1480 – 1490s

Events in the 1480s 8

• 1455 – 1487 Wars of the Roses Lancaster versus York Civil wars fought between rival branches of the Plantagenet dynasty.
• 1480 – 1559 Jean Richafort Franco-Flemish Renaissance composer Jean Richafort was a pupil of Josquin whose motets and masses were admired throughout Europe. His Requiem honoring Josquin is one of the most moving works of the period.
• 1481 – 1566 Antonio de Cabezón Spanish Renaissance keyboard composer Antonio de Cabezón was the greatest Spanish keyboard composer of the Renaissance. Despite being blind from birth, he served as court musician to Philip II and composed sophisticated tientos and variations.
• 1483 – 1520 Raphael High Renaissance · Italy Raphael (April 6, 1483 – April 6, 1520) was an Italian painter and architect whose harmonious compositions define the High Renaissance ideal. The School of Athens in the Vatican is his most celebrated work.
• 1483 – 1530 Martin Luther German theologian and writer Luther translated the Bible into German and triggered the Protestant Reformation, transforming European religion and politics.
• 1485 – 1558 Clément Janequin French Renaissance composer Clément Janequin was celebrated for his descriptive chansons depicting battles, bird songs and street cries. His programmatic style was highly original and widely imitated.
• 1487 The great sacrifice of 1487 -- the Templo Mayor dedication The dedication of the expanded Templo Mayor in 1487 under Ahuitzotl is recorded as one of the largest single sacrificial events in pre-Columbian history. The sources (primarily Spanish colonial) record 20,000 victims sacrificed over four days -- a figure so large it has been questioned by modern scholars, who suggest the real number may be in the hundreds or low thousands. Even at the lower estimates, it represents a deliberate display of power directed at the entire empire: subject rulers are invited to witness the ceremony, to see the scale of Aztec religious commitment and military capacity, and to draw the appropriate conclusions about the cost of rebellion. The sacrifice is simultaneously a religious act (feeding the sun), a political demonstration (displaying the fruits of imperial warfare), and an economic statement (the sacrificial victims represent the tribute extracted from the empire's conquest). The debate over the true scale of Aztec sacrifice is one of the most contested in Mesoamerican scholarship.
• 1488 – 1576 Titian Venetian Renaissance · Italy Titian (c. 1488 – August 27, 1576) was the leading Venetian painter of the 16th century, celebrated for his rich colour, dynamic compositions and influential portraits. He lived to nearly 90 and worked until the end.