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1490s

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Events

1490

January–December

  • January 4 – Anne of Brittany announces that all those who ally themselves with the king of France will be considered guilty of the crime of Lèse-majesté.
  • March 13 – Charles II becomes Duke of Savoy at age 1; his mother Blanche of Montferrato is regent.
  • March or April – 1490 Qingyang event, a presumed meteor shower or air burst over Qingyang in Ming dynasty China, said to have caused casualties.
  • July 4 – Defeat of John Corvinus in the battle of Bonefield
  • July 13 – John of Kastav finishes a cycle of frescoes in the Holy Trinity Church, Hrastovlje (modern-day southwestern Slovenia).
  • July 22 – Ashikaga Yoshitane becomes 10th Muromachi shōgun of Japan.
  • November 20 – The first edition of the chivalric romance Tirant lo Blanch, by Joanot Martorell, is printed in Valencia.
  • December 19 – Anne of Brittany is married to Maximilian I, Holy Roman Emperor by proxy.

Date unknown

1491

January–December

Date unknown

  • In the Ayutthaya Kingdom the reign of Ramathibodi II begins.
  • The population of China reaches 56.238 million.
  • The Bread and Cheese Revolt breaks out in West Frisia, North Holland, caused by a famine among the peasants due to bad weather conditions.
  • A major fire breaks out in Dresden.
  • In the Russian territory of Komi (the modern-day Komi Republic), annexed by Russia in 1478, copper and silver ores are discovered, and the territory gains importance as a mining and metallurgical center.
  • Nicolaus Copernicus enters the University of Kraków

1492

Known dates

Unknown dates

  • Martin Behaim constructs the first surviving globe of Earth, the Erdapfel. As Columbus would only return from his voyage in 1493, this globe does not show the New World yet.
  • The first arboretum to be designed and planted is the Arboretum Trsteno, near Dubrovnik in current-day Croatia.
  • Russians build the Ivangorod Fortress, on the eastern banks of the Narva River.
  • In Ming dynasty China, the commercial transportation of grain to the northern border, in exchange for salt certificates, is monetized.
  • Ermysted's Grammar School, Skipton, North Yorkshire, is founded.
  • Marsilio Ficino publishes his translation and commentary of Plotinus.
  • Stiegl brewery first recorded in Salzburg.

1493

January–December

Date unknown

1494

January–December

Date unknown

1495

January–December

  • February – King's College, Aberdeen, predecessor of the University of Aberdeen in Scotland, is founded on the petition of William Elphinstone, Bishop of Aberdeen. It is the first English-speaking university to teach medicine.
  • February 22 – Italian War of 1494–98: King Charles VIII of France enters Naples, to claim the city's throne. A few months later, he decides to return to France, and leaves Naples with most of his army, leaving a force under his cousin Gilbert, Count of Montpensier as viceroy. Syphilis is first definitely recorded in Europe during this invasion. (perhaps from French forces who may have contacted Croats fleeing an Ottoman army in the east).
  • May 26 – A Spanish army under Gonzalo Fernández de Córdoba lands in Calabria, with the purpose of ousting the French and restoring Ferdinand II of Naples to the throne.
  • June 1 – Brother John Cor of Lindores Abbey pays duty on 8 bolls of malt to the Exchequer in Scotland to make aqua vitae for King James IV; the record in the Exchequer Rolls is the first written reference to Scotch whisky.
  • June 28 – Battle of Seminara: Córdoba and Ferdinand are defeated by a French army under Bernard Stewart, Lord of Aubigny.
  • July 3 – Battle of Deal: Perkin Warbeck's troops land in Kent, in support of his claim to the English crown, backed by Margaret of York, Duchess of Burgundy. They are routed before Warbeck himself can disembark, and he retreats to Ireland and then to Scotland.
  • July 6 – Battle of Fornovo: The French army under King Charles secures its retreat from Italy, by defeating a combined Milanese-Venetian force under Giovanni Francesco Gonzaga, Marquis of Mantua.
  • Summer – John, King of Denmark, sets sail for Kalmar, Sweden, to negotiate with Sten Sture the Elder to restore the power of the Kalmar Union. However, his flagship, Gribshunden, catches fire and sinks off the coast of Ronneby with loss of life, and he is forced to abandon the mission.
  • October 25 – King Manuel I of Portugal begins his reign.
  • November 30 – An explosion at Vyborg Castle deters the Russian forces, who have invaded Sweden through Karelia.

Date unknown

1496

January–December

1497

January–December

  • February 7 (Shrove Tuesday) – Followers of Girolamo Savonarola burn thousands of "immoral" objects, at the Bonfire of the Vanities in Florence.
  • March – The Russo-Swedish War (1495–1497) ends with a six year truce. Due to gathering unrest at home, the Swedish leader Sten Sture the Elder was forced to offer a peace to Ivan III of Moscow.
  • May – The Cornish Rebellion breaks out in England, incited by war taxes.
  • May 10 – Amerigo Vespucci allegedly leaves Cádiz, for his first voyage to the New World.
  • May 12 – Pope Alexander VI excommunicates Girolamo Savonarola.
  • May 20 – John Cabot sets sail from Bristol, on the ship Matthew (principally owned by Richard Amerike), looking for new lands to the west (some sources give a May 2 date).
  • June 13 – The Catholic Monarchs issue the ordinance of Medina del Campo, creating a money system based on the copper maravedí, creating the peso of 34 maravedis. In the next three centuries, this system will dominate international payments. It will be used in almost all parts of the Americas and large parts of Asia. It is the basis for a number of modern currencies, including the U.S. dollar.
  • June 17 – Battle of Deptford Bridge near London: Cornish rebels under Michael An Gof are soundly defeated by Henry VII.
  • June 24 – John Cabot lands in North America (near present day Bonavista, Newfoundland).
  • July 8 – Vasco da Gama's fleet departs from Lisbon, beginning his expedition to India.
  • September 7 – Second Cornish Uprising in England: Perkin Warbeck lands near Land's End; on September 10 he is proclaimed as King in Bodmin.
  • September 28 – Battle of Rotebro: John, King of Denmark, defeats Sten Sture the Elder.
  • September 30 – The Treaty of Ayton establishes a seven-year peace between England and Scotland.
  • October 4 – Leaders of the Second Cornish Uprising surrender to the King at Taunton; the following day, Warbeck, having deserted his army, is captured at Beaulieu Abbey in Hampshire.
  • October 6 – Sten Sture the Elder is forced to resign and end his 27-year term as Regent of Sweden. King John of Denmark and Norway is acknowledged by the estates as King of Sweden and formally elected on October 18, restoring the power of the Kalmar Union.
  • December 5 – King Manuel I of Portugal proclaims an edict in which he demands that Jews convert to Christianity or leave the country.
  • December 23 – Sheen Palace is destroyed by fire. Henry VII of England rebuilds it as Richmond Palace.

Date unknown

1498

January–December

  • March 2 – Vasco da Gama visits Quelimane and Mozambique, in southeastern Africa.
  • April 14 – Portuguese explorer Vasco Da Gama reaches Malindi, in modern-day Kenya.
  • May
    • John Cabot leaves Bristol on an expedition, never to be seen again.
    • The English Merchant Adventurers are granted a trade monopoly with the Netherlands.
  • May 20 – Portuguese navigator Vasco da Gama arrives at Calicut (modern-day Kozhikode), India, becoming the first European to get there by sailing around Africa, thus discovering the maritime route to India. He finds a local Arab merchant who is able to interpret for him.
  • May 23 – Girolamo Savonarola, ruler of Florence, is executed for criticizing the Pope.
  • May 30 – Christopher Columbus sets out on his third voyage to the Western Hemisphere from Sanlúcar, Spain.
  • June – Niccolò Machiavelli is elected by the Great Council as the second chancellor of the Republic of Florence.
  • Summer – The final Welsh revolt of the medieval era breaks out in Meirionnydd, North Wales; Harlech Castle is captured by the rebels before the revolt is suppressed.
  • July 31 – Columbus becomes the first European to visit the island of Trinidad.
  • August 1 – Columbus discovers the mouth of the Orinoco.
  • August 4–12 – Columbus explores the Gulf of Paria. On August 5 he lands on the Paria Peninsula, the first definitely recorded landing of Europeans on the mainland Americas.
  • September 20 – 1498 Nankai earthquake off the coast of Japan.

Date unknown

1499

January–December

Date unknown

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