talwabatal - Jeanne Help !! 1337

Edward III of England

(13 November 1312 – 21 June 1377), also known as Edward of Windsor before his accession, was King of England from January 1327 until his death in 1377. He is noted for his military success and for restoring royal authority after the disastrous and unorthodox reign of his father, Edward II. Edward III transformed the Kingdom of England into one of the most formidable military powers in Europe. His fifty-year reign was one of the longest in English history, and saw vital developments in legislation and government, in particular the evolution of the English Parliament, as well as the ravages of the Black Death. He outlived his eldest son, Edward the Black Prince, and the throne passed to his grandson, Richard II.

Edward was crowned at age fourteen after his father was deposed by his mother, Isabella of France, and her lover Roger Mortimer. At age seventeen he led a successful coup d'état against Mortimer, the de facto ruler of the country, and began his personal reign. After a successful campaign in Scotland he declared himself rightful heir to the French throne in 1337. This started what became known as the Hundred Years' War.[a] Following some initial setbacks, this first phase of the war went exceptionally well for England; victories at Crécy and Poitiers led to the highly favourable Treaty of Brétigny, in which England made territorial gains, and Edward renounced his claim to the French throne. This phase would become known as the Edwardian War. Edward's later years were marked by international failure and domestic strife, largely as a result of his inactivity and poor health.

Edward was a temperamental man but capable of unusual clemency. He was in many ways a conventional king whose main interest was warfare. Admired in his own time and for centuries after, he was denounced as an irresponsible adventurer by later Whig historians such as Bishop William Stubbs; modern historians credit him with some significant achievements.[2]

1337

The Hundred Years' War

(French: La guerre de Cent Ans; 1337–1453) was a series of armed conflicts between the kingdoms of England and France during the Late Middle Ages. It originated from disputed claims to the French throne between the English House of Plantagenet and the French royal House of Valois. Over time, the war grew into a broader power struggle involving factions from across Western Europe, fuelled by emerging nationalism on both sides.

The Hundred Years' War was one of the most significant conflicts of the Middle Ages. For 116 years, interrupted by several truces, five generations of kings from two rival dynasties fought for the throne of the dominant kingdom in Western Europe. The war's effect on European history was lasting. Both sides produced innovations in military technology and tactics, including professional standing armies and artillery, that permanently changed warfare in Europe; chivalry, which had reached its height during the conflict, subsequently declined. Stronger national identities took root in both countries, which became more centralised and gradually rose as global powers.[1]

The term "Hundred Years' War" was adopted by later historians as a historiographical periodisation to encompass related conflicts, constructing the longest military conflict in European history. The war is commonly divided into three phases separated by truces: the Edwardian War (1337–1360), the Caroline War (1369–1389), and the Lancastrian War (1415–1453). Each side drew many allies into the conflict, with English forces initially prevailing. The House of Valois ultimately retained control over the kingdom of France, with the previously intertwined French and English monarchies thereafter remaining separate.

1340

The Battle of Sluys

(/ˈslɔɪz/; Dutch pronunciation: [slœys]), also called the Battle of l'Écluse, was a naval battle fought on 24 June 1340 between England and France. It took place in the roadstead of the port of Sluys (French Écluse), on a since silted-up inlet between Zeeland and West Flanders. The English fleet of 120–150 ships was led by Edward III of England and the 230-strong French fleet by the Breton knight Hugues Quiéret, Admiral of France, and Nicolas Béhuchet, Constable of France. The battle was one of the opening engagements of the Hundred Years' War.

Edward sailed from the River Orwell on 22 June and encountered the French blocking his way to Sluys harbour. The French had bound their ships into three lines, forming large floating fighting platforms. The English fleet spent some time manoeuvring to gain the advantage of wind and tide. During this delay the French ships were driven to the east of their starting positions and became entangled with each other. Béhuchet and Quiéret ordered the ships to be separated and the fleet attempted to move back to the west, against the wind and the tide. While the French were in this disorganised state, the English attacked.

The English were able to manoeuvre against the French and defeat them in detail, capturing most of their ships. The French lost 16,000–20,000 men. The battle gave the English fleet naval supremacy in the English Channel. However, they were unable to take strategic advantage of this, and their success barely interrupted French raids on English territories and shipping. Operationally, the battle allowed the English army to land and to then besiege the French town of Tournai, albeit unsuccessfully.

Bust of Hugues Quiéret, Admiral of France, at the Palace of Versailles

Edward III as head of the Order of the Garter, drawing c. 1430–1440 in the Bruges Garter Book

1346

The Battle of Crécy

took place on 26 August 1346 in northern France between a French army commanded by King Philip VI and an English army led by King Edward III. The French attacked the English while they were traversing northern France during the Hundred Years' War, resulting in an English victory and heavy loss of life among the French.

The English army had landed in the Cotentin Peninsula on 12 July. It had burnt a path of destruction through some of the richest lands in France to within 2 miles (3 km) of Paris, sacking many towns on the way. The English then marched north, hoping to link up with an allied Flemish army which had invaded from Flanders. Hearing that the Flemish had turned back, and having temporarily outdistanced the pursuing French, Edward had his army prepare a defensive position on a hillside near Crécy-en-Ponthieu. Late on 26 August the French army, which greatly outnumbered the English, attacked.

During a brief archery duel a large force of French mercenary crossbowmen was routed by Welsh and English longbowmen. The French then launched a series of cavalry charges by their mounted knights. These were disordered by their impromptu nature, by having to force their way through the fleeing crossbowmen, by the muddy ground, by having to charge uphill, and by the pits dug by the English. The attacks were further broken up by the effective fire from the English archers, which caused heavy casualties. By the time the French charges reached the English men-at-arms, who had dismounted for the battle, they had lost much of their impetus. The ensuing hand-to-hand combat was described as "murderous, without pity, cruel, and very horrible." The French charges continued late into the night, all with the same result: fierce fighting followed by a French repulse.

The English then laid siege to the port of Calais. The battle crippled the French army's ability to relieve the siege; the town fell to the English the following year and remained under English rule for more than two centuries, until 1558. Crécy established the effectiveness of the longbow as a dominant weapon on the Western European battlefield.

1346

The Black Death

(also known as the Pestilence, the Great Mortality or the Plague)[a] was a bubonic plague pandemic occurring in Western Eurasia and North Africa from 1346 to 1353. It is the most fatal pandemic recorded in human history, causing the deaths of 75–200 million people,[1] peaking in Europe from 1347 to 1351.[2][3] Bubonic plague is caused by the bacterium Yersinia pestis spread by fleas, but during the Black Death it probably also took a secondary form, spread by person-to-person contact via aerosols causing septicaemic or pneumonic plagues.[4][5]

The Black Death was the beginning of the second plague pandemic.[6] The plague created religious, social and economic upheavals, with profound effects on the course of European history.

The origin of the Black Death is disputed.[7] Genetic analysis points to the evolution of Yersinia pestis in the Tian Shan mountains on the border between Kyrgyzstan and China 2,600 years ago. The immediate territorial origins of the Black Death and its outbreak remains unclear with some pointing towards Central Asia, China, the Middle East, and Europe.[8][9] The pandemic was reportedly first introduced to Europe during the siege of the Genoese trading port of Kaffa in Crimea by the Golden Horde army of Jani Beg in 1347. From Crimea, it was most likely carried by fleas living on the black rats that travelled on Genoese ships, spreading through the Mediterranean Basin and reaching North Africa, Western Asia, and the rest of Europe via Constantinople, Sicily, and the Italian Peninsula.[10] There is evidence that once it came ashore, the Black Death mainly spread person-to-person as pneumonic plague, thus explaining the quick inland spread of the epidemic, which was faster than would be expected if the primary vector was rat fleas causing bubonic plague.[11] In 2022, it was discovered that there was a sudden surge of deaths in what is today Kyrgyzstan from the Black Death in the late 1330s; when combined with genetic evidence, this implies that the initial spread may not have been due to Mongol conquests in the 14th century, as previously speculated.[12][13]

The Black Death was the second great natural disaster to strike Europe during the Late Middle Ages (the first one being the Great Famine of 1315–1317) and is estimated to have killed 30 percent to 60 percent of the European population, as well as about one-third of the population of the Middle East.[14][15][16] The plague might have reduced the world population from c. 475 million to 350–375 million in the 14th century.[17] There were further outbreaks throughout the Late Middle Ages and, with other contributing factors (the Crisis of the Late Middle Ages), the European population did not regain its level in 1300 until 1500.[b][18] Outbreaks of the plague recurred around the world until the early 19th century.

Map showing the spread of the Black Death in Europe between 1346 and 1353.

The Oriental rat flea (Xenopsylla cheopis) engorged with blood. This species of flea is the primary vector for the transmission of Yersinia pestis, the organism responsible for spreading bubonic plague in most plague epidemics. Both male and female fleas feed on blood and can transmit the infection.

Yersinia pestis (200 × magnification), the bacterium that causes plague[33]

The Dance of Death (1493) by Michael Wolgemut, from the Nuremberg Chronicle of Hartmann Schedel

English: Miniature by Pierart dou Tielt illustrating the Tractatus quartus bu Gilles li Muisit (Tournai, c. 1353). The people of Tournai bury victims of the Black Death. ms. 13076 - 13077 fol. 24v.

Jews being burned at the stake in 1349. Miniature from a 14th-century manuscript Antiquitates Flandriae by Gilles Li Muisis

Pieter Bruegel's The Triumph of Death reflects the social upheaval and terror that followed plague, which devastated medieval Europe.

The Great Plague of London, in 1665, killed up to 100,000 people.

A plague doctor and his typical apparel during the 17th-century outbreak.

Black Death strikes Europe: 1347-1353

1351

The Ayutthaya Kingdom

, the Empire of Ayutthaya (1569–1767),[29] or the Ayutthaya Empire,[30] was a Siamese kingdom that existed in Southeast Asia from 1351[1] to 1767, centered around the city of Ayutthaya, in Siam, or present-day Thailand. European travellers in the early 16th century called Ayutthaya one of the three great powers of Asia (alongside Vijayanagar and China).[1] The Ayutthaya Kingdom is considered to be the precursor of modern Thailand and its developments are an important part of the history of Thailand.[1]

The Ayutthaya Kingdom emerged from the mandala/merger of three maritime city-states on the Lower Chao Phraya Valley in the late 13th and 14th centuries (Lopburi, Suphanburi, and Ayutthaya).[31] The early kingdom was a maritime confederation, oriented to post-Srivijaya Maritime Southeast Asia, conducting raids and tribute from these maritime states. After two centuries of political organization from the Northern Cities and a transition to a hinterland state, Ayutthaya centralized and became one of the great powers of Asia. From 1569 to 1584, Ayutthaya was a vassal state of Taungoo Burma, but quickly regained independence. In the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, Ayutthaya emerged as an entrepôt of international trade and its cultures flourished. The reign of Narai (r. 1657–1688) was known for Persian influence and the sending of the 1686 Siamese embassy to the French court of King Louis XIV. The Late Ayutthaya Period saw the departure of the French and English but growing prominence of the Chinese. The period was described as a "golden age" of Siamese culture and saw the rise in Chinese trade and the introduction of capitalism into Siam,[32] a development that would continue to expand in the centuries following the fall of Ayutthaya.[33][34]

Ayutthaya's failure to create a peaceful order of succession and the introduction of capitalism undermined the traditional organization of its elite and the old bonds of labor control which formed the military and government organization of the kingdom. In the mid-18th century, the Burmese Konbaung dynasty invaded Ayutthaya in 1759–1760 and 1765–1767. In April 1767, after a 14-month siege, the city of Ayutthaya fell to besieging Burmese forces and was completely destroyed, thereby ending the 417-year-old Ayutthaya Kingdom. Siam, however, quickly recovered from the collapse and the seat of Siamese authority was moved to Thonburi-Bangkok within the next 15 years.[33][35]

In foreign accounts, Ayutthaya was called "Siam", but many[which?] sources say the people of Ayutthaya called themselves Tai, and their kingdom Krung Tai (Thai: กรุงไท) meaning 'Tai country' (กรุง ไท). It was also referred to as Iudea in a painting requested by the Dutch East India Company.[note 3]

Ayutthaya and Mainland Southeast Asia in 1707. Note: Southeast Asian political borders remained relatively undefined until the modern period.

1686 Map of the Kingdom of Siam , R. Placide Augustin Dechaussé (Paris 1649 - ibidem 1734), augustin déchaussé, géographe ordinaire de Sa Majesté .

Statue of King Narai, created in 1966, near Lopburi provincial hall.

A drawing by Jean-Baptiste Nolin depicts an event that took place on 18 October 1685 CE at the Hall of Sanphet in Ayutthaya (now a province of Thailand). In that event, King Narai of the Ayutthaya Kingdom granted an audience to an extraordinary mission accredited by King Louis XIV of France. The mission was led by Alexandre, Chevalier de Chaumont. Narai, making an appearance at a balcony of the mentioned hall, had to lower himself to pick the missive up from Alexandre, who refused to raise the missive up to Narai. Narai's chancellor, Constantine Phaulkon, is seen making a gesture telling Alexandre to raise the missive higher to Narai. Alexandre was accompanied by François-Timoléon de Choisy and Louis Laneau. Guy Tachard recorded the event as follows [A Relation of the Voyage to Siam. (1688). London: T.B. for F. Robinson and A. Churchill. p. 171.]: "It was a Surprise to the Ambassador, when he entered the Hall, to see the King so high above him, and he seemed somewhat troubled that he had not been told of it. When his Complement was made, the next thing he was to do in course, was to advance and present the King his Masters Letter to the King of Siam. It was agreed upon with the Lord Constance, that to shew greater Respect to the Kings Letter, the Ambassador should take it from the Abbot de Choisi, who for that end should stand by his Side during his Speech, and hold the Letter in a golden Cup with a very long Foot. But the Ambassador perceiving the King so high above him, that to reach up to him he must have taken the Cup by the lower part of the Foot, and raised his Arm very high, thought that the Distance suited not with his Dignity, and that he ought to present the Letter nearer hand. Having a little considered, he thought it was his best Course to hold the Cup by the Boul, and to stretch his Arm but half out. The King perceiving the reason why he acted so, rose up smiling, and stooping with his Body over the Throne, met him half way to receive the Letter. He then put it upon his Head which was a Mark of extraordinary Honour and Esteem that he was willing to shew to the great King that sent it."

Painting of Ayutthaya c. 1665, painted by Johannes Vingboons, ordered by the Dutch East India Company, Amsterdam.

Painting by Johannes Vingboons of Ayutthaya, c. 1665.

Map of the Ayutthaya Kingdom in 1540

Ayutthaya is shown in the Fra Mauro map of the world (c. 1450) under the name "Scierno", derived from the Persian "Shahr-I-Naw", meaning 'New City'[45]

Three pagodas of Wat Phra Si Sanphet which house the remains of King Borommatrailokkanat, Borommarachathirat III, and Ramathibodi II

Wat Chaiwatthanaram, constructed by King Prasat Thong during the Age of Peace and Commerce (1600-1688)

The Battle of Poitiers, by Eugène Delacroix, 1830

Johann II. on wood panel around 1350, Louvre Museum

Full page miniature of Edward of Woodstock, the Black Prince, of the Order of the Garter, wearing a blue Garter mantle over plate armour and surcoat displaying his arms. A framed tablet displays painted arms of successors in his Garter stall at St. George's Chapel, Windsor.between circa 1440 and circa 1450

Map showing the routes of the Anglo-Gascon and French armies

Battle of Poitier, by Loyset Liédet

Jean Froissart, Chroniques (Vol. I): The battle of Poitiers

John II being captured , Jean Froissart (1337–1410)

Letter of Jean le Bon during his captivity in Windsor, to his son Charles about Pierre de la Batut

France in 1330: only Gascony remained under English control

1356

The Battle of Poitiers

was fought on 19 September 1356 between a French army commanded by King John II and an Anglo-Gascon force under Edward, the Black Prince, during the Hundred Years' War. It took place in western France, 5 miles (8 km) south of Poitiers, when approximately 14,000 to 16,000 French attacked a strong defensive position held by 6,000 Anglo-Gascons.

Nineteen years after the start of the war the Black Prince, the eldest son and heir of the English King, set out on a major campaign in south-west France. His army marched from Bergerac to the River Loire, which they were unable to cross. John gathered a large and unusually mobile army and pursued the Anglo-Gascons, whom he brought to battle. The Anglo-Gascons established a strong defensive position near Poitiers and after unsuccessful negotiations were attacked.

The first French assault included two units of heavily armoured cavalry, a strong force of crossbowmen and many infantry and dismounted men-at-arms. They were driven back by the Anglo-Gascons, who were fighting entirely on foot. A second French attack by 4,000 men-at-arms on foot under John's son and heir Charles, the Dauphin, followed. After a prolonged fight this was also repulsed. As the Dauphin's division recoiled there was confusion in the French ranks: about half the men of their third division, under Philip, Duke of Orléans, left the field, taking with them all four of John's sons. Some of those who did not withdraw with Philip launched a weak and unsuccessful third assault. Those Frenchmen remaining gathered around the King and launched a fourth assault against the by now exhausted Anglo-Gascons, again all as infantry. The French sacred banner, the Oriflamme, was unfurled, the signal that no prisoners were to be taken. Battle was again joined, with the French slowly getting the better of it. Then a small, mounted, Anglo-Gascon force of 160 men, who had been sent earlier to threaten the French rear, appeared behind the French. Believing themselves surrounded, some Frenchmen fled, which panicked others, and soon the entire French force collapsed.

John was captured, as was one of his sons and between 2,000 and 3,000 men-at-arms. Approximately 2,500 French men-at-arms were killed. Additionally, either 1,500 or 3,800 French common infantry were killed or captured. The surviving French dispersed, while the Anglo-Gascons continued their withdrawal to Gascony. The following spring a two-year truce was agreed and the Black Prince escorted John to London. Populist revolts broke out across France. Negotiations to end the war and ransom John dragged out. In response Edward launched a further campaign in 1359. During this, both sides compromised and the Treaty of Brétigny was agreed in 1360 by which vast areas of France were ceded to England, to be ruled by the Black Prince, and John was ransomed for three million gold écu. At the time this seemed to end the war, but the French resumed hostilities in 1369 and recaptured most of the lost territory. The war eventually ended with a French victory in 1453.

1360

The Treaty of Brétigny

was a treaty, drafted on 8 May 1360 and ratified on 24 October 1360, between Kings Edward III of England and John II of France. In retrospect, it is seen as having marked the end of the first phase of the Hundred Years' War (1337–1453) as well as the height of English power on the European continent.

It was signed at Brétigny, a village near Chartres, and was later ratified as the Treaty of Calais on 24 October 1360.

Map showing France at the time of the Treaty of Bretigny. (first publication date 1877) John Richard Green (Taken from History of the English People, Volume 2)

Treaty of Calais Chest in the National Archives, Kew.

Timur facial reconstruction from skull, by Mikhail Mikhaylovich Gerasimov

Depiction of Timur granting audience on the occasion of his accession, in the near-contemporary Zafarnama (1424-1428), 1467 edition

Timur enthroned at Balkh, Afghanistan.From the "Timurnameh" 1550

Statue of Tamerlane in Uzbekistan. In the background are the ruins of his summer palace in Shahrisabz.

Sultan Bayezid prisoned by Timur. By Stanisław Chlebowski (1835–1884)

Emir Timur feasts in the gardens of Samarkand.

Lady travelling. Samarkand or Central Asian painting, circa 1400. Possibly depicting the wedding of Timur with Dilshad Aqa in 1375.[112]

Ahmad ibn Arabshah's work on the Life of Timur

Letter of Timur to Charles VI of France, 1402, a witness to Timurid relations with Europe. Archives Nationales, Paris.

Genealogical relationship between Timur and Genghis Khan

Timur's mausoleum is located in Samarkand, Uzbekistan.

Timurid Empire at Timur's death in 1405

1363

Timur

(Chagatay: تيمور Temür, lit. 'Iron'; 9 April 1336 – 17–19 February 1405), later Timūr Gurkānī[b] (Chagatay: تيمور کورگن Temür Küregen),[8] was a Turco-Mongol conqueror who founded the Timurid Empire in and around modern-day Afghanistan, Iran, and Central Asia, becoming the first ruler of the Timurid dynasty. An undefeated commander, he is widely regarded as one of the greatest military leaders and tacticians in history, as well as one of the most brutal.[9][10][11] Timur is also considered a great patron of art and architecture as he interacted with intellectuals such as Ibn Khaldun, Hafez, and Hafiz-i Abru and his reign introduced the Timurid Renaissance.[9]: 341–342

Born into the Barlas confederation in Transoxiana (in modern-day Uzbekistan) on 9 April 1336, Timur gained control of the western Chagatai Khanate by 1370. From that base, he led military campaigns across Western, South, and Central Asia, the Caucasus, and Southern Russia, defeating in the process the Khans of the Golden Horde, the Mamluks of Egypt and Syria, the emerging Ottoman Empire, and the late Delhi Sultanate of India and emerging as the most powerful ruler in the Muslim world.[12] From these conquests, he founded the Timurid Empire, which fragmented shortly after his death.

Timur was the last of the great nomadic conquerors of the Eurasian Steppe, and his empire set the stage for the rise of the more structured and lasting Islamic gunpowder empires in the 16th and 17th centuries.[13][14][15] Timur was of both Turkic and Mongol descent, and, while probably not a direct descendant on either side, he shared a common ancestor with Genghis Khan on his father's side,[16][17][18] though some authors have suggested his mother may have been a descendant of the Khan.[19][20] He clearly sought to invoke the legacy of Genghis Khan's conquests during his lifetime.[21] Timur envisioned the restoration of the Mongol Empire and according to Gérard Chaliand, saw himself as Genghis Khan's heir.[22]

According to Beatrice Forbes Manz, "in his formal correspondence Temur continued throughout his life to portray himself as the restorer of Chinggisid rights. He justified his Iranian, Mamluk, and Ottoman campaigns as a re-imposition of legitimate Mongol control over lands taken by usurpers."[23] To legitimize his conquests, Timur relied on Islamic symbols and language, referring to himself as the "Sword of Islam". He was a patron of educational and religious institutions. He converted nearly all the Borjigin leaders to Islam during his lifetime. Timur decisively defeated the Christian Knights Hospitaller at the Siege of Smyrna, styling himself a ghazi.[9]: 91 By the end of his reign, Timur had gained complete control over all the remnants of the Chagatai Khanate, the Ilkhanate, and the Golden Horde, and even attempted to restore the Yuan dynasty in China.

Timur's armies were inclusively multi-ethnic and were feared throughout Asia, Africa, and Europe,[9] sizable parts of which his campaigns laid waste.[24] Scholars estimate that his military campaigns caused the deaths of 17 million people, amounting to about 5% of the world population at the time.[25][26] Of all the areas he conquered, Khwarazm suffered the most from his expeditions, as it rose several times against him.[27] Timur's campaigns have been characterized as genocidal.[28]

Timur was the grandfather of the Timurid sultan, astronomer and mathematician Ulugh Beg, who ruled Central Asia from 1411 to 1449, and the great-great-great-grandfather of Babur (1483–1530), founder of the Mughal Empire, which then ruled almost all of the Indian subcontinent.[29][30]

1368

The Ming dynasty

(/mɪŋ/),[7] officially the Great Ming, was an imperial dynasty of China, ruling from 1368 to 1644 following the collapse of the Mongol-led Yuan dynasty. The Ming dynasty was the last orthodox dynasty of China ruled by the Han people, the majority ethnic group in China. Although the primary capital of Beijing fell in 1644 to a rebellion led by Li Zicheng (who established the short-lived Shun dynasty), numerous rump regimes ruled by remnants of the Ming imperial family—collectively called the Southern Ming—survived until 1662.[f]

The Ming dynasty's founder, the Hongwu Emperor (r. 1368–1398), attempted to create a society of self-sufficient rural communities ordered in a rigid, immobile system that would guarantee and support a permanent class of soldiers for his dynasty:[8] the empire's standing army exceeded one million troops and the navy's dockyards in Nanjing were the largest in the world.[9] He also took great care breaking the power of the court eunuchs [10] and unrelated magnates, enfeoffing his many sons throughout China and attempting to guide these princes through the Huang-Ming Zuxun, a set of published dynastic instructions. This failed when his teenage successor, the Jianwen Emperor, attempted to curtail his uncles' power, prompting the Jingnan campaign, an uprising that placed the Prince of Yan upon the throne as the Yongle Emperor in 1402. The Yongle Emperor established Yan as a secondary capital and renamed it Beijing, constructed the Forbidden City, and restored the Grand Canal and the primacy of the imperial examinations in official appointments. He rewarded his eunuch supporters and employed them as a counterweight against the Confucian scholar-bureaucrats. One, Zheng He, led seven enormous voyages of exploration into the Indian Ocean as far as Arabia and the eastern coasts of Africa.

The rise of new emperors and new factions diminished such extravagances; the capture of the Emperor Yingzong of Ming during the 1449 Tumu Crisis ended them completely. The imperial navy was allowed to fall into disrepair while forced labor constructed the Liaodong palisade and connected and fortified the Great Wall into its modern form. Wide-ranging censuses of the entire empire were conducted decennially, but the desire to avoid labor and taxes and the difficulty of storing and reviewing the enormous archives at Nanjing hampered accurate figures.[8] Estimates for the late-Ming population vary from 160 to 200 million,[11] but necessary revenues were squeezed out of smaller and smaller numbers of farmers as more disappeared from the official records or "donated" their lands to tax-exempt eunuchs or temples.[8] Haijin laws intended to protect the coasts from "Japanese" pirates instead turned many into smugglers and pirates themselves.

By the 16th century, however, the expansion of European trade – albeit restricted to islands near Guangzhou such as Macau – spread the Columbian Exchange of crops, plants, and animals into China, introducing chili peppers to Sichuan cuisine and highly productive maize and potatoes, which diminished famines and spurred population growth. The growth of Portuguese, Spanish, and Dutch trade created new demand for Chinese products and produced a massive influx of Japanese and American silver. This abundance of specie remonetized the Ming economy, whose paper money had suffered repeated hyperinflation and was no longer trusted. While traditional Confucians opposed such a prominent role for commerce and the newly rich it created, the heterodoxy introduced by Wang Yangming permitted a more accommodating attitude. Zhang Juzheng's initially successful reforms proved devastating when a slowdown in agriculture produced by the Little Ice Age joined changes in Japanese and Spanish policy that quickly cut off the supply of silver now necessary for farmers to be able to pay their taxes. Combined with crop failure, floods, and epidemic, the dynasty collapsed in 1644 as Li Zicheng's forces entered Beijing, albeit Li's forces were defeated shortly afterward by the Manchu-led Eight Banner armies of the Qing dynasty.

Covered red jar with dragon and sea design from the Jiajing period (1521–1567) in the Ming dynasty

Wucai Goldfish Vase from the Jiajing period (1521–67) of the Ming dynasty

A Ming dynasty blue-and-white porcelain dish with a dragon

Ming dynasty Xuande mark and period (1426–35) imperial blue and white vase. Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York.

Tianqi-era teacups, from the Nantoyōsō Collection in Japan; the Tianqi Emperor was heavily influenced and largely controlled by the eunuch Wei Zhongxian (1568–1627).

Bodhisattva Manjusri in Blanc-de-Chine, by He Chaozong, 17th century; Song Yingxing devoted an entire section of his book to the ceramics industry in the making of porcelain items like this.[171]

Chinese glazed stoneware statue of a Daoist deity, from the Ming dynasty, 16th century

Decorated back of a pipa from the Ming dynasty

A Ming dynasty red "seal paste box" in carved lacquer

The Great Wall of China: Although the rammed earth walls of the ancient Warring States were combined into a unified wall under the Qin and Han dynasties, the vast majority of the brick and stone Great Wall seen today is a product of the Ming dynasty.

The Ming Tombs located 50 km (31 mi) north of Beijing; the site was chosen by Yongle.

Shanhaiguan along the Great Wall, the gate where the Manchus were repeatedly repelled before being finally let through by Wu Sangui in 1644.

The Drum Tower and Bell Tower of Beijing was built in the Yuan and rebuilt in the Ming.

Map of Beijing in Ming Dynasty[image reference needed]

Candidates who had taken the civil service examinations would crowd around the wall where the results were posted; detail from a handscroll in ink and color on silk, by Qiu Ying (1494–1552).[124]

Processional figurines from the Shanghai tomb of Pan Yongzheng, a Ming dynasty official who lived during the 16th century

A Bengali envoy presenting a giraffe as a tributary gift in the name of King Saif Al-Din Hamzah Shah of Bengal (r. 1410–12) to the Yongle Emperor of Ming China (r. 1402–24)

Portrait of the Chongzhen Emperor (r. 1627–44)

The Wanli Emperor (r. 1572–1620) in state ceremonial court dress

The Xuande Emperor (r. 1425–35); he stated in 1428 that his populace was dwindling due to palace construction and military adventures. But the population was rising under him, a fact noted by Zhou Chen – governor of South Zhili – in his 1432 report to the throne about widespread itinerant commerce.[234]…

Portrait of the Yongle Emperor (r. 1402–24)

Portrait of the Hongwu Emperor (r. 1368–98)

The Xuande Emperor playing chuiwan with his eunuchs, a game similar to golf, by an anonymous court painter of the Xuande period (1425–35)

Provinces of Ming dynasty in 1409[image reference needed]

An imperial throne carpet with double dragon and seed pearl motif, Ming dynasty, 16th century

Painting of flowers, a butterfly, and rock sculpture by Chen Hongshou (1598–1652); small leaf album paintings like this one first became popular in the Song dynasty.

Ming dynasty officials wearing yuanlingshan and wushamao (a type of futou)

Spring morning in a Han palace, by Qiu Ying (1494–1552); excessive luxury and decadence marked the late Ming period, spurred by the enormous state bullion of incoming silver and by private transactions involving silver.

Detail of The Emperor's Approach showing the Wanli Emperor's royal carriage being pulled by elephants and escorted by cavalry (full panoramic painting here)

Akhangan's tomb, where Gawhar Shad's sister Gowhartāj is buried. The architecture is a fine example of the Timurid era in Persia.

Gur-e Amir, "Tomb of the King": Timur's tomb.

Ten-Pointed Star Tile, mid-15th century. Brooklyn Museum, New York.

Protective armour of Temur's epoch.

Possible "early Timurid" flag referenced by Kadoi.[69] The city in red script is camull (Khamil) in Xinjiang.[73]

Flag of the cities of Cathay (Mongol China) in the Catalan Atlas.[74][75][76]

The three madrasas at the Registan of Samarkand, built during the Timurid Renaissance

Façade of Bibi Khanym Mosque.

Illustration from Jāmī's Rose Garden of the Pious, dated 1553. The image blends Persian poetry and Persian miniature into one, as is the norm for many works of the Timurid era.

Timur receiving Amir Husayn's envoy during his attack on Balkh (1370). Miniature painting from Mirkhvand's Rawzat al-Safa (Turkey, 1599).[30]

Folio of Poetry From the Divan of Sultan Husayn Mirza, c. 1490. Brooklyn Museum.

Detailed map of the Timurid Empire with its tributary states and sphere of influence in Western-Central Asia (1402-1403)

Khalil Sultan's portrait in Kazakhstan ,Aliqulov A. 1998, National Museum name of Amir Timur

The Ulugh Beigh crater on the moon, named for Ulugh Beg.[20]

Ulugh Beg's headstone at the foot of Timur's in the Gur-e-Amir

Coinage of Ulugh Beg, dated AH 852 (1448-9). Herat mint.

Jade dragon cup that once belonged to Ulugh Beg, 1420–1449 AD, British Museum.[11]

Ulugbek's madrasa in Samarkand, Uzbekistan

Bibi-Khanym Friday Mosque, 1399–1404

Shakhi Zinda mausoleums in Samarkand

Shah-i Zinda memorial complex, 11th–15th centuries

Ibrahim Sultan's handwritten Qur'ans were once stored in a small room at the top of this historic Qur'an Gate in Shiraz

Folio from a Qur'an manuscript written by Ibrahim Sultan himself in Naskh script. Probably created in Shiraz, signed and dated June 1427

Portrait of Sultan Husayn Mirza Bayqara at the age of about 50 years. Copy from Behzād's original about 1490, possibly a study of Behzād's Alexander and the Hermit.

Coronation of Sultan Husayn Bayqara (attributed to Mansur). Kneeling on a throne inscribed with his name, the ruler is accompanied by his son Badi al-Zaman. To the right, an attendant carries a gold crown, while another shields it with a small, gold parasol. Both objects were the most important attributes of kingship in the Timurid era. Herat, c. 1469. Art and History Collection

1370

The Timurid Empire

(Persian: تیموریان), self-designated as Gurkani (Persian: گورکانیان Gūrkāniyān), was a late medieval, culturally Persianate [9][10] Turco-Mongol empire [11][12] that dominated Greater Iran in the early 15th century, comprising modern-day Iran, Iraq, Afghanistan, much of Central Asia, the South Caucasus, as well as parts of contemporary Pakistan, North India and Turkey. The empire was culturally hybrid, combining Turko-Mongolian and Persianate influences,[13][14] with the last members of the dynasty being "regarded as ideal Perso-Islamic rulers".[15][10]

The empire was founded by Timur (also known as Tamerlane), a warlord of Turco-Mongol lineage, who established the empire between 1370 and his death in 1405. He envisioned himself as the great restorer of the Mongol Empire of Genghis Khan, regarded himself as Genghis's heir, and associated closely with the Borjigin. Timur continued vigorous trade relations with Ming China and the Golden Horde, with Chinese diplomats like Ma Huan and Chen Cheng regularly traveling west to Samarkand to buy and sell goods. The empire led to the Timurid Renaissance, particularly during the reign of astronomer and mathematician Ulugh Begh.

By 1467, the ruling Timurid dynasty, or Timurids, had lost most of Persia to the Aq Qoyunlu confederation. However, members of the Timurid dynasty continued to rule smaller states, sometimes known as Timurid emirates, in Central Asia and parts of India. In the 16th century, Babur, a Timurid prince from Ferghana (modern Uzbekistan), invaded Kabulistan (modern Afghanistan) and established a small kingdom there. Twenty years later, he used this kingdom as a staging ground to invade the Delhi Sultanate in India and establish the Mughal Empire.

1372

The Battle of La Rochelle

was a naval battle fought on 22 and 23 June 1372[6] between a Castilian fleet commanded by the Castilian Almirant Ambrosio Boccanegra and an English fleet commanded by John Hastings, 2nd Earl of Pembroke. The Castilian fleet had been sent to attack the English at La Rochelle, which was being besieged by the French. Besides Boccanegra, other Castilian commanders were Cabeza de Vaca,[7] Fernando de Peón[8] and Ruy Díaz de Rojas.[9]

Pembroke had been dispatched to the town with a small retinue of 160 soldiers, £12,000 and instructions to use the money to recruit an army of 3,000 soldiers around Aquitaine for at least four months.[10] The strength of the fleet is estimated as between the 12 galleys given by the Castilian chronicler and naval captain López de Ayala and the 40 sailing ships, of which three ships were warships and 13 barges mentioned by the French chronicler Jean Froissart. Probably it consisted of 22 ships, mainly galleys and some naos (carracks) three- or four-masted ocean sailing ships. The English fleet probably consisted of 32 ships and 17 small barges of about 50 tons.[11]

The Castilian victory was complete and the entire English fleet was captured or destroyed. On his return to the Iberian Peninsula, Boccanegra seized another four English ships off Bordeaux.[12] This defeat undermined English seaborne trade and supplies through the English Channel and threatened their Gascon possessions.[13]

The naval battle of La Rochelle, chronicle of Jean Froissart, 15th century.

Detail of a miniature of a sea fight off of La Rochelle (1372 ?). Last quarter of the 14th century, after 1380.( Virgil Master and his atelier)

1377

Jikji

(Korean pronunciation: [tɕiktɕ͈i]) is the abbreviated title of a Korean Buddhist document whose title can be translated to "Anthology of Great Buddhist Priests' Zen Teachings".[1] Jikji Simche means, "If you look at a person's heart correctly through the Zen meditation, you will realize that the nature of the heart is the heart of Buddha.".[2] Printed during the Goryeo Dynasty in 1377, it is the world's oldest extant book printed with movable metal type. UNESCO confirmed Jikji as the world's oldest metalloid type in September 2001 and includes it in the Memory of the World Programme.[3]

Jikji was published in Heungdeok Temple in 1377, 78 years prior to Johannes Gutenberg's acclaimed "42-Line Bible" printed during the years 1452–1455.[4][5] The greater part of the Jikji is now lost, and today only the last volume survives, and is kept at the Manuscrits Orientaux division of the National Library of France (BnF).[5] The BnF has hosted a digital copy online.[6]

Illustration of the Battle of Aljubarrota by Jean de Wavrin

Diagram of the progress of the battle

Panel of glazed tiles by Jorge Colaço (1922), representing the Ala dos Namorados during the battle of Aljubarrota. On the fallen knight's shield can be read "for my lady". Lisboa, Pavilhão Carlos Lopes.

The Monastery of Batalha (Portuguese: Mosteiro da Batalha) is a Dominican convent in the municipality of Batalha, in the district of Leiria, in the Centro Region of Portugal. Originally, and officially, known as the Monastery of Saint Mary of the Victory (Portuguese: Mosteiro de Santa Maria da Vitória), it was erected in commemoration of the 1385 Battle of Aljubarrota and would serve as the burial church of the 15th-century Aviz dynasty of Portuguese royalty. It is one of the best and original examples of Late Flamboyant Gothic architecture in Portugal, intermingled with the Manueline style.

Lateral view of the monastery and statue of Nuno Álvares Pereira.

View of the cloister of D. João I.

1385

The Battle of Aljubarrota

(Portuguese pronunciation: [alʒuβɐˈʁɔtɐ]; see Aljubarrota) was fought between the Kingdom of Portugal and the Crown of Castile on 14 August 1385. Forces commanded by King John I of Portugal and his general Nuno Álvares Pereira, with the support of English allies, opposed the army of King John I of Castile with its Aragonese, Italian and French allies at São Jorge, between the towns of Leiria and Alcobaça, in central Portugal. The result was a decisive victory for the Portuguese, ruling out Castilian ambitions to the Portuguese throne, ending the 1383–85 Crisis and assuring John as King of Portugal.

Portuguese independence was confirmed and a new dynasty, the House of Aviz, was established.

1386

The Treaty of Windsor

is the diplomatic alliance signed between Portugal and England on 9 May 1386 at Windsor and sealed by the marriage of King John I of Portugal (House of Aviz) to Philippa of Lancaster, daughter of John of Gaunt, 1st Duke of Lancaster.[1] With the victory at the Battle of Aljubarrota, assisted by English archers, John I was recognised as the undisputed King of Portugal, putting an end to the interregnum of the 1383–1385 Crisis.[1] The Treaty of Windsor established a pact of mutual support between the countries.[1]

This document is preserved at the Portuguese National Archives.[2]

Historian Matthew Winslett says, "This treaty has been the cornerstone of both nations' relations with each other ever since."[3]

Written at 9 of May of 1386, and ratified by Richard II of England at 24 of February of 1387 in Westminster, formalized the de facto alliance between Portugal and England.

Marriage of John I, King of Portugal and Philippa of Lancaster, daughter of John of Gaunt, 1st Duke of Lancaster.

"Knez Lazar", oil painting by Vladislav Titelbah, dated to ca. 1900.

Detail of an Ottoman miniature painting depicting Murad I, Sultan of the Ottoman Empire from 1359 to 1389. The painting is preserved at the Topkapı Palace Museum in Istanbul, Turkey.

Troop disposition

Plan of the battle

Painting of Miloš Obilić, 1861, oil, by Aleksandar Dobrić.

Turkish armor during battles of Marica and Kosovo.

Battle of Kosovo, by Adam Stefanović (1870).

1389

The Battle of Kosovo

(Turkish: Kosova Savaşı; Serbian: Косовска битка) took place on 15 June 1389[A] between an army led by the Serbian Prince Lazar Hrebeljanović and an invading army of the Ottoman Empire under the command of Sultan Murad Hüdavendigâr. The battle was fought on the Kosovo field in the territory ruled by Serbian nobleman Vuk Branković, in what is today Kosovo,[a] about 5 kilometers (3.1 mi) northwest of the modern city of Pristina. The army under Prince Lazar consisted of his own troops, a contingent led by Branković, and a contingent sent from Bosnia by King Tvrtko I, commanded by Vlatko Vuković.[6] Prince Lazar was the ruler of Moravian Serbia and the most powerful among the Serbian regional lords of the time, while Branković ruled the District of Branković and other areas, recognizing Lazar as his overlord.

Reliable historical accounts of the battle are scarce.[11] The bulk of both armies were wiped out, and Lazar and Murad were killed. However, Serbian manpower was depleted and had no capacity to field large armies against future Ottoman campaigns, which relied on new reserve forces from Anatolia. Consequently, the Serbian principalities that were not already Ottoman vassals, became so in the following years.

1390

Manikongo

The Manikongo, or Mwene Kongo, was the title of the ruler of the Kingdom of Kongo, a kingdom that existed from the 14th to the 19th centuries and consisted of land in present-day Angola, Gabon, the Republic of the Congo and the Democratic Republic of the Congo. The manikongo's seat of power was Mbanza Kongo (also called São Salvador from 1570 to 1975), now the capital of Zaire Province in Angola. The manikongo appointed governors for the provinces of the Kingdom and received tribute from neighbouring subjects.[citation needed]

The term "manikongo" is derived from Portuguese manicongo, an alteration of the KiKongo term Mwene Kongo (literally "lord of Kongo"). The term wene, from which mwene is derived, is also used to mean kingdom and is attested with this meaning in the Kongo catechism of 1624 with reference to the Kingdom of Heaven. The term mwene is created by adding the personal prefix mu- to this stem, to mean "person of the kingdom".[citation needed]

Mwene is attested in very early texts, notably the letters of King Afonso I of Kongo, where he writes, to Portuguese kings Manuel I (in 1514) and João III concerning the moenipango (mwene Mpangu) and twice concerning the moinebata. Mani was used to mean not only "king" but also anyone holding authority, so provincial and sub-provincial officials also were called mani. Afonso did not entitle himself Manikongo, but rather rei de congo (king of Kongo).[1]

Subjects were require to prostrate themselves before the Manikongo, approaching him on all fours, and when time came for the Manikongo to eat or drink, an attendant would chime two iron rods, cueing them to lay face-down so that they could not see him do so.[2]

Mbanza Kongo (São Salvador) in 1745 ( Thomas Astley)

Illustration of a king of Kongo 1685

Coat of arms of Kongo (c. 1528-1541)

Augmented Arms of the House of Medici

Portrait of Giovanni di Bicci de' Medici by Cristofano dell'Altissimo (1500–1605)

Cosimo di Medici (Bronzino (1503–1572)

Verrocchio Lorenzo de Medici.(15th or 16th century terra-cotta bust, probably based on 1478 life-like wax sculptures by Andrea del Verrocchio and Orsino Benintendi.)

Poliziano and Giuliano de' Medici, from a fresco painted by Renaissance artist Domenico Ghirlandaio in the Sassetti Chapel, Santa Trinita, Florence

1397

The Medici Bank

(Italian: Banco dei Medici [ˈbaŋko dei ˈmɛːditʃi]) was a financial institution created by the Medici family in Italy during the 15th century (1397–1494). It was the largest and most respected bank in Europe during its prime.[1] There are some estimates that the Medici family was, for a period of time, the wealthiest family in Europe. Estimating their wealth in today's money is difficult and imprecise, considering that they owned art, land, and gold. With this monetary wealth, the family acquired political power initially in Florence, and later in the wider spheres of Italy and Europe.

A notable contribution to the professions of banking and accounting pioneered by the Medici Bank was the improvement of the general ledger system through the development of the double entry system of tracking debits and credits or deposits and withdrawals.[2]

Giovanni di Bicci de' Medici established the bank in Florence, and while he and his family were influential in the Florentine government, it was not until his son Cosimo the Elder took over in 1434 as gran maestro that the Medici became the unofficial head of state of the Florentine republic.

1397

Sejong

Sejong of Joseon (15 May 1397 – 8 April 1450), personal name Yi Do (Korean: 이도; Hanja: 李祹), widely known as Sejong the Great (Korean: 세종대왕; Hanja: 世宗大王), was the fourth ruler of the Joseon dynasty of Korea. Initially titled Grand Prince Chungnyeong (Korean: 충녕대군; Hanja: 忠寧大君), he was born as the third son of King Taejong and Queen Wongyeong. In 1418, he was designated as heir after his eldest brother, Crown Prince Yi Je, was stripped of his status. Today, King Sejong is regarded as one of the greatest leaders in Korean history.

Despite ascending to the throne after his father's voluntary abdication in 1418, Sejong was a mere figurehead; Taejong continued to hold the real power and govern the country up until his death in 1422. Sejong was the sole monarch for the next 28 years, although after 1439 he became increasingly ill,[2] and starting from 1442, his eldest son, Crown Prince Yi Hyang (the future King Munjong), acted as regent.

Sejong reinforced Korean Confucian and Neo-Confucian policies, and enacted major legal amendments (공법, 貢法). He personally created and promulgated the Korean alphabet (today known as hangul),[3][4] encouraged advancements in science and technology, and introduced measures to stimulate economic growth. He dispatched military campaigns to the north and instituted the Samin Jeongchaek ("Peasants Relocation Policy"; 사민정책, 徙民政策) to attract new settlers to the region. To the south, he helped subjugate Japanese pirates, during the Ōei Invasion.

Bronze statue of Sejong , Deoksu palace

A page from the Hunmin Jeongeum Eonhae, a partial translation of Hunmin Jeongeum, the original promulgation of Hangul. It is written vertically right to left. It uses hanja with small hangul characters at their lower right for ruby annotation.

Korean celestial globe first made by the scientist Jang Yeong-sil during the reign of King Sejong

The tomb of King Sejong of Joseon.

The extent of the Sultanate in the 15th century, during the reign of Mansur Shah. Pre-modern Southeast Asian political borders are subject to speculation.

The replica of Malacca Sultanate's palace which was built from information and data obtained from the Malay Annals. This historical document had references to the construction and the architecture of palaces during the era of Sultan Mansur Shah, who ruled from 1458 to 1477.

The surviving gate of the Portuguese Fortress of Malacca

A memorial rock for the disembarkation point of Admiral Zheng He in 1405.

A bronze relief of Hang Tuah, a legendary Malay hero. Exhibited at the National Museum, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.

Map of 15th century Malacca and its contemporaries.

1400

The Malacca Sultanate

(Malay: Kesultanan Melaka; Jawi script: کسلطانن ملاک) was a Malay sultanate based in the modern-day state of Malacca, Malaysia. Conventional historical thesis marks c. 1400 as the founding year of the sultanate by King of Singapura, Parameswara, also known as Iskandar Shah,[1] although earlier dates for its founding have been proposed.[2][3] At the height of the sultanate's power in the 15th century, its capital grew into one of the most important transshipment ports of its time, with territory covering much of the Malay Peninsula, the Riau Islands and a significant portion of the northern coast of Sumatra in present-day Indonesia.[4]

As a bustling international trading port, Malacca emerged as a centre for Islamic learning and dissemination, and encouraged the development of the Malay language, literature and arts. It heralded the golden age of Malay sultanates in the archipelago, in which Classical Malay became the lingua franca of Maritime Southeast Asia and Jawi script became the primary medium for cultural, religious and intellectual exchange. It is through these intellectual, spiritual and cultural developments, the Malaccan era witnessed the establishment of a Malay identity,[5][6] the Malayisation of the region and the subsequent formation of an Alam Melayu.[7]

In the year of 1511, the capital of Malacca fell to the Portuguese Empire, forcing the last Sultan, Mahmud Shah (r. 1488–1511), to retreat to the further reaches of his empire, where his progeny established new ruling dynasties, Johor and Perak. The political and cultural legacy of the sultanate remains to this day. For centuries, Malacca has been held up as an exemplar of Malay-Muslim civilisation. It established systems of trade, diplomacy, and governance that persisted well into the 19th century, and introduced concepts such as daulat—a distinctly Malay notion of sovereignty—that continues to shape contemporary understanding of Malay kingship.[8]

1402

The Battle of Ankara

or Angora was fought on 20 July 1402 at the Çubuk plain near Ankara, between the forces of the Ottoman Sultan Bayezid I and the Emir of the Timurid Empire, Timur. The battle was a major victory for Timur, and it led to the Ottoman Interregnum.[6]

Battle of Ankara, Mughal illustration

Army positions at the beginning of the battle.

1903 depiction of Bayezid I in front of Timur.

A page from the manuscript of 'Yongle Encyclopedia'. Chester Beatty Library

The Yongle Encyclopedia, in 2014, on display at The National Library of China.

The Yongle Encyclopedia volume 2262

1403

The Yongle Encyclopedia

(English: /jɒŋlə/) or Yongle Dadian (traditional Chinese: 永樂大典; simplified Chinese: 永乐大典; pinyin: Yǒnglè Dàdiǎn; Wade–Giles: Yung-lo Ta-tien; lit. 'Great Canon of Yongle') is a largely-lost Chinese leishu encyclopedia commissioned by the Yongle Emperor of the Ming dynasty in 1403 and completed by 1408. It comprised 22,937 manuscript rolls or chapters, in 11,095 volumes.[1] Fewer than 400 volumes survive today,[2] comprising about 800 chapters (rolls), or 3.5 percent of the original work.[3]

Most of it was lost in the 2nd half of the 19th century, in the midst of events as Second Opium War, the Boxer Rebellion and subsequent social unrests. Its sheer scope and size made it the world's largest general encyclopedia until it was surpassed by Wikipedia in late 2007, nearly six centuries later.[4][5][6]

1406

The Forbidden City

(Chinese: 紫禁城; pinyin: Zǐjìnchéng) is a palace complex in Dongcheng District, Beijing, China, at the center of the Imperial City of Beijing. It is surrounded by numerous opulent imperial gardens and temples including the 22 ha (54-acre) Zhongshan Park, the sacrificial Imperial Ancestral Temple, the 69 ha (171-acre) Beihai Park, and the 23 ha (57-acre) Jingshan Park.[2] It is officially administered by the Palace Museum.

The Forbidden City was constructed from 1406 to 1420, and was the former Chinese imperial palace and winter residence of the Emperor of China from the Ming dynasty (since the Yongle Emperor) to the end of the Qing dynasty, between 1420 and 1924. The Forbidden City served as the home of Chinese emperors and their households and was the ceremonial and political center of the Chinese government for over 500 years. Since 1925, the Forbidden City has been under the charge of the Palace Museum, whose extensive collection of artwork and artifacts were built upon the imperial collections of the Ming and Qing dynasties. The Forbidden City was declared a World Heritage Site in 1987.[3]

The complex consists of 980 buildings,[4] encompassing 9,999 rooms and covering 720,000 m2 (72 ha)/178 acres.[5][6] The palace exemplifies the opulence of the residences of the Chinese emperor and the traditional Chinese palatial architecture,[3] and has influenced cultural and architectural developments in East Asia and elsewhere. It is listed by UNESCO as the largest collection of preserved ancient wooden structures in the world. Since 2012, the Forbidden City has seen an average of 14 million visitors annually, and received more than 19 million visitors in 2019.[7] In 2018, the Forbidden City's market value was estimated at 70 billion USD, making it both the world's most valuable palace and the most valuable piece of real estate anywhere in the world.[8]

The Forbidden City in Beijing is one of the largest and most well-preserved wooden structures in the world. It was listed as the first batch of national key cultural relics in 1961.[9]

The Forbidden City as depicted in a Ming dynasty painting

The Forbidden City viewed from Jingshan Hill

Northwest corner tower and moat

Hall of Supreme Harmony

Close-up on the left protruding wing of the Meridian Gate

The vertical inscribed board on the Hall of Supreme Harmony

Gate of Manifest Virtue

A close-up view of the tower to the right of the Gate of Supreme Harmony

The Golden Water River, an artificial stream that runs through the Forbidden City.

A symbolic cistern in front of the Hall of Supreme Harmony.

The Imperial Garden

A gilded lion in front of the Hall of Mental Cultivation.

View of the Forbidden City from Jingshan Imperial Park

The caisson of the Hall of Union

The throne in the Palace of Heavenly Purity

The Nine Dragons Screen in front of the Palace of Tranquil Longevity

Two Qing dynasty "blue porcelain" wares

A blue and white porcelain vase with cloud and dragon designs, marked with the word "Longevity" (寿), Jiajing period of Ming dynasty

In the West Wing of the Meridian Gate

Swastika and Longevity pattern. Similar designs can be found throughout the Imperial City.

Imperial Palace color of the highest status on the roof ridge of the Hall of Supreme Harmony

The Battle of Grunwald . (Jan Matejko 1838–1893)

1410

The Battle of Grunwald

, Battle of Žalgiris, or First Battle of Tannenberg, was fought on 15 July 1410 during the Polish–Lithuanian–Teutonic War. The alliance of the Crown of the Kingdom of Poland and the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, led respectively by King Władysław II Jagiełło (Jogaila), and Grand Duke Vytautas, decisively defeated the German Teutonic Order, led by Grand Master Ulrich von Jungingen. Most of the Teutonic Order's leadership were killed or taken prisoner.

Although defeated, the Teutonic Order withstood the subsequent siege of the Malbork Castle and suffered minimal territorial losses at the Peace of Thorn (1411), with other territorial disputes continuing until the Treaty of Melno in 1422. The order, however, never recovered their former power, and the financial burden of war reparations caused internal conflicts and an economic downturn in the lands controlled by them. The battle shifted the balance of power in Central and Eastern Europe and marked the rise of the Polish–Lithuanian union as the dominant regional political and military force.[8]

The battle was one of the largest in medieval Europe.[9] The battle is viewed as one of the most important victories in the histories of Poland and Lithuania. It is also commemorated in Ukraine and Belarus. It has been used as a source of romantic legends and national pride, becoming a larger symbol of struggle against foreign invaders.[10] During the 20th century, the battle was used in Nazi German and Soviet propaganda campaigns. Only in recent decades have historians moved towards a dispassionate, scholarly assessment of the battle, reconciling the previous narratives, which differed widely by nation.[11]

1415

Filippo Brunelleschi

(/ˌbruːnəˈlɛski/ BROO-nə-LESK-ee, Italian: [fiˈlippo brunelˈleski], also known as Pippo;[4] 1377 – 15 April 1446), considered to be a founding father of Renaissance architecture, was an Italian architect, designer, and sculptor, and is now recognized to be the first modern engineer, planner, and sole construction supervisor.[5][6] In 1421, Brunelleschi became the first person to receive a patent in the Western world.[7][8] He is most famous for designing the dome of the Florence Cathedral, a feat of engineering that had not been accomplished since antiquity, as well as the development of the mathematical technique of linear perspective in art which governed pictorial depictions of space until the late 19th century and influenced the rise of modern science.[9][10] His accomplishments also include other architectural works, sculpture, mathematics, engineering, and ship design.[6] His principal surviving works can be found in Florence.

According to his early biographers Giorgio Vasari and Antonio Manetti, Brunelleschi conducted a series of experiments between 1415 and 1420, including making paintings with correct perspective of the Florence Baptistery and the Palazzo Vecchio, seen obliquely from its northwest corner, as well as the buildings of Place San Giovanni. According to Manetti, he used a grid or set of crosshairs to copy the exact scene square by square, and produced a reverse image. The results were compositions with accurate perspective, as seen through a mirror. To compare the accuracy of his image with the real object, he made a small hole in his painting, and had an observer look through the back of his painting to observe the scene. A mirror was then raised, reflecting Brunelleschi's composition, and the observer saw the striking similarity between the reality and painting. Both panels have since been lost.[51][52]

Brunelleschi's studies on perspective were amplified by further studies of the topic by Leon Battista Alberti, Piero della Francesca and Leonardo da Vinci. Following the rules of perspective studied by Brunelleschi and the others, artists could paint imaginary landscapes and scenes with an accurate three-dimensional perspective and realism. The most important treatise on a painting of the Renaissance, Della Pittura libri tre by Alberti, with a description of Brunelleschi's experiment, was published in 1436 and was dedicated to Brunelleschi. Thanks to Brunelleschi, a painting could be an accurate three-dimensional window onto the world. The painting The Holy Trinity by Masaccio (1425–1427) in the Santa Maria Novella, Florence, was a good example of the new style, which accurately created the illusion of three dimensions and also recreated, in painting, Brunelleschi's architectural style. This was the beginning of the standard method of painting studied by artists until the 19th century.[53]

1415

The Battle of Agincourt

(/ˈædʒɪnkɔːr(t)/ AJ-in-kor(t);[a] French: Azincourt [azɛ̃kuʁ]) was an English victory in the Hundred Years' War. It took place on 25 October 1415 (Saint Crispin's Day) near Azincourt, in northern France.[b] The unexpected English victory against the numerically superior French army boosted English morale and prestige, crippled France, and started a new period of English dominance in the war that would last for 14 years until France defeated England in the Siege of Orléans in 1429.

After several decades of relative peace, the English had resumed the war in 1415 amid the failure of negotiations with the French. In the ensuing campaign, many soldiers died from disease, and the English numbers dwindled; they tried to withdraw to English-held Calais but found their path blocked by a considerably larger French army. Despite the numerical disadvantage, the battle ended in an overwhelming victory for the English.

King Henry V of England led his troops into battle and participated in hand-to-hand fighting. King Charles VI of France did not command the French army as he suffered from psychotic illnesses and associated mental incapacity. The French were commanded by Constable Charles d'Albret and various prominent French noblemen of the Armagnac party. This battle is notable for the use of the English longbow in very large numbers, with the English and Welsh archers comprising nearly 80 percent of Henry's army.

The Battle of Agincourt is one of England's most celebrated victories and was one of the most important English triumphs in the Hundred Years' War, along with the Battle of Crécy (1346) and Battle of Poitiers (1356). It forms the backdrop to events in William Shakespeare's play Henry V, written in 1599.

1420

The Ulugh Beg Observatory

is an observatory in Samarkand, Uzbekistan, built in the 1420s by the Timurid astronomer Ulugh Beg. Islamic astronomers who worked at the observatory include Al-Kashi, Ali Qushji, and Ulugh Beg himself. The observatory was destroyed in 1449 and rediscovered in 1908.

1421

The Ulugh Beg Madrasa

(Uzbek: Ulugʻbek madrasasi) is a madrasa (Islamic school) in the historic center of Samarkand, a UNESCO World Heritage Site in Uzbekistan.[1] Together with other monuments, it forms the monumental ensemble of Registan, the old heart of the city.[2] It was built between 1417 and 1421 by the then-Timurid governor of Samarkand, Ulugh Beg, Timur's grandson and prominent astronomer, who was later emperor between 1447 and 1449.[3]

The madrasa was an important teaching center of the Timurid Empire,[4] where they taught some of the most outstanding scholars of their time,[5] both religious and secular.[4] It is the oldest building in Registan, the only one from the 15th century[2] and the only survivor of a wider architectural ensemble, which included several mosques, caravanserais, a bazaar, and a khanaqah (inn of Sufis).[4] At the site of the latter is currently the Sher-Dor Madrasah, located in front of Ulugh Beg Madrasa.[6]

1421

The Battle of Kutná Hora (Kuttenberg)

was an early battle and subsequent campaign in the Hussite Wars, fought on 21 December 1421 between German and Hungarian troops of the Holy Roman Empire and the Hussites, an early ecclesiastical reformist group that was founded in what is now the Czech Republic.

In 1419, Pope Martin V declared a crusade against the Hussites. One branch of the Hussites, known as the Taborites, formed a religious-military community at Tábor. Under the leadership of the talented general Jan Žižka, the Taborites adopted the latest weaponry available, including handguns, long, thin cannons, nicknamed "snakes", and war wagons.[2] Their adoption of the latter gave them the ability to fight a flexible and mobile style of warfare.[2][3] Originally employed as a measure of last resort, its effectiveness against the royal cavalry turned field artillery into firm part of Hussite armies.

1428

The siege of Orléans

(12 October 1428 – 8 May 1429) was the watershed of the Hundred Years' War between France and England. The siege took place at the pinnacle of English power during the later stages of the war. The city held strategic and symbolic significance to both sides of the conflict. The consensus among contemporaries was that the English regent, John of Lancaster, would have succeeded in realizing his brother the English king Henry V's dream of conquering all of France if Orléans fell. For half a year the English and their French allies appeared to be winning, but the siege collapsed nine days after the arrival of Joan of Arc.

1429

The Aztec Empire

or the Triple Alliance (Classical Nahuatl: Ēxcān Tlahtōlōyān, [ˈjéːʃkaːn̥ t͡ɬaʔtoːˈlóːjaːn̥]) was an alliance of three Nahua city-states: Mexico-Tenochtitlan, Tetzcoco, and Tlacopan. These three city-states ruled that area in and around the Valley of Mexico from 1428 until the combined forces of the Spanish conquistadores and their native allies who ruled under Hernán Cortés defeated them in 1521.

The alliance was formed from the victorious factions of a civil war fought between the city of Azcapotzalco and its former tributary provinces.[4] Despite the initial conception of the empire as an alliance of three self-governed city-states, the capital Tenochtitlan became dominant militarily.[5] By the time the Spanish arrived in 1519, the lands of the alliance were effectively ruled from Tenochtitlan, while other partners of the alliance had taken subsidiary roles.

The alliance waged wars of conquest and expanded after its formation. The alliance controlled most of central Mexico at its height, as well as some more distant territories within Mesoamerica, such as the Xoconochco province, an Aztec exclave near the present-day Guatemalan border. Aztec rule has been described by scholars as "hegemonic" or "indirect".[6] The Aztecs left rulers of conquered cities in power so long as they agreed to pay semi-annual tribute to the alliance, as well as supply military forces when needed for the Aztec war efforts. In return, the imperial authority offered protection and political stability and facilitated an integrated economic network of diverse lands and peoples who had significant local autonomy.

Aztec religion was a monistic pantheism in which the Nahua concept of teotl was construed as the supreme god Ometeotl, as well as a diverse pantheon of lesser gods and manifestations of nature. The popular religion tended to embrace the mythological and polytheistic aspects, and the empire's state religion sponsored both the monism of the upper classes and the popular heterodoxies. The empire even officially recognized the largest cults such that the deity was represented in the central temple precinct of the capital Tenochtitlan. The imperial cult was specifically that of the distinctive warlike patron god of the Mexica Huitzilopochtli. Peoples were allowed to retain and freely continue their own religious traditions in conquered provinces so long as they added the imperial god Huitzilopochtli to their local pantheons.

Before the Aztec Empire

Nahua peoples descended from Chichimec peoples, who migrated to central Mexico from the north (mainly centered sparsely around present-day states of Zacatecas, San Luis Potosí, and Guanajuato) in the early 13th century.[10] The migration story of the Mexica is similar to those of other polities in central Mexico, with supernatural sites, individuals, and events, joining earthly and divine history, as they sought political legitimacy.[11] Pictographic codices in which the Aztecs recorded their history say that the empire's place of origin was called Aztlán. Early migrants settled the Basin of Mexico and surrounding lands by establishing a series of independent city-states. These early Nahua city-states or altepetl were ruled by dynastic heads called tlahtohqueh (singularly tlatoāni). Most of the existing settlements had been established by other indigenous peoples before the Mexica migration.[12]

These early city-states fought various small-scale wars with each other but no individual city gained dominance due to shifting alliances.[13] The Mexica were the last of the Nahua migrants to arrive in Central Mexico. They entered the Basin of Mexico around the year 1250, and, by then, most of the good agricultural land had already been claimed.[14] The Mexica persuaded the king of Culhuacan, a small city-state but important historically as a refuge of the Toltecs to make them settle in a relatively infertile patch of land called Chapultepec (Chapoltepēc, "in the hill of grasshoppers"). The Mexica served as mercenaries for Culhuacan.[15]

After the Mexica served Culhuacan in battle, the ruler appointed one of his daughters to rule over the Mexica. Mythological native accounts say that the Mexica instead sacrificed her by flaying her skin on the command of their god Xipe Totec.[16] The ruler of Culhuacan attacked and used his army to drive the Mexica from Tizaapan by force when he learned of this. The Mexica moved to an island in the middle of Lake Texcoco where an eagle nested on a nopal cactus. The Mexica interpreted this as a sign from their gods and founded their new city Tenochtitlan on this island in the year ōme calli (or "Two House", 1325 AD).[4]

Aztec warfare

The Mexica rose to prominence as fierce warriors and were able to establish themselves as a military power. The importance of warriors and the integral nature of warfare in Mexica political and religious life helped propel them to emerge as the dominant military power, prior to the arrival of the Spanish in 1519.

The new Mexica city-state allied with the city of Azcapotzalco and paid tribute to its ruler Tezozomoc.[17] Azcapotzalco began to expand into a small tributary empire with Mexica assistance. The Mexica ruler was not recognized as a legitimate king until this point. Mexica leaders successfully petitioned one of the kings of Culhuacan to provide a daughter to marry into the Mexica line. Their son Acamapichtli was enthroned as the first tlatoani of Tenochtitlan in 1372.[18]

The Tepanecs of Azcapotzalco expanded their rule with help from the Mexica, while the Acolhua city of Texcoco grew in power in the eastern portion of the lake basin. Eventually, war erupted between the two states, and the Mexica played a vital role in the conquest of Texcoco. By then, Tenochtitlan had grown into a major city and was rewarded for its loyalty to the Tepanecs by receiving Texcoco as a tributary province.[19]

Mexica warfare was marked by a focus on capturing enemies rather than killing them from its tactics to arms. Capturing enemies was important for religious ritual and provided a means by which soldiers could distinguish themselves during campaigns.[20]

Tepanec War

In 1426, the Tepanec king Tezozomoc died,[21][22][23] and the resulting succession crisis precipitated a civil war between potential successors.[19] The Mexica supported Tezozomoc's preferred heir Tayahauh, who was initially enthroned as king. But his son Maxtla soon usurped the throne and turned against factions that opposed him, including the Mexica ruler Chimalpopoca. The latter died shortly thereafter, possibly assassinated by Maxtla.[14]

The new Mexica ruler Itzcoatl continued to defy Maxtla, and he blockaded Tenochtitlan and demanded increased tribute payments.[24] Maxtla similarly turned against the Acolhua, and the king of Texcoco Nezahualcoyotl fled into exile. Nezahualcoyotl recruited military help from the king of Huexotzinco, and the Mexica gained the support of a dissident Tepanec city called Tlacopan. In 1427, Tenochtitlan, Texcoco, Tlacopan, and Huexotzinco went to war against Azcapotzalco, emerging victorious in 1428.[24]

After the war, Huexotzinco withdrew, and, in 1430,[1] the three remaining cities formed a treaty now known as the Triple Alliance.[24] The Tepanec lands were carved up among the three cities, whose leaders agreed to cooperate in future wars of conquest. Land acquired from these conquests was to be held by the three cities together. A tribute was divided so that two kings of the alliance would go to Tenochtitlan and Texcoco and one would go to Tlacopan. The three kings assumed the title "huetlatoani" ("Elder Speaker", often translated as "Emperor") in turn. Each temporarily held a de jure position above the rulers of other city-states ("tlatoani") in this role.[25]

In the following 100 years, the Triple Alliance of Tenochtitlan, Texcoco, and Tlacopan dominated the Valley of Mexico and extended its power to the shores of the Gulf of Mexico and the Pacific. Tenochtitlan gradually became the dominant power in the alliance. Two of the primary architects of this alliance were the half-brothers and nephews of Itzcoatl Tlacaelel and Moctezuma. Moctezuma eventually succeeded Itzcoatl as the Mexica huetlatoani in 1440. Tlacaelel occupied the newly created "Cihuacoatl" title, equivalent to something between "Prime Minister" and "Viceroy".[24][26]

1431

Joan of Arc

burned at the stake for heresy

1438

Pachacuti Inca Yupanqui

(Quechua: Pachakutiq Inka Yupanki) was the ninth Sapa Inca (1418–1471/1472) of the Kingdom of Cusco which he transformed into the Inca Empire (Quechua: Tawantinsuyu). Most archaeologists now believe that the famous Inca site of Machu Picchu was built as an estate for Pachacuti.[2]

In Quechua Pachakutiq means "reformer of the world",[3] and Yupanki means "with honor". During his reign, Cusco grew from a hamlet into an empire that could compete with, and eventually overtake, the Chimú. He began an era of conquest that, within three generations, expanded the Inca dominion from the valley of Cusco to nearly the whole of western South America. According to chronicler Garcilaso de la Vega, Pachacuti created the Inti Raymi to celebrate the new year in the Andes of the Southern Hemisphere.[4] Pachacuti is often linked to the origin and expansion of the Inti Sun Cult.[5][6]

1440

Ewuare

(also Ewuare the Great or Ewuare I) was the Oba (king) of the Benin Empire from 1440 until 1473. Ewuare became king in a violent coup against his brother Uwaifiokun which destroyed much of Benin City. After the war, Ewuare rebuilt much of the city of Benin, reformed political structures in the kingdom, greatly expanded the territory of the kingdom, and fostered the arts and festivals. He left a significant legacy and is often considered the first King of the Kingdom of Benin.

The Kingdom of Benin

, also known as the Edo Kingdom, or the Benin Empire (Bini: Arriọba ẹdo) was a kingdom within what is now southern Nigeria.[2] It has no historical relation to the modern republic of Benin,[3] which was known as Dahomey from the 17th century until 1975. The Kingdom of Benin's capital was Edo, now known as Benin City in Edo State, Nigeria. The Benin Kingdom was "one of the oldest and most developed states in the coastal hinterland of West Africa". It grew out of the previous Edo Kingdom of Igodomigodo around the 11th century AD,[4] and lasted until it was annexed by the British Empire in 1897.[5]

1450

Machu Picchu

is a 15th-century Inca citadel located in the Eastern Cordillera of southern Peru on a 2,430-meter (7,970 ft) mountain ridge.[2][3] Often referred to as the "Lost City of the Incas", it is the most familiar icon of the Inca Empire. It is located in the Machupicchu District within Urubamba Province [4] above the Sacred Valley, which is 80 kilometers (50 mi) northwest of Cusco. The Urubamba River flows past it, cutting through the Cordillera and creating a canyon with a tropical mountain climate.[5]

For most speakers of English or Spanish, the first 'c' in Picchu is silent. In English, the name is pronounced /ˌmɑːtʃuː ˈpiːtʃuː/[6][7] or /ˌmætʃuː ˈpiːktʃuː/,[7][8] in Spanish as [ˈmatʃu ˈpitʃu] or [ˈmatʃu ˈpiktʃu],[9] and in Quechua (Machu Pikchu)[10] as [ˈmatʃʊ ˈpɪktʃʊ].

The Inca civilization had no written language and no European visited the site until the 19th century, so far as is known, so there are no written records of the site while it was in use. The names of the buildings, their supposed uses, and their inhabitants are the product of modern archaeologists on the basis of physical evidence, including tombs at the site.

Most recent archaeologists believe that Machu Picchu was constructed as an estate for the Inca emperor Pachacuti (1438–1472). The Incas built the estate around 1450 but abandoned it a century later, at the time of the Spanish conquest. According to the new AMS radiocarbon dating, it was occupied from c. 1420–1532.[11] Historical research published in 2022 claims that the site was probably called Huayna Picchu by the Inca, as it exists on the smaller peak of the same name.[12][13]

Machu Picchu was built in the classical Inca style, with polished dry-stone walls. Its three primary structures are the Intihuatana, the Temple of the Sun, and the Room of the Three Windows. Most of the outlying buildings have been reconstructed in order to give visitors a better idea of how they originally appeared.[14] By 1976, 30% of Machu Picchu had been restored[14] and restoration continues.[15]

Machu Picchu was declared a Peruvian Historic Sanctuary in 1981 and a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1983.[3] In 2007, Machu Picchu was voted one of the New Seven Wonders of the World in a worldwide internet poll.[16]

1453

The Battle of Castillon

between the forces of England and France took place on 17 July 1453 in Gascony near the town of Castillon-sur-Dordogne (later Castillon-la-Bataille). Historians regard this decisive French victory as marking the end of the Hundred Years' War.

On the day of the battle, the English commander, John Talbot, 1st Earl of Shrewsbury, believing that the enemy was retreating, led his army in an attack on a fortified French encampment without waiting for reinforcements. Talbot then refused to withdraw even after realizing the strength of the French position, causing his men to suffer severe casualties from the French artillery. Castillon was a major European battle won through the extensive use of field artillery.

The battle led to the English losing almost all their holdings in France, especially Gascony (Aquitaine), an English possession for the previous three centuries. The balance of power in Europe shifted, and political instability ensued in England.[4]

1453

The fall of Constantinople