Events from the 1440s in England.
Incumbents
Events
- 1440
- 7 July â Hundred Years' War: John Talbot, 1st Earl of Shrewsbury recaptures Harfleur from the French.
- 12 September â King Henry VI founds Eton College.
- 1441
- 2 April â King Henry VI founds King's College, Cambridge.
- 19 September â Hundred Years' War: French capture Pontoise and ÃÂle-de-France.
- 1442
- 19 January â Eleanor Cobham, wife of Humphrey, Duke of Gloucester, convicted of treason and witchcraft.
- 11 June â Hundred Years' War: France invades Gascony.
- 1443
- 23 April â perpetual truce signed with Burgundy.
- 13 May â John Stafford enthroned as Archbishop of Canterbury.
- August â Hundred Years' War: 8,000 strong expeditionary force under John Beaufort, 1st Duke of Somerset lands at Cherbourg.
- 1444
- 22 May â the Treaty of Tours, signed between England and France, secures a truce in the Hundred Years' War for 5 years and includes an arrangement for Henry VI to marry Margaret of Anjou.
- A serious fire occurs at Old St Paul's Cathedral in London.
- 1445
- 23 April â Henry VI marries Margaret of Anjou at Titchfield Abbey.
- 14 July â Hundred Years' War: negotiations for a peace treaty begin in London.
- 1446
- 26 June â Hundred Years' War: Henry re-asserts his claim over Brittany.
- 25 July â Henry lays the foundation stone of King's College Chapel, Cambridge.
- 1447
- 18 February â Duke of Gloucester arrested for treason. He dies five days later.
- 9 December â Richard Plantagenet, 3rd Duke of York appointed as the King's representative in Ireland.
- 1448
- 11 March â Hundred Years' War: England cedes Maine to France.
- 16 March â Hundred Years' War: peace negotiations break down over the issue of English control over Brittany.
- 15 April â Queen Margaret of Anjou founds Queens' College, Cambridge.
- May â Earliest known reference to Morris dance in England.
- 23 October â Scottish victory over the English at the Battle of Sark.
- 1449
- 24 March â Hundred Years' War: English capture Fougères in Brittany.
- May â An English privateering fleet led by Robert Wennington challenges ships of the Hanseatic League.
- July â Hundred Years' War: French invade Normandy.
- 29 October â Hundred Years' War: Rouen surrenders to the French.
- Earliest known grant of a patent in England, by Henry VI to John of Utynam for the introduction of coloured glass manufacture.
Births
- 1440
- approximate Henry Deane, Archbishop of Canterbury (died 1503)
- 1442
- 28 April â King Edward IV of England (died 1483)
- 27 September â John de la Pole, 2nd Duke of Suffolk (died 1491)
- Anthony Woodville, 2nd Earl Rivers (died 1483)
- 1443
- 17 May â Edmund, Earl of Rutland, brother of Kings Edward IV of England and Richard III of England (died 1460)
- 31 May â Lady Margaret Beaufort, mother of Henry VII of England (died 1509)
- John de Vere, 13th Earl of Oxford, Lancastrian leader (died 1513)
- Anne Beauchamp, 15th Countess of Warwick (died 1449)
- 1444
- John de Mowbray, 4th Duke of Norfolk (died 1476)
- 1446
- Edmund de Ros, 10th Baron de Ros, politician (died 1508)
- William Grocyn, scholar (died 1519)
- 1449
- 21 October â George Plantagenet, 1st Duke of Clarence, brother of Edward IV and Richard III (died 1478)
Deaths
- 1440
- 30 September â Reginald Grey, 3rd Baron Grey de Ruthyn, soldier and politician (born c. 1362)
- 13 November â Joan Beaufort, Countess of Westmoreland (born c. 1379)
- 1441
- 27 October â Margery Jourdemayne, "the witch of Eye", burned at the stake
- 1443
- 12 April â Henry Chichele, Archbishop of Canterbury, having served since 1414, the longest ever in this office (born c. 1364)
- 1444
- 27 May â John Beaufort, 1st Duke of Somerset, military leader (born 1404)
- 1445
- 5 June â Leonel Power, composer (year of birth unknown, between 1370âÂÂ1385)
- 11 June â Henry de Beauchamp, 1st Duke of Warwick (born 1424)
- 1447
- 23 February â Humphrey, Duke of Gloucester (born 1390)
- 11 April â Henry Beaufort, Cardinal, Lord Chancellor (born 1377)
- John Holland, 2nd Duke of Exeter (born 1395)
- 1449
- Anne Beauchamp, 15th Countess of Warwick (born 1443)
References