Murad II
.jpg?width=160 "1584-1588 artist · Public domain · Wikimedia Commons")
1404 – 1451 · 47 years · Edirne · Middle East
Reign: 1421 – 1451 (Ottoman Empire)
In 1444 he abdicated in favour of the 12-year-old Mehmed II but returned to rout the crusaders at Varna; in 1448 he again defeated John Hunyadi at Kosovo.
Wikipedia (Russian) · Wikipedia (English) · 15th century
Portrait: 1584-1588 artist · Public domain · Wikimedia Commons
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Contemporaries around the world
Europe
- Johannes Gutenberg — inventor of the printing press, 4 years older
- Joan of Arc — heroine of the Hundred Years' War, 8 years younger
- Charles VII — king under whom the Hundred Years’ War ended, 1 year older
- Sigismund — emperor of the Council of Constance that ended the Schism and burned Hus, 36 years older
- Louis XI — the "universal spider" who pieced France together, 19 years younger
- Henry V — victor of Agincourt who became heir to the French crown, 18 years older
Eastern Europe & Russia
- Andrei Rublev — icon painter, 44 years older
- Ivan III — Grand Prince of Moscow, 36 years younger
- Vasily II the Blind — grand prince blinded in a dynastic civil war, 11 years younger
- Vasily I — grand prince who annexed Nizhny Novgorod, 33 years older
Middle East
- Mehmed II — Ottoman sultan, 28 years younger
- Mehmed I Çelebi — sultan who reunited the realm after Timur, 15 years older
Asia
- Sejong the Great — King of Joseon Korea, 7 years older
- Zheng He — admiral and explorer, 33 years older
- Ashikaga Yoshimasa — shogun of the Ōnin War and the Silver Pavilion, 32 years younger
- Ulugh Beg — ruler and astronomer, 10 years older
- Ashikaga Yoshinori — shogun chosen by lot and murdered by his own vassal, 10 years older
- Ashikaga Yoshimochi — shogun who broke off tributary trade with Ming China, 18 years older
Americas
- Pachacuti — Sapa Inca, 14 years younger
- Nezahualcoyotl — ruler of Texcoco, poet, 2 years older
The world in their lifetime
- 1405–1433 Voyages of Zheng He — aged 1, Asia
- 1410 Battle of Grunwald — aged 6, Eastern Europe & Russia
- c. 1411 Andrei Rublev's Trinity — aged 7, Eastern Europe & Russia
- 1429 Joan of Arc relieves Orléans — aged 25, Europe
- c. 1438 Pachacuti founds the Inca Empire — aged 34, Americas
- c. 1445 Extinction of the moa — aged 41, Oceania
- 1446 King Sejong promulgates Hangul — aged 42, Asia
- c. 1450 Gutenberg's printing press — aged 46, Europe
- c. 1450 Building of Machu Picchu — aged 46, Americas
- c. 1450 Founding of the Iroquois Confederacy — aged 46, Americas