Editing 1340s (section)

===Political developments===

====War and decline in Western Europe====
{{see also|Hundred Years' War (1337–1360)}}
[[File:Edward III noble.jpg|left|thumb|A [[Noble (English coin)|gold noble]] of [[Edward III]]; his arms show his claim to both France and England]]
In Europe, the decade continued the period of gradual economic decline,<ref name="R67">Rothbard, p 67</ref> which followed the end of the [[Medieval Warm Period]] and the start of the [[Little Ice Age]] in the [[14th century|1300s]]. This secular decline, often mistitled a "depression", affected most of Western Europe, with the exception of a few Italian city-states.<ref name="R67"/> It was the result of factors which had begun earlier in the century, the main cause being the breaking of the balance between Church and state.<ref name="R67"/> The more dominant state increasingly interfered in the social and economic life of late medieval Europe, imposing detrimental taxation and regulation.<ref name="R67"/> King [[Edward III of England]] faced a brief standoff with some dissident barons in 1341 — one of only two such isolated standoffs in his popular reign.<ref>Hollister, p 269</ref> Meanwhile, the role of the [[Parliament of England]] became more defined, with the [[House of Commons of England|House of Commons]] regularly petitioning Edward from about 1343 onward.<ref>Hollister, p 278</ref>

[[Image:Battle of crecy froissart.jpg|thumb|right|The [[Battle of Crecy]] in [[1346]] was the first great land battle of the [[Hundred Years' War]]. In the 1340s, Europe entered a century of virtually continuous war.]]
Europe entered a period which saw almost continuous war for the next century.<ref name="R67" /> Fighting took place in the [[Duchy of Brittany]], "a country well suited to guerilla warfare", from 1342 to 1365 in the [[Breton War of Succession]].<ref>Fossier, p 69</ref> The [[Hundred Years' War]] (1337–1453) between France and England continued, and Edward III led an invasion resulting in a number of victories. One of the earlier English victories was at the naval [[Battle of Sluys]] in 1340, which annihilated the French fleet and gave the English control of the [[English Channel]] for several years.<ref name="H272">Hollister, p 272</ref> The initial campaigns were frustrating and expensive, so Edward altered his strategy to use English armies that were lightly supported but prepared to [[forage]] off the land.<ref name="H272" /> It successfully established English control over [[Brittany]] in 1342.<ref name="H272" /> Further armies were sent to Brittany and [[Gascony]] in 1345, and Edward himself crossed the Channel in 1346 with 10,000 men — an enormous army by contemporary standards.<ref name="H272" /> They [[Battle of Caen (1346)|plundered Caen]], an important town in [[Normandy]], and eventually began moving back toward the Channel.<ref name="H272" />

In 1346, the Battle of Crecy became the first great land battle of the Hundred Years' War, and the most stunning victory of Edward's career.<ref name="H272"/> English longbowmen crippled the French knights for many years to come, allowing Edward to take the key Channel port of [[Calais]] in 1347.<ref name="H272"/> Meanwhile, public discontent caused the town of [[Lyon]] to riot in 1347.<ref>Fossier, p 38</ref> Importantly, the English campaign of the 1340s "brought the hegemony of high medieval France to a decisive close."<ref name="H272"/>

====Central Europe====
In the [[Holy Roman Empire]], [[Ludwig the Bavarian]] was in conflict with the [[Avignon Papacy]].<ref name="Rendina378">Rendina, p 378<!--Source gives "Charles" as "Karl"--></ref> Pope Clement VI influenced the German [[Prince-elector]]s to elect [[Charles IV, Holy Roman Emperor|Charles of Moravia]] as rival king to Ludwig.<ref name="Rendina378"/> He was crowned in 1346 in [[Bonn]].<ref name="Rendina378"/> After the death of Emperor Ludwig in September 1347, Charles IV was recognised as [[List of German monarchs|King of Germany]] by all of the German princes.<ref name="Rendina378"/>

In 1341, [[Margarete Maultasch]], Countess of [[County of Tyrol]], had expelled her husband [[John Henry of Bohemia]]. She then married [[Louis V the Brandenburger|Louis of Bavaria]], a son of Ludwig, without an annulment of her previous marriage. The result was the [[excommunication]] of the couple.

====Northern Europe====
{{further|Northern Crusades|Crusader states}}
[[File:Medieval Livonia 1260.svg|thumb|left|Danish Estonia was sold to the Teutonic Order after the rebellion of 1343–1346.]]
In 1340, a German law-code was drawn up by the [[Teutonic Knights]] for their long-settled [[Monastic state of the Teutonic Knights|Prussian]] district of [[Pomesania]].<ref name="Christiansen210">Christiansen, p 210</ref> The code defined two categories of people: the unfree, who came under peasant law (''Gebauersrecht'') and were consigned to the jurisdiction of their lords; and the freedmen.<ref name="Christiansen210"/> The latter group included peasants who had the right to demand trial by the written code and could not be sentenced to death in private courts.<ref name="Christiansen210"/> However, an appendix to the law-code also made it clear that the [[Old Prussians|Old Prussian]] peasant converts were discriminated against by the Teutonic Knights, and were allowed remain "semi-pagan, uncouth and lawless".<ref name="Christiansen211">Christiansen, p 211</ref> Such treatment shocked contemporary commentators such as [[Saint Bridget of Sweden]].<ref name="Christiansen211"/>

The [[Danish monarchy]] had disintegrated in the [[1330s]], but was restored in 1340 by [[Valdemar IV]] after a long interregnum.<ref name="Christiansen200">Christiansen, p 200</ref> In the Danish crusader state of [[Danish Estonia|Estonia]], some 80% of the indigenous population was subject to immigrant lords, to whom they owed tithe and military duty.<ref name="Christiansen212">Christiansen, p 212</ref> When the lords reacted to falling grain-prices by increasing the level of tithe, which led to the [[St. George's Night Uprising]] in 1343.<ref name="Christiansen212"/> On 23 April, the Estonians rose up and killed their masters — German sources give a figure of 18,000 dead as a result of the uprising, although this total is unlikely.<ref name="Christiansen212"/> The Danish government in Estonia was overthrown when a major group of vassals in Tallinn handed over castles to the Teutonic Order in 1344–1345.<ref name="Skyum-Nielsen129">Skyum-Nielsen, p 129</ref> Beset by pressing problems at home and unable to break the monopoly of the [[Hanseatic League]] at sea, Valdemar decided to sell the territory to the master of the Teutonic Order for 10,000 marks.<ref name="Christiansen200"/> The final sale was approved by the king's Danish counsellors, and the shift of sovereignty took place on 1 November 1346.<ref name="Skyum-Nielsen129"/>

[[File:Pskov Veche Vasnetsov.jpg|thumb|A "[[veche]]" or [[popular assembly]] of the [[Pskov Republic]], which officially became independent by the [[Treaty of Bolotovo]] in 1348]]
In [[Sweden]], the court was continually reminded of its religious duties by Bridget of Sweden, who was the king's cousin and beginning to win fame as a prophetess.<ref name="Christiansen190">Christiansen, p 190</ref> Her primary aim was to reform and purify the upper class, and her posthumously complied ''Revelations'' contain thoughts on the [[Northern Crusades]] which must have been expressed in the 1344–1348 period.<ref name="Christiansen190"/> After King [[Magnus Eriksson]] had tried and failed to take possession of Denmark in the early 1340s, she advised him not to offend his people by raising taxes to fund wars against their co-religionists, but instead to raise taxes only for self-defence or in crusading against unbelievers.<ref name="Christiansen190"/> Therefore, after Magnus had at least temporarily resolved difficulties at home, he prepared for a crusade against the [[Russian Orthodox]] Novgorod.<ref>Christiansen, p 191-192</ref> Envoys were sent to the Russians in 1347, and an army was assembled that included Danish and German auxiliaries, and the support of Henry of Rendsburg.<ref>Christiansen, p 192</ref> The army set sail for the campaign in 1348.<ref name="Christiansen193" />

Accordingly, there were political divisions in the Russian states in this decade. The southern territories of [[Novgorod Republic|Novgorod]] had been subjugated by Prince [[Algirdas of Lithuania]] in 1346, and [[Simeon of Moscow]] had failed to intervene.<ref>Christiansen, p 191</ref> The city was divided between competing [[boyar]] factions, and the lack of unity between Novgorod and her allies allowed for the success of Magnus' campaign of 1348.<ref>Christiansen, p 191 & 193</ref> [[Pskov Republic|Pskov]] officially broke away from Novgorod that year;<ref>Nossov (2007), p 8</ref> and Simeon was again delayed in helping against the Swedes, this time by business with his overlord, the Khan of the [[Golden Horde]].<ref name="Christiansen193">Christiansen, p 193</ref> Orekhov was taken by the Swedes, although it was to fall in 1349.<ref name="Christiansen193"/>

====Eastern Europe====
{{further|Byzantine civil war of 1341–1347}}
* [[Byzantine civil war of 1341–1347]] within the [[Byzantine Empire]]
* [[John III of Trebizond|John III Comnenus]] becomes [[Empire of Trebizond|emperor of Trebizond]] (1342)<ref>{{Cite book|title=Encyclopedia of the Byzantine Empire|last=Lawler|first=Jennifer|publisher=McFarland|year=2011|isbn=978-1476609294|pages=326}}</ref>
* Guy de Lusignan becomes King [[Constantine II, King of Armenia|Gosdantin II of Armenia]] (1342)<ref>{{Cite book|title=The Armenian Kingdom and the Mamluks|last=Stewart|first=Angus Donal|publisher=Brill|year=2001|isbn=9004122923|pages=185}}</ref>
* The [[Patriarch of Antioch|Patriarchate of Antioch]] is transferred to [[Damascus]] under Ignatius II (1342)<ref>{{cite web |title=Primates of the Apostolic See of Antioch |url=http://ww1.antiochian.org/patofant/primates |website=Antiochian Orthodox Christian Archdiocese |publisher=Primates of the Apostolic See of Antioch |access-date=3 April 2020 |archive-date=23 February 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200223233528/http://ww1.antiochian.org/patofant/primates |url-status=dead }}</ref>
* Serbian expansion
* In 1342, [[Louis I of Hungary|Louis I]] became King of [[Hungary]].<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.britannica.com/biography/Louis-I-king-of-Hungary|title=Louis I king of Hungary |website=Britannica |publisher=Encyclopaedia Britannica |access-date=3 April 2020}}</ref>

====Southern Europe====
In [[Rome]], the general despair brought on by the Plague and the absence of the Pope have been cited as possible causes for the rise of the Roman notary [[Cola di Rienzo]]: in 1347, he assumed the title of [[Roman censor|censor]] and claimed to restore the [[Roman Republic]].<ref name="Fossier105">Fossier, p 105</ref> He utilised popular rhetoric, and invited the men of [[Trastevere]] to sack the palaces of the fleeing Roman nobility.<ref name="Fossier105"/> Cola tried to establish direct government with elections in the ''[[Rioni of Rome|rione]]'' of the city, but he lacked the means to take the [[Castel Sant'Angelo]] and he was cut down by the Roman aristocracy in 1354.<ref name="Fossier105"/>

[[Image:Alfonso XI Coin.jpg|left|thumb|A [[billon (alloy)|billon]] coin of [[Alfonso XI]], dated circa 1345.]]
There were several rulers of the Kingdoms of Spain in the 1340s. [[Alfonso XI of Castile|Alfonso XI the Just]] ruled until the end of the decade as [[King of Castile and León]].<ref name="Davies393">Davies,  p 393</ref> Castile and León surrounded Granada by land, and Alfonso advanced the Christian ''[[Reconquista]]''.<ref name="Davies393"/> In 1340, at the [[Battle of Río Salado]], he won the first Castilian victory over the [[Moors]] for over a century, and crossed the straits to [[Algeciras]].<ref name="Davies393"/> In [[1345]], he attacked Gibraltar, but was unable to conquer it.<ref>O'Callaghan, p 212</ref>

By 1343, Aragon had acquired the [[Balearic Islands]],<ref>Fossier, p 66</ref> and in 1344 Peter deposed [[James III of Majorca]] to become [[King of Majorca]] himself. [[Navarre]] was ruled by [[Philip III of Navarre|Philip III]] until 1343, his [[House of Capet|Capetian]] wife [[Joanna II of Navarre|Joanna II]] until 1349, and finally [[Charles II of Navarre|Charles II the Bad]] ruled into the late 14th century. The [[Kingdom of Portugal]] was meanwhile ruled by [[Afonso IV of Portugal|Afonso IV]], from 1325 until his death in 1357.

In 1341, [[Saluzzo]] sacked by [[Manfred V of Saluzzo]]. In 1342, [[Louis of Sicily|Louis "the Child"]] became King of [[Sicily]] and [[Duchy of Athens|Duke of Athens]]. An earthquake and [[tsunami]] of 1343 devastated the [[Amalfi|Maritime Republic of Amalfi]].<ref>{{Cite web |last=Del Lungo |first=Stefano |date=July 2012 |title=Reckless foundations, Natural disasters or Divine punishment in the 14th century Italian culture (the storm or tsunami of Amalfi in 1343) |url=https://www.academia.edu/26091361 |access-date=June 18, 2020 |website=ResearchGate}}</ref>