The Great Events by Famous Historians [Volumes 1-14]

1370. End of the Piast dynasty, Poland, caused by the death of Casimir the Great; Louis the Great, King of Hungary, succeeds.

Timur the Tartar extends his domains. See "Conquests of Timur the Tartar," vii, 169.

1371. Robert II ascends the throne and founds the Stuart dynasty in Scotland, on the death of David Bruce.91

A petition of the English Parliament to the King that he employ no churchmen in any office of the state, and threatening to resist by force the oppressions of papal authority.

1373. Henry of Castile invades Portugal, besieges Lisbon, and compels Ferdinand to sign a treaty of peace.

Birth of John Huss.92

1374. A strange plague, the dancing mania, appears in Europe. See "Dancing Mania of the Middle Ages," vii, 187.

Wycliffe is appointed one of the seven ambassadors to represent to the Pope the grievances of the Church of England.

1375. A general council of citizens of Florence declares "liberty paramount to every other consideration"; it appoints the "Seven Saints of War," which effectually resist aggression.

1376. Death of Edward the Black Prince. Gregory XI abandons Avignon as the papal residence.

1377. Rome again becomes the home of the papal court.

Gregory XI orders proceedings against Wycliffe, the English reformer.

Death of Edward III; his grandson, Richard II, succeeds to the English throne.

1378. Wenceslaus becomes emperor of Germany on the death of his father, Charles IV.

Rival popes elected. See "Election of Antipope Clement VII: Beginning of the Great Schism," vii, 201.

1379. Pietro Doria, at the head of the Genoese fleet, defeats the Venetian fleet off Pola; Chioggia is captured and Venice threatened.

A poll-tax imposed on the people of England; this led directly to a revolution.

War of the rival papal factions in Rome.

Revolt of the White Hoods (Les Chaperons blancs) in Flanders; the workmen of Ghent, when they revolted against the Duke of Burgundy, adopted a white hood as their badge.

1380. Establishment in Germany of post messengers.

Surrender of the Genoese fleet and army at Chioggia. See "Genoese Surrender to Venetians," vii, 213.

1381. Overthrow of Joanna I of Naples by Charles Durazzo (Charles the Little).

An act of parliament surreptitiously obtained against heretics in England.

Exasperated by the poll-tax the people of England revolt. See "Rebellion of Wat Tyler," vii, 217.

Insurrection of the Maillotins against the new tax on bread in Paris. They were so called because they armed themselves with maillets de fer ("iron malls") when they attacked the arsenal, put to death the officers, and set the prisoners at large.

Philip van Artevelde rises to power in Flanders.

1382. Queen Joanna I of Naples is put to death in prison.

"Wycliffe Translates the Bible into English." See vii, 227.

Led by Philip van Artevelde the people of Ghent triumph over their ruler, Count Louis II; Bruges is captured and looted by them; Artevelde is acclaimed governor; a French army advances and defeats the forces of Artevelde, who is slain, and Louis is restored.

1384. Flanders is incorporated in the dukedom of Burgundy; Artois and Franche Comté are also acquired by Philip the Bold of Burgundy.

1385. Scotland fruitlessly invaded by Richard II of England.

John the Great ascends the throne of Portugal; he defeats the Castilians at Aljubarota.

1386. Victory of the Swiss over the Austrians at Sempach. See "The Swiss Win Their Independence," vii, 238.

Hedvige, Queen of Poland, marries Duke of Jagellon, of Lithuania, uniting the states and establishing the Jagellon dynasty; as sovereign of Poland he is styled Ladislaus II. The Lithuanians abandon paganism.

Founding of the University of Heidelberg.

A regency, that of the Duke of Gloucester, is imposed upon Richard II of England.

1387. Consultation of Richard II at Nottingham with the judges; the regency commission is declared a criminal act.

A brother of Emperor Wenceslaus, Sigismund, becomes king of Hungary.

Birth of Fra Angelico (Guido di Pietri), the great friar-painter.

1388. Battle of Otterburne (Chevy Chase); an English-Scotch encounter in a private feud, not a national quarrel; the Earl of Douglas slain; Henry Percy captured by the Scots.

At Naefels the Austrians are defeated by the Swiss.

1389. Bulgaria and Servia conquered by the Turks under Amurath I at the decisive battle of Kosovo; he is slain.

Death of Pope Urban VI; Boniface succeeds; the schism continues.

Albert, King of Sweden, defeated and made prisoner by Queen Margaret, who reigns over the three Scandinavian kingdoms.

1390. War of Florence with Milan.

Robert III ascends the throne of Scotland.

1392. Fits of insanity seize the young King of France, Charles VI; cards are invented, or introduced, to amuse him during his lucid intervals.

1394. Birth of Prince Henry of Portugal, known as the "Navigator."

1395. Milan is created a hereditary duchy by Emperor Wenceslaus for Giovanni Galeazzo Visconti.

1396. Battle of Nicopolis; the Christian defenders of Hungary suffer a great defeat at the hands of the Turkish sultan Bajazet I.

1397. Scandinavia united under one crown. See "Union of Denmark, Sweden, and Norway," vii, 243.