1453 - Definition and Overview

Events

• May 29 - Fall of Constantinople to Ottoman Sultan Mehmed II the Conqueror, marking the end of the Byzantine Empire (Eastern Roman Empire).
• July 17 - Battle of Castillon. The French under Jean Bureau utterly defeat the English under the Earl of Shrewsbury, who is killed
• October 19 - The French recapture of Bordeaux brings the Hundred Years War to a close, with the English retaining only Calais on French soil.

Births

• October 13 - Edward of Westminster, Prince of Wales, only son of King Henry VI of England (d. 1471)
• Alfonso d'Albuquerque, Portuguese admiral (d. 1515)
• Jacob Obrecht, renowned Franco-Flemish composer

Deaths

• May 29 - Constantine XI, last Byzantine Emperor (b. 1404)