1351 1352 1353 1354 1355 1356 1357 1358 1359 1360
Contents: political eventsexploration, colonization |
The French dauphin Charles convenes the Estates General in order to raise funds needed to ransom his father, the king, who has been held prisoner by the English since his defeat and capture last year at the Battle of Poitiers (see 1355). Paris merchants rebel under the leadership of their provost Etienne Marcel and although they make no effort to reduce the monarchy's traditional powers they force the dauphin to issue an ordinance of reform March 3 providing relief for the poor and frequent and regular meetings of the Estates. The Great Ordinance passed by the Estates provides for a standing committee to supervise tax levies and expenditures. Etienne Marcel makes an alliance with Charles the Bad of Navarre and thus discredits the Estates General, whose members split into many factions. The dauphin Charles opposes the alliance and flees Paris to raise an army and form a powerful coalition against the Estates General and their ally Charles the Bad (see 1358).
The French dauphin awards a pension in December to military leader Bertrand du Guesclin, 37, who has led the successful defense of Rennes against an English siege and fought a duel with Sir Thomas Canterbury.
Scotland's Parliament promises a 100,000-mark ransom to the English and obtains the release of the country's king David II, who has been held captive since 1346; three-quarters of the ransom will ultimately be paid, and Parliament will use the enormous expense as an excuse to place limits on the actions of the crown (see 1363).
Portugal's Afonso IV (the Brave) dies at his native Lisbon May 30 after a troubled 32-year reign; he made peace last year with his son, now 37, who takes savage revenge on those immediately responsible for the death of Inês de Castro 2 years ago; the son will reign until 1367 as Pedro I, taking steps to enhance royal power while at the same time curbing abuses, including some by the Church, and reforming the justice system.
The Golden Horde's khan Janibek (Jani Beg) is murdered after 12 years as titular head of the western Mongol empire, and his successors will have difficulty in keeping the various western tribes in order (see 1341). The Golden Horde continues to engage in animal husbandry and receive tribute from Armenians, Georgians, Greeks, Mordvinians, Muscovites, and other principalities, but while it will trade with Genoa, Venice, and other Western ports its power begins a long decline (see 1380).
An account of travels by a fictitious Sir John Mandeville will appear in the next 15 years written in French and probably authored by Liège physician Jehan de Bourgogne (Jehan a la Barbe), a former chamberlain to John, baron de Mowbray, in England. Borrowed from works by Giovanni de Piano Carpini, who traveled east to Karakorum in 1245, and by the late Franciscan friar Oderic of Pordenone, whose Travels in Eastern Regions appeared in 1330, the John Mandeville travel accounts will describe such fanciful marvels as men whose heads grow beneath their shoulders.
1351 1352 1353 1354 1355 1356 1357 1358 1359 1360
