1440s

The 1440s decade ran from January 1, 1440, to December 31, 1449

• January 6 – Ludovico becomes the new Duke of Savoy upon the abdication of his father Amadeus VIII.^[1]
• January 8 – Seventeen new Roman Catholic Cardinals are added to the College of Cardinals afer having been appointed by Pope Eugene IV on December 18.^[2]
• February 21 – The Prussian Confederation is proposed as an opposition to the Teutonic Knights at a meeting in Elbing by nobles from the cities of Culm, Elbing, Thorn, Danzig, Braunsberg, Königsberg, and Kneiphof, all of which will become part of Poland a little more than 500 years later. The delegates agree to hold a larger meeting on March 14 at Marienwerder.^[3]
• February 22 – Four months after the death of King Albert of Hungary, his son, Ladislaus the Posthumous, is born at Komárom (now Komárno in Slovakia) to Albert's widow, Elisabeth, regent for the vacant throne. Elizabeth argues to the Hungarian nobles that Ladislaus should be elected as the rightful successor to King Albert, and that she should serve as the boy's regent.^[4]
• February 26 – Ibrahim II becomes the Bey of Candar, a monarchy on the Black Sea that now encompasses 10 Turkish provinces, upon the death of his father, Mubariz al-Din Isfendiyar, at the capital, Sinop.^[5]
• February The Praguerie, an uprising by the French nobility rises up against King Charles VII, begins in France and lasts until June.
• March 8 – Despite the birth of a posthumous son of the late King Albert V, the Hungarian nobles vote to elect King Vladislaus III of Poland as the new King of Hungary.^[6]
• March 14 – The Prussian Confederation is formed by 53 nobles and clergy, representing 19 Prussian cities, who meet at Elblag to form an opposition to the Teutonic Knights.
• March 20 – Sigismund Kęstutaitis, the Grand Duke of Lithuania, is assassinated at his residence at the Trakai Peninsula Castle by supporters of his rival, Svitraglia.^[7]

• April 9 – Christopher of Bavaria is elected King of Denmark.
• April – Ottoman Sultan Murad II begins the siege of Belgrade, at the time part of the Kingdom of Hungary after the conquest of Serbia. The fortress is heavily damaged, but the defenders' use of artillery prevents the Turks from capturing the city, and the siege ends after six months.
• May 4 – Metrophanes II, Bishop of Cyzicus, is appointed by the Byzantine Emperor John VIII Palaiologos as the new Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople, leader of the Eastern Orthodox Church, to succeed the late Joseph II, who had died in 1439.
• May 15 – Elizabeth of Luxembourg, regent for the vacant throne of Hungary, has her infant son, Ladislaus the Posthumous, crowned king at Székesfehérvár with the stolen Crown of Saint Stephen.
• June 29 –
  • The League of Italian States (Florence, Venice and the Papal States) defeats the army of the Duchy of Milan at the Battle of Anghiari in Tuscany.^[8]
  • Casimir IV Jagiellon is proclaimed as the new Grand Duke of Lithuania by the Lithuanian Council of Lords.^[9]
  • The Diet of Hungary approves a resolution declaring the coronation of Ladislaus as King of Hungary to be invalid, declaring that "the crowning of kings is always dependent on the will of the kingdom's inhabitants, in whose consent both the effectiveness and the force of the crown reside".^[10]

• July 11 – John V, Duke of Brittany, signs a neutrality agreement with the Kingdom of England, promising not to give shelter to England's enemies in the ongoing English occupation of western France.^[11]
• July 17 – Wladyslaw III, King of Poland and Supreme Duke of Lithuania, is crowned as King László I of Hungary at the Basilica of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary in Székesfehérvár.^[12]
• July 24 – At Basel in Switzerland, Amadeus VIII, Duke of Savoy is crowned as "Pope Felix V" by Roman Catholic cardinals of the Council of Basel who had voted to depose Pope Eugene IV as leader of the Roman Catholic Church.^[13] As Felix V, he is designated in Vatican history as the last "antipope". He remains in Basel and never travels to Rome to assume the papacy; in 1449, after the death of Eugene IV, Amadeus assumes an oath of loyalty to Eugene's successor, Pope Nicholas V.
• August 31 – In France, the Siege of Tartas is commenced in Gascony by troops of the Kingdom of England and the English-controlled Duchy of Gascony in an attempt to oust a French supporter of King Charles VII, Charles II d'Albret, who has taken control of Tartas. The siege lasts for almost two years before being abandoned by the English.^[14][15]
• September 10 – A rebellion in Hungary, instigated by Ladislaus Garai against the newly elected King Laszlo (who is also king of Poland), is ended when Garai's army is annihilated in a battle at Bátaszék by the troops of General János Hunyadi and of Nicholas of Ilok, ruler of Croatia.^[16]
• September 12 – Eton College, one of the most famous prepratory boarding schools for boys in England, is founded by King Henry VI as "Kynge's College of Our Ladye of Eton besyde Windesore".
• September 13 –
  • Christopher of Bavaria, King Christopher III of Denmark, is formally enthroned as King Kristofer I of Sweden, bringing an end to the regency of Karl Knutsson Bonde.
  • Breton knight Gilles de Rais is arrested at his castle at Machecoul, after an accusation of murdering children is brought against him by the Bishop of Nantes.^[17]
• September 21 – The Burgraviate of Nuremberg, a member nation-state of the Holy Roman Empire, comes to an end after more than three centuries when the two sons of the last Burgrave, [[Frederick V, Burgrave of Nuremberg

|Frederick V]], divide the territory into two separate principalities. Frederick VI (who is also Elector of Brandenburg) becomes the ruler of the Principality of Ansbach, while John III becomes the ruler of the Principality of Bayreuth

• October 22 – Gilles de Rais confesses, and is sentenced to death on a conviction of murdering at least 140 children. He is hanged on October 26 and his corpse is then burned at the stake.^[18]
• November 2 – The Old Zurich War begins as the Canton of Zurich, led by the burgomaster Rudolf Stüssi, is expelled from the Swiss Confederation (Corpus helveticum) by the leaders of the other cantons (Bern, Glarus, Lucerne, Schwyz, Unterwalden, Uri and Zug). Stüssi makes an alliance with Frederick III, Holy Roman Emperor and a war which will last more than five years begins.
• November 3 – Charles, Duke of Orléans, is released from incarceration in England, 25 years after he had been taken as a prisoner of war at the Battle of Agincourt in 1415. His freedom is gained after the negotiations made by two of his former enemies, the Duke of Burgundy and the Queen of Portugal, and payment of a ransom of 80,000 gold coins. The Duke of Orleans, now aged 46, returns to French soil after more than a quarter of a century in England.^[19]
• November 24 – The "Black Dinner" takes place at Edinburgh Castle as Lord Chancellor of Scotland William Crichton conspires with the James Douglas, uncle of the late Archibald Douglas (who had served as regent for King James II) to invite Archibald's two sons, 16-year old William Douglas, 6th Earl of Douglas and David Douglad to dinner with King James. At the dinner, the two boys are taken hostage and murdered, the members of Clan Douglas besiege the castle, and James Douglas inherits the Earldom.^[20]
• December 1 – Representatives of the Swiss canton of Zurich sign the Peace of Lucerne, bringing a temporary halt to the Old Zurich War.

• Itzcóatl, Aztec ruler of Tenochtitlan, dies and is succeeded by Moctezuma I (Moctezuma Ilhuicamina).
• Lorenzo Valla's De falso credita et ementita Constantini Donatione declamatio demonstrates that the Donation of Constantine is a forgery.
• Sir Richard Molyneux is appointed constable of Liverpool Castle, in England.
• The Ming dynasty government of China begins a decade-long series of issuing harsh edicts towards those who illegally mine silver, the latter known as 'miner bandits' (kuangzei), a trend begun in 1438. The government wants to cap the amount of silver circulating into the market, as more grain taxes are converted into silver taxes. The government establishes community night watches known as 'watches and tithings' (baojia), who ensure that illegal mining activities are brought to a halt. However, these are desperate measures, as illegal silver mining continues to thrive as a dangerous but lucrative venture.
• Uwaifiokun, Oba of Benin, is killed by his brother, the Prince Ogun, who succeeds him as Ewuare I.
• Zhu Quan writes the Cha Pu ("Tea Manual") in China.

• January 20 – The siege of Tartas in France is temporarily halted when Charles II of Albret, against whom residents of Gascony are campaigning, and the commander of the English forces, Sir Thomas Rempston, agree to a three-month truce.^[21]
• February 7 – Luchuan–Pingmian campaigns: In Ming dynasty China, the Vice Minister of Justice, He Wenyuan, petitions the Imperial Court not to make a second punitive campaign against the kingdom of Möng Mao and its ruler, Si Renfa, arguing that the nation's resources should not be wasted on worthless land. The Minister of War, Wang Ji, joins with General Mu Ang in arguing that Si Renfa should be stopped before he conquers more territory. The Emperor authorizes the second campaign.^[22]
• February 12 – King's College, Cambridge, is founded by King Henry VI of England.^[23]
• February 24 – The Republic of Venice annexes the seigniory of Ravenna, ending the da Polenta Dynasty.^[24]
• February 25 – Elizabeth of Luxembourg , widow of the late King Albert of Hungary presents the Crown of St. Stephen to Frederick, King of Germany and invites him to take the throne, although Hungary's nobles had elected King Władysław III of Poland as King Laszlo of Hungary.
• February 27 – Luchuan–Pingmian campaigns: The second campaign against the Mong Mao state is launched.^[22]
• March 1 – Battle of Samobor: The army of Ulrich II, Count of Celje, defeats the army of Stjepan Banić at Samobor, Croatia in union with Hungary.
• March 17 – The Swiss canton of Canton of Bern intervenes to block an agreement between the Canton of Zürich that would have ceded the town of Grüningen to the Habsburg family of Germany.
• March 19 – Isidore of Kiev, the Russian Orthodox Church Metropolitan of Kiev and all Russia, returns to his home in Moscow after having attended the Council of Florence, where he agreed to unify the Russian Church with the Roman Catholic Church. When he arrives, he is arrested on the order of Grand Prince Vasily II and imprisoned under minimum security.^[25]

• April 1 – Prince Carlos of Viana legally becomes the King of Navarre in Spain upon the death of his mother, Queen Blanca, who had ruled since 1425.
• April 20 — The Council of Florence, led by Pope Eugene IV, declares that the members of the Council of Basel are heretics and votes to excommunicate them, as well as affirming the superiority of the Pope over the Councils in the bull Etsi non dubitemus. In 1440, the Council of Basel had declared Eugene IV to be a heretic, deposed him as Pope, and excommunicated him.^[26]
• April 26 — Pope Eugene IV orders the transfer of the Council of Florence to Rome^[27]
• May 3 – In Denmark, a rebel army of 25,000 peasants led by Henrik Reventlow repels an attack by Swedish nobles, led by Eske Jensen Brock. The peasants prepare a trap near their camp at St. Jørgensbjerg before the Battle of St. Jorgen's Hill, placing trees and soil over a swamp, and Brock's army of knights becomes mired down, where almost all (including Brock) are slaughtered.^[28][29]
• May 8 – The Siege of Creil is Started on orders of King Charles VII of France against the English held town and council. William Peyto surrenders on May 25.^[30]
• June 6 – The siege of Pontoise is started by with 5,000 troops led by King Charles VII of France and Arthur de Richemont, Duke of Brittany, to capture a 1,200 member English Army garrison located on the Île-de-France near Paris.^[31] The siege continues for three months until the garrison surrenders.
• June 7 – The University of Bordeaux is established by Pope Eugene IV while Bordeaux is under the control of France."Ressources". Université de Bordeaux. 27 February 2024. Archived from the original on 4 June 2022. Retrieved 4 June 2022. Closed in 1793 during the French Revolution, it will reopen in 1896 and continue to be in existence 280 years later.
• June 27 – The siege of Novo Brdo in Serbia ends after eight months as Ottoman Empire troops, led by the Sultan Murad II and General Hadım Şehabeddin guarantee the safe evacuation of the surviving Ragusan defenders, accept the Serbian surrender.^[32]

• July 12 ((Kakitsu 1, 24th day of the 6th month) – In Japan, the Shōgun Ashikaga Yoshinori is murdered by Akamatsu Mitsusuke, who isupset that Ashikaga has made Akamatsu Sadaura leader of the Akamatsu clan. Over the next 16 days, several prominent nobles allied with Ashikaga are killed during the fighting including Kyōgoku Takakazu, the Shugo of Yamashiro Province and Ōuchi Mochiyo (1394–1441), the head of the Ōuchi clan. After the fighting ceases, Yoshinori's 8-year-old son, Ashikaga Yoshikatsu, is proclaimed as the new shōgun.^[33]
• July 23 – Abū r-Rabīʿ Sulaymān al-Mustakfī bi-Llāh, or Al-Mustakfi II, becomes the new Caliph of Cairo upon the death of his father, Al-Mu'tadid II.^[34]
• August 15 – King Afonso V of Portugal, the 9-year-old monarch since the 1438 death of his father, King Duarte, is formally betrothed to his cousin, Isabel of Coimbra, aged 10, as part of an arranged marriage planned by Isabel's father Pedro, Duke of Coimbra, the King's regent. Their marriage does not take place until almost six years later, on May 6, 1447.
• August 26 – Bishop Alberto da Sarteano, who had been sent by the Vatican on a mission to seek the Ethiopian Coptic Christian Church to join with the Roman Catholic Church, returns to Rome with four Ethiopians who had been allowed to leave by the Emperor Zara Yaqob.^[35] Two of the visitors the attend the Council of Florence to discuss the possible union of Coptic Orthodoxy and the Latin Church, marking the earliest recorded contact of the Ethiopian Coptic Church with Europe.
• September 6 – The Dutch–Hanseatic War concludes with the Treaty of Copenhagen.^[36][37]

• September 13 — The coronation of King Christopher II of Denmark as King Cristoffer of Sweden takes place in Uppsala.
• September 15 – The Metropolitan Isidore of Kiev is allowed by Grand Prince Vasily II to escape from imprisonment in Moscow, along with two of his disciples, Gregory the Bulgarian and Afanasy. He flees to Tver and then to Novogrudok and eventually to Rome.^[25]
• September 19 – The siege of Pontoise ends after four months, following a three-day final assault led by Marshal André de Laval-Montmorency and Jean de Bueil, Count of Sancerre of the French Army. More than 400 of the English defenders are killed, and hundreds of survivors taken prisoner, including their commander, Baron Clinton. Because Pontoise was not surrendered, the property of the surivors is seized by the French and Clinton and most of his officers are held hostage until a ransom is paid. The English soldiers are not ransomed and are drowned in public instead.^[31]

• October 2 – (16 Jumada al-Awwal, 845 AH) In what is now Saudi Arabia, Ali ibn Hasan ibn Ajlan is appointed as the new Emir of Mecca by the Mamluk Sultanate and his brother Barakat ibn Hasan is deposed, but the news does not reach Barakat for nearly two months.^[38]
• October 4 – Pope Eugene IV issues a papal bull to recognized the Order of St Ambrose.^[39]
• October 25 – In accordance with the propsoals for the Peace of Cremona to end the war between Venice and Milan, Francesco I Sforza of Venice marries Bianca Maria Visconti, daughter of the Duke of Milan. An Italian tradition credits the creation of nougat to the celebration of the wedding.^[40]
• November 10 – Alfonso V of Aragon lays siege to Naples.
• November 20 – The Peace of Cremona (1441) ends the war between the Republic of Venice and the Duchy of Milan.^[41]
• November 29 – (14 Rajab 845 AH) Barakat ibn Hasan learns that he is deposed as Emir of Mecca and leaves that evening.^[38]
• December 3 – King Henry VI summons the members of the English Parliament to assemble at Westminster on January 25.
• December 16 – (2 Sha'ban 845 AH) Ali ibn Hasan ibn Ajlan takes office as the new Emir of Mecca.^[38]

• Ouagadougou becomes the capital of the Mossi Kingdoms.
• A revolt occurs in the Mayan nation of Mayapan; the Maya civilization splits into warring city-states.
• With the help of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, governor Hacı I Giray declares his province independent of the Golden Horde and establishes the Crimean Khanate.
• Nuno Tristão reaches the Ras Nouadhibou (Cabo Branco) on the western coast of Africa. This is probably the first voyage where a caravel is used for maritime exploration.
• The first enslaved black Africans are brought to Europe at Lagos in the Kingdom of Portugal.

• January 25 –
  • The English Parliament opens at Westminster for a 60-day session, and the House of Commons re-elects William Tresham as its speaker.
  • The Treaty of Nürtingen is signed between the two counts of Württemberg, the brothers Ludwig and Ulrich, dividing the German that divided the territory between them.^[42]
  • John Fortescue becomes the new Lord Chief Justice of England and Wales, replacing the late John Hody.^[43]
• January 25 – Two months after the death of the Burmese King Minye Kyawswa I of Ava, his brother-in-law Thihapate of Mohnyin turns down an offer to rule the kingdom, and recommends that Kyswswa's younger brother, Thihathu, Viceroy of Prome, become the new King.^[44]
• February 4 – As part of his campaign to reunite the Christian churches of the world, Pope Eugene IV promulgates the Bull of Union with the Copts (officially, Cantate Domino), an attempted union with the Coptic Orthodox Church of Egypt.^[45]
• March 25 – Battle of Hermannstadt: After seven days of fighting that began on March 18, John Hunyadi defeats an army of the Ottoman Empire (80,000 strong), led by Mezid Bey of Vidin, near Sibiu in what is now Romania.^[46]
• March 27 – The English Parliament adjourns and King Henry VI gives royal assent to numerous adts passed, including the Treason Act 1442 (making the act of restraining English citizens or possessions within Wales an act punishable as treason) and the Peeresses Act 1441 (requiring that wives of nobles shall be put on trial in the same way as the peers of the realm)^[47]

• April 6 – Thihathu is enthroned as the new Burmese King Narapati I of Ava.Royal Historical Commission of Burma (2003) [1832]. Hmannan Yazawin (in Burmese). Vol. 2. Yangon: Ministry of Information, Myanmar. p. 81.
• May 8 – In Germany, the Electorate of Brandenburg and the Duchy of Pomerania enter into an alliance against the Duchy of Mecklenburg-Stargard.^[48]
• June 2 – After a six-month siege, King Alfonso of Aragon proclaims himself King of Naples. Alfonso allows the French ruler, King René of Anjou, to return to France.^[49]
• June 4 – Erik III is deposed as King of Norway and the nobles vote to invite King Christopher of Sweden to become the new monarch.^[50]
• June 8 – In China, Qian marries the 14-year-old Emperor Yingzong of Ming and becomes the primary Empress Consort.^[51]
• June 17 – Friedrich, Duke of Inner Austria is crowned as Romanorum Rex, King of the Germans, and becomes the heir to the Holy Roman Emperor.
• June 24 – The Siege of Tartas ends in France after almost two years, when French forces come to the relief of Charles II of Albret and force the Gascony rebels and English troops to retreat.

• July 2 – The coronation of King Christopher of Sweden and Denmark as King of Norway takes place in Oslo.^[52]
• August 29 – Fransez I becomes the new Duke of Brittany upon the death of his father, Yann V. Princess Isabella of Scotland, who had been part of a contract to marry Jean V, arranges to marry Francis I
• August 30 – Louis IV, Elector Palatine, agrees to serve as the judge in resolving a dispute between Henry II, Count of Nassau-Siegen and the Archbishop Jakob von Sierck.^[53]
• September 2 – John Hunyadi defeats another army of the Ottoman Empire (70,000 strong), led by Hadım Şehabeddin, Beylerbey (or governor) of Rumelia, near the Ialomița River.^[54] Following this, he places Basarab II as ruler of Wallachia.^[55]
• September 15 – Lê Nhân Tông becomes the new Emperor of Vietnam upon the death of his father, Lê Thái Tông.^[56]

• October 18 – The University of Ferrara is reopened in Italy, after having been closed for 48 years.^[57]
• November 18 – A few days before his 15th birthday, Emperor Yingzong of Ming assumes full control of the Empire of China, two days before the death of his grandmother and regent Empress Dowager Chengxiaozhao.^[51]
• December 13 – King Wladyslaw III of Poland, who had been elected as King of Hungary in 1440, and Elisabeth of Luxembourg, widow of King Albert of Hungary and mother of Ladislaus the Posthumous, whom she arranged to be crowned king, reach an agreement in the Hungaryian city of Győr, brokered by Cardinal Julian Cesarini.^[58] Elizabeth dies at the age of 33, six days after the meeting, leading to rumors that she had been poisoned by King Wladyslaw.
• December 18 – In Italy Tomaso di Campofregoso, Doge of the Republic of Genoa, is removed from office by a group of armed men, led by Raffaele Adorno and Giovanni Antonio Fieschi, who invade the Ducal Palace and force him to leave.^[59]
• December 19 – Pope Eugene IV issues the papal bull Illius qui se pro divini granting full remission of sins to any Christian who had participated in the Crusades by Prince Henry the Navigator against the Saracens.^[60]

• The community of Rauma, Finland is granted its town rights.
• The municipality of Juva, Finland is founded.
• The national law of Kristofers landslag is introduced in Sweden.
• After being imprisoned (before September) by the Sultan, Vlad II Dracul is temporarily replaced, as ruler of Wallachia, by his son Mircea II.
• A fourth tower is added to Liverpool Castle in England.
• Jelena Balšić completes writing the Gorički zbornik manuscripts at her church of St. Mary, on the island of Beška in the Serbian Despotate.
• Portuguese sailors first arrive at the Senegal River.^[61]

• January 1 –
  • Pope Eugene IV called for Christians under his jurisdiction to participate in the Crusade of Varna against the incursions of the Ottoman Empire into Central Europe.^[62]
  • The coronation of Christoffer III as King of Denmark and of his wife Dorothea of Brandenburg, as Queen Consort, took place at the Vor Frue Maria Dormkirke in Ribe, nearly three years after he had first claimed the throne on April 9, 1440.
• January 28 – Raffaele Adorno was elected as the new Doge of the Republic of Genoa.^[63]
• February 26 – The Spanish monarch, King Alfonso V of Aragon, makes a trimphant entrance into the city of Naples in order to assume the throne of the Kingdom of Naples.^[64]
• March 11 – At the age of 16 months old, Charlotte of Savoy, daughter of Louis, Duke of Savoy, is betrothed in a ceremony to Frederick III of the House of Wettin, the 4-year-old son of Frederick II, Elector of Saxony. No marriage takes place, however, and Charlotte will marry the Crown Prince of France in 1451.^[65]

• April 12 – Henry Chichele, the Roman Catholic Archbishop of Canterbury for almost 29 years, dies and is succeeded by John Stafford on May 13.
• April 23 – The Duke of York, Richard Plantagenet, signs a treaty with Isabella of Portugal, Duchess of Burgundy for an indefinite truce between the Kingdom of England and the Duchy of Burgundy.^[66]
• May 13 – John Stafford is appointed as the new Archbishop of Canterbury by Pope Eugene IV.^[67]
• June 5 – The strongest earthquake on record in Poland kills at least 30 people and damages buildings in Krakow and Wroclaw, and in Timisoara and Oradea in Romania.^[68]
• June 6 – Afonso V of Aragon formally reunites the Kingdoms of Naples and Sicily.
• June 14 – Pope Eugene IV and King Alfonso V of Naples reach a forma agreement at Terracina, with the Pope recognizing Alfonso as the rightful King and Prince Ferrante as heir to the throne, while Alfonso agrees to stop support of the antipope Amadeus VII and the Council of Basel.^[69]

• July 22 – Battle of St. Jakob an der Sihl (Old Zürich War): The forces of the city of Zürich are defeated, but the Swiss Confederacy have insufficient strength to besiege and take the city.
• August 14 – The Siege of Dieppe, an attempt by England's Earl of Shrewsbury to capture the French port at Normandy and France's access to the English Channel, fails after nine months.^[70]
• September 28 – Pope Eugene IV returns to Rome for the first time in more than nine years, after having been forced to flee on June 4, 1434.^[71]

• October 22 – Pedro de Portugal, Duke of Coimbra and regent for the 11-year old King Afonso V, grants letters patent to his younger brother Dom Henrique of Navegador ("Prince Henry the Navigator"), giving Henrique an exclusive monopoly over all navigation south of Cape Bojador, whether for the purpose of war or trade, as well as a commission on any African goods or slaves brought back to mainland Portugal.^[72]
• November 8 – Battle of Niš: John Hunyadi and the army of the Crusade of Varna defeat three armies of the Ottoman Empire, and capture the city of Niš in modern-day Serbia; Skanderbeg deserts the Ottoman camp and goes to Albania.
• November 28 – Skanderbeg and his forces, rebelling against the Ottoman Empire, liberate Krujë, in Middle Albania, and raise the Albanian flag.
• December 12 – At the Battle of Zlatitsa in what is now Bulgaria, Ottoman troops under the Sultan Murad II and General Kasim Pasha defeat an attack by John Hunyadi and the forces of Hungary, Croatia, Poland and Serbia.^[73]
• December 24 –
  • The Christian crusaders under Hunyadi begin their retreat westward after their defeat at Zlatica, and the Ottoman forces follow them, with a confrontation ultimately taking place on January 2 at the Battle of Kunovica.^[74]
  • In Poland, Wenceslaus I, Duke of Siewierz sells the duchy of Siewierz to Zbigniew Oleśnicki, Bishop of Kraków, for 6,000 silver coins (Prague groschen), equivalent to at least 21 kilograms (46 lb) or 750 ounces of silver.^[75]
• December 30 – King Sejong the Great of Korea announces the creation of the Hunminjeongeum (literally "The Proper Sounds for the Instruction of the People") a manual for Hangul, a standardized writing system for the Korean language.^[76]

• In Moldavia, the conflict between brothers and co-rulers Iliaș and Stephen II reignites, and Stephen captures Iliaș and blinds him, thus remaining sole ruler of the country.
• Portuguese explorer Nuno Tristão penetrates the Arguin Gulf, off the west coast of Africa.
• King Sejong the Great starts to create Hangul, the native alphabet of the Korean language, with his scholars.
• Vlad II Dracul begins his second term as ruler of Wallachia, succeeding Basarab II.
• The Buddhist Zhihua Temple (智化寺) is built in Beijing, at the order of Wang Zhen, chief eunuch at the court of the Zhengtong Emperor of Ming Dynasty China.
• A powerful earthquake destroys the Timișoara Fortress in the Kingdom of Hungary

• January 2 – The Battle of Kunovica is fought between the Christian crusaders, led by John Hunyadi, and the Muslim armies of the Ottoman Emppire in what is now Serbia. After having retreated 10 days earlier following their loss in the Battle of Zlatitsa, Hunyadi and King Wladyslaw III of Hungary defeat the Ottoman forces and take several of their commanders as prisoners of war, including Mahmud Bey, son-in-law of the Sultan Murad II.^[77]
• February 15 – Stjepan Vukčić Kosača, the Grand Duke of Bosnia, signs a treaty with the King Alfonso of Naples, agreeing to become his vassal in exchange for help against the Republic of Venice.^[78]
• March 2 – The League of Lezhë, an alliance of Albanian principalities, is established in Lezhë; George Kastrioti Skanderbeg is proclaimed commander of the Albanian resistance.^[79]

• April 15 – King Wladyslaw of Hungary appears before the Országgyűlés, the Diet of Hungary in Buda, and pledges to the legislators present that he will lead the attack against the Turkish Muslims in the summer.^[80]
• April 18 – In Sicily, the University of Catania receives papal recognition from Pope Eugene IV, ten years after its founding on October 19, 1434.
• May 22 – The Treaty of Tours, signed between England and France, secures a truce in the Hundred Years' War for five years.
• June 15 – Cosimo de' Medici founds a public library at San Marco, Florence.^[81]
• June 29 – Battle of Torvioll: Skanderbeg defeats an Ottoman army.

• July 22 – Oddantonio da Montefeltro, the Duke of Urbino, an independent duchy in what is now the Le Marche region of Italy, is assassinated at his palace by conspirators, who also murder his counsellors Manfredo dei Pio da Carpi and Tommaso di Guido dell'Agnello.^[82] He is succeeded by his half-brother, Federico da Montefeltro.
• August 6 – A Portuguese fleet of caravels, led by Lançarote de Freitas, lands 235 slaves at Algarve, Portugal.^[83]
• August 15 – The Peace of Szeged is signed between the Turkish Ottoman Empire and Hungary.^[84]
• August 22 – Đurađ Branković reclaims Serbia from Ottoman control after the signing of the peace of Szeged, and Wladyslaw of Hungary offers the throne of Bulgaria to John Hunyadi.^[84]
• August 26 – Old Zürich War – Battle of St. Jakob an der Birs: Charles VII of France, seeking to send away troublesome troops made idle by the truce with England, sends his son (the Dauphin Louis) with a large army into Switzerland, to support the claims of Frederick III, Holy Roman Emperor. The massively outnumbered Swiss force is destroyed in this battle, but inflict such casualties on the French that they withdraw.
• August – After making peace with the Karamanids, Ottoman Sultan Murad II abdicates in favor of his son Mehmed II.^[85]
• September 9 – General Alvise Loredan, commander of the Ventian and Papal States squadrons in the Crusade of Varna, receives instructions from the Republic of Venice to open secret negotiations with the Ottoman Sultan and to abstain from offensive actions until further notice. Loredan is soon faced with defending an Ottoman invasion of Europe.
• September 18 – As the Crusade of Varna resumes, the 16,000 Christian soldiers under the command of Wladyslaw and Hunyadi begin crossing over the Danube river near Belgrade and complete their crossing into Ottoman Muslim territory in Bulgaria.^[86]

• October 20 – As the Christian crusaders begin their approach to the Black Sea, the former Ottoman Sultan Murad II comes out of retirement at Bursa to assume command of the Ottoman troops.^[86]
• November 10 – Battle of Varna: The crusading forces of King Władysław III of Poland and Hungary are defeated by the Turks, under Sultan Murad II. Władysław is killed, ending the Jagiellonian Union of Hungary and Poland.
• December 24 – Ottoman General Kasım Pasha is defeated in the Battle of Melštica near Sofia by Christian troops who had survived the Battle of Varna.^[87]

• Constantine XI Palaiologos, as ruler of the Despotate of the Morea, invades the Duchy of Athens (at this time under Florentine control), and forces it to pay tribute and return Thebes to the Byzantine Empire.
• Forces of the Sultan of Egypt fail to take Rhodes from the Knights of Rhodes.
• Portuguese explorers reach the mouth of the rivers Senegal and Gambia.
• The first European slave market for the sale of African slaves, the Mercado de Escravos, opens in Lagos, Portugal.
• A serious fire occurs at Old St Paul's Cathedral in London.
• The Iguvine Tablets are discovered at Gubbio, Italy.
• Stephen II of Moldavia takes as co-ruler his step brother Petru, also brother-in-law to John Hunyadi.

• April – Henry VI of England marries Margaret of Anjou.[1]
• October 10 – Battle of Mokra: The Albanian forces under Skanderbeg defeat the Ottoman forces (Pope Eugene IV raises a hymn of praise, that Christendom has been provided with a new defender, after he hears of the battle).^[88]

• The Portuguese set up their first trading post (Feitoria) in Africa, on the island of Arguin.
• Portuguese explorer Dinis Dias discovers the Cap-Vert, on the western coast of Africa.
• Battle of Gomit: Emperor Zara Yaqob of Ethiopia defeats and kills Sultan Arwe Badlay, of Adal.
• Vlad II Dracul, aided by a crusaders' fleet from Burgundy, attacks Giurgiu, and massacres the Ottoman garrison after their surrender.
• Stephen II remains sole ruler of Moldavia.

• March 6 – The Battle of Ragaz marks the last military conflict of the Old Zurich War between the Swiss Confederacy and the Habsburgs. 1,200 Confederates defeat the Austrian army, commanded by Hans von Rechberg and Wolfhard V. von Brandis, the Habsburg bailiff of Feldkirch. Among other things, the banners of the lords of Brandis are lost to the confederates and later transferred to the church in Sarnen. According to contemporary accounts, around 900 men from the Habsburg army and around 100 men from the Swiss army fell in the battle.^[89]
• June 6 – John Hunyadi is proclaimed regent, bestowing the title "governor" upon him. His election is primarily promoted by the lesser nobility, but Hunyadi has by this time become one of the richest barons of the kingdom. His domains cover an area exceeding 800,000 hectares (2,000,000 acres).^[90] Hunyadi is one of the few contemporaneous barons who has spent a significant part of their revenues to finance the wars against the Ottomans, thus bearing a large share of the cost of fighting for many years.^[91]
• June 12 – An armistice between Duchy of Austria and the Swiss Confederation comes into force.^[89]
• June 21 – Lidköping gets its charter, and thus qualifies as one of the now defunct Cities of Sweden.
• August – Christopher of Bavaria undertakes a fruitless military campaign against Gotland to end Eric of Pomerania's piracy.^[92][93]
• August 24 – After many years of fruitless negotiations between Christopher of Bavaria and Eric of Pomerania, a Swedish war march to Gotland is launched in the early summer of 1446. King Christopher comes with a force to the island and on an open field in Västergarn with crossbowmen at gunpoint behind each monarch's back; regular peace negotiations take place.^[92][94]
• September 27 – Battle of Otonetë: Skanderbeg defeats the Ottomans.^[95][96]
• Before October – Sultan Mehmed II of the Ottoman Empire is forced to abdicate, in favor of his father Murad II, by the Janissaries.^[97]
• October 9 – The hangul alphabet is proclaimed in Korea, by King Sejong the Great. The Hunmin Jeongeum, published during the year, is considered the start of this brand new scientific writing system.^[98]
• October – Murad II invades Attica, forcing Constantine XI to return Thebes to the duchy of Athens,^[99] and remove the tribute imposed in 1444. Murad II imposes his own tribute.
• December 10 – After hesitating for several weeks, Sultan Murad II, of the Ottoman Empire, destroys the Hexamilion wall, in an assault that includes cannons. Murad and the Ottoman governor of Thessaly, Turakhan Beg, ravage the Peloponnese Peninsula at will, with the Sultan devastating the northern shore, while Glarentza and Turakhan raid in the interior. The Despotate of the Morea is turned into an Ottoman vassal state.^[100]

• Nuno Tristão is killed by natives on the coast of Senegal.^[101]
• Portuguese navigator Álvaro Fernandes reaches the mouth of the Casamance River in Senegal.^[102]
• The Precious Belt Bridge in China is fully reconstructed.^[103]
• In Italy, the siege of Cremona, by the condottieri troops of Francesco Piccinino and Luigi dal Verme, is raised after the arrival of Scaramuccia da Forlì.^[104]
• The Blarney Stone is set into a tower of Blarney Castle in Blarney, County Cork in Ireland.^[105]

• March 6 – Pope Nicholas V succeeds Pope Eugene IV, to become the 208th pope.^[106]
• March 16 – A major fire destroys the centre of Valencia.
• September 15 – Roman II seizes the throne of Moldavia after killing his uncle, Stephen II, and will have his other uncle, Petru as co-ruler.
• December
  • Vlad II Dracul, ruler of Wallachia, and his eldest son Mircea are assassinated. Vladislav II succeeds him, with the assistance of John Hunyadi.
  • The Albanian–Venetian War of 1447–48 begins.

• The Siege of Soest, Germany, occurs, in the course of the Soest Feud.
• Tashi Lhunpo Monastery is founded by the 1st Dalai Lama at its original location in Shigatse, Tibet.^[107]
• Iizasa Ienao founds Tenshin Shōden Katori Shintō-ryū, the earliest historically verifiable Japanese koryū martial art, that will still be extant in modern times.^[108]

• January 6 – Christopher of Bavaria, King of Denmark, Norway and Sweden, dies with no designated heir, leaving all three kingdoms with vacant thrones. Brothers Bengt Jönsson Oxenstierna and Nils Jönsson Oxenstierna are selected to serve as co-regents of Sweden.
• April 15 – Queens' College, Cambridge is founded by Margaret of Anjou.^[109]
• June 20 – The Regency period of Sweden ends with the election of Karl Knutsson Bonde, as King Charles VIII of Sweden.
• June 28 – Charles VIII of Sweden is publicly hailed as king at Mora Stones, and is crowned in Uppsala Cathedral the following day.
• August 14 – Battle of Oronichea: Albania is victorious over Venice.
• September 28 – Christian of Oldenburg, betrothed to Queen Dowager Dorothea of Brandenburg, becomes King Christian I of Denmark.
• October 4 – Peace between Albania and Venice is established.
• October 17 – Battle of Kosovo: Hungarian forces under John Hunyadi are defeated by the Turks, due to Ottoman superiority.
• October – November – Vlad III the Impaler becomes reigning Prince of Wallachia for two months, before being deposed by Vladislav II of Wallachia.
• December 20 – Pope Nicholas V appoints Rudolf of Diepholt, Bishop of Utrecht, as cardinal.
• December – Jonas, a Russian bishop, is installed by the Council of Russian Bishops in Moscow, as Metropolitan of Kiev and All Rus;^[110] as this is without the consent of the Patriarch of Constantinople, it signifies the beginning of an effectively independent church structure in the Grand Duchy of Moscow.

• Roman II flees to Poland, when an army sent by John Hunyadi, and led by Csupor de Monoszló, comes to put Petru on the throne of Moldavia. Petru dies suddenly, and Csupor takes on the throne for two months, as Ciubăr Vodă.
• After a long episode of drought, flood, locust infestation and famine in Ming dynasty China since the year 1434, these natural afflictions finally wane, and agriculture and commerce return to a state of normality.
• The Vatican Library is founded by Pope Nicholas V.

• January 6 – Constantine XI Palaiologos is crowned Byzantine Emperor at Mistra; he will be the last in a line of rulers that can be traced to the founding of Rome.
• February – Alexăndrel seizes the throne of Moldavia, with the support of the boyars.
• March 24 – Hundred Years' War: English forces capture Fougères in Brittany.^[111]
• April 7 – The last Antipope, Felix V, abdicates.
• April 19 – Pope Nicholas V is elected by the Council of Basel.^[112]
• April 25 – The Council of Basel dissolves itself.
• May – An English privateering fleet led by Robert Wennington challenges ships of the Hanseatic League.^[113]
• May 14 – Second Siege of Sfetigrad (1449): The Albanian garrison surrenders and the Ottomans seize the fortress.
• May 20 – Battle of Alfarrobeira: King Afonso V of Portugal defeats the forces of Peter, Duke of Coimbra.
• July – Hundred Years' War: The French invade Normandy.^[111]
• August 13 – First Margrave War: Margrave Albrecht takes Lichtenau Fortress from Nuremberg.
• September 1 – Battle of Tumu Fortress: The Oirat Mongols defeat the Ming dynasty army, and capture the Zhengtong Emperor of China; the latter is officially deposed, while his brother ascends as the Jingtai Emperor the next year.
• October – Bogdan II of Moldavia enters the country with troops from John Hunyadi, and takes the throne after Alexăndrel flees.
• October 29 – The French recapture Rouen from the English.^[111]