Perspective fascinates Italian Renaissance painters after the publication of Alberti's treatise on the subject, De Pictura

Charles VII enters Paris, marking conclusively the end of the French civil war

On the death of his father, James I, James II becomes king of Scotland

The office of Holy Roman emperor becomes a hereditary title within the Habsburg dynasty

The French clergy pass a resolution at Bourges, limiting the power of the papacy within France, which is adopted by the king as a 'pragmatic sanction'

Florence acquires first-hand experience of Greek culture when Greek Orthodox priests join in a debate on theology, in particular the question of Filioque

Naples is captured by Alfonso V, breaking the link with France and uniting Sicily and Naples as an Aragonese kingdom

Skanderbeg, Albania's national hero, begins his long campaign of successes against the Turks

The Dominican convent of San Marco, in Florence, is provided with a serenely beautiful series of frescoes by Fra Angelico and his assistants

The Hungarian general Janos Hunyadi takes Sofia from the Turks and in the next few months liberates most of Bulgaria, Serbia and Albania

A Turkish army routs the Hungarians at Varna on the Black Sea, beginning a process which brings the Turks to the gates of Belgrade by 1456

Piero della Francesca paints masterpieces in his small home town of San Sepolcro

The Swedish Riksdag includes peasants as a fourth estate, alongside clergy, nobles and burghers

The caravel, a sailing ship developed in the Mediterranean and used down the west coast of Africa, is adapted by the Portuguese for Atlantic use

The French bring two small cannon on to the battlefield at Formigny, where they have a significant effect in achieving the French victory

Francesco Sforza, a soldier of fortune, wins power in Milan

Paolo Uccello is interested in the laws of perspective, in works such as The Battle of San Romano

Étienne Chevalier commissions from Jean Fouquet a series of illustrations for his Book of Hours

The Turks terrify Constantinople by lobbing vast stones at the city from a 19-ton bombard of cast iron

Constantinople falls to a 21-year-old Muslim conqueror, Mehmed II, bringing the Ottoman Turks their capital city

The Christian emperor Constantine XI dies in the fighting in Constantinople, as the Greek Byzantine empire yields to that of the Ottoman Turks

The French win a convincing victory at Castillon, recovering the last stronghold (except Calais) held by the English in France

Charles VII's full recovery of Aquitaine and Normandy effectively brings to an end the Hundred Years' War

An engagement at St Albans is the first battle in the 30-year struggle between the white and red roses of York and Lancaster

Master ES becomes the first artist to produce engravings