Category: 15th Century
- The Fifteenth Century CE, i.e. 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.
The Papacy was split in two parts in Europe for decades, until the Council of Constance.
Spanish and Portuguese explorations led to the first European sightings of the Americas and the sea passage along Cape of Good Hope to India, in the last decade of the century. After these first sightings by Europeans, transportation increased to Europe from America. Native indigenous cultures that lived within the continent of the Americas had already developed advanced civilizations that attest to thousands of years of human presence; sophisticated engineering, irrigation, agriculture, religion and government existed before the arrival of the Spanish and the Portuguese. The idea that Europeans "discovered" America can lead to misunderstanding the true nature of the encounter between two distinct and independent civilizations, namely European and Indigenous American.
In European history, the 15th century is seen as the bridge between the Middle Ages, the Early Renaissance, and the Early modern period. (1)
Significant people
Abu Sa'id al-Afif
- Samaritan physician
Afonso de Albuquerque (1453–1515)
- Portuguese nobleman
- Naval general. Military and administrative activities conquered and established Portuguese colonial empire in the Indian ocean.
- Generally considered military genius for strategic world conquest .
Constantine XI (1404–1453)
- last Byzantine Emperor and Roman Emperor
- co-ruled Spain with Isabella I of Castile. Both unified Spain (1452–1516).
George Kastrioti, Skenderbeg
- Albanian Prince
- resisted Ottomans for almost 30 years (1443–1468).
Guru Nanak
- founded Sikh Religion (1469).
Henry 'the Navigator'
- Infante Henrique
- Duke of Viseu (1394–1460);
- House of Aviz
- important during early Portuguese Empire
- began Europe's global exploration.
Henry V of England (1387–1422)
- victor: Battle of Agincourt (1415).
Henry VII of England
- founded Tudor dynasty (1457–1509).
- co-ruled Spain with Ferdinand II of Aragon
- helped unify Spain
- financed New World exploration (1451–1504).
Ivan III of Russia (1440-1505)
- Grand Duke of Moscow
- ended dominance of Golden Horde over the Rus
Jan Hus (c. 1369–1415)
- Bohemian
- religious thinker and reformer
Joan of Arc (1412–1431)
- military commander
- French heroine
Johannes Gutenberg
- inventor of printing press (c. 1398 – 1468)
John Hunyadi (1387–1456)
- Regent: Kingdom of Hungary
- victor: Siege of Belgrade 1456
Kazimierz IV Jagiellon (1427–1492)
- King of Poland
- Grand Duke of Lithuania
Louis XI of France (1423–1483)
- Roi de France
Matthias Corvinus of Hungary
- Renaissance ruler (1443–1490).
Mehmed II (1432–1481)
- Sultan of the Ottoman Empire
- Conquered Constantinople
Mir Chakar Khan Rind (1468–1565)
- Baloch king
Oba Ewuare
- transformed city state of Benin into Benin Empire
Princes in the Tower
- sons of Edward IV and Elizabeth Woodville.
- Edward V (1470–1483?)
- Richard of Shrewsbury, 1st Duke of York (1473–1483?)
Richard III of England (1452–1485)
- Last Yorkist king
- Last Plantagenet
- probably orchestrated murder of Princes in the Tower
- Beaten by Henry VII
Sejong the Great of Joseon (1397–1450)
- Korean monarch
- developed Hangul alphabet
Stephen III of Moldavia (1437–1504)
- aka Stephen the Great
- ruler of Moldavia
- Romanian national hero
- Resisted Ottomans
Vlad III Dracula, Prince of Wallachia (1431–1476)
- led defense of his territory against Ottoman Empire
- mass-murderer
Exploration
- Johann Schiltberger (1381 – c. 1440). German. Middle East and Central Asian traveler.
- Diogo de Azambuja (1432–1518). Portuguese. Explored African coast.
- John Cabot (c. 1450 – 1499). Italian. Claimed Newfoundland for England.
- Pedro Álvares Cabral (c. 1467 – c. 1520). Portuguese navigator and explorer.
- Pêro Vaz de Caminha (c. 1450 – 1500). Portuguese. Found Brazil with Pedro Álvares Cabral.
- Christopher Columbus (1451–1506) – Italian. Sailed 1492. Landed in New World for Spain.
- Niccolò Da Conti (1395–1469). Venetian merchant and explorer, born in Chioggia. Traveled to India and Southeast Asia.
- Bartolomeu Dias (c. 1450 – 1500) – Portuguese. Sailed from Portugal to Cape of Good Hope.
- Vasco da Gama: Reached India for Portugal. Creates first maritime alternative to Silk Road (c. 1469 – 1524)
- Zheng He. Chinese eunuch admiral and explorer (1371–1433).
- João Fernandes Lavrador (1445?–1501). Portuguese. One of the first Europeans to reach Newfoundland and Labrador.
- João da Nova (c. 1460 – 1509). Portuguese. Explored Atlantic and Indian Ocean.
- Amerigo Vespucci (c. 1454 – 1512). Italian. Sailed 1499, 1502. Explored east coast of South America for Spain.
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Person Profiles (42)
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