1401 CE
The English Pale in Ireland is reduced to Dublin, County Kildare, County Louth, and County Meath. (27 Dhu al-Qadah 803 A.H.) Timur raids the city of Baghdad, in the Jalayirid Empire, then carries out a massacre of its inhabitants, including women and children, as punishment for resisting his rule. According to accounts later, "90,000 human heads were piled up on the public places of the town." The only persons spared death are "theologians, shaikhs and dervishes", and the only buildings not demolished are "mosques, universities and hostels.". The Battle of Tuthill takes place at Caernarfon in Wales as Owain Glyndŵr loses 300 soldiers in an attack by the English Army.
In the 1400s, the 15th century.
Geopolitics & Diplomacy
- January 12 – Emperor Hồ Quý Ly of Dai Ngu (now Vietnam) passes the throne to his son, Hồ Hán Thương.source
- January 20 – The Parliament of England is opened at Westminster by King Henry IV.source
- February 3 – The Byzantine Emperor Manuel II Palaiologos, who has spent almost two months in England as the guest of King Henry IV, accepts a payment of 3,000 English gold marks in support of an alliance between the two nations, then makes plans to depart England for France.source
- June – The English Pale in Ireland is reduced to Dublin, County Kildare, County Louth, and County Meath.source
- October 14 – Sultan Nasir-ud-Din Mahmud Shah Tughluq of Delhi is restored to power.source
- Japan re-enters into a tributary relationship with China.source
- Dilawar Khan establishes the Malwa Sultanate in present-day northern India.source
- The Joseon dynasty in present-day Korea officially enters into a tributary relationship with Ming dynasty China.source
Conflict & Security
- January 16 – After their disastrous defeat on December 25 in the Battle of Dongchang in the Jingnan campaign, the forces of the Principality of Yan within China return to Beiping (located at the site of present-day Beijing).source
- February 16 – Jingnan campaign: After a month's recovery from defeat in battle in China, Prince Zhu Di mobilizes his troops at Beijing and marches south to fight the Ming dynasty Emperor Huizong.source
- March 13 – The Samogitians, supported by Grand Duke Vytautas of Lithuania, rebel against the Teutonic knights and burn two castles. Vytautas is granted increased autonomy by King Jogaila of the Poland–Lithuania union.source
- March 17 – Turko-Mongol Emperor Timur sacks Damascus.source
- March 22 – Jingnan campaign: Prince Zhu Di of Yan leads his troops across the Jia River into the Heibei province. China's Ming dynasty Emperor Huizong directs that Zhu Di is not to be killed.source
- April 1 – Conwy Castle in English-ruled North Wales, is captured on Good Friday by trickery by two Welsh brothers, Rhys ap Tudur and Gwilym ap Tudur of the Island of Anglesey, in support of the anti-English rebellion led by Owain Glyndŵr.source
- June 15 – Jingnan campaign: The rebel Yan forces destroy the food supplies of the Ming Chinese government at Dezhou.source
- July 9 – (27 Dhu al-Qadah 803 A.H.) Timur raids the city of Baghdad, in the Jalayirid Empire, then carries out a massacre of its inhabitants, including women and children, as punishment for resisting his rule. According to accounts later, "90,000 human heads were piled up on the public places of the town." The only persons spared death are "theologians, shaikhs and dervishes", and the only buildings not demolished are "mosques, universities and hostels."source
- July 15 – Jingnan campaign: Chinese Empire troops, led by Fang Zhao, launch a raid on the Yan principality capital at Beiping, forcing Yan PrinceZhu Di to bring his troops back north.source
- September 18 – Jingnan campaign: The Yan principality defeats the Chinese imperial forces at Beiping after a siege of more than two months.source
- November 2 – The Battle of Tuthill takes place at Caernarfon in Wales as Owain Glyndŵr loses 300 soldiers in an attack by the English Army.source
- December 2 – Jingnan campaign: Rebel General Zhu Di adopts a new approach in his war against the Chinese Imperial troops and departs from Beiping to drive troops southward to the Yangtze River, capturing Dong'e, Dongping, Wenshang, and Pei over the next two months.source
Exploration & Expansion
- June 24 – (13th day of 5th month Ōei 8) The shogun Ashikaga Yoshimitsu dispatches a mission to Ming Dynasty China as the first step of opening trade between the two nations.source
- August 5 – The County of Geneva, located in southeastern France in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region, comes to an end after more than 300 years when it is sold to Amadeus VIII, Count of Savoy for 45,000 gold francssource
Religion & Belief
- March 2 – William Sawtrey, a Roman Catholic priest and adherent to the Lollard faith becomes the first person in England to be burned at the stake under the new De heretico comburendo law (officially the Suppression of Heresy Act 1400), dying at Smithfield, London after being convicted of heresy against the Roman Catholic faith.source
- March 10 – As the English Parliament session closes, King Henry IV gives royal assent to the Suppression of Heresy Act, permitting secular authorities to carry out punishment for religious crimes. The assent comes after the Archbishop of Canterbury pressures King Henry to outlaw the Lollards, followers of John Wycliffe, and criminalizes possession of a copy of Wycliffe's translation of the Bible.source
- April 28 – King Zsigmond of Hungary refuses to comply with demands of the Archbishop John Kanizsai and the Palatine Derek Bebek, he is taken prisoner. Sigismund remains captive until October 29.source
- May 6 – The council of the Republic of Venice passes a law prohibiting the Republic's executive, the Doge, from using the state owned official ship, the bucentaur, from being used for private purposes.source
- September 24 – The late English cleric John Twenge (1320-1379) is canonized as Saint John of Bridlington by Pope Boniface IXsource
- Thomas Cranley, Primate of Ireland appointed Lord Chancellor of IrelandIrelandsource
Economy & Finance
Crime & Justice
- February 16 – John Barry is appointed as the new Attorney-General for Ireland.source
- June 25 – The Schaffhausen massacre of 30 Jewish residents, by burning, of the town of Schaffhausen takes place in Switzerland after the April 3 murder of 4-year-old Konrad Lori.source
- October 29 – King Zsigmond of Hungary is released from imprisonment by order of the Royal Council.source
Culture & Society
Births
- March 27 – Albert III, Duke of Bavaria-Munich (died 1460)source
- May 10 – Thomas Tuddenham, Landowner (died 1462)source
- May 12 – Emperor Shōkō of Japan (died 1428)source
- July 23 – Francesco I Sforza, Italian condottiero (died 1466)source
- September 14 – Maria of Castile, Queen of Aragon, Queen consort of Aragon and Naples (died 1458)source
- October 27 – Catherine of Valois, queen consort of England from 1420 until 1422 (died 1437)source
- 27 October – Catherine of Valois, Queen of England (died 1437)Francesource
- November 26 – Henry Beaufort, 2nd Earl of Somerset (died 1418)source
- December 21 – Tommaso Masaccio, Italian painter (died 1428)source
- Jacqueline, Countess of Hainaut (died 1436)source
- probable – Nicholas of Cusa, German philosopher, mathematician and astronomer (died 1464)source
- Charles I, Duke of Bourbon (died 1456)source
- Unknown – Charles I, Duke of Bourbon, nobleman and soldier (died 1456)Francesource
Deaths
- January 19 – Robert Bealknap, British justicesource
- March – William Sawtrey, English Lollard martyr (burned at the stake)source
- April 8 or August 8 – Thomas de Beauchamp, 12th Earl of Warwick (born 1338)source
- May 25 – Maria, Queen of Sicily since 1377 since succeeding her father, King Frederick the Simple, dies after a reign of almost 34 years.source
- May 25 – Queen Maria of Sicily (born 1363)source
- September 14 – Dobrogost of Nowy Dwór, Polish bishop (born 1355)source
- October 19 – John Charleton, 4th Baron Cherleton (born 1362)source
- October 20 – Klaus Störtebeker, German piratesource
- October – Anabella Drummond, queen of Scotlandsource
- November 25 – King Tarabya of Ava (born 1368)source
- date unknown – Andronikos Asen Zaccaria, Baron of Chalandritsa and Arcadia, Grand Constable of Achaeasource
- Unknown – John of Valois, Count of Montpensier, nobleman (born 1386)Francesource