15th century
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| Millennium: | 1st millennium - 2nd millennium - 3rd millennium |
| Centuries: | 14th century - 15th century - 16th century |
| Decades: | 1400s 1410s 1420s 1430s 1440s 1450s 1460s 1470s 1480s 1490s |
As a means of recording the passage of time, the 15th century was that century which lasted from 1401 to 1500.
Contents |
[edit] Events
- 1401: Timur sacks Baghdad.
- 1402: The Ottoman and Timurid Empires fight at the Battle of Ankara resulting in Timur's capture of Bayezid I. The Ottoman Empire descends into civil war until 1413.
- 1402: The conquest of the Canary Islands signals the beginning of the Spanish Empire.
- 1402: Sultanate of Malacca founded by Parameshwara.
- 1403: The Yongle Emperor moves the capital of China from Nanjing to Beijing.
- 1405-33: Zheng He explores the Indian Ocean.
- 1410: The Battle of Grunwald was the decisive battle of the Polish-Lithuanian-Teutonic War leading to the downfall of the Teutonic Knights.
- 1415: Henry the Navigator leads the conquest of Ceuta from the Moors marking the beginning of the Portuguese Empire.
- 1415: Battle of Agincourt fought between the Kingdom of England and France
- 1420-34: Hussite Wars in Bohemia
- 1429: Joan of Arc ends the Siege of Orléans and turns the tide of the Hundred Years' War.
- 1438: Pachacuti founds the Inca Empire.
- 1440s: The Golden Horde breaks up into the Siberia Khanate, the Khanate of Kazan, the Astrakhan Khanate, the Crimean Khanate, and the Great Horde.
- 1440-69: Under Moctezuma I, the Aztecs become the dominant power in Mesoamerica.
- 1453: The Fall of Constantinople marks the end of the Byzantine Empire.
- 1453: The Battle of Castillon is the last engagement of the Hundred Years' War.
- 1454-66: After defeating the Teutonic Knights in the Thirteen Years' War, Poland annexes Royal Prussia.
- 1455-85: Wars of the Roses - English civil war between the House of York and the House of Lancaster.
- 1456: The Siege of Belgrade halts the Ottoman's advance into Europe.
- 1467-1615: The Sengoku period is one of civil war in Japan.
- 1469: The marriage of Ferdinand II of Aragon and Isabella of Castile leads to the unification of Spain.
- 1474-77: Burgundy Wars between France and the Habsburgs for control of Burgundy.
- 1478: Muscovy conquers Novgorod.
- 1480: After the Great standing on the Ugra river, Muscovy gained independence from the Great Horde.
- 1481: Spanish Inquisition begins.
- 1492: Boabdil's surrender of Granada marks the end of the Reconquista and Al-Andalus.
- 1492: Jews are expelled from Spain.
- 1492: Christopher Columbus founds Spain's first New World colony on Hispaniola.
- 1494: Spain and Portugal sign the Treaty of Tordesillas and agree to divide the World outside of Europe between themselves.
- 1494-1559: The Italian Wars lead to the downfall of the Italian city-states.
- 1497-1499: Vasco da Gama's first voyage from Europe to India and back.
[edit] Significant people
- Abu Sa'id al-Afif - Samaritian
- Christine de Pizan, French writer (1364 - 1430).
- Jan Hus, Bohemian religious thinker and reformer (c. 1369 - 1415).
- Zheng He, Chinese eunuch admiral and explorer (1371 - 1433).
- Filippo Brunelleschi invents one-point perspective, leads innovation in Italian architecture (1377 - 1446).
- Henry V of England, the English King who won the famous Battle of Agincourt in 1415 (1387 - 1422).
- John Hunyadi, Regent of Kingdom of Hungary, won the Siege of Belgrade in 1456 (1387 - 1456)
- Sejong the Great of Joseon, a Korean monarch who developed Hangul, the native Korean alphabet (1397 - 1450).
- Constantine XI, Last Byzantine Emperor (1404 - 1453).
- Johannes Ockeghem, Flemish composer (ca. 1410-1497).
- Joan of Arc, national heroine of France (1412 - 1431).
- Kazimierz IV Jagiellon King of Poland and Grand Duke of Lithuania (1427 - 1492).
- François Villon, French poet (c. 1431 - 1474).
- Vlad III Dracula , Prince of Wallachia who led the defense of his territory against the expanding Ottoman Empire (1431 - 1476).
- Mehmed II, Sultan of the Ottoman Empire and Conqueror of Constantinople (1432 - 1481).
- Marsilio Ficino, Significant translator of Plato's works (1433 - 1481).
- Gjergj Kastrioti, Skenderbeg - Albanian Prince who resisted the Ottomans for almost 30 years in the name of the Albanian people and Catholic faith (1443 - 1468).
- Matthias Corvinus of Hungary, Renaissance ruler (1443 - 1490).
- Isabella of Castile, co-ruler of Ferdinand II of Aragon and responsible with him for the unification of Spain (1451 - 1504).
- Christopher Columbus sails to the Americas for Spain (c. 1451 - 1506).
- Richard III of England, last English King of the House of York, last of the Plantagenet Dynasty (1452 - 1485).
- Ferdinand II of Aragon , co-ruler of Isabella of Castile and responsible with her for the unification of Spain (1452 - 1516).
- Leonardo da Vinci, inventor and painter (1452 - 1519).
- Henry VII of England, English King and founder the Tudor dynasty (1457 - 1509).
- Vasco da Gama reaches India for Portugal, creating the first maritime alternative for the Silk Road (c. 1469 - 1524
[edit] Inventions, discoveries, introductions
List of 15th century inventions
- Renaissance affects philosophy, science and art.
- Age of Discovery begins.
- Rise of Modern English language from Middle English.
- Introduction of the noon bell in the Catholic world.
- Public banks
- Yongle Encyclopedia - over 22,000 volumes
- Hangul alphabet in Korea
- Scotch whisky
- Psychiatric hospitals
- Development of the woodcut for printing between 1400-1450
- Movable type first used by King Htai Tjong of Korea - 1403 (Movable type, which allowed individual characters to be arranged to form words, was invented in China by Bi Sheng between 1041 to 1048. The )
- Linear perspective drawing perfected by Filippo Brunelleschi 1410-1415
- Invention of the harpsichord c. 1450
- Letterpress printing developed by Johann Gutenberg 1455
- "Discovery" of North America by Christopher Columbus 1492
- First canal lock reportedly built in Vreeswijk, Netherlands in 1481
[edit] Decades and years
| Millennium | Century | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 4th BC: | 40th BC | 39th BC | 38th BC | 37th BC | 36th BC | 35th BC | 34th BC | 33rd BC | 32nd BC | 31st BC |
| 3rd BC: | 30th BC | 29th BC | 28th BC | 27th BC | 26th BC | 25th BC | 24th BC | 23rd BC | 22nd BC | 21st BC |
| 2nd BC: | 20th BC | 19th BC | 18th BC | 17th BC | 16th BC | 15th BC | 14th BC | 13th BC | 12th BC | 11th BC |
| 1st BC: | 10th BC | 9th BC | 8th BC | 7th BC | 6th BC | 5th BC | 4th BC | 3rd BC | 2nd BC | 1st BC |
| 1st: | 1st | 2nd | 3rd | 4th | 5th | 6th | 7th | 8th | 9th | 10th |
| 2nd: | 11th | 12th | 13th | 14th | 15th | 16th | 17th | 18th | 19th | 20th |
| 3rd: | 21st | 22nd | 23rd | 24th | 25th | 26th | 27th | 28th | 29th | 30th |
| 4th: | 31st | 32nd | 33rd | 34th | 35th | 36th | 37th | 38th | 39th | 40th |
