Middle Ages
Golden Bull of 1356: How the Holy Roman Emperor Was Elected
The election of the King of the Romans was fixed in the hands of seven prince-electors by majority vote, a system that lasted until 1806.
Era · c. 500 – 1500
Middle Ages
Kingdoms, crusades and plagues: the medieval world from the end of the Western Roman Empire to the fall of Constantinople.
Middle Ages
Battle of Poitiers (1356): The Black Prince Captures a King
Decisive Anglo-Gascon victory; King John II was captured and France fell into political crisis.
Middle Ages
Hanseatic League: The Merchant Alliance That Ruled the Baltic
A loose league of up to some 200 towns dominated northern European trade for about three centuries before declining in the 1500s and 1600s.
Middle Ages
Charles Bridge, Prague: Charles IV's Gothic Bridge of 1357
Prague gained a stone bridge of 16 arches that was its only Vltava crossing until 1841 and is now its most famous landmark.
Middle Ages
Battle of Bubat (1357): Majapahit and the Sunda Royal Party
The Sunda king and most of his party were killed; the planned marriage alliance collapsed and Gajah Mada's reputation suffered.
Middle Ages
Jacquerie (1358): The French Peasants' Revolt After Poitiers
The revolt was crushed within about a month, followed by noble reprisals that killed thousands of peasants.
Middle Ages
Bryggen, Bergen: The Hanseatic Wharf on Norway's Coast
German merchants of the Hanse dominated Bergen's stockfish trade for about two centuries; the surviving wharf became a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1979.
Middle Ages
Treaty of Brétigny (1360): Edward III's Great Peace With France
England gained a greatly enlarged Aquitaine in full sovereignty, Calais and Ponthieu, but the peace collapsed when war resumed in 1369.
Middle Ages
Battle of Visby (1361): Denmark Conquers Gotland
Danish victory; the Gotlandic levy was destroyed, Visby surrendered and Gotland passed under Danish rule, provoking war with the Hanseatic League.
Middle Ages
Grote Mandrenke (1362): The Great Drowning of the North Sea
A storm surge broke the dikes along much of the North Sea coast, killing an estimated 25,000 or more people, drowning the trading town of Rungholt and reshaping the Wadden Sea coastline.
Middle Ages
Janissaries: Origins of the Ottoman Elite Infantry (c. 1363)
The Ottomans gained Europe's first permanent, salaried standing infantry, which became the core of their armies for over four centuries.
Middle Ages
Battle of Lake Poyang (1363): Zhu Yuanzhang's Decisive Victory
Decisive victory for Zhu Yuanzhang; Chen Youliang was killed and his Han regime collapsed, clearing Zhu's path to found the Ming.