1351
Statute of Provisors curbs papal taxation
The English parliament forbade the pope from naming foreign clergy to English benefices, calling it a drain of English wealth to Avignon. The statute was rarely enforced strictly but it set a precedent: the national church belonged to the king, not the pope, in a way the Reformation would inherit.
Toghon Temur orders Yellow River re-channeling
The Yuan court mobilized hundreds of thousands of peasant laborers to restore a northern course for the river after catastrophic flooding that had devastated Shandong and Henan. Conditions were brutal, workers dying by the thousands. Among the corvee workers, secret societies circulated prophecies of a coming Maitreya Buddha and a stone-eyed Buddhist icon that would signal rebellion.
Statute of Treasons defines English treason narrowly
Edward III's parliament passed a statute limiting what constituted high treason: killing the king, imagining his death, levying war against him, adhering to his enemies, counterfeiting the great seal. The narrow definition protected subjects from arbitrary prosecution and would constrain English royal courts for centuries, surviving in residual form in modern law.
Battle of the Thirty: chivalry as private duel
In a Breton meadow, thirty knights of the French side fought thirty Anglo-Breton knights under agreed rules until exhaustion. The French won. Both sides were celebrated for courtesy and bravery. Jean de Beaumanoir, who led the French, became a hero of chivalric legend. The episode became a touchstone for fading ideals of chivalric warfare in an age of plague and longbows.
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Frequently asked
What happened in the year 1351?
Saeculum lists 4 curated events from 1351. The most significant is Statute of Provisors curbs papal taxation: The English parliament forbade the pope from naming foreign clergy to English benefices, calling it a drain of English wealth to Avignon.
What era was 1351 part of?
1351 falls within the Late Middle Ages (1301-1500). Plague, papal schism, and the seeds of nation-states.
Which regions saw notable events in 1351?
The curated events from 1351 span Europe and East Asia.