Year 1459 (MCDLIX)
Year 1459 was a common year starting on Monday of the Julian calendar.
Events
January–December
January 18 – The Order of Our Lady of Bethlehem is established by Pope Pius II to defend the island of Lemnos.
September 23 – In the context of the Wars of the Roses, the Battle of Blore Heath occurs in England, where the Yorkists, led by Richard Neville, 5th Earl of Salisbury, triumph over a Lancastrian force.
October 12 – During the Wars of the Roses, faced with an advancing royal force at his fortress in Ludlow, Richard Plantagenet, Duke of York, escapes to Ireland, while his ally Richard Neville, 16th Earl of Warwick, known as Warwick the Kingmaker, travels to Calais.
Date unknown
The town of Bucharest in Wallachia makes its first recorded appearance.
The city of Jodhpur, located in western India, is founded by Rao Jodha of Marwar.
Richard, Duke of York, returns to Ireland for a second visit. The Irish Parliament, convening at Drogheda, supports his authority against Henry VI and an English Act of Attainder.
Richard Hygons, an English composer, begins a fifty-year tenure at Wells Cathedral.
Religion
King Thomas of Bosnia expels the clergy of the Bosnian Church into exile.
According to legend, the wedding of Christian Rosenkreuz takes place.
Births
January 25 – Paul Hofhaimer, Austrian organist and composer (d. 1537)
March 2 – Pope Adrian VI, Dutch-born cleric (d. 1523)
March 6 – Jakob Fugger, German banker (d. 1525)
March 22 – Maximilian I, Holy Roman Emperor (d. 1519)
May 15 – John I, Count Palatine of Simmern (d. 1509)
July – Mingyi Nyo, founder of the Toungoo Dynasty of Burma (Myanmar) (d. 1530)
July 11 – Kaspar, Count Palatine of Zweibrücken, German nobleman (d. 1527)
October 6 – Martin Behaim, German explorer and cartographer (d. 1507)
December 22 – Sultan Cem, pretender to the Ottoman throne (d. 1495)
December 27 – King John I Albert of Poland (d. 1501)
Date unknown
- Christina Brask, Swedish writer and translator (d. 1520)
- Edward Poynings, Lord Deputy to King Henry VII of England (d. 1521)
- Probable – Lorenzo di Credi, Florentine painter and sculptor (d. 1537)
- Approximate – Jheronimus de Clibano, Dutch composer (d. 1503)
- Jean Mouton, French composer (d. 1522)
Deaths
February 14 – Stephen, Count Palatine of Simmern-Zweibrücken (b. 1385)
March 3 – Ausiàs March, Catalan poet from Valencia (b. 1397)
May 2 – Antoninus of Florence, Italian archbishop (b. 1389)
August 27 – James of Portugal, Portuguese cardinal (b. 1433)
September 6 – Katharina of Nassau-Beilstein, German regent
September 17 – Isabella of Urgell, Duchess of Coimbra, Portuguese Duchess (b. 1409)
September 23 (killed at the Battle of Blore Heath):
- James Tuchet, 5th Baron Audley (b. 1400)
- Thomas Dutton, English knight (b. 1421)
September 24 – Eric of Pomerania, King of Norway, Denmark, and Sweden (b. 1382)
October 30 – Gian Francesco Poggio Bracciolini, Italian humanist (b. 1380)
November 5 – John Fastolf, English soldier
December 4 – Adolf VIII, Duke of Southern Jutland (b. 1401)