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The count of Schwarzburg-Blankenburg, Günther, is elected German king at Frankfurt January 30 and crowned February 6 to succeed the late Ludwig IV of Bavaria (see 1347), but the anti-king Charles of Luxembourg wins over many of Günther's followers, defeats him at Eltville, and pays him 20,000 silver marks for relinquishing his claim to the throne May 26 in the Treaty of Eltville. Mortally ill, Günther dies at Frankfurt-am-Main June 14 at age 44.
Denmark's Valdemar IV Atterdag establishes his sovereignty over large areas of Funen as well as Jutland and moves to block an attempt by the German anti-king Charles of Luxembourg to remove his ally Louis, margrave of Brandenburg, and wrest Rügen and Rostock from Danish control. He liberates Louis's lands as far as Berlin before arriving at a reconciliation with Charles, who reaffirms Danish control of Rügen and Rostock.
England calls a truce in her war with France as the Black Death takes a terrible toll on both armies (see 1354). The Order of the Garter founded at Windsor by England's Edward III adopts as its motto, "Honi soit qui mal y pense" ("Evil to him who evil thinks"). Membership is limited to 25 knights (founding members include Sir John Chandos, who distinguished himself 3 years in the fighting at Crécy).
A Scottish army invades England in the autumn but falls victim to the Black Death and returns home.
Lucchino Visconti dies at his native Milan at age 57 (approximate) after a 10-year rule in which he has acquired territory in Piedmont, Tuscany, and what later will be the Ticino canton of Switzerland, creating such animosity among his neighbors that they have formed coalitions against him. His 59-year-old brother Giovanni takes over the government and will rule until his own death in 1354 (see 1351).
Persia's Il-Khan Nushirwan dies after a troubled 5-year reign, ending the Mongol dynasty that began with Hülagü in 1256. The Sarbadarids will reign in Khorasan until 1381; the Muzaffarids in Fars, Kirman, and Kurdistan until 1393; and the Jalayrs in Iraq and Azerbaijan until 1411 (see 1380; Tamerlane, 1369).
Traveler Ibn Battutah reaches the capital of the Marinid sultan Abu Inan at Fez in November, having sailed from Alexandria to Tunisia, and thence to Sardinia and Algiers (see 1334). He soon departs for Granada in what remains of Moorish Spain (see 1352).
The pestilence that will later be called the Black Death reaches Norway in May and strikes Tunis, killing thousands on the North African coast.
The plague kills from one-third to one-half the population of England (see 1347). Londoners erect a wall around the city to keep out the Black Death, but half of the city's 5,000 inhabitants are fatally stricken. A shortage of firewood forces people to huddle together for warmth, and this helps to spread the disease, but Edward III and his eldest son spend the summer on the royal manors of southwest England, where the worst of the epidemic has passed.
The plague kills 800 Parisians per day during the summer, it is carried to Poland, and it moves on toward western Russia, flourishing on poverty and malnutrition, especially in the larger cities, although Russia will not feel the full effects of the plague until 1351.
The Scottish army that invades England in the fall comes down with with plague; the surviving soldiers carry it back to Scotland in pneumonic (person to person) form as they disperse (see 1350).
Mathematician Thomas of Bradwardine is named archbishop of Canterbury, is consecrated at the pope's court in Avignon July 19, but dies of plague August 26 at age 59 (approximate) upon his arrival at London.
Frankfurt-am-Main reduces its Jews to the status of serfs and by year's end more than half have died in massacres. Jews have lived in the city for centuries yet may not own land. Most are traders or craftsmen, and the majority of males are literate (the language of the ghetto is Judendeutsch, a mixture of Hebrew and Frankfurt dialect written in Hebrew letters from right to left), but their status is little better than that of illiterate peasants.
Pope Clement VI issues a bull against flagellants, who have reappeared in force as a result of the Black Death (see 1258). The flagellants beat themselves to atone for their sins and stave off the plague, which is thought to be God's vengeance, but as they travel 33½ days at a time from village to village, each day representing a year in the life of Christ, their self-punishment takes on the character of a revolutionary movement against the Jews, the rich, and the Church, and many are beheaded, burned alive, or hanged.
The Swedish visionary Birgit travels to Rome, founds a hospice, and collects a following of disciples (see 1345). She is accompanied by her daughter Catherine and will remain at Rome for the rest of her life (except for occasional pilgrimages), working for the return of the pope from Avignon, sheltering the homeless, and founding the Brigittine Order (in 1370) (see 1372).
English landlords offer high wages to field hands. Reapers and mowers spared by the Black Death eat better than they ever have or ever will again. English and Welsh vineyard owners begin turning their arable lands over to pasturage (sheep raising requires far less labor than viniculture), as the Black Death makes field hands much costlier than land. English and Welsh abbeys and monasteries continue to produce wines from their own vineyards (see 1536; Eleanor of Aquitaine, 1154).
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