1480s

January–March

• January 3 – King Louis XI buys the succession rights to the Duchy of Brittany from the Countess Nicole de Châtillon for 50,000 livres^[1]
• February 4 – Pedro de Vera is appointed as the colonial Governor of Gran Canaria by the Spanish monarchs Ferdinand and Isabella, and directed to carry out the conquest of the Canary Islands and to end the fighting between the conquistadors who had taken the island in 1478.
• March 3 – The Treaty of Lucerne is signed between the Duchy of Milan and the Old Swiss Confederation, 15 months after the Battle of Giornico. Milan cedes the Leventina District to the Canton of Uri.^[2]
• March 6 – The Treaty of Toledo is signed as Ferdinand and Isabella of Spain recognize the African conquests of Afonso V of Portugal, and he cedes the Canary Islands to Spain.^[3]
• March 17 – Lorenzo the Magnificent, Lord of the Republic of Florence, and King Ferrante of Naples agree to an alliance between the two Italian nations, and to end the ongoing war that had started in 1479.^[4] Lorenzo had traveled to Naples in December to reach a treaty to end the war.

April–June

• April 6 – King Afonso V of Portugal orders his navy to "capture anyone trading illegally in Africa, and to throw the goods and ship's crew into the sea.^[5]
• May 3 – Pedro del Algaba, the Spanish colonial Governor of the Canary Islands, is arrested by Juan Rejón, and is executed on Rejón's orders on May 20.^[6]
• May 23 – The Siege of Rhodes begins as the Ottoman Turk invading force begins its invasion, introducing the psychological warfare of coming ashore with "loud martial music" and the shrieking cries of dervishes.^[7]
• June 20 – The Senate of the Republic of Venice votes to approve the transfer of ownership of the island of Santorini (now the Greek island of Thera) to Domenico Pisani. The island was the dowry given to Pisani for the marriage of Fiorenza Crispo, by Firenzo's father, Giacomo III Crispo, Duke of the Archipelago, a set of 18 of the 20 inhabited Cyclades islands in the Aegean Sea.^[8]

July–September

• July 28
  • Mehmed II fails in his attempt to capture Rhodes from the Knights of Rhodes.
  • An Ottoman army lands near Otranto in southern Italy. Pope Sixtus IV calls for a crusade to drive the Ottomans away. Otranto falls on August 12 after a 15-day siege.
• August 14 – Two days after Ottoman troops had broken a siege and taken control of the village of Otranto in southern Italy, led by Gedik Ahmed Pasha, carry out the massacre of 813 inhabitants who had refused to convert from Christianity to Islam.^[9][10]
• September 27 – The co-rulers of most of Spain, Ferdinand II of Aragon and Isabella I of Castile initiate the Spanish Inquisition to look for heretics and unconverted Jews, appointing the Dominican Order clerics Miguel de Morillo and Juan de San Martín to serve as the first two inquisitors.^[11]

October–December

• October 8 – The Great Stand on the Ugra River begins as troops of the Grand Duchy of Moscow, led by the Grand Duke Ivan III and General Ivan Molodoy battle against the invading Mongol armies of the Golden Horde, led by their ruling monarch, Akhmat Khan. The invasion began after Ivan III stopped paying tribute to the Horde. The Theotokos of Vladimir icon is credited with saving Moscow. The standoff between the troops lasts five weeks before Akhmat and the Mongol troops retreat.^[12]
• November 3 – Ludovico Sforza succeeds his sister-in-law, Bona of Savoy, as regent of Milan for his 12-year-old nephew Gian Galeazzo Sforza, Bona's son and the Duke of Milan.^[13]
• November 8 – After reinforcements from Lithuania fail to arrive for more than four weeks, Akhmat Khan orders the Mongols to end their attempt to conquer the Grand Duchy of Moscow.^[14]
• December 7 – During the war between Dai Viet and Lan Xang (now the northern part of Vietnam and the entire nation of Laos), Emperor Xianxong of Ming dyansty China is informed by his envoys that Dai Viet had subdued Lan Xang and was preparing to invade Lan Na (now part of northern Thailand. China responds by sending intelligence agents to spy on Dai Viet.^[15]

Date unknown

• The Lighthouse of Alexandria's final remains disappear when Qaitbay, Sultan of Egypt, builds the Citadel of Qaitbay on its site.
• Magdalen College School, Oxford, is established by William Waynflete.

January–March

• January 6 – Ahmed Khan bin Küchük, Khan of the Great Horde, is killed by the Khan of Sibir, Ibak Khan in battle and is succeeded by his son, Sheikh Ahmed.^[16]
• February 6 – The first execution during the Spanish Inquisition is carried out in Seville in an auto-da-fé as six people convicted of heresy are burned alive.^[17] As a result of this and other murders, thousands of conversos— mostly Jewish people who had converted to Christianity— flee their homes.
• March 15 – The first of a series of earthquakes to affect the island of Rhodes occurs, leading up to the deadly earthquake in May.

April–June

• April 2 – King James III of Scotland gives royal assent to the six Defence of the Realm Acts and to the Benefices Act 1481, passed by his parliament in anticipation of a war with England.^[18]
• April 5 – Mahmud Gawan, the chief minister (peshwa) of India's Bahmani Kingdom (now in the state of Karnataka) is executed in Bidar on orders of the Sultan Muhammad Shah III Lashkari, after being falsely convicted of treason.^[19] The preparer of the forged document that led to Gawan's overthrow, Malik Hasan Bahri, becomes the new peshwa.^[20]
• April 8 – Pope Sixtus IV issues the papal bull Cogimur jubente altissimo, calling for Roman Catholics to participate in a crusade against the Ottoman Empire, starting with the Turkish-occupied southern Italian area in and around Otranto, with the liberation of Valona (now in Albania) to follow.^[21][22]
• May 3
  • The 1481 Rhodes earthquake, the largest of a series, strikes the island of Rhodes, causing an estimated 30,000 casualties.
  • Mehmed II, Sultan of the Ottoman Empire, dies and is succeeded by his son, Bayezid II.^[23]
• May 21 – King Christian I of Denmark and Norway dies at the age of 55. Although his eldest son, Prince Hans of Oldenburg, is accepted as the new King of Denmark, the Riksrådet (Council of the Realm) of the Kingdom of Norway postpones its decision pending negotiations to possibly reunite with the Kingdom of Sweden.^[24][25]
• June 21 – The papal bull Aeterni Regis grants Portugal first option to all newly conquered African and Asian lands south of the Canary Islands to Portugal.^[26]

July–September

• July 24 – Fire destroys the roof and the spires of Reims Cathedral.
• August 29 – John II of Portugal starts to rule in his own right.
• September 10 – Alphonso II of Naples recaptures the city of Otranto.

October–December

• October 13 – The bodies of the Martyrs of Otranto, who had been killed in Italy in 1480 by the Ottomans who had conquered the city of Otranto, are discovered in the city's cathedral "uncorrupted",^[27] and the group as a whole is celebrated as martyrs to the Roman Catholic faith. The 813 martyrs will be canonized more than 500 years later on May 12, 2013.^[28]
• November 16 – At Târgoviște, Basarab Țepeluș cel Tânăr replaces his successor, Vlad Călugărul as the voivode (prince) of Wallachia (now part of Romania)^[29]
• December 10 – With the death of Duke Charles IV of Anjou, Anjou reverts to the French crown under Louis XI, as does the Provence, which until then was part of the Holy Roman Empire.
• December 14 – Ayas Pasha, the Ottoman Empire's sanjak of Bosnia, captures the city of Herceg Novi after a month-long siege when the Duke Vlatko Hercegović agrees to surrender.^[30]
• December 22 – The Canton of Fribourg^[31] and the Canton of Solothurn^[32] are admitted as cantons of Switzerland by the Swiss Confedderation
• December 26 – At the Battle of Westbroek, Holland defeats the troops of Utrecht.^[33]
• December 28 – The city of Zahara de la Sierra, now part of Spain, is captured by the Moorish Emir Abu'l-Hasan Ali of Granada in a surprise attack,^[34][35] leading to a counterattack by the Kingdom of Castile two months later.

Date unknown

• The Constitució de l'Observança is approved by the Catalan Courts, establishing the submission of royal power to the laws of the Principality of Catalonia.
• Axayacatl, Aztec ruler of Tenochtitlan, dies and is succeeded by his brother Tízoc.
• The Aztec Calendar Stone or Sun Stone is carved.

January–March

• January 19 – A Portuguese fleet, commanded by Diogo de Azambuja, arrives at the mouth of the River Benya on the Gold Coast, where the fort of São Jorge da Mina (Elmina Castle) is erected.
• January 25 – (5 Adar 5242) The first printing of the Torah by movable type, in the original Hebrew language, is made in Bologna, marking the first use of the Hebrew alphabet rather than the Roman alphabet in printing.^[36]
• February 28 –The village of Alhama de Granada in Spain is taken by Christian forces, starting the Granada War to expel the Moors from the Iberian Peninsula.^[37][38]
• March 22 – Pope Sixtus IV, in a special bull, grants self-government rights to the Italian town of Ascoli Piceno.^[39]
• March 27 – The death of Mary of Burgundy triggers the first of the Flemish revolts against Maximilian of Austria.

April–June

• April 3 – Symeon I succeeds Maximus III as Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople.
• April 28 – In Spain, King Ferdinand of Aragon and Castile formally takes command in the Granada War at Alhama.^[40]
• May 10 – King Edward IV of England summons fighting men to participate in an invasion of Scotland with the goal of deposing King James III and installing a puppet monarch who will bring Scotland under English control.^[41]
• May 25 – German printer Erhard Ratdolt creates the first printed edition of The Elements, originally written by the Greek mathematician Euclid around 300 BC and translated from ancient Greek into Latin by Campanus of Novara in the 13th century. The date for the printing of one of the most influential books in history is printed by Ratdolt on the title page.^[42]
• May 27 – Cem Sultan, who briefly reigned as the Sultan of the Ottoman Empire for several weeks in 1481 before being deposed by his half-brother, Bayezid II, invades the Turkish mainland and besieges the city of Konya, but is defeated and forced to withdraw to Ankara. Upon trying to retreat to Cairo in Egypt, he finds that all the roads are under Bayezid's control.^[43]
• June 11 – The Treaty of Fotheringhay is signed between King Edward IV of England, and Alexander Stewart, Duke of Albany, the younger brother of King James III of Scotland, with Alexander being promised the Scottish throne in return for swearing loyalty to England and participating in an English invasion of Scotland.^[41]

July–September

• July 22 – Following a mutiny of Scottish troops at Lauder, King James III is brought back to Edinburgh Castle and held under house arrest by the mutineers.^[41]
• July 29 – Cem Sultan of the Ottoman Empire flees to the island of Rhodes after having turned down two offers from his half-brother, Sultan Bayezid II, to give up all claims to the Ottoman throne.^[43]
• August 1 – In the Anglo-Scottish Wars, Richard, Duke of Gloucester invades Scotland, and captures Edinburgh.^[44]
• August 4 – Portuguese navigator Diogo Cão and his crew arrive at Loango Bay in East Africa on Saint Dominic's Day, and Cão names the body of water Praia Formosa de São Domingos; from there he and the crew become the first Europeans to enter the Congo River.^[45]
• August 21 – In the course of the War of Ferrara in Italy, the Battle of Campomorto is fought as the army of the Papal States, led by Roberto Malatesta defeats troops of the Kingdom of Naples, led by Alfonso, Duke of Calabria.^[46]
• August 24 – The Scots surrender the border town of Berwick-upon-Tweed to Richard, Duke of Gloucester, ending his campaign against Scotland.^[44]
• August 30 – The reign of Louis de Bourbon, Bishop of Liège over the Principality of Liège, a semi-independent eccleasitic state within the Holy Roman Empire in parts of what are now Belgium, France, Germany and the Netherlands, comes to an end when he is assassinated on orders of William de La Marck^[47]
• September 29 – King James III is allowed to walk out of Edinburgh Castle in the wake of the English siege led by his brother, Alexander, Duke of Albany.^[48]

October–December

• October 7 – John Stewart, Lord Darnley finally surrenders Edinburgh Castle to King James III's brother, the Duke of Albany, after a siege of almost two months.^[49]
• November 15 – King Edward IV of England summons the members of the English House of Commons and the English House of Lords to assemble at Westminster on January 20.
• December 23 – The Treaty of Arras divides the Burgundian Netherlands between King Louis XI of France and Archduke Maximilian I of Habsburg.

Date unknown

January–March

• January 7 –
  • At Pau (now part of France), Queen Catalina becomes the new ruler of Navarre at the age of 14, upon the death of her older brother, the 15-year-old King Francisco Febo. Their mother, Magdalena of Valois, continues as regent of Navarre.^[50]
  • Ivan IV becomes the new Grand Prince of the semi-independent Principality of Ryazan upon the death of his father, Vasily Ivanovich of Ryazan.^[51]
• January 8 – Following the appointment of the Duke of Albany as Lieutenant-General of the Realm, King James III of Scotland is restored to the throne after having been captured in battle on July 22, 1482.
• January 20 – The English Parliament, summoned by King Edward IV on November 15, assembles at Westminster.
• January – Upon the petition the Grand Inquistitor of Castile (now part of Spain) Tomás de Torquemada, the Jews are expelled from the Castilian-controlled portions of Andalusia.^[52]
• February 11 – The General Council of the Inquisition is created in Spain.
• February 18 – King Edward IV gives royal assent to numerous acts passed by the English Parliament.
• March 20 – In what is now the Kingdom of Spain, the Islamic Emirate of Granada defeats the Christian Crown of Castile in the Battle of Axarquía, despite the Castilians having four times as many troops as the Granadans.^[53]

April–June

• April 9 – At the age of 12, Edward V becomes King of England upon the sudden death of his father, King Edward IV. The young king will reign for only 78 days before being deposed, imprisoned and murdered by his uncle, Richard III.
• April 29 – Gran Canaria, the main island of the Canary Islands, is conquered by the Kingdom of Castile, a very important step in the expansion of Spain. Of 4,000 Castilian troops, 800 are killed and 1,600 others are taken as prisoners of war.
• April 30 – Pluto moves inside Neptune's orbit until July 23, 1503, according to modern orbital calculations. At the time, neither planet has been discovered by Earth astronomers. The event of Pluto being closer to the Sun than Neptune will happen again during the period lasting from 1979 to 1999.
• May 18 – The coronation of Hans of Oldenburg as King of Denmark takes place at the Church of Our Lady in Copenhagen.^[54]
• May 19 – King Edward V moves into the Tower of London,^[55] the traditional residence of monarchs prior to a coronation. King Edward's coronation had recently been rescheduled for June 25.
• June 9 – The Grand Duke Ivan IV of Ryazan signs a treaty with his uncle, Grand Duke Ivan III of Moscow, placing Ryazan under Moscow's control and ending Ryazan's independence.^[51]
• June 13 – William Hastings, 1st Baron Hastings, is executed, in the first recorded execution at the Tower of London.
• June 16 – Richard, Duke of York, the younger brother of King Edward V, arrives at the Tower of London.^[55]
• June 20 – The powerful Duke Fernando II of Braganza is executed in Portugal, followed by more than 80 other noblemen, for his plot against the royal crown.
• June 25 – On the day of his scheduled coronation, 12-year-old King Edward V is deposed by his uncle, Richard, Duke of Gloucester, who is acclaimed by the English Parliament as King Richard III.

July–September

• July 6 – Richard III and Anne Neville are crowned king and Queen of England, at Westminster Abbey.^[56]
• July 20 – The coronation of Hans, King of Denmark as crowned King of Norway is held at Nidaros Cathedral in Trondheim.^[54]
• August 15 – The Sistine Chapel opens in the Apostolic Palace in Rome.
• August 30 – Charles VIII becomes the new King of France upon the death of his father, King Louis XI.^[57]
• September 3 – The Princes in the Tower, uncrowned 12-year-old Edward V, recently deposed as King of England, is murdered in the Tower of London along with his 10-year-old brother, Richard of Shrewsbury, Duke of York, on the orders of their uncle, King Richard III.^[58]
• September 8 – Edward of Middleham, the 7-year-old son of King Richard III of England, is given the title of Prince of Wales and designated the heir apparent to the throne. However, Edward will die less than a year later on April 9.^[59]
• September 14 – Archduke Maximilian of Austria, father of the four-year old Philip the Handsome, Duke of the Burgundian Netherlands, declares the abolition of the Regency Council that had administered the land in Philip's name after the death of Mary of Burgundy on March 27, 1482; Maximilian becomes the sole regent.^[60]

October–December

• October 10 – In England, a rebellion is started by Duke of Buckingham, against King Richard III. Fighting between the supporters of King Richard and of the late King Edward IV lasts for more than six weeks.
• October 29 – Battle of Una: Forces of the Kingdom of Croatia defeat the army of the Ottoman Empire.
• November 25 – Buckingham's rebellion comes to an end and most of the conspirators disperse to plan for another uprising.
• December 25 – At Rennes Cathedral in France, Henry Tudor, Earl of Richmond, leader of the House of Lancaster after Richard III of England of the House of York had seized the throne, pledges to marry Elizabeth of York, the eldest daughter the late King Edward IV, in order to strengthen his support for the overthrow of King Richard.^[61]
• December 27 – (27th day of 11th month of Bunmei 14) The Ashikaga shogunate shogunate and Koga kubo Ashikaga Shigeuji agree to the Tohiwaboku peace treaty, ending the Kyotoku War after almost 29 years. that had been ongoing since 1455.^[62]

Date unknown

• Isaac Abravanel flees Portugal, after being implicated in a plot against the king.
• The Prince of Moscow builds the fortress of Ivangorod, facing Narva.
• Giovanni Bellini is named official painter of the Republic of Venice.
• Flavio Biondo publishes his Historiarum ab inclinatione romanorum imperii.

January–March

• January 15 – In France, the Estates General, a consultative assembly of 855 delegates (285 apiece) representing the three economic classes — the First Estate (clergy), Second Estate (nobility) and— for the first time, the Third Estate (commoners, including peasants) is convened for the first time since 1468.^[63] The convening of the Estates General of 1484 at Tours has been ordered by Anne of France, the mother of and regent for the 13-year-old King Charles VIII since the death of King Louis XI, with the goal of designating the regent during Charles's minority. Although King Louis had designated Anne and her husband, Pierre de Beaujeu, to serve as regents, Louis, Duke of Orleans, the second cousin of the late King, seeks approval from the Estates General for the regency. The session of the Estates General becomes a call for reform of the laws of France.
• January 23 – King Richard III of England assembles his first, and only Parliament, opening a 29-day session.
• February 5 – The Great Bell of Dhammazedi, at 293.4 metric tons (323 U.S. tons) the largest bell ever created, is cast from bronze at Dagon in the Hanthawaddy kingdom (now Yangon in Myanmar) by order of King Dhammazedi. The casting comes despite advice from the royal astrologer that the date is inappropriate, and the bell is noted for its unpleasant tone.^[64] The bell will be stolen from the Shwedagon Pagoda in 1608 by Arakan mercenaries commanded by the Portuguese warlord Filipe de Brito e Nicote, but skin, into the Bago and Yangon Rivers while it is being transported on de Brito's ship.^[65]
• February 9 – At the Estates General, the nobleman Philippe Pot, representative of the Second Estate, delivers a famous speech calling upon reforms in the structure of government of France.^[66] His speech is successful in persuading the Estates to endorse the continuing regency of Anne and Pierre Beaujeu, but also leads to numerous recommendations for reform and alarms the royal government.
• February 20 – At the close of the English Parliament session, King Richard III gives royal assent to Titulus Regius ("under which title all the reasons to prove the King [Richard III] to be the true and undoubted heir to the crown, are set forth at larg... and ratified, and his brother [Edward IV]'s children [Edward V and Richard, Duke of York] made bastards," retroactive to January 23.^[67]
• February 22 – Pope John XIII of Alexandria begins a reign of 40 years as the partiarch of the Coptic Christian Church, filling a vacancy of five months since the death of Pope John XII.^[68]
• February 24 – King James III of Scotland gives royal assent to numerous acts passed by the Scottish Parliament, including the Defence of the Realm Act 1483 (summoning the members of the nobility to come defend Scotland); the Duke of Albany Act, an arrest warrant for all person who made treasonable assistance to the King's rebellious brother, Alexander, Duke of Albany; and the two Barratry Acts, prohibiting "the having of mone furth of the Realme" (the exportation of money out of the realm) to the Court of Rome.^[69]
• March 22 – The kingdoms of France and Scotland renew the Auld Alliance, with the Lord of Aubigny signing on behalf of France.^[70]
• March 26 – William Caxton, the first printer of books in English, prints his translation of Aesop's Fables in London.^[71]

April–June

• April 19 – Muhammad Shah Mir becomes the new Sultan of Kashmir in India, succeeding Hasan Khan.^[72]
• May 11 – The Kingdom of Hungary defeats the army of the Holy Roman Empire at the Battle of Leitzersdorf.^[73]
• May 30 – The coronation of the 13-year-old son of the late Louis XI, Charles the Affable, as King of France takes place at Reims.
• June 14 – Joanes III is proclaimed by his fiancée, Queen Katalina, to be her co-ruler of the Kingdom of Navarre at Pamplona, now part of the Basque region of Spain.^[74]
• June 22 – The first known book printed by a woman, Anna Rügerin, is an edition of Eike of Repgow's compendium of customary law, the Sachsenspiegel, produced in Augsburg.

July–September

• July 6 – Portuguese sea captain Diogo Cão finds the mouth of the Congo River.
• July 22 – Battle of Lochmaben Fair: A 500-man raiding party led by Alexander Stewart, Duke of Albany, and James Douglas, 9th Earl of Douglas, is defeated by forces loyal to Albany's brother James III of Scotland; Douglas is captured.
• August 7 – The Treaty of Bagnolo is signed, ending the War of Ferrara fought in Italy between the Republic of Venice and the Duchy of Ferrara after two years. Ferrara loses most of its territories which Venice had conquered north of the River Po, while Ferrara's Duke Ercole I d'Este regains his territories in Ariano nel Polesine, Corbola, Adria, Melara, Castelnovo Bariano and Ficarolo.^[75]
• August 29 – Giovanni Battista Cybo, Bishop of Santa Cecilia in Trastevere, is elected to succeed the late Pope Sixtus IV (who died on August 12) as the leader of the Roman Catholic Church, and takes the regnal name of Pope Innocent VIII as, the 213th pope.^[76]
• September 21 – Treaty of Nottingham: A three-year truce between the kingdoms of England and Scotland is signed.

October–December

• October 31 – The "White Elephant War", which had started in 1479 with the invasion of the Kingdom of Lan Xang (now Laos) by the Dai Viet Empire (now northern Vietnam) with the Vietnamese withdrawing their troops and failing to conquer the Laotians.^[77]
• November 23 – Louis, Duke of Orleans a contender for the French throne, signs a treaty with François II, Duke of Brittany, with an agreement for the marriage of the Duke's 7-year-old daughter, Anne of Brittany to Louis, with a goal of Louis having control of Brittany and of France. The proposed marriage, however, is contingent upon the annulment of Louis' existing marriage to Joan of France, Duchess of Berry.^[78]
• December 5 – Pope Innocent VIII issues the Papal bull Summis desiderantes affectibus, giving the Inquisition a mission to hunt heretics and witches in Germany, led by Heinrich Kramer and Jacob Sprenger.

Date unknown

• The first sugar mill becomes operational in the Gran Canaria.
• The first cuirassier units (kyrissers) are formed in Austria.
• The King of Portugal appoints a commission of mathematicians to perfect tables, to help seamen find their latitude.
• Maximilian I, Duke of Burgundy, orders foreign merchants to leave Bruges. Most merchants move to Antwerp, greatly contributing to its growth as an international trading center.

January–March

• January 6 – Saint Leopold of Babenburg, who died almost 350 years earlier in 1136, is canonized as a Roman Catholic saint by Pope Innocent VIII. Saint Leopold will be celebrated as the patron saint of Austria in the centuries that follow.^[79][80]
• January 29 – The siege of Vienna, capital of the Holy Roman Empire, is started by the Black Army of the Kingdom of Hungary in the ninth year of the ongoing Austrian-Hungarian War.^[81] Vienna is defended by a force of only 3,000 soldiers and cavalry, against 28,000 soldiers and cavalry of the Black Army, and the city falls to Hungary within four months.^[82]
• February 3 – Three days after returning to Germany following his pilgrimage to the Holy Land, John V, Count of Nassau-Siegen founds the Franciscan monastery at his capital in Siegen.^[83]
• February 9 – The Adana campaign begins when the Mamluk Sultanate, based in the Middle East, begins a siege to recover the city of Adana (now in Turkey), recently captured by the Ottoman Empire. General Uzbek min Tutuh, Governor of Damascus, leads the Mamluk troops
• March 16 – A solar eclipse crosses northern South America and Central Europe. (March 8 O.S.)^[84] Although King Richard III's wife, the Queen Consort, dies on March 16, 1485 as well, the Julian calendar date is eight days sooner than the Gregorian calendar date of March 24.

April–June

• April 16 – Vuk Grgurevic Brancovic, the Despot of Serbia under Hungarian rule, dies after a reign of 14 years, bringing the Brankovic dynasty to an end, leaving the office vacant and prompting Hungary's King Matthias Corvinus to find a suitable heir.
• April 27 – King Charles VIII of France convenes a lit de justice, a special session of the Parlement de Paris at Rouen, confirms the Charter to the Normans, the French acknowledgment of the autonomy of the Duchy of Normandy within the Kingdom of France.^[85]
• May 22 – In Spain, the Christian Crown of Castile seizes the city of Ronda from the Islamic Emirate of Granada.
• May 26 – King James III of Scotland gives royal assent to numerous acts passed by the Scottish Parliament, including the England Act (regarding the peace between "betuix our soverane lord and Richard king of Ingland", and "the marriage and alliance appointed to be made and performed.")^[86]
• June 1 – King Matthias Corvinus of Hungary secures the surrender of Vienna, the Holy Roman Empire's capital, after a siege of four months.^[81] Frederick III, Holy Roman Emperor, had departed the city before the siege began.
• June 22 – King Richard III of England, alerted to news that Henry Tudor, Earl of Richmond, is planning to invade England, orders his lords to be fully alert.^[87]

July–September

• August 1– Accompanied by his own troops and French mercenaries, Henry Tudor sets sail from Honfleur in France with 30 ships to begin his second attempt to invade the Kingdom of England.^[88]
• August 5– The first outbreak of sweating sickness in England begins.
• August 7– After departing France and sailing around the south coast of the island of Britain, Henry Tudor and his troops enter Mill Bay and land near Dale, Pembrokeshire Wales without opposition,^[89] and begin marching toward London to attack King Richard, camping at Haverfordwest. From there, the Tudor supporters march north to Cardigan; Llwyn Dafydd; Llanilar, Aberystwyth; Machynlleth, then turn eastward at Mathafarn on August 14.
• August 11– News of Henry's landing at Wales reaches Richard, who issues a mobilization order that his lords received on August 14.
• August 15– Henry Tudor's army begins crossing the border from Wales into England at Mathafarn, then marches towards London.
• August 22 – At the Battle of Bosworth Field, King Richard III of England is killed in battle by the soldiers of Rhys ap Thomas and Sir William Stanley, in the service of Henry Tudor, Earl of Richmond.^[90] With the death of King Richard, the Yorkist troops retreat.^[91] King Richard's remains will lie undiscovered for 517 years until 2012 when they are found during the excavation of a parking lot in Leicester.^[92][93]
• September 8 – The army of the Grand Duchy of Moscow forces, led by Ivan III, invades the city of Tver, ruled by Mikhail III and capital of the Duchy of Tver. Within 10 days, Ivan is able to claim the Duchy.
• September 15 –
  • Peter Arbues is assaulted while praying in the cathedral at Zaragoza in the Kingdom of Aragon, now part of Spain; he dies on September 17. He had been appointed Inquisitor of Aragon by the Inquisitor General, Tomás de Torquemada, in the campaign against heresy and Spanish Judaism.
  • Less than four weeks after the Battle of Bosworth and the defeat of Richard III, King Henry VII summons the English Parliament, directing the members of the House of Lords and the House of Commons to assemble at Westminster for the November 7 opening of the English Parliament.

October–December

• October 12 – Thomas Lovell is appointed for life as England's Chancellor of the Exchequer by King Henry. He will serve for 39 years before his death in 1524.
• October 30 – The coronation of King Henry VII as King of England is held.
• November 2 – The Peace of Bourges temporarily stops the civil war in France, dubbed "the Mad War". (la Guerre folle)
• November 7 – The first session of the English Parliament under King Henry VII is opened, with Lovell elected as the Speaker of the House of Commons.^[94]
• December 10 – Members of the House of Commons ask King Henry VII to marry Elizabeth of York.

Date unknown

• Leon Battista Alberti's De Re Aedificatoria (written 1443–1452 and published posthumously) becomes the first printed work on architecture.
• From about this date, Leonardo da Vinci produces a number of designs for flying machines, including the aerial screw or helicopter (probably unworkable).^[95]

January–March

• January 13 – In Austria, the siege of Wiener Neustadt by the Kingdom of Hungary begins and will last for more than a year and a half before the city is surrendered to Hungary and is renamed Biencújhely. As part of the terms of peace, Austria cedes much of the territory of Lower Austria to the Hungarian King Matthias Corvinus.^[96]
• January 18 – King Henry VII of England and Elizabeth of York are married, uniting the House of Lancaster and the House of York, and ceremonially ending the Wars of the Roses.^[97]
• February 16 – Archduke Maximilian I of Habsburg is elected King of the Romans at Frankfurt.
• February 18 –
  • Lord Chaitanya Mahaprabhu is born in the town of Nadia, West Bengal, India, just after sunset. He is regarded as an incarnation, or avatar, of Lord Krsna, and later comes to inaugurate the sankirtana movement, or the chanting of the Holy Names of the Lord. This chanting, or mantra meditation, is first brought to the United States in 1965, by A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada.^[98]
  • At a meeting of six electors of the Holy Roman Empire at Frankfurt-am-Main, the Archduke Maximilian of Austria, is elected as the King of the Romans and ruler of the Germans, as the son of Frederick III, Holy Roman Emperor.^[99]
• March 1 – King James III of Scotland gives royal assent to acts passed by the Scottish Parliament, including the Tallow Act, the Hides Act and the Currency Act.
• March 4 – The first English Parliament of King Henry VII is dissolved after more than four months.
• March 6 – John Morton is appointed by King Henry VII as the Lord Chancellor of England and chief justice of the Court of Chancery.^[100]
• March 10 – The government of the Free Imperial City of Köln (Cologne), now part of Germany, begins the removal of all prostitutes from the city.^[101]
• March 11 – In Berlin, Johann von Hohenzollern becomes the new Elector of Brandenburg, the independent Electorate within the Holy Roman Empire, upon the death of his father, the Elector Albrecht III Achilles.^[102]
• March 23 – After getting into a war with the Kingdom of Naples by siding with rebels in the Barons' Conspiracy, Pope Innocent VIII sends the Papal Legate, Cardinal Giuliano della Rovere (who will become later become Pope Julius II), as an envoy to the Kingdom of France to seek assistance from King Charles VIII.^[103] King Charles sends a delegation to Rome two months later, with no resolution made.

April–June

• April 9 – The coronation of Maximilian the First as "King of the Romans" takes place at Aachen, in that the Holy Roman Imperial capital of Vienna was captured by Hungary.^[104]
• April 21 – The adoption of the Sentència Arbitral de Guadalupe ends the War of the Remences, in the Principality of Catalonia.
• April 23 – The Stafford and Lovell rebellion is started against King Henry VII of England by three House of York supporters, Sir Humphrey Stafford, Thomas Stafford and Francis Lovell, 1st Viscount Lovell, who had hoped to restore the Yorkist monarchy led by the late King Richard III.^[105]
• May 1 – After being rejected twice by Portugal's King Joao II, Italian-born explorer Christopher Columbus (Cristoforo Colombo) is granted an audience by Queen Isabella I of Castile and presents to her his proposal to sail westward to find an alternate route to Asia. The Queen refers the matter to a committee of experts, who conclude (as the Portuguese advisers did in 1484) that Columbus has underestimated the distance to Asia. However, she and King Ferdinand of Aragon elect to keep Columbus from taking his plans elsewhere, and grant him an allowance of 14,000 maravedis per year, and an expense account for food and lodging while in Spain.^[106]
• May 13 – Humphrey Stafford and his brother Thomas Stafford, who had been given sanctuary by the church at Culham, Oxfordshire, are forcibly removed by Sir John Savage and 60 armed men on charges of treason.^[107][108] Protests are made to Pope Innocent VIII against the breaking of the right of sanctuary in the Roman Catholic Church, and while Thomas is pardoned by King Henry, Humphrey is executed for treason on July 8.
• May 31 – The French delegation from King Charles arrives in Rome to discuss the assistance request from Pope Innocent, but negotiations fail because of Cardinal Borgia's support of the Spanish King of Naples.^[103]
• June 7 – Pope Innocent VIII responds to complaints made in a letter to him from King Matthias Corvinus of Hungary and Austria, and declares that the Holy See does not resent Hungary for its war against the Holy Roman Empire, and promises to examine the Hungarian King's concerns.^[109]
• June 13 – King Henry VII of England issues a proclamation confirming that Pope Innocent VIII had issued a papal bull recognizing Henry's title as the rightful King. In the same proclamation, King Henry asserts that opposition to his title will be punishable by excommunication under the papal bull, and declares that the marriage to Elizabeth of York ended "the variances, dissensions and debates that had been in the realm of England between the houses of the Dukes of Lancaster on the one part and the house of the Duchy of York on the other."^[110] King Henry uses the new technology of the printing press as his means of mass communication throughout England, and hires printer Walter de Machlinea mass produce the declaration for distribution.^[111]

July–September

• July 12 – Pope Innocent VIII issues the papal bull Catholice fidei defensionem, granting plenary indulgences to people who took part in the war of Casimir IV Jagiellon against the Ottoman Empire.^[112]
• August 10 – The Papal States, led by Pope Innocent VIII, sign a treaty with King Ferrante of Naples to avoid an invasion.^[113]
• August 14 – Marco Barbarigo, Doge of the Republic of Venice, dies after only nine months in office, and his brother Agostino Barbarigo is elected to replace him.^[114]
• September 11 – The Conspiracy of the Barons, a revolt by the Neapolitan nobility, begins in the Kingdom of Naples with the rebels taking an oath at the Chiesa di Sant'Antonio Abate in Campania against the rule of King Ferrante, the Spanish prince made King of Naples after the kingdom's conquest by the Crown of Aragon.^[115]
• September 20 – An heir is born to Elizabeth of York and King Henry VII of England, being invested as Arthur, Prince of Wales in 1490. Unfortunately, Arthur will die from an illness at age 15, seven years before the death of King Henry.^[116]

October–December

• October 6 – Cardinal John Morton becomes the new Roman Catholic Archbishop of Canterbury, Primate of All England.^[100]
• October 10 –
  • King João II of Portugal appoints Bartolomeu Dias to lead an expedition to sail around what will be called the Cape of Good Hope, the southern tip of Africa, in the hope of finding a trade route to India.^[117]
  • The Siege of Retz in Austria comes to an end after four days when the inhabitants surrender to the Black Army of Hungary and King Matthias Corvinus.^[118]
• October 14 – At Srinagar (now in India), Fateh Shah Miri becomes the new Sultan of Kashmir after defeating the Sultan Muhammad Shah Mir.^[119]
• November 5 – At Enniskillen, capital of the Kingdom of Fermanagh in what is now County Fermanagh on the Republic of Ireland's border with Northern Ireland, King Éamonn mac Thomáis Óig abdicates and is succeeded briefly by his brother Thomáis Óg mac Thomáis Óig, who is deposed by Seánn mac Pilib meic Thomáis Mhóir before the end of the year.^[120][121]
• December 18 – The Conspiracy of the Barons comes to an end when the Aragon troops and King Ferrante recapture the city of Venosa.^[122]

Date unknown

• Tízoc, Aztec ruler of Tenochtitlan, dies. Some sources suggest that he was poisoned, others that he was the victim of "sorcery" or illness. He is succeeded by his brother Āhuitzotl.
• Sigismund, Archduke of Tyrol, issues Europe's first large silver coin, the guldengroschen, which will later become the thaler.
• Giovanni Pico della Mirandola returns to Florence, and writes Oration on the Dignity of Man.
• Johann Reuchlin begins studying the Hebrew language.
• The first written use of the word football is made to describe the ball itself.^{[citation needed]}

January–March

• January 29 – Richard Foxe becomes Bishop of Exeter.
• February 2 – Acting on rumors of a rebellion in England, led by a person posing as Edward Plantagenet, 17th Earl of Warwick, King Henry VII convenes a meeting of the Privy Council at Sheen Palace in Richmond, to discuss a response to the situation. The first measure is to bring Edward, son of the last Earl of Warwick, out of imprisonment at the Tower of London and to parade him through London to dispel the rumors.^[123]
• February 8 – Arrest warrants for treason are issued by the English Privy Council for Henry Bodrugan, John Beaumont and other persons accused of having traveled to the counties of Devon and Cornwall to "stir up sedition and rebellion.^[124]
• February 11 – Pope Innocent VIII renews the designation of Tomás de Torquemada as the Grand Inquisitor of Spain in the kingdoms of Castile, Leon, Aragon, and Valencia.^[125]
• February 26 – At the insistence of Cardinal Rodrigo de Borja Pope Innocent VIII, authorizes a Christian crusade and against the Muslim Moors, to start on September 1 and to be funded for one year.^[126]
• March 6 – Cardinal John Morton, Archbishop of Canterbury since January 21, becomes the new Lord Chancellor of England, succeeding the late Thomas Bourchier.^[127]
• March 27 – Pope Innocent VIII issues an order designating the Roman Catholic Archbishop of St. Andrews, Robert Blackadder, as the Primate of All Scotland, outraging the bishops in Glasgow and the rest of Scotland.^[128]
• March – Sigismund, Archduke of Austria, largely on the poor advice of his counselors, declares war on Venice, and seizes silver mines in and around the Sugana Valley.

April–June

• April 27 – In Spain, the town of Vélez in Muslim Granada becomes the first conquest by the invasion by Christian Castile and Aragon, surrendering after 10 days.^[129]
• May 7 –
  • After failed attempts by King Ferdinand of Aragon to negotiate Granada's surrender of the city of Malaqa, the siege of Málaga begins, with the Granadan General Hamet el Zegri defending against a larger contingent of Aragonese and Castilian troops. At the same time, the Spanish fleet blocks the harbor and all access to Malaga from the sea. The city surrenders after three months.^[129]
  • The Kingdom of Portugal dispatches Pêro da Covilhã and Afonso de Paiva across Europe and Africa to inquire about a sea route to India, as well as to inquire about the enigmatic Prester John. Covilha reaches Ethiopia but is not allowed to leave, while de Paiva is never heard from again.^[130]
• May 24 – Lambert Simnel, a supporter of the late King Richard III who is leading a rebellion against King Henry VII, is crowned King "Edward VI of England" in Christ Church Cathedral, Dublin, Ireland.^[131] He claims to be Edward Plantagenet, 17th Earl of Warwick, and challenges Henry VII for the throne of England, where he lands on June 5.
• May 18 – The army of the Grand Principality of Moscow begins the siege of Kazan as troops led by Daniil Kholmsky after a dispute begins over the succession to the throne of the Khanate of Kazan.^[132]
• May 19 – The witch-hunters' manual Malleus Maleficarum, written by Heinrich Kramer with Jacob Sprenger, is approved by Catholic theologians from the University of Cologne and at Speyer in the Holy Roman Empire. The preface states that all readers should know that "in the year since the Birth of Our Lord 1487, in the fifth indiction, on Saturday, the 19th day of May, at five in the afternoon or thereabouts," professors Henricus Institoris and Jacobus Sprenger certified the text on behalf of Pope Innocent VIII. The preface notes that although some preachers of the Word of God claim in sermons "that sorceresses do not exist", the authors' intention is "to alleviate this ignorance" and to "exterminate the sorceresses" by "appropriate methods of sentencing."^[133]
• May 27 – At Chiang Mai, in what is now part of northern Thailand, King of Lan Na, Prince Yotchiangrai becomes the new reigning monarch upon the death of his father, King Tilokaraj.^[134]
• June 5 – The rebel army led by Lambert Simnel, who has proclaimed himself as "King Edward VI" lands on Piel Island at Lancashire.^[135]
• June 16 – At the Battle of Stoke Field: the army of the pretender Lambert Simnel, led by John de la Pole, Earl of Lincoln, and Francis Lovell, 1st Viscount Lovell, is crushed by troops loyal to Henry VII.^[136]
• June 19 – French–Breton War: The siege of the city of Nantes in the Duchy of Brittany is started by King Charles VIII of France, but fails after less than two months and is lifted on August 6.^[137]

July–September

• July 9 – The Khanate of Khazan surrenders after a siege of seven weeks, and Khazan becomes a vassal of the Russians in the Grand Principality of Moscow.^[132]
• July 11 – The Battle of Aldy Charrish takes place in Scotland as the Clan Mackay defeats the Clan Ross.^[138]
• August 6 – French–Breton War: King Charles VIII of France ends the siege of Nantes after seven weeks.^[137]
• August 10 – The County of Tyrol within the Holy Roman Empire defeats the attack of the Republic of Venice at the Battle of Calliano, with 1,400 of the Venetians and 700 of the Tyroleans killed.
• August 11 – The Papal States and the Kingdom of Naples sign a peace treaty to end the war that had started a year and half earlier.^[139]
• August 13 – The siege of Málaga ends, when the Spanish take the Granadan city.^[129] Most of the 11,000 surviving residents are taken prisoner and then sold into slavery in Castile and Andalusia.^[140][141]
• August 17 – Wiener Neustadt, the last town in Lower Austria to resist Hungary's King Matthias Corvinus, surrenders to his army.^[142]
• August 18 – The Catholic Monarchs Ferdinand and Isabella make a triumphant entrance into the newly captured city of Malaga.^[143]
• August – Bartolomeu Dias leaves Lisbon, on his voyage to the Cape of Good Hope.
• September 9 – Zhu Youcheng becomes the new Ming Dynasty Emperor of China upon the death of his father Zhu Jianru[, bringing an end to the Chengua era and beginning the Hongzhi era.^[144]

October–December

• October 1 – Royal assent is given by King James III of Scotland to acts passed by the Scottish Parliament, including the Royal Burghs Act 1487 (requiring annual meetings of the commissioners of Scotland's town governments); the annexation of Lochmaben Castle; the Sea Fishing Act (regulating the herring industry); and the Goods of Convicts Act (allowing the confiscation of possessions of persons arrested for trespassing).
• November 9 – The second parliament of King Henry VII assembles at Westminster with John Mondurant as Speaker of the House of Commons. The parliament lasts for slightly more than five weeks.
• November 30 – Albert IV, Duke of Bavaria promulgates the Reinheitsgebot, specifying three ingredients – water, malt and hops – for the brewing of beer.
• December 8 – Bartolomeu Dias and his crew, sailing southward along the African coast in the caravels São Cristóvão and São Pantaleão arrive at what is now Namibia's Walvis Bay, which Dias calls O Golfo de Santa Maria da Conceição.^[145][146]
• December 16 – The war between Hungary and Austria is ended with an armistice signed at Sankt Pölten between Duke Albert III of Saxony (on behalf of the Holy Roman Empire) and Hungary's King Matthias Corvinus.^[147]
• December 18 – The second parliament of King Henry VII is dissolved in England after 39 days.
• December 19 – (7 Panquetzaliztli of the year 8 acatl) During the reign of the Mexican Aztec Emperor Ahuitzotl, the Temple of Huitzilopochtli, sixth in a series is completed and dedicated in Tenochtitlan to the Aztec god of war.^[148]
• December 31 – Pope Innocent VIII establishes the office of the Secretary of State of the Vatican by approving the apostolic constitution Non Debet Reprehensibile, with 24 apostolic secretaries, the most important being the Secretarius Domesticus.^[149]

Date unknown

• Italian architects work on the Moscow Kremlin.
• Stockport Grammar School is founded, in the north of England.

January–March

• January 8 – The Royal Netherlands Navy is formed by the Ordinance of Admiralty, issued by Archduke Maximilian of Austria, co-ruler of the Burgundian Netherlands.^[150]
• January 20 – In the Kingdom of France, Louis II, Duke of Orleans and François II, Duke of Brittany, are both declared rebels by the Parlement of Paris.
• February 2 – Prince James, Duke of Rothesay, the 15-year-old son of King James III of Scotland and heir to the throne, leaves his residence at Stirling Castle and joins a rebellion against his father. Prince James sides with the Earl of Angus and the Earl of Argyll in the rebellion, which ultimately leads to the King's death.^[151]
• February 4 – Bartolomeu Dias of Portugal lands in Mossel Bay^[152] after his ships had been blown off course while sailing southeastward along Africa's coast in search of the Cape of Good Hope. After having turned northward, Dias realizes later that he had actually rounded the Cape and seen it from a distance as his ships were sailing westward to reach his prior position.
• February 14 – The Swabian League is re-established at a ceremony in Esslingen am Neckar as a military alliance of the Electorate of the Palatinate, the Duchy of Bavaria, monarchies and archbishoprics in Bayreuth, Hesse, Ansbach, Baden, Tyrol, Württemberg, Mainz and Trier, as well as 22 other "free cities" in the Holy Roman Empire.^[153]
• February 15 – The Frari Triptych is completed by Giovanni Bellini, and he marks the date by placing a label on the back of the canvas.^[154]
• February 28 – Choe Bu (1454-1504), the Korean Commissioner of Registers for the island of Cheju, shipwrecks on the south east coast of China in Taizhou, Zhejiang.
• March 12 – The Bartolomeu Dias expedition from Portugal arrives at the Cape of Good Hope and the crew of the two expedition ships, São Cristóvão and São Pantaleão, become the first Europeans to set foot at Good Hope. They anchor at the Boesmans River at what is now the South African city of Kwaaihoek.^[155] In that the landing took place on the feast day of Saint Gregory, the Portuguese sailors erect the Padrão de São Gregório, a stone pillar and cross, to mark their arrival.^[156]
• March 14 – Hadım Ali Pasha, the Ottoman beylerbey of Karaman, recaptures Adana and Tarsus from the Mamluks.^[157]
• March 21 – The Treaty of Valencia is signed in Spain between the Kingdom of Navarre and the "Catholic Monarchy" of Aragon and Castile.^[158]

April–June

• April 23 – The Siege of Châteaubriant in the Duchy of Brittany, started by the army of France, ends after eight days. Commanded by Louis II de la Trémoille, the French Army had bombarded the city with cannon fire and forced its surrender.
• April 23 – Konrad the Red of the Piast dynasty inherits the rights to the Duchy of Warsaw upon the death of his older brother, Duke Bolesław V, but the nobles refuse to accept him. Konrad and Boleslaw's younger brother Janusz II of Płock become the new rulers. Duke Konrad III the Red's promises to pay homage to John Albert of April 20, 1496.^[159]
• April 24 – A judgment of confiscation is declared by a French court against the goods of Prince Louis of Orleans, who had sought to overthrow his cousin, King Charles VIII
• June 11 – King James III of Scotland is killed at the Battle of Sauchieburn, in a rebellion in which his son, James, Duke of Rothesay, is on the other side. Rothesay becomes King James IV and spends the rest of his life regretting his role in his father's death.^[160]

July–September

• July 12 – Joseon Dynasty official Choe Bu returns to Korea, after months of shipwrecked travel in China.^[161]
• July 19 – France's siege of Fougères in Brittany, led by General Louis de la Trémoille, ends after seven days with the French capture of the city.^[162]
• July 28 – Battle of Saint-Aubin-du-Cormier: Troops loyal to King Charles VIII of France defeat rebel forces, led by the Dukes of Orleans and Brittany, bringing the "Mad War" ( la Guerre folle) to an end.^[163]
• August 17 – The Mamluk Sultanate defeats the Ottoman Empire Army in the Battle of Aga-Cayiri fought in the Cilicia region of Asia Minor, now in Turkey.^[164]
• August 20 – The Treaty of Sablé is signed in Sablé-sur-Sarthe by Francois, Duke of Brittany and Charles VIII, King of France, ending the "Mad War". Under the terms of the treaty, Francois agrees for the Duchy of Brittany to be a vassal of King Charles, and cedes the Duchy's territories of Saint Malo, Dinan, Fougères and Saint-Aubin-du-Cormier to the French crown. Francois also agrees that before arranging his daughter, Anne of Brittany, to be married, he will seek the King's consent. In return, Charles removes the French Army troops from Brittany.^[165]
• September 9 – Anne of Brittany becomes Duchess of Brittany at the age of 11. Her marriage to King Charles VIII in 1491 effectively ends Breton independence from France.

October–December

• October 17 – King James IV of Scotland gives royal assent to numerous laws approved by the Scottish Parliament during its 1488 session, including the France Act ("to renew the confideracioun betuix the realmez of France and Scotland") and the Rebel Officers of Law Act (disbarring and suspending any wardens, justices or other officials "who were in battle at Stirling against our sovereign Lord").^[166]
• November 18 – In the "Squire Francis War" (Jonker Fransenoorlog), a new phase of the Dutch civil war in the Burgundian Netherlands county of Holland, the rebel army of the Hook faction, led by Frans van Brederode, captures the city of Rotterdam, capital of Holland.^[167]
• December 23 – Isabella of Aragon, daughter of King Alfonso II of Naples, enters a marriage by proxy to Gian Galeazzo Sforza, Duke of Milan.^[168]

Date unknown

• Jasper Tudor, 1st Duke of Bedford, takes possession of Cardiff Castle.
• Michelangelo Buonarroti becomes apprentice to Domenico Ghirlandaio.
• The city of Bikaner in western India is founded by Rao Bika.
• Rathbornes Candles is established in Dublin; the company is still trading in the 21st century.

January–March

• January 3 – Johann von Tiefen becomes the new Grand Master of the Teutonic Order upon the death of Martin von Wetzhausen.^[169]
• January 13 – The English Parliament opens at Westminster, with Thomas Fitzwilliam as the Speaker of the House of Commons. The day after its opening, the Treason Act 1488 and the Collusive Actions Act 1488 go into effect on resolution of the English Parliament.^[170]
• February 2 – Isabella of Aragon, daughter of King Alfonso II of Naples, marries Gian Galeazzo Sforza, Duke of Milan, as part of a closer alliance of Naples and Milan in Italy.^[171]
• February 10 – The Treaty of Redon is signed between the Duchy of Brittany and the Kingdom of England, with an agreement approved by King Henry VII for England to provide 6,000 soldiers, with the expense to be paid by Brittany.^[172]
• February 11 – Maximilian of Austria begins the siege of Rotterdam, reclaiming Holland's capital three months after the Burgundian Netherlands city had been captured in the Holland civil war by the Hoek rebels.^[173]
• February 14 – Two alliance agreements are signed in the Austrian city of Dordrecht, with the Archduchy of Austria allying against France, with the Spanish Kingdom of Castile and the Kingdom of England. The tripartite agreement is completed with Castile and England reaching a mutual treaty on March 26.

April–June

• March 14 – The Queen of Cyprus, Catherine Cornaro, sells her kingdom to the Republic of Venice.
• March 26 – The Treaty of Medina del Campo is signed between England and the Spanish kingdom of Castile and Aragon, and includes provision for a marriage of King Henry's son and heir apparent Arthur, Prince of Wales, and Isabella's daughter Catherine of Aragon.
• April 6 – At Jodhpur, in what is now the state of Rajasthan in India, Rao Satal becomes the new ruler of the Kingdom of Marwar upon the death of his father, King Rao Jodha.^[174]
• April 28 – Henry Percy, 4th Earl of Northumberland, is killed in the village of South Kilvington in Yorkshire while meeting with John à Chambre in an attempt to stop the Yorkshire rebellion of 1489, which had started over King Henry VII's raising of taxes in Northumberland and Yorkshire.^[175]
• May 1 – Italian painter Cima da Conegliano completes his painting Madonna and Child with Saints Giacomo and Girolamo.^[176]
• May 28 – Gerontius, Metropolitan of Moscow and leader of the Russian Orthodox Church, dies after a reign of almost 16 years.^[177] The office will remain vacant for 16 months until the election of Zosimus the Bearded on September 26, 1490.^[178]
• June 4 – Squire Francis War: The Battle of the Lek is fought between ships on the Lek river in the Burgundian Netherlands, near Utrecht, between the Hoek rebels (led by Jan van Naaldwijk) and the Cods, the ruling nobility of Burgundian Holland. The 1,400 Hoek warriors suffer 250 deaths, with 400 taken prisoner and van Nalldwijk and the remaining warriors retreating.^[173]
• June 29 – King James IV grants Andrew, Lord Gray, the lands and Barony of Lundie in Scotland.^[179]

July–September

• July 4 – King King James IV of Scotland gives royal assent to numerous acts passed by the Scottish Parliament, including the Siege of Castles held by Rebels Act 1489, and the renewal of alliances with France and Denmark.^[180]
• July 17 – In India's Delhi Sultanate, Sikandar Lodi succeeds Bahlul Khan Lodi as the new Sultan of Delhi.^[181]
• August 27 – In Morocco, Portugal's fortress at Graciosa falls to the troops of the Moroccan Sultan Muhammad al-Wattasi after a six week siege.^[182]

September–December

• September 1 – King Ferdinand I of Naples is excommunicated from the Roman Catholic Church and declared deposed from office by a bull issued by Pope Innocent VIII. King Ferdinand, who had been punished for refusing to pay dues to the Pope, disregards the papal order and rules over Naples for the rest of his life.^[183]
• October 2 – The Rorschacher Klosterbruch, a civil war in Switzerland, comes to an end after three months when the Abbey of Saint Gall (in the canton of St. Gallen) signs a peace with the canton of Appenzell.^[184]
• November 2 – After years of conquests within Central Europe, King Matthias Corvinus of Hungary and his army are routed at the battle of Uherský Brod and forced to retreat back to Hungary^[185]
• November 29 – Arthur Tudor, heir apparent to the throne of England as the son of King Henry VII, is named Prince of Wales.^[186]
• December 3 – Austria and France agree to make a treaty to end the hostilities between the two nations. The Peace of Frankfurt is formally signed on July 22, 1490.
• December 11 – Jeannetto de Tassis is appointed Chief Master of Postal Services in Innsbruck; his descendants, the Thurn und Taxis Family, later run much of the postal system of Europe.

Date unknown

• Typhus first appears in Europe, during the Siege of Baza in the Granada War.
• A gold coin equal to one pound sterling, called a sovereign, is issued for Henry VII of England.
• King Henry VII of England gives a town charter to the port of Southwold.^[187]
• Lucas Watzenrode becomes bishop of Warmia.
• Johannes Widmann publishes his mercantile arithmetic Behende und hüpsche Rechenung auff allen Kauffmanschafft in Leipzig, containing the first printed use of plus and minus signs, to indicate trading surpluses or shortages.