1461

Events 
 February 2 – Battle of Mortimer's Cross – Yorkist troops led by Edward, Duke of York defeat Lancastrians under Owen Tudor and his son Jasper Tudor, Earl of Pembroke in Wales.
 February 17 – Second Battle of St Albans – The Earl of Warwick's army is defeated by a Lancastrian force under Queen Margaret, who recovers control of her husband.
 March 4 – The Duke of York seizes London and proclaims himself King Edward IV of England
 March 29 – Battle of Towton – Edward IV defeats Queen Margaret to make good his claim to the English throne. Thought to be the bloodiest battle ever fought in England.
 Edward, Richard of York's son, crowned as Edward IV, King of England (reigns until 1483)
 August 15 – The Empire of Trebizond, the last major Romano-Greek outpost falls to the Ottoman Empire under Mehmed II after a siege of 21 days.
 Louis XI of France succeeds Charles VII of France as king (reigns until 1483)
 Leonardo da Vinci and Sandro Botticelli become students of Verrocchio
 Sarajevo, capital of Bosnia and Herzegovina, is founded by the Ottomans
 François Villon: Le Grand Testament
 Donatello: Judith and Holofernes