Crime & Justice in the 15th century

82 sourced entries, 1401 CE to 1499 CE, oldest first. Also see Crime & Justice across every century or everything else in the 15th century.

1401February 16 – John Barry is appointed as the new Attorney-General for Ireland.source
1401June 25 – The Schaffhausen massacre of 30 Jewish residents, by burning, of the town of Schaffhausen takes place in Switzerland after the April 3 murder of 4-year-old Konrad Lori.source
1401October 29 – King Zsigmond of Hungary is released from imprisonment by order of the Royal Council.source
1405March 31 – Antonio I Acciaioli, Duke of Athens, reaches an agreement with the Venetian Senate and with Michele Steno, Doge of Venice, for payment of reparations to Venice in return for being able to continue ruling Athens.source
1406April 4 – Tran Thien Binh, pretender to the throne of Vietnam (at the time, Dai Ngu) arrives from China, accompanied by an emissary from China, at the invitation of the Emperor Hồ Hán Thương. After crossing into Lang Son, Tran Thien Binh and the Chinese ambassador are killed by King Ho Han Thuong's troops, triggering a war with China.source
1406October 13 – Richard Whittington is elected Lord Mayor of London for a second full term. He holds this office simultaneously, with that of Mayor of the Calais Staple.source
1407October 5 – A group of high officials of the former Vietnamese government are put on trial before China's Emperor Cheng Zu at Nanjing, and charged with treason for killing the previous Vietnamese ruler. Most of the prisoners are executed.source
1409October 7 – Jean de Montagu, Grand Master of France and a leading advisor to the mentally unstable King Charles VI of France, is arrested on orders of John the Fearless, Duke of Burgundy. Montagu is publicly beheaded 10 days later at the Gibbet of Montfaucon in Paris.source
1414Inquisitor Heinrich Schöneveld presides over the trials of 84 members of the millenarian sect of flagellants in Sangerhausen, Thuringia. He sentences three individuals to death, while others receives penitential measures as they renounced heresy. After the departure of the inquisitor, local authorities disregards his judgments, burning all heretics at the stake and organizing a hunt for their supporters in the area. In total, during this year, at least 168 individuals (perhaps even around 300) are burned at the stake by secular courts in Thuringia.source
1416March 16 – The Treason Act 1415 takes effect in England, making coin clipping a treasonable offense.source
1416June 6 – The Convocation of Canterbury, to investigate and charge the participants in the 1414 Oldcastle Revolt in England, ends after more than two months.source
1417December 14 – In punishment for his conviction for high treason against the Crown of England, Sir John Oldcastle, Baron Cobham, is hanged outside the church of St Giles in the Fields and then (carrying out the sentence for a prior conviction of heresy) burned, "gallows and all".source
1417Imadaddin Nasimi, an Azerbaijani poet and the foremost proponent of Hurufism, was flayed alive and executed in Aleppo, Syria under the order of Aleppan ulema.source
1420February 14 – English Lollard William Taylor is acquitted of charges of heresy in a trial before the Archbishop of Canterbury, Henry Chichele. Taylor will in 1423 be convicted of heresy and burned at the stake.source
1421March 12 – In his campaign to rid Germany of Jewish people, Albert V, Duke of Austria issues a death sentence against wealthy Jews who had been imprisoned as part of his order of May 23, 1420. On March 12, the burning at the stake of 120 women and 92 men is carried out south of the city walls of Vienna.source
1422March 9 – In Prague, the Hussite priest Jan Želivský is arrested when he appears at the city hall. Already known for overseeing the killing of Catholic civilians and the pillaging of Catholic towns outside of Prague, is blamed for the Czech Bohemian loss at the August 5 Battle of Brüx. He is sentenced to death and beheaded on the same day.source
1422July 11 – In Italy, a group of about 100 Romani people, described as "Gypsies" arrive in Bologna with a stated intention of traveling to Rome to meet the Pope. Their leader, calling himself "Duke Andrea", shows to local officials a decree allegedly signed by the King of Hungary that is said to grant them the right to commit robberies "without penalty or penance" wherever they travel, as a reward for 4,000 gypsies being re-baptized into the Christian faith.source
1427The first witch hunts begin, in Switzerland.source
1428August 7 – The Valais witch trials begin in Swiss Savoy.source
1431January 9 – Pretrial investigations for Joan of Arc begin at Rouen in France, which is under English occupation.source
1431February 21 – The trial of Joan of Arc for heresy begins.source
143121 February – The trial of Joan of Arc for heresy begins in Rouen.France source
1432March 29 – Venetian General Francesco Bussone da Carmagnola is arrested in Venice after reporting to a meeting with the Council of Ten and the Venetian Doge Tommaso Mocenigo. The Doge dies five days later.source
1432August 31 – Sigismund Kęstutaitis attempts the capture or murder of Švitrigaila, his rival for the throne of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania. Švitrigaila manages to escape.source
1434January 9 – (Rajab 9, 837 AH) King Alfonso V of Aragon ruler of the Kingdom of Sicily as well, contracts with tapestry weaver Guillem d'Uxelles to Flanders to begin learning the Flemish methods to be duplicated in Spain, beginning the "Hispano-Flemish" style.source
1437Sandside Chase in the north of Scotland: Clan Mackay defeat the Clan Gunn of Caithness.source
1438At 95 years of age, Nang Keo Phimpha becomes queen of Lan Xang for a few months, then being deposed and killed.source
1440September 13 – Breton lord Gilles de Rais is arrested at his castle at Machecoul after an accusation of murdering children is brought against him by the Bishop of Nantes.source
1440October 22 – Gilles de Rais confesses and is sentenced to death on a conviction of murdering at least 140 children. He is hanged on October 26 and his corpse is then burned at the stake.source
1440November 24 – The "Black Dinner" takes place at Edinburgh Castle as Lord Chancellor of Scotland William Crichton conspires with the James Douglas, uncle of the late Archibald Douglas (who had served as regent for King James II) to invite Archibald's two sons, 16-year old William Douglas, 6th Earl of Douglas and David Douglas to dinner with King James. At the dinner, the two boys are taken hostage and murdered, the members of Clan Douglas besiege the castle, and James Douglas inherits the Earldom.source
1440Sir Richard Molyneux is appointed constable of Liverpool Castle, in England.source
1440The Ming dynasty government of China begins a decade-long series of issuing harsh edicts towards those who illegally mine silver, the latter known as 'miner bandits' (kuangzei), a trend begun in 1438. The government wants to cap the amount of silver circulating into the market, as more grain taxes are converted into silver taxes. The government establishes community night watches known as 'watches and tithings' (baojia), who ensure that illegal mining activities are brought to a halt. However, these are desperate measures, as illegal silver mining continues to thrive as a dangerous but lucrative venture.source
1441September 15 – The Metropolitan Isidore of Kiev is allowed by Grand Prince Vasily II to escape from imprisonment in Moscow, along with two of his disciples, Gregory the Bulgarian and Afanasy. He flees to Tver and then to Novogrudok and eventually to Rome.source
1442After being imprisoned (before September) by the Sultan, Vlad II Dracul is temporarily replaced, as ruler of Wallachia, by his son Mircea II.source
1446February 12 – Vasily II, the Grand Prince of Moscow and ruler of much of Russia, is kidnapped from Trinity Monastery the Kremlin by allies of his cousin, Dmitry Shemyaka. Four days later (February 16), the conspirators tear out the eyes of Grand Prince Vasily and send him into exile at Uglich with his wife.source
1446June 26 – Gilles de Bretagne, the brother of Francois I, Duke of Brittany, is arrested after allowing agents of King Charles VII of France to enter his home, Château du Guildo. He is eventually murdered while in custody at La Harduinaie.source
144718 February – Humphrey, Duke of Gloucester is arrested for treason. He dies five days later.England source
1447February 20 – Humphrey, Duke of Gloucester, uncle and heir apparent of King Henry VI of England, is arrested on a charge of treason. He dies from a stroke three days later while imprisoned at Bury St Edmunds in Suffolk Richard of York becomes next in line for the throne.source
1447Iizasa Ienao founds Tenshin Shōden Katori Shintō-ryū, the earliest historically verifiable Japanese koryū martial art, that will still be extant in modern times.source
1449The French recapture Pont-de-l'ArcheFrance source
1449The French recapture Conches following the capture of Château de Conches-en-Ouche led by Robert de FloquesFrance source
1451July 31 – Jacques Coeur, accused of poisoning Agnes Sorel, mistress of King Charles VII of France, is arrested on the orders of the king and his large fortune is confiscated.source
1451Rathmacknee Castle believed to have been built by John Rosseter (Rossiter, Rositer, Rosceter), seneschal of the Liberty of Wexford.Ireland source
1452May 2 – Jean Bréhal, chief of the French inquisition, reopens the case of Joan of Arc, who had been executed more than 20 years earlier for heresy and begins taking testimony from witnesses.source
1454November 16 – Nikola Skobaljić, the Serbian voivode of Dubočica who had resisted Ottoman rule, is defeated by the armies of the Ottoman Sultan Mehmed II and is taken prisoner. Skobaljić is executed by impalement at the Mehmed's command, and his head is sent to Constantinople to serve as an example of the punishment for people who resist the Ottoman Sultan.source
145523 October – Bonville–Courtenay feud in Devon: Thomas Courtenay, heir to the Earl of Devon, arranges the murder of lawyer Nicholas Radford.England source
1456July 7 – A retrial of Joan of Arc acquits her of heresy, 25 years after her execution.source
1457March 14 – Ladislaus Hunyadi, who had assassinated the Hungarian regent Ulrich of Celje on November 9, is arrested soon after being tricked by King Ladislaus V into believing that he would become Lord Treasurer and Captain-General upon his arrival in Budapest. Hunyadi is beheaded two days later by order of the King.source
1457July 21 – Former Korean King Danjong (who had been given a comfortable office as "King Emeritus") is arrested after having conspired to reclaim the throne of Korea from his uncle, King Sejo. The other six conspirators (Sŏng Sammun, Pak Paeng-nyeon, Ha Wi-ji, Yi Kae, Yu Ŭngbu, and Yu Sŏngwŏn) are executed, while Danjong is initially spared the death penalty.source
1458Richard Nugent, Lord Delvin seizes land from his estranged son in law William ButlerIreland source
1459Richard Duke of York, Lord Lieutenant of Ireland, returns on a second visit to Ireland.Ireland source
1460Ali Bey Mihaloğlu captures Michael Szilágyi.source
1461Leonardo da Vinci and Sandro Botticelli become students of Verrocchio.source
1462December – After Radu III the Fair takes over the throne in Wallachia, Vlad III Dracula seeks help in Transylvania, where he is captured by Mathias Corvinus, and imprisoned for the next 12 years, over false charges of treason.source
1463March 26 – By order of Sultan Mehmed II of the Ottoman Empire, David Komnenos, the last Emperor of Trebizond, is arrested at Adrianople and put in jail along with his sons Basil, Manuel and Georgios and his nephew Alexios, on charges of conspiracy to overthrow the Ottoman imperial government.source
1465July 13 – Henry of Lancaster, the former King Henry VI of England is captured at Waddington Hall in Lancashire, by Yorkist forces. Henry and his aide, Sir Richard Tunstall, had been staying as the guest of Sir Richard Tempest when his brother. Richard's brother, John Tempest attempts to arrest Henry, but Tunstall and Henry flee to the Clitheroe forest and are captured by the River Ribble.source
1465September 7 – With the approval by the Holy Roman Emperor Friedrich III, the Bohemian captain Hinko Tannfeld to plunder the Hungarian town of Sopron.source
1466October 13 – King James III of Scotland is forced by Lord Boyd to appear before the Scottish Parliament and to forgive Boyd and the other conspirators in the kidnapping that took place on July 9.source
1466The second largest bell of Saint Peter's Church, Fritzlar, in Hesse, is cast by Meister Goswin aus Fritzlar.source
1466Louis XI introduces silk weaving to Lyon.source
1469April 23 – Cardinal Jean Balue, a close adviser of King Louis XI, is arrested for conspiring with Charles the Bold, Duke of Burgundy, and is charged with treason. Since there is a dispute over whether a Roman Catholic cleric can be tried by the royal court rather than an eccleastical court, Balue is spared the death penalty but spends the next 11 years in prison.source
1471May 21 – King Edward IV celebrates his victories with a triumphal parade on his return to London. The captured Queen Margaret is paraded through the streets. On the same day Henry VI of England is murdered in the Tower of London, eliminating all Lancastrian opposition to the House of York.source
1474May 9 – The first war crimes trial in recorded history begins in Breisach am Rhein in Upper Alsace as the Burgundian general Peter von Hagenbach is put on trial for allowing his troops to murder and rape civilians during the Burgundian Wars. The trial is held before a panel of 28 judges drawn from Breibach and surrounding Alsatian towns, and is conducted outside before a large crowd. During the trial, Hagenbach becomes the first known person to raise the "superior orders defense", stating that he was simply following orders made his commanders. After deliberating for a few hours, the judges unanimously find Hagenbach guilty and sentenced to death. At the end of his one-day trial, Hagenbach is decapitated.source
1476Leonardo da Vinci is acquitted on charges of sodomy, after which he disappears from the historical record for two years.source
1477Giovanni Pico della Mirandola starts to study canon law, at the University of Bologna.source
1478August 24 – In the Swiss canton of Lucerne, the Amstaldenhandel, a conspiracy by innkeeper Peter Amstalden of Schüpfheim to overthrow the canton government is foiled when Amstalden is arrested. After being interrogated and tortured, Amstalden is beheaded in November.source
1481February 6 – The first execution during the Spanish Inquisition is carried out in Seville in an auto-da-fé as six people convicted of heresy are burned alive. As a result of this and other murders, thousands of conversos— mostly Jewish people who had converted to Christianity— flee their homes.source
1481Conn O'Neill (died 1482), Lord of Clandeboye captures and blinds Patrick Savage, seneschal of Ulster, his title to be passed to Roland SavageIreland source
1481Aodh Ruadh Ó Domhnaill, King of Tir Chonaill, captured Conn son of Énri O'NeillIreland source
1488April 24 – A judgment of confiscation was declared against all the goods of Louis of OrléansFrance source
1488Jasper Tudor, 1st Duke of Bedford, takes possession of Cardiff Castle.source
1488Michelangelo Buonarroti becomes apprentice to Domenico Ghirlandaio.source
1490Leonardo da Vinci develops an oil lamp: the flame is enclosed in a glass tube, placed inside a water-filled glass globe.source
1490Johann Reuchlin meets Giovanni Pico della Mirandola.source
1491June 27 – Louis of Orléans is released by Charles VIII of France after three years of imprisonment.source
1491November 16 – An auto-da-fé held in Brasero de la Dehesa (outside Ávila) concludes the case of the Holy Child of La Guardia, with the execution of several Jewish and converso suspects.source
1493June 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.source
1493England imposes sanctions on Burgundy for supporting Perkin Warbeck, the pretender to the English throne.source
1496May 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.source
1497February 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.source
1498Gun barrel rifling is invented in Augsburg, Bavaria.source
1499Stephen Lynch fitz James, future Mayor of Galway (on three occasions), is made bailiff.Ireland source