By the end of the century, hundreds of cities were involved in the revolution. One of the earliest books printed by the printing press is known as the Gutenberg Bible, a page version that sold under copies across Europe and greatly influenced future versions of the Bible. The Fall of Constantinople perhaps signals the end of the Medieval period, resulting in the fall of the Byzantine Empire to the Ottoman Empire. The Ottomans took around seven times as many attackers as Constantinople had defenders and removed nearby Byzantine strongholds.
It is thought that the migration of Byzantine scholars contributed to the development of the Renaissance, particularly in humanism and science. In the fifteenth century, a series of civil wars broke out over the throne of England, fought between the House of York and House of Lancaster of the royal House of Plantagenet. A red rose represented the House of Lancaster while a white rose represented the House of York. While Edward IV, of the House of York, claimed the throne in , battles broke out across the decades with neither side managing total victory.
This resulted in many supporters abandoning the House of York for their rivals, culminating in the Battle of Bosworth. Christopher Columbus took three ships to find a shorter route to the Indies in but instead found the Americas.
Columbus spent some time exploring land in the area and observing indigenous people, noting that the Arawak people had access to gold and their primitive weapons would make them susceptible to conquest. Before leaving for home, Columbus founded a settlement and came into conflict with the Ciguayos people of the modern Dominican Republic.
Columbus returned thrice to the Americas to conquer the land. If you want to support HistoryColored further, consider donating! When donating to us, you are providing us with funding to provide higher quality content on a more regular basis! Read and learn about the life of the last Queen of France, Marie Antoinette. Find out about her early life, motherhood, style, and more! Test your knowledge on British History by answering 10 historical questions related to England, Scotland, Wales and Ireland.
By H L Noss February 21st, Share on facebook. Share on twitter. Share on reddit. Share on pinterest. Share on linkedin. Share on email. The Battle of Grunwald painting by Jan Matejko. The Gutenberg Bible was completed in following the invention of the printing press, printed by Gutenberg in Mainz.
Christopher Columbus arrives in America by L. Craftsmen and treasures arrive in large numbers in Samarkand, sent home from Timur's travels of conquest. Go to Samarkand in World Encyclopedia 1 ed. Richard II dies in Pontefract castle, almost certainly starved to death on the orders of the new king - insecure on his throne as an undeniable usurper. The final style of medieval painting, common to all Europe, is known as International Gothic because of its slender and elegant figures.
The followers of Wycliffe, after his death, become known as Lollards or 'mutterers'. Go to Lollards in World Encyclopedia 1 ed.
The English mystery cycles are performed by trade guilds, on carts pulled from audience to audience around the city. Go to Owain Glyn Dwr b. Majolica, or tin-glazed earthenware, reaches Italy from Majorca and thus gets its name. The Ottoman sultan Bayazid is defeated and captured near Ankara by Timur, who keeps the sultan in captivity until his death the following year. John Huss, known for his radical approach to Christianity, is put in charge of the Bethlehem Chapel in Prague.
Go to Huss, John c. Timur is buried in a mausoleum the Gur Amir in Samarkand, a city which becomes an inspiration to his descendants. Pisa is captured by Florence, to be followed a few years later by the purchase of the seaport of Livorno.
Go to Pisa in World Encyclopedia 1 ed. Go to James I b. The Council at Pisa elects a new pope, Alexander V, without persuading the other two to resign - bringing the total to an unprecedented three. Shah Rukh, son of Timur, begins rebuilding the city of Herat. The Poles defeat the Teutonic knights between Tannenberg and Grunwald, bringing the coastal strip around Gdansk into the Polish kingdom. The Viking settlement in Greenland ends, after years, when the last ship leaves the colony and sails for Norway.
Go to Greenland in World Encyclopedia 1 ed. The linen drapers of Florence commission a statue of St Mark from Donatello, who carves for Orsanmichele the first free-standing Renaissance sculpture. Go to Donatello c. Go to Henry V b. A council is called at Constance, to consider the radical views of John Huss and to deal with the present excess of popes. Filippo Brunelleschi begins studying the ruins of classical Rome, with a view to rediscovering classical architecture.
John Huss, invited to Constance under a promise of safe conduct, is arrested, tried and burnt at the stake as a heretic. Henry V captures the French stronghold of Harfleur - where, in Shakespeare, he urges his dear friends 'once more unto the breach'. Henry V wins a victory on St Crispin's day at Agincourt, against a much larger and more heavily armed French force.
A Portuguese prince, Henry the Navigator, becomes fascinated by exploration down the coast of Africa and commissions successive voyages. The Council of Constance, having done its best to dispose of the three existing popes, elects a new one - Martin V.
A competition is launched for an architect to construct a dome above Florence's cathedral, and is won by Brunelleschi. After a six-month siege Henry V makes a triumphal entry into Rouen, the city of his Norman ancestors. John the Fearless, duke of Burgundy, is murdered by the Armagnac faction in the presence of the dauphin - escalating France's civil war.
Go to Aal, Johannes c. The Hussites build a new fortified town at Tabor as their fortress headquarters. Go to Hussites in World Encyclopedia 1 ed. Glazed windows become a feature of the richer homes of northern Europe. Go to windows in The Oxford Companion to Architecture 1 ed. The Portuguese, discovering the lush and uninhabited island of Madeira, send colonists to settle it.
The treaty of Troyes, between the English and the Burgundian faction, grants Henry V the status of heir to the French throne. Henry V marries Catherine, daughter of the French king and sister of the rightful heir to the kingdom, the dauphin, who is on the opposing side. The third Ming emperor moves the capital from Nanjing to Beijing and begins laying out the Forbidden City. Jan Zizka wins a series of victories against papal armies, using the mobile barricade which becomes known as his 'war wagon fortress'.
Go to Henry VI b. Masaccio paints some of the frescoes in the chapel of a Florentine silk merchant, Felice Brancacci, in Santa Maria del Carmine. Go to Masaccio 21 Dec. Packs of tarot playing cards are among the most popular products of Europe's first printing presses. The Temple of Heaven in Beijing is built for the third emperor of the Ming dynasty. Zheng He, a Muslim eunuch, makes voyages of trade and exploration with a fleet of Chinese junks. Go to Zheng He died c.
A Portuguese captain, sailing for Henry the Navigator, chances upon the Azores. Go to Azores in World Encyclopedia 1 ed. Joan of Arc stands nearby while Charles VII is anointed at Reims, then kneels before him and for the first time calls him her king.
Joan of Arc is captured in a skirmish with the Burgundians, who subsequently hand her over to the English. Work begins in Florence on Brunelleschi's Pazzi chapel, which encapsulates in miniature the new ideals of Renaissance architecture.
Go to miniature painting in World Encyclopedia 1 ed. Joan of Arc, tried by the Inquisition on behalf of the English in Rouen, is burned at the stake as a relapsed heretic. Go to Inquisition in World Encyclopedia 1 ed. A new altarpiece is installed in the cathedral in Ghent, introducing the powerful realism of Jan van Eyck. Go to Eyck, Jan van c. The Compacts of Prague, agreed with the papacy in , allow the Hussite laity to receive the sacrament in both kinds. Cosimo de' Medici, arrested by a rival faction, escapes with his life thanks to bribes and well-placed friends.
Giovanni Arnolfini, a merchant from Lucca trading in Bruges, commissions from van Eyck a portrait of himself and his wife. The rulers of Tenochtitlan join with two other neighbouring kingdoms to form the Aztec Triple Alliance. Rogier van der Weyden, the third in the extraordinary trio of Flemish artists of the s, is appointed painter to the city of Brussels.
Go to Weyden, Rogier van der c. Perspective fascinates Italian Renaissance painters after the publication of Alberti's treatise on the subject, De Pictura.
Go to Alberti, Leon Battista 14 Feb. Go to James II b. The office of Holy Roman emperor becomes a hereditary title within the Habsburg dynasty. The French clergy pass a resolution at Bourges, limiting the power of the papacy within France, which is adopted by the king as a 'pragmatic sanction'. After a decisive victory over the Chanca people, a young Inca prince seizes the throne in Peru and takes the name Pachacuti.
Florence acquires first-hand experience of Greek culture when Greek Orthodox priests join in a debate on theology, in particular the question of Filioque. The Seventeenth Ecumenical Council moves from Ferrara, because of the danger of plague, and sets up in Florence. Go to ecumenical council in World Encyclopedia 1 ed. Portuguese settlers are sent to the unoccupied islands of the Azores. Cuzco, city of the Incas, grows rapidly in power after Pachacuti 'transformer of the earth' becomes emperor.
Skanderbeg, Albania's national hero, begins his long campaign of successes against the Turks. The Dominican convent of San Marco, in Florence, is provided with a serenely beautiful series of frescoes by Fra Angelico and his assistants. Go to Angelico, Fra c. A Turkish army routs the Hungarians at Varna on the Black Sea, beginning a process which brings the Turks to the gates of Belgrade by A Muslim ruler is established in Malacca, forming the first of many Muslim dynasties in the Malay archipelago.
Go to Malacca in World Encyclopedia 1 ed. Portugal claims ownership of the region of Guinea, subsequently the centre of their slave trade on the west African coast.
Piero della Francesca paints masterpieces in his small home town of San Sepolcro. Go to Piero della Francesca c. The matchlock, ignited from a smouldering length of rope, becomes the standard form of musket. Herat, under Timurid princes, succeeds Tabriz as the main centre of Persian art. The massive architecture of the Incas, consisting of finely dressed irregular blocks of stone, becomes a feature of Cuzco. The oldest surviving spring mechanism enabling clocks to become small and portable is put to work.
Go to clock in World Encyclopedia 1 ed. A warrior king, Ewuare, establishes the forest kingdom of Benin. Coffee, derived from wild plants in Ethiopia, is cultivated in Arabia.
Go to coffee in A Dictionary of Food and Nutrition 3 ed. The Swedish Riksdag includes peasants as a fourth estate, alongside clergy, nobles and burghers. The caravel, a sailing ship developed in the Mediterranean and used down the west coast of Africa, is adapted by the Portuguese for Atlantic use.
The French bring two small cannon on to the battlefield at Formigny, where they have a significant effect in achieving the French victory. The most sacred of the Inca divinities, Punchao, is symbolized by a great golden disc representing the sun. Christian boys, trained as slaves in the personal service of the Turkish sultan, acquire considerable power as the elite corps of janissaries.
Francesco Sforza, a soldier of fortune, wins power in Milan. Go to Uccello, Paolo c. Go to Fouquet Foucquet , Jean c. The Turks terrify Constantinople by lobbing vast stones at the city from a ton bombard of cast iron. There were some witch trials in the Middle Ages, and these became more widespread in German-speaking lands in the 15th century, but those doing the prosecuting were almost always civic authorities rather than ecclesiastical ones.
When Heinrich Kramer wrote the infamous Malleus Maleficarum in the late 15th century, his motive was to try to persuade people of the reality of witches. In fact, the book was initially condemned by the church, and even in the early 16th century, inquisitors were warned not to believe everything that it said.
Listen to Professor Ronald Hutton examine how societies throughout the globe have lived in fear of witchcraft for more than 2, years:. This was in the 12th century, and depended particularly on the transmission of works by Aristotle and other classical authors via Arabic philosophers and translators.
One of the outcomes was to prompt an enquiring and reflective approach to the physical world, and it led Roger Bacon c—94 , among others, to think about how one might observe and experiment with the physical world to learn more about it. It may be the case that the majority of medieval people — particularly those who lived in the countryside — rarely travelled very far from where they lived.
But that would be the case with quite a lot of people in much later ages also. It is not the case, however, that medieval people never travelled. Many went on pilgrimage , sometimes journeying thousands of miles to do so. And those involved in trade certainly travelled, linking parts of the world together via merchandise across extraordinary distances. Even in the early Middle Ages, all kinds of high-status goods were transported from very distant shores to various European lands: silk from China; spices from Asia, brought to Europe via the Middle East; amber and furs from the Baltic.
Listen to historians Robin Fleming and Mark Ormrod examine the lives of migrants into England during the anglo-Saxon and medieval periods:. Much of the public culture of the Middle Ages was shaped, or at least informed by, Christianity.
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