Events treated at length are here indicated in large type; the numerals following give volume and page.
Separate chronologies of the various nations, and of the careers of famous persons, will be found in the INDEX VOLUME, with volume and page references showing where the several events are fully treated.
1438. Gutenberg commences printing with movable type[1]. See "ORIGIN AND PROGRESS OF PRINTING," viii, i.
All Europe ravaged by the plague; it is aggravated in England and France by a direful famine.
1439. Death of Albert II; Ladislaus III, King of Poland, ascends the Hungarian throne.
Pope Eugenius removes his council from Ferrara to Florence; here is signed a treaty for the ostensible union of the Latin and Greek churches.
A standing army voted by the States-General of France.
1440. Frederick III elected Emperor of Germany.
"JOHN HUNYADY REPULSES THE TURKS." See viii, 30.
1441. Hadji Kerai separates from the Golden Horde; he establishes the independent khanate of Crim Tartary, or the Crimea.
1442. Alfonso V of Aragon takes the city of Naples; the whole kingdom submits to him; his rival, René of Anjou, returns to Provence.
First modern importation of negro slaves into Europe. See "DISCOVERY OFTHE CANARY ISLANDS AND THE AFRICAN COAST," viii, 276.
1443. Rising of the Albanians, under Scanderbeg, against the Turks.
1444. Battle of Varna; defeat of the Hungarians by the Turks and death of Ladislaus III, King of Poland and Hungary. John Hunyady assumes the government in Hungary during the minority of Ladislaus Posthumus.
On the request of Frederick IV of Germany the Dauphin employs a part of the French army against Switzerland; battle of St. Jacob's; for ten hours 1,600 Swiss resist 30,000 veterans; the Swiss perish; 10,000 of the victors are slain.
1445. Corinth destroyed by the Turks.
1447. Election of Pope Nicholas V, founder of the Vatican Library. See "REBUILDING OF ROME," viii, 46.
Grammar-schools founded in London, England.
1448. Amurath II, or Murad, defeats Hunyady at Cassova.
1449. War between France and England renewed; Normandy conquered by the French; Rouen is surrendered.
1450. Rebellion of Jack Cade in England. He was slain and his head stuck on London bridge.
Milan surrenders to Francesco Sforza (Stormer,i. e., of cities), the natural son of a peasant who became a greatcondottiere. He is proclaimed duke.
1451. Guienne conquered by the French from the English. Ghent revolts against Philip, Duke of Burgundy.
1453. End of the Eastern empire. See "MAHOMET II TAKES CONSTANTINOPLE," viii, 55.
Submission of Ghent to the Duke of Burgundy after its forces had been defeated at Gaveren.
Battle of Castillon; defeat of the English; loss of all the English conquests in France, except Calais; end of the Hundred Years' War.
Emperor Frederick III creates Austria a duchy.
1454. Mental aberration of Henry VI of England; the Duke of York protector.
Publication of the first-known printing with movable type. See "ORIGINAND PROGRESS OF PRINTING," viii, i.
Venice by a treaty with Turkey secures trade privileges in Greece.
1455. Beginning of the contest for the crown of England. See "WARS OF THE ROSES," viii, 72.
1456. Battle of Belgrade; victory of Hunyady over the Turks. Athens conquered by the Turks.
1457. Church of the Unitas Fratrum organized in Bohemia. Francis Foscaro, being deposed as doge of Venice after a reign of thirty-four years, dies of grief on hearing the bells rung to celebrate the election of his successor.
At Mainz is published the Book of Psalms, the earliest work printed with its date.
1458. Pope Pius II acknowledges Ferdinand I as King of Naples, strives to restore peace, and unite all powers in resistance to the Turkish aggressions.
Genoa submits to the King of France, Charles VII.
Election of Matthias, son of Hunyady, as King of Hungary.
George Podibrad, leader of the church-reform party, chosen King ofBohemia. 1459. Silesia submits to Podibrad, King of Bohemia.
1460. James II of Scotland takes up arms against the English; he is killed, by the bursting of a cannon, at the siege of Roxburgh castle; his son, James III, succeeds.
Christian I of Denmark inherits Schleswig and Holstein.
Discovery of the Cape Verd Islands by the Portuguese; they penetrate to the coast of Guinea.
1461. Death of Charles VII of France; his son, Louis XI, involves himself in a contest with his leading nobles.
Prince Henry of Portugal, just prior to his death, sends Peter Covilham and Alfonso Paiva, overland, to explore India.
Trebizond, the last Greek capital, surrenders to the Ottoman Turks.
1462. Accession of Ivan III, Grand Prince of Moscow. See "IVAN THE GREAT UNITES RUSSIA AND BREAKS THE TARTAR YOKE," viii, 109.
1463. War between Venetians and Turks in Greece.
Conference between the kings of France and Castile; the artful policy ofLouis XI prolongs discord in Spain.
1464. Queen Margaret invades England; her adherents are defeated at Hexham. See "WARS OF THE ROSES," viii, 72.
Pope Pius II attempts the organization of a crusade against the Turks; he dies at Ancona; Paul II elected.
Sforza, Duke of Milan, makes himself master of Milan.
1465. Henry VI of England is imprisoned in the Tower of London.
War between the League of the Public Good and Louis XI of France; treaty of Conflans; the King makes many promises, few of which he performs.
King Matthias invites learned men from Italy to Hungary; he founds theUniversity and Library of Budapest.
Athens captured and pillaged by the Venetians, under Victor Capello.
1466. Worn out by constant warfare the Teutonic Knights, by the treaty of Thorn, cede West Prussia to Casimir IV of Poland; they retain East Prussia as a fief of Poland.
1467. Charles the Bold succeeds to the Duchy of Burgundy.
A crusade against George Podibrad, King of Bohemia, proclaimed by PopePaul II.
1468. Visit of Louis XI to Charles the Bold at Péronne. See "CULMINATION OF THE POWER OF BURGUNDY," viii, 125.
Founding of the Library of Venice.
Ivan III repels an invasion of the Golden Horde and prepares the independence of Russia.
1469. Marriage of Princess Isabella of Castile to Ferdinand of Aragon.
Beginning of the reign of Lorenzo de' Medici in Florence. See "LORENZODE' MEDICI RULES IN FLORENCE," viii, 134.
About this time Peter Covilham (see 1461), his companion having died in India, penetrates into Abyssinia and is there detained. 1470. Restoration of Henry VI, by Earl Warwick, to the throne of England.
Siege and capture of Negropont (Euboea) by the Turks; massacre of the inhabitants.
Pomponius Laetus collects a society to study the antiquities of Rome; he is imprisoned and persecuted for his unguarded enthusiasm.
1471. Edward IV reënters England; defeat of the Lancastrians at Barnet; Warwick—the King Maker—slain. See "WARS OF THE ROSES," viii, 72.
Translation by Caxton ofRecueil des Histoires des Troyes. See "ORIGINAND PROGRESS OF PRINTING" (also plate), viii, 24.
1472. Normandy ravaged by Charles the Bold.
Philippe de Comines, the chronicler, enters into the service of Louis XI.
1473. Resumption of the commotions in France; the Count of Armagnac assassinated; the Duke of Alençon arrested.
1474. Ferdinand and Isabella commence their joint reign in Castile. Caxton publishes his first book,The Game and Playe of the Chesse.
1475. Emperor Frederick IV refuses to give Charles, Duke of Burgundy, the title of king; war ensues; Charles conquers Lorraine.
1476. Switzerland unsuccessfully invaded by the Duke of Burgundy. Assassination of Sforza, Duke of Milan; his son Gian Galeazzo Maria succeeds, under the regency of his mother, Bona.
Sten Sture, Protector of Sweden, founds the University of Upsal; he checks the nobility and priesthood by summoning deputies of the towns and peasantry to attend the national Diet.
1477. Maximilian, son of Emperor Frederick III, marries Mary of Burgundy.
Italy invaded by the Turks; they advance to within sight of Venice.
Publication of the first book printed in England, Caxton'sDictes orSayengis of the Philosophers.
René of Lorraine and his Swiss mercenaries overwhelm Charles the Bold atNancy; he is slain.
Burgundy is seized by Louis XI. See "DEATH OF CHARLES THE BOLD," viii, 155.
Grant of the Great Privilege of Holland and Zealand, by Mary, Duchess of Burgundy. TheGroot Privilegiewas a recapitulation and recognition of ancient rights. Although afterward violated, and indeed abolished, it became the foundation of the republic.
1478. Condemnation and death of the Duke of Clarence. He is said to have chosen to die by being drowned in a butt of Malmsey, a wine of which he had been inordinately fond.
Conspiracy of the Pazzi, a powerful family of Florence, against the Medici; most of the conspirators massacred by the people; the others judicially punished.
Sultan Mahomet II, of the Ottoman Empire, completes the subjugation ofAlbania.
Novgorod taken by Ivan III, of Russia, who puts an end to its republic.
1479. Battle of Guinegate; Maximilian defeats the French. Ferdinand the Catholic succeeds to the throne in Aragon; union of Castile and Aragon.
1480. Founding of the Holy Office of the Inquisition in Spain, by Cardinal Mendozas. See "INQUISITION ESTABLISHED IN SPAIN," viii, 166.
1481. Maine and Provence united to France.
Battle of Bielawesch; the Nogay Tartars crush the Golden Horde and secure the independence of Russia.
1482. Death of Mary of Burgundy; her infant son, Philip, succeeds to the sovereignty of the Netherlands.
Ferdinand and Isabella begin a war for the conquest of Granada.
1483. Usurpation of Richard III; murder of the princes. See "MURDER OF THE PRINCES IN THE TOWER," viii, 192.
Death of Louis XI; Charles VII, his son, succeeds to the French throne.
Renewal of the Union of Kalmar; Sweden and Norway acknowledge John I, butSweden retains Sten Stur as Protector.
Birth of Rabelais and Luther.
1485. Landing of the Earl of Richmond in England; Battle of Bosworth; Richard III is slain; end of the Wars of the Roses and of the Plantagenet dynasty; Henry VII (Richmond) inaugurates the Tudor dynasty. See "WARS OF THE ROSES," viii, 72.
Matthias of Hungary captures Vienna; Emperor Frederick III expelled from his hereditary dominions.
1486. Excited to revolt by the severities of the Inquisition, the Aragonese put to death the chief inquisitor, Pedro Arbues.
Unconscious doubling of the southern extremity of Africa by Bartholomew Diaz; he gives it the name of Cabo Tormentoso (Cape Stormy), afterward called the Cape of Good Hope. See "THE SEA ROUTE TO INDIA," viii, 299.
1488. Battle of Sauchie Burn; James III of Scotland defeated and slain by his rebellious nobles.
Citizens of Bruges capture and imprison, for four months, Maximilian,King of the Romans.
1489. Bartholomew, brother of Christopher Columbus, tries to arouse maritime enterprise in England.
1490. Ferdinand and Isabella conquer Granada. See "CONQUEST OF GRANADA," viii, 202.
Death of Matthias Corvinus; Ladislaus II, King of Bohemia, is elected king of the Hungarians.
1491. Charles VIII of France sends back to her father his affianced bride, Margaret; compels Anne of Brittany to break her engagement to Maximilian and marries her himself, thus uniting Brittany and France.
1492. Imposture of Perkin Warbeck in England. See "CONSPIRACY, REBELLION, AND EXECUTION OF PERKIN WARBECK," viii, 250. Expulsion of Jews from the Spanish dominions; this great exodus, hundreds of thousands in all, of a commercial hard-working race caused enormous injury to the land so depopulated.
Columbus discovers the Bahamas, Cuba, and Haiti. See "COLUMBUS DISCOVERSAMERICA," viii, 224.
1493. Death of Emperor Frederick IV; his son, Maximilian succeeds, the first to take the title Emperor of Germany without being crowned at Rome.
Leaving a garrison in Espanola, Columbus returns to Spain. He starts on his second voyage; discovers Porto Rico.
A papal bull grants to Spain the new world discovered by Columbus, and defines the rights of Spain and Portugal.
1494. A treaty, that of Tordesillas, partitions the ocean between Spain and Portugal.
Formation of the Christian Commonwealth at Florence. See "SAVONAROLA'SREFORMS AND DEATH," viii, 265.
Sir Edward Poynings, Governor of Ireland, induces the parliament of that country to pass the act bearing his name, which gives full power to all the laws of England.
1495. Conquest of Naples by Charles VIII of France; he retreats to France. Ferdinand II is restored to the throne of Naples.
Maximilian establishes the Imperial Chamber.
Extinction of the right of private warfare in Germany.
1496. Encouraged by the success of Columbus, Henry VII of England sends out John Cabot and his son, Sebastian, on a voyage of discovery.
Emanuel of Portugal fits out an expedition under Vasco da Gama to explore the eastern seas.
1497. "DISCOVERY OF THE MAINLAND OF NORTH AMERICA BY THE CABOTS." See viii, 282.
Sten Sture offends the Swedish nobility, is defeated and stripped of his protectorate by John II, who enforces the Union of Kalmar; he is crowned at Stockholm.
Pinzon and Vespucci discover Central America.
1498. Vasco da Gama rounds the Cape of Good Hope and reaches India. See "THE SEA ROUTE TO INDIA," viii, 299.
Columbus makes his third voyage across the Western Ocean; he discoversSouth America; is arrested and returned to Spain in irons. See "COLUMBUSDISCOVERS SOUTH AMERICA," viii, 323.
Arrest and execution of Savonarola at Florence. See "SAVONAROLA'S REFORMSAND DEATH," viii, 265.
1499. Conquest of the duchy of Milan by the French. Unsuccessful war of Maximilian against the Swiss. See "ESTABLISHMENT OF Swiss INDEPENDENCE," viii, 336.
Venezuela reached by Ojeda and Vespucci. See "AMERIGO VESPUCCI INAMERICA," viii, 346.
In Persia the Shiah sect of Mahometans gain the ascendency which they have since retained. 1500. Voyage to and exploration of Labrador and Newfoundland by Caspar Cortereal, a Portuguese navigator.
Brazil discovered by Pedro Alvarez Cabral, or Cabera; he takes possession of the country for the King of Portugal.
1501. Emperor Maximilian creates the Aulic Council, a court of appeal on decisions by other German courts.
Joint conquest and partition of Naples by Ferdinand of Aragon and LouisXII of France.
Sten Sture regains ascendency in Sweden.
Caesar Borgia makes himself master of Pesaro, Rimini, and Faenza; he is guilty of numerous atrocities.
1502. Columbus on his fourth and last voyage reaches the isthmus of Panama.
Caesar Borgia fails in his evil course. See "RISE AND FALL OF THEBORGIAS," viii, 360.
Montezuma elected to the military leadership of the Aztecs.
In Naples the French and Spanish quarrel and commence hostilities.
1503. Marriage of James IV of Scotland with Margaret Tudor, daughter of Henry VII of England; this brought the Stuarts to the throne of England.
Battle of Cerignola and Garigliano; the Spaniards defeat the French and become masters of Naples.
Death of Sten Sture; the Swedish people support Svante Sture in opposition to the crown, the nobility, and priesthood.
1504. Death of Isabella, Queen of Spain; the throne of Castile passes to her daughter, Joanna, and the latter's husband, Philip.
Jealous of the new Indian trade of the Portuguese, the Venetians incite the mamelukes of Egypt and the sovereign of Calicut to begin hostilities against them.
Citizens of Naples resist by violence the introduction of theInquisition.
Suppression of the Lordship of the Isles by James IV of Scotland.
1505. Death of Ivan the Great; he is succeeded on the Russian throne by his son, Basil (Vasili IV).
1506. Expulsion by the Genoese of their nobles and the French.
Madagascar discovered by the Portuguese.
Building of the Great Harry, the first ship of the royal navy of England.
Beginning of the erection of St. Peter's, at Rome, by Bramante d'Urbino;Pope Julius II lays the first stone.
1507. Louis XII goes to crush the revolt in Genoa; he succeeds.
1508. Michelangelo begins the decoration of the Sistine chapel. See "PAINTING OF THE SISTINE CHAPEL," viii, 369.
1509. Death of Henry VII; his son, Henry VIII, succeeds to the English throne; he marries Catherine of Aragon.
Campaign of Cardinal Ximenes in Africa; Oran taken by the Spaniards.
Diego Columbus, son of the discoverer, made governor of Spanish America, which is first settled this year.
Subjugation of Porto Rico by Ponce de Leon; he later becomes governor of that island.
1510. Occupation of Goa by the Portuguese under Albuquerque, Governor of the Indies.
1511. Subjugation of Cuba by the Spaniards under Velasquez.
Malacca taken by the Portuguese; it becomes the centre of their trade in the East.
1512. War declared against France by Henry VIII of England.
Battle of Ravenna; victory of the French; their general, Gaston deFoix, falls on the field; the revolted cities of Italy submit. Lombardyevacuated by the French; restoration of the Sforza dynasty, and of theMedici in Florence.
1513. From the Isthmus of Panama Balboa discovers the Pacific Ocean. See "BALBOA DISCOVERS THE PACIFIC," viii, 381.
Invasion of France by Henry VIII; defeat of the French at Guinegate,"Battle of the Spurs"; Térouanne and Tournai taken by the English.
Battle of Flodden Field; the Scots, under James IV, having invadedEngland, are overwhelmed and their king slain.
Expulsion of the French from Italy.
Juan Ponce de Leon lands in Florida, in his search for the "Fountain ofEternal Youth."
1514. Peace concluded with France and Scotland by Henry VIII of England.
Smolensko renounces its subjection to Poland and becomes part of Russia.
Ambassadors from Portugal present to Pope Leo X an elephant, a panther, with other animals and products of their new territories in the East.
1515. Wolsey created cardinal, papal legate, and lord chancellor.
Invasion of Italy by Francis I, who this year succeeded Louis XII as King of France; he recovers Genoa and Milan.
1516. Death of Ferdinand the Catholic; Charles, his eldest grandson, succeeds to the throne of Spain.
Publication of the Greek Testament, with a Latin translation, by Erasmus.
Conclusion of the treaty of "Perpetual Peace" between France andSwitzerland.
Rise of the piratical power of the Barbarossas in Algiers.
[Footnote:1 Date uncertain.]