1322
Great Famine ends in northern Europe
After seven years of waterlogged harvests, epidemic cattle plague, and desperate hunger, the rains finally relented. Northern Europe had lost perhaps ten percent of its population. The survivors faced a landscape of abandoned villages and traumatized communities. A generation later, the Black Death would find a continent already weakened by memory.
Eleven-year drought breaks in Mali heartland
West African oral tradition and later Arab reports describe a multi-year drought in the Niger bend that strained Mali's food supply and tribute system, forcing the imperial court to redistribute grain stores. When the rains returned, Mansa Musa had the resources to plan his legendary hajj; tradition associates the drought's end with his devout intentions.
Battle of Boroughbridge ends Lancaster's revolt
Thomas of Lancaster, cousin of Edward II and leader of baronial opposition, was caught at a Yorkshire river crossing and defeated. His forces were trapped between the river and loyalist pikemen holding the bridge. Taken to his own castle at Pontefract, mocked, and beheaded, he became an unlikely popular saint. His martyrdom did little to save Edward from a worse fate.
Mühldorf: Bavaria triumphs over Habsburg
Two rival German kings met on a dusty Bavarian plain. Louis IV of Wittelsbach captured his Habsburg cousin Frederick the Fair along with thirteen hundred knights in a brutal cavalry engagement. The victory confirmed Louis as Holy Roman Emperor and opened his decades-long fight with Pope John XXII over the limits of papal interference in imperial elections.
Pope John XXII bans polyphony in Docta Sanctorum
From Avignon the pope issued a decree condemning the new Ars Nova music that was creeping into churches, its hocketed voices and syncopated rhythms distracting the faithful from proper devotion. Composers ignored him magnificently. Within a generation, Guillaume de Machaut would make polyphony the glory of French cathedrals and the defining sound of late medieval sacred art.
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Frequently asked
What happened in the year 1322?
Saeculum lists 5 curated events from 1322. The most significant is Great Famine ends in northern Europe: After seven years of waterlogged harvests, epidemic cattle plague, and desperate hunger, the rains finally relented.
What era was 1322 part of?
1322 falls within the Late Middle Ages (1301-1500). Plague, papal schism, and the seeds of nation-states.
Which regions saw notable events in 1322?
The curated events from 1322 span Europe and Africa.