The 14th century lasted from 1 January 1301 (represented by the Roman numerals MCCCI) to 31 December 1400 (MCD). It is estimated that the century witnessed the death of more than 45 million lives from political and natural disasters in both Europe and the Mongol Empire. West Africa experienced economic growth and prosperity.
In Europe, the Black Death claimed 25 million lives wiping out one third of the European population while the Kingdom of England and the Kingdom of France fought in the protracted Hundred Years' War after the death of King Charles IV of France led to a claim to the French throne by King Edward III of England. This period is considered the height of chivalry and marks the beginning of strong separate identities for both England and France as well as the foundation of the Italian Renaissance and the Ottoman Empire.
In Asia, Tamerlane (Timur), established the Timurid Empire, history's third largest empire to have been ever established by a single conqueror. Scholars estimate that Timur's military campaigns caused the deaths of 17 million people, amounting to about 5% of the world population at the time. Synchronously, the Timurid Renaissance emerged. In the Arab world, historian and political scientist Ibn Khaldun and explorer Ibn Battuta made significant contributions. In India, the Bengal Sultanate separated from the Delhi Sultanate, a major trading nation in the world. The sultanate was described by the Europeans as the richest country to trade with. The Mongol court was driven out of China and retreated to Mongolia, the Ilkhanate collapsed, the Chaghatayid dissolved and broke into two parts, and the Golden Horde lost its position as a great power in Eastern Europe.
In Africa, the wealthy Mali Empire, a huge producer of gold, reached its territorial and economic height under the reign of Mansa Musa I of Mali, the wealthiest individual of medieval times, and perhaps the wealthiest ever.
In the Americas, the Mexica founded the city of Tenochtitlan, while the Mississippian mound city of Cahokia was abandoned.
Events
1301âÂÂ1309
1310s
1320s
1330s
1340s
1350s
- 1350: Ramathibodi I establishes the Ayutthaya Kingdom.
- 1350: Hayam Wuruk, styled Sri Rajasanagara, succeeds Tribhuwana Wijayatunggadewi as ruler of Majapahit; his reign is considered the empire's 'Golden Age'. Under its military commander Gajah Mada, Majapahit stretches over much of modern-day Indonesia.
- 1351: The Red Turban Rebellions break out along the Huai River valley, beginning a nearly 20-year period of uprisings against the Mongol-led Yuan dynasty in China.
- 1353: Fa Ngum established the Lan Xang kingdom in Laos.
- 1356: The Imperial Diet of the Holy Roman Empire headed by Emperor Charles IV issues the Golden Bull of 1356, establishing various constitutional aspects of the Empire, the most significant being the electoral college to elect future emperors.
- 1356: The Diet of the Hansa is held in Lübeck, formalising what up until then had only been a loose alliance of trading cities in northern Europe and officially founding the Hanseatic League.
- 1357: Scotland retains its independence with the signing of the Treaty of Berwick, thus ending the Wars of Scottish Independence.
- 1357: In the Battle of Bubat, the Sundanese royal family is massacred by the Majapahit army by the order of Gajah Mada; the death toll includes Sundanese king Lingga Buana and princess Dyah Pitaloka Citraresmi, who committed suicide.
1360s
1370s
1380s
1390âÂÂ1400
- 1391: Anti-Jewish pogroms spread throughout Spain and Portugal, and many thousands of Jews are massacred.
- 1392: Taejo of Joseon establishes the Joseon Dynasty.
- 1392: Emperor Go-Kameyama of Japan abdicates in favor of rival claimant Go-Komatsu, in order to end the Nanboku-chÃ
 period of conflict between the Northern and Southern imperial courts.
- 1396: The Battle of Nicopolis, in which the Ottoman Empire defeats a large Crusader army of knights and infantry from various Christian kingdoms including Hungary, France, the Holy Roman Empire, Burgundy and Wallachia.
- 1396: The Second Bulgarian Empire ends, with the capture of the last stronghold fortress of Vidin and its king Ivan Sratsimir by the Ottomans.
- 1397: The Kalmar Union is established, uniting Norway, Sweden and Denmark into one kingdom.
- 1397: Reign of Chimalpopoca begins as the third tlatoani of Tenochtitlan.
- 1399: Zhu Di launches the Jingnan campaign from Beiping (Beijing) to unseat his nephew, the Jianwen Emperor.
Undated
- Transition from the Medieval Warm Period to the Little Ice Age.
- Crisis of the Late Middle Ages
- The poet Petrarch coins the term Dark Ages to describe the preceding 900 years in Europe, beginning with the fall of the Western Roman Empire in 476 through to the renewal embodied in the Renaissance.
- Beginning of the Ottoman Empire, early expansion into the Balkans.
- Iwan vault, Jamé Mosque of Isfahan, Isfahan, Iran, is built.
- Early 14th century: Kao Ninga paints Monk Sewing (attributed) in the Kamakura period (Cleveland Museum collection).
- An account of Buddha's life, translated earlier into Greek by Saint John of Damascus and widely circulated to Christians as the story of Barlaam and Josaphat, became so popular that the two were venerated as saints.
- Singapore emerges for the first time as an important fortified city and trading centre.
- Islam reaches Terengganu, on the Malay Peninsula as evidence by the Terengganu Inscription Stone.
- The Hausa found several city-states in the south of modern Niger.
- Work begins on the Great Enclosure at Great Zimbabwe, built of non-cemented, dressed stone. Research suggests the city's population to be between less than 10,000 to 18,000 at its peak.
Inventions, discoveries, introductions
References