1496 to 1499

1496

c - Clement Marot, early vernacular French writer. d.1544

x - Vasco de Gama discovers west coast of India.

x - John Cabot + reaches coast of Newfoundland.

x - Menno Simons is born.

x - Albrecht Durer made his woodcut "The Four Avenging Angels" from the Apocalypse.u.1498

x - Michelangelo sculpted "Bacchus," considered his first masterpiece. u.1497

x - The "Treatyse of Fyshynge wyth an Angle" by Dame Juliana Berner was published. It was the first book on fishing ever written. s.1425

mar 10 - Christopher Columbus ?+ concluded his second visit to the Western Hemisphere as he left Hispaniola for Spain. He returned to Spain to ask for more support for his La Isabela colony on Hispaniola.

mar 12 - Jews were expelled from Syria.

apr - Bartolome Columbus moved the colony to a new settlement on the south coast, named Isabela La Nueva. It was established on the east bank of the Ozama River. Columbus established Santo Domingo in what is now the Dominican Republic.

1497

x - Melanchthon born.

x - Albrecht Durer paints Apocalypse.

x - John Cabot + discovers Newfoundland.

x - The College of Cardinals discusses a church bill condemning 'licentious clergy,' but the idea is soon dropped

x - Scotland The Declaration of Education Act required children to go to school.

x - Florence The Dominican monk Girolamo Savonarola b.1452 -d.1498 led the burning of musical instruments, books and priceless works of art. He preached against corruption in the Church and civil government. Pope Alexander VI excommunicated him for heresy.

x - Portuguese Jews were forced to convert to Christianity and were known as "New Christians," though many continued to practice their original faith in secret.

feb 16 - Philipp Melanchthon is born Philipp Schwartzerd.Melanchthon was one of the original leaders of the Reformation.

jun 24 - Italian explorerJohn Cabot b.1450 -1498?, aka.Giovanni Caboto, on a voyage for England ?+ , landed in North America on what is now Newfoundland or the northern Cape Brenton Island in Canada. He claimed the new land for King Henry VII. He documented the abundance of fish off the Grand Banks from Cape Cod to Labrador.

jul - Vasco da Gama, Portuguese explorer, sailed from Lisbon enroute to Calicut, India.

aug 06 - John Cabot returned to England after his first successful journey to the Labrador coast.

1498

x - War between Swabian League and Swiss Cantons. Swiss victory forces Treaty of Basel granting Swiss independance

x - Granada?s Moors revolt as Inquisitor de Cisneros introduces forced wholesale Christian conversion

x - The first pawnshop reportedly opened in Nuremberg,Germany ? .

x - China ?+ The first toothbrushes with hog bristles began to show up. Hog bristle brushes remained the best until the invention of nylon.

x - The Vienna Boys School and Choir was founded by Emp. Maximilian I.

x - Albrecht Durer made his woodcut titled "The Bath House."

may - Vasco da Gama reached Calicut, the chief Indian trading port , at 11°; north latitude. He was not welcomed by the Muslim traders who saw him as a Christian and competitor. He returned to Lisbon swearing revenge.

may 23 - Florence An enraged crowd burned Girolamo Savonarola at the same spot where he ordered cultural works burned the year before.

jun 07 - Christopher Columbus ?+ left on his third voyage of exploration.

jul 31 - During his third voyage to the Western Hemisphere, Christopher Columbus arrived at the island of Trinidad.