1488

Events

January–December

• January 8 - The Royal Netherlands Navy is formed, by the decree of Maximillian of Austria.
• February 3 - Bartolomeu Dias of Portugal lands in Mossel Bay, after rounding the Cape of Good Hope at the tip of Africa, becoming the first known European to travel this far south, and entering the Indian Ocean.
• February 28 - Choe Bu, the Korean Commissioner of Registers for the island of Cheju, shipwrecks on the south east coast of China in Taizhou, Zhejiang, during the Ming Dynasty. From then until July 12, he and his crew are hosted by Chinese military courier officers to travel along the Grand Canal of China, all the way to Beijing, and then finally back across the Yalu River into Korea. His written commentary on Chinese customs, foreign and domestic trade, and transport in places such as Hangzhou and Suzhou, are valuable records of Ming era culture and commerce.
• June 11 - Battle of Sauchieburn: James IV of Scotland becomes king.
• July 28 - Battle of Saint-Aubin-du-Cormier: Troops loyal to King Charles VIII of France defeat rebel forces, led by the Dukes of Orleans and Brittany, in the main engagement of the Mad War.
• September 9 - Anne of Brittany becomes Duchess of Brittany at the age of 11. Her marriage to King Charles VIII in 1491 effectively ends Breton independence from France.

  Date unknown

• Jasper Tudor, 1st Duke of Bedford, takes possession of Cardiff Castle.
• Michelangelo Buonarroti becomes apprentice to Domenico Ghirlandaio.
• The city of Bikaner in western India is founded by Rao Bika.
• Rathbornes Candles is established in Dublin; the company is still trading in the 21st century.

  Births

• January 6 - Helius Eobanus Hessus, German Latin poet
• January 20
• * John George, Marquess of Montferrat, Italian noble
• * Sebastian Münster, German scholar, cartographer, and cosmographer
• March 19 - Johannes Magnus, last Catholic Archbishop of Sweden
• April 16 - Jungjong of Joseon
• April 21 - Ulrich von Hutten, German religious reformer
• May 1 - Sidonie of Bavaria, eldest daughter of Duke Albrecht IV of Bavaria-Munich
• May 5 - Lê Uy Mục, 8th king of the later Lê dynasty of Vietnam
• May 7 - John III of the Palatinate, Administrator of the Bishopric of Regensburg
• June - Heinrich Glarean, Swiss music theorist
• June 29 - Pedro Pacheco de Villena, Spanish Catholic cardinal
• July 15 - Juan Álvarez de Toledo, Spanish Catholic cardinal
• October 17 - Ursula of Brandenburg, Duchess consort of Mecklenburg-Schwerin
• December 1 - Elisabeth of Nassau-Dillenburg, Countess of Wied, German noblewoman
• December 15 - Ferdinand, Duke of Calabria
• date unknown
• * Rabbi Yosef Karo, Spanish Jewish scholar
• * Oswald Myconius, Swiss religious reformer
• * Jan Tarnowski, Polish nobleman
• * Thomas of Villanova, Spanish bishop
• * Gustav Trolle, Archbishop of Uppsala
• probable
• * Thomas Audley, 1st Baron Audley of Walden, Lord Chancellor of England
• * Guillaume Gouffier, seigneur de Bonnivet, French soldier
• * Myles Coverdale, English Bible translator
• * Lütfi Pasha, Ottoman statesman

  Deaths

• April 1 - John II, Duke of Bourbon
• April 14 - Girolamo Riario, Lord of Imola and Forli
• May 9 - Frederick I of Liegnitz, Duke of Chojnów and Strzelin from 1453
• June 11 - King James III of Scotland
• July 18 - Alvise Cadamosto, Italian explorer
• July 28 - Edward Woodville, Lord Scales
• July 30 - Clarice Orsini, Florentine noblewoman and wife of Lorenzo de’ Medici
• September - Abu 'Amr 'Uthman, Hafsid caliph of Ifriqiya
• September 9 - Francis II, Duke of Brittany
• September 13 - Charles II, Duke of Bourbon
• date unknown
• * Mary Stewart, Countess of Arran
• * Iizasa Ienao, Japanese swordsman
• * Andrea del Verrocchio, Italian sculptor