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Contents: political eventsexploration, colonization art architecture, real estate |
Scotland's nobility rebels against the lavish spending and Anglophilic leanings of James III. The clan chieftains seize the king's eldest son, and they defeat him in battle at Sauchieburn near Bannockburn. Now 36, the king is murdered June 11, possibly by a soldier disguised as a priest, and his 15-year-old son assumes the throne. He will reign until 1513 as James IV. James Douglas, 9th earl of Douglas, dies in confinement at Lindores Abbey, Fife, July 14 at age 62.
The grandsons of the late Malatesta Baglioni expel the rival Oddi family and create a council of 10 family members (the Dieci dell'Arbitrio) in an effort to govern Perugia (see 1437; 1500).
Siam's king Trailok dies at Phitsanoluk at age 57 (approximate) after a 40-year reign in which he has battled incursions by his northern neighbor Lan Na (later Chiang Mai). The need for defending his borders has forced him to strengthen his central administration, dividing responsibilities among one military department and five civilian, one each for provincial administration, capital administration, finance, lands and agriculture, and justice and the royal household. He has ranked the provinces in four classes, clarifying hierarchal relations amongst them.
Bartolomeu Dias returns to Lisbon in December and reports to João II. The king sees hope of a sea route to India and suggests that Dias's Cape of Storms be called the Cape of Good Hope (see Vasco da Gama, 1497).
Sculptor-painter Andrea del Verrocchio dies at Venice October 7 at age 53, leaving unfinished his painting Baptism of Christ and his great bronze equestrian statue of the late condottiere Bartolomeo Colleoni for the Campo San Zanipolo (Alessandro Leopardi will complete the piece, which was commissioned in 1483 and will be unveiled in 1496).
Moldavia's Stefan the Great has the church of the monastery of Voronet built with paintings of religious figures inside and out. Completed between March and September while peasants work in the surrounding fields, its nave has frescoes that include one showing Stefan and his entourage offering thanks to Jesus for the divine aid that allowed the Moldavians to turn back the Ottoman Turks at the Battle of Vaslui 13 years ago.
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