User:Generalissima/1453

Events

 * March – A large cohort of English reinforcements depart to Gascony.
 * May 29 – Ottoman forces capture Constantinople, destroying the Byzantine Empire.
 * June 14 – Ludovico Gonzaga of Mantua defends the city against Venetian forces led by his brother Carlo.
 * July 17 – The French destroy the English army at the Battle of Castillon.
 * September 30 – Pope Nicholas V issues a crusading bull against the Ottoman Empire.
 * October 20 – The last English holdouts in Gascony, including Bordeaux, surrender to France.

East Asia
Hostile relationships continued between the Ming Dynasty and the growing Oirat confederation of Esen Taishi. Esen had captured the Yingzong Emperor in battle four years prior, and killed Northern Yuan leader Taisun Khan early in the previous year. Early in the year, the Minister of War Yu Qian considered a plan for an offensive campaign against the Oirat and Mongols, but ultimately focused on maintaining the northern border, unwilling to disrupt the newly reformed command structure of the Ming military. Having dominated the Mongol tribes after his defeat of Taisun, Esen declared himself Khagan of the Northern Yuan, becoming the first non-Borjigin to do so. The alarmed Ming government heightened border security, and debated whether to recognize Esen as Khagan.

After a twenty year halt, a large Japanese tribute mission was dispatched by the Ashikaga Shogunate to the Ming court. The envoys were angered by court officials' refusal to pay high prices for the wares, and rioted along their return journey, looting civilian houses in Lingqing, Shandong, and attacking officials sent to investigate. The Jingtai Emperor decided not to pursue the riotous diplomats, hesitant to upset diplomatic relations with Japan.

A recent series of annual floods worsened in central China, with the Yellow River devastating Henan. Urgent repairs to dikes along the Grand Canal were initially unsuccessful, leading to the appointment of Xu Youzhen to supervise efforts to maintain the canal and vital grain shipments to Beijing. The somewhat unstable political legitimacy of the Jingtai Emperor in the wake of Yingzong's capture was heightened after the death of Zhu Jianji, his son and heir apparent, on December 18.

Korea, Sejo's coup

Okinawa, secession crisis & Shuri burning

Western Europe
A reinforcement of over 2,000 men led by a number of prominent noblemen was sent to Gascony in March, increasing Talbot's forces to upwards of 7,300. However, the French navy was able to cut off English access to Bordeaux via the Gironde estuary, preventing further reinforcement. On July 17, the French routed the English army at the Battle of Castillon, killing Talbot. Charles VII's forces moved further into Gascony, laying siege to Bordeaux in August. The city, alongside the holdout of Rions, surrendered on October 20, ending the English presence in the region and bringing a close to the last phase of the Hundred Years' War.

Eastern Europe
- End of Muscovite Civil War

Births

 * January 6 – Girolamo Benivieni, Italian poet (d. 1542)
 * March 2 &#x2013; Johannes Engel, German doctor, astronomer and astrologer (d. 1512)
 * September 1 &#x2013; Gonzalo Fernández de Córdoba
 * October 13 &#x2013; Edward of Westminster, Prince of Wales, only son of Henry VI (d. 1471)

Deaths

 * July 17
 * John Talbot, 1st Earl of Shrewsbury, English nobleman and military leader (b. c. 1387)
 * John Talbot, 1st Viscount Lisle, English nobleman, son of the Earl of Shrewsbury
 * December 24 &#x2013; John Dunstaple, English composer