1440

Events in 1440 4

• 1380 – 1440 Baude Cordier French Ars Subtilior composer Baude Cordier was a French composer of the Ars Subtilior style known for his innovative notation and elegant chansons, including the famous circular canon Belle, bonne, sage.
• 1440 – 1492 Antoine Busnois Franco-Flemish composer Antoine Busnois was a significant composer and poet of the Burgundian court whose chansons and masses were widely admired across Europe.
• 1440 Gutenberg printing press Movable type transforms the spread of knowledge Around 1440, Johannes Gutenberg of Mainz developed a system of movable metal type and oil-based ink that made printing books fast and cheap for the first time. The Gutenberg Bible of 1455 was among the first major books printed. The printing press transformed the spread of scientific knowledge — enabling Copernicus, Vesalius, and later Newton and Galileo to reach audiences across Europe within years rather than decades. It is arguably the single most important technological enabler of the Scientific Revolution.
• 1440 – 1521 Imperial expansion -- the eagle warriors march The Aztec empire expands through a combination of military conquest, diplomatic marriage, trade pressure and the calculated use of terror. The empire reaches its maximum extent under Moctezuma I (1440-1469) and Ahuitzotl (1486-1502), extending from the Gulf coast to the Pacific, from central Mexico to the borders of modern Guatemala. The military engine is formidable: a standing professional officer class (distinguished by elaborate feathered costumes -- Eagle Warriors, Jaguar Warriors) supplemented by a mass levy of commoner soldiers (macehualtin). Aztec weapons -- obsidian-edged clubs (macuahuitl), atlatl (spearthrower), bows and arrows, shields -- are effective for Mesoamerican warfare. The strategic logic is tribute extraction rather than cultural assimilation: conquered peoples pay in goods, maintain their own rulers and gods, and provide military service when required. Rebellion is punished by exemplary violence.