Events of 1488

• January 8 – The present Royal Netherlands Navy is formed by decree of Maximillian of Austria.

• February 3 – Bartolomeu Dias of Portugal lands in Mossel Bay after rounding the Cape of Good Hope at the tip of Africa, becoming the first known European to travel this far south and entering the Indian Ocean.

• February 28 – Ch'oe Pu (1454–1504), the Korean Commissioner of Registers for the island of Cheju, shipwrecks on the southeast coast of China in Taizhou, Zhejiang, during the Ming Dynasty. From then until July 12 he and his crew are hosted by Chinese military courier officers to travel along the Grand Canal of China, all the way to Beijing, and then finally back across the Yalu River into Korea. His written commentary on Chinese customs, foreign and domestic trade, and transport in places such as Hangzhou and Suzhou are valuable records of Ming era culture and commerce.

• June 11 – Battle of Sauchieburn leads to James IV of Scotland becoming king.

• July 28 Battle of Saint-Aubin-du-Cormier: Troops loyal to King Charles VIII of France defeat rebel forces led by the Dukes of Orleans and Brittany in the main engagement of the Mad War.

• September 9 – Anne of Brittany becomes Duchess of Brittany at the age of 11. Her marriage to King Charles VIII in 1491 effectively ends Breton independence from France.

• Jasper Tudor, 1st Duke of Bedford takes possession of Cardiff Castle.

• Michelangelo Buonarroti becomes apprentice to Domenico Ghirlandaio.

• The city of Bikaner in western India is founded by Rao Bika.

Births

• January 6 – Helius Eobanus Hessus, German Latin poet (d. 1540)

• March 19 – Johannes Magnus, last Catholic Archbishop of Sweden (d. 1544)

• April 21 – Ulrich von Hutten, German religious reformer (d. 1523)

• June – Heinrich Glarean, Swiss music theorist (d. 1563)

• August – Antonio da Correggio, Italian painter (d. 1534)

• date unknown

• *Rabbi Yosef Karo, Jewish scholar (d. 1575)

• *Sebastian Münster, German scholar, cartographer, and cosmographer (d. 1552)

• *Oswald Myconius, Swiss religious reformer (d. 1552)

• *Jan Tarnowski, Polish nobleman (d. 1561)

• *Thomas of Villanova, Spanish bishop (d. 1555)

• *Gustav Trolle, Archbishop of Uppsala (d. 1533)

• probable

• *Thomas Audley, 1st Baron Audley of Walden, Lord Chancellor of England (d. 1544)

• *Guillaume Gouffier, seigneur de Bonnivet, French soldier (d. 1525)

• *Myles Coverdale, English Bible translator (d. 1568)

Deaths

• April 14 – Girolamo Riario, Lord of Imola and Forli (b. 1443)

• June 11 – King James III of Scotland (b. c. 1451)

• July 18 – Alvise Cadamosto, Italian explorer (b. 1432)

• September 9 – Francis II, Duke of Brittany (fell from a horse) (b. 1433)

• September 13 – Charles II, Duke of Bourbon (b. 1434)

• October 10 – Andrea del Verrocchio, Italian sculptor (b. c. 1435)

• date unknown

• *John II, Duke of Bourbon (b. 1426)

• *Iizasa Ienao, Japanese swordsman (b. c. 1387)