Here we are organizing the facts for the 1345 article so we can write it out later in prose.

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Africa edit

Egypt edit

Ethiopia edit

Americas edit

Asia edit

 
The Mongol Dominions, 1300-1405.

Maps edit

China edit

Kublai Khan (d. 1294) had conquered China and established the Yuan Dynasty in 1271. Huizong (Chinese: 惠宗) had been Emperor of China since 1333. By 1345, the Mongol Rule of China was steadily declining. Chinese peasants, upset with the lack of support by the government when they were facing droughts, floods, and famines, were becoming rebellious.

Zhu Yuanzhang (Chinese: 朱元璋) was 16 years old in 1345. His parents and brothers had died of plague or famine (or both) in 1344[1], and he was left to wander alone. He was probably living in a Buddhist monastery at this time. Later, he would lead a series of rebellions until he drove out the Mongols and became the first emperor of the Ming Dynasty in 1368.

  • Mongol Empire had been divided into khanates, and were slowly diverging from each other
  • Death of Wang Go, King of Shen
  • There was conflict between the rulers, another reason Yuan dynasty was declining
  • Goryeo (Korea) was also re-emerging from the Yuan Dynasty. Gongmin began to push Mongolian forces back around 1350. Mongol invasions of Korea

India edit

Indonesia edit

It was during Gajah Mada's (prime minister) reign as mahapatih, around the year 1345, that the famous Muslim traveller, Ibn Battuta visited the Indonesian archipelago.

It is said that, in 1345, the famous Muslim traveller Ibn Battuta visited Siti Wan Kembang, who was also known as Urduga.

Ibn Battuta's journeys in Asia (with map)

Japan edit

Southeast Asia edit

Trebizond edit

Golden Horde edit

Jani Beg commanded a massive Crimean Tatar force that attacked the Crimean port city of Kaffa in 1343. The siege was uplifted by an Italian relief force in February, 1344, resulting in 15,000 Mongol deaths and the survivors fleeing east. He returned in 1345 and besieged Kaffa a second time. The next year, however, the Mongols became infected with the Black Plague and gave up the siege. Before they left, though, the dead or dying bodies of the infected were loaded onto catapults and launched over Kaffa's walls to infect those inside. This incident was among the earliest known examples of biological warfare and is credited as being the source of the spread of the Black Death into Europe, devastating the continent over a three-year period and resulting in a maximum of 40 million deaths.[citation needed]

Black Death edit

Scholars are not certain where the Black Death was at this exact date. All that is know is that it had probably recently hit Samarkand and Talas, and would hit the Crimea in 1346, from which point it would enter Europe.[3]

Arabia/Islam edit

  • Bahri dynasty in Egypt in a state of chaos, rapid succesion of sultans
  • Hugh IV of Cyprus - defeats the Turks
  • Jewish philosophy - rise of aristotelianism
  • Martino Zaccaria - beheaded by Turks
  • Umur Bey transforms the Beylik of Aydınoğlu into a serious naval power with base in İzmir and poses a threat particularly for Venetian possessions in the Aegean Sea. Venetians organize an alliance uniting several European parties (Sancta Unio), composed notably of the Knights Templar, which organizes five consecutive attacks on İzmir and the Western Anatolian coastline controlled by Turkish states. In between, it is the Turks who organize maritime raids directed at Aegean islands.[4].
  • Bulgarian-Ottoman Wars
  • Battle of Peritor
  • Byzantium under the Palaiologoi - John V, ten years at his ascension, was guided by a regency consisting of his mother, Anna of Savoy, John VI Kantakouzenos and the Patriarch of Constantinople (John XIV Kalekas).[5]

John XIV sparked the civil conflict when he convinced the Empress that John V's rule was threatened by the ambitions of Kantakouzenos. In September of 1341, whilst Kantakouzenos was in Thrace, Kalekas declared himself as regent and launched a vicious attack on Kantakouzenos, his supporters & family[6]. In October Anna ordered Kantakouzenos to resign his command[6]. Kantakouzenos not only refused, he declared himself Emperor at Didymoteichon, allegedly to protect John V's rule from Kalekas. Whether or not Kantakouzenos wished to be Emperor is not known, but the provocative actions of the Patriarch forced Kantakouzenos to fight to retain his power and start the civil war.

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[7], a nominal ally established by Andronikos III. The Regency of John V relied on Turkish mercenaries as well[7]. However, Kantakouzenos began to draw support from the Ottoman Sultan Orkhan, who wed Kantakouzenos' daughter in 1345[7]. 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[7]. The unlikely peace would not last long.

Europe edit

Scandinavia edit

  • In Sweden, it is the oldest law put to paper for a town, and was probably written in the late 13th century or the early 14th century, influenced by the revision of the Uppland Law. The oldest manuscript for the law is from c. 1345. The law was created for the young town Stockholm and its customs, but it was also used in Lödöse and probably in a few other towns, as well. No town was allowed to use the law without the formal permission by the Swedish king. Its use may have become more widespread if it had not been superseded by the new town law by king Magnus Eriksson (13161377). The term Bjarkey Laws was however used for a long time for Magnus Eriksson's law in various locations.
  • There has been a Swedish population in Estonia for more than 700 years. The first written mention of the Swedish population in Estonia comes from 1294, in the laws of the town of Haapsalu. Further early mentions of Swedes in Estonia came in 1341 and 1345 (when an Estonian monastery in Padise sold "the Laoküla Estate" and Suur-Pakri Island to a group of Swedes).

During the 13th through 15th centuries, large numbers of Swedes arrived in coastal Estonia from Finland, which was under Swedish control (and would remain so for hundreds of years), often settling on Church-owned land. The first documented record of the island of Ruhnu (Swedish: Runö), and of its Swedish population, is also a 1341 letter sent by the Bishop of Courland which confirmed the islanders' right to reside and manage their property in accordance with Swedish law.

Serbia edit

In 1345 there was a plot by John Apocaucus to surrender the city to Cantacuzenus.[9]He had the leader of the Zealots,Michael Palaeologus killed. But this caused even greater violence : Led by Andreas Palaeologus, the Zealots overpowered the reaction, as described by Demetrius Cydones:

...one after another the prisoners were hurled from the walls of the citadel and hacked to pieces by the mob of the Zealots assembled below. Then followed a hunt for all the members of the upper classes: they were driven through the streets like slaves, with ropes round their necks-here a servant dragged his master, there a slave his purchaser, while the peasant struck the strategus and the labourer beat the soldier (i.e. the pronoiar).[10]

Hundred Year's War edit

  • Battle of Auberoche - Hundred year's war in its early stages.
  • Battle of Crécy - It also saw the first real use of cannon on the European battlefield, which were used only in small numbers by a few states during the 1340s. "Ribaldis" were first mentioned in the English Privy Wardrobe accounts during preparations for the battle between 1345 and 1346, and they proved their effectiveness against both the Genoese and the cavalry.[11] Similar cannon would appear also at the Siege of Calais in the same year, although it would not be until the 1380s that the "ribaudekin" became mounted on wheels.[11]
  • Philip VI of France - So far, the war had gone quite well for Philip and the French. While often stereotyped as chivalry-besotten blockheads, Philip and his men had in fact carried out a successful Fabian strategy against the debt-plagued Edward, and resisted the chivalric blandishments of single combat or a combat of two hundred knights that he offered. In 1341, the War of the Breton Succession allowed the English to place permanent garrisons in Brittany. However, Philip was still in a commanding position: during Papally-arbitrated negotiations in 1343, he refused Edward's offer to end the war in exchange for the Duchy of Aquitaine in full sovereignty.
  • The next attack came in 1345, when the Earl of Derby overran the Agenais (lost twenty years before in the War of Saint-Sardos) and took Angoulême, while the forces in Brittany under Sir Thomas Dagworth also made gains. The French responded in the spring of 1346 with a massive counter-attack against Aquitaine, where an army under John, Duke of Normandy besieged Derby at Aiguillon. On the advice of Godfrey Harcourt (like Robert III of Artois, a banished French nobleman), Edward sailed for Normandy instead of Aquitaine. As Harcourt predicted, the Normans were ill-prepared for war, and many of the fighting men were at Aiguillon. Edward sacked and burned the country as he went, taking Caen and advancing as far as Poissy before retreating before the army Philip hastily assembled at Paris. Slipping across the Somme, Edward drew up to give battle at Crécy.
 
A reconstruction of the vase cannon that fired arrows.

English cannon saw its first use during the Hundred Years War, being only used in small numbers by a few states during the 1340s. "Ribaldis" were first mentioned in the English Privy Wardrobe accounts during preparations for the Battle of Crécy between 1345 and 1346.[11] These were believed to have shot large arrows and simplistic grapeshot, but they were so important they were directly controlled by the Royal Wardrobe.[11] According to the contemporary Jean Froissart, the English cannon made "two or three discharges on the Genoese", which is taken to mean individual shots by two or three guns because of the time taken to reload such primitive artillery.[11] The Florentine Giovanni Villani agreed that they were destructive on the field, though he also indicated that the guns continued to fire upon French cavalry later in the battle:

"The English guns cast iron balls by means of fire… They made a noise like thunder and caused much loss in men and horses… The Genoese were continually hit by the archers and the gunners… [by the end of the battle] the whole plain was covered by men struck down by arrows and cannon balls."[11]

Similar cannon appeared also at the Siege of Calais in the same year, and by the 1380s, the "ribaudekin" had become mounted on wheels.[11]

Holland edit

Baltic states edit

England edit

  • John de Stratford is Archbishop of Canterbury
  • Completion of the construction of York Minster in England.
  • Breton War of Succession - To hamper communication between Brest and Vannes, Charles of Blois laid siege to Quimper in early March 1344. The city fell by assault 1 May and, as usual at that time, this meant the slaughter of civilians in huge numbers, between 1400 and 2000. The English prisoners were held for ransom, but the Breton and Norman captives were dispatched to Paris where they were executed for treason. During the summer and autumn, the Montfortist party fell apart. Even those who had been John of Montfort’s staunchest allies now considered it futile to continue the struggle. It therefore mattered little that in March 1345 John finally managed to escape to England. With no adherents of note of his own, he was now little more than a figurehead for English ambitions in Brittany.
  • Edward III decided to repudiate the truce in summer 1345, a year before it was due to run out. As part of his larger strategy, a force was dispatched to Brittany under the joint leadership of the Earl of Northampton and John of Montfort. Within a week of their landing in June, the English had their first victory when Sir Thomas Dagworth, one of Northampton’s lieutenants, raided central Brittany and defeated Charles of Blois at Cadoret near Josselin.
  • The follow-up was less impressive. Further operations were delayed until July when Montfort attempted the recapture of Quimper. However, news had reached the French government that Edward’s main campaign had been cancelled and they were able to send reinforcements from Normandy. With his strengthened army, Charles of Blois broke the siege. Routed, Montfort fled back to Hennebont where he fell ill and died 16 September. The heir to the Montfortist cause was his 5-year-old son, John.
  • During the winter, Northampton fought a long and hard winter campaign with apparent objective of seizing a harbour on the north side of the peninsula. Edward III had probably planned to land here with his main force during summer 1346. However, the English achieved very little for their efforts. Northern Brittany was Joanna of Dreux’ home region and resistance here was stiff. The only bright spot for the English was victory at the Battle of La Roche-Derrien, where the small town was captured and garrison installed under Richard Totesham.
  • Joan of England (1335-1348) - In 1345 she was betrothed to Pedro of Castile, son of Alphonso XI of Castile and Maria of Portugal. In early August of 1348 Joan left England with the blessing of her parents, and thanks to a heavily armed retinue she was, perhaps, the most protected woman of Europe in those days. It is said that her trousseau alone required an entire ship, and the travel schedule included a visit to a castle of her family in Bordeaux.
  • Irish battles - battle of Lough Neagh; naval battle between Hugh O'Neill and the Clann Hugh Buidhe.
  • 1345 in Ireland

Italy edit

France edit

Iberian Peninsula edit

Germany edit

Greece and the Balkans edit

Fiction about 1345 edit

References edit

  1. ^ Huang, Ray. 1988. China: A Macro History. Armonk, New York; London: M. E. Sharpe, Inc. ISBN 0873324528. 149.
  2. ^ a b J. F. Richards, Gordon Johnson, Christopher Alan Bayly. 2005. The New Cambridge History of India Cambridge University Press. ISBN 0521254841
  3. ^ pgs. 6-8 ISBN 0060006927
  4. ^ Dr. Hans Theunissen. Section V of "Ottoman-Venetian diplomatics, the Ahd-Names" "Venice and the Turcoman Begliks of Menteşe and Aydın". Leiden University, The Netherlands, 1998. {{cite web}}: Check |url= value (help); Unknown parameter |access date= ignored (|access-date= suggested) (help)
  5. ^ Mango, Cyril (2002). The Oxford History of Byzantium. New York: Oxford UP. pp. p. 265. {{cite book}}: |pages= has extra text (help)
  6. ^ a b Mango, Cyril (2002). The Oxford History of Byzantium. New York: Oxford UP. pp. p. 266. {{cite book}}: |pages= has extra text (help)
  7. ^ a b c d Mango, Cyril (2002). The Oxford History of Byzantium. New York: Oxford UP. pp. p. 267. {{cite book}}: |pages= has extra text (help)
  8. ^ The Late Byzantine Army: Arms and Society, 1204-1453 By Mark C. Bartusis google book
  9. ^ The Late Medieval Balkans: A Critical Survey from the Late Twelfth Century By John Van Antwerp Fine google book
  10. ^ Migne, Patrologia Graecae, 109.
  11. ^ a b c d e f g Crécy 1346: Triumph of the longbow, David Nicolle, Osprey Publishing Paperback; June 25 2000; ISBN-13: 9781855329669 Cite error: The named reference "Nicolle" was defined multiple times with different content (see the help page).