1444

Year 1444 (MCDXLIV) was a leap year starting on Wednesday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar.

Events of 1444

• March 2 – The Albanian League is established in Lezha; Gjergj Kastrioti Skanderbeg is proclaimed commander of the Albanian resistance.
• April 16 – The Truce of Tours is signed between England and France (it lasts 5 years).
• June 15 – Cosimo de' Medici founds the Laurentian Library.
• June 29 – Skanderbeg defeats an Ottoman army at the battle of Torvioll.
• August – Battle of Jalowaz: Murad II is defeated, and forced to abdicate in favor of his son Mehmed II .
• August 26 – Old Zürich War – Battle of St. Jakob an der Birs: Charles VII of France, seeking to send away troublesome troops made idle by the truce with England, sends his son the Dauphin with a large army into Switzerland to support the claims of Emperor Frederick III. The massively outnumbered Swiss force is destroyed in this battle, but inflict such casualties on the French that they withdraw.
• November 10 – Battle of Varna: The crusading forces of King Ladislas of Poland and Hungary are crushed by the Turks under Sultan Murad II. Ladislas is killed.
• Forces of the Sultan of Egypt fail to take Rhodes from the Knights of Rhodes.
• The Iguvine Tables are discovered at Gubbio, Italy.
• Portuguese explorers reach the mouth of the rivers Senegal and Gambia.
• The first European slave market for the sale of African slaves, the Mercado de Escravos, opens in Lagos, Portugal.
• Portuguese caravel lands 235 slaves at Algarve, Portugal.
• A serious fire occurs at St Paul's Cathedral in London.
• Constantine XI, as despotate of the Morea, invades the Latin Duchy of Athens and forces them to pay tribute, and return Thebes to Byzantium.

Births

• January 24 – Galeazzo Maria Sforza, Duke of Milan (d. 1476)
• March 1 – Sandro Botticelli, Italian painter (d. 1510) [Conflicting birth year. See also: 1445]
• March 11 – Donato Bramante, Italian architect (d. 1514)
• date unknown
  • John de Mowbray, 4th Duke of Norfolk (d. 1476)
  • Nilakantha Somayaji, Indian mathematician and astronomer (d. 1544)

Deaths

• February 14 – Henriette of Mömpelgard, countess of Mömpelgard and regent of Württemberg (b. 1387)
• March 9 – Leonardo Bruni, Italian humanist (b. 1374)
• April 26 – Robert Campin, Flemish painter (b. 1378)
• May 20 – Saint Bernardino of Siena, Italian Franciscan missionary (b. 1380)
• May 27 – John Beaufort, 1st Duke of Somerset, English military leader (b. 1404)
• October 15 – Niccolò Piccinino, Italian mercenary (b. 1386)
• November 10 – King Wladislaus III of Poland (in battle) (b. 1424)
• November 25 – Martin Gouge, French chancellor
• Pier Paolo Vergerio the Elder