1453  

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Year 1453 (MCDLIII) was a common year starting on Monday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. It is sometimes cited as the notional end of the Middle Ages by historians who define the medieval period as the time between the Fall of the Western Roman Empire and the fall of the Byzantine (Eastern Roman) Empire.

Events

• April – Tarabya and Studius are taken by the Ottoman Empire (in preparation for the assault on Constantinople), as are the Prince Islands, by the Ottoman fleet under Admiral Baltaoglu.
• April 6–May 29 – Siege and Fall of Constantinople: The Ottoman Sultan Mehmed the Conqueror ends the Byzantine (or Eastern Roman) Empire after more than a thousand years, by capturing the capital, Constantinople (modern-day Istanbul). Mortars are (perhaps) used in battle for the first time in this action. The consequent closure of the traditional overland route from Western Europe to the Far East, and need to identify new maritime routes, leads to the Age of Discovery, and ends the Middle Ages.
• May 22 – A partial lunar eclipse occurs.
• July – Revolt of Ghent: Philip the Good, Duke of Burgundy, crushes the Ghent rebellion.

• July 17 – Battle of Castillon: The French under Jean Bureau defeat the English under the Earl of Shrewsbury, who is killed.
• October 10 – Sejo of Joseon kills his enemy Kim Jongseo, and gains control of the government (in Korean, this rebellion is called Gyeyujeongnan).
• October 19 – Battle of Castillon: A French victory brings the Hundred Years' War to a close, following the recapture of Bordeaux, leaving the English retaining only Calais on French soil.

Births

• January 1 – Bernardin Frankopan, Croatian nobleman, diplomat and soldier (d. 1529)
• February 6 – Girolamo Benivieni, Florentine poet (d. 1542)
• March 2 – Johannes Engel, German doctor, astronomer and astrologer (d. 1512)
• March 3 – Philip II, Count of Waldeck-Eisenberg (1486–1524) (d. 1524)
• March 25 – Giuliano de' Medici, co-ruler of Florence with Lorenzo de' Medici (d. 1478)
• April 18 – Margaret of Brandenburg, abbess of the Poor Clares monastery at Hof (d. 1509)
• May 13 – Mary Stewart, Countess of Arran, Scottish princess (d. 1488)
• June 10 – Francesco Soderini, Catholic cardinal (d. 1524)
• September 1 – Gonzalo Fernández de Córdoba, Spanish general and statesman (d. 1515)
• October 13 – Edward of Westminster, Prince of Wales (d. 1471)
• November 13 – Christoph I, Margrave of Baden-Baden (1475–1515) (d. 1527)
• November 17 – Alfonso, Prince of Asturias (d. 1468)
• date unknown – Jacob Obrecht, Flemish composer (d. 1505)
• probable – Afonso de Albuquerque, Portuguese admiral (d. 1515)

Deaths

• February 28 – Isabella, Duchess of Lorraine (b. 1400)
• May 29
  • Constantine XI Palaiologos, last Byzantine Emperor
  • Athanasius II of Constantinople, Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople
  • Demetrios Palaiologos Metochites, last governor of Constantinople
• June 1 – Giovanni Giustiniani, Italian captain
• June 2 – Álvaro de Luna, Duke of Trujillo, Constable of Castile
• June 3 – Loukas Notaras, last megas doux of the Byzantine Empire
• June 4 – Andronikos Palaiologos Kantakouzenos, last Grand Domestic of the Byzantine Empire
• July 17
  • Dmitry Shemyaka, Grand Prince of Moscow
  • John Talbot, 1st Earl of Shrewsbury, English military leader
• July 20 – Enguerrand de Monstrelet, French chronicler
• October 13 – Jacob, Margrave of Baden-Baden (1431-1453) (b. 1407)
• December 24 – John Dunstaple, English composer (b. 1390)
• Demetrius III, former co-king of Georgia (b. c. 1413)