1485

January–December

• Spring – Multiple earthquakes occur near Taishan, China.
• March 16 – A solar eclipse crosses northern South America and Central Europe.
• June 1 – Matthias of Hungary takes Vienna, in his conquest of Austria (from Frederick III), and makes the city his capital.
• August 5–7 – The first outbreak of sweating sickness in England begins.
• August 22 – Battle of Bosworth: King Richard III of England is defeated by (rival claimant to the throne of England) Henry Tudor, Earl of Richmond; Richard dies in battle, and Henry Tudor becomes King Henry VII of England (although Henry marks this battle as August 21, so that he can declare all his opponents traitors).
• September 12 – Muscovian forces conquer Tver.
• September 15 – Peter Arbues is assaulted while praying in the cathedral at Zaragoza, Spain; he dies on September 17. He had been appointed Inquisitor of Aragon by the Inquisitor General, Tomás de Torquemada, in the campaign against heresy and crypto-Judaism.
• October 30 – King Henry VII of England is crowned.
• November 2 – The Peace of Bourges stops the Mad War.

Date unknown

• Leon Battista Alberti's De Re Aedificatoria (written 1443–1452 and published posthumously) becomes the first printed work on architecture.
• From about this date, Leonardo da Vinci produces a number of designs for flying machines, including the aerial screw or helicopter (probably unworkable).

 

• March 10 – Sophie of Brandenburg-Ansbach-Kulmbach, German princess (d. 1537)
• April 26 – Sibylle of Baden, Countess consort of Hanau-Lichtenberg (d. 1518)
• June 20 – Astorre III Manfredi, Italian noble (d. 1502)
• June 24
  • Johannes Bugenhagen, German religious reformer (d. 1558)
  • Elizabeth of Denmark, Electress of Brandenburg (1502–1535) (d. 1555)
• July 20 – Giovanni Battista Ramusio, Italian geographer (d. 1557)
• August 22 – Beatus Rhenanus, German humanist and religious reformer (d. 1547)
• September 14 – Anna of Mecklenburg-Schwerin, Mecklenburgian royal (d. 1525)
• October 1 – Johannes Dantiscus, Polish poet and bishop (d. 1548)
• October 8 – Antonio Pucci, Italian Catholic cardinal (d. 1544)
• November 30 – Veronica Gambara, Italian poet and stateswoman (d. 1550)
• December 16 – Catherine of Aragon, first queen of Henry VIII of England, and daughter of Ferdinand II of Aragon and Isabella I of Castile (d. 1536)
• date unknown
  • Hernán Cortés, Spanish conquistador (d. 1547)
  • Odet de Foix, Vicomte de Lautrec, French military leader (d. 1528)
  • Johanna of Hachberg-Sausenberg, ruler of Neuchatel (d. 1543)
  • Giovanni da Verrazzano, Italian explorer (approximate date; d. c. 1528)
• probable
  • Hugh Aston, English composer (d. 1558)
  • Thomas Cromwell, 1st Earl of Essex, English statesman (d. 1540)
  • Clément Janequin, French chanson composer
  • Sayyida al Hurra, Moroccan pirate queen
  • Sebastiano del Piombo, Italian painter (d. 1547)
  • John Russell, 1st Earl of Bedford, English royal minister (d. 1555)

• January 20 – Eustochia Smeralda Calafato, Italian saint (b. 1434)
• February 28 – Niclas, Graf von Abensberg, German soldier (b. 1441)
• March 16 – Anne Neville, queen of Richard III of England (b. 1456)
• August 7 – Alexander Stewart, 1st Duke of Albany, Scottish prince (b. c. 1454)
• August 15 – Albert II, Duke of Brunswick-Grubenhagen (b. 1419)
• August 22 (killed in the Battle of Bosworth Field):
  • King Richard III of England (b. 1452)
  • John Howard, 1st Duke of Norfolk (b. 1430)
  • James Harrington, Yorkist knight
  • Richard Ratcliffe, supporter of Richard III
  • John Babington, High Sheriff of Nottinghamshire, Derbyshire and the Royal Forests
  • Robert Brackenbury, English nobleman, courtier and supporter of Richard III
  • Walter Devereux, 8th Baron Ferrers of Chartley, supporter of Richard III
  • William Brandon, supporter of Henry VII (b. 1456)
• August 25 – William Catesby, supporter of Richard III (executed) (b. 1450)
• October 17 – John Scott of Scott's Hall, Warden of the Cinque Ports
• October 27 – Rodolphus Agricola, Dutch scholar (b. 1443)
• November 4 – Françoise d'Amboise, Duchess of Brittany (b. 1427)
• November 4 – Giovanni Mocenigo, Doge of Venice (b. 1408)
• Date unknown – Kristina Königsmarck, Swedish noblewoman.