1456
Year 1456 was a leap year starting on Thursday of the Julian calendar.Events
January–December
- May 18 - Second Battle of Oronichea : Ottoman forces of 15,000 go to capture Albania, but are met and swiftly defeated by Skanderbeg's smaller force.
- June 9 - Halley's Comet makes an appearance, as noted by the humanist scholar Platina.
- July 7 - A retrial of Joan of Arc acquits her of heresy, 25 years after her execution.
- July 22 - Battle of Nándorfehérvár : The Hungarians under John Hunyadi rout the Turkish army of Sultan Mehmed II. The noon bell ordered by Pope Callixtus III commemorates the victory throughout the Christian world.
- August 20 - Vladislav II, reigning Prince of Wallachia, is killed in hand-to-hand combat by Vlad the Impaler, who succeeds him.
- October 17 - The University of Greifswald is established, making it the second oldest university in Northern Europe, also the oldest in Sweden and Prussia.
Date unknown
- Lazar Branković becomes despot of Serbia.
- Alvise Cadamosto discovers some of the Cape Verde Islands.
- Diogo Gomes reaches the Geba River in Guinea Bissau, and explores the Gambia River.
- Emperor Zara Yaqob of Ethiopia founds the city of Debre Berhan.
- Muscovy and the Novgorod Republic conclude the Treaty of Yazhelbitsy.
- Petru Aron becomes the first ruler of Moldavia to pay tribute to the Ottomans.
Births
- March - Jan Łaski, Polish nobleman
- March 1 - Vladislaus II, king of Bohemia, Hungary and Croatia
- June 11 - Anne Neville, queen consort of Richard III of England
- June 23 - Margaret of Denmark, Queen of Scotland, consort of James III of Scotland
- June 25 - Henry V of Rosenberg, Bohemian nobleman
- October 16 - Ludmila of Poděbrady, Regent of the duchies of Brzeg and Oława from 1488
- November 7 - Margaret of Bavaria, Electress Palatine and hereditary princess of Bavaria-Landshut
- November 8 - Queen Gonghye, Korean royal consort
- date unknown
- *Jeanne Hachette, French peasant heroine
- * Antonia di Paolo di Dono, Italian artist and daughter of Paolo di Dono
- *Jan Lubrański, Polish bishop
Deaths
- January 17 - Elisabeth of Lorraine-Vaudémont, French translator
- August 11 - John Hunyadi, Hungarian statesman and military leader.
- August 20 - Vladislav II of Wallachia
- October 17 - Nicolas Grenon, French composer
- October 23 - Giovanni da Capistrano, Italian saint
- November 3 - Edmund Tudor, 1st Earl of Richmond, father of King Henry VII of England
- November 9 - Ulrich II, Count of Celje
- November 25 - Jacques Cœur, French merchant
- December 4 - Charles I, Duke of Bourbon
- December 24 - Đurađ Branković, Despot of Serbia
- date unknown - Juan de Mena, Spanish poet
