1342

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political events

Thessalonika has a popular uprising against the Byzantine emperor John V Palaeologus and his regent mother (see 1341). The religious zealots (Hesychasts) support John VI Cantacuzenus in the civil war and establish a nearly independent state that will continue until 1347 (see 1343).

Hungary's Charles I (Károly Róbert) dies at Visegrád July 16 at age 54 after a 32-year reign that has restored his kingdom to power and founded the Anjou line. He is succeeded by his 16-year-old son Lajos (Louis), who is crowned July 21 and will reign until 1382 as Louis I, making Hungary's power felt throughout the Balkans (see 1346).

The Holy Roman Emperor Ludwig IV of Bavaria acquires the Tyrol by marrying his son Ludwig, margrave of Brandenburg, to the "ugly duchess" Margaret of Tyrol, 24, whose deformed jaw has caused her to be called "mouth pocket" (Maultasch). Married at age 12 to the 9-year-old Johann Heinrich of Luxembourg, Margaret and her first husband inherited the Tyrol upon the death in 1335 of her father, Heinrich, duke of Carinthia, but they were forced to cede Carinthia to the Hapsburgs. The Tyrolese expelled Johann Heinrich last year. Ludwig IV has annulled the earlier marriage.

religion

Pope Benedict XII dies at Avignon April 15 after an 8-year reign in which he has failed to reconcile the Holy Roman Emperor Ludwig IV with the papacy but has begun construction of a papal palace at Avignon. Benedict is succeeded by the French cleric Pierre Cardinal Roger, 51, who will reign until 1352 as Clement VI.

The Franciscan friar Giovanni dei Marignolli and his companions reach the court of China's Mongol (Yuan) dynasty emperor Togon-temür at Khanbelig (later Beijing [Peking]) in late May or early June, having wintered from 1339 to 1340 at the court of the Muhammed Uzbek, khan of the Golden Horde, at Sarai on the Volga River (see 1338). They have built a church at Almarikh (later Kuldja) and will remain at Khanbelig for 3 or 4 years (see 1347).

art

Painting: Nativity of the Virgin by Italian painter Pietro Lorenzetti, now 62, who has been helped by his younger brother Ambrogio to produce frescoes for churches at Assisi and Siena.

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