1400

Events in 1400 2

• 1343 – 1400 Geoffrey Chaucer English poet Chaucer authored The Canterbury Tales, helping establish English as a major literary language.
• 1400 – 1521 Nezahualcoyotl -- the poet-king of Texcoco Nezahualcoyotl ("Fasting Coyote," 1402-1472) is the greatest tlatoani of Texcoco and arguably the most remarkable individual of the pre-conquest Americas -- a military leader, legal reformer, architect, philosopher and poet who rules Texcoco for 41 years and is still remembered today primarily for his poems. His legal code (40 laws covering civil, criminal and military matters) is the most sophisticated legal system in Mesoamerica. His architectural achievements include the great palace of Texcoco (described by Spanish observers as more impressive than anything in Spain), a massive dike across Lake Texcoco, and extensive botanical gardens. His poetry -- 36 surviving compositions -- grapples with questions of divine mystery, human transience and the nature of the good life with a philosophical sophistication unmatched in the pre-Columbian world. He appears to have developed a personal theology approaching monotheism -- worshipping an unnamed "Giver of Life" (Ipalnemohuani) as the supreme unknowable deity.