1396 Explained

Year 1396 (MCCCXCVI) was a leap year starting on Saturday of the Julian calendar.

Events

January - December

• January 4  - Irene Shpata, daughter of Gjin Bua Shpata, becomes the new Ottoman Despotess of Ioannina when she marries the despot Esau de' Buondelmonti of Epirus.^[1]
• February 4  - (24 Rabi' al-Thani 798 AH) Hasan ibn Ajlan becomes the Emir of Mecca as his brother Muhammad ibn Ajlan steps aside.^[2]
• March 9  - King Richard II of England, 29, marries Princess Isabelle of France, the 6-year-old daughter of King Charles VI of France, by proxy.^[3] The two will marry in person on October 31 in Calais.
• March 28  - A War Council in Buda, led by King Sigismund of Hungary is held with representatives of various Christian nations to begin the Nicopolis Crusade against the Muslims of the Ottoman Empire for the liberation of Bulgaria.^[4]

April - June

• April 30  - Thousands of Christian crusaders from France depart from Dijon and march to Strasbourg, then sail on the Danube river to join forces with King Sigismund.^[4]
• May 19  - Martin I succeeds his brother, John I, as King of Aragon (modern-day northeastern Spain).^[5]
• June 14  - The University of Zadar is founded with the establishment of a theological seminary in the Croatian city.
• July 20  - Queen Margaret I of Denmark, Norway and Sweden publishes the Treaty of Kalmar, proposing the personal union of the three kingdoms of Denmark, Norway (with Iceland, Greenland, the Faroe Islands, Shetland and Orkney) and Sweden (including Finland and Åland).^[6]

July - September

• July 23  - Queen Margaret makes her great-nephew and adopted son Eric of Pomerania joint ruler of Sweden. Eric has already been made joint ruler of Norway.
• August 29  - The Battle of Schoterzijl is fought in the third of the Friso-Hollandic Wars between Holland, led by Albert I, Duke of Bavaria, and Friesland, a semi-independent kingdom, led by Juw Juwinga. Although Juwinga is killed in battle, the Frisians are able to hold onto independence.^[7]
• September 12  - The Crusaders, with more than 17,000 troops from France, Hungary, the Knights Hospitaler, Wallachia and the Holy Roman Empire, arrive at the outskirts of Nicopolis (now Nikopol in Bulgaria).^[4]
• September 19  - John V marries Joan of France.^[8]
• September 25  - Battle of Nicopolis: The Ottomans defeat a joint crusade by Hungary, France, the Holy Roman Empire, and Wallachia,^[9] led by King Sigismund of Hungary. This is the last large-scale crusade of the Middle Ages.^[10]
• late September  - Battle of the North Inch ("Battle of the Thirty"): In a mass trial by combat on the North Inch of Perth, Scotland, the Clan Cameron defeat the Clan Mackintosh.^[11] Records refer to "warpipes" being carried into battle, perhaps predecessors of the Great Highland bagpipe.^[12]

October - December

• October 31  - The widowed Richard II of England (29), and six-year-old Isabella of Valois (daughter of Charles VI of France), are married in Calais, resulting in a temporary peace between the kingdoms of England and France.^[13]
• October  - A Transylvanian expedition captures Vlad I Uzurpatorul, thus allowing the restoration of Mircea I of Wallachia to the throne.^[14]
• November 24  - The Transit of Venus, the last not to be part of a pair, is possibly observed by Aztec astronomers.^[15]

Notes and References

1. Book: Nicol, Donald M. . The Despotate of Epiros 1267-1479 A Contribution to the History of Greece in the Middle Ages. 1984 . Cambridge University Press . 163 . 978-0-5212-6190-6.
2. ‘Abd Allāh ibn Muḥammad al-Ghāzī, et al., Ifādat al-anām إفادة الأنام (in Arabic). Vol. 3 (1st ed.). (Mecca: Maktabat al-Asadī, 2009) pp. 247–248
3. Web site: Kelly . Amy Eloise . 2022-10-19 . Isabella of Valois - The child bride of King Richard II . 2024-12-20 . History of Royal Women . en.
4. Book: Tuchman, Barbara W. . A Distant Mirror: the Calamitous 14th Century . Barbara Tuchman . 1978 . Alfred A. Knopf . New York . 548-555 . 0-345-28394-5 . A Distant Mirror .
5. Bisson, Thomas N. (1986). The Medieval Crown of Aragon: A Short History. Clarendon Press, p. 125.
6. White, Richard (2010), These Stones Bear Witness, AuthorHouse, p. 56.
7. Book: Brouwers. J.H.. Klama. J.J.. Kok. W.. M. Wiegersma. Encyclopedie van Friesland. 1958. Amsterdam: Elsevier. 394. GoogleBooks.
8. Knecht, Robert (2004). The Valois: Kings of France 1328–1589. Hambledon Continuum, p. 6-7.
9. Book: Nicolle, David. 1999. Nicopolis 1396: The Last Crusade. Campaign Series. London. Osprey Publishing.
10. "Battle of Nicopolis". Encyclopædia Britannica. Retrieved 28 January 2025.
11. "Site Record for Perth, North Inch; 'The Battle Of The Clans'; Inch Of Perth". canmore.rcahms.gov.uk. Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historical Monuments of Scotland. Retrieved 28 January 2025.
12. Book: Collinson, Francis M.. The Bagpipe: The History of a Musical Instrument. London. Routledge. 1975. 978-0-7100-7913-8. 135.
13. Williams, Deanne (2016). "Isabelle de France, Child Bride". In Martin, Catherine Gimelli; Melehy, Hassan (eds.). French Connections in the English Renaissance. Routledge, p. 32-33.
14. N. Djuvara, O scurtă istorie ilustrată a Românilor. Ed. Humanitas, București, 2013, p. 119.
15. Web site: Oreste . Giuseppe . Dizionario biografico degli Italiano . 1960.
16. Weir, Alison (1999). Britain's Royal Family: A Complete Genealogy. London: The Bodley Head, p. 108.
17. Book: Taylor, Craig . A Virtuous Knight: Defending Marshal Boucicaut (Jean II Le Meingre, 1366-1421) . York Medieval Press . 2019. 30.
18. Science historian chronicles true story of Lady Florence Baker, Penn State University, 3 February 2004, Retrieved 28 January 2025.
19. Miller-Yianni, Martin (20 May 2010). Bulgarian History — A Concise Account. Lulu.com. . Retrieved 28 January 2025 – via Google Books.
20. Kirk, Thomas Allison (2005). Genoa and the Sea: Policy and Power in an Early Modern Maritime Republic. Johns Hopkins University Press. p. 26. . Archived from the original on 11 February 2020. Retrieved 28 January 2025.
21. [William Miller (historian)|Miller, William]
22. Ilahiane, Hsain (2006-07-17). Historical Dictionary of the Berbers (Imazighen). Scarecrow Press., p. 156.
23. [Vasily Bartold|Barthold, Vasilii Vladimirovitch]
24. Vasiliĭ Vladimirovich Bartolʹd, Four Studies on the History of Central Asia, Vol.II, (Brill, 1958), 33.
25. Whitworth Porter (31 October 2013). A History of the Knights of Malta. Cambridge University Press. p. 291. .
26. Simon, Z (2021). "Ten Chronologies of Ancient Mexico"
27. Wade, Geoff (1996) "The Bai Yi Zhuan: A Chinese Account of Tai Society in the 14th Century," 14th Conference of the International Association of Historians of Asia (IAHA), Chulalongkorn University, Bangkok, Thailand. (Includes translation of (Jiangliang, 1980) at ChulalongkornCentral Library)[1]
28. HISTORY OF SAMARKAND GARDENS BUILT BY AMIR TEMUR. Kamoliddin G’aniev, Samarkand State University, Associate Professor of History of Uzbekistan. Article history: Abstract: Received: 2th April 2021 In the article on the basis of sources landscape gardening. https://scholarzest.com/index.php/esj/article/download/726/615/1477. Retrieved 28 January 2025.
29. "University of Zadar : About us". Unizd.hr. Retrieved 28 January 2025.
30. SampleContents library, Transit of Venus.wRetrieved 28 January 2025.
    • November 27
    ]  - Antoniotto I Adorno, Doge of the Republic of Genoa, voluntarily steps down and turns control of the republic over to France's King Charles VI. King Charles then appoints Adorno as the governor of French-ruled Genoa.^[15]
    • November 29  - Ralph Neville, 1st Earl of Westmorland, marries Joan Beaufort in England.^[16]
    • November 30  - King Richard II summons the members of the English House of Lords and the House of Commons to open the English Parliament on January 22.
    • December 30  - Waleran III of Luxembourg, becomes the French Governor of the former Republic of Genoa.^[17]

    Date unknown

    • The Ottomans capture the Bulgarian fortress of Vidin and Tsar Ivan Sratsimir, ending the Second Bulgarian Empire.^[18] The Bulgarian state is reestablished in 1878 as the Principality of Bulgaria.^[19]
    • France conquers the Republic of Genoa.^[20]
    • After a 14-year interregnum, Pedro de San Superano is declared ruler of the Principality of Achaea (modern-day Peloponnese, southern Greece).^[21]
    • Abu Amir succeeds Abdul Aziz II as ruler of the Marinid dynasty, in modern-day Morocco.^[22]
    • Timur appoints his son Miran Shah, as Timurid viceroy of present-day Azerbaijan.^[23]
    • The Kart dynasty is brought to an end in east Persia after its remaining rulers are murdered at a banquet by Miran Shah.^[24]
    • Philibert de Naillac succeeds Juan Fernández de Heredia, as Grand Master of the Knights Hospitaller.^[25]
    • Huitzilihuitl succeeds his father, Acamapichtli, as ruler of the Aztecs.^[26]
    • The Ulu Camii Mosque is built in Bursa by the Ottomans.
    • The Ming dynasty court of China sends two envoys, Qian Guxun and Li Sicong, to the Ava Kingdom of Burma and the Tai polity of the Mong Mao, in order to resolve a dispute between these two. The travels of the Chinese ambassadors are recorded in the historical text of the Baiyi Zhuan.^[27]
    • Timur orders the construction of a garden in a meadow, House of Flowers.^[28]
    • Peasants in the modern-day provinces of Hunan and Hubei in the east of China plant 84 million fruit trees.
    • The University of Zadar is founded, the first university in Croatia.^[29]

    Births

    • July 31  - Philip III, Duke of Burgundy (d. 1467)
    • October 16  - William de la Pole, 1st Duke of Suffolk, English noble (d. 1450)
    • date unknown
      • Alfonso V of Aragon (d. 1458)
      • Bonne of Artois, countess regent of Nevers (d. 1425)
      • Ambroise de Loré, baron of Ivry in Normandy (d. 1446)
      • Michelozzo, Italian architect and sculptor (d. 1472)
      • Ponhea Yat, ruler of the Khmer Empire (d. 1460?)

    Deaths

    • January 11  - Isidore Glabas, Metropolitan bishop of Thessalonica (b. 1341/2)
    • May 19  - John I of Aragon (b. 1350)
    • July 31  - William Courtenay, Archbishop of Canterbury
    • September 15  - Queen Sindeok, politically active Korean queen (b. 1356)
    • November 29  - Robert Ferrers, 3rd Baron Ferrers of Wemme (b. 1373)
    • date unknown
      • John Beaumont, 4th Baron Beaumont, Constable of Dover Castle (b. 1361)
      • Frederick II, Marquess of Saluzzo
      • Saint Stephen of Perm (b. 1340)
      • She Xiang, Chinese tribute chieftain (b. 1361)

    References