In the year 1333, forces loyal to Emperor Go-Daigo enter and destroy the city of Kamakura - thus ends the Kamakura period, and the Kenmu Restoration begins (May 18), King Edward III of England seizes the Isle of Man from Scottish control (Jun 8), Alhambra is converted into a royal palace by Yusuf I, Sultan of Granada - and all these fine people were born: 1333-xxxx Jacques de Hemricourt* mayor of Liège/chronicler of the nobility of Hesbaye - Liege (1403/c. Continue reading

The Pharos of Alexandria. Coloured engraving, ca. 1804-1811. Licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International licence In the year 1303, the Scottish are victorious over the English in Roslin, part of the First War of Scottish Independence (Feb 24), the Treaty of Paris ends the Anglo-French War of 1294–1303 (May 20), and Gascony is restored to England (May 29), a major earthquake near Crete badly damages the Lighthouse of Alexandria in Egypt, one of the seven wonders of the world (Aug 8), the Avoirdupois system of weights (pounds & ounces) and measures is introduced to England and Wales – and all these fine people were born: Continue reading

Two sides of a half groat with portrait of King Edward III. Photo credit Numisantica In the year 1330, King Edward III of England starts his personal reign by executing the regent Roger Mortimer (Oct 19), the Wallachians (Romanians) defeat the Hungarians, thus getting closer to independence (Nov 12), the British Isles are hit by a great storm, creating large areas of sand dunes on Anglesey (Dec 6), the city of Kirkkonummi in Finland is founded, Riga Castle is founded by the Livonian Order – and all these fine people were born: Continue reading

St Patrick’s Cathedral in Dublin, Ireland. Founded in 1191 In the year 1362, King Haakon VI of Norway, son of Magnus IV of Sweden, proclaims himself king of Sweden in opposition to his father - later reconciled, they rule Sweden together (Feb 15), a fire destroys much of St Patrick’s Cathedral in Dublin (Apr 6), England and Castile form an alliance (Jun 22), the Chancellor of England opens Parliament with a speech in English for the first time, English now the official language in law courts instead of French (Oct 13) - and all these fine people were born: Continue reading

In the year 1337, Edward the Black Prince, age 6, establishes the Duchy of Cornwall, becoming the first English Duke (Mar 16), Philip VI of France confiscates Gascony on the French coast from English control (May 24), Edward III of England formally rejects Philip VI’s claim to the French throne, and thus begins the Hundred Years’ War (1337-1453) (Oct), slavery is forbidden in Sweden, the famine in China, which had lasted since 1332 and killed 6 million people, comes to an end - and all these fine people were born: Continue reading

The four suits of playing cards from the 14th century. Here the Trentine pattern, related to the Bergamo and Brescia patterns. In the year 1377, the 10-year old Richard II (grandson of Edward III) is crowned king of England (Jul 16), the Trezzo sull’Adda Bridge in Lombardy is completed, becoming the longest arch bridge in the world to be built for four centuries, Novgorod raids Ostrobothnia in Finland, Prince John of Castile issues prohibitions against card games, followed by the cities of Florence and Basel - and all these fine people were born: Continue reading

In the year 1340, King Edward III of England is declared King of France (Jan 26), Rotterdam in the County of Holland is officially declared a city (Jun 7), the kings of Castile and Portugal defeat the Nasrid ruler of Granada and his Moroccan allies (Oct 30), and there are around 74 million Europeans. 1340-0305 Cansignorio della Scala* Lord of Verona - Verona (1375/35) 1340-0306 John of Gaunt* English prince/military leader/statesman - Ghent, Flanders (1399/59) Continue reading

Achaea on Peloponnesos, Greece In the year 1399, Richard II of England (a.k.a. Richard of Bordeaux) is taken prisoner upon his return from Ireland (Aug 19), the English parliament accepts Henry Bolingbroke as the new king of England (Sep 30), and he is crowned as Henry IV (Oct 13), the Principality of Achaea resists an invasion by the Ottoman Empire, Novgorod forces make frequent attacks in northern Finland, the Kingdom of Mysore (surviving until 1950) in India is founded - and all these fine people were born: Continue reading

In the year 1400, Henry IV of England executes Earls of Kent, Huntingdon and Salisbury, and the Baron de Despencer for their attempt to have Richard II restored as king (Jan) who then soon dies in captivity (Feb 14), the English occupy Edinburgh, but fail to capture Edinburgh Castle (Aug), the Mississippian Culture starts to decline, the Kingdom of Kongo begins, remaining mostly independent for nearly 500 years - and all these fine people were born: Continue reading

The construction of the first Templo Mayor began sometime after 1325. It was rebuilt six times, and destroyed by the Spanish in 1521 In the year 1390, John VII Palaiologos becomes the new Byzantine Emperor (Apr 14), Robert III becomes King of Scotland (Apr 19), the Kingdom of Kaffa is established in present day Ethiopia, Templo Mayor is built in the Aztec capital of Tenochtitlan, construction begins on San Petronio Basilica in Bologna, the Lithuanian Civil War goes on - and all these fine people were born: Continue reading

“La Bastille en 1420”, a painting by Théodore Hoffbauer (1839-1922) In the year 1370, the Treaty of Stralsund ends the war between Denmark and the Hanseatic League (May 24), Hugues Aubriot begins construction of the fortress of the Bastille in Paris, and the steel crossbow is first used as a weapon of war, and the Hundred Years' War (1337–1453) goes on. 1370-0411 Frederick I* Elector of Saxony - Dresden, Margravate of Meissen, Holy Roman Empire (1428/57) Continue reading

In the year 1346, a severe Black Death epidemic, the most fatal pandemic recorded in human history, begins in the Crimea (spring), Edward III and the English army begin an invasion of France (Jul 11), the English defeat the French in the Battle of Crécy, the first one in Europe where gunpowder is used (Aug 26), Denmark sells Danish Estonia to the Teutonic Knights (Aug 29), the English army defeats the Scots in the Battle of Neville’s Cross (Oct 17), the Black Death keeps spreading in Eurasia and North Africa, causing the death of 75–200 million people before ending in 1351 - and all these fine people were born: Continue reading

In the year 1359, France repudiates the terms of the Second Treaty of London, dissatisfied with loss of French territory (May 25), King Erik Magnusson of Sweden dies, and sole power is restored to his father, King Magnus (Jun 21), Edward III invades France again, but is forced to accept lesser terms (Nov), Dmitry Donskoi becomes the Grand Duke of Moscow, Ismail II overthrows his uncle as King of Granada, Berlin joins the Hanseatic League - and all these fine people were born: Continue reading

In the year 1351, Edward III of England institutes the Treason Act of 1351, one of the earliest statutes still in force under English law (Jan 14), in the Hundred Year’s War, the French are defeated by the English at the Battle of Taillebourg in Cascony (Apr 4), Zürich joins the Swiss Confederation (May 1), Vantaa in Finland is first mentioned, the Turks cross the Dardanelles into Europe for the first time, King Ramathibodi I ascends the throne in Ayutthaya (now Thailand) and begins to propagate Theravada Buddhism as the state religion - and all these fine people were born: Continue reading

Templo Mayor in Tenochtitlan like it used to look This article of the decade of 1390s will serve mostly as historical background material as individual year files will as a rule not be published. 1390 Individual post In the year 1390, Robert III becomes King of Scotland (Apr 19), the Kingdom of Kaffa is established in present day Ethiopia, Templo Mayor is built in the Aztec capital of Tenochtitlan, and construction begins on San Petronio Basilica in Bologna. Continue reading

Statue of Queen Margaret I in Roskilde, Denmark In the year 1389, Queen Margaret of Norway and Denmark, and the founder of the Kalmar Union, defeats the King of Sweden in battle, and becomes ruler of all three kingdoms (Feb 24), the Käpplinge murders take place in Stockholm (Jun), Serbs are victorious over the Ottoman Empire in the Battle of Kosovo (Jun 15), Carmo Convent is built in Lisbon - and all these fine people were born: Continue reading

In the year 1319, three-year-old Magnus Eriksson becomes King of Norway (May 8) and is then elected King of Sweden (the second longest-reigning monarch in Swedish history), thus establishing a union with Norway (Jul 8), Scottish troops defeat an English army in the Battle of Myton in Yorkshire, the first major engagement in the First Scottish War of Independence (Sep 20), James of Aragon renounces his right to inherit the Crown of Aragon and his marriage to Eleanor of Castile, in order to become a monk (Dec 22) - and all these fine people were born: Continue reading

In the year 1380, Olaf II of Denmark also becomes Olaf IV of Norway, thus also ruling over Iceland and the Faroe Islands (Feb), Caucer begins to write his greatest work, The Canterbury Tales, the last islands of Polynesia are discovered and inhabited - and all these fine people were born: 1380-xxxx Johann Schiltberger* German traveller/writer - Freising or Munich, Holy Roman Empire (1440/c.60) 1380-0211 Poggio Bracciolini* scholar/humanist - Terranuova, Republic of Florence (1459/79) Continue reading

Tenhola Church from the late 15th century In the year 1329, King John of Bohemia captures the pagan fortress Medvėgalis in Lithuania and baptizes 6,000 of its defenders (Feb 1), the emperor of Ethiopia, Amda Seyon I, begins his campaigns in the southern Muslim provinces, providing for the spread of Christianity to frontier areas (Feb 18), over 160 people are killed in Braganstown massacre in Ireland (Jun 10), the town of Tenhola in southern Finland is founded - and all these fine people were born: Continue reading

In the year 1357, Erik Magnusson is recognized as king of most of Sweden, in opposition to his father, King Magnus (Apr 28), Peter I becomes King of Portugal, after the death of his father, Alfonso IV (May 28), Charles Bridge in Prague is founded (Jul 9), influenza is first identified as a disease - and all these fine people were born: 1357-xxxx Art Óg Mac Murchadha Caomhánach* (Art MacMurrough-Kavanagh) King of Leinster - Leinster, Ireland (1417/c. Continue reading