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Sweden's diet recognizes the claims of Engelbrecht Engelbrechtsen and elects him regent for the weak Erik XIII (Erik VII of Denmark), now 53, who has failed to recover Schleswig from the dukes of Holstein (see 1434; 1438).
Aragon's Alfonso V (the Magnanimous) tries to take Naples following the deaths of Louis III of Anjou and Joanna (Giovanna) II (see 1432). He blockades the port of Gaeta but a Genoese squadron defeats him off the island of Ponza; captured along with many others and transported as a prisoner, first to Genoa and then to Milan, where he beguiles Filippo Maria Visconti into joining forces with him and the Genoese in fighting Florence, Venice, and Pope Eugenius IV for possession of Naples (see 1442).
John Plantagenet, duke of Bedford, dies in France September 14 at age 46, leaving England without a strong hand on the Continent. The capricious former queen consort Isabelle of Bavaria dies at Paris in September at age 64, despised by the French and English alike. Philippe le Bon, duc de Burgundy, breaks with the English and signs a treaty at Arras September 21 recognizing Charles VII as France's sole and true king, but only after Charles has got down on his knees and atoned in public for the murder of Jean the Fearless in 1419 at Montereau. Paris remains in English hands, and England refuses to make peace on terms acceptable to the French.
Disbanded soldiers roam the French countryside, plundering villages to feed themselves, cutting down vineyards and grainfields, violating the women, and torturing the children, but Charles VII rallies his troops under the fleur de lis. The people of Cherington, Vincennes, Corbeil, Brie, Comte Robert, and St. Germain-en-Laye welcome the army as liberators, Parisians who have supported the English take refuge in the Bastille, the king arrives at Montereau October 1, and he enters Paris November 12. Agnès Sorel has helped Charles effect reconciliations with the feudal lords and takes part in his triumphal entry procession, wearing a gold-adorned bodice of red velvet, a mantle of ermine, a long azure veil, a gold-and-emerald necklace, and shoes à la poulaine (pointed at the toes) (see 1433). Pamphlets circulated by the English at Paris say that her presence disturbs the queen, who, in fact, loves the young woman, whose smiles and kindness have had such a good influence on the king and his policies (see 1436).
German "witch" Agnes Bernauer is drowned in the Danube at Straubing. Daughter of a poor surgeon in Augsburg, she was secretly married 3 years ago to Albrecht, only son of Austria's Duke Ernst, and the duke has her drowned while Albrecht is away. Still only 16, he takes up arms against his father but will agree after a year of warfare to marry Anna of Brunswick.
Dutch printers at Haarlem use movable type (see Antwerp, 1417; Mainz, 1454).
Painting: The Descent from the Cross by Flemish painter Rogier van der Weyden, 35, on commission from the Louvain archers' guild. He is appointed city painter at Brussels; Swiss painter Konrad Witz, 35, becomes a citizen of Basel and is commissioned to paint the Mirror of Salvation altar (Heilsspiegelaltar); The Vision of St. Eustace by Italian painter Pisanello (Antonio Pisano), 40; The Adoration of theChild by Fra Filippo Lippi.
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