(Feature Photo: An original Gutenberg Bible, Credit: Wikimedia Commons)
1470
RULERS & ROYALTY: Edward IV is deposed as king of England, and Henry VI is reinstalled as king – Enrique IV is king of Castile and León, Spain – Louis XI is king of France – Fredrich III is Holy Roman Emperor – Lorenzo di' Medici becomes is the ruler of the Republic of Florence, Italy – Paul II is 212th pope/bishop of Rome
April 15, Leonardo da Vinci, the future Italian artist, turns 18; He is currently living in the city of Florence, Italy (Photo: The "Chain Map" of the city of Florence, circa 1470)
April 22, Isabella I, future Queen of Castile, Spain turns 19; She is married to Ferdinand of Aragon
August 25 (approx.), Future Italian explorer, navigator, and 1st governor of the Indies, Christopher Columbus, turns 19
October 2, Isabella I, future Queen of Castile and León, has her first child, Isabella of Aragon, with her husband, Ferdinand of Aragon
Edward IV is forced into exile after he is betrayed again
Anton Koberger establishes the first printing house in Nuremberg, Germany; He is a goldsmith, printer and publisher; He publishes the Nuremberg Chronicle, a broadside or newspaper called an “incunabula;” He is also a successful bookseller of works from other printers
The northern coast of Peru (north of Lima), the Chimu Civilization, also known as Chimor, is overtaken by the Inca Civilization; The Chimu people had been sacrificing children for some time, as several burial grounds with hundreds of skeletal remains of children have recently been found since 2011
1471
RULERS & ROYALTY: Henry VI is once again deposed as king of England, and Edward IV is reinstalled as king – Fredrich III is Holy Roman Emperor – Enrique IV is king of Castile and León, Spain – Louis XI is king of France – Lorenzo di' Medici is the de facto ruler of the Republic of Florence, Italy – Paul II, the 212th pope/bishop of Rome, dies and Sixtus IV becomes the 213th pope/bishop of Rome
April 14, The Battle of Barnet is fought between Edward IV and Henry VI's forces; Edward wins the victory and kills Warwick and Montagu (the two men that had betrayed him and supported his rival, Henry VI) and has Henry imprisoned once more in the Tower of London
April 15, Leonardo da Vinci, the future Italian artist, turns 19; He is currently living in the city of Florence, Italy
April 22, Isabella I, future Queen of Castile, Spain turns 20; She is married to Ferdinand of Aragon and had a 7 month old daughter
May 21, King Edward IV reclaims the throne of England
July 26, Pope Paul II dies, aged 54, in Venice, Italy, and Sixtus IV becomes pope/bishop of Rome
August 25 (approx.), Future Italian explorer, navigator, and 1st governor of the Indies, Christopher Columbus, turns 20
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New! The Bible in Italian!
The first Bible is printed in Italian, published by Nicolò Malermi, and is called the Malermi Bible (one of them is now housed in the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York) The Bodleian Library in Oxford has scanned a 1490 edition of this Bible that you can look at, click here to see it!
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A portrait is painted of King Edward IV of England's wife, Elizabeth Woodville, who is not very popular with the people, and who (Photo Credit: Wikimedia Commons)
1472
RULERS & ROYALTY: Edward IV is king of England, Elizabeth Woodville is queen – Fredrich III is Holy Roman Emperor – Enrique IV is king of Castile and León, Spain – Louis XI is king of France – Lorenzo di' Medici is the de facto ruler of the Republic of Florence, Italy – Sixtus IV is the 213th pope/bishop of Rome
April 15, Leonardo da Vinci, the Italian artist, turns 20; He is currently living in the city of Florence, and is recorded as being registered as a member of the Florentine painters' confraternity, the Compagnia di San Luca (It is believed by them that St. Luke painted a picture of Mary, Jesus' mother, so he has become the patron saint of painters) (Leonardo da Vinci, Pg. 98)
April 22, Isabella I, future Queen of Castile, Spain turns 21; She is married to Ferdinand of Aragon, Spain and has a 1 year old daughter, Isabella
August 25 (approx.), Future Italian explorer, navigator, and 1st governor of the Indies, Christopher Columbus, turns 21
York Minster, in York, England, is completed and consecrated after several centuries of building (Photo: York Minster nave, Credit: Dillif, Wikimedia Commons)
Modern-day scholars estimate that between 1400-1472, there were only a few thousands maps in circulation in Europe (after print, that number rose to an estimated 56,000 between 1472-1500) (Germany, A Nation in Its Time, Pg. 12)
1473
RULERS & ROYALTY: Edward IV is king of England / Elizabeth Woodville is queen – Fredrich III is Holy Roman Emperor – Enrique IV is king of Castile and León, Spain – Louis XI is king of France – Lorenzo di' Medici is the de facto ruler of the Republic of Florence, Italy – Sixtus IV is the 213th pope/bishop of Rome
February 19, Nicolaus Copernicus is born (d. 1543) in Torun, a city in Prussia, in the north-central Poland on the Vistula River, meaning he is born into a place that is (at this time) under the Teutonic Knights’ control, and part of the Kingdom of Poland (kingdom of Poland founded 1466), the knights had conquered this area of land (according to History.com, he is Polish, though it sounds like there’s some debate whether he was in fact German, either way, he was definitely Prussian as he was born and died in Prussia, Poland); He becomes a priest, mathematician, and astronomer
April 15, Leonardo da Vinci, the Italian artist, turns 21; He is currently living in the city of Florence, Italy
April 22, Isabella I, future Queen of Castile, Spain turns 22; She is married to Ferdinand of Aragon, Spain, and and has a 1 year old daughter, Isabella
August 25 (approx.), Future Italian explorer, navigator, and 1st governor of the Indies, Christopher Columbus, turns 22
1474
RULERS & ROYALTY: Edward IV is king of England – Fredrich III is Holy Roman Emperor – Isabella I becomes queen of Castile and León, Spain – Louis XI is king of France – Lorenzo di' Medici is the de facto ruler of the Republic of Florence, Italy – Sixtus IV is the 213th pope/bishop of Rome
February 19, Nicolaus Copernicus turns 1; He is growing up in Prussia, Poland, which is under the control of the Teutonic Knights
April 15, Leonardo da Vinci, the future Italian artist, turns 22
April 22, Isabella I, future Queen of Castile, Spain turns 23; She is married to Ferdinand of Aragon, Spain and has a two year old daughter, Isabella
August 25 (approx.), Future Italian explorer, navigator, and 1st governor of the Indies, Christopher Columbus, turns 23
Ponce de León, the future explorer and conquistador who will go on one of Christopher Columbus' expeditions, is born in Valladolid, Spain
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A Spanish Redhead Takes the Throne
December 11, Princess Isabella's brother, Enrique IV of Castile and León, dies, aged 49, in Madrid, Spain; Right now, she is in Segovia, a city in Castile and León; She must decide what to do...should she wait and see what fate brings? Or decide her own fate and claim the crown?
"In a castle on a steep promontory overlooking the windswept plains of north-central Spain, a slender, red-haired princess finalized the plans for a ceremony that was likely to throw her nation--already teetering toward anarchy--into full fledged war.
Her name was Isabella, and she had just learned her older brother, King Enrique...had died.
King Enrique's lascivious young wife, who had occupied her time bestowing favors on the other gentlemen of the court, had produced a child, but many people doubted that the king was actually the child's father. Isabella had decided to end. the controversy over the succession by having herself crowned as queen instead. The twenty-three-year-old woman was essentially orchestrating a coup.
No woman had ruled the combined Kingdoms of Castile and León, the largest realm on the Iberian peninsula, in more than two-hundred years."
(Isabella, The Warrior Queen, Prologue)
December 12, News of Henry IV's death in Madrid reaches Portugal, and the Portuguese are not supportive of Isabella becoming queen; She takes refuge behind the walls of the castle Alcázar of Segovia
December 13, Isabella I has herself crowned queen of Castile and León while in Segovia
"Acknowledging nothing out of the ordinary, Isabella took a seat on the improvised platform in the square. A silver crown was placed upon her head. As the crowd cheered, Isabella was proclaimed queen."
(Isabella, The Warrior Queen, Prologue)
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In this same year, Abu al-Hasan Ali comes to power in the Nasrid Kingdom of Granada in southern Spain...
"He built up the Muslim army and its capacity for offensive action, with the help and support of his equally strong-willed primary wife, Fatima, who was also his cousin. The sultan's militancy worried even his own countryman. One Arab chronicler called Abu al-Hasan 'Magnanimous and valiant, a lover of wars, and the dangers and horrors of them.' It was a time of glorious Islamic expansion, and no doubt he wanted to emulate the successes being achieved by the Ottoman Turks in the east, confident that God was on his side as well as theirs."
(Isabella, The Warrior Queen, Pg. 181)
1475
RULERS & ROYALTY: Edward IV is king of England – Fredrich III is Holy Roman Emperor – Isabella I is queen of Castile and León, Spain – Louis XI is king of France – Lorenzo di' Medici is the de facto ruler of the Republic of Florence, Italy – Sixtus IV is the 213th pope/bishop of Rome
February 19, Nicolaus Copernicus turns 2 years old, he is growing up in Prussia, Poland, which is under the control of the Teutonic Knights
March 6, Future artist Michelangelo di Lodovico Buonarroti Simoni is born in Caprese, Republic of Florence
April 15, Leonardo da Vinci, the future Italian artist, turns 23
April 22, Queen Isabella I of Castile and León, Spain turns 24; She is married to Ferdinand of Aragon, Spain, and has a 3 year old daughter, Isabella of Aragon
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And Now, Here Comes Portugal
In May, King Alfonzo of Portugal crosses into Spain, and marries his late brother-in-law's (King Henry IV) daughter Joanna, so that he can claim the throne of Castile and León for himself and push Queen Isabella to the side (or worse, have her killed); He proceeds to go to war with Queen Isabella I to dethrone her, this leads to a year-long, bloody, back-and-forth war, all while the threat of invasion from Granada looms on the horizon
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May 31, Queen Isabella I of Castile and León miscarries a son
August 25 (approx.), Future Italian explorer, navigator, and 1st governor of the Indies, Christopher Columbus, turns 24
1476
RULERS & ROYALTY: Edward IV is king of England / Elizabeth Woodville is queen – Fredrich III is Holy Roman Emperor – Isabella I is queen of Castile and León, Spain – Louis XI is king of France – Lorenzo di' Medici is the de facto ruler of the Republic of Florence, Italy – Sixtus IV is the 213th pope/bishop of Rome
February 19, Nicolaus Copernicus turns 3; He is growing up in Prussia, Poland, which is under the control of the Teutonic Knights
March 6, Future artist Michelangelo turns 1; He is growing up in the Republic of Florence, Italy
April 15, Leonardo da Vinci, the Italian artist, turns 24; He is living in the city of Florence in the Republic of Florence, Italy
April 22, Queen Isabella I of Castile and León, Spain turns 25; She is married to Ferdinand of Aragon, Spain, and has a 4 year old daughter, Isabella of Aragon
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"Queen Isabella's reign was shadowed by the existence of a man she never met but who terrorized eastern and southern Europe for most of her life: the wealthy and powerful Sultan Mehmed II, known as Mehmed the Conqueror...a relentless aggressor who was determined to expand the Ottoman Empire by swallowing Europe."
(Isabella, The Warrior Queen, Pg. 167)
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August 25 (approx.), Future Italian explorer, navigator, and 1st governor of the Indies, Christopher Columbus, turns 25
1477
RULERS & ROYALTY: Edward IV is king of England – Fredrich III is Holy Roman Emperor – Isabella I is queen of Castile and León, Spain – Louis XI is king of France – Lorenzo di' Medici is the de facto ruler of the Republic of Florence, Italy – Sixtus IV is the 213th pope/bishop of Rome
February 19, Nicolaus Copernicus turns 4 years old, he is growing up in Prussia, Poland, which is under the control of the Teutonic Knights
March 6, Future artist Michelangelo turns 2; He is growing up in the Republic of Florence, Italy
April 15, Leonardo da Vinci, the Italian artist, turns 25
April 22, Queen Isabella I of Castile and León, Spain turns 25; She is married to Ferdinand of Aragon, Spain, and has a 5 year old daughter, Isabella of Aragon; During this year, she travels to Seville to closely evaluate the threat coming from the Muslim Emirate of Granada to the southern border of Castile (southern Spain has been under Muslim rule called the Nasrid Kingdom of Granada, also known as the Emirate of Granada, since 1230); Isabella finds the city of Seville
"In bad shape and its royal palace, Alcázar, in crumbling disrepair. Street crime was rampant; it was too dangerous to venture outside at night. Two of Andalusia's leading noble families...were literally at swordpoint with each other...But she [Isabella] did her usual things to bring justice to the region, presiding for hours on end over judicial procedures to resolve disputes, allowing people to air their grievances and trying to bring adversaries into a semblance of harmony."
(Isabella, The Warrior Queen, Pg. 182)
August 25 (approx.), Future Italian explorer, navigator, and 1st governor of the Indies, Christopher Columbus, turns 26
In England, King Edward IV finances the first book to be printed in England; William Caxton prints The Dictes and Sayings of the Phylosophers; Caxton is a Kent-born merchant who flourished in Flanders and Holland and learned printing in Cologne
1478
RULERS & ROYALTY: Edward IV is king of England – Fredrich III is Holy Roman Emperor – Isabella I is queen of Castile and León, Spain – Louis XI is king of France – Lorenzo di' Medici is the de facto ruler of the Republic of Florence, Italy – Sixtus IV is the 213th pope/bishop of Rome
February 19, Nicolaus Copernicus turns 5 years old, he is growing up in Prussia, Poland, which is under the control of the Teutonic Knights
March 6, Future artist Michelangelo turns 3; He is growing up in the Republic of Florence, Italy
April 15, Leonardo da Vinci, the future Italian artist, turns 26
April 22, Queen Isabella I of Castile and León, Spain turns 27; She is married to Ferdinand of Aragon, Spain, and has a 6 year old daughter, Isabella of Aragon; She signs a three-year peace treaty with Abu al-Hasan Ali, ruler of the Nasrid Kingdom of Granda, southern Spain, and does not press her demand for tribute money from him (Isabella, The Warrior Queen, Pg. 183)
In April, Abu al-Hasan Ali, ruler of Granada in southern Spain, stages a huge military parade to put his troops and armament on display; "This new aggressiveness, coming as it did at a time when the Ottoman Empire was expanding in the Balkans, was worrisome to Castilians, who feared that the Nasrids would ally themselves with the Turks and allow them to use their Mediterranean ports for an invasion of Spain" (Isabella, The Warrior Queen, Pg. 181)
June 30, Queen Isabella I of Castile and León, Spain, gives birth to her second (living) child, and first son, Juan, in Seville Spain
August 25 (approx.), Italian explorer, navigator, and 1st governor of the Indies, Christopher Columbus, turns 27
Oxford begins to build a library over the new Divinity School, it became known as Duke Humphrey’s library and housed all the books he donated to the school
1479
RULERS & ROYALTY: Edward IV is king of England – Fredrich III is Holy Roman Emperor – Isabella I is queen of Castile and León, Spain – Ferdinand II becomes king of Aragon, Spain – Louis XI is king of France – Lorenzo di' Medici is the de facto ruler of the Republic of Florence, Italy – Sixtus IV is the 213th pope/bishop of Rome
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Isabella & Ferdinand
January 20, Ferdinand of Aragon, is crowned King Ferdinand II of Aragon, Spain, upon the death of his father; He and his wife, Queen Isabella I of Castile and León, Spain, now begin to jointly reign their kingdoms; It is the first time these two realms have ever been united in this way
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February 19, Nicolaus Copernicus turns 6; He is growing up in Prussia, Poland, which is under the control of the Teutonic Knights
March 6, Future artist Michelangelo turns 4; He is growing up in the Republic of Florence, Italy
April 15, Leonardo da Vinci, the Italian artist, turns 27; He is living in the city of Florence, in the Republic of Florence, Italy
April 22, Queen Isabella I of Castile and León, Spain turns 28; She is married to King Ferdinand II of Aragon, Spain, and has a 7 year old daughter, Isabella of Aragon, and a 10 month old son, Juan
August 25 (approx.), Future Italian explorer, navigator, and 1st governor of the Indies, Christopher Columbus, turns 28 and marries a Portuguese noblewoman, Felipa Moniz Perestrelo however she dies sometime between this year and 1584, aged 24-29
November 6, Queen Isabella I of Castile and León, Spain, has her second daughter, Joanna, in Toledo, Castile
The University of Copenhagen is founded in Denmark
1480
RULERS & ROYALTY: Edward IV is king of England – Fredrich III is Holy Roman/German Emperor – Isabella I is queen of Castile and León, Spain – Ferdinand II is king of Aragon, Spain – Louis XI is king of France – Lorenzo di' Medici is the de facto ruler of the Republic of Florence, Italy – Sixtus IV is the 213th pope/bishop of Rome
“By the middle of the fifteenth century, the pairing of ‘German’ and ‘Empire’ became more frequent, though it wasn’t until the 1480s—when discussion of imperial reform intensified—that diplomats and statesmen regularly referred to the governing body as ‘the Holy Roman Empire and the Esteemed German Nation,’ or ‘the Roman Empire and the German Nation,’ and with the recess of the Imperial Diet of Cologne in 1512, the ‘Holy Roman Empire of the German Nation.’” (GNT 13)
February 19, Nicolaus Copernicus turns 7 years old, he is growing up in Prussia, Poland, which is under the control of the Teutonic Knights
March 6, Future artist Michelangelo turns 5; He is growing up in the Republic of Florence, Italy
April 15, Leonardo da Vinci, the Italian artist, turns 28
April 22, Queen Isabella I of Castile and León, Spain turns 29; She is married to King Ferdinand II of Aragon, Spain, and has a 8 year old daughter, Isabella of Aragon, a 1 year old son, Juan, and a 6 month-old daughter, Joanna
"Back in Castile in 1480, after finalizing the peace treaty with Portugal, Isabella barely had time to catch her breath before receiving what Isabella's Spanish chronicler, Palencia, called the 'terrifying news' of the successful Ottoman attack on Otranto [city on the east coast of Italy]. The Spaniards learned with horror that the Turks had conducted a successful surprise raid on the town, and that although the people of Otranto had not put up the 'least resistance to the enemy,' many had nevertheless been slaughtered. The long-dreaded attack had given the Turks a foothold on the Italian peninsula, from which they could ravage the interior and prepare to seize Rome. The seriousness of the attack could not be underestimated. Its goal was 'extinguishing the Catholic religion,' Palencia wrote." (Isabella, The Warrior Queen, Pg. 183)
August 25 (approx.), Future Italian explorer, navigator, and 1st governor of the Indies, Christopher Columbus, turns 29
1481
RULERS & ROYALTY: Edward IV is king of England – Fredrich III is Holy Roman/German Emperor – Isabella I is queen of Castile and León, Spain – Ferdinand II is king of Aragon, Spain – Louis XI is king of France – Lorenzo di' Medici is the de facto ruler of the Republic of Florence, Italy – Sixtus IV is the 213th pope/bishop of Rome
February 19, Nicolaus Copernicus turns 8 years old, he is growing up in Prussia, Poland, which is under the control of the Teutonic Knights
March 6, Future artist Michelangelo turns 6; He is growing up in the Republic of Florence, Italy
April 15, Leonardo da Vinci, the Italian artist, turns 29
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The Sistine Chapel is Completed
The Sistine Chapel is completed (no painted ceiling or walls yet) after being under construction since 1473 (Photo: reconstruction of how the chapel may have looked during the 1480s before the painted ceiling; Credit: Wikimedia Commons)
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April 22, Queen Isabella I of Castile and León, Spain turns 30; She is married to King Ferdinand II of Aragon, Spain, and has a 9 year-old daughter, Isabella of Aragon, a 2 year-old son, Juan, and a 1 year-old daughter, Joanna
August 25 (approx.), Future Italian explorer, navigator, and 1st governor of the Indies, Christopher Columbus, turns 30
During Christmas week,
"the Muslims of Granada [southern Spain] invaded and attacked the mountain enclave of Zahara, located well within Castilian territory [northern Spain], on what Arab sources called a 'stormy, rainy dark night.' Under the cover of these conditions, they audaciously clambered up the walls of the poorly guarded and ill-prepared fortress. 'The Christians were terrorized and without any hope of rescue,' the chronicler Palencia wrote. They couldn't resist the Muslim assault, and 'a great number of them were killed by being slashed with swords, and the rest were captured and were marched to Granada...'
Isabella and Ferdinand were in Medina del Campo when they heard about the fall of Zahara. They received the news with special dismay. Not only did the attack represent another in a long line of border skirmishes--it was also a blow to Spanish pride. Zahara had been conquered from Granada after a grief-filled siege by Ferdinand's grandfather, Ferdinand of Antequera, in 1410...
...Abu al-Hasan took possession of the town and left a garrison to secure it. 'He returned to Granada very satisfied and content with the good outcome of his venture,' Arab historians would write. But some older, wiser people in Granada, worried that the move had been rash...some in Granada began to see omens and portents of doom, troubling signs in nature that unsettled the superstitious."
(Isabella, The Warrior Queen, Pg. 183-4)
Compton Wynyates is built in Warwickshire by Edmund Compton, just prior to the accession of the House of Tudor, it’s a beautiful red-brick manor house—“Wynyates” could refer to the nearby gap in the hills (‘wind gate’?), where a windmill was built (Castles, Palaces and Stately Homes, Pg. 96) (Photo Credit: Rupert Parsons)
1482
RULERS & ROYALTY: Edward IV is king of England / Elizabeth Woodville is queen – Fredrich III is Holy Roman/German Emperor – Isabella I is queen of Castile and León, Spain – Ferdinand II is king of Aragon, Spain – Louis XI is king of France – Lorenzo di' Medici is the de facto ruler of the Republic of Florence, Italy – Sixtus IV is the 213th pope/bishop of Rome
February 19, Nicolaus Copernicus turns 9 years old, he is growing up in Prussia, Poland, which is under the control of the Teutonic Knights
February 27, In response to the Muslims of Granada taking the town of Zahara, Queen Isabella and King Ferdinand had already begun gathering defenses and creating a naval blockade between North Africa and Granada's port cities. But instead of a well-thought out counter-attack...
"...the Sevillian noblemen Rodrigo Ponce de León, the red-haired and hot-headed Marquess of Cádiz, the man who had been feuding with the Duke of Medina-Sidonia, decided to take matters into his own hands...
...On his own initiative, the Marquess of Cádiz decided to capture the town [Alhama]...they launched their attack at night, as the Muslims had done in Zahara. They rushed the town and took it, killing eight hundred Muslims and capturing three thousand, and planting a cross on the battlements of a high tower. And so the long-expected war began in a chaotic and unplanned fashion."
(Isabella, The Warrior Queen, Pg. 185)
March 6, Michelangelo, the future Italian artist, turns 7; He is growing up in the Republic of Florence, Italy
April 15, Leonardo da Vinci, the Italian artist, turns 30
April 22, Queen Isabella I of Castile and León, Spain turns 31; She is married to King Ferdinand II of Aragon, Spain, and has a 10 year old daughter, Isabella of Aragon, and a 3 year old son, Juan, and a 2 year-old daughter, Joanna
June 29, Queen Isabella I of Castile and León, Spain, gives birth to her third (living) child, a daughter named Maria, at Córdoba, Castile
August 25 (approx.), Future Italian explorer, navigator, and 1st governor of the Indies, Christopher Columbus, turns 31
King Edward the IV of England sends English oak and tons of lead to renew the roof of the Church of the Nativity (later in the 1600’s the Turks melt down the lead to make bullets)
1483
RULERS & ROYALTY: Edward IV, king of England, dies, his son reigns briefly, then his brother deposes his son and has himself crowned as King Richard III of England – Fredrich III is Holy Roman/German Emperor – Isabella I is queen of Castile and León, Spain – Ferdinand II is king of Aragon, Spain – Louis XI is king of France until August when Charles VIII becomes king – Lorenzo di' Medici is the de facto ruler of the Republic of Florence, Italy – Sixtus IV is the 213th pope/bishop of Rome
February 19, Nicolaus Copernicus turns 10 years old, he is growing up in Prussia, Poland, which is under the control of the Teutonic Knights
March 6, Michelangelo, the future Italian artist, turns 8; He is growing up in the Republic of Florence, Italy
April 9, King Edward IV of England dies, aged 40, in Westminster, Middlesex, England, and is buried at St. George's Chapel at Windsor Castle; On the same day his young 12 year-old son, Edward V, is proclaimed king of England
April 15, Leonardo da Vinci, the Italian artist, turns 31
April 22, Queen Isabella I of Castile and León, Spain turns 32; She is married to King Ferdinand II of Aragon, Spain, and has an 11 year-old daughter, Isabella of Aragon, a 4 year old-son, Juan, a 3 year-old daughter, Joanna, and a 10 month-old daughter, Maria
April 30, 12 year-old King Edward V (not yet crowned) of England is being accompanied by his half-brother Sir Richard Grey (Grey is Elizabeth Woodville's son by her first marriage) from Wales to London; But on the way, Grey is arrested at Stony Stratford by Richard Duke of Gloucester (and Edward V's uncle) and is imprisoned in the north of England; Richard Duke of Gloucester then
June 25, 12 year-old King Edward V of England is deposed (by being declared illegitimate) by his uncle, Richard Duke of Gloucester, who then has himself proclaimed king of England the next day; This same day, Edward V's half brother, 26 year-old Richard Grey is executed at Pontefract Castle; Edward V and his young brother Richard, Duke of York, were both imprisoned in the Tower of London
July 6, Richard III, the late Edward IV's brother, and the 12-year-old Edward V's uncle, is crowned as king of England in Westminster Abbey
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The Princes in the Tower
In late July, It is noted that the boys, Edward V and Richard, Duke of York, are no longer seen playing on the green in the Tower of London where they were imprisoned weeks ago; Rumors begin to circulate, and it is later concluded that Richard III had his nephews murdered in the Tower; From then on throughout history, these two boys are known as "The Princes in the Tower" (in 1674, the remains of two young children were found in the tower and were treated as the bones of the two princes; they are now buried in Westminster Abbey) (Photo: A painting titled "The Princes in the Tower" by John Everett Millais in 1878)
Elizabeth Woodville (pictured below), had lost her husband and three of her sons all in one year: 26 year-old Richard Grey (from her first husband), 12 year-old Edward and 11 year-old Richard (by the late King Edward IV)
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August 25 (approx.), The Italian explorer, navigator, and 1st governor of the Indies, Christopher Columbus, turns 32
August 30, King Louis XI of France dies, aged 60, and Charles VIII becomes king
November 10, Future German priest, author and theologian, Martin Luther, is born in Eisleben, County of Mansfield, Holy Roman Empire
1484
RULERS & ROYALTY: Richard III is king of England – Fredrich III is Holy Roman Emperor – Isabella I is queen of Castile and León, Spain – Ferdinand II is king of Aragon, Spain – Charles VIII is king of France – Lorenzo di' Medici is the de facto ruler of the Republic of Florence, Italy – Sixtus IV, the 213th pope/bishop of Rome, dies, and Innocent VIII becomes the 214th pope/bishop of Rome
February 19, Nicolaus Copernicus turns 11; He is growing up in Prussia, Poland, which is under the control of the Teutonic Knights
March 6, Future artist Michelangelo turns 9; He is growing up in the Republic of Florence, Italy
April 15, Leonardo da Vinci, the Italian artist, turns 32
April 22, Queen Isabella I of Castile and León, Spain turns 33; She is married to King Ferdinand II of Aragon, Spain, and has a 12 year-old daughter, Isabella of Aragon, a 5 year old-son, Juan, a 4 year-old daughter, Joanna, and a 1 year-old daughter, Maria
June 25, King Edward V of England, who is 12 years-old, is deposed by his uncle, Richard, who has himself proclaimed as King Richard III the very next day
August 12, Pope Sixtus IV dies, aged 70, and Innocent VIII, becomes pope/bishop of Rome
August 25 (approx.), The Italian explorer, navigator, and 1st governor of the Indies, Christopher Columbus, turns 33
November 10, Future German priest, author and theologian, Martin Luther, turns 1