"Most Illustrious Lord, Having now sufficiently considered the specimens of all those who proclaim themselves skilled contrivers of instruments of war, and that the invention and operation of the said instruments are nothing different from those in common use: I shall endeavor, without prejudice to any one else, to explain myself to your Excellency, showing your Lordship my secret, and then offering them to your best pleasure and approbation to work with effect at opportune moments on all those things which, in part, shall be briefly noted below."
- Leonardo da Vinci, writing history's earliest known "resume" to the Duke of Milan,
from whom he hoped to secure patronage as a military advisor, 1482
In the year AD 1482...
- Dual monarchs of Spain Ferdinand and Isabella launch the Granada War in an effort to conquer the Emirate of Granada, which is the last Muslim-controlled territory on the Iberian Peninsula. In the opening gambit, invading Spanish forces capture the strategic village of Alhama de Granada, and successfully fend of an attempt to retake it by Moorish general Abu Hasan.
- An army of 20,000 English troops, commanded by Richard of Gloucester (the future king Richard III), invades Scotland in an attempt to replace Scottish king James III with his brother, Alexander Stewart, Duke of Albany, who had sworn fealty to Richard's brother, English king Edward IV.
- Finding himself unopposed, Richard briefly occupies Edinburgh, but does not have the strength to besiege Edinburgh Castle where James is holed up, so he is forced to withdraw.
- On his way home, he besieges and captures the Scottish town of Berwick-upon-Tweed, which remains the northernmost town in England to this day.
- When Mary of Burgundy, the daughter of last Duke of Burgundy Charles the Bold, dies unexpectedly after being thrown from a horse, with her son Philip still a child, her husband Maximilian of Austria (the future Holy Roman Emperor Maximilian I) moves quickly to secure at least part of her lands for himself by signing the Treaty of Arras with France, dividing Burgundy in half between himself and French king Louis XI. However, the cities of Flanders, correctly perceiving that they will become incorporated into the Hapsburg Empire, refuse to acknowledge Maximilian's rule and will rise in revolt the following year.
- The Crimean Tatars under Khan Meñli I Giray sack the city of Kyiv in what is now Ukraine.
- A Portuguese fleet, commanded by Diogo de Azambuja, arrives at the mouth of the River Benya on the Gold Coast in what is now Ghana, where they establish a fort called São Jorge da Mina, better known today as Elmina Castle. Today, Elmina Castle is the oldest European-built structure south of the Sahara Desert.
- Portuguese explorer Diogo Cão becomes the first European to enter the Congo.
- Japanese shogun Ashikaga Yoshimasa constructs his retirement villa Ginkakuji ("Silver Pavilion") in Kyoto, based on the model of his grandfather Ashikaga Yoshimitsu's Kinkakuji ("Golden Pavilion").
- Italian painter Botticelli completes one of his most famous and controversial paintings, Primavera ("Spring").
- Italian polymath Leonardo da Vinci crafts the world's first "resume" (and thereby invents the modern term) when he sends a hand-written list of his achievements to the Duke of Milan in an effort to gain his patronage.
- Ancient Greek mathematician Euclid's Elements is published in print for the first time (in Latin translation) by German printer Erhard Ratdolt. It will go on to become the second most often published work in the Western canon, after only the Bible.
- The events of Victor Hugo's novel The Hunchback of Notre-Dame (1831) take place in 1482.
These people were born in 1482...
These people died in 1482...
- English queen Margaret of Anjou, wife of King Henry VI.
- Co-ruler of Burgundy Margaret of Burgundy, after being thrown from a horse, leading to the partitioning of Burgundy between the Hapsburgs and France.
- Former queen of Korea Yun, of suicide after being ordered to drink poison.
- Burmese king of Arakan Ba Saw Phyu, assassinated on the orders of his eldest son Dwalya, who had been passed over in favor of a different heir.
- Ottoman statesman and admiral Gedik Ahmed Pasha, killed on the orders of the new Ottoman Sultan Bayezid II.
- Italian mercenary and Renaissance man Federico da Montefeltro.
- Italian mathematician, astronomer, and cosmographer Paolo dal Pozzo Toscanelli.
- Flemish painter Hugo van der Goes.
- Vietnamese historian Phan Phu Tiên.
- Portuguese monk, religious reformer, and prophet Amadeus.
- German princess and prominent patron of the arts Mechthild of the Palatinate.
- Wallachian warlord Basarab the Little Impaler, killed fighting against an invasion of Wallachia by Prince of Moldavia Ștefan the Great.
- Persian Timurid diplomat and historian Abd al-Razzaq Samarqandi.
- Italian humanist scholar Cola Montano, hanged for his role in inspiring the Conspiracy of the Lampugnani that succeeded in murdering Duke of Milan Galeazzo Maria Sforza.
1481 - 1482 - 1483
15th century
How they were made