-
1400
.
Guilds of singers and song-writers develop in German towns, calling themselves Meistersinger -
1400
.
The final style of medieval painting, common to all Europe, is known as International Gothic because of its slender and elegant figures -
1401
.
Timur conquers Damascus and reconquers Baghdad. -
Period: 1401 to 1500
15TH CENTURY
-
1402
.
John Huss, known for his radical approach to Christianity, is put in charge of the Bethlehem Chapel in Prague -
1404
.
Owain Glyn Dwr captures Aberystwyth and Harlech from the English and sets up an independent Welsh administration -
1406
.
China's emperor, Zhu Di, sends troops that begin an eighteen-year attempt to conquer Annam (Vietnam). -
1406
.
Pisa is captured by Florence, to be followed a few years later by the purchase of the seaport of Livorno -
1406
.
On the death of his father, Robert III, James I becomes king of Scotland -
1406
.
The geography of Ptolemy, an ancient Greek, is introduced in Europe. This holds that the earth is the center of the universe and that all heavenly bodies revolve around it in perfect circles. -
1407
.
Rivalry between factions of the French royal family results in the murder in Paris of the king's brother, Louis duke of Orléans, and the onset of civil war -
1408
.
In Britain, John Wyclif's England language bible has been published. -
1409
.
The Council at Pisa elects a new pope, Alexander V, without persuading the other two to resign -
1410
.
A Germanic force, the Teutonic Knights, are trying to gain control of Poland. The knights are allied with the kings of Bohemia and Hungary. -
1410
.
The Viking settlement in Greenland ends, after 400 years, when the last ship leaves the colony and sails for Norway -
1411
.
The linen drapers of Florence commission a statue of St Mark from Donatello, who carves for Orsanmichele the first free-standing Renaissance sculpture -
1412
.
The three Limburg brothers illustrate for the duke of Berry the Très Riches Heures, one of the masterpieces of International Gothic -
1413
.
Henry V succeeds his father, Henry IV, as king of England -
1414
.
A council is called at Constance, to consider the radical views of John Huss and to deal with the present excess of popes -
1415
.
John Huss, invited to Constance under a promise of safe conduct, is arrested, tried and burnt at the stake as a heretic -
1415
.
Prince Henry of Portugal, with a fleet of 200 ships and 20,000 men, captures the port of Ceuta from the Moors. -
1415
.
Henry V wins a victory on St Crispin's day at Agincourt, against a much larger and more heavily armed French force -
1416
.
Dutch fishermen are using drift nets. -
1417
.
The Council of Constance, having done its best to dispose of the three existing popes, elects a new one -
1418
.
A competition is launched for an architect to construct a dome above Florence's cathedral, and is won by Brunelleschi -
1419
.
After a six-month siege Henry V makes a triumphal entry into Rouen, the city of his Norman ancestors -
1419
.
Lately the Portuguese have been building latine-rigged ships, which can tack into the wind. They are are exploring waters off the coast of northern Africa, and they lay claim to the island of Madiera. -
1420
.
The Portuguese are fighting inhabitants of the Canary Islands, south of Madiera -
1420
.
The Hussites build a new fortified town at Tabor as their fortress headquarters -
1420
.
The treaty of Troyes, between the English and the Burgundian faction, grants Henry V the status of heir to the French throne -
1421
.
In Austria, Jews are imprisoned and expelled. -
1422
.
The dauphin proclaims himself Charles VII of France, but with Paris in the hands of his enemies he is known as the king of Bourges -
1423
.
Masaccio paints some of the frescoes in the chapel of a Florentine silk merchant, Felice Brancacci. -
1425
.
Zen temples in Japan are contributing to cultural diffusion by importing Chinese literature, aritistic styles and religious ideas. -
1425
.
Packs of tarot playing cards are among the most popular products of Europe's first printing presses -
1425
.
The Temple of Heaven in Beijing is built for the third emperor of the Ming dynasty -
1427
.
A Portuguese captain, sailing for Henry the Navigator, chances upon the Azores -
1428
.
Pope Martin V orders John Wyclif's bones exhumed and burned. -
1429
.
Joan of Arc wins her way into the presence of Charles VII at Chinon and persuades him, eventually, to trust her -
1430
.
Joan of Arc is captured in a skirmish with the Burgundians, who subsequently hand her over to the English -
1431
.
Joan of Arc, tried by the Inquisition on behalf of the English in Rouen, is burned at the stake as a relapsed heretic -
1432
.
A new altarpiece is installed in the cathedral in Ghent, introducing the powerful realism of Jan van Eyck -
1433
.
The Songhai have rebelled against the Mali Empire and are disrupting Mali's trade on the Niger River. -
1433
.
The Compacts of Prague, agreed with the papacy in 1433, allow the Hussite laity to receive the sacrament in both kinds -
1434
.
Portuguese start sailing past Cape Bojador, beyond which had been considered a "Sea of Darkness" from which no European had returned -
1435
.
Amid rebellion and turmoil, Sweden's parliament meets for the first time, to be dominated by noble families and the body that maintains Swedish national identity. -
1436
.
Perspective fascinates Italian Renaissance painters after the publication of Alberti's treatise on the subject, De Pictura -
1437
.
Charles VII enters Paris, marking conclusively the end of the French civil war -
1437
.
On the death of his father, James I, James II becomes king of Scotland -
1438
.
The Chanca tribe attacks the Inca city-state of Cusco from the north. In defense, the Inca begin to reorganize their governmental system, to expand their alliances and with force to build the Tahuantinsuyu Empire. -
1438
.
Roman Catholic and Eastern Orthodox Church leaders agree to reunify these two branches of Christianity. The Russians do not agree and the Russian Orthodox Church is to remain independent of the Vatican in Rome. -
1438
.
The office of Holy Roman emperor becomes a hereditary title within the Habsburg dynasty -
1439
.
Florence acquires first-hand experience of Greek culture when Greek Orthodox priests join in a debate on theology, in particular the question of Filioque -
1440
.
Cuzco, city of the Incas, grows rapidly in power after Pachacuti becomes emperor -
1441
.
In one of their caravels, the Portuguese transport around 200 slaves from Africa to Portugal. -
1442
.
Naples is captured by Alfonso V, breaking the link with France and uniting Sicily and Naples as an Aragonese kingdom -
1444
.
A Turkish army routs the Hungarians at Varna on the Black Sea, beginning a process which brings the Turks to the gates of Belgrade by 1456 -
1445
.
A Muslim ruler is established in Malacca, forming the first of many Muslim dynasties in the Malay archipelago -
1446
.
Portugal claims ownership of the region of Guinea, subsequently the centre of their slave trade on the west African coast -
1448
.
The Russian Orthodox Church becomes independent of the Patriarch of Constantinople. -
1450
.
The wealthiest state on Africa's east coast, Zimbabwe, is abandoned after having suffered from overgrazing, eroded farmlands and a loss of timber. Kingdoms neighboring Zimbabwe are conquered by Mwene Mutapa. -
1452
.
In Europe, metal plates are being used in screw-type presses. -
1452
.
There is famine in the Mexica (Aztec) city of Tenochtitlan. -
1453
.
Constantinople has been declining economically, in population and military strength. Using European artillery and experts, the Ottoman Turks break through Constantinople's walls. -
1453
.
Forty-one Jews are burned at the stake in Breslau, Poland. -
1455
.
Master ES becomes the first artist to produce engravings -
1456
.
Judges and commissioners in the archbishop's palace in the city of Rouen declare that Joan of Arc was innocent of the charges that led to her execution -
1456
.
A copy of Europe's first book printed from movable type, the Gutenberg Bible, is completed in Mainz -
1458
.
Matthias Corvinus begins a long reign which brings Moravia, Silesia and much of Austria within the Hungarian kingdom -
1459
.
The Ottoman Turks have taken control of all Serbia. -
1460
.
The Turks complete the occupation of Greece, which remains within the Ottoman empire until the nineteenth century -
1461
.
King Loius XI of France creates a postal service. -
1461
.
Two families, both descended from King Edward III have been at war for years -
1461
.
The first success in the Wars of the Roses goes to the white rose, with the Yorkist prince crowned as Edward IV -
1462
.
Mehmed II, conqueror of Constantinople, begins to build Topkapi Sarayi as his palace -
1462
.
In keeping with his personal interest in Plato, Cosimo de' Medici founds a Platonic Academy in Florence -
1464
.
After his death in 1464, Cosimo de' Medici acquires the posthumous title pater patriae – father of the fatherland -
1465
.
The Sicilian artist Antonello da Messina adopts the Flemish technique of painting in oils -
1466
.
An Albanian, George Kastrioti, also known as Skanderbeg, has led another successful resistance against an Ottoman invasion, and he is a hero across Christendom -
1466
.
In the treaty of Torun the Teutonic knights finally cede Prussia to Poland -
1468
.
Skanderbeg has been ill and dies in bed, and the Ottomans absorb Albania -
1469
.
Thomas Malory, in gaol somewhere in England, compiles Morte d'Arthur – an English account of the French tales of King Arthur -
1469
.
Thomas Malory, in gaol somewhere in England, compiles Morte d'Arthur – an English account of the French tales of King Arthur -
1470
.
The first Italian printing press is set up in Venice -
1471
.
The new pope, Sixtus IV, secures his name in history, establishing the Sistine chapel and the Sistine choir -
1472
.
Leonardo da Vinci joins the painters' guild in Florence, probably after training with Verrocchio -
1475
.
Giovanni Bellini becomes the key figure in the development of the Renaissance style in Venice -
1476
.
The Swiss win a decisive victory at Morat over the army of Charles the Bold, duke of Burgundy -
1477
.
France's Louis XI gains control of Burgundy. -
1479
.
After four years of war, Spain accepts monopoly trade for Portugal along Africa's Atlantic coast and Portugal acknowledges Spain's rights in the Canary Islands. -
1480
.
Leonardo da Vinci invents the parachute -
1480
.
Ferdinand and Isabella of Spain employ the Spanish Inquisition to investigate whether converted Jews are secretly clinging to Judaism. -
1485
.
Matthias Corvinus, king of Hungary, captures Vienna and makes the city his capital -
1491
.
King Charles VIII of France invades Brittany and forces 14-year-old Ann of Brittany to marry him, adding Brittany to French territory. -
1496
.
Jews are expelled from Syria -
1496
.
In Scotland, children are required by law to go to school -
1498
.
Toothbrushes appear in China. -
1498
.
Vasco da Gama comes to India. -
1498
.
Columbus sails from Spain with six ships on his third voyage to the Americas. -
1500
.
The first modern lock gates are installed on a canal in Milan, probably designed by Leonardo da Vinci -
1500
.
Portugal settles the islands of Sao Tome and Principe off the Atlantic coast of Africa. -
1501
.
Italian navigator Amerigo Vespucci sets sail from Lisbon to explore to the south of the New World -
Period: 1501 to
16TH CENTURY
-
1502
.
Vasco da Gama wins a trading treaty for Portuguese merchants after bombarding the Indian port of Calicut -
1502
.
Christopher Columbus begins his fourth and last journey to the Caribbean. He still believes that the islands he has found lay off the coast of India. -
1503
.
The Portuguese set up a trading post on the east African island of Zanzibar -
1504
.
Babur takes Kabul, making it and eastern Afghanistan the first place of the Mughal empire -
1506
.
Columbus dies in Spain
