1450 – 1460s

Events in the 1450s 15

• 330 – 1453 Byzantine Empire The Byzantine Empire -- the Eastern Roman Empire -- endured for 1,123 years from the founding of Constantinople by Constantine the Great in 330 AD to its fall to the Ottoman sultan Mehmed II on 29 May 1453. At its height under Justinian I (527-565) it controlled the Mediterranean basin from Spain to Mesopotamia. It was the largest and most sophisticated state in the medieval world, preserving Greek and Roman knowledge through the Dark Ages, spreading Orthodox Christianity to the Slavic world, and providing the institutional and cultural framework from which modern Europe emerged. Its capital Constantinople was the greatest city in Christendom for nearly a millennium.
• 1261 – 1453 The Final Century (1261–1453) The Palaiologan period (1261-1453) is the last chapter of Byzantine history -- a twilight of extraordinary cultural flowering (the Chora Church mosaics, the Hesychast controversy, the Council of Florence) alongside relentless territorial contraction. Civil wars, the Black Death, Serbian and Ottoman pressure reduce the empire to Constantinople and a few scattered territories. Constantine XI, the last emperor, dies fighting on the walls on 29 May 1453 as Mehmed II's army enters the city. The empire of Constantine the Great ends 1,123 years after its foundation.
• 1299 – 1453 The Rise (1299–1453) The Ottoman rise spans 154 years from Osman I's founding of the dynasty to Mehmed II's conquest of Constantinople. Beginning as one of many small Turkish principalities (beylik) in northwestern Anatolia, the Ottomans expand systematically through military skill, pragmatic administration and the powerful ideology of ghazi (holy warrior) frontier culture. They cross into Europe in 1354, establish their capital at Adrianople (Edirne) in 1369, defeat a Christian coalition at Kosovo (1389) and Nicopolis (1396), survive Timur's devastating intervention (1402) and recover to take Constantinople on 29 May 1453 -- transforming a regional principality into a world empire.
• 1337 – 1453 Hundred Years' War England versus France A series of wars fought between England and France over territorial claims and succession.
• 1390 – 1453 John Dunstaple English Renaissance composer John Dunstaple was England's greatest medieval composer whose use of thirds and sixths profoundly influenced the development of Continental Renaissance polyphony.
• 1450 – 1517 Heinrich Isaac Franco-Flemish Renaissance composer Heinrich Isaac was a prolific composer who served the Medici in Florence and later the Habsburg court. His Choralis Constantinus was one of the largest collections of sacred polyphony.
• 1450 – 1516 Hieronymus Bosch Northern Renaissance · Netherlands Hieronymus Bosch (c. 1450 – August 9, 1516) was a Dutch painter whose fantastical visions of heaven, hell and human folly remain among the most extraordinary in Western art. The Garden of Earthly Delights is his masterpiece.
• 1450 – 1521 Josquin des Prez Renaissance polyphony master The most celebrated composer of the Renaissance, whose masses, motets and chansons defined the Franco-Flemish style and influenced all who followed.
• 1452 – 1519 Leonardo da Vinci Painter, sculptor, engineer, scientist — the ultimate Renaissance man Leonardo di ser Piero da Vinci was born on April 15, 1452 in Vinci, near Florence, and died on May 2, 1519 in Clos Lucé, France. The most diversely talented person who ever lived, he excelled as painter, sculptor, architect, musician, mathematician, engineer, inventor, anatomist, geologist, botanist and writer.
• 1453 – 1566 The Golden Age (1453–1566) The Ottoman golden age spans from the conquest of Constantinople to the death of Suleiman the Magnificent -- 113 years in which the empire reaches its maximum extent and cultural zenith. Mehmed II consolidates the Balkans and Anatolia. Selim I (1512-1520) doubles the empire's size in eight years, conquering Persia, Egypt and Syria and assuming the caliphate. Suleiman I (1520-1566) campaigns from Vienna to the Persian Gulf, builds the greatest legal and architectural programme in Ottoman history, and presides over a court of extraordinary sophistication. At his death the empire controls more territory than any state since Rome.
• 1453 Fall of Constantinople -- 29 May 1453 Mehmed II's Ottoman army, equipped with massive bronze cannons cast by the Hungarian engineer Urban, breaches the Theodosian Walls on 29 May 1453 after a 53-day siege. Emperor Constantine XI Palaiologos, the last Byzantine emperor, tears off his imperial insignia and dies fighting with his men at the breach. The city is sacked for three days. Mehmed rides to Hagia Sophia and orders it converted to a mosque. The Eastern Roman Empire, 1,123 years after Constantine's foundation, is extinguished.
• 1453 Fall of Constantinople -- 29 May 1453 Mehmed II's conquest of Constantinople on 29 May 1453 transforms the Ottomans from a Balkan power into the heirs of Rome. The 53-day siege employs massive bronze cannon cast by the Hungarian engineer Urban; the Theodosian Walls that had held for 1,000 years are breached. Emperor Constantine XI dies on the walls. Mehmed rides to Hagia Sophia and converts it to a mosque. He adopts the title Kayser-i Rum (Caesar of Rome) and begins rebuilding the depopulated city as the capital of a world empire. The conquest reshapes the Mediterranean world.
• 1455 – 1487 Wars of the Roses Lancaster versus York Civil wars fought between rival branches of the Plantagenet dynasty.
• 1457 – 1505 Jacob Obrecht Franco-Flemish Renaissance composer Jacob Obrecht was a leading composer of the generation after Ockeghem whose masses and motets demonstrate great rhythmic vitality and contrapuntal skill.
• 1459 – 1522 Jean Mouton French Renaissance composer Jean Mouton was a French composer who served the French royal court and was admired by contemporaries including Josquin. His motets show refined contrapuntal technique.