1315

1311 1312 1313 1314 1315 1316 1317 1318 1319 1320

political events

Thomas Lancaster, 2nd earl of Lancaster, procures the dismissal in February of Hugh le Despenser from the court and council of Edward II (see 1314). Despenser's son Hugh the Younger was in the king's household when Edward was Prince of Wales; his father will help him gain appointment as king's chamberlain in 1318 (but see 1321).

French chamberlain Enguerrand de Marigny comes under attack from Charles de Valois, who accuses him of sorcery; as counselor to the late king Philippe IV (the Fair), Marigny has been in charge of the royal treasury and of its auditing department, the bourgeoisie and nobility have associated him with the royal policy of heavy taxation and debasement of the coinage, the new king Louis X orders his immediate execution, and he is beheaded at Paris in April at age 54.

The Swiss infantry gains renown and begins a brilliant career by handing Leopold of Austria a thorough defeat November 15 at the Battle of Morgarten. Leopold had sought to crush the Swiss for supporting Ludwig IV of Bavaria as German king against the claims of his cousin Friedrich the Handsome, but he is ambushed by about 1,500 pikemen and halberdiers in a pass at the southern end of Lake Ageri, 4,500 of his men are killed, and those who remain of his 5,000 infantry and 3,000 cavalry take to their heels (see 1314).

technology

Italian immigrants at Lyons develop a silk industry that will survive for centuries, making the city prosper.

medicine

The first public systematic dissection of a human body is supervised by Italian surgeon Mondino de Luzzi, 40, who shows his students the abdominal organs, the thorax, the brain, and the external organs. His Anatomia will be the first manual based on practical dissection.

agriculture

English wheat prices climb to 3 shillings 3 pence per bushel as heavy rains result in a short crop that combines with export demand to inflate prices. Summers have been gradually cooler and shorter since about 1280, winters longer and colder, and volcanic eruptions in the East Indies have thrown gigantic clouds of volcanic ash into the air, blocking the sun (see 1316).

1311 1312 1313 1314 1315 1316 1317 1318 1319 1320