John Wycliffe presents his views on church reform to Parliament in England.
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What Happened in January?
Tragic deaths, ravaged cities, and great acts of heroism. Discover what happened this month in history and the defining moments that shaped the world. Dates for earlier events may be approximate.
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King Richard II of England marries Anne of Bohemia at Westminster Abbey. Anne was the daughter of the Emperor Charles IV of Bohemia; the marriage helped form an alliance with the Holy Roman Empire against France. Anne was crowned Queen on January 22.
Louis I of Anjou is crowned King of Naples, initiating the Angevin dynasty's rule in southern Italy.
John Montacute, Earl of Salisbury, and Thomas Holland, Duke of Surrey, are executed for their involvement in a plot against King Henry IV of England.
King Henry IV, wary of anything that could weaken the crown, signed the Act Against Multipliers into law in an effort to protect the authority of the government by preventing the debasement of currency.
The Act forbade the transmutation of base metals into gold or silver, which one might then use to create counterfeit coins. Later, although the law was meant to outlaw the process, the government charged alchemists expensive licenses to practice. The act remained in effect until it was repealed in 1689. More
French forces under Louis, Duke of Orléans, capture the city of Bordeaux, a significant English stronghold.
The Treaty of Windsor is signed between England and Scotland, establishing peace and a marriage alliance between the two kingdoms.
The Council of Pisa is announced, aiming to resolve the Western Schism by deposing both Pope Gregory XII and Antipope Benedict XIII.
The Medici family gains power in Florence as Giovanni de' Medici becomes head of the family's bank. (Medici Bank) which had been founded in 1397. Giovanni expanded it, eventually becoming the official bank of the papacy
The Treaty of Troyes is signed, establishing Henry V of England as heir to the French throne.
The Medici Bank in Florence suffers a financial crisis, leading to its restructuring.
The trial of Joan of Arc began in Rouen, France, on January 9, 1431, before an ecclesiastical court presided over by Bishop Pierre Cauchon. The trial was conducted by an English-backed church tribunal on charges of heresy, which included wearing men's clothes and acting on what the court claimed were demonic visions.
The trial concluded with Joan being burned at the stake on May 30, 1431. The verdict was later overturned in 1456 after a reinvestigation found the original trial was "tainted by deceit and procedural errors".
Pope Eugenius IV grants the privileges of the University of Leuven in Belgium.
The Council of Ferrara - Florence is convened in Italy and opens on January 8, 1438. It was the continuation of the Council of Basel, which Pope Eugenius IV transferred to Ferrara, then Florence. It was aimed at reunifying the Eastern Orthodox Church and the Roman Catholic Church after the separation which began with the Great Schism of 1054.
A papal bull, Laetentur Caeli, was issued on July 6, 1439 declaring the union of the two churches, however it was short lived and eventually rejected by most of the Orthodox bishops and clergy back in the East, and the reunification ultimately failed due to significant opposition.
Albert II of Habsburg is crowned Holy Roman Emperor in Rome.
The Union of Florence is signed, aiming to reconcile the Eastern and Western churches.
The Peace of Szeged is signed, ending the 1443-1444 Crusade of Varna between Hungary and the Ottoman Empire.
The Eton College Foundation Charter is signed, establishing Eton College near Windsor, England.
Christopher of Bavaria, King of Denmark, Sweden, and Norway, dies.
Sultan Murad II of the Ottoman Empire abdicates the throne in favor of his son, Mehmed II.