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Contents 1 Asia 1.1 Western Asia 1.2 Central Asia 1.3 East Asia 1.4 Southeast Asia 2 Europe 2.1 Eastern 2.2 Central 2.3 Western Europe 3 Americas 4 Africa 5 References

[edit] Asia

[edit] Western Asia

In 1343, the Golden Horde had tried to lay siege on the Genoese city of Kaffa, but failed because Kaffa was able to get provisions across the Black Sea. In 1345, the Mongols besieged Kaffa again, but the following year, they were struck with the Black Plague and forced to retreat. This is noted as one of the key events that brought the Black Plague to Europe. Infected Genoese soldiers returning to Genoa stopped at Italy in 1347. From there, the disease would spread to the rest of the continent. As one Russian historian records:

"In the same year [1346], God's punishment struck the people in the eastern lands, in the town Ornach , and in Khastorokan, and in Sarai, and in Bezdezh, and in other towns in those lands; the mortality was great among the Bessermens, and among the Tartars, and among the Armenians and the Abkhazians, and among the Jews, and among the European foreigners, and among the Circassians, and among all who lived there, so that they could not bury them."^[1]

The many areas and peoples listed here represent much of Western Asia and the Caucasus. The "European foreigners" are those fighting with the Tartars in the Mongol-led siege of Kaffa. These Europeans would return to Europe the following year, carrying the plague with them. Travellors returning from the Crimea also carried the plague to Byzantium and Arabia, according to Greek and Arab scholars of the time.^[1]

One Latin account of the events in the Crimea reads: "It seemed to the besieged Christians as if arrows were shot out of the sky to strike and humble the pride of the infidels who rapidly died with marks on their bodies and lumps in their joints and several part, followed by putrid fever; all advice and help of the doctors being of no avail. Whereupon the Tartars, worn out by this pestilential disease, and falling on all sides as if thuderstruck, and seeing that they were perishing hopelessly, ordered the corpses to be placed upon their engines and thrown into the city of Kaffa. Accordingly were the bodies of the dead hurled over the walls, so that the Christians were not able to hide or protect themselves from this danger, although they carried away as many dead as possible and threw them into the sea. But soon the whole air became infected, and the water poisoned, and such a pestilence grew up that scarcely one out of a thousand was able to escape."^[2]

Modern scholars consider this one of the earliest, and most deadly, biological attacks in world history, though in the end the Mongols were forced to retreat.^[3]

In 1346 King George the Brilliant (1314 - 1346) of Georgia died and was succeeded by King David IX. King George had managed to increase the Georgian realm to all of transcaucasia, and after his death the Kingdom began to decline. The plague began ravaging the area soon after his death in this same year.^[4]

Early sources state that the plague began its spread in the spring at the River Don near the Black Sea, then spread throughout Russia, the Caucasus, and the Genovese provinces within the year.^[5]

• Taking advantage of the instability in Trebizond, the Turkmen attacked the Empire in 1346, taking Hagios Andreas and Oinaion
• Aaron ben Elijah completes his first work Ez ha-Hayyim (The Tree of Life)^[6]

[edit] Central Asia

Central Asia was marked by the continued disintegration of the Mongol's domains, as well as by Muslim expansion. Kazan Khan, emperor of the Chagatai Khanate, was killed by the forces of Qazaghan, putting an end to the Chagtai Khanate's status as a unified empire. Qazghan was the leader of a group of Turkish nobles opposed to Mongol rule. Qazghan was wounded by Kazan's forces earlier in the year, but rather than taking advantage of his opponent's weakness Kazan retreated and many of his troops abandoned him, opening the way to his demise.^[7] Meanwhile, Kashmir was conquered by Shah Mirza, the first Muslim to rule the area.^[8][9] Kathmandu was also conquered in this year.^[10]

Islam did suffer some defeats in southern India. The Hindu kingdom of Vijayanagara in India conquered the Hoysalas and celebrated its "festival of victory", strengthening their status as a legitimate Hindu empire in opposition to Muslim rule in the north. The leader of the Delhi Sultanate in Northern India, Muhammud bin Tughluq, had a particular disdain not only for Hinduism, but for the Deccan culture of the south. Telugu chieftains gathered in opposition to the Sultan in this year and celebrated victory.^[11][12]

[edit] East Asia

• Ibn Battuta travels from Southeast Asia to Khan Baliq (Beijing) in China. Although the Muslim leaders there extended him a warm welcome, they advised him to leave the city soon. A civil war had caused the Khan to flee the city, and riots were becoming more and more widespread.^[13]

• T'aigo Wangsa, a Korean Buddhist monk, travels to China to receive training under the guidance of Buddhist leader Shih-wu. T'aigo would later found the T'aigo sect of Korean Buddhism.^[14]

[edit] Southeast Asia

In the Philippines, fragmented ethnic groups established numerous city-states or barangays under the Sultanates of Sulu, in which a datu was a Muslim ruler. These scattered barangays, through the development of inter-island and international trade, had been relatively culturally homogeneous for nearly a thousand years. Hindu-Buddhist culture and religion flourished among the noblemen in this era. Many of the barangay were, to varying extents, under the de-jure jurisprudence of the Majapahit empire although de-facto had established their own independent system of rule. Trading links with Java, China, India, Arabia and Japan flourished during this era. It was not until later in this century that the Chinese would begin to exercise control over the islands. Until then, a thalassocracy, or rule from the beaches prevailed, based on international trade.

[edit] Europe

[edit] Eastern

• April 16 (Easter) - Dusan Silni proclaimed Tsar of new Serbian Empire in Skopje by , occupying much of the South-Eastern Europe.^[15]

Denmark sells Northern-Estonia to the Teutonic Knights. See Danish Estonia. While the province was split between pro-Danish party (bishop Olaf of Lyndanisse) and pro-German party (captain Marquard Breide), the Estonians of Harria started a big rebellion in 1343 (St.George's Night Uprising). The province was occupied by the Livonian Order as a result. In 1346, the Danish dominions in Estonia (Harria and Vironia) were sold for 10 000 marks to the Livonian Order, ignoring the promise by Christian II in 1329 never to abandon or sell its Estonian territories. The king of Denmark even made public statement about "repenting" for breaking that promise and asked forgiveness from the Pope.

Orchan, the Turkish prince of Bithynia was married to Theodora, Cantacuzene's daughter. The Greek clergy believed that the marriage of a Christian princess a prominent Muslim would bring the region more power. The Prince was already married to several other women, and the woman was permitted to keep her religion, but was to live the rest of her life an Islamic harem. Cantacuzene hoped that Orchan would become his ally in any future wars, but Orchan, like his fellow Turks, became his enemy in the Genoese war. As part of the alliance, the Ottoman prince was permitted to sell the Christians he had captured at Constantinople as slaves in the public market.^[16]

Apocaucus was killed by a crowd of his worst enemies whom he had gathered for imprisonment in one of the old palaces of Constantine. On one of his many visits to his prison, two of the Palaiologoi prisoners attacked and killed him, armed with sticks. They then set his head on a pole and turned their prison into a fortress. At the sight of his head, the local populace grew incensed and beseiged the old palace, killing the prisoners.^[17]

Both Bulgaria and Byzantine, which at this time covered most of Greece, were in the middle of a series of civil wars. An independent Bulgarian ruler of the Rhodope and Aegean region, by the name of Momchil^[18] took an important role in the wars. He was among the first local rulers to realize the threat of the Ottomans. Momchil plead both the Emperors of Bulgaria and Byzantium for help but received none, even though he continued the resistance in the eastern part of the Rhodope mountains.

The Venetians organized an alliance uniting several European parties (Sancta Unio), composed notably of the Knights Templar, which organized five consecutive attacks on İzmir and the Western Anatolian coastline controlled by Turkish states. In between, it was the Turks who organized maritime raids directed at Aegean islands.^[19]

There were not nearly enough troops to defend Byzantium's borders at the time and there certainly was not enough for the two factions to split - consequently, more foreigners would flood the Empire into a state of chaos - Kantakouzenos hired Turks and Serbs - his main supply of Turkish mercenaries came from the Umur of Aydin,^[20] a nominal ally established by Andronikos III. The Regency of John V relied on Turkish mercenaries as well.^[20] However, Kantakouzenos began to draw support from the Ottoman Sultan Orkhan, who wed Kantakouzenos' daughter in 1345.^[20] By 1347, Kantakouzenos had triumphed and entered Constantinople. However, in his hour of victory, he came to an accord with Anna and her son, John V. John V (now 15 years of age) and Kantakouzenos would rule as co-emperors, though John V would be the junior in this relationship.^[20] The unlikely peace would not last long.

[edit] Central

• July 11 - Charles IV of Luxembourg elected emperor of the Holy Roman Empire. In consequence of an alliance between his father and Pope Clement VI, the relentless enemy of the emperor Louis IV, Charles was chosen Roman king in opposition to Louis by some of the princes at Rhens in July 1346. As he had previously promised to be subservient to Clement he made extensive concessions to the Pope in 1347. Confirming the papacy in the possession of wide territories, he promised to annul the acts of Louis against Clement, to take no part in Italian affairs, and to defend and protect the church.

Charles IV was initially in a very weak position in Germany. Owing to the terms of his election, he was derisively referred to by some as a "priest's king" (Pfaffenkönig). Many bishops and nearly all of the Imperial cities remained loyal to Louis the Bavarian. Worse yet, Charles backed the wrong horse in the Hundred Years' War, losing his father and many of his best knights at the battle of Crecy in August 1346, with Charles himself escaping wounded from the field.

Civil War was prevented, however, when Louis IV died on October 11, 1347, when he suffered a stroke during a bear-hunt. In January 1349 Wittelsbach partisans attempted to secure the election of Günther von Schwarzburg as king, but he attracted few supporters and died unnoticed and unmourned after a few months. Thereafter, Charles faced no direct threat to his claim to the Imperial throne.

The acquisition of these territories and his restless foreign policy had earned Louis many enemies among the German princes. In the summer of 1346 the Luxemburg Charles IV was elected rival king, with the support of Pope Clement VI. Louis himself obtained much support from the Imperial Free Cities and the knighthood and successfully resisted Charles, who was widely regarded as a papal puppet ("rex clericorum" as William of Ockham called him). Also the Habsburg dukes stayed loyal to Louis. In the Battle of Crécy Charles' father John of Luxemburg was killed; Charles himself also took part in the battle but escaped.

Prague became the new capital of Bohemia under Charles, who began rebuilding the city after the style of Paris

• Number of banks in Florence collapse, due to internal problems in Florence, contributed by, but not caused by as some historians have claimed, King Edward III of England defaulting on some of his loans. Most notably, the Bardi family went Bankrupt in this year.^[21][22][23]

• Italy suffers famine, making it difficult for the Papacy to recruit troops for the attack on Smyrna.^[24][23]

• Firearm technology made its way to Northern Germany in this year in the city of Aachen.^[25][26]
• Papermaking reaches Holland.^[27]

[edit] Western Europe

• August 26 - Battle of Crécy, after which Edward the Black Prince honoured the bravery of John I, Count of Luxemburg and King of Bohemia (also known as John the Blind), who was killed in the fighting, by adopting his arms and motto: "Ich Dien" or "I Serve". John's decades of fighting had already made his name widely known throughout Europe, and his death became the legendary subject of several works, including this by Froissart:^[28][29]

...for all that he was nigh blind, when he understood the order of the battle, he said to them about him: ... 'Sirs, ye are my men, my companions and friends in this journey: I require you bring me so far forward, that I may strike one stroke with my sword.' ... they tied all their reins of their bridles each to other and set the king before to accomplish his desire, and so they went on their enemies ... The king ... was so far forward that he strake a stroke with his sword, yea and more than four, and fought valiantly and so did his company; and they adventured themselves so forward, that they were there all slain, and the next day they were found in the place about the king, and all their horses tied each to other.

• Battle of Calry Lough Gill in Ireland
• Widespread warfare between the Irish and Anglo-Irish, and internal warfare among the Irish and Anglo-Irish themselves, in Leinster
• Foundation of Pembroke College, University of Cambridge.
• Foundation of the University of Valladolid in Spain.^[30]

Besides the War of Succession and the Hundred Year's War, France was in the midst of an interesting period. Several decades earlier, the Roman Papacy had moved to Avignon and would not return to Rome for another 33 years. The Avignon Papacy was then ruled by Pope Clement VI, who was aiding the French in their war against the English with Church funds.

On or around July 7, King Edward III crossed the English Channel to Normandy with 1600 ships laden with supplies taxed from the populace. He took the ports of La Hogue and Barfleur with overwhelming force and continued inland towards Caen, taking towns along the way. Seeing an opportunity amid the distraction, the Scots attacked in the north. The French mounted a defence at Caen, but were ultimately defeated. The French had been planning to cross the channel and invade England with a force of about 14,000 led by Jean le Franc, but Edward's attack forced them on the defensive.^[31]

The French King Phillippe destroyed several bridges to prevent Edward's advance, but the English took the town of Poissy in August and repaired its bridge in order to advance. The French King mounted a defence near the forest at Crécy, which ended in another English victory. Edward then proceeded to Calais, laying seige to the city beginning September 4. Meanwhile, Jean de France, King Phillippe's son, beseiged the city of Aigullon, but with no success. King Phillippe also urge the Scots to continue the fight against England to the north. The Scots, believing that the English were preoccupied with Calais, marched into England toward Durham in October, but were met and defeated by an English force of knights and clergymen, and King David of Scotland was captured. The Irish also gathered a brief resistance, but were similarly defeated. Before the end of the year, Edward also captured Poiters and the towns surrounding Tonnay-Charente.^[31][32]

In addition to the victory at Crécy, the English armies have an annus mirabilis, with further victories over the French at Caen and near Calais, over Scotland at the Battle of Neville's Cross and the Bretons at the Battle of St Pol de Leon during the Hundred Years' War.

[edit] Americas

Very little is known about American history during this period. In general, the precursors to the Aztecs, the Mexicas, had recently founded their capital city of Tenochtitlan. They also had occasional skirmishes with the nearby Mixtec civilization. The Mayans, who centuries earlier had suffered a serious decline, were ruled from a capital in the Yucatan Peninsula called Mayapan.

[edit] Africa

Ethiopia was at this time ruled by Newaya Krestos (throne name Sayfa Ar`ed).^[33]

Abu Bakr, Hafsid ruler of Tunisia, dies. Morroccan ruler Abdul Hassan would invade the area in the coming year.^[34]

In the Mali Empire of West Africa, Mansa Souleyman, who had assumed office in 1341, took steep measures to put Mali back into financial shape, developing a reputation for miserliness.^[35] However, he proved to be a good and strong ruler despite numerous challenges. It is during his reign that Fula raids on Takrur began. There was also a palace conspiracy to overthrow him hatched by the Qasa (Manding term meaning Queen) and several army commanders.^[35] Mansa Souleyman’s generals successfully fought off the military incursions, and the senior wife behind the plot was imprisoned. Mali was at this time the dominant empire of West Africa, having conquered Songhai. The Songhai Empire would not regain independence for another three decades.^[36]

Further south, very little is known about this year, other than the fact that this area of Africa was in the midst of the Bantu expansion. Between the 13th and 15th centuries relatively powerful Bantu-speaking states on a scale larger than local chiefdoms began to emerge, in the Great Lakes region, in the savannah south of the Central African rainforest, and on the Zambezi river where the Monomatapa kings built the famous Great Zimbabwe complex. Such processes of state-formation occurred with increasing frequency from the 16th century onward. They were probably due to denser population, which led to more specialized divisions of labor, including military power, while making outmigration more difficult, to increased trade among African communities and with European, Swahili and Arab traders on the coasts, to technological developments in economic activity, and to new techniques in the political-spiritual ritualization of royalty as the source of national strength and health.^[37]

[edit] References