this council, dwelling long upon the enterprises of the prelates of
Basel, whom he emphatically blames, even to the extent of saying that,
from their practice and their maxims, there is no more peace possible in
the Church, and that a great many are asking if this schism be not that
great apostasy of which St. Paul spoke to the Thessalonians, and which
should open the door to the Antichrist. He finishes the address by this
declaration: "I have desired to say all this in public, most holy
Father, in order to make known to you the upright intentions of the King
my master in the present affair. He does not attach himself to flesh and
blood, but he hears the voice of the celestial Father. From this source
he learns to recognize you and to revere you as the sovereign pontiff
and the head of all Christians, the vicar of Jesus Christ, conformably
with the doctrine of the saints and of the whole Church. And because he
sees that these truths are obscured to-day, he asks for the call of the
general council. In this he equally manifests his justice and his piety.
"As for your person, most holy Father, he has sentiments for you which
pass the limits of ordinary filial affection. He always speaks of you
with consideration. He does not like to have others speak otherwise. He
conceives the most favorable hopes of you. He counts upon it that, after
having reconciled all the orientals to the Roman Church, you will also
reëstablish the affairs of the Occident."
This discourse certainly did honor to the good sense of France. In spite
of the intrigues of the learned doctors of the university, the King and
the episcopacy early and clearly remarked the revolutionary and
anarchistic tendency of Basel. As for the amicably regulating relation
of the churches of France with the holy see to remedy certain abuses,
the thing was not difficult. It would have been sufficient to send some
more bishops to Florence like the Bishop of Meaux. All would have been
very quickly arranged, to the satisfaction of everybody, and the
example of France would have drawn the rest of the Occident. But to
desire a third council was not of the same wisdom. Thus the Pope took
good care not to consent to it.
In 1444 Eugenius IV created the Dauphin of France, who was afterward
King Louis XI, grand gonfalonier of the Roman Church, granting him a
pension of fifteen thousand florins, to be taken annually from the
apostolic chamber. The Dauphin made an expedition to the gates of Basel,
where he overcame a corps of Swiss and spread consternation among those
who were still at the pretended council. This expedition was followed by
a long truce between France and England; an event which was considered
as the prelude to a good peace. In order to obtain from God this good,
so necessary and so much desired, there were public fêtes at Paris,
among others a solemn procession in which were carried all the holy
relics of the city.
In November, 1446, King Charles VII, being at Tours, made with his
council a plan of accommodation between the two parties that divided the
Church. It arranged that all the censures published on one side and the
other should be revoked; that Pope Eugenius should be recognized by all
as before the schism; that Monsieur de Savoie, called Felix by his
adherents, should renounce the popedom; that he should hold the highest
rank in the Church, next to the person of the Pope, and that his
partisans should be also maintained in their dignities, grades, and
benefices.
CHRONOLOGY OF UNIVERSAL HISTORY
EMBRACING THE PERIOD COVERED IN THIS VOLUME
A.D. 1301-1438
JOHN RUDD, LL.D
Events treated at length are here indicated in large type; the numerals
following give volume and page.
Separate chronologies of the various nations, and of the careers of
famous persons, will be found in the INDEX VOLUME, with volume and page
references showing where the several events are fully treated.
A.D.
1301. In Hungary the crown becomes elective; end of the Arpad dynasty.
Dante begins writing his _Divine Comedy_, See "DANTE COMPOSES THE DIVINA
COMMEDIA," vii, 1.
1302. Philip the Fair convenes the first meeting of the States-General
of France. See "THIRD ESTATE JOINS IN THE GOVERNMENT OF FRANCE," vii,
17.
Dante and his party banished from Florence. See "DANTE COMPOSES THE
DIVINA COMMEDIA," vii, 1.
Comyn is appointed regent by the Scots, who make another effort to
regain their independence.
Pope Boniface VIII issues a bull against Philip the Fair, who burns it,
accuses him of simony and heresy, and refuses to acknowledge him as
pope.
Battle of Courtrai; the Flemings defeat the French. See "WAR OF THE
FLEMINGS WITH PHILIP THE FAIR OF FRANCE," vii, 23.
1303. Pope Boniface VIII is surprised at Anagni by William de Nogaret,
King Philip's adviser; after being kept for some days a prisoner he is
rescued and allowed to return to Rome, where he dies.
Scotland submits to Edward I of England.
Andronicus Palæologus, the Byzantine Emperor, engages the Catalan Grand
Company to aid him against the Turks.[85]
1304. Roger di Flor defeats the Mongols, enters Philadelphia, and
stations himself at Ephesus.
1305. Wallace, "Hero of Scotland," is executed. See "EXPLOITS AND DEATH
OF WILLIAM WALLACE, THE HERO OF SCOTLAND," vi, 369.
Beginning of the so-called Babylonish Captivity, being the establishment
of the papal court at Lyons, France.
1306. A grandson of the first claimant, Robert Bruce, is crowned King of
Scotland; he dispossesses the English of a great part of Scotland.
On complaint of the nobility and gentry the use of sea-coal is
prohibited in London.
1307. Death of Edward I; his son, Edward II, succeeds to the English
throne.
Charges against the Knights Templars. See "EXTINCTION OF THE ORDER OF
KNIGHTS TEMPLARS," vii, 51.
1308. Albert of Austria assassinated by his nephew; Henry VII, Count of
Luxemburg, elected emperor of Germany.
Origin of the Swiss confederations according to common traditions.[86]
See "FIRST SWISS STRUGGLE FOR LIBERTY," vii, 28.
1309. Pope Clement V removes the papal court from Rome to Avignon,
France.
Rhodes captured from the Turks by the Knights of St. John.
1310. Fifty Knights Templars are burned in Paris.
Expedition of Henry VII of Germany into Italy to restore the imperial
authority. He obtains the throne of Bohemia for his son John,
inaugurating the Luxemburg dynasty.
1311. Fifteenth general council (Council of Vienne); it suppresses the
order of Knights Templars, and condemns the Beghards (Beguins), a
begging order of monks and nuns.
Matteo Visconti secures the sovereignty of Milan.
Walter de Brienne quarrels with the Catalans and is defeated and slain
by them; they conquer the duchy of Athens and appoint Roger Deslau grand
duke.
1312. Henry VII unsuccessful in an attempt on Florence.
Gaveston, a foreigner and favorite of the King, and who for some years
had made himself obnoxious to the barons and people of England, is made
prisoner and beheaded; peace ensues between Edward II and his barons.
Robert, King of Naples, seizes the principal forts in Rome; Henry VII
is, notwithstanding, crowned emperor in the Lateran Church by three
cardinals.
1313. In conjunction with the Genoese and Sicilians, Emperor Henry VII
prepares to attack Robert of Naples, but dies suddenly.
Birth of Boccaccio.
1314. Defeat of the English by the Scots under Robert Bruce. See "BATTLE
OF BANNOCKBURN," vii, 41.
Louis of Bavaria and Frederick, son of the late Albert of Austria, are
elected by opposite parties to the crown of Germany; they make war on
each other.
Ireland invaded by Edward Bruce, a Scottish adventurer, and a younger
brother of Robert Bruce.
Louis X succeeds his father, Philip IV, in France.
Molay, grand master of the Knights Templars, is burned at the stake in
Paris. See "EXTINCTION OF THE ORDER OF KNIGHTS TEMPLARS," vii, 51.
1315. Louis Hutin, King of France, emancipates all serfs within the
royal domains on payment of a just surrender charge.
A great victory achieved by the Swiss over the Austrians, under Leopold
(brother of Frederick the Handsome) at Morgarten.
1316. Edward Bruce crowned king of Ireland.
Establishment of the Salic law excluding females and their descendants
from the throne of France.
A predominance of French cardinals, created by Pope Clement V, secures
the election of another French pope, and the continuance of the papal
see at Avignon. The new pope, John XXII, appoints eight more cardinals,
of whom seven are French.
1317. Birger, King of the Swedes, murders his two brothers and causes a
rebellion of his people.
1318. Battle of Dundalk; Edward Bruce defeated and slain by Lord
Birmingham; end of the war in Ireland.
Giotto, a friend of Dante, famous in Italy; he was the first painter of
portraits from life.
1319. Pope John XXII excommunicates Robert Bruce of Scotland; the Scotch
Parliament resists all papal interference in its affairs.
1320.[87] The Old English poem _Cursor Mundi_ composed. It was founded
on Cædmon's paraphrase of the book of Genesis.
1321. Death of Dante while in exile at Ravenna.
1322. Philip V dies; he is succeeded by his brother, Charles IV, on the
throne of France.
Louis the Bavarian triumphs over his rival Frederick of Austria, who is
captured.
Queen Isabella, while resident in the Tower of London, first sees
Mortimer, who is brought there a prisoner.
Sir John Mandeville, an English exile in France, sets out on his eastern
travels.
1323. Louis of Bavaria invests his son with the margraviate of
Brandenburg.
1324. Commencement of Queen Isabella's guilty intimacy with Mortimer.
Birth of Wycliffe.[88]
Pope John XXII excommunicates Louis the Bavarian.
1325. Birth of John Gower, poet, and friend of Chaucer.
1326. Burgesses are first admitted into the Scotch Parliament.
Isabella, Queen of Edward II, and Earl Mortimer invade England; the King
is captured and imprisoned in Kenilworth castle.
1327. King Edward II is deposed by parliament; Edward III, his son,
succeeds. Edward II is brutally murdered by his keepers.
Louis V, the Bavarian, of Germany heads an expedition into Italy; he
proclaims the deposition of Pope John XXII; he is forced to retreat
after being crowned in Rome.
1328. Independence of Scotland recognized by Edward III of England.
Accession of Philip VI of France, the first of the house of Valois.
Birth of Chaucer.[88]
1329. Death of Robert Bruce; his infant son, David, succeeds to the
Scotch throne.
1330. Orkham, Sultan of the Turks, captures Nicæa.
Queen Isabella and Mortimer are surprised in Nottingham castle[89]; he
is executed at Tyburn; Isabella is confined during her life at Castle
Rising.
1331. John Kempe takes his servants and apprentices from Flanders to
join the weaving colony already founded at Norwich, England.
1332. Edward Balliol claims the crown of Scotland; he invades that
country with an English army. The young King, David, takes refuge in
France.
Lucerne joins the Swiss confederacy.
1333. Edward III of England invades Scotland; he defeats the Scotch at
Halidon Hill and captures Berwick, which is annexed to England.
Casimir the Great, last king of the Piast line, succeeds to the throne
of Poland.
1334. Denmark in a state of anarchy; Gerard, Count of Holstein,
exercises a disputed power as regent.
1335. The house of Austria becomes possessed of Carinthia.
1336. Birth of Timur (Tamerlane) the Tartar.
1337. Edward III of England obtains the support of Van Artevelde; he
obtains money by grants from parliament and confiscating the wealth of
the Lombard merchants. See "JAMES VAN ARTEVELDE LEADS A FLEMISH REVOLT,"
vii, 68.
Birth of Froissart, the chronicler, at Valenciennes.
1338. Beginning of the wars of Edward III against France; he sails with
a fleet of five hundred ships; lands his army at Antwerp. See "BATTLE OF
SLUYS AND CRÉCY," vii, 78.
Declaration of the Electors at Rense that Germany is an independent
empire over which the Pope has no jurisdiction; the diet at Frankfort
ratifies the manifesto.
1339. France invaded by Edward III of England; beginning of the Hundred
Years' War.
Genoa elects its first doge, Simone Boccanera.
A body of disbanded mercenaries form themselves into the first
_condottiere_ company known in Italy. The word means a captain or
leader, the _condottieri_ those under the leader. They were free lances,
open to serve under any flag.
1340. Edward destroys a large French fleet at Sluys; beginning of
England's naval power. See "BATTLE OF SLUYS AND CRÉCY," vii, 78.
War between the Hanseatic League and Denmark; the Danes defeated.
1341. Death of John III of Brittany; his brother, John of Montfort, and
his niece, Jeanne de Penthièvre, wife of Charles of Blois, contest the
succession; England supports the former, France the latter.
Edward Balliol retires on the return of David II to Scotland.
Petrarch is crowned with laurel at Rome. See "MODERN RECOGNITION OF
SCENIC BEAUTY," vii, 93.
1342. Edward III pursues his campaign in Brittany; he relieves
Hennebonne, besieged by the French.
Walter de Brienne, Duke of Athens, becomes sovereign lord of Florence.
Accession of Louis, called the Great, to the throne of Hungary, on the
death of King Charles Robert, his father.
1343. Expulsion from Florence of the Duke of Athens; popular government
restored.
A truce of three years arranged between England and France by the
mediation of the papal legates.
1344. Breach of the truce between England and France; Earl Derby defeats
Count de Lisle and reduces a great part of Perigord.
A Turkish fleet is destroyed at Pallene by the Knights of Rhodes, who
assist in the capture of Smyrna by the Venetians and the King of Cyprus.
Masham, an Englishman, first discovers the Madeira Islands.
In England, parliament, by the Statute of Provisors, forbids the
interference of the pope in bestowing benefices and livings in England.
1345. Fall and death of James Van Artevelde at Ghent.
1346. Battle of Crécy; cannon said to have been first used by the
English. See "BATTLES OF SLUYS AND CRÉCY," vii, 78.
At the instance of Pope Clement VI, Charles of Luxemburg (Charles IV) is
elected emperor of Germany in opposition to Louis the Bavarian.
David Bruce invades England; he is vanquished and made prisoner at
Neville's Cross.
Servia at the zenith of her power; the ruler, Stephen Dushan, assumes
the imperial title.
1347. Calais captured by Edward III.
Death of Louis the Bavarian; he is succeeded by Charles IV, whose title
is disputed until 1349.
Queen Joanna I of Naples has her dominions invaded by Louis the Great of
Hungary to avenge the murder of her husband, Andrew, brother of Louis,
supposedly at her instigation. See "RIENZI'S REVOLUTION IN ROME," vii,
104.
1348. About this time begins the Renaissance in Italy. See "BEGINNING
AND PROGRESS OF THE RENAISSANCE," vii, 110.
Founding of the University of Prague, the first in Germany.
Pope Clement VI purchases Avignon from Queen Joanna I of Naples.
The plague stalks in Europe. See "THE BLACK DEATH RAVAGES EUROPE," vii,
130.
1349. Institution (or revival, see A.D. 1192) of the Order of the Garter
in England.
Dauphiny annexed to France on condition that the King's eldest son
should be called the dauphin.
1350. Death of Philip VI; his son, John the Good, succeeds to the French
throne.
1351. Zurich joins the Swiss confederation.
Paganino Doria, commanding the Genoese fleet, plunders many Venetian
towns on the Adriatic.
1352. A statute of præmunire still further limits the papal power in
England.
Naval battle in the Bosporus between the Genoese, under Paganino Doria,
and the Venetians, Byzantines, and Catalans under Niccola Pisano; the
latter are defeated, and concede the entire command of the Black Sea to
the Genoese.
1353. Alliance of Genoa with Louis of Hungary; their fleet, under
Antonino Grinaldi, defeated; in despair the Genoese place themselves
under the protection of John Visconte.
Bern joins the league of Swiss cantons.
1354. Downfall and death of Rienzi. See "RIENZI'S REVOLUTION IN ROME,"
vii, 104.
Paganino Doria captures or destroys the Venetian fleet in the Morea;
their admiral, Pisano, is captured.
Beginning of Turkish dominion in Europe. See "FIRST TURKISH DOMINION IN
EUROPE," vii, 136.
1355. King Charles of Navarre is treacherously seized and imprisoned in
France; his brother Philip, and Geoffry d'Harcourt, make an alliance
with Edward III; the war is renewed.
Marino Falieri, Doge of Venice, beheaded. See "CONSPIRACY AND DEATH OF
MARINO FALIERI AT VENICE," vii, 154.
1356. Battle of Poitiers; John II, King of France, taken prisoner by
Edward, the Black Prince; the Dauphin, Charles, escapes and assumes the
government of France during his father's captivity.
Emperor Charles defines the duties of the electors of Germany. See
"CHARLES IV OF GERMANY PUBLISHES HIS GOLDEN BULL," vii, 160.
Wycliffe publishes his _Last Age of the Court_.
1357. London enthusiastically welcomes the Prince of Wales (the Black
Prince) on his return with his prisoners; King Edward III concludes a
treaty with the captive French King, which the Dauphin rejects.
Popular movement in Paris under Stephen Marcel; meeting of the
States-general of France.
1358. Violent commotions in France. See "INSURRECTION OF THE JACQUERIE
IN FRANCE," vii, 164.
By a treaty of peace the Venetians resign Dalmatia and Istria to the
King of Hungary; they agree to style their doge Duke of Venice only.
1359. Edward III again invades France, his terms of peace not being
accepted.
1360. England and France conclude the treaty of Bretigny; King John II
is set at liberty on payment of a heavy ransom.
Outbreak of the Children's Plague in England.
1361. End of the first ducal house of Burgundy.
Adrianople is conquered by Sultan Amurath I of Turkey.
All military operations in Europe suspended by the virulence of the
plague.
1362. Edward III grants Aquitaine to his son, the Black Prince; he also
celebrates his fiftieth birthday by a general amnesty and a confirmation
of Magna Charta.
Conjectured beginning of Langland's _Vision of Piers Plowman_, a noted
allegorical and satirical poem.[90]
1363. Disbanded English soldiers enter the service of the Pisans, and
obtain a victory for them over the Florentines.
1364. Death of King John the Good of France, in Savoy palace, London;
his son, Charles V, succeeds; Du Guesclin, his general, defeats the
English and the army of Charles the Bad at Cocherel. Du Guesclin is
afterward defeated and captured by the English, under Sir John Chandos;
besides the capture of Du Guesclin, Charles of Blois is slain. The house
of Montfort secures Brittany.
Treaty of union between Bohemia and Austria.
Chaucer writes his _Canterbury Tales_.
1365. Pedro the Cruel, the epithet "cruel" being given him mainly for
the murder of his brother, Don Fadrique, becomes so odious to his
subjects that Henry of Trastamare, his brother, revives his claim to the
throne of Leon and Castile; Du Guesclin takes command of his forces.
University of Vienna founded.
1366. Pedro the Cruel driven from his throne.
Pope Urban V claims the tribute which had previously been paid by
England; an act of parliament resists the demand; it further declares
the concessions made by King John to be illegal and invalid.
Tamerlane (Timur the Tartar), reviver of the great Mongol empire,
inaugurates his conquests.
1367. Edward the Black Prince, having espoused the cause of Pedro the
Cruel, attacks and dethrones Henry of Trastamare; Pedro is restored to
the throne, but refuses the stipulated pay to his allies, who leave him
to his fate.
Passage of the Kilkenny Statute; it forbade any Englishman to use an
Irish name, to speak the Irish language, to adopt the Irish dress, or to
allow the cattle of an Irishman to graze on his lands; it also made it
high treason to marry a native.
1369. King Charles V breaks the Anglo-French treaty; the Hundred Years'
War reopened.
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.