"I have read a good deal in [Marco Polo], and have reached the conception that over this [Atlantic Ocean|Western Ocean Sea] one could sail to this Isle of [Japan|Cypango] and other unknown lands."

- [Christopher Columbus], expressing his wish to visit [Japan] in a letter to King [John] of [Portugal], 1484

In the year AD 1484...

Pope [Innocent VIII] issues his famous [papal bull] [Summis desiderantes], officially acknowledging the existence of [witch|witches] and authorizing German priests [Heinrich Kramer] and [Jacob Sprenger] to organize an [inquisition] to seek out and destroy them.
Ottoman sultan [Bayezid II] signs a 10-year peace agreement with the Kingdom of [Hungary], leading to a brief lull in the [Ottoman–Hungarian Wars].
[Christopher Columbus] first begins soliciting investors for his scheme to travel to the [East Indies] by sailing west across the [Atlantic Ocean].
English king [Richard III] holds the one and only [parliament] of his brief reign. Against fierce opposition, he pushes through passage of a bill, the [Titulus Regius], in which he attempts to justify his seizure of the throne.
Forces loyal to King [James III] of [Scotland] defeat 500 cavalrymen led by rebels [Alexander Stewart, 1st Duke of Albany|Alexander Stewart, Duke of Albany] and [James Douglas, 9th Earl of Douglas] at the [Battle of Lochmaben Fair].
King [Dhammazedi] of [Burma] orders the casting of the [Great Bell of Dhammazedi], believed to be the largest [bell] of any kind ever made.
Korean king [Sungjong] orders the construction of the [Changgyeongung] summer palace in what is now [Seoul] to house three [dowager] queens.
[William Caxton] issues the collection of [Aesop's Fables] to be printed in the [English] language.

These people were born in 1484...

Spanish Dominican friar, historian, and social reformer [Bartolomé de las Casas].

Indian composer [Purandara Dasa], remembered as the "father of [Carnatic] music."

Italian [fencing] master [Achille Marozzo].

Italian classical scholar [Julius Caesar Scaliger].

Italian architect [Antonio da Sangallo the Younger].

Icelandic bishop and poet [Jón Arason].

Swiss dramatist, painter, engraver, and statesman [Niklaus Manuel].

French pirate [Jean Alfonse].

Japanese warlord [Hosokawa Takakuni].

These people died in 1484...

Pope [Sixtus IV], succeeded by Pope [Innocent VIII].

British crown prince [Edward of Middleham], only son of King [Richard III] of England and his wife [Anne Neville], leaving his father without an obvious choice of heir.

Greek philosopher [George of Trebizond].
Polish prince [Saint Casimir], patron saint of [Poland], [Lithuania], and the youth of the world.

Polish friar [John of Dukla], canonized as a [saint] by Pope [John Paul II] in [1997], in front of a crowd of one million.

Italian poet and dancer [Antonio Cornazzano].

Italian poet [Luigi Pulci].

Italian mathematician [Piero Borgi].

[1483] - 1484 - [1485]

[15th century]

[How I made the Year Nodes|How they were made]

1484 (idea)