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Byzantine Empire. The Ottomans, taking advantage of an earthquake, capture Gallipoli, near Constantinople.

Sardinia. Third Venetian-Genoese War. The Venetian fleet, under the command of Niccolo’ Pisani, won a resounding victory over the Genoese at Alghero, but a new fleet under the command of the Genoese Paganino Doria eluded the Venetians and managed to enter the Adriatic, causing significant

Bosphorus. Third Venetian-Genoese War. The Venetian fleet under the command of Niccolo’ Pisani, with 20 galleys, after withdrawing its scuttled ships at Negroponte, reaches the fleet of the Genoese Paganino Doria in the Bosphorus. Here the Catalans, Venetian allies, also join them. The Genoese are

Italy. Tommaso da Modena creates the first pictorial representation of a pair of eyeglasses. The painting is now exhibited in the Dominican Convent of San Niccolo’ in Treviso.

Pope Clement VI reduces the interval between two Jubilees to 50 years instead of 100 and celebrates the second Jubilee

Venice. The Black Death wipes out three-fifths of the city’s inhabitants in just 18 months.

Bubonic plague in Europe: 30 million deaths (1/3 of the European population). The Yrsiania pestis bacterium (originating in China and India) arrived via Genoese sailors from Crimea; there, the Genoese were attacked by besiegers who, decimated by the plague, catapulted the corpses into the city;

Trade with China and the East in general offered a rapid transit route for the bubonic plague. This time, it would strike much more severely than a millennium earlier, due to differing hygienic conditions and the greater concentration of people in a small space.

The Tatars besiege Kaffa in Crimea, a Genoese possession, and catapult the bodies of their plague victims into the besieged city. This is perhaps the episode that will bring the plague to Europe. It is one of the first horrific acts of bacteriological warfare.

In commercial or military vessels, approximately one sailor per 10 tons of displacement is required. For example, a Venetian cocca: 240 tons with 20 adult sailors and 8 apprentices, by law. In the 13th century, a lateen-rigged ship was 240 tons with 50 men. In

Battle of Crécy-en-Ponthieu: during the Hundred Years’ War. It was a great success for English longbows, but also the first limited use of cannons, and firearms in general, by European armies. The English Earls of Derby and Salisbury happened to be present six years earlier

Battle of Crecy-en-Ponthieu: During the Hundred Years’ War, King Edward III’s small English army annihilates a vastly larger French force in Normandy; this is the first use of longbows by the English, who mow down the French cavalry before they even come into contact with

King Edward III’s English army is routed in France

King Edward III assembles in Portsmouth the largest fleet England has ever seen: over a thousand ships, and sets sail for France.

Hundred Years’ War: Breton-Norman Phase

China. Disastrous flooding of the Yellow River significantly diverted its course.

Fourteen million people live in Germany. In 1200, there were eight million.

France has 21 million inhabitants. In 1200, there were 12 million.

Firearms had not yet reached the European kingdoms, but the English Earls of Derby and Salisbury happened to be present in Spain at the Battle of Tarifa, where the Arabs used cannons against the Spanish. Impressed by what they saw, upon their return home they

Bologna, a free municipality or under papal rule

Genoa. Simone Boccanegra, first doge (perpetual)

King Edward of England invades northwestern France with his army

The Church of Sant’Agostino in Modena is founded

Hundred Years’ War between England and France (with the occupation of part of French territory by the English); a fundamental role in the battles on French soil is played by British archers: typically 3,000 archers shooting 20 arrows per minute represent a mortal danger for

Modena. Marquis Obizzo d’Este enters the city, at the request of the Modenese themselves. The Este family’s rule over the city begins.

Verona. Obizzo d’Este, Alberto and Mastino della Scala, and Guido and Manfredo Pio meet. Modena is ceded by the Pio family to the Este family in exchange for Carpi and the castle of San Felice. The Este dominion over Modena will last until the unification

Ilkhanid Ulus, Middle East. Khan Abu Sa’id, a descendant of Genghis Khan, is poisoned by his jealous wife Baghdad Khatun. Thus ends the Ilkhanid dynasty.

Modena. Hundreds more of the Emperor’s Germans enter the walls, loot, and assault.

Modena. 800 of the Emperor’s Germans enter the city.

Modena surrenders to the Emperor, who sends strong military contingents to recover the territories lost in 1326 and 1327. The soldiers of Louis the Bavarian (whom the peasants call “Gaburos”) are welcomed as liberators, but as soon as they arrive they commit raids and incursions

Ming Dynasty in China: defeats the Mongols, moves the capital from Nanjing to Beijing, and builds the Forbidden City. A meritocratic society is gradually established, with excellent education and a drive for innovation. Trade with Europe, seen as a source of silver, expands.

Master Cecco and all copies of his essay “Armillary Sphere” are burned at the stake by the Inquisition

Louis the Bavarian, newly elected emperor in Rome (John XXII attempted to oppose him but lacked the means to do so), had the antipope Nicholas V elected, recognized only by the hard core of Italian and German Ghibellinism. Shortly before, the pope had attempted to

France. Valois dynasty with 13 rulers: Philip VI the Fortunate, John II the Good, Charles V the Wise, Charles VI the Beloved then the Mad, Charles VII the Victorious, Louis XI the Prudent, Charles VIII the Affable, Louis XII the Father of the People or

Setting of the book “World Without End” by Ken Follet

Modena. Peace with the Papal States is proclaimed. The city attempts to return to normalcy. The “Statuta civitatis anno 1327 reformata” (Reformed City Statutes of 1327) are also published. These were left unchanged by the Este family for about a century. They transcend the institutional

Modena. Duke Passerino was forced to flee Modena, and on June 5th, the remaining Ghibelline garrison was forced to retreat. The expulsion of the Mantuan tyrant was celebrated with days of revelry. Modena surrendered to the Papal legate, according to some chroniclers, in exchange for

Modena. Duke Passerino foils a first conspiracy hatched by Tommasino da Gorzano. The repression is brutal: the leaders are beheaded, and the remaining conspirators are pincered (that is, their flesh is torn with red-hot irons) and then hanged from the battlements of Porta Redecocca. But

London. The Guild of Goldsmiths, Tanners, and Tailors is founded.

Edward III becomes King of England

Messer Francesco da Ascoli, better known as Mastro Cecco, wrote the polemical essay “Sfera Armillary” with theses that were disliked by the Inquisition.

This is the year in which Iain M. Banks places the beginning of the war between the Idirans and the Culture in his science fiction novel “Consider Phlebas.” The war ends with the Culture’s total victory over the Idiran religious fundamentalists. Total casualties amounted to

Louis the Bavarian was crowned King of Italy in Milan by the bishop and a host of priests, all of whom were promptly excommunicated by Pope John XXII. On January 7, he was crowned Emperor in Rome, marking the culmination of a profound military and

Venice. The value of gold suddenly falls. It continues to decline until it is worth only 1 to 10 of silver. For 20 years, a ducat had been worth 24 silver grossi on the market. Suddenly, gold seems abundant and silver scarce. In 1326, a

Modena is besieged by the Guelph army of Versuzio Lando, coming from Piacenza. Albareto, Carpi, and Ganaceto are burned. Formigine surrenders to the Guelphs, as does the surrounding countryside, except Campogalliano, Finale, and Spilamberto, which resist. Meanwhile, the city is ravaged by bubonic plague, a

Peace treaty between Modena and Bologna after the Battle of Zappolino. Duke Passerino leaves Bologna the disputed territories of Monteveglio, Savignano, and Bazzano in exchange for the restitution of Nonantola after five years. These peace terms, following Modena’s crushing victory, and by Rainaldo Bonacolsi (known

From Piacenza, Versuzio Lando’s papal army is rushing to the aid of Bologna. On November 24, it reaches Reggio Emilia. The Modenese Ghibellines in Bologna are already retreating.

After the victory in the Battle of Zappolino between Modena and Bologna, the Modenese reached the walls of Bologna. Against all odds, however, they did not lay siege to the Guelph city (the siege of a large city in the 14th century was not an

After the victory in the Battle of Zappolino between Modena and Bologna, the Modenese also conquered Crespellano.

Battle of Zappolino between Modena and Bologna over the disputed “Stolen Bucket” (from a public well on Via San Felice in Bologna), now preserved in the Ghirlandina in Modena (in reality, the original is elsewhere and the one in the Ghirlandina is a copy—you never

Monteveglio Castle, in the Emilian Apennines, previously controlled by the Guelphs (Bolognese), falls through treachery to the Ghibellines (Modenese). It is the linchpin of Bologna’s defensive system. The castle is difficult to besiege, given the nature of the surrounding terrain. The Ghibellines no longer leave

Founding of Tenoctitlan (later Mexico City) by the Aztecs

Presumed year of birth of Tamerlane

Modena. The Albareto Gate (later Porta Castello), on the north side of the city walls, is rebuilt and moved further north, by order of the imperial assassin Rinaldo Passerino Bonaccolsi.

The Ghibelline army, led by the Modenese, conquers Reggio. This is a resounding victory for Rainaldo Bonacolsi, known as Passerino, after his defeat at Montefiorino the previous year.

The Venetians invented the galley, specifically intended for trade, capable of carrying 150 tons of cargo in the hold, plus 50 tons of sailors’ chests above deck, with a crew of 200.

Occam – the Franciscan friar William of Ockham – taught at Oxford. He is credited with Occam’s Razor (first used by Sir William Rowan Hamilton in 1852), which states: “When competing theories have equal predictive power, the principle recommends selecting those that introduce as few

The Campionese Masters complete the Ghirlandina Tower in Modena, building the tip of the Tower above the existing fifth floor.

Odorico of Pordenone, a Franciscan friar, reaches the Middle East, China and remains in Beijing for 3 years

Genoa. The Guelphs (pro-Pontiff) gain power, but the colonies of Pera and Caffa remain loyal to the Ghibelline (pro-Emperor) faction of Genoa and repel a military fleet sent against them by the Venetian Guelphs.

Rome. With the papal bull Si Fratum, Pope John XXII ordered Duke Passerino, Cangrande della Scala, and Matteo Visconti to resign their titles as imperial vicars, given the emperor’s absence. On May 5, 1323, the bishops of Mantua, Jacopo Benfatti, Guido of Modena, Bertrando del

Morgarten. The newly formed Swiss Confederation wins a great victory against Leopold of Habsburg.

Modena, Mantua, Verona, Vicenza, and Uguzzone della Faggiola formed an important military alliance. Modena in particular, being close to Guelph Bologna, found itself playing a much bigger game than itself.

Modena. Rainaldo Bonacolsi (known as “Passerino”), along with his brother Bonaventura, triumphantly enters Modena. With the possession of Finale, he maintains an outlet to the sea, via the Naviglio, the Panaro, and the Po rivers. The following year, Passerino enlarges the Town Hall and widens

Kanku Musa was the ninth mansa of the Mali Empire, which reached its territorial peak during his reign. Musa was known for his wealth and generosity. He has been the subject of popular claims that he is the richest person in history, but the extent

Mantua. Guido Bonacolsi, old and ill, joins his brother Rainaldo Bonacolsi in his government. Rainaldo will become known in Modena as “Duke Passerino” due to his short stature, but his slender body and lively temperament. Another brother, Bonaventura, is fat, pale, and flabby, and is

The Black Death of the fourteenth century. It is recounted by Giovanni Boccaccio in the Decameron. It was first reported in China, in the Huabei region (the same area where the coronavirus originated in 2019). It was transmitted to humans from rodents via the Yersinia

Venice bit off more than it could chew and attempted to subjugate Ferrara, which was already subject to the Pope, both politically and commercially. But the Pope excommunicated Venice and issued a papal bull demanding the confiscation of their property and their enslavement wherever they

In the newly formed Respublica mutinensis, amidst a climate of euphoria and celebration, the Campionesi brothers returned to work on the Ghirlandina tower, adding the spire and garlands. During this period, the pedra ringadora was also placed in the Piazza Grande. Modena was inhabited by

Dante Alighieri writes the Divine Comedy

Monastic State of the Knights of Rhodes, on the island itself and on the neighboring islands. They are the Frates Hospitalis Sancti Johannis in Jerusalem, or Knights of St. John. They took refuge here after being expelled from the Levant: Syria, Lebanon, and Palestine. They

Scottish nationalist William Wallace, who fought against the army of Edward I, was captured by the English and executed.

India. The second Mongol attempt to take Delhi ends badly for the attackers. The skulls of Mongols killed in battle are placed in the city’s new walls as a sign of intimidation against further attacks.

Flavio Gioia was the first to create a compass in Europe (it had already been invented centuries earlier by the Chinese)

In Rapa Nui, Easter Island, the local civilization, which arrived on the island only 100 years earlier, has extinguished all the available wood and is therefore in decline.

Without disappearing, leprosy regressed considerably in the West starting in the 14th century.

The Arabs introduced oranges (from China and Japan), lemons and grapefruits (from Northern India), mandarins (from China), and cedars (from Persia) to Europe.

The Mongol Empire stretches from Finland to Turkey to Baghdad to Pakistan to Java including China

The first eyeglasses are manufactured

Pope Boniface VIII grants a year of indulgence in light of the millions of pilgrims who flock to Rome; it is the first Jubilee of the Catholic Church; Rome has 20,000 inhabitants and hosts 2,000,000 pilgrims.