1481
Year 1481 was a common year starting on Monday.Events
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 courtesanDeaths
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
