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15th century
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Centuries: 14th century · 15th century · 16th century
Decades: 1400s 1410s 1420s 1430s 1440s
1450s 1460s 1470s 1480s 1490s
Categories: Births – Deaths
Establishments – Disestablishments
As a means of recording the passage of time, the 15th century was the century which lasted from 1401 to 1500.
Constantinople, the capital of the Eastern Roman Empire, falls to emerging Ottoman Turks, forcing Western Europeans to find a new trade route.
Spanish and Portuguese explorations led to discovery of the Americas and the sea passage along Cape of Good Hope to India for the European civilization. After this discovery, transportation increased between all continents of the earth.
The Papacy was split in two parts in Europe for decades, until the Council of Constance.
Tamerlane established a major empire in the Middle East and Central Asia, in order to revive the Mongolian Empire. The Inca Empire rose to prominence in South America
The 15th century was a bridge between the Middle Ages, the Early Renaissance, and the Early modern period.
Events
- 1401: Dilawar Khan establishes the Malwa Sultanate in present-day central India
- 1402: Ottoman and Timurid Empires fight at the Battle of Ankara resulting in Timur's capture of Bayezid I.
- 1402: Sultanate of Malacca founded by Parameshwara.
- 1403: The Yongle Emperor moves the capital of China from Nanjing to Beijing.
- 1403: The settlement of the Canary Islands signals the beginning of the Spanish Empire.
- 1405–1433: Zheng He of China sails through the Indian Ocean to India, Arabia, and East Africa.
- 1410: The Battle of Grunwald was the decisive battle of the Polish–Lithuanian–Teutonic War leading to the downfall of the Teutonic Knights.
- 1410–1413: Foundation of St Andrews University in Scotland
- 1414: Khizr Khan, deputised by Timur to be the governor of Multan takes over Delhi founding the Sayyid dynasty
- 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
- 1415: Jan Hus is burned at the stake as a heretic at the Council of Constance.
- 1420: Construction of the Chinese Forbidden City is completed in Beijing.
- 1425: Catholic University of Leuven (Belgium) founded by Pope Martin V.
- 1420–1434: Hussite Wars in Bohemia363
Matthias Corvinus of Hungary The renaissance king, His mercenary standing army (the Black Army) had the strongest military potential of its era
- 1424: James I returns to Scotland after being held hostage under three Kings of England since 1406
- 1424: Deva Raya II succeeds his father Veera Vijaya Bukka Raya as monarch of the Vijayanagara Empire
- 1429: Joan of Arc ends the Siege of Orléans and turns the tide of the Hundred Years' War.
- 1438: Pachacuti founds the Inca Empire.
- 1440: Eton College founded by Henry VI.
- 1440s: The Golden Horde breaks up into the Siberia Khanate, the Khanate of Kazan, the Astrakhan Khanate, the Crimean Khanate, and the Great Horde.
- 1440–1469: Under Moctezuma I, the Aztecs become the dominant power in Mesoamerica.
- 1441: Jan van Eyck, Flemish painter dies
- 1441: Portuguese navigators cruise West Africa and reestablish the European slave trade with a shipment of African slaves sent directly from Africa to Portugal.
- 1443: Abdur Razzaq visits India
- 1444: The Albanian league is established in Lezha, Skanderbeg is elected leader. A war begins against Ottoman empire. An Albanian state is set up and lasts until 1479.
Portrait of Scanderbeg, ca. 1648. - 1444: Ottoman Empire under Sultan Murad II defeats the Polish and Hungarian armies under Władysław III of Poland and János Hunyadi at the Battle of Varna.
- 1445: Kazan Khanate defeats Grand Duchy of Moscow at the Battle of Suzdal
- 1446: King Sejong the Great published a hangul, the native phonetic alphabet system for the Korean language.
- 1446: Mallikarjuna Raya succeeds his father Deva Raya II as monarch of the Vijayanagara Empire
- 1449: Esen Tayisi leads an Oirat Mongol invasion of China which culminate in the capture of the Zhengtong Emperor at Battle of Tumu Fortress.
Modern painting of Mehmed II marching on Constantinople in 1453
- 1451: Bahlul Khan Lodhi ascends the throne of the Delhi sultanate starting the Lodhi dynasty
- 1453: The Fall of Constantinople marks the end of the Byzantine Empire and the beginning of the Growth of the Ottoman Empire.
- 1453: The Battle of Castillon is the last engagement of the Hundred Years' War and the first battle in European history where cannons were a major factor in deciding the battle.
- 1454–1466: After defeating the Teutonic Knights in the Thirteen Years' War, Poland annexes Royal Prussia.
- 1455–1485: 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.
- 1462: Sonni Ali Ber, the ruler of the Songhai (or Songhay) Empire, along the Niger River, conquered Mali in the central Sudan by defeating the Tuareg contingent at Tombouctou (or Timbuktu) and capturing the city. He developed both his own capital, Gao, and the main centres of Mali, Timbuktu and Djenné, into major cities. Ali Ber controlled trade along the Niger River with a navy of war vessels.
- 1462: Mehmed the Conqueror is driven back by Wallachian prince Vlad III Dracula at The Night Attack.
- 1467: Uzun Hasan defeats the Black Sheep Turkoman leader Jahān Shāh.
- 1467–1615: The Sengoku period is one of civil war in Japan.
The Siege of Rhodes (1480). Ships of the Hospitaliers in the forefront, and Turkish camp in the background.