What happened in the 14th century

World6

• 1302Boniface VIII issues the papal bull Unam sanctam, which asserts the superiority of the papacy's spiritual power over secular rulers.
• 1329Battle of Maltepe (Pelekanon): Ottoman Turks defeat the Byzantine Empire.
• 1346November – Several Mongol towns in the Crimea are cleared of inhabitants by the Black Death.
• 1346Spring – A severe Bubonic Plague epidemic begins in the Crimea, marking the first major epidemic of the Black Death.
• 1347Genoese ships fleeing the 1331 Black Death plague in Theodosia stop in Constantinople, contaminating the city.
• 1380At the Battle of Kulikovo, Russian forces under Grand Prince Dmitry Donskoy of Moscow resist a large invasion, led by Mamai Khan, commander of the Blue Horde of Lithuania and Ryazan, stopping their advance.

Japan1

• 1336The Kenmu Restoration ends and the Muromachi period begins in Japan; start of the Nanboku-chō period.

Europe84

• 1314Battle of Bannockburn (First War of Scottish Independence): Scottish forces (some 8,000 men) led by Robert the Bruce defeat the English army at Bannockburn, securing de facto independence for Scotland. During the battle, the Scottish pikemen formed in schiltrons (or phalanx) repulses the English cavalry (some 2,000 men). Edward II flees with his bodyguard (some 500 men), while panic spreads among the remaining forces, turning their defeat into a rout. Stirling Castle is surrendered to the Scots.
• 1321Italian author Dante Alighieri, known for The Inferno, dies of malaria at Ravenna after having undertaken a diplomatic mission in the Republic of Venice.
• 1337Hundred Years' War: Edward III of England formally rejects Philip VI's claim to the French throne, initiating hostilities between France and England.
• 1338Hundred Years' War, English Channel naval campaign: Southampton is destroyed.
• 1338Hundred Years' War: Louis IV, Holy Roman Emperor appoints Edward III of England as a vicar-general of the Holy Roman Empire. Louis supports Edward's claim to the French throne, under the terms of the Treaty of Koblenz.
• 1345Guy de Chauliac observes the planets Saturn, Jupiter, and Mars conjoined in the sky, under the sign of Aquarius, and a solar eclipse on the same day. This sign is interpreted as foreboding by many, and Chauliac will later blame it for the Black Plague.
• 1346Battle of Crécy: The English defeat the French, in the first European battle where gunpowder is used.
• 1347Ships arrive in the Sicilian city of Messina, carrying people afflicted by the Black Death onboard.
• 1351Zürich joins the Old Swiss Confederacy.
• 1352Glarus joins the Old Swiss Confederacy.
• 1353Bern signs an alliance with the Old Swiss Confederacy.
• 1356Gautier of Brienne, the self-styled Duke of Athens and former ruler of the Republic of Florence, is appointed Constable of France by King Jean II. As part of his duties as the foremost of the Great Officers of the Crown of France and commander of the French Army. Brienne holds the office for four months before being killed on September 15 at the Battle of Poitiers.
• 1356Hundred Years' War – Battle of Poitiers: The English, commanded by Edward the Black Prince, defeat the French. The greatly outnumbered English forces not only rout the French, but capture the French king John II of France and his youngest son, the future Philip the Bold of Burgundy.
• 1359Berlin joins the Hanseatic League.
• 1389At the Battle of Kosovo, The Ottoman Empire and the Serbs fight an inconclusive clash, with both sides suffering heavy losses. Both Sultan Murad I and Serbian Prince Lazar Hrebeljanovic are killed in the battle.

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Asia5

• 1320Delhi's Sultan Khusrau Khan, who betrayed and murdered Qutbuddin Shah earlier in the year to become ruler in India, is himself betrayed and murdered by his governor, Ghiyath al-Din Tughluq, who founds Delhi's Tughlaq dynasty. Sultan Ghiyath appoints military governors in Punjab and Sindh province, who manage to halt Mongol incursions towards the sultanate.
• 1368Zhu Yuanzhang establishes the Ming dynasty with himself as the Emperor Hongwu. The new dynasty will last until 1644. The Emperor immediately orders every county magistrate to set up four granaries, and halts government taxation on books. Work begins later year on restoring the surviving Great Wall of China.
• 1369In the continued conquest of Yuan dynasty China by the Ming dynasty, General Chang Yuchun captures the Yuan capital, Shangdu, forcing the Yuan Emperor Huizong to flee further northward.
• 1369The Hongwu Emperor of the Chinese Ming dynasty issues a decree ordering every country magistrate in the empire to open a Confucian school of learning.
• 1394The capital city of the Joseon dynasty (in modern-day Korea) is moved from Gaegyeong (modern Gaeseong) to Hanseong (modern Seoul). The Gyeongbokgung Palace and Jongmyo royal ancestral shrine are built here.

Middle East4

• 1302Battle of Bapheus: To counter the Turkish threat at Nicomedia, Emperor Andronikos II Palaiologos sends a Byzantine force (some 2,000 men) to cross over the Bosporus to relieve the city. On the plain, Turkish forces (some 5,000 light cavalry) led by Sultan Osman I defeat the Byzantines, who are forced to withdraw to Nicomedia. After the battle, Andronikos loses control of the countryside of Bithynia, withdrawing to the forts. Meanwhile, Turkish forces capture Byzantine settlements, such as the coastal city of Gemlik.
• 1303Battle of Marj al-Saffar: Egyptian Mamluk forces (some 20,000 men) under Sultan Al-Nasir Muhammad defeat a Mongol army and their Armenian allies led by Qutlugh-Shah, on the plain of Marj al-Saffar. After the battle, Egyptian forces enters Damascus and chases the Mongols as far as Al-Qaryatayn in Syria. Al-Nasir returns to Cairo in triumph through the Bab al-Nasr ("Victory Gate") with chained prisoners of war.
• 1344Smyrniote Crusade: A Christian fleet succeeds in taking the port city of Smyrna from the Aydinid Turks.
• 1365Alexandrian Crusade: The city of Alexandria in the Mamluk Sultanate of Egypt is sacked by an allied force of King Peter I of Cyprus and the knights of the Order of St. John of Jerusalem after a three day siege. After the killing of more than 20,000 civilians and the capturing of 5,000 others to be sold into slavery, the knights abandon Alexandria.