Events from the 1480s in England. This decade marks the beginning of the Tudor period.
Incumbents
Monarch – Edward IV (until 9 April 1483), Edward V (9 April to 26 June 1483), Richard III (26 June 1483 to 22 August 1485), then Henry VII Regent – Richard, Duke of Gloucester (starting 30 April, until 26 June 1483) Parliament – 6th of King Edward IV (starting 20 January, until 18 February 1483), King Richard III (starting 23 January, until 20 February 1484), 1st of King Henry VII (starting 7 November 1485, until c. 4 March 1486), 2nd of King Henry VII (starting 9 November, until c. 18 December 1487), 3rd of King Henry VII (starting 13 January 1489)
Events
1480
1 August – Treaty of Perpetual Friendship between England and Burgundy. Magdalen College School, Oxford, established by William Waynflete. 1481 William Caxton publishes The Historie of Reynart the Foxe, the first English edition of the tale, and also his 1480 translation of Mirrour of the Worlde, the first book printed in England to include woodcut illustrations. 1481 or 1482 – Thomas de Littleton's Treatise on Tenures published posthumously, the first ever printed text on English law. 1482 June – Richard, Duke of Gloucester invades Scotland and captures Edinburgh. 24 August – capture of Berwick: Scots surrender Berwick-upon-Tweed to Richard, ending his campaign; the town remains permanently English hereafter. Act concerning Swans sets out that swans are the property of the monarch (or those given permission by him to own them). 1483 January – Act of Apparel, a sumptuary law, is passed. 9 April – following the death of Edward IV, the 12-year-old Edward V becomes king with his uncle the Duke of Gloucester acting as Lord Protector. 13 June – summary execution at the Tower of London of William Hastings, 1st Baron Hastings for allegedly conspiring against the new Protector's life. 26 June – Richard becomes Richard III after Edward V is declared to be illegitimate by Parliament. 6 July – coronation of Richard III at Westminster Abbey following a procession on the Thames. Late Summer – disappearance of the Princes in the Tower, Edward V and Richard of Shrewsbury, Duke of York. 8 September – Edward of Middleham is invested as Prince of Wales by his father the king at the Archbishop's Palace in York. October – a rebellion by Henry Stafford, 2nd Duke of Buckingham is crushed by Richard III. 2 November – Buckingham executed at Salisbury. William Caxton publishes his English translation of the Golden Legend, his most popular publication. 1484 January – Parliament passes the act Titulus Regius, bastardising the children of Edward IV and his wife, Elizabeth Woodville. 2 March – a royal charter is granted to the College of Arms, the official English heraldic authority, established in London. 26 March – William Caxton publishes his English translation of Aesop's Fables. July – Richard III establishes a judicial Council of the North. 21 September – Treaty of Nottingham: three-year truce between England and Scotland signed. 1485 31 July – Thomas Malory's 1470 book Le Morte d'Arthur published by Caxton. August – start of serious outbreak of sweating sickness. 22 August Wars of the Roses: Battle of Bosworth Field is fought between the armies of King Richard III and rival claimant to the throne Henry Tudor, Earl of Richmond. Richard dies in battle and Henry becomes King Henry VII of England, ending the Middle Ages in England and beginning of the Tudor dynasty. Creation of the Yeomen of the Guard. 30 October – coronation of Henry VII at Westminster Abbey. 1486 18 January – marriage of Henry VII and Elizabeth of York, Richard III's niece, uniting the House of Lancaster and the House of York. April – Henry defeats the Stafford and Lovell rebellion name=CBH/> 20 September – birth of Henry VII and Elizabeth of York's eldest son Arthur at Winchester. 6 October – John Morton enthroned as Archbishop of Canterbury. The Book of Saint Albans is published. First recorded use of the word 'football' to describe a game in which the ball is kicked. 1487 24 May – Lambert Simnel is crowned King "Edward VI of England" in Christchurch Cathedral, Dublin, Ireland. He claims to be Edward Plantagenet, 17th Earl of Warwick, Elizabeth of York's cousin, and on 5 June lands in Furness with an army to challenge Henry VII for the throne. 16 June – Wars of the Roses: at the Battle of Stoke Field, the final battle of the conflict, the rebellion of pretender Lambert Simnel, led by John de la Pole, 1st Earl of Lincoln and Francis Lovell, 1st Viscount Lovell, is crushed by troops loyal to Henry VII. 25 November – coronation of Elizabeth of York as Queen consort of England. 1488 The price of knitted woollen hats is fixed by law.