Middle Ages
Prague Astronomical Clock (1410): The Medieval Orloj
A working medieval astronomical clock that has survived more than six centuries and become one of Prague's best-known landmarks.
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 Grunwald (1410): Poland-Lithuania Defeats the Teutons
Decisive Polish-Lithuanian victory; the Grand Master and most of the Order's leadership were killed, beginning the long decline of the Teutonic Order's state.
Middle Ages
Porcelain Tower of Nanjing: Lost Wonder of Ming China (1412)
A nine-storey glazed pagoda about 70–80 m tall stood for over four centuries and became famous in Europe before it was destroyed during the Taiping Rebellion.
Middle Ages
The Tribute Giraffe of 1414: An African Animal at the Ming Court
The giraffe was celebrated at court as a qilin, an auspicious sign of good rule, and further giraffes from East Africa followed in later years.
Middle Ages
Battle of Agincourt (1415): Henry V's Famous Victory
Decisive English victory; much of the French nobility was killed or captured, opening the way for Henry V's conquest of Normandy.
Middle Ages
Jan Hus (1415): The Bohemian Reformer Burned at Constance
Hus was condemned as a heretic and burned at the stake; his death provoked a revolt in Bohemia that grew into the Hussite movement and wars.
Middle Ages
Adal Sultanate (c. 1415): Muslim Rival of Medieval Ethiopia
Adal became the leading Muslim power of the Horn of Africa and the main rival of Christian Ethiopia until its decline in the late 16th century.
Middle Ages
Lam Son Uprising (1418-1427): Le Loi Expels the Ming from Vietnam
Ming forces withdrew from Vietnam; Le Loi became emperor as Le Thai To and founded the Later Le dynasty in 1428.
Middle Ages
Hussite Wars (1419-1434): Jan Zizka and the War Wagons
The crusades against Bohemia failed; after moderate Hussites defeated the radicals at Lipany in 1434, the Compacts of Basel allowed Bohemian Utraquism within the Catholic Church.
Middle Ages
Brunelleschi's Dome: Building Florence Cathedral's Cupola
The dome was closed in 1436 and remains the largest masonry dome ever built, a landmark of early Renaissance engineering.
Middle Ages
Ulugh Beg Observatory: Astronomy in Timurid Samarkand
The observatory produced the Zij-i Sultani, with the most accurate star catalogue of its age, before it was abandoned after Ulugh Beg's murder in 1449.
Middle Ages
Siege of Orléans (1428-1429): The Turning Point for France
French victory; the English lifted the siege on 8 May 1429, opening the way to Charles VII's coronation at Reims.