1462 |
Gibraltar, in Muslim hands since 711 AD, is captured by the Kingdom of Castile. A rock fortress in southern Spain, it commands the western entrance to the Mediterranean Sea.
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1464 |
Sonni Ali, leader of the small Songhai State in West Africa, embarks upon a series of brilliant campaigns and takes over much of the land once belonging to the Mali Empire.
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1466
1467 |
The Inca Empire of Peru,
In Japan, the Onin War breaks out following a dispute over the shogun's successor, and soon the country is plunged into a civil war that lasts for more than a hundred years.
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1468 |
Mehmed II conquers Karaman, the last surviving Turkish emirate. At his death the Ottoman Empire extends from the Danube to the Euphrates, and from the Crimea to the Aegean Sea.
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1469 |
Lorenzo, grandson of Cosimo de' Medici, and, like him, a great patron of art and learning, starts his rule in Florence. Known as Lorenzo the Magnificent, he rules until 1492.
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1470 |
Le Morte d'Arthur, a series of Arthurian legends, is compiled by the English writer Sir Thomas Malory. It is generally regarded as the first outstanding work in English prose.
The Earl of Warwick frees Henry VI from the Tower, and Edward takes refuge in Holland. The demented Henry VI is restored to the throne but his reign only lasts for seven months.
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1471 |
Edward returns and at the battles of Barnet and Tewkesbury both Warwick and Henry's son, Edward, are killed. These victories, plus the murder of Henry VI, secure his throne.
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1473 |
The Aztecs take over the prosperous market town of Tlatelolco following the killing of its ruler. The Empire now stretches from the Atlantic to the Pacific Oceans.
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1474
1476 |
The
William
Caxton sets up the first printing press
in England -
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1477 |
By the marriage of Maximilian, son of Emperor Frederick III, and Mary of Burgundy, heiress of Charles the Bold, the Habsburgs of the House of Austria take over the Netherlands.
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1478 |
The Florentine artist Sandro Botticelli completes Primavera (Allegory of Spring) one of his early masterpieces. He later produces three frescoes for the Sistine Chapel in Rome.
Pope Sixtus IV endorses the creation of an Inquisition in Spain. Tomas de Torquemada is appointed Grand Inquisitor and becomes a byword for intolerance, terror and torture.
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1480 |
Ivan the Great of Moscow refuses to pay tribute to the Golden Horde and beats off Mongol attacks. Much of Russia is united under his control, including a vast new area in the north.
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1481
1482 |
In the Vatican
The Portuguese explorer Diogo Cão becomes the first European to reach the mouth of the Congo River during the first of his two expeditions along the west coast of Africa.
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1483 |
Edward dies while at Windsor, leaving his
son, twelve- |