1473

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political events

John de Vere, 13th earl of Oxford, returns to Britain and captures the island of St. Michael's Mount in Cornwall, but he is forced to surrender after a siege and is imprisoned (see 1471; 1484).

The Dispositio Achilles signed by the elector of Brandenburg Albrecht III Achilles, 59, February 24 helps to legalize the custom of primogeniture that has existed for centuries and helped motivate younger sons of Europe's nobility to join the Crusades in quest of lands. The third son of the late Friedrich of Hohenzollern, Albrecht inherited his family's Ansbach lands in 1440 upon the death of his brother Friedrich; he is known as Achilles and his "Dispositio" makes the eldest surviving male in a family the heir to the power and fortune of his father, keeping the dynastic inheritance intact.

Burgundy's Charles the Bold occupies Alsace and Lorraine.

Cyprus comes under the rule of Venice, which finds it valuable as a major sugar producer (see 1489).

Japan's western warlord Mochitoyo Yamana dies at Kyoto April 15 at age 68, and his son-in-law Katsumoto Hosokawa dies at Kyoto June 6 age 42 (approximate) in the Onin War that has raged since 1467 and will continue until 1477. Sozen Yamana also dies. The shōgun Yoshimasa Ashikaga resigns at age 39 after a weak 24-year reign and his 8-year-old son Yoshihisa becomes shōgun. Yoshihisa's mother, Tomiko Hino, has grown rich by loaning money at high interest to the combatants, imposing tolls, and speculating in rice; she remains the power behind the throne as the civil war that began in 1467 continues (see 1477).

transportation

Rules for the Astrolabe by Spanish rabbinical student Abraham Zacuto, 21, employs a chart to show navigators how to determine latitude using a copper version of a wooden instrument developed for astronomical observations in earlier times. By calculating the altitude of the sun, moon, or stars above the horizon, a sailor using a marine astrolabe can determine his distance north or south of the equator (see exploration [Columbus], 1474).

education

The 152-year-old University of Florence moves to Pisa. It has been in decline for years (see 1859).

art

Painting: The Virgin of the Rose Garden by German painter-engraver Martin Schongauer, 23.

architecture, real estate

Pope Sixtus IV adds the Sistine Chapel to the Vatican Palace (see Michelangelo, 1512).

environment

The annual London ceremony of swan upping on the Thames has its beginnings in a privilege granted to the Dyers Company by Edward IV. The Mute Swan (Cygnus olor) lives on the river all year round. According to legend it was introduced by Richard I when he returned from the Crusades but it was probably in England before that. The swan has been the royal bird since at least 1186, it is prized as a gift and a banquet dish, and the purpose of "upping" is to record the number of swans on the Thames, mark the cygnets (baby swans) to show who owns them, and clip the birds' wings to keep them from flying off (see 1482).

Kyoto's Ryoanji (rock garden) is designed by a Zen priest.

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