1481

January–December

• May 3
• * The 1481 Rhodes earthquake, the largest of a series, strikes the island of Rhodes, causing an estimated 30,000 casualties.
• * Mehmed II, Sultan of the Ottoman Empire, dies and is succeeded by his son, Bayezid II.
• May 21 - Christian I, King of Denmark and Norway, dies and is succeeded by his son John.
• June 21 - The papal bull Aeterni Regis grants all land south of the Canary Islands to Portugal.
• July 24 - Fire destroys the roof and the spires of Reims Cathedral.
• August 29 - John II of Portugal starts to rule in his own right.
• September 10 - Alphonso II of Naples recaptures the city of Otranto.
• December 10 - With the death of Duke Charles IV of Anjou, Anjou reverts to the French crown under Louis XI of France.
• December 26 - Battle of Westbroek: Holland defeats the troops of Utrecht.

  Date unknown

• The Constitució de l'Observança is approved by the Catalan Courts, establishing the submission of royal power to the laws of the Principality of Catalonia.
• Ludovico Sforza emerges as Regent of Milan.
• Axayacatl, Aztec ruler of Tenochtitlan, dies and is succeeded by his brother Tízoc.
• The Aztec Calendar Stone or Sun Stone is carved.
• Fribourg and Solothurn become Cantons of Switzerland.

  Births

• January 15 - Ashikaga Yoshizumi, Japanese shōgun
• March 2 - Franz von Sickingen, German knight
• March 7 - Baldassare Peruzzi, Italian architect and painter
• May 3 - Juana de la Cruz Vázquez Gutiérrez, Spanish abbess of the Franciscan Third Order Regular
• May 14 - Ruprecht of the Palatinate, German bishop
• July 1 - King Christian II of Denmark, Scandinavian monarch under the Kalmar Union
• August 21 - Jorge de Lencastre, Duke of Coimbra
• August 28 - Francisco de Sá de Miranda, Portuguese poet
• November 11 - Christoph von Scheurl, German writer
• December 18 - Sophie of Mecklenburg, Duchess of Mecklenburg, Duchess of Saxony
• December 27 - Casimir, Margrave of Brandenburg-Bayreuth, Margrave of Bayreuth
• date unknown - Yan Song, Chinese prime minister
• probable - Antonio de Guevara, Spanish chronicler and moralist
• date unknown - Imperia La Divina, Roman courtesan

  Deaths

• January 6 - Akhmat Khan, khan of the Great Horde
• April 30 - Ichijō Kaneyoshi, Japanese court noble
• May 3 - Mehmed II, Ottoman Sultan
• May - Karamanlı Mehmet Pasha, Ottoman grand vizier
• May 21 - King Christian I of Denmark and Norway
• August 23 - Thomas de Littleton, English judge and legal author
• August 28 - King Afonso V of Portugal
• September 3 - Amalie of Brandenburg, Countess Palatine and Duchess of Zweibruecken and Veldenz
• September 5 - John I, Duke of Cleves
• November 19 - Anne de Mowbray, 8th Countess of Norfolk
• date unknown
• * Axayacatl, Aztec ruler of Tenochtitlan
• * Charles IV, Duke of Anjou, titular King of Naples
• * Jean Fouquet, French painter
• * Ikkyu, Japanese Zen Buddhist priest and poet
• * Mary Woodville, English noblewoman
• * Erik Axelsson Tott, regent of Sweden