PEACH

History

1453

Population: 420 Million*

General: Fall of Byzantine Empire and spread of Byzantine scholarship marks end of Middle Ages
Entertainment: Blind German organist Conrad Paumann publishes collection of organ music - dies
Deaths: Composer John Dunstable, Last Byzantine Emperor Constantine XI Palaeologus, Organist Conrad Paumann

General: End of Hundred Years’ War between England and France – England driven from France and gives up all possessions except Calais
Byzantine scholars flee to West marking end of Middle Ages
England: Henry VI becomes insane – Richard of York declared protector and rules in his place
Margaret Beaufort – 9 years old – summoned to court – descendant of John of Galt – told to marry Edmund Tudor brother of Henry VI – Age 12 started living together and pregnant – widowed child-bride lives with brother-in-law
France: French victory at Castillon ends Hundred Years' War
Germany: Gutenberg and his financier Johannes Fust print 42-line (Mazarin) Bible at Mainz

Byzantine/Ottoman Empire: Ottomans under Mohammed II besiege and capture Constantinople (Istanbul)
Death of Constantine XI Palaeologus – last Byzantine Emperor
Turks convert St. Sophia Basilica in Constantinople into a mosque