| •
Trinity Hall, Cambridge is founded by William Bateman.
•
The Black Death reaches Scotland.
| | •
Statute of Labourers: an attempt to regulate and limit agricultural wages (to
1340 levels), which have soared after the Black Death. The Statute also prevents
labourers from moving to new districts. It is ultimately unsuccessful.
•
Statute of Provisors: parliament legislates against the papacy's practice of appointing
to benefices. | | •
Corpus Christi College, Cambridge, is founded. | | •
London sheriff courts are ordered to conduct their business in English.
•
Statute of Praemunire: one of a series aimed at limiting the involvement of the
pope in clerical benefices.
•
Ordinance of the Staple:the staple (trading centre) is regulated and the privileges
of merchants confirmed. The English wool staple is moved to England from Bruges. | | | |
•
7 Jan: Thomas of Woodstock (Duke of Gloucester) is born.
•1
Oct: Edward,
the 'Black Prince' sails from Plymouth to attack the County of Armagnac. He
sacks Carcassonne and Narbonne. Edward
III campaigns in Picardy.
•
6 Nov: Berwick is recaptured by the Scots. | | •
Jan: Edward III
takes Berwick and campaigns in Scotland.
•
20 Jan: Edward Balliol abdicates as King of Scots in return for a pension from
Edward III.
•
19 Sept: Battle of Poitiers; Edward,
the 'Black Prince' defeats the French and captures the French king, John II.
| | •
23 Mar: Treaty of Bordeaux: truce between England and France.
•
May: the captured French king, John II, is taken to London.
•
3 Oct: Treaty of Berwick; David II of Scotland is released for a large ransom. | | •
May: Treaty of London: John II is ransomed for £700,000 and he acknowledges
Edward III's
sovereignty over Aquitaine. | | •
Mar: Second Treaty of London; Edward
III demands even more lands in France, including Normandy, Brittany and Maine.
The Dauphin rejects the demands.
•
Edward III
lands in France hoping to be crowned at Reims. A winter siege of the well defended
town couldn't be sustained so the army set off for Paris. Bad weather makes a
long campaign difficult. | | •
May:Treaty of Brétigny; the ransom on John II is reduced to three million crowns
and Edward
is recognised by the French to be sovereign lord of Aquitaine.
•
24 Oct: Treaty of Calais: John II is released and the Angevin lands are ceded
to Edward III.
•
Wyclif is appointed Master of Balliol College, Oxford.
•
The English pay the French £16 for the release of Geoffrey
Chaucer. | | •
Statute of Westminster: by which three or four Justices of the Peace are appointed
to each county. | | •
William Langland's Vision of Piers Plowman dates from about this time.
| | •
For the first time the Lord Chancellor opens a parliamentary session in English
(middle English) rather than French. The Statute of Pleadings this year also states
that English should be used in court proceedings, although they are to be recorded
in Latin. •
Quarter sessions, held by Justices of the Peace,are established by statute. | | •
Jan: John II, again a captive because his ransom has not been met, is returned
to England.
| | •
May: Parliament ends the annual payment of tribute to the pope agreed by King
John in 1213. | | •
18 Feb: Statutes of Kilkenny, Irish parliament; they distinguish between native
Irish and Norman English in the area around Dublin known as the Pale. The latter
are forbidden to speak Gaelic, marry the Irish, or engage in Gaelic customs.
•
Simon Langham is invested as archbishop of Canterbury. | | •
6 Jan: the future Richard
II is born to the Black
Prince.
•
3 April: the future Henry
IV is born to John
of Gaunt.
•
Exeter Cathedral is completed.
| | | | •
3 June: Edward
III renews his claim to the French throne following the French king's intervention
in Aquitaine.
•
Sept: John
of Gaunt raids the coast of northern France.
•
The Black Death
returns to England. | | | | •
Edward III
replaces Bishops Wykeham and Brantingham, as Chancellor and Treasurer, with laymen.
•
The Black
Prince returns to England suffering from poor health.
•
David II of Scotland dies. He is succeeded by his nephew Robert II, the first
Stewart king. | | •
June: Sir Owain ap Thomas captures Guernsey for the French.
•
23 June: Henry of Castile, as the ally of France, defeats an English fleet attempting
to relieve La Rochelle. | | •
16 June: Treaty of London; England and Portugal ally, it becomes known as England's
'oldest alliance'.
•
John Barbour writes The Brus, a poem on the life of Robert Bruce. | | | | •
27 June: Truce is agreed between England and France at Bruges, leaving England
with just Calais, part of Bordeaux, Brest and Bayonne. | | •
28 April: the 'Good Parliament'; the Commons take the lead in standing against
the the king's advisers and the influence of the king's mistress Alice Perrers.
Those accused are tried by the Lords. A Speaker is elected for the first time.
•
8 June: Edward
the Black Prince dies. | | •
27 Jan: the 'Bad Parliament' undoes the actions of the 'Good Parliament' and permits
a 'poll tax'. Tax returns put the adult population of England at 1.36m.
•
21 June: Edward
III dies. Richard
II, his grandson, succeeds with, informally, John
of Gaunt as regent.
•John
of Gaunt speaks for Wyclif at St Pauls, attacking his persecutors, including
the bishop of London, and provoking a riot. | | •June:
the English gain Cherbourg by treaty, but fail to seize St Malo (Sept).
•
Winchester College is founded by William of Wykeham. | | •
John Wyclif writes De Potestate Papae, an attack on the pretensions of
the papacy. | | •
10 June: English naval victory over a Franco-Castilian fleet off Kinsale.
•
Aug: Gravesend is burnt by the French.
•
John of Trevisa, vicar of Berkeley in Gloucestershire records that school children
are no longer being taught in French, and even the nobility have ceased to teach
their children French.
•
Poll-tax is again imposed.
| | •
10 June: Peasants'
Revolt; Wat Tyler leads the seizure of Canterbury. The rebels then march on
London.
•
15 June:Smithfield; Wat Tyler puts radical demands before the king including the
abolition of serfdom and the division of lordship among all men. The mayor of
London kills Tyler.
•
John Ball, a peasant leader and priest, is executed after the rising has been
suppressed. | | •
About this date Wyclif completes a first English translation of the bible in its
entirety. The translation will be finished by others.
•
Wyclif is expelled from Oxford after his condemnation by a council at Blackfriars. | | •
John Fordun writes Scotichronicon, a chronicle of Scottish history.
•
John Gower writes Vox Clamantis, a poem about the Peasants' revolt, one
of a number of works on contemporary themes.
| | •
Feb: a Scots expedition raids Cumberland.
•
The English campaign in Scotland as far as Edinburgh.
•
John Wyclif, religious reformer, dies. | | •
July: the Scots campaign in Northumbria. Richard
II leads a campaign in response in which Edinburgh is sacked(Aug).
•
Geoffrey Chaucer,
Troilus and Criseyde (about this date). | | •
Treaty of Windsor, confirming England's alliance with Portugal.
•
Chaucer: Canterbury
Tales (begun about this date).
•
John
of Gaunt campaigns for the Castilian throne. | | •
24 Mar: Battle of Margate; Earls Arundel and Nottingham defeat a Franco-Castilian
fleet.
•
Dec: Battle of Radcot Bridge: Earls
Derby (Bolingbroke) and Gloucester defeat the king's favourite, the Earl of
Oxford, who is forced into exile.
•
16 Sept: the future Henry
V is born to the Earl of Derby.
•
John of Trevisa translates Polychronicon, by Higden, into English. | | •
Feb-June: the 'Merciless Parliament' the victors of Radcott Bridge, the lords
appellant, dominate; royal supporters, including Tresilian and Brembre, are condemned
to death.
•
15 Aug: Battle of Otterburn (Chevy Chase); Scots victory over the English led
by Henry Percy, 'Hotspur'. The victor, the Earl of Douglas, is killed.
•
Wyclif's bible is completed posthumously. | | •
3 May: Richard
II, now 23, assumes the government of England. | | •
19 April: Robert II of Scotland dies, his son becomes Robert III, with the duke
of Albany as regent.
•
Elgin Cathedral is burnt by 'the wolf of Badenoch', Robert III's brother.
•
John Gower writes Confessio Amantis, it is dedicated to Richard II. | | | | •
The Earl of Oxford, favourite of Richard II, dies. | | | | •
2 Oct: Richard
II begins a campaign in Ireland.
| | •
15 May: Richard
II returns to England having gained the submission of Irish chiefs. | | •
12 Mar: Truce is agreed between England and France.
•
4 Nov: Richard
is married to Isabella, daughter of Charles VI of France.
•
Thomas Arundel becomes archbishop of Canterbury. | | •
10 July: the duke of Gloucester and the earls Arundel and Warwick are arrested.
•
29 Sept: at a parliament Richard
II forces the execution or exiling of the lords appellant.
•
Dick Whittington is Lord Mayor of London. | | •
31 Jan: the Shrewsbury parliament grants Richard
charters which give him virtually unlimited powers.
•
16 Sept: Henry
Bolingbroke, John of Gaunt's son, the duke of Norfolk, and the duke of Hereford,
are exiled.
•
David, Duke of Rothesay, becomes regent in Scotland. | | •
3 Feb; John
of Gaunt dies and Richard confiscates his estates.
•
May: Richard
lands in Ireland.
•
4 July: Henry
Bolingbroke, returns to England.
•
19 Aug: Richard
II, lacking support, surrenders to Bolingbroke at Flint.
•
29 Sept: Richard
is forced to abdicate by a parliament that appoints Bolingbroke as king Henry
IV (crowned 13 Oct).
•
Richard
is held at Pontefract Castle.
| | |
| •
17 Feb: With the loss of Faenza the Church's temporal power in the Papal States
is negligible.
•
22 Aug: Philip VI of France dies; John II succeeds him.
| | | | •
The Black Death
reaches Russia.
| | •
30 June: Cardinal Gil Albornoz is appointed legate in the Papal States with the
task of restoring the Church's temporal power.
•
Boccacio, Decameron | | •
15 Feb: Siena, Florence and Perugia ally against Milan. | | •
5 April: Charles IV of Bohemia is crowned Holy Roman Emperor in Rome.
•
The Count of Armagnac, in the English Duchy of Aquitaine, declares for John II
of France. | | •
Dec: At Metz Charles IV (HRE) issues his Golden Bull, on Imperial elections, giving
each of seven electoral houses one vote. | | •
29 April: Egidian Constitutions; Albornoz, legate in the Papal States, divides
the states into seven provinces, each with its own governor. | | •
28 May: the Jacquerie; a revolt of French peasants against oppression by the nobility
breaks out at Beauvais. It spreads to Paris but is crushed (24 June). | | •
25 May: the Treaty of London (above) is rejected by the Estates-General of France. | | •
31 Aug: the Hanseatic
League (Hansa), Norway and Sweden ally against Denmark. | | •
The Black Death
returns to Europe. | | •
July: Waldemar of Denmark defeats the Hansa. | | | | •
8 April: John II of France dies. He is succeeded by his son Charles V.
•
May: Battle of Cocherel; an English/Navaresse force is defeated by Charles V of
France. | | •
6 Mar: Charles V of France agrees peace terms with Charles of Navarre.
| | •
Petrarch, Rime in vita e morte di Madonna Laura | | •
3 April: Edward,
the Black Prince, defeats Henry of Castile at Nájera, but illness soon requires
him to return to Aquitaine.
•
16 Oct: the Papacy returns to Rome (until 1370). | | •
The Black
Prince imposes a heavy hearth tax on his subjects in Aquitaine; they appeal
to the French king (18 Nov) and there are rebellions in Gascony. | | •
14 Mar: Battle of Montiel: Pedro of Castile is defeated by his brother Henry who
becomes king.
•21
May: Charles V resumes war with England.
•
Bastille, Paris | | •
Battle of Radau: Teutonic Knights defeat the Lithuanians.
•
19 Sept: Sack of Limoges by the Black Prince.
•
5 Nov: Casimir III of Poland dies. | | | | •
Mar: John
of Gaunt claims the kingdom of Castile following the death of his father-in-law,
Pedro the Cruel.
•
7 Aug: Poitiers falls to the French. | | •
8 May: Sir John Hawkwood, a condotterie, defeats the Milanese.
•
Aug-Dec: John of Gaunt campaigns to little effect in France. | | •
19 July: Petrarch, poet and classical scholar dies, aged 70. | | •
24 Feb: Waldemar IV of Denmark dies.
•
21 Dec: Boccaccio dies aged 62. | | •31
Mar: War between the papacy and Florence begins when Gregory XI excommunicates
the city. | | •
17 Jan: Gregory XI again restores the papacy to Rome. | |
•
27 Mar:Gregory XI dies leading to papal schism with courts at Rome and Avignon.
•
29 Nov: Charles IV (HRE) dies. | | •
3 Aug: John IV regains Brittany after an anti-French revolt.
•
Thomas ŕ Kempis is born. | | •
29 July: Thomas of Woodstock campaigns in northern France.
•
16 Sept: Charles V of France dies and is succeeded by his son as Charles VI. | | •
15 Jan: Treaty of Vincennes; John de Montfort is accepted as duke of Brittany,
Thomas of Woodstock ends his campaign, and truce is agreed between England and
France. | | •
Feb-Mar: riots break out in Paris and elsewhere in France in protest against new
taxes. | | | | | | | | •
Charles VI declares war on England, but plans for invasion are abandoned in Oct.
•
Donatello is born.
•
Milan cathedral | | | | | | | | | | •
Spanish Jews are killed or forced to convert to Christianity. | | | | | | | | | | •
26 Sept: Sigismund, king of Hungary, is defeated by the Turks at Nicopolis. | | •
12 June: the English leave Brest, by treaty. | | | | | | |
| | | •
Riots in China against the use of pressed labour to construct dykes. | | •
Acamapitzin becomes King of the Aztecs. | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | •
Timur (Tamerlane) a descendant of Genghis Khan, captures Kesh, the start of the
second Mongol Empire. | | | | | | | | | | •
10 Oct: Peter I of Cyprus sacks Alexandria. | | | | •
Chu Yüan-chang defeats the last Mongol ruler of China and founds the Ming dynasty. | | | | •
Timur supplants Husein and becomes master of Turkestan with his capital at Samarkand. | | | | | | | | | | | | •
13 April: Turks and Egyptians take the Armenian capital Sis, ending the Armenian
kingdom. | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | •
Timur's forces begin the conquest of Azerbaijan. | | •
Timur conquers Persia, but withdraws from Azerbaijan. | | •
Timur sacks Isfahan in Persia. | | | | | | | | •
18 June: Timur defeats the Golden Horde (Mongol-Tartars). | | •
Timur conquers Iraq, capturing Baghdad. | | •
Timur's campaign against the Golden Horde takes as far as Moscow. | | | | •
15 April: Timur again defeats the Golden Horde on the Terek, but withdraws from
his campaign against Moscow. | | | | | | •
Timur defeats an Indian army and sacks Delhi. | | •
Timur continues his campaign in India, causing widespread devastation. | | |
