1455
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Contents: political eventsexploration, colonization religion communications, media art |
Margaret of Anjou arrives in England, where what 19th century writers will call the Wars of the Roses erupt in a civil conflict that will continue until 1471 between the houses of York and Lancaster. Richard Plantagenet, 3rd duke of York, finds himself excluded from the Council and advances on London with a force of 3,000 men; Henry VI opposes him at St. Albans May 22 with a royal force of 2,000; the Yorkists prevail, killing 75 royalists who include Edmund Beaufort, 2nd duke of Somerset. Henry's men kill 25 Yorkists but the king is captured and Richard goes on to London, where he has himself proclaimed constable of England, assuming dictatorial powers. Political maneuvering gains the release of King Henry (but see 1460).
James Douglas, 9th earl of Douglas, is attainted in June, his wife divorces him, and his properties are granted to the earl of Angus (see 1454; 1461).
Polish statesman Zbigniew Cardinal Oleshnicki dies at Sandomierz April 1 at age 65.
The Oryat Mongol chief Esen Taiji dies 2 years after signing a peace treaty with the Chinese and agreeing to resume tribute payments. His son inherits the territory he has conquered, but Oryat power will soon decline.
Siamese forces under the command of their king Trailok capture the Malay city of Melaka as they extend their influence southward.
Venetian navigator Alvise da Cadamosto, 23, discovers the Cape Verde Islands off the coast of Africa (see 1445). Sent out by the Portuguese prince Henrique (Henry the Navigator), he will explore the Senegal and Gambia rivers in the next 2 years (see Henrique, 1421; Cape of Good Hope, 1488).
Pope Nicholas V dies at Rome March 24 at age 57 after a 7-year reign in which he has rebuilt Rome's churches, palaces, bridges, roads, and fortifications, erected forts in many parts of the Papal States, but failed to gain support for a new crusade that would retake Constantinople; the 76-year-old Spanish prelate Alfonso de Borgia, bishop of Valencia, is elected pope April 8, makes the recovery of Constantinople from the Ottoman Turks his priority, and will reign until his death in 1458 as Callistus (or Calixtus) III.
The Gutenberg Bible published at Mainz is a Vulgate Bible that marks one of the earliest examples of printing from movable type in Europe (see 1454). The son of a patrician, local craftsman-inventor Johann (Gensfleisch zur Laden zum) Gutenberg, now 55, received financial backing in 1450 from local goldsmith Johann Fust, also 55, who loaned him 800 guilders to perfect his movable-type wooden printing process and later loaned him an additional 800 with a view to publishing the first universal missal. Clerics have been unable to agree on an authorized text. Gutenberg has settled on producing the Bible instead. Fust has sued Gutenberg for 2,026 guilders (1,600 plus interest). He has brought in witnesses who included his son-in-law Peter Schöffer. The court has ruled November 6 against Gutenberg, who has lost his invention as well as his equipment, and the Bible has been published by Fust and Schöffer, who have set up the first commercially successful printing house. Their Bible is printed in two volumes, folio, with two columns of 42 lines each per page (see Psalter, 1457). Books up to now have been hand-copied volumes that took 2 months to produce and were too costly for any but aristocrats and priests; Gutenberg's achievement permits a printer to turn books out at the rate of 500 per week and will idle the thousands of monks who have been engaged in copying scripture in illuminated manuscripts (see Jensen, 1470; Tyndale Bible, 1526).
Fra Filippo Lippi is dismissed for misconduct from the post that he has held since 1442 as rector of Santa Quirico at Legnaia, near Florence, but will be appointed next year as chaplain at the convent of Santa Margherita in Prato, where his frescoes in the choir of the cathedral, depicting the lives of John the Baptist and Saint Stephen will be considered his greatest works. Fra Angelico dies at Rome March 18 at age 55; Lorenzo Ghiberti at Florence December 1 at age 77.
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