Editing 1440 (section)

=== October–December ===
* [[October 22]] &ndash; [[Gilles de Rais]] confesses, and is sentenced to death on a conviction of murdering at least 140 children. He is hanged on October 26 and his corpse is then burned at the stake.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Benedetti |first=Jean |title=Gilles de Rais |location=New York |publisher=Stein and Day |year=1971 |pages=182-190 |isbn=978-0-8128-1450-7}}</ref> 
* [[November 2]] &ndash; The [[Old Zurich War]] begins as the [[Canton of Zurich]], led by the [[burgomaster]] [[Rudolf Stüssi]], is expelled from the [[Old Swiss Confederacy|Swiss Confederation]] (''Corpus helveticum'') by the leaders of the other [[Swiss canton|canton]]s (Bern, Glarus, Lucerne, Schwyz, Unterwalden, Uri and Zug). Stüssi makes an alliance with [[Frederick III, Holy Roman Emperor]] and a war which will last more than five years begins.
* [[November 3]] &ndash; [[Charles, Duke of Orléans]], is released from incarceration in England, 25 years after he had been taken as a prisoner of war at the [[Battle of Agincourt]] in [[1415]]. His freedom is gained after the negotiations made by two of his former enemies, the Duke of Burgundy and the Queen of Portugal, and payment of a ransom of 80,000 gold coins. The Duke of Orleans, now aged 46, returns to French soil after more than a quarter of a century in England.<ref>{{cite book |title=The Maid and the Queen: The Secret History of Joan of Arc |last=Goldstone |first=Nancy |year=2013 |publisher= Phoenix Paperbacks, London |pages=225-226}}</ref>
* [[November 24]] &ndash; The "[[Clan Douglas#Black Dinner|Black Dinner]]" takes place at [[Edinburgh Castle]] as Lord Chancellor of Scotland [[William Crichton, 1st Lord Crichton|William Crichton]] conspires with the [[James Douglas, 7th Earl of Douglas|James Douglas]], uncle of the late [[Archibald Douglas]] (who had served as regent for King James II) to invite Archibald's two sons, 16-year old [[William Douglas, 6th Earl of Douglas]] and David Douglad to dinner with King James. At the dinner, the two boys are taken hostage and murdered, the members of [[Clan Douglas]] besiege the castle, and James Douglas inherits the Earldom.<ref>[https://archive.org/details/collinsscottishc0000wayg/page/384/mode/2up?q=1440&view=theater|"Douglas", in ''Scottish Clan & Family Encyclopedia''], George Way and Romilly Squire, eds., (Glasgow: HarperCollinsPublishers, 1994) pp. 384–385</ref>
* [[December 1]] &ndash; Representatives of the Swiss canton of Zurich sign the Peace of Lucerne, bringing a temporary halt to the [[Old Zurich War]].