1440
Gutenberg Experimenting in Strasbourg
A German goldsmith, hiding from creditors and political enemies, began tinkering with a wine press, oil-based ink, and hand-cast metal type. He showed it to nobody for years. The technology that would redraw Europe was being invented on credit in a cellar above a ruined monastery. Court records reveal experiments with a press, lead type, and polished stones, though the exact nature of his process remained closely guarded.
Moctezuma I Crowned in Tenochtitlan
The son of Huitzilihuitl took the Aztec throne and turned his uncle Itzcoatl's opportunistic conquests into systematic empire. He conquered the Huastecs, engineered the great aqueduct from Chapultepec, and legislated sumptuary codes dictating what color cloaks commoners could wear. The Triple Alliance was becoming a state. His partnership with Tlacaelel transformed the Aztec state from a regional power into an empire extracting tribute from Gulf to Pacific.
Frederick III Elected King of Germany
The Styrian Habsburg began a fifty-three-year reign, the longest of any Holy Roman emperor. He was indolent, stubborn, and unlucky in war, but he outlived all his enemies and arranged his son Maximilian's marriage to the Burgundian heiress. His motto, AEIOU, was said to mean Austria will rule the whole world.
Moctezuma I Expands Aztec Reach
The first Moctezuma conquered Huastec territory along the Gulf coast, extending Aztec control toward the tropical lowlands. Tribute in cacao, cotton, and tropical birds began flowing to Tenochtitlan. The Mexica were acquiring the administrative reflexes of a multi-ethnic empire, sending tax collectors where they had once sent war parties. The great famine of 1454 prompted massive human sacrifices and institutionalized the flower wars as a permanent source of temple captives.
Gilles de Rais Tried and Hanged
The French marshal who had fought beside Joan of Arc was tried in Nantes for the kidnapping, torture, and murder of scores of peasant children, plus heresy and witchcraft. He confessed under torture, possibly truthfully. Gilles was hanged and his body burned. His case would become a template for centuries of folklore about Bluebeard.