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 of
Bohemia. 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 of
Louis 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 the
University 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 Pope
Paul 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 "LORENZO
DE' 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 of _Recueil des Histoires des Troyes_. See "ORIGIN
AND 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's _Dictes or
Sayengis of the Philosophers_.
René of Lorraine and his Swiss mercenaries overwhelm Charles the Bold at
Nancy; 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. The _Groot Privilegie_ was 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 of
Albania.
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, but
Sweden 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 DISCOVERS
AMERICA," 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'S
REFORMS 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 discovers
South America; is arrested and returned to Spain in irons. See "COLUMBUS
DISCOVERS SOUTH AMERICA," viii, 323.
Arrest and execution of Savonarola at Florence. See "SAVONAROLA'S REFORMS
AND 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 IN
AMERICA," 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 Louis
XII 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 THE
BORGIAS," 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 the
Inquisition.
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 de
Foix, falls on the field; the revolted cities of Italy submit. Lombardy
evacuated by the French; restoration of the Sforza dynasty, and of the
Medici 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 invaded
England, 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 of
Eternal 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 and
Switzerland.
Rise of the piratical power of the Barbarossas in Algiers.
[Footnote:1 Date uncertain.]
END OF VOLUME VIII