15th century
| 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.
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Events
- 1401: Timur sacks Baghdad.
- 1402: The Ottoman and Timurid Empires fought 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 start 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 is independent of the Great Horde.
- 1481: Spanish Inquisition begins.
- 1485: Richard III is killed in betrayel by Henry Tudor at the battle of Bosworth Field; Plantagenet Dynasty ends.
- 1492: Boabdil's surrender of Granada marks the end of the Reconquista and Al-Andalus.
- 1493: 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.
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Significant people
- 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).
- 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 1405 (1387 - 1422).
- 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 territorry against the expanding Ottoman Empire (1431 - 1476).
- Mehmed II, Sultan of the Ottoman Empire and Conqueror of Constantinople (1432 - 1481).
- 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).
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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
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Decades and years
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