Editing 1444 (section)

=== July&ndash;September ===
* [[July 22]] &ndash; [[Oddantonio da Montefeltro]], the [[Duchy of Urbino|Duke of Urbino]], an independent duchy in what is now the [[Marche|Le Marche]] region of Italy, is assassinated at [[Ducal Palace, Urbino|his palace]] by conspirators, who also murder his counsellors Manfredo dei Pio da Carpi and Tommaso di Guido dell'Agnello.<ref>Giovanni Scatena, ''Oddantonio da Montefeltro primo duca di Urbino'' (Rome: Ernesto Paleani Editore, 1989)</ref> He is succeeded by his half-brother, [[Federico da Montefeltro]].
* [[August 6]] &ndash; A Portuguese fleet of [[caravel]]s, led by [[Lançarote de Freitas]], lands 235 slaves at [[Algarve]], Portugal.<ref>{{Cite book|title=The Slave Trade: The Story of the Atlantic Slave Trade: 1440 - 1870|last=Thomas|first=Hugh|publisher=Simon and Schuster|year=1999|isbn=9780684835655|pages=[https://archive.org/details/slavetradestoryo00thom/page/22 22]|url=https://archive.org/details/slavetradestoryo00thom/page/22}}</ref> 
* [[August 15]] &ndash; The [[Peace of Szeged]] is signed between the Turkish [[Ottoman Empire]] and [[Kingdom of Hungary|Hungary]].<ref name=Aldershot>{{cite book |last = Imber |first = Colin |title = The Crusade of Varna, 1443–45 |date = July 2006 |location = Aldershot, England; Burlington, VT |publisher = Ashgate Publishing |isbn = 978-0-7546-0144-9 |pages =9 [https://archive.org/details/crusadeofvarna140000imbe/page/9 9–31] | chapter = Introduction | chapter-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20070628084856/http://www.ashgate.com/subject_area/downloads/sample_chapters/Crusade_of_Varna_Intro.pdf |access-date = 2007-04-19 |url =https://archive.org/details/crusadeofvarna140000imbe/page/9 }}</ref>
* [[August 22]] &ndash; [[Đurađ Branković]] reclaims [[Serbia]] from Ottoman control after the signing of the peace of Szeged, and Wladyslaw of Hungary offers the throne of [[Bulgaria]] to John Hunyadi.<ref name=Aldershot/>
* [[August 26]] &ndash; [[Old Zürich War]] &ndash; [[Battle of St. Jakob an der Birs]]: [[Charles VII of France]], seeking to send away troublesome troops made idle by the truce with England, sends his son (the Dauphin [[Louis XI of France|Louis]]) with a large army into Switzerland, to support the claims of [[Frederick III, Holy Roman Emperor]]. The massively outnumbered Swiss force is destroyed in this battle, but inflict such casualties on the French that they withdraw.
* [[August]] &ndash; After making peace with the [[Karamanids]], Ottoman Sultan [[Murad II]] abdicates in favor of his son [[Mehmed II]].<ref>{{DBI | last = Gulino | first = Giuseppe | title = LOREDAN, Alvise | url = http://www.treccani.it/enciclopedia/alvise-loredan_(Dizionario-Biografico)/ | volume = 65 }}</ref>
* [[September 9]] &ndash; General [[Alvise Loredan]], commander of the Ventian and Papal States squadrons in the Crusade of Varna, receives instructions from the  [[Republic of Venice]] to open secret negotiations with the Ottoman Sultan and to abstain from offensive actions until further notice. Loredan is soon faced with defending an Ottoman invasion of Europe.
* [[September 18]] &ndash; As the Crusade of Varna resumes, the 16,000 Christian soldiers under the command of Wladyslaw and Hunyadi begin crossing over the [[Danube]] river near [[Belgrade]] and complete their crossing into Ottoman Muslim territory in Bulgaria.<ref name=Inalcik>"The Ottoman Turks and the Crusades, 1329-1451", by Halil Inalcik, in ''A History of the Crusades, Volume 6: The Impact of the Crusades on Europe'', ed. by Kenneth M. Setton (University of Wisconsin Press, 1969) pp.271-274</ref>