1481

Year 1481 was a common year starting on Monday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar).

Events of 1481

* May 3 - 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 (1481-1513).
*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 26 - Battle of Westbroek: Holland defeats the troops of Utrecht.
* With the death of Duke Charles IV of Anjou, Anjou reverts to the French crown under Louis XI of France.
* Symeon I succeeds Maximus III as Patriarch of Constantinople.
* Fire destroys the roof and the spires of the Cathedral of Notre Dame at Rheims.
* The famous "Aztec Calendar Stone" or "Sun Stone" is carved.
* The Spanish Inquisition begins. It will continute to operate until 1820.
* The papal bull "Aeterni regis" grants all land south of the Canary Islands to Portugal.
* Axayacatl, Aztec ruler of Tenochtitlan, dies and is succeeded by his brother Tízoc.

Births

* January 15 - Ashikaga Yoshizumi, Japanese shogun (d. 1511)
* March 2 - Franz von Sickingen, German knight (d. 1523)
* March 7 - Baldassare Peruzzi, Italian architect and painter (d. 1537)
* July 2 - King Christian II of Denmark, Norway, and Sweden (d. 1559)
*"date unknown"
**Yan Song, Chinese prime minister (d. 1568)
*"probable"
**Antonio de Guevara, Spanish chronicler and moralist (d. 1545)

Deaths

*January 6 - Akhmat Khan, khan of the Great Horde
* May 3 - Mehmed II, Ottoman Sultan (b. 1432)
* May 21 - King Christian I of Denmark and Norway (b. 1426)
* August 23 - Thomas de Littleton, English judge and legal author (b. c. 1407)
* August 28 - King Afonso V of Portugal (b. 1432)
* November 19 - Anne de Mowbray, 8th Countess of Norfolk (b. 1472)
*"date unknown"
**Axayacatl, Aztec ruler of Tenochtitlan
**Charles IV, Duke of Anjou, titular King of Naples (b. 1436)
**Jean Fouquet, French painter (b. 1420)
**Ikkyu, Japanese Zen Buddhist priest and poet (b. 1394)
**Mary Woodville, English noblewoman (b. c. 1454)
**Erik Axelsson Tott, regent of Sweden (b. 1415)