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

University of St. Andrew's, Scotland, founded.

1412. For insulting the chief justice of England the Prince of Wales is committed to prison.

Birth of Jeanne d'Arc, the Maid of Orleans.

1413. Death of Henry IV; Henry V ascends the English throne; he discards his dissolute associates and reforms his conduct.

Ladislaus takes forcible possession of Rome and most of the papal states.

1414. The Seventeenth general council. See "Council of Constance," vii, 284.

Joanna II succeeds her brother Ladislaus of Naples on his death.

1415. "Trial and Burning of John Huss." See vii, 294.

John the Great of Portugal conquers Ceuta; he discards the use of the Julian period and introduces the computation of time from the Christian era.

Brandenburg is acquired by the house of Hohenzollern. See "The House of Hohenzollern Established in Brandenburg," vii, 305.

"Battle of Agincourt." See vii, 320.

1416. Jerome of Prague burned.

Alfonso the Wise, so called for his patronage of letters, ascends the throne of Aragon on the death of his father, Ferdinand the Just.

1417. Pope Martin V elected by the Council of Constance; end of the schism.

Sir John Oldcastle, the "Good Lord Cobham," after four years' hiding is captured and burned as a heretic in London.

Gypsies appear in Transylvania; they are believed to have been low-caste Hindus expelled by Timur in the fourteenth century.

1418. Close of the Council of Constance. See "Council of Constance," vii, 284.

A great massacre in Paris of the Armagnacs by the populace, the partisans of John the Fearless of Burgundy; the Dauphin and his adherents transfer their seat of government to Poitiers.

1419. Surrender of Rouen to the English.

John the Fearless, beguiled by a treaty, meets the Dauphin, who has him assassinated.

Storming of the town-hall of Prague by the Hussites; outbreak of the Hussite wars.

Madeira first reached by the Portuguese, who sail under the command of Henry the Navigator.

1420. Henry V, King of England, made successor to the French throne. See "Battle of Agincourt," vii, 320.

Sigismund besieges the Hussites in Prague; he is defeated by them, led by John Ziska.

Joanna II of Naples, who summons to her aid Alfonso V of Aragon, is attacked by Louis III of Anjou.

1421. Second crusade against the Bohemian Hussites.

1422. Death of Henry V of England and Charles VI of France; the former is succeeded by his infant son; he is proclaimed King of England and France; his uncles, the Duke of Gloucester, regent in England, and the Duke of Bedford in France; Charles VII, son of Charles VI, is proclaimed by the French.

Constantinople besieged by Amurath II, Sultan of Turkey.

1423. Frederick the Warlike, Margrave of Misnia, assumes the electorate of Saxony and establishes the house of Wettin.

1424. James I of Scotland, released after a captivity of nineteen years, marries a daughter of the Earl of Somerset; he assumes the government of Scotland.

John Ziska is succeeded by Procopius the Great as head of the Taborites, a division of the Hussites.

1425. Accession of John Palæologus II as emperor of Byzantium.

John and Hulbert van Eyck, masters of the early Flemish school, invent painting in oil.

1426. Lubeck and the Baltic Hanse Towns support the Duke of Holstein against Eric XIII of Sweden.

Great Hussite victory at Aussig.

1427. The Hussites extend their conquests in Saxony and Meissen; they gain a victory at Mies.

1428. Orleans, France, besieged by the English.

Death of John de' Medici, founder of the illustrious family at Florence.

1429. Coronation of Charles VII of France at Rheims.

Jeanne d'Arc relieves Orleans. See "Jeanne d'Arc's Victory at Orleans," vii, 333.

Refusal of the Hussites to treat for peace with Emperor Sigismund.

Antipope Clement VIII abdicates and ends the Great Schism.

1430. Institution of the Golden Fleece by Philip, Duke of Burgundy, on his marriage with Isabella, daughter of King John of Portugal, and in commemoration of the manufacturing prosperity of the Netherlands.

1431. Jeanne d'Arc dishonorably and inhumanly burned at Rouen. See "Trial and Execution of Jeanne d'Arc," vii, 350.

Council of Basel. Pope Martin V succeeded by Eugenius IV.

1432. Prince Henry's navigators discover and take possession of the Azores for the Portuguese.

Opening of the trade of the north to the English and Dutch by the wars of the Hanse Towns, and Holstein, with Denmark.

1433. Treaty of the Council of Basel with the section of the Hussites called Calixtines; this satisfies them and they secede from the Hussite league.

1434. Cosmo de' Medici recalled to Florence; his party triumphant.

Organization of the national church (Utraquist) in Bohemia.

First exploration of the west coast of Africa by the Portuguese.

The Calixtines join the imperial army and defeat the Taborites at Bohmisch-Brod.

1435. Treaty of Arras between France and Burgundy; the latter withdraws from the English party.

Death of the Duke of Bedford.

1436. A settlement effected between Emperor Sigismund and the Hussites by the treaty of Iglau; he is recognized as king of Bohemia.

Charles VII, the French King, recovers Paris from the English.