1420s

Millennium:	2nd millennium
Centuries:	14th century – 15th century – 16th century
Decades:	1390s 1400s 1410s – 1420s – 1430s 1440s 1450s
Years:	1420 1421 1422 1423 1424 1425 1426 1427 1428 1429
Categories:	Births – Deaths – Architecture Establishments – Disestablishments

1420s: events by year

Contents: 1420 1421 1422 1423 1424 1425 1426 1427 1428 1429

January–December

• May 21 – Treaty of Troyes: With the Burgundian faction dominant in France, King Charles VI of France acknowledges Henry V of England as his heir and as virtual ruler of most of France.
• May 25 – Henry the Navigator is appointed governor of the Order of Christ.
• June 7 – Troops of the Republic of Venice capture Udine after a long siege, ending the independence of the Patriarchal State of Friuli, run by the Patriarch of Aquileia.
• October 22 – Ghiyasu'd-Din Naqqah, an envoy of the embassy sent by the Timurid ruler of Persia, Mirza Shahrukh (r. 1404–1447), to the Ming Dynasty of China during the reign of the Yongle Emperor (r. 1402–1424), records his sight and travel over a large floating pontoon bridge at Lanzhou (constructed earlier in 1372) as he crosses the Yellow River on this day. He writes that it was: "...composed of twenty three boats, of great excellence and strength attached together by a long chain of iron as thick as a man's thigh, and this was moored on each side to an iron post as thick as a man's waist extending a distance of ten cubits on the land and planted firmly in the ground, the boats being fastened to this chain by means of big hooks. There were placed big wooden planks over the boats so firmly and evenly that all the animals were made to pass over it without difficulty."

Date unknown

• The Madeira Islands are discovered by the Portuguese João Gonçalves Zarco.
• Hussite Wars: Sigismund, Holy Roman Emperor fails at the Battle of Vysehrad and is ejected from Bohemia.
• Catherine of Valois marries Henry V of England.
• Henry V of England commences construction of Grace Dieu (ship).
• Construction begins on the Temple of Heaven in Beijing, China while the palace complex of the Forbidden City is completed. In this year the Yongle Emperor confers the title "Beijing" ("Northern Capital") for the Ming Dynasty's new capital city, replacing Nanjing.
• The Basilica di Santa Maria del Fiore's dome construction is started after Filippo Brunelleschi wins the commission for his "double shell" design.

January–December

• January 10 – Hussite Wars: Battle of Nemecky Brod: The Hussites defeat 2,000 Royalist Crusaders.
• March 21 – The Siege of Meaux begins.
• August 31 – Henry VI becomes King of England.
• September 27 – the Teutonic Knights sign the Treaty of Melno with the Kingdom of Poland and Grand Duchy of Lithuania after the brief Gollub War. The Prussian–Lithuanian border established by the treaty remained unchanged until World War I.
• October 21 – With the death of King Charles VI of France, Henry VI of England is proclaimed King of France in Paris, while the Dauphin, Charles, is proclaimed King Charles VII of France in Bourges.

Date unknown

• Venice has a population of 84,000 of which 200 men rule the city.
• Florence has a population of 40,000 of which 600 men rule the city.
• Ottoman forces overrun the last domains of Constantine II of Bulgaria, who dies in exile at the Serbian court; end of the Bulgarian Empire.

January–December

• April 27 – Hussite Wars – Battle of Horic: The Taborites decisively beat the Utraquists.
• 21/22 May – Byzantine-Ottoman Wars – The Ottoman governor of Thessaly, Turakhan Beg, breaks through the Hexamilion wall and ravages the Peloponnese peninsula.
• July 31 – Hundred Years' War- Battle of Cravant: The French army is defeated at Cravant on the banks of the river Yonne.

Date unknown

• According to the 1421 theory, Zheng He's fleets return to China.
• The three independent boroughs of Pamplona are united into a single town by royal decree after centuries of feuds.

January–December

• June 2 – Battle of L'Aquila: Jacopo Caldora and Micheletto Attendolo for the Kingdom of Naples defeat Braccio da Montone for Alfonso V of Aragon.
• August 17 – Battle of Verneuil: An English force under John, Duke of Bedford defeats a larger French army under the Duke of Alençon, John Stewart, and Earl Archibald of Douglas. Alençon is captured and Douglas killed.
• Dalmatia: Aliota Capenna, lord of Lesina (nowadays Hvar), offers his realm to the Republic of Venice (also said to have occurred in 1409 and 1421).

Date unknown

• Beijing, capital of China, becomes the largest city in the world, taking the lead from Nanjing (estimated date).
• The Catholic University of Leuven, Belgium is founded.
• By this year, paper currency in China is worth only 0.025% to 0.014% its original value in the 14th century; this and counterfeiting of copper coin currency will lead to a dramatic shift to using silver as the common medium of exchange in China.
• Uprising by the Maltese against Don Gonsalvo Monroy, count of Malta. The insurgents repel an attempt by the Viceroy of Sicily to bring the island to order. The Maltese do not submit to Catalan-Aragonese rule until the Magna Charta Libertatis granting them their new rights is delivered to them

[edit]

January–December

• March 6 – Battle of St. James (near Avranches): An English army under John, Duke of Bedford defeats the French under Arthur de Richemont, forcing the Duke of Brittany to recognize English suzerainty.
• June 16 – Hussite Wars – Battle of Usti nad Labem: The Hussites decisively beat the crusading armies in the Fourth Anti-Hussite Crusade.
• July 7 – The Battle of Chirokitia is fought.

Date unknown

• "Castello Orsini-Odescalchi" is built in Bracciano, Italy by the Orsini family.
• Eunuch-dominated secret police start to control the palace guards and imperial workshops, infiltrate the civil service and head all foreign missions in China.

January–December

• August 4 – Hussite Wars – Battle of Tachov: The Hussites decisively beat the crusader armies, ending the Fourth Anti-Hussite Crusade.
• August 17 – The first band of Gypsies visits Paris, according to an account of the citizen of Paris.

Date unknown

• Lincoln College, a constituent college of the University of Oxford, is founded.
• The House of Balsic's rule of Montenegro comes to an end.
• Bhaktapur Royal Palace in Nepal is built by King Yaksa Malla.
• Gabriel V is elected Patriarch of the Coptic Church for the second time.
• Minrekyansa becomes King of Ava (ancient Burma).
• The Conflict of Druimnacour occurs in Sutherland, Scotland.
• The first witch hunts begin, in Switzerland.
• Celestine Order established in France.
• The Celebration of Sant Jordi (Saint George) begins in Catalonia (he will later become its patron saint).
• Bremen is expelled from the Hanseatic League.
• Diogo de Silves, Portuguese navigator, discovers seven islands of the Azores archipelago.
• The Battle of the Echinades, between a Byzantine fleet and the fleet of Carlo I Tocco.

January–December

• August 30 – Emperor Go-Hanazono accedes to the throne of Japan.
• October 12 – English forces under Thomas Montacute, 4th Earl of Salisbury, besiege Orléans. Jean de Dunois, the Bastard of Orléans, commands the defenders.
• October 24 – Thomas Montacute, 4th Earl of Salisbury, is mortally wounded in an unsuccessful assault on Orléans. He is succeeded in command by William de la Pole, 4th Earl of Suffolk.

Date unknown

• Itzcóatl becomes ruler of the Aztecs. He eventually begins the construction of Tenochtitlan.
• The Aztec Triple Alliance (also known as The Aztec Empire) forms with the alliance of three Aztec city-states—Tenochtitlán, Texcoco, and Tlacopán—and defeats Azcapotzalco to win control of the Valley of Mexico.
• A serious fire occurs at Baynard's Castle in London.
• Voices tell Joan of Arc that Charles VII of France must be crowned and the English expelled from France.
• Lam Sơn uprising: Lê Lợi, founder of the Lê Dynasty in Vietnam, liberates Annam (the territory occupied by Ming Dynasty China in 1407) and restores the kingdom as Đại Việt.

January–December

• February 12 – Battle of Rouvray (or "of the Herrings"): English forces under Sir John Fastolf defend a supply convoy carrying rations to the army of William de la Pole, 4th Earl of Suffolk at Orléans from attack by the Comte de Clermont and John Stewart.
• April 29 – Joan of Arc arrives to relieve the Siege of Orléans.
• April 30 – Siege of Orléans: Joan of Arc enters Orléans with a relief expedition.
• May 7 – The Tourelles, the last English siege fortification at Orléans, falls. Joan of Arc becomes the hero of the battle by returning wounded to lead the final charge.
• May 8 – The English, weakened by disease and lack of supplies, depart Orléans.
• June 18 – Battle of Patay: French forces under Joan of Arc smash the English forces under Lord Talbot and Sir John Fastolf, forcing the withdrawal of the English from the Loire Valley.
• July 17 – Charles VII of France crowned in Rheims.
• September 8 – Joan of Arc leads an unsuccessful attack on Paris and is wounded.
• November 24 – Joan besieged La Charité.

Date unknown

• Fire destroys Turku.
• A series of seven customs offices and barriers are installed along the Grand Canal of China, during the reign of the Ming Dynasty ruler Emperor Yongle.