1385

1381 1382 1383 1384 1385 1386 1387 1388 1389 1390

political events

A coup d'état at Milan May 16 deposes Bernabo Visconti, now 61, whose 30-year reign has embittered all of Lombardy. Accompanied by some 400 soldiers his 33-year-old nephew Gian Galeazzo Visconti pretends to cross lands controlled by Bernabo and asks if he may make a social call on his uncle (and father-in-law). Bernabo agrees, but as he rides with two of his sons to meet with Gian, Visconti's troop captain Jacopo dal Verme places him under arrest, seizes his wife and marriageable children, and imprisons him in the castle of Trezzo d'Adda, where he soon dies, probably of a slit throat or from poison. Son of the late Galeazzo II, Gian Galeazzo gives Bernabo a solemn funeral, takes over his possessions, and begins a systematic program of conquest (see 1395).

The Angevin king of Naples Carlo di Durazzo is crowned king of Hungary with help from courtiers of the late Louis I who oppose the accession of Louis's 10-year-old daughter Maria. He will reign until next year as Charles III (Károly Durrazzói), but Pope Urban VI places Naples under the interdict.

France's boy king Charles VI is married July 17 to the 14-year-old Isabelle of Bavaria, daughter of Stephen III, duke of Bavaria-Ingolstadt.

Parliament blocks England's Richard II from setting up a personal government. Richard makes an unsuccessful expedition to Scotland.

Portugal gains independence August 14 by defeating Castile in the Battle of Aljubarrota (see 1384). The illegitimate son of the late Pedro I has taken power with unanimous support from the cortes at Coimbra. He confers knighthood on 60 men the night before the battle ("Good my lords," he says, "this order of chivalry is so high and so noble, that he who is a knight should have no dealing with anything that is low, with vile things or with cowardice"), disease forces the Castilians to withdraw, and João I, 28, will reign until 1433, establishing the Avis dynasty (see 1386).

Ottoman forces capture Sofia (see 1393; 1443).

Tatar forces under the command of their khan Toqtamish invade Azerbaijan and defeat some of Tamerlane's generals (see 1383; 1391).

The Chinese general Xu Da (Hsü Ta) dies at age 53, having helped the Ming emperor Hongwu (Hung-wu) establish his new dynasty.

education

Heidelberg University has its beginnings in Baden-Württemberg.

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