1497

Year 1497 (MCDXCVII) was a common year starting on Sunday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. February 7 (Shrove Tuesday) – Followers of Girolamo Savonarola burn thousands of "immoral" objects, at the Bonfire of the Vanities in Florence. March – The Russo-Swedish War (1495–1497) ends with a six year truce. Due to gathering unrest at home, the Swedish leader Sten Sture the Elder was forced to offer a peace to Ivan III of Moscow. May – The Cornish Rebellion breaks out in England, incited by war taxes. May 10 – Amerigo Vespucci allegedly leaves Cádiz, for his first voyage to the New World. May 12 – Pope Alexander VI excommunicates Girolamo Savonarola. May 20 – John Cabot sets sail from Bristol, on the ship Matthew (principally owned by Richard Amerike), looking for new lands to the west (some sources give a May 2 date). June 13 – The Catholic Monarchs issue the ordinance of Medina del Campo, creating a money system based on the copper maravedí, creating the peso of 34 maravedis. In the next three centuries, this system will dominate international payments. It will be used in almost all parts of the Americas and large parts of Asia. It is the basis for a number of modern currencies, including the U.S. dollar. June 17 – Battle of Deptford Bridge near London: Cornish rebels under Michael An Gof are soundly defeated by Henry VII. June 24 – John Cabot lands in North America (near present day Bonavista, Newfoundland). July 8 – Vasco da Gama's fleet departs from Lisbon, beginning his expedition to India. September 7 – Second Cornish Uprising in England: Perkin Warbeck lands near Land's End; on September 10 he is proclaimed as King in Bodmin. September 28 – Battle of Rotebro: John, King of Denmark, defeats Sten Sture the Elder. September 30 – The Treaty of Ayton establishes a seven-year peace between England and Scotland. October 4 – Leaders of the Second Cornish Uprising surrender to the King at Taunton; the following day, Warbeck, having deserted his army, is captured at Beaulieu Abbey in Hampshire.