1400 – 1410s

Events in the 1400s 6

• 1343 – 1400 Geoffrey Chaucer English poet Chaucer authored The Canterbury Tales, helping establish English as a major literary language.
• 1365 – 1405 Bartolino da Padova Italian Trecento composer Bartolino da Padova was a northern Italian composer whose madrigals and ballate show refined craftsmanship characteristic of the late Trecento.
• 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.
• 1402 Battle of Ankara -- Timur captures Bayezid I At the Battle of Ankara (28 July 1402), the Turco-Mongol conqueror Timur (Tamerlane) defeats and captures the Ottoman sultan Bayezid I -- the only Ottoman sultan ever taken prisoner. Timur dismembers the Ottoman state, restoring the Anatolian beyliks the Ottomans had absorbed. Bayezid dies in captivity (1403). The Ottoman succession crisis (the Interregnum, 1402-1413) sees Bayezid's sons fight a civil war. Mehmed I emerges victorious and reunites the empire. The Timurid intervention gives Constantinople a 50-year reprieve.
• 1405 – 1433 Zheng He's great voyages The largest fleet in history sails to Africa — then China turns inward Between 1405 and 1433, Muslim eunuch admiral Zheng He led seven extraordinary naval expeditions commanding fleets of up to 300 ships and 28,000 men — vessels far larger than anything European sailors had. He reached Southeast Asia, India, the Persian Gulf and the East African coast, establishing tributary relationships and collecting exotic animals. After his death, the Ming court banned further voyages, destroying the ships and records — one of history's great "what ifs."
• 1406 – 1420 Forbidden City built in Beijing 980 buildings, 8,700 rooms — the world's largest palace complex Emperor Yongle ordered the construction of the Forbidden City between 1406 and 1420, employing an estimated million workers and 100,000 craftsmen. The complex of 980 buildings covering 72 hectares served as the Chinese imperial palace for 24 emperors across the Ming and Qing dynasties. It was the political and ceremonial heart of China for nearly 500 years. Today it is the world's most visited museum.