dutch painter (d. 1562)


date: August 24

text: August 24 – Otto I, Duke of Brunswick-Harburg, Prince of Lüneburg and Baron of Harburg (d. 1549)


date: September 18

text: September 18 – Louis X, Duke of Bavaria, German noble (d. 1545)


date: September 20

text: September 20 – Gian Matteo Giberti, Catholic bishop (d. 1543)


date: September 23

text: September 23 – Bagrat III of Imereti, King of Imereti (d. 1565)


text: September 24 – Barbara of Brandenburg-Ansbach-Kulmbach, Landgravine of Leuchtenberg (d. 1552)


date: November 1

text: November 1 – Erhard Schnepf, German theologian (d. 1558)


date: November 21

text: November 21 – John Bale, English churchman (d. 1563)


date: December 5

text: December 5 – Nicolas Cleynaerts, Flemish grammarian (d. 1542)


date: January 11

text: January 11 – Pedro González de Mendoza, Spanish cardinal and statesman (b. 1428)


date: January 21

text: January 21 – Magdalena of France, French princess and regent of Navarre (b. 1443)


date: February 25

text: February 25 – Sultan Cem, pretender to the Ottoman throne (b. 1459)


date: April 2

text: April 2 – (10th waxing of Vaishakha 857 ME The two-day coronation of King Binnya Ran II as ruler of the Hanthawaddy kingdom, in what is now southern Myanmar, begins at the Shwemawdaw Pagoda at the capital, Pegu (now Bago in Myanmar). Binnya Ran had succeeded to the throne in 1492 upon the death of his father, King Dhammazedi.


date: May 31

text: May 31 – Cecily Neville, English duchess, mother of Kings Edward IV and Richard III of England (b. 1415)


date: June

text: June – Gribshunden, the flagship of King Hans Oldenburg of Denmark sinks off the coast of Ronneby in Sweden while King Hans is ashore to negotiate with Sten Sture the Elder to restore the power of the Kalmar Union. According to some accounts, the sinking (and the death of more than 150 crew) happened after an explosion and fire, though explorations of the shipwreck centuries later show no indication of burning.


date: September 14

text: September 14 – Elizabeth Tudor, English princess, daughter of Henry VII of England (b. 1492)


date: September

text: September – Vlad Călugărul, Wallachian half-brother of Vlad the Impaler


date: October 25

text: October 25 – King John II of Portugal (b. 1455)


text: October 25 – Manuel, Duke of Beja and Visieu takes the throne of Portugal as King Manuel I, following the death of his cousin, King João II.


date: October 30

text: October 30 – Francis, Count of Vendome (b. 1470)


date: December 16

text: December 16 – Charles Orlando, Dauphin of France, French noble (b. 1492)


date: December 18

text: December 18 – King Alfonso II of Naples (b. 1448)


date: December 21

text: December 21 – Jasper Tudor, 1st Duke of Bedford (b. c. 1431)


date: November 20

text: November 20 – King Henry VII of England summons the English Parliament to assemble starting on January 16.


date: April 26

text: April 26 – King Jan I Olbracht of Poland issues the Piotrków Privilege as a reward to members of nobility who financially supported his invasion of Moldavia. The Privilege prohibits the enslaved serfs from leaving their owners' land without permission, and bans city dwellers from buying land.


date: July 5

text: July 5 – In the Canary Islands, the native kings of Tenerife surrender to the Spanish conquistador Alonso Fernández de Lugo.


date: July 21

text: July 21 – Spanish forces under Gonzalo Fernández de Córdoba capture Atella after a siege. Among the prisoners is the French viceroy of Naples, the Comte de Montpensier. King Ferdinand II of Naples is restored to his throne.


date: September 21

text: September 21– King James IV of Scotland and his army invade Northumberland in the Kingdom of England, in support of the pretender to the English throne, Perkin Warbeck. The invaders leave on September 25 and travel back to Scotland.


date: November 27

text: November 27 – Led by Prince Prataparudra Deva, son of the Emperor Purushottama Deva, the Gajapati Empire (now India's state of Odisha) invades the Vijayanagara Empire (now the Karnataka state) and its armies advance as far as the Penna River, where they are stopped by a force commanded by the Vijayanagara sultan Tuluva Narasa Nayaka, and are turned back.


date: February 24

text: February 24 – King Henry VII of England signs the commercial treaty Intercursus Magnus with Venice, Florence, and the cities of the Hanseatic League and the Netherlands.


date: March 10

text: March 10 – Christopher Columbus leaves Hispaniola for Spain, ending his second visit to the Western Hemisphere. During his time here he has forcibly subjugated the island, enslaved the Taíno, and laid the basis for a system of land grants tied to the Taíno's enslavement.


date: August 5

text: August 5 – Bartholomew Columbus, brother of Christopher Columbus, formally founds the city of Santo Domingo (first settled in March) on Hispaniola (in the modern-day Dominican Republic), making it the oldest permanent European settlement in the New World.


date: December 5

text: December 5 – King Manuel I of Portugal issues a decree ordering the expulsion of "heretics" from the country.


date: March 5

text: March 5 – Henry VII of England issues letters patent to Italian-born adventurer John Cabot and his sons, authorizing them to discover unknown lands.


date: May 14

text: May 14 – At Augsburg, Maximilian, King of the Romans, grants an audience to Sir Christopher Urswick, the Kingdom of England's ambassador to the Empire, and informs his advisers that he believes the Ambassador is a spy gathering intelligence on the Empire's intentions toward England. Zacharia Contarini, the Empire's ambassador to France, then sends the report to the Doge of the Republic of Venice, Agostino Barbarigo.


date: January 1

text: January 1 – In Venice, historian Marino Sanuto begins the first volume of I Diarii, a diary of the events in his own life and, more importantly, a daily record of events in the Republic of Venice and those reported to him by Venetian representatives in other parts of Europe. What is now described as "probably the largest, most comprehensive, and valuable ever written by one man",he continues his daily work for more than 37 years, ending in June 30, 1533.


date: February

text: February – Pietro Bembo's Petri Bembi de Aetna Angelum Chalabrilem liber, a description of a journey to Mount Etna, is published in Venice by Aldus Manutius, the first book printed in the old-style serif or humanist typeface cut by Francesco Griffo (known from the 20th century as Bembo) and with early adoption of the semicolon (dated 1495 according to the more veneto).


date: April 23

text: April 23 – In the Marquisate of Mantua on the Italian peninsula, Francesco II Gonzaga, Marquis of Mantua decrees that all Jews in Mantua are to wear a yellow badge to distinguish themselves from the Christian residents of Mantua. He modifies the ruling three days later to declare that a Jewish woman may wear a yellow veil over her face in place of the badge.


date: May 2

text: May 2 – The Marquis of Mantua makes a further adjustment to his April 23 decree on Jewish identification, making further allowances to the dress code of Jewish women, and excusing the requirement of wearing a veil to cover the face. Unmarried women must still wear yellow headgear and drape a veil over their shoulders; married women are excused from covering their faces with veils but must wear headgear; and widows may wear their color of choice for headgear.


date: June 12

text: June 12 – Jesus College, Cambridge, is founded.


date: October 20

text: October 20 – Joanna of Castile, second daughter of Ferdinand II of Aragon and Isabella I of Castile, heiress to Castile, marries the archduke Philip, heir through his mother to the Burgundian Netherlands, and through his father to the Holy Roman Empire.


date: March 18

text: March 18 – Mary Tudor, Queen of Louis XII of France, daughter of Henry VII of England (d. 1533)


date: May 12

text: May 12 – King Gustav Vasa of Sweden (d. 1560)


date: July 10

text: July 10 – Johann Forster, German theologian (d. 1558)


date: August 28

text: August 28 – Konrad Heresbach, German Calvinist (d. 1576)


date: September 27

text: September 27 – Hieronymus Łaski, Polish diplomat (d. 1542)


text: October 20 – Claude, Duke of Guise, French aristocrat and general (d. 1550)


date: November 23

text: November 23 – Clément Marot, French poet of the Renaissance period (d. 1544)


date: December 20

text: December 20 – Joseph ha-Kohen, Spanish-born French Jewish historian and physician (d. 1575)


date: December 21

text: December 21 – Elisabeth Corvinus, Hungarian princess (d. 1508)


text: William Roper, son-in-law and biographer of Thomas More (d. 1578)


text: Richard Rich, 1st Baron Rich, Lord Chancellor of England (d. 1567)


text: João de Barros, Portuguese historian (d. 1570)


text: María Pacheco, Spanish heroine and defender of Toledo (d. 1531)


text: Menno Simons, Dutch Anabaptist leader (d. 1561)


text: January 1 – Charles, Count of Angoulême (b. 1459)


date: February 24

text: February 24 – Eberhard I, Duke of Württemberg (b. 1445)


date: March 12

text: March 12 – Johann Heynlin, German humanist scholar (b. c. 1425)


date: April 16

text: April 16 – Duke Charles II of Savoy (b. 1489)


text: April 16 – Filippo II becomes the new ruler of the Duchy of Savoy upon the death of his 6-year-old great-nephew, Duke Carlo II Giovanni Amedeo.


date: August 15

text: August 15 – Infanta Isabella of Portugal, Queen of Castile and León (b. 1428)


text: August 28 – Kanutus Johannis, Swedish Franciscan friar, writer and book collector


date: September 7

text: September 7– Federico of Aragon becomes the King of Naples upon the death of his nephew, King Ferdinando II.


text: September 7 – King Ferdinand II of Naples (b. 1469)


date: September 15

text: September 15 – Hugh Clopton, Lord Mayor of London (b. c. 1440)


date: September 25

text: September 25 – Piero Capponi, Italian soldier and statesman (b. 1447)


date: September 28

text: September 28 – Boček IV of Poděbrady, Bohemian nobleman, eldest son of King George of Podebrady (b. 1442)


date: October 15

text: October 15 – Gilbert, Count of Montpensier (b. 1443)


date: November 1

text: November 1 – Filippo Buonaccorsi (Filip Callimachus), Italian humanist writer (b. 1437)


date: January 16

text: January 16 – At Westminster, King Henry VII opens his sixth English Parliament for a two-month session. The House of Commons elects Sir Thomas Englefield as its speaker.


date: March 13

text: March 13 – King Henry VII of England gives royal assent to numerous acts passed as parliament adjourns, including the following:


date: September 30

text: September 30 – The Treaty of Ayton establishes a seven-year peace between England and Scotland.


date: October 6

text: October 6 – Sten Sture the Elder agrees to recognize Hans, King of Denmark and of Norway as the rightful King of Sweden and ends his 27-year term as the Swedish Regent.


date: October 18

text: October 18 – The nobles of Sweden's estates formally elect King Hans of Denmark and Norway as King of Sweden, restoring the power of the Kalmar Union.


date: March 3

text: March 3 – The Russo-Swedish War (1495–1497) ends with a six year truce signed in Russia at Novgorod. Due to gathering unrest at home, the Swedish leader Sten Sture the Elder is forced to offer a peace to Ivan III of Moscow.


date: May

text: May – The Cornish Rebellion breaks out in England, incited by war taxes.


date: June 17

text: June 17 – Battle of Deptford Bridge near London: Cornish rebels under Michael An Gof are soundly defeated by Henry VII.


text: September 7 – Second Cornish Uprising in England: Perkin Warbeck lands near Land's End; on September 10 he is proclaimed as King in Bodmin.


text: September 28 – At the Battle of Rotebro, Hans, King of Denmark, defeats Sten Sture the Elder.


date: October 4

text: October 4 – Leaders of the Second Cornish Uprising surrender to the King at Taunton; the following day, Warbeck, having deserted his army, is captured at Beaulieu Abbey in Hampshire.


date: April 18

text: April 18 – Captain Andrea Loredan of the Republic of Venice departs southward on the Adriatic Sea on a large, heavily-armed warship with a crew of 450, with a mission of locating the Spanish Navarrese pirate Pedro Navarro.


date: May 10

text: May 10 – Amerigo Vespucci allegedly leaves Cádiz, for his first voyage to the New World. The account of a voyage (lasting until October 15, 1498) is doubted because the only mention of it is in a letter written six years later, and the course described would have traveled across the land of Mexico and into the Pacific Ocean.


date: May 20

text: May 20 – Italian-born explorer John Cabot sets sail from Bristol in England, on the ship Matthew (principally owned by Richard Amerike), looking for new lands to the west (some sources give a May 2 date).


date: June 24

text: June 24 – John Cabot lands in North America (near modern-day Bonavista, Newfoundland).


date: July 8

text: July 8 – Vasco da Gama's fleet departs from Lisbon, beginning his expedition to India.


date: November 7

text: November 7 – Portuguese explorer Vasco da Gama and his crew become the first Europeans to set foot on South African soil as the ship São Gabriel arrives at St Helena Bay and makes landfall.


date: November 22

text: November 22 – The Vasco da Gama expedition discovers the first sea route from Europe to India as he and his crew, on four ships, round the Cape of Good Hope.


date: December 16

text: December 16 – The Vasco da Gama expedition travels past the Great Fish River on South Africa's Eastern Cape and sails into previously unexplored waters in the Indian Ocean.


text: The Ottomans give Russian merchants freedom of trade within the empire.


date: March 19

text: March 19 – Persecution of Jews and Muslims by Manuel I of Portugal: Forced conversion of Jews in Portugal begins.


date: May 12

text: May 12 – Pope Alexander VI excommunicates Girolamo Savonarola.


date: June 26

text: June 26 – The coronation of Federico di Trastamara, son of King Alfonso II, as King of Naples takes place at Barletta Cathedral.


date: June 27

text: June 27 – At what is supposed to be a meeting at Nysa about a united front by the nobility of Poland against the Ottoman Empire, Nicholas II of Niemodlin (Mikołaj II Niemodlińsk), the Duke of Opole in Poland as well as ruler of the duchies of Niemodlin, Brzeg, and Strzelce, attempts to stab two of the other nobles attending, Casimir II, Duke of Cieszyn and the Bishop Jan IV Roth. Nicholas is beheaded the next day.


text: Benefit of Clergy Act 1496, requiring that charges against a church official for treason must be tried in a government court of law. For other charges, clergymen may still have the benefit of being tried by an ecclesiastical court under canon law.


date: June 13

text: June 13 – Ferdinand and Isabella, the Catholic Monarchs of Spain, issue the ordinance of Medina del Campo, creating a money system based on the copper maravedí, creating the peso of 34 maravedis. In the next three centuries, this system will dominate international payments. It will be used in almost all parts of the Americas and large parts of Asia. It is the basis for a number of modern currencies, including the U.S. dollar.


text: Weights and Measures Act 1496, standardizing units of weight and of volume throughout England. Specifically, the smallest unit, the "sterling" is set at the weight of 32 corns of wheat, 20 sterlings are an ounce, 12 ounces are a pound. A gallon of wheat must weight 8 pounds Troy weight, and a 12-gallon bushel must weight 64 pounds.


text: Ivan the Great of Russia issues his law code, the Sudebnik.


date: October

text: October – Persecution of Jews and Muslims by Manuel I of Portugal: Date under the decree of December 5, 1496, by which Portuguese Jews who have not converted are to be expelled from the country.


date: February 7

text: February 7 – At the public square in Florence, on Shrove Tuesday, followers of the charismatic Dominican friar and evangelist Girolamo Savonarola carry out the first "bonfire of the vanities" and burn thousands of artworks, books, clothing, mirrors, music instruments, playing cards and other objects deemed by them to be a temptation to sin.


date: December 23

text: December 23 – Sheen Palace is destroyed by fire. Henry VII of England rebuilds it as Richmond Palace.


text: A famine "prevailed through all Ireland", according to the Annals of the Four Masters.


date: November 26

text: November 26 – The coronation of Hans of Denmark as King of Sweden takes place at Stockholm, as he adopts the regnal name of King Johann II of Sweden.


text: Iamblichus' De mysteriis Aegyptorum edited by Marsilio Ficino is published.


date: February 16

text: February 16 – Philip Melanchthon, German humanist and reformer (d. 1560)


date: February 19

text: February 19 – Matthäus Schwarz, German fashion writer (d. 1574)


date: March

text: March – Giovanni Paolo I Sforza, Italian condottiero (d. 1535)


date: April 2

text: April 2 – Georg Giese, German merchant (d. 1562)


date: April 16

text: April 16 – Mōri Motonari, Japanese daimyō (d. 1571)


date: April 17

text: April 17 – Pedro de Valdivia, Spanish conquistador (d. 1553)


date: May 3

text: May 3 – Wilhelm IV of Eberstein, President of the Reichskammergericht (d. 1562)


date: May 21

text: May 21 – Al-Hattab, Tripolitanian Muslim jurist (d. 1547)


text: June 27 – Ernest I, Duke of Brunswick-Lüneburg (d. 1546)


date: July 15

text: July 15 – Francis of Denmark, Danish prince (d. 1511)


date: August 18

text: August 18 – Francesco Canova da Milano, Italian composer (d. 1543)


date: September 10

text: September 10 – Wolfgang Musculus, German theologian (d. 1563)


date: October 29

text: October 29 – Benedetto Accolti the Younger, Italian cardinal (d. 1549)


text: John Heywood, English playwright (d. 1580)


date: January 3

text: January 3 – Beatrice d'Este, Duchess of Milan (b. 1475)


date: January 30

text: January 30 – Lê Thánh Tông, Emperor of Vietnam (b. 1442)


date: February 6

text: February 6 – Johannes Ockeghem, Flemish composer (b. c. 1410)


date: May 26

text: May 26 – Antonio Manetti, Italian mathematician and architect (b. 1423)


date: June 14

text: June 14 – Giovanni Borgia, 2nd Duke of Gandía (assassinated) (b.1474)


date: June 27

text: June 27 – Thomas Flamank, Cornish rebel leader (executed)


text: June 27 – Michael An Gof, Cornish rebel leader (executed)


date: June 28

text: June 28 – James Tuchet, 7th Baron Audley (b. c. 1463)


date: July

text: July – Estêvão da Gama, Portuguese explorer ( b. c. 1430)


date: August 24

text: August 24 – Sophie of Pomerania, Duchess of Pomerania (b. 1435)


date: October 4

text: October 4 – John, Prince of Asturias, only son of Ferdinand II of Aragon and Isabella I of Castile (b. 1478)


date: November 7

text: November 7 – Philip II, Duke of Savoy (b. 1443)


text: November 7 – Philibert II of Savoy (Filiberto II) becomes the new Duke of Savoy upon the death of his father, Philip II (Filippo II), who had reigned for only 19 months.


date: November 30

text: November 30 – Anna Sforza, Italian noble (b. 1476)


date: March 21

text: March 21 – In Friesland, in the Netherlands, during the ongoing civil war between the Vetkopers and Schieringers, the Schieringers seek out the help of Albrecht III, Duke of Saxony at the cost of losing Frisian independence.


date: June 10

text: June 10 – The Battle of Laaksum is fought in Friesland in the Netherlands at Stavoren and Warns, bringing an end to the civil war fought for almost a century between the Vetkopers and Schieringers. The Scheringers are triumphant after agreeing to allow Albert III, Duke of Saxony to annex Friesland in return for Albert's protection.


date: October 31

text: October 31 – An-Nasir Muhammad ibn Qaitbay, Sultan of Egypt and Syria, is assassinated, and is succeeded by his uncle, the Vizier Abu Sa'id Qansuh.


text: During the summer, the final Welsh revolt of the medieval era breaks out in Meirionnydd, North Wales; Harlech Castle is captured by the rebels before the revolt is suppressed.


date: February 3

text: February 3 – King Henry grants John Cabot a royal patent for a second westward sea voyage toward North America, with hopes that Cabot will discover a seaward route to Asia. The patent declares that "By thiesee presentes geve and graunte to our well beloved John Kaboto, Venecian, sufficient auctorite and power that he may take at his pleasure vi englisshe shippes and theym convey and lede to the londe and Iles of late founde y the seid John in our name." The expedition launches in early May, but with fewer ships than promised.


date: March 2

text: March 2 – Vasco da Gama visits Quelimane and Mozambique, in southeastern Africa.


date: April 14

text: April 14 – Portuguese explorer Vasco da Gama reaches Malindi, in modern-day Kenya.


date: May 17

text: May 17 – Portuguese navigator Vasco da Gama arrives at Calicut (modern-day Kozhikode), India, becoming the first European to get there by sailing around Africa, thus discovering the maritime route to India. He finds a local Arab merchant who is able to interpret for him.


date: May 21

text: May 21 – In England, the members of the Company of Merchant Adventurers of London are granted a trade monopoly with the Netherlands by King Henry VII "in return for the payment of £5,000" to the royal coffers.


date: May 30

text: May 30 – Christopher Columbus sets out on his third voyage to the Western Hemisphere from Sanlúcar, Spain.


date: May

text: May – In "early May", the John Cabot expedition departs from Bristol on a second expedition westward to find a sea route between England and Japan.


date: July 31

text: July 31 – Columbus becomes the first European to visit the island of Trinidad.


date: August 1

text: August 1 – Columbus discovers the mouth of the Orinoco at what is now Venezuela on the continent of South America, but does not enter.


date: August 4

text: August 4 – Columbus begins eight days of exploring the Gulf of Paria between Trinidad and Venezuela.


date: August 5

text: August 5 – Columbus lands on the Paria Peninsula, in what is now Venezuela in the first definitely recorded landing of Europeans on the mainland Americas.


date: August 12

text: August 12 – Columbus concludes his exploration of Venezuela.


text: João Fernandes Lavrador and Pedro de Barcelos journey to Greenland; during their voyage, they discover the land which they name Labrador.


date: May 23

text: May 23 – Girolamo Savonarola, ruler of Florence, is executed for criticizing the Pope.


date: May 27

text: May 27 – The formal coronation of King Louis XII in France takes place at the Reims Cathedral.


date: June 20

text: June 20 – Niccolò Machiavelli, who will later be the author of the influential political theory guide The Prince, is elected by the Great Council of Florence as the Secretary of the Second Chancellery of the Republic of Florence.


date: November 24

text: November 24 – In the Kingdom of the Catholic Monarchs of Spain, Diego de Deza, Bishop of Jaén, is commissioned as the Grand Inquisitor for the Crown of Castile, the Kingdom of León, and for Granada. His power is expanded in September to include the rest of Spain.


date: November 26

text: November 26 – Pope Alexander VI orders the demolition of the historic Meta Romuli pyramid in Rome in order to clear the way for the building of the new road to the Tiber Bridge.


text: Gun barrel rifling is invented in Augsburg, Bavaria.


date: September 20

text: September 20 – (Meiō 7, 2nd day of the 7th month) A massive earthquake, estimated centuries later as having been 8.6 magnitude occurs off of the coast of the Japanese region of Nankaidō at about 8:00 in the morning. The resulting tsunami kills at least 5,000 people (and perhaps as many as 41,000) when it strikes Kamakura and the surrounding area in what is now Japan's Kanagawa Prefecture. The tsunami washes away a building that houses the Kotoku-in Buddhist temple, but spares the large bronze statue of the Buddha Amitābha.


date: February 9

text: February 9 – Leonardo da Vinci completes his painting The Last Supper, on the refectory wall of Milan's Santa Maria delle Grazie Convent. Because the location is a thin exterior wall, the effects of humidity and moisture-retaining rock behind the wall begin to cause the painting to deteriorate.


date: June 30

text: June 30 – The Wiener Hofmusikkapelle, a forerunner of the Vienna Boys' Choir, is founded by order of Maximilian I, Holy Roman Emperor, instructing officials of the imperial court at Vienna to employ a vocal teacher (singing master), two bass singers and six boys.


date: December 17

text: December 17 – Eight months after ascending the throne, King Louis XII of France annuls his marriage to Jeanne de Valois after 22 years so that he can marry Anne, Duchess of Brittany. The King grants his former queen the title of the Duchess of Berry.


date: January 31

text: January 31 – Tiberio Crispo, Italian clergyman (d. 1566)


date: February 4

text: February 4 – George I of Württemberg-Mömpelgard (d. 1558)


date: February 21

text: February 21 – Ralph Neville, 4th Earl of Westmorland, English earl (d. 1549)


date: April 5

text: April 5 – Giovanni dalle Bande Nere, Italian condottiero (d. 1526)


date: April 9

text: April 9 – Jean, Cardinal of Lorraine, French churchman (d. 1550)


date: June 1

text: June 1 – Maarten van Heemskerck, Dutch painter (d. 1574)d


text: June 30 – Wilhelm von Brandenburg, Archbishop of Riga (d. 1563)


date: July 25

text: July 25 – Hernando de Aragón, Spanish Catholic archbishop (d. 1575)


date: August 23

text: August 23 – Miguel da Paz, Prince of Portugal (d. 1500)


date: August 24

text: August 24 – John, Hereditary Prince of Saxony, German prince (d. 1537)


date: November 1

text: November 1 – Giovanni Ricci, Italian cardinal (d. 1574)


date: November 15

text: November 15 – Eleanor of Austria, Queen of Portugal and France (d. 1558)


date: December 1

text: December 1 – Giovanni Michele Saraceni, Italian Catholic cardinal (d. 1568)


date: December 19

text: December 19 – Andreas Osiander, German Protestant theologian (d. 1552)


text: February 4 – Antonio del Pollaiuolo, Italian painter (b. c. 1432)


date: April 7

text: April 7 – Louis XII becomes the new King of France upon the death of his wife's brother, King Charles VIII. King Charles had struck his head on the top of a door frame while on his way to watch a tennis match at Amboise.


text: April 7 – King Charles VIII of France (b. 1470)


date: May 23

text: May 23 – Girolamo Savonarola, Italian religious reformer and ruler of Florence (b. 1452; executed)


date: June 7

text: June 7 – Anđeo Zvizdović, Bosnian Franciscan friar and evangelist (b. c. 1420)


date: July 14

text: July 14 – Gentile Budrioli, Italian astrologer and herbalist


date: August 17

text: August 17 – John Scrope, 5th Baron Scrope of Bolton, English baron (b. 1437)


text: August 23 – Isabella of Aragon, Queen of Portugal, eldest daughter of Isabella I of Castile and Ferdinand II of Aragon (b. 1470)


date: September 14

text: September 14 – Giovanni il Popolano, Italian diplomat (b. 1467)


date: September 16

text: September 16 – Tomás de Torquemada, Spanish Dominican friar and first Grand Inquisitor (b. 1420)


date: October 28

text: October 28 – In the Chinese Empire, two days after being blamed by the Emperor Zhu Youcheng for bringing misfortunes to the Empire by having built a pavilion in the imperial gardens that disregarded feng shui principles, royal administrator Li Guang commits suicide. The Emperor's daughter Princess Taikang had died suddenly on October 1, and a fire had broken out in one of the palaces in Beijing's Forbidden City on October 26.


date: December 7

text: December 7 – Alexander Hegius von Heek, German humanist (b. c. 1443)


text: December 19 – Jeanne de Laval, French noble (b. 1433)


text: probable – Johannes Martini, Flemish composer (b. c. 1440)


date: February 9

text: February 9 – The Treaty of Blois is signed between the Kingdom of France and the Republic of Venice as a secret military alliance between the two nations to attack the Duchy of Milan.


date: June 20

text: June 20 – Queen Isabella of Spain orders Christopher Columbus to liberate and repatriate Indians from the New World, declaring that nobody had authorized him to kidnap any of her subjects.


date: September 22

text: September 22 – Treaty of Basel: Maximilian is forced to grant the Swiss de facto independence.


text: Heinrich Cornelius Agrippa matriculates at Cologne University.


date: February 20

text: February 20 – The Battle of Hard is fought near the village of Hard in modern-day western Austria as the Swiss Confederacy defeats the troops of the Holy Roman Empire in the first large-scale confrontation of the Swabian War.


date: March 22

text: March 22 – At the Battle of Bruderholz, the Swiss Confederation defeats a larger force of troops from the Swabian League near Basel.


date: April 11

text: April 11 – The Battle of Schwaderloh is won by the Swiss Confederacy over the Swabian League with more than 1,400 of the Swabian troops killed.


date: April 20

text: April 20 – The Swiss Confederacy defeats the forces of the Holy Roman Empire in the Battle of Frastanz, with more than 2,000 Imperial troops killed.


date: July 22

text: July 22 – Battle of Dornach: The Swiss decisively defeat the army of Maximilian I, Holy Roman Emperor.


date: July 28

text: July 28 – First Battle of Lepanto: The Turkish navy wins a decisive victory over the Venetians.


date: October 26

text: October 26 – King Louis XII of France and his troops seize Milan, driving out Duke Ludovico Sforza, and Leonardo da Vinci flees to Venice.


date: November 23

text: November 23 – Perkin Warbeck, pretender to the throne of England, is hanged for reportedly attempting to escape from the Tower of London.


date: November 28

text: November 28 – Edward Plantagenet, 17th Earl of Warwick, last male member of the House of York, is executed for reportedly attempting to escape from the Tower of London.


date: December 18

text: December 18 – The Rebellion of the Alpujarras (1499–1501) begins in the Kingdom of Granada (Crown of Castile) against the forced conversions of Muslims in Spain.


text: Zeta, the last free monarchy in Southeastern Europe, is annexed by the Ottoman Empire, as part of the sanjak of Shkodër, and Stefan II Crnojević is removed from office.


date: June 1

text: June 1 – Pedro Alonso Niño, who had accompanied Columbus on his first voyage to the New World in 1492, departs from Palos in Spain toward South America on a 7-month voyage to the New World. Niño sets sail in a small caravel with 33 men


date: August 24

text: August 24 – Lake Maracaibo is discovered, by Alonso de Ojeda and Amerigo Vespucci.


date: September 18

text: September 18 – Vasco da Gama arrives at Lisbon, returning from India, and is received by King Manuel of Portugal.


date: June 10

text: June 10 – Pope Alexander VI informs the Roman Catholic cardinals that the Sultan of the Ottoman Empire has amassed a fleet of 300 ships to lay siege to the city of Rhodes.


text: Johannes Trithemius inadvertently reveals interests in magic by writing a letter to a Carmelite friar about a treatise he is writing on steganography.


date: August

text: August – Polydore Vergil completes De inventoribus rerum, the first modern history of inventions.


date: June 15

text: June 15 – The Great Epidemic of plague reaches London, forcing King Henry and Queen Elizabeth to flee to the capital to Langley on June 25 and then to Abingdon.


date: October 25

text: October 25 – The Pont Notre-Dame in Paris, constructed under Charles VI of France, collapses into the Seine.


date: January 8

text: January 8 – Louis XII of France marries Anne of Brittany, in accordance with a law set by his predecessor, Charles VIII.


date: February 4

text: February 4 – Hans, King of Denmark is formally crowned as King of Sweden and his wife Christina of Saxony crowned as Queen Consort.


date: April 30

text: April 30 – The University of Valencia is founded in Spain with the passage of the University Statutes by the magistrates of Valencia.


date: May 19

text: May 19 – Catherine of Aragon, the future first wife of Henry VIII, is married by proxy to his brother, Arthur, Prince of Wales.


date: November 5

text: November 5 – The Catholicon is published in Tréguier (Brittany). This Breton–greek–Latin dictionary had been written in 1464 by Jehan Lagadeuc. It is the first dictionary of either French or Breton.


text: Giggleswick School is founded by Reverend James Carr in England.


date: January 20

text: January 20 – Sebastian Franck, German humanist (d. 1543)


date: January 29

text: January 29 – Katharina von Bora, German nun, wife of Martin Luther (d. 1552)


date: February 10

text: February 10 – Thomas Platter, Swiss humanist scholar and writer (d. 1582)


date: March 22

text: March 22 – Johann Carion, German astrologer and chronicler (d. 1537)


date: June 24

text: June 24 – Johannes Brenz, German theologian and Protestant Reformer of the Duchy of Württemberg (d. 1570)


date: July 17

text: July 17 – Maria Salviati, Italian noble and mother of Cosimo I de Medici (d. 1543)


date: August 14

text: August 14 – John de Vere, 14th Earl of Oxford, English noble (d. 1526)


date: September 3

text: September 3 – Diane de Poitiers, French duchess, mistress of Henry II of France (d. 1566)


date: October 13

text: October 13 – Claude of France, queen consort of France, daughter of Louis XII (d. 1524)


date: October 14

text: October 14 – Catherine of the Palatinate, Abbess of Neuburg am Neckar (d. 1526)


date: October 31

text: October 31 – Günther XL, Count of Schwarzburg (1526–1552) (d. 1552)


date: November 1

text: November 1 – Rodrigo of Aragon, Italian noble (d. 1512)


date: December 8

text: December 8 – Sebald Heyden, German musicologist and theologian (d. 1561)


date: December 13

text: December 13 – Justus Menius, German Lutheran pastor (d. 1558)


date: January 9

text: January 9 – John Cicero, Elector of Brandenburg (b. 1455)


date: March 24

text: March 24 – Edward Stafford, 2nd Earl of Wiltshire, English nobleman (b. 1470)


date: April 7

text: April 7 – Galeotto I Pico, Duke of Mirandola (b. 1442)


date: August 29

text: August 29 – Alesso Baldovinetti, Florentine painter (b. 1427)


date: October 1

text: October 1 – Marsilio Ficino, Italian philosopher (b. 1433)


date: November 23

text: November 23 – Perkin Warbeck, Flemish imposter (b. c. 1474) (executed)


date: November 28

text: November 28 – Edward Plantagenet, 17th Earl of Warwick, last male member of the English House of York (b. 1475)


text: Laura Cereta, Italian humanist and feminist (b. 1469)


text: Rennyo, leader of the Ikkō sect of Buddhism (b. 1415)


year_label: 15 CE

text: In Rome, the election of magistrates passes from the people to the Emperor and the Senate.

source_section: Events › 15 AD › Roman Empire


date: May

text: May – As part of his campaign against the Germanic peoples, Germanicus captures Thusnelda, wife of Arminius.


text: Summer – Germanicus launches a two-pronged attack from Vetera and Moguntiacum. On his return journey, he recaptures the aquila of Legio XIX and visits the battlefield of the Teutoburg Forest. Germanicus arranges the burial for the remains of Varus' army.


text: Varna (Odessus), on the Bulgarian Black Sea Coast, is annexed to the Roman province of Moesia.


text: Nicolaus of Damascus writes a biography of the Emperor Augustus (Bios Kaisaros).


text: The river Tiber floods parts of Rome.


text: Early (approx.) – Emona (on the site of modern-day Ljubljana) is founded by Legio XV Apollinaris.


date: September 24

text: September 24 – Vitellius, Roman emperor (d. AD 69)

source_section: Births › 15 AD


date: November 6

text: November 6 – Agrippina the Younger, Roman empress (d. AD 59)


text: Lucius Verginius Rufus, Roman consul (d. AD 97)


text: Lollia Paulina, Roman empress (d. AD 49)


text: Ennia Thrasylla, Roman noblewoman (d. AD 38)


text: Apollonius of Tyana, Greek philosopher (d. c. AD 97)


text: Lucius Seius Strabo, Roman praetorian prefect (b. 46 BC)

source_section: Deaths › 15 AD


text: Paper, made in China, arrives in Transoxiana.

source_section: Events › By topic › Art and science


text: The Germans of the east move south, into the Carpathians and Black Sea area.

source_section: Events › By place › Roman Empire


text: The Albani appear in the Roman province of Macedonia, specifically in Epirus.


text: The earliest atlas (Ptolemy's Geography) is made (approximate date).


text: Marcion of Sinope produces his Bible canon, consisting of purged versions of the Gospel of Luke and ten Pauline letters (approximate date).

source_section: Events › By topic › Religion


text: The Great Pyramid of the Sun is constructed in Teotihuacan. It is the tallest pre-Columbian building in the Americas.

source_section: Events › By place › Americas


text: This is also the approximate date of completion of Ptolemy's monumental work Almagest. The geocentric cosmology contained in it holds sway for 1,400 years.


text: Antoninus Liberalis writes a work on mythology (Μεταμορφωσεων Συναγωγη) (approximate date).


text: The Middle Culture period of Mayan civilization ends (approximate date).


text: The Roman town Forum Hadriani (Voorburg) receives the title of Municipium Aelium Cananefatium, "the town of the Cananefates" (modern Netherlands). The town is awarded with rights to organize markets.


text: First and only year of the "Heping" era of the Han dynasty in China.

source_section: Events › By place › Asia


date: March 7

text: March 7 – Lucilla, Roman empress (d. 182)


text: Zhang Zhongjing, Chinese physician (d. 219)


text: Lucius Fabius Cilo, Roman politician (approximate date)


text: Yufuluo, Chanyu of the southern Xiongnu (d. 196)


text: Monoimus, Arab gnostic and writer (approximate date)


text: Cassius Dio, Roman historian (approximate year)


text: Xu Shao, Chinese official of the Han dynasty (d. 195)


text: Clement of Alexandria, Greek theologian (d. 215)


text: Nagarjuna, founder of Mahayana "Great Vehicle" (d. c. 250)


text: Gongsun Du, Chinese general and warlord (d. 204)


text: Liang Na, Chinese empress of the Han dynasty (b. 116)


text: Aśvaghoṣa, Indian philosopher and poet (approximate date)


text: Aspasius, Greek philosopher and writer (approximate date)


date: March 11

text: March 11 – The Parliament of Bohemia adopts a new constitution that limits the power of King Vladislav II and subsequent Bohemian monarchs.


date: June 30

text: June 30 – Sultan Abu Sa'id Qansuh of Egypt is overthrown and sent into exile. Al-Ashraf Abu al-Nasir Janbalat is crowned as the new Mamluk sultan, but reigns for less than six months.


date: August 23

text: August 23 – Francisco de Bobadilla, appointed to replace Admiral Christopher Columbus as Spanish Governor-General of the New World, arrives at Santo Domingo on the island of Hispanola. Bobadilla issues an order directing Christopher and Bartolomeo Columbus to appear before him at Santo Domingo.


text: October 1 – Christopher Columbus and his brothers, arrested and in chains, are deported from Santo Domingo to Spain.


date: November 11

text: November 11 – Treaty of Granada: Louis XII of France and Ferdinand II of Aragon agree to divide the Kingdom of Naples between them.


date: November 16

text: November 16 – Emperor Go-Kashiwabara accedes to the throne of Meiō era Japan.


date: December 17

text: December 17 – All charges against the Columbus brothers for malfeasance in governing Hispanola are dismissed by King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella.


date: January 5

text: January 5 – Duke Ludovico Sforza recaptures Milan, but is soon driven out again by the French.


date: February 5

text: February 5 – Ludovico Sforza's Swiss mercenary army retakes the city of Milan from the French during the Second Italian War.


date: February 17

text: February 17 – Battle of Hemmingstedt: The Danish army fails to conquer the peasants' republic of Dithmarschen.


date: June 29

text: June 29 – A combined force of troops from the Kingdom of France and from the Republic of Florence lay siege to the city of Pisa.


date: July 14

text: July 14 – The Muscovites defeat the Lithuanians and the Poles in the Battle of Vedrosha.


date: July 24

text: July 24 – Ottoman–Venetian War: The Turkish fleet of Kemal Reis defeats the Venetians in the Second Battle of Lepanto.


date: August 9

text: August 9 – The Ottoman Empire defeats the Venetians and capture Modon and Coron, the "two eyes of the Republic".


date: October 22

text: October 22 – Nasir-ud-Din Shah overthrows the government of his father, Ghiyath Shah, ruler of the Malwa Sultanate (located in much of what is now the Indian state of Madhya Pradesh) for the last 31 years. Upon becoming the new Sultan, Nasir has his brother Ala-ud-Din executed, along with Ala-ud-din's children. Ghiyasuddin is poisoned the following February.


date: December 24

text: December 24 – The Siege of the Castle of St. George ends, and the island of Cephalonia is captured by a joint Venetian–Spanish fleet.


date: January 26

text: January 26 – Spanish navigator Vicente Yáñez Pinzón reaches the northern coast of Brazil.


date: March 9

text: March 9 – Pedro Álvares Cabral, with a fleet of 13 ships, departs Portugal on a voyage to the New World.


date: April 22

text: April 22 – Portuguese navigator Pedro Álvares Cabral and his crew on 13 vessels arrive in Brazil, anchoring at Monte Pascoal and naming the country Vera Cruz. Cabral claims the land for the Kingdom of Portugal.


date: May 1

text: May 1 – Pero Vaz de Caminha finishes writing his chronicle of the Portuguese discovery of Brazil while accompanying Cabral.


date: May 3

text: May 3 – Cabral and his fleet depart from Brazil and sail eastward toward Africa, resuming their journey to India.


date: May 29

text: May 29 – Traveling eastward from Brazil, Cabral and his fleet run into a storm off of the coast of Africa near the Cape of Good Hope and lose four of their 13 ships. Navigator Bartolomeu Dias is among the persons killed.


date: August 10

text: August 10 – Diogo Dias discovers an island which he names São Lourenço, since August 10 is the feast day of Saint Lawrence, a Roman Catholic martyr of the 3rd century. The massive island is later known as Madagascar.


date: September 13

text: September 13 – Pedro Cabral's fleet of nine ships arrives in India, more than six months after departing from Portugal, and lands at the port of Calicut, which had been visited two years earlier by Vasco da Gama.


date: November 25

text: November 25 – Christopher Columbus and his brothers arrive in Spain at Seville "after one of the longest Atlantic crossings in the Columbian years" (six weeks) and released on their own recognizance.


text: A group of Māori migrate east from the New Zealand mainland to the Chatham Islands, developing a distinct pacificist culture known as the Moriori (approx. date).


date: June 1

text: June 1 – Pope Alexander VI issues the papal bull Quamvis ad amplianda, calling on a Roman Catholic crusade against the Ottoman Empire.


date: December 31

text: December 31 – The last incunable is printed in Venice.


text: Europe's population is estimated at 56.7 million people. The world's population is estimated to be between 425 million and 540 million.


date: September 23

text: September 23 – Bobadilla hears testimony from 22 witnesses and concludes that the Columbus brothers intended to overthrow him; he has them placed in manacles and chains for deportation to Spain. ("La pesquisa de Bobadilla contra Colon habia comenzado el 23-IX-1500."— "Bobadilla's investigation against Colon had begun on 23 September 1500.")


text: Saxony's mint at Annaberg begins producing guldengroschens, also known as guldiners.


date: March 24

text: March 24 – The day after departing the Cape Verde Islands with the rest of Cabral's fleet, Vasco de Ataíde and his 150 crewmates die when their ship goes down in a storm.


text: Although other reports exist, it is thought that the last wolf in England is killed this year, making the species extinct in that country. The wolf is thought to have been killed in Allithwaite, in Cumbria. However, reports of wolf sightings and laws concerning wolf bounties exist in rural areas of the north until the 18th century.


date: May 8

text: May 8 – The first guide to distilling of liquor is published, Liber de arte distillandi de simplicibus by Hieronymus Brunschwig.


date: January 6

text: January 6 – John of Ávila, Spanish mystic and saint (d. 1569)


date: February 22

text: February 22 – Cardinal Rodolfo Pio da Carpi, Italian humanist (d. 1564)


date: February 27

text: February 27 – João de Castro, Portuguese nobleman and fourth viceroy of Portuguese India (d. 1548)


date: March 3

text: March 3 – Reginald Pole, Archbishop of Canterbury (d. 1558)


date: April 12

text: April 12 – Joachim Camerarius, German classical scholar (d. 1574)


date: April 23

text: April 23 – Alexander Ales, Scottish theologian (d. 1565)


date: May 17

text: May 17 – Federico II Gonzaga, Duke of Mantua (d. 1540)


date: June 13

text: June 13 – Ernest of Bavaria, pledge lord of the County of Glatz (d. 1560)


date: July 1

text: July 1 – Federico Cesi (cardinal), Italian cardinal (d. 1565)


date: August 16

text: August 16 – Louis Gonzaga (Rodomonte), Italian-French dignitary and diplomat (d. 1532)


date: September 5

text: September 5 – Maria of Jever, last ruler of the Lordship of Jever (d. 1575)


date: September 7

text: September 7 – Sebastian Newdigate, Carthusian monk and martyr (d. 1535)


date: October 17

text: October 17 – Alonso de Orozco Mena, Spanish Roman Catholic priest (d. 1591)


date: November 3

text: November 3 – Benvenuto Cellini, Italian goldsmith and sculptor (d. 1571)


date: April 10

text: April 10 – Michael Tarchaniota Marullus, Greek scholar, poet and soldier (b. c. 1453)

source_section: Deaths › January–June


text: April 12 – Leonhard of Gorizia, Count of Gorz (b. 1440)


date: May 29

text: May 29 – Thomas Rotherham, English cleric and minister (b. 1423)


date: June 19

text: June 19 – Edmund Tudor, Duke of Somerset, English nobleman (b. 1499)


date: June 23

text: June 23 – Lodovico Lazzarelli, Italian poet (b. 1447)


date: July 19

text: July 19 – Miguel da Paz, Prince of Portugal (b. 1498)

source_section: Deaths › July–December


date: August 18

text: August 18 – Alfonso of Aragon, prince (b. 1481)


date: August 26

text: August 26 – Philipp I, Count of Hanau-Münzenberg, German noble (b. 1449)


date: August 30

text: August 30 – Victor, Duke of Münsterberg and Opava, Count of Glatz (b. 1443)


date: September 12

text: September 12 – George the Bearded begins a reign of more than 38 years as Duke of Saxony at the Saxon capital of Emden, after the death of his father, Albert III, who had ruled 36 years. George also becomes George II, Margrave of Meissen.


date: September 15

text: September 15 – John Morton, English Archbishop of Canterbury (b. c. 1420)


date: October 1

text: October 1 – John Alcock, English Bishop of Ely (b. c. 1430)


date: October 21

text: October 21 – Emperor Go-Tsuchimikado of Japan (b. 1442)


date: November 13

text: November 13 – Philip, Prince of Anhalt-Köthen, German prince (b. 1468)


date: January 17

text: January 17 – Cesar Borgia returns triumphantly to Rome, from Romagna.


date: February 1

text: February 1 – The Duchy of Bavaria-Dachau, created in Germany in 1467 after Sigismund, Duke of Bavaria was granted his own state following his resignation from the throne of the Duchy of Bavaria-Munich, reverts to Bavaria-Munich's control upon Sigismund's death.


date: May 13

text: May 13 – The Venetian Republic signs a treaty with the Kingdom of Hungary and Pope Alexander VI for troops to protect Venetian Dalmatia during the Ottoman–Venetian War (1499–1503).


date: June 9

text: June 9 – The semi-independent city of Basel joins the Swiss Confederation as the eleventh canton of Switzerland.


date: August 2

text: August 2 – King Federico of Naples abdicates upon the conquest of the Kingdom of Naples by France, and France's King Louis XII becomes the nominal monarch as Luigi II, re di Napoli. King Louis appoints Louis d'Armagnac, Duke of Nemours as France's Viceroy of Naples.


date: September 3

text: September 3 – On complaints from Christopher Columbus, who had been replaced as Viceroy of the New World and arrested in 1500 by Francisco de Bobadilla, Queen Isabella of Spain orders that Bobadilla be recalled from Santo Domingo. Declining to allow Columbus to resume his brutal rule of the New World, the Queen appoints a friend, Nicolás de Ovando, as the new Viceroy. Although Bobadilla receives news of his firing several weeks later, he declines to step aside. Ovando will assemble a fleet of 30 ships and depart Spain on February 13 for Santo Domingo.


date: September 27

text: September 27 – Queen Isabella orders New World Governor Bobadilla to return the assets confiscated from Christopher Columbus and the two other Columbus brothers.


date: October 2

text: October 2 – Leonardo Loredan is elected 75th doge of the Venetian Republic, taking office on October 13, and serves for almost 20 years.


date: October 13

text: October 13 – Maximilian of Austria and Louis XII of France sign the Treaty of Trente with Austria recognizing all French conquests in the northern territories of Italy.


date: November 12

text: November 12 – Sten Sture the Elder is elected Regent of Sweden for the second time, becoming the Scandinavian nation's chief executive after King Hans of Denmark is deposed. No replacement of the monarchy is planned by the rebel Swedish nobles.


text: The Swiss cantons of Basel and Schaffhausen join the Old Swiss Confederacy.


date: April 11

text: April 11 – The Rebellion in the Alpujarras ends in southern Spain with a treaty of surrender of the last Muslim insurgents in the Alpujarra Mountains in Andalusia on the Mediterranean Sea. The Muslims are given the choice of expulsion or conversion to Christianity.


date: June 24

text: June 24 – Cesare Borgia's French troops storm and overtake the fortress at Capua in the Kingdom of Naples, overcoming the defense of Fabrizio Colonna in the occupation of the Spanish Kingdom of Aragon in southern Italy.


date: July 25

text: July 25 – The Kingdom of Naples, led by King Federico I, surrenders to Cesare Borgia's French and Aragonese troops.


date: August 1

text: August 1 – Hans, King of Denmark, Norway and Sweden is deposed from the Swedish throne after fleeing the country following the victory of Swedish rebels at Örebro during the War of Deposition against King Hans. His wife, Christina of Saxony, is left behind at Stockholm as his regent of Sweden, to command a royal garrison at Tre Kronor ("Three Crowns"), the royal castle. Returning to Denmark, King Hans then organizes Danish troops to attempt to retake Sweden in the Dano-Swedish War (1501–1512).


date: August 27

text: August 27 – Battle of the Siritsa River: The Livonian Order, supporting the Grand Duchy of Lithuania in the Second Muscovite–Lithuanian War, and commanded by Wolter von Plettenberg, defeats an army of the Grand Duchy of Moscow and Pskov Republic.


date: November 4

text: November 4 – Second Muscovite–Lithuanian War: At the Battle of Mstislavl, Grand Prince Ivan's Southern Muscovite army defeats the forces of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania.


date: November 24

text: November 24 – A large army of the Grand Duchy of Moscow overruns Livonia during the Second Muscovite–Lithuanian War.


date: December 31

text: December 31 – First Battle of Cannanore: João da Nova fleet engaged the fleet of the Zamorin in a battle outside of the Cannanore harbor, the first Portuguese naval battle in the Indian Ocean.


date: March 25

text: March 25 – Portuguese navigator João da Nova discovers Ascension Island. It is definitely sighted and named on May 20, 1503 (Feast of the Ascension) by Afonso de Albuquerque.


date: June 23

text: June 23 – Nicolau Coelho, part of Pedro Cabral's Portuguese expedition to India, returns home with one ship, having left ahead of Cabral.


date: July 21

text: July 21 – Portuguese explorer Pedro Álvares Cabral and his surviving crew return to Lisbon at the end of a 15-month expedition to India, with only seven of their original fleet of 13 ships. The cargo from India, however, returns a profit to the Portuguese crown of nine times its investment.


date: November 1

text: November 1 (All Saints) – Amerigo Vespucci discovers and names Baía de Todos os Santos, in Brazil.


text: November 4 – Philip and Joanna of Castile leave for Spain.


text: Rodrigo de Bastidas, sailing westward from Venezuela in search of gold, becomes the first European to explore the Isthmus of Panama.


text: Gaspar Corte-Real, Portuguese navigator, makes the first documented European landing in North America since c. 1000 A.D.


text: Amerigo Vespucci maps the two stars Alpha Centauri and Beta Centauri, as well as the stars of the constellation Crux, which are below the horizon in Europe.


date: July 27

text: July 27 – Copernicus is formally installed as canon of Frauenberg Cathedral.


date: September 18

text: September 18 – Aleksandras Jogailaitis, Grand Duke of Lithuania, issues a decree requiring all Roman Catholic priests in the Duchy to become fluent in the Lithuanian language.


date: October 30

text: October 30 – The Banquet of Chestnuts is purportedly held by Cesare Borgia, in the Papal Palace of Rome (this account is not historical fact, and could be attributed to enemies of Alexander VI).


date: December 22

text: December 22 – (1 Jumada al-Thani 907 AH) Ismail I is enthroned as the first Shah of Iran, choosing Tabriz as his capital, founding the Safavid dynasty in northern Iran. He declares Shi'ism the official and compulsory religion, under penalty of death.


text: Italic type (cut by Francesco Griffo) is first used by Aldus Manutius at the Aldine Press in Venice, in an edition of Virgil.


date: September 12

text: September 12 – Maximilian I, Archduke of Austria, issues a decree making firearms safety tests mandatory.


text: Dhaulpur is taken by Sikandar Lodi.


date: May 10

text: May 10 – The formal coronation of King Shwenankyawshin of Burma takes place at his capital in Inwa in the Mandalay Region on the 9th waning of Kason, 863 ME.


date: May 15

text: May 15 – Harmonice Musices Odhecaton, the first printed collection of polyphonic music, is published by Ottaviano Petrucci in Venice.


date: October 2

text: October 2 – Spanish princess Catherine of Aragon arrives in England and arrives at Plymouth. Although she will later become the wife of King Henry VIII in 1509, she initially arrives to marry Henry's older brother, Arthur, Prince of Wales.


date: November 14

text: November 14 – Arthur, Prince of Wales, marries the Spanish princess Catherine of Aragon.


date: December 12

text: December 12 – Grand Duke Aleksandras Jogailaitis, Grand Duke of Lithuania becomes the King of Poland as Aleksander I Jagiellończyk.


text: Martin Luther enters the University of Erfurt.


text: Michelangelo returns to his native Florence, to begin work on the statue David.


date: January 16

text: January 16 – Anthony Denny, confidant of Henry VIII of England (d. 1559)

source_section: Births


date: January 17

text: January 17 – Leonhart Fuchs, German physician and botanist (d. 1566)


date: January 24

text: January 24 – Jacob Milich, German astronomer and mathematician (d. 1559)


date: March 12

text: March 12 – Pietro Andrea Mattioli, Italian scientist (d. 1577)


date: March 21

text: March 21 – Anne Brooke, Baroness Cobham, English noble (d. 1558)


date: May 6

text: May 6 – Pope Marcellus II (d. 1555)


date: July 10

text: July 10 – Cho Sik, Korean Confucian scholar and politician (d. 1572)


date: July 18

text: July 18 – Isabella of Burgundy, queen of Christian II of Denmark (d. 1526)


date: August 17

text: August 17 – Philipp II, Count of Hanau-Münzenberg (d. 1529)


date: September 18

text: September 18 – Henry Stafford, 1st Baron Stafford, English baron (d. 1563)


date: September 24

text: September 24 – Gerolamo Cardano, Italian mathematician, physician, astrologer and gambler (d. 1576)


date: September 26

text: September 26 – Gian Gabriele I of Saluzzo, Italian abbot, Marquess of Saluzzo (d. 1548)


text: November 14 – Anna of Oldenburg, Regent of East Frisia from 1540 to 1561 (d. 1575)


date: December 2

text: December 2 – Queen Munjeong, Korean queen (d. 1565)


date: January 3

text: January 3 – Ali-Shir Nava'i, Central Asian poet, politician and writer (b. 1441)


date: January 5

text: January 5 – John Dynham, 1st Baron Dynham, English baron and Lord High Treasurer (b. 1433)


date: January 25

text: January 25 – Margaret of Bavaria, Electress Palatine, Princess of Bavaria-Landshut (b. 1456)


date: March 4

text: March 4 – Minkhaung II becomes the sole King of Burma upon the death of his son Thihathura II, with whom he was co-ruler for 15 years. Minkhaung's reign ends five weeks later when he dies on April 7.


date: April 7

text: April 7 – Shwenankyawshin Narapati begins an almost 26-year reign as King of Burma upon the death of his father, King Minkhaung II.


date: May 3

text: May 3 – John Devereux, 9th Baron Ferrers of Chartley, English baron (b. 1463)


date: May 7

text: May 7 – Giovanni Battista Zeno, Italian Catholic cardinal


date: May 20

text: May 20 – Columba of Rieti, Italian Dominican tertiary Religious Sister and blessed (b. 1467)


date: June 8

text: June 8 – George Gordon, 2nd Earl of Huntly, Earl of Huntly and Lord Chancellor of Scotland (b. 1440)


date: June 17

text: June 17 – John I Albert of Poland (b. 1459)


text: June 17 – Alexander Jagiellon, Grand Duke of Lithuania since 1492, becomes the new King of Poland upon the sudden death of his older brother, Jan I Olbracht.


date: August 15

text: August 15 – Constantine Lascaris, Greek scholar and grammarian


date: September 20

text: September 20 – Thomas Grey, 1st Marquess of Dorset, stepson of Edward IV of England (b. 1457)


date: September 29

text: September 29 – Andrew Stewart, Scottish bishop (b. 1442)


date: January 24

text: January 24 – Commissioners from Scotland and England meet at Richmond Palace in London to finalize an agreement on the marriage between Scotland's King James IV to the daughter of England's King Henry VII, the princess Margaret Tudor, with a dowry of 35,000 Scottish Punnds and an agreement for a "treaty of perpetual peace". The marriage will be completed by proxy on January 25, 1503.


date: July 28

text: July 28 – At Augsburg, Maximilian I, Germany's King of the Romans signs a treaty with representatives of King Henry VII of England, agreeing not to provide assistance to English rebels.


text: Heinrich Cornelius Agrippa receives the degree of magister artium from the University of Cologne.


date: November 7

text: November 7 – Ismail I founds the Safavid dynasty and proclaims himself the Shah of Iran after defeating tribes of the Aq Qoyunlu confederation.


text: Meñli I Giray defeats the Golden Horde and sacks their capital, Sarai.


date: January 1

text: January 1 – Portuguese explorers, led by Gonçalo Coelho, sail into Guanabara Bay, Brazil, mistaking it for the mouth of a river, which they name Rio de Janeiro.


date: March 14

text: March 14 – Christopher Columbus begins preparation for his fourth and final voyage, with a goal of finding a westward passage in the New World to link the Atlantic Ocean to the Indian Ocean.


text: May 3 – Portuguese navigator João da Nova discovers the uninhabited island of Saint Helena.


date: May 9

text: May 9 – Christopher Columbus leaves Cadiz in Spain for his fourth and final trip to the New World, taking with him 147 men on his flagship, Capitana and the companion ships Gallega, Vizcaína, and Santiago de Palos. He explores Central America, and discovers the Isthmus of Panama and the land now occupied by Honduras, and Costa Rica, and possibly the island of St. Lucia as well


date: May 26

text: May 26 – Columbus and his men complete the rescue of stranded Portuguese soldiers in Morocco, then depart Asilah for a crossing of the Atlantic in 20 days.


date: June 15

text: June 15 – Columbus and his crew land on the island of Martinique and land at Le Carbet.


date: July 30

text: July 30 – The first encounter between Europeans and the Maya people of Central America takes place when the Columbus brothers anchor at Guanaja, one of the Bay Islands off of the coast of what is now the nation of Honduras. An unfortunate group of Mayan traders happens to arrive at Guanaja at the same time, and its cargo is looted by Bartolomeo Columbus and his crew.


date: August 14

text: August 14 – Christopher Columbus and his crew land at Puerto Castilla in what is now the mainland of the nation of Honduras, becoming the first Europeans to visit.


date: September 18

text: September 18 – Christopher Columbus lands at Central America at what is now Costa Rica.


date: October 16

text: October 16 – Columbus and his crew arrive at Almirante Bay in Panama.


text: Bristol merchants return from Newfoundland (first so named this year from a letter) to England, carrying three native people and cod from the Grand Banks.


text: The first African slaves brought to the New World arrive at the island of Hispaniola (modern-day Haiti and Dominican Republic).


date: February 12

text: February 12 – Isabella I issues an edict outlawing Islam in the Crown of Castile, forcing virtually all her Muslim subjects to convert to Christianity.


date: December 31

text: December 31 – Cesare Borgia (son of Pope Alexander VI) occupies Urbino, where he imprisons two potentially treacherous allies, Vitellozzo and Oliveretto; he executes them the next morning.


text: In Italy, Asher Lämmlein declares that the Jewish Messiah will arrive in the next 6 months, resulting in the year of penance.


text: In Germany, Peter Henlein of Nuremberg uses iron parts and coiled springs to build a portable timepiece.


date: February 13

text: February 13 – The new Viceroy of the New World, Nicolás de Ovando, departs Spain with a fleet of 30 ships and orders to replace Viceroy Francisco de Bobadilla at Santo Domingo on the island of Hispaniola, and arrives in April.


date: October 1

text: October 1 – An annular solar eclipse occurs.


date: November 19

text: November 19 – The "Cantino planisphere", a precise copy for an Italian spy of Portugal's secret Padrão Real map of the New World, is acquired by Alberto Cantino, agent for Ercole I d'Este, Duke of Ferrara, at a cost of 12 golden ducats.


date: April 11

text: April 11 – Dmitry Ivanovich Vnuk, who had been the teenage co-ruler of the Grand Duchy of Moscow since 1498 with his grandfather Ivan III, is arrested along with his mother, Elena of Moldavia on suspicion of conspiracy. Ivan designates his son (and Dmitry's uncle) Vasili Ivanovich as the new heir to the throne of Moscow.


date: December 26

text: December 26 – Cesare Borgia kills Ramiro d'Orco; this incident is referenced in Machiavelli's The Prince


date: March 26

text: March 26 – The first recorded earthquake in what is now Croatia strikes at Medvednica with a Mercalli scale intensity estimated at VIII. (2000).


date: June 29

text: June 29 – Columbus and his crew attempt to land at Santo Domingo in order to avoid being caught in a hurricane, despite being ordered not to return to Hispaniola. Nicolás de Ovando, the Spanish Viceroy, refuses to let Columbus sail into harbor and does not believe the warnings of the hurricane, which strikes two days later.