Directory

1499 CE

Catherine of Aragon, the future first wife of Henry VIII, is married by proxy to his brother, Arthur, Prince of Wales. Polydore Vergil completes De inventoribus rerum, the first modern history of inventions. The Catholicon is published in Tréguier (Brittany). This Breton–greek–Latin dictionary had been written in 1464 by Jehan Lagadeuc. It is the first dictionary of either French or Breton.

Geopolitics & Diplomacy

  • February 9 – The Treaty of Blois is signed between the Kingdom of France and the Republic of Venice as a secret military alliance between the two nations to attack the Duchy of Milan.source
  • June 20 – Queen Isabella of Spain orders Christopher Columbus to liberate and repatriate Indians from the New World, declaring that nobody had authorized him to kidnap any of her subjects.source
  • September 22 – Treaty of Basel: Maximilian is forced to grant the Swiss de facto independence.source
  • Heinrich Cornelius Agrippa matriculates at Cologne University.source

Conflict & Security

  • February 20 – The Battle of Hard is fought near the village of Hard in modern-day western Austria as the Swiss Confederacy defeats the troops of the Holy Roman Empire in the first large-scale confrontation of the Swabian War.source
  • March 22 – At the Battle of Bruderholz, the Swiss Confederation defeats a larger force of troops from the Swabian League near Basel.source
  • April 11 – The Battle of Schwaderloh is won by the Swiss Confederacy over the Swabian League with more than 1,400 of the Swabian troops killed.source
  • April 20 – The Swiss Confederacy defeats the forces of the Holy Roman Empire in the Battle of Frastanz, with more than 2,000 Imperial troops killed.source
  • July 22 – Battle of Dornach: The Swiss decisively defeat the army of Maximilian I, Holy Roman Emperor.source
  • July 28 – First Battle of Lepanto: The Turkish navy wins a decisive victory over the Venetians.source
  • October 26 – King Louis XII of France and his troops seize Milan, driving out Duke Ludovico Sforza, and Leonardo da Vinci flees to Venice.source
  • November 23 – Perkin Warbeck, pretender to the throne of England, is hanged for reportedly attempting to escape from the Tower of London.source
  • November 28 – Edward Plantagenet, 17th Earl of Warwick, last male member of the House of York, is executed for reportedly attempting to escape from the Tower of London.source
  • December 18 – The Rebellion of the Alpujarras (1499–1501) begins in the Kingdom of Granada (Crown of Castile) against the forced conversions of Muslims in Spain.source
  • Zeta, the last free monarchy in Southeastern Europe, is annexed by the Ottoman Empire, as part of the sanjak of Shkodër, and Stefan II Crnojević is removed from office.source

Exploration & Expansion

  • June 1 – Pedro Alonso Niño, who had accompanied Columbus on his first voyage to the New World in 1492, departs from Palos in Spain toward South America on a 7-month voyage to the New World. Niño sets sail in a small caravel with 33 mensource
  • August 24 – Lake Maracaibo is discovered, by Alonso de Ojeda and Amerigo Vespucci.source
  • September 18 – Vasco da Gama arrives at Lisbon, returning from India, and is received by King Manuel of Portugal.source

Religion & Belief

  • June 10 – Pope Alexander VI informs the Roman Catholic cardinals that the Sultan of the Ottoman Empire has amassed a fleet of 300 ships to lay siege to the city of Rhodes.source
  • Johannes Trithemius inadvertently reveals interests in magic by writing a letter to a Carmelite friar about a treatise he is writing on steganography.source

Science & Discovery

  • August – Polydore Vergil completes De inventoribus rerum, the first modern history of inventions.source

Health & Medicine

  • June 15 – The Great Epidemic of plague reaches London, forcing King Henry and Queen Elizabeth to flee to the capital to Langley on June 25 and then to Abingdon.source

Disasters & Accidents

  • October 25 – The Pont Notre-Dame in Paris, constructed under Charles VI of France, collapses into the Seine.source

Culture & Society

  • January 8 – Louis XII of France marries Anne of Brittany, in accordance with a law set by his predecessor, Charles VIII.source
  • February 4 – Hans, King of Denmark is formally crowned as King of Sweden and his wife Christina of Saxony crowned as Queen Consort.source
  • April 30 – The University of Valencia is founded in Spain with the passage of the University Statutes by the magistrates of Valencia.source
  • May 19 – Catherine of Aragon, the future first wife of Henry VIII, is married by proxy to his brother, Arthur, Prince of Wales.source
  • November 5 – The Catholicon is published in Tréguier (Brittany). This Breton–greek–Latin dictionary had been written in 1464 by Jehan Lagadeuc. It is the first dictionary of either French or Breton.source
  • Giggleswick School is founded by Reverend James Carr in England.source

Births

  • January 20 – Sebastian Franck, German humanist (d. 1543)source
  • January 29 – Katharina von Bora, German nun, wife of Martin Luther (d. 1552)source
  • February 10 – Thomas Platter, Swiss humanist scholar and writer (d. 1582)source
  • March 22 – Johann Carion, German astrologer and chronicler (d. 1537)source
  • June 24 – Johannes Brenz, German theologian and Protestant Reformer of the Duchy of Württemberg (d. 1570)source
  • July 17 – Maria Salviati, Italian noble and mother of Cosimo I de Medici (d. 1543)source
  • August 14 – John de Vere, 14th Earl of Oxford, English noble (d. 1526)source
  • September 3 – Diane de Poitiers, French duchess, mistress of Henry II of France (d. 1566)source
  • October 13 – Claude of France, queen consort of France, daughter of Louis XII (d. 1524)source
  • October 14 – Catherine of the Palatinate, Abbess of Neuburg am Neckar (d. 1526)source
  • October 31 – Günther XL, Count of Schwarzburg (1526–1552) (d. 1552)source
  • November 1 – Rodrigo of Aragon, Italian noble (d. 1512)source
  • December 8 – Sebald Heyden, German musicologist and theologian (d. 1561)source
  • December 13 – Justus Menius, German Lutheran pastor (d. 1558)source

Deaths

  • January 9 – John Cicero, Elector of Brandenburg (b. 1455)source
  • March 24 – Edward Stafford, 2nd Earl of Wiltshire, English nobleman (b. 1470)source
  • April 7 – Galeotto I Pico, Duke of Mirandola (b. 1442)source
  • August 29 – Alesso Baldovinetti, Florentine painter (b. 1427)source
  • October 1 – Marsilio Ficino, Italian philosopher (b. 1433)source
  • November 23 – Perkin Warbeck, Flemish imposter (b. c. 1474) (executed)source
  • November 28 – Edward Plantagenet, 17th Earl of Warwick, last male member of the English House of York (b. 1475)source
  • Laura Cereta, Italian humanist and feminist (b. 1469)source
  • Rennyo, leader of the Ikkō sect of Buddhism (b. 1415)source