15th-century Roman Catholics

Michelangelo di Lodovico Buonarroti Simoni (6March 147518February 1564), known mononymously as Michelangelo, was an Italian sculptor, painter, architect, and poet of the High Renaissance. He was born in the Republic of Florence but was mostly active in Rome from his 30s onwards. His work was inspired by models from classical antiquity and had a lasting influence on Western art. Michelangelo's creative abilities and mastery in a range of artistic arenas define him as an archetypal Renaissance man, along with his rival and elder contemporary, Leonardo da Vinci. Given the sheer volume of survivin

Christopher Columbus was an Italian explorer and navigator from the Republic of Genoa who completed four Spanish transatlantic voyages in the name of the Catholic Monarchs, opening the way for the widespread European exploration and colonization of the Americas. His expeditions were the first known European contact with the Caribbean and Central and South America.

Portuguese explorer in the service of Spain

Portuguese explorer (c. 1460s – 1524)

Henry VIII was King of England from 22 April 1509 until his death in 1547. After the Pope refused to annul his marriage to Catherine of Aragon, Henry passed legislation that severed England and Ireland from the Roman Catholic Church and established the monarch as Supreme Head of the Church of England, initiating the English Reformation. He subsequently married five more times; two marriages were annulled, and two wives were executed.

Vlad III, commonly known as Vlad the Impaler or Vlad Dracula, was Voivode of Wallachia three times between 1448 and his death. He is regarded as a Christian hero in Romania due to his opposition to the Ottoman Empire and he is considered an important ruler in Wallachian history.

Gjergj Kastrioti (also known as Skanderbeg; – 17 January 1468) was an Albanian nobleman and military leader who led the League of Lezhë in the Ottoman-Albanian Wars until his death. Skanderbeg is considered to be a major figure of medieval Albanian history and today is the national hero of Albania.

Portuguese military commander and explorer (c.1467/8 – c.1521)

Queen of Denmark, Norway, and Sweden

German humanist and satirist

Regent-Governor of the Kingdom of Hungary, 1446–1453

Italian philosopher (1462 – 1525)

Croatian national poet and European humanist

Portuguese writer (1465-1536)

Duke of Brittany (1435-1488)

Despot of the Morea from 1428 to 1460

Early Netherlandish painter (1460-1490)

illegitimate son of King Matthias of Hungary and Ban of Croatia, Presumptive crown prince of Hungary (1473-1504)

Elder sister of King Edward IV of England

painter

Czech poet, traveller, humanist and satiricist

Swiss general (1424-1479)

Italian painter (1480-1553)

English writer and historian

Governor: first documented European settlement in the New World/La Navidad

English politician; (1467-1537)

politician