August 3: King James II of Scotland is killed in an explosion, and his widow, Queen Mary of Gueldres, becomes the regent for their son, King James III.
January 14 – After gaining a consensus at the Council of Mantua, Pope Pius II formally declares a Christian crusade against the Muslim Ottoman Empire to recapture Constantinople, which had been captured by the Ottomans in 1453.
March 4 – At Rome on the Wednesday during Ember Days, Pope Pius II addresses an assembly of the College of Cardinals and criticizes most of them, declaring that “Your lifestyle is such that you would appear to have been chosen, not to govern the state, but called to enjoy pleasures. You avoid neither hunting, nor games, nor the company of women. You put together parties that are more opulent than is fitting. You wear clothes that are far too expensive. You overflow with gold and silver.”[3] He then directs them to consider the qualities of new candidates for the College. The next day, six cardinals are elected, including Francesco Nanni-Todeschini-Piccolomini, the Pope’s nephew, who will later become Pope Pius III.
May 30 – Demetrios Palaiologos, the ruler of the Byzantine despotate of Morea in southern Greece surrenders the capital, Mystras,to the Ottomans. The Ottoman sultan Mehmed II grants some islands in the Aegean Sea to Palaiologos, and he lives for several years in relative comfort.[5]
June 3 – Pope Pius II re-imposes a 1454 ban against trade with the Prussian Confederation, and extends it to include a ban against trading with the Kingdom of Poland, after the Prussian states and Poland refuse to join in the proposed crusade against the Ottoman Empire.
July 5 – The town of Marienburg is captured by the Polish army after a four-month siege that had been started by General Proandota Lubieszowski, who had died during the fighting.
July 30 – King Henry VI summons the English Parliament to assemble at Westminster on October 7.
August 3 – King James II of Scotland is killed by the explosion of a cannon which he had purchased from Flanders as part of acquiring the most up-to-date military technology for Scotland. The King had been supervising the bombardment of Roxburgh Castle during a siege to force out the English occupation troops.[8] Historian Robert Lindsay of Pitscottie later writes “as the King stood near a piece of artillery, his thigh bone was dug in two with a piece of misframed gun that brake in shooting, by which he was stricken to the ground and died hastily.[9] He is succeeded by his 8-year-old son, who becomes King James III, with power exercised by the boy’s mother, the Queen Regent Mary of Guelders.[10]
October 7 – The 22nd parliament of Henry VI is opened, and the House of Commons elects John Green as its speaker.
October 10 – Richard, Duke of York enters the Council Chamber, places his hand upon the throne, and announces that he is the rightful King of England. He then takes up residence at the royal palace.[13]
October 25 – The Act of Accord, passed by the Parliament of England, is given royal assent by King Henry VI as a compromise to end the War of the Roses between King Henry’s supporters (the Lancastrians) and the supporters of Richard of York (the Yorkists). Under the law, King Henry is permitted to rule England for the rest of his life, but his son, Edward of Westminster, Prince of Wales is removed from the right of succession and Richard of York and his descendants are granted the right to rule upon King Henry’s death.[14]
November 7 – King James II of Cyprus orders his chief minister, George Boustronios, to travel to Larnaca, and to round up “both the serfs and emancipated peasants, both mounted and on foot”, to be delivered to the King at Nicosia to be drafted into the King’s army, with the promise of benefits to the peasants and emancipation to the serfs.[15]
December 2 – In Spain, the popular Prince Carlos de Viana, heir to the throne of Navarre, is arrested at Lleida and jailed in Morella by order of his father, King Juan II, leading to an uprising in Catalonia. King Juan eventually yields and frees Prince Carlos two months later on February 25.[16]
^Brondarbit, A. R . (2022). Soldier, Rebel, Traitor: John, Lord Wenlock and the Wars of the Roses. Barnsley: Pen & Sword. p. 117. ISBN 978-1-39900-347-6.
^Haigh, P. A. (2002). From Wakefield to Towton: The Wars of the Roses. Bradford: Leo Cooper. p. 38. ISBN 978-0-85052-825-1.
^“The Hospitallers and their manumissions of Rhodian and Cypriot serfes (1409—1459)”, by Nicholas Coureas, in The Military Orders Volume VII: Piety, Pugnacity and Property, ed. by Nicholas Morton (Taylor & Francis, 2019) p.157
^Bisson, T. N. (1986). The Medieval Crown of Aragon: A Short History. Clarendon Press. p. 148. ISBN 0-19-820236-9.
