atural son of a peasant who became a great _condottiere_. He is
proclaimed duke.

1451. Guienne conquered by the French from the English. Ghent revolts
against Philip, Duke of Burgundy.

1453. End of the Eastern empire. See "MAHOMET II TAKES CONSTANTINOPLE,"
viii, 55.

Submission of Ghent to the Duke of Burgundy after its forces had been
defeated at Gaveren.

Battle of Castillon; defeat of the English; loss of all the English
conquests in France, except Calais; end of the Hundred Years' War.

Emperor Frederick III creates Austria a duchy.

1454. Mental aberration of Henry VI of England; the Duke of York
protector.

Publication of the first-known printing with movable type. See "ORIGIN
AND PROGRESS OF PRINTING," viii, i.

Venice by a treaty with Turkey secures trade privileges in Greece.

1455. Beginning of the contest for the crown of England. See "WARS OF THE
ROSES," viii, 72.

1456. Battle of Belgrade; victory of Hunyady over the Turks. Athens
conquered by the Turks.

1457. Church of the Unitas Fratrum organized in Bohemia. Francis Foscaro,
being deposed as doge of Venice after a reign of thirty-four years, dies
of grief on hearing the bells rung to celebrate the election of his
successor.

At Mainz is published the Book of Psalms, the earliest work printed with
its date.

1458. Pope Pius II acknowledges Ferdinand I as King of Naples, strives
to restore peace, and unite all powers in resistance to the Turkish
aggressions.

Genoa submits to the King of France, Charles VII.

Election of Matthias, son of Hunyady, as King of Hungary.

George Podibrad, leader of the church-reform party, chosen King of
Bohemia. 1459. Silesia submits to Podibrad, King of Bohemia.

1460. James II of Scotland takes up arms against the English; he is
killed, by the bursting of a cannon, at the siege of Roxburgh castle; his
son, James III, succeeds.

Christian I of Denmark inherits Schleswig and Holstein.

Discovery of the Cape Verd Islands by the Portuguese; they penetrate to
the coast of Guinea.

1461. Death of Charles VII of France; his son, Louis XI, involves himself
in a contest with his leading nobles.

Prince Henry of Portugal, just prior to his death, sends Peter Covilham
and Alfonso Paiva, overland, to explore India.

Trebizond, the last Greek capital, surrenders to the Ottoman Turks.

1462. Accession of Ivan III, Grand Prince of Moscow. See "IVAN THE GREAT
UNITES RUSSIA AND BREAKS THE TARTAR YOKE," viii,