Ivan III marries Sophia Palaiologina
The last Byzantine emperor's niece becomes grand princess
The match was arranged by the pope, who hoped to draw Moscow into union with Rome, but the plan failed. Sophia brought Italian masters who rebuilt the Kremlin, and the double-headed eagle became the emblem of Moscow's rulers.
Wikipedia (Russian) · Wikipedia (English) · 15th century
Meanwhile around the world (±25 years)
Europe
- c. 1450 Gutenberg's printing press — 22 years earlier
- 1455–1487 Wars of the Roses — 17 years earlier
- 1469 Marriage of Ferdinand and Isabella — 3 years earlier
- 1478 Spanish Inquisition established — 6 years later
- 1494 Treaty of Tordesillas — 22 years later
Middle East
- 1453 Fall of Constantinople — 19 years earlier
Africa
- 1488 Dias rounds the Cape of Good Hope — 16 years later
Asia
- 1449 Tumu Crisis — 23 years earlier
- 1467–1477 Ōnin War — 5 years earlier
Americas
- c. 1450 Building of Machu Picchu — 22 years earlier
- c. 1450 Founding of the Iroquois Confederacy — 22 years earlier
- 1492 Columbus reaches the Americas — 20 years later
- 1497 John Cabot reaches North America — 25 years later
Alive at the time
- Mehmed II (aged 40)
- Christopher Columbus (aged 21)
- Leonardo da Vinci (aged 20)
- Louis XI (aged 49)
- Ashikaga Yoshimasa (aged 36)
- Ivan III (aged 32)
- Isabella I of Castile (aged 21)
- Richard III (aged 20)
- Amerigo Vespucci (aged 18)
- Henry VII (aged 15)