Middle Ages
Spanish Inquisition (1478): Its Founding and Torquemada
A royal-controlled inquisition was established that tried thousands of conversos and others, lasted until 1834 and contributed to the expulsion of Spain's Jews in 1492.
Region
Europe
Middle Ages
Great Stand on the Ugra River (1480): End of the Tatar Yoke
Khan Akhmat withdrew without a decisive battle; the event is traditionally seen as the end of Golden Horde overlordship over Muscovy.
Middle Ages
Elmina Castle (1482): Portugal's First Fort in West Africa
Portugal built the first European fortress in sub-Saharan Africa, secured a near-monopoly of the Gold Coast gold trade for over a century and created a base later used in the Atlantic slave trade.
Middle Ages
Princes in the Tower (1483): The Mystery of Edward V and Richard
The two sons of Edward IV disappeared from view in the Tower of London in 1483; they are generally believed to have died there, but who was responsible has never been proven.
Middle Ages
Battle of Bosworth (1485): Richard III Falls, the Tudors Rise
Richard III was killed and his army defeated; Henry Tudor became King Henry VII, founding the Tudor dynasty.
Early Modern
Columbus's First Voyage (1492): Crossing the Atlantic
Columbus reached the Caribbean and returned to Spain, opening lasting contact between Europe and the Americas.
Middle Ages
Alhambra Decree (1492): The Expulsion of the Jews From Spain
Jews who refused baptism were expelled from Castile and Aragon; tens of thousands left, many others converted, and the Sephardic diaspora spread across the Mediterranean.
Middle Ages
Fall of Granada (1492): The End of the Reconquista
The Nasrid Emirate of Granada surrendered to the Crown of Castile, ending almost eight centuries of Muslim rule in the Iberian Peninsula.
Early Modern
Behaim Globe (1492): The Oldest Surviving Terrestrial Globe
Completed in 1492, the globe survives in the Germanisches Nationalmuseum in Nuremberg as the oldest known terrestrial globe.
Early Modern
Inter Caetera (1493): The Papal Bull Dividing the Atlantic
Castile received papal sanction for lands west of a line 100 leagues beyond the Azores and Cape Verde Islands, prompting Portugal to negotiate the Treaty of Tordesillas.
Early Modern
Columbus's Second Voyage (1493–1496): La Isabela and Colonisation
Spain founded its first planned town in the Americas at La Isabela, imposed tribute on the Taíno of Hispaniola and began permanent colonisation.
Early Modern
Treaty of Tordesillas (1494): Spain and Portugal Divide the World
Castile and Portugal agreed a dividing meridian 370 leagues west of the Cape Verde Islands, giving Portugal Africa, the route to Asia and later Brazil, and Castile most of the Americas.