1376
Gregory XI returns the papacy from Avignon to Rome
Moved by the pleas of Catherine of Siena and the collapse of papal authority in Italy, the last French pope sailed from Marseille to Ostia and entered a Rome half-ruined by seventy years of papal absence. He died within a year, and the disputed election of his successor would split Christendom in two.
Hongwu Emperor purges the Hu Weiyong conspiracy
Accusing his chancellor of treason, Zhu Yuanzhang abolished the position of prime minister entirely and executed thirty thousand people connected to the alleged plot. The purge, which dragged on for years, concentrated all imperial power in the emperor's hands and established a pattern of autocratic paranoia that would define Ming governance for centuries.
Maori settlement of New Zealand advances
By the late fourteenth century the descendants of earlier Polynesian canoe voyagers had spread along the coasts of both major New Zealand islands, hunting moa to scarcity and establishing pa fortifications on defensible hilltops. A distinctive Maori culture with its own carving traditions, warfare practices, and oral genealogies had diverged from its ancestral Society Islands roots.
Good Parliament impeaches royal favorites
English commons under speaker Peter de la Mare demanded the dismissal and trial of Edward III's mistress Alice Perrers and several court financiers accused of corruption. The new procedure, impeachment, made parliament a check on the executive for the first time. Within a year the dying king's heirs reversed the verdicts, but the precedent stood.
Death of the Black Prince
Edward of Woodstock, eldest son of Edward III and victor of Crécy and Poitiers, died at Westminster of the dysentery he had carried for nine years. His ten-year-old son Richard now stood next in line for the English throne. The chivalric age had buried its golden boy a year before its old king.
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Frequently asked
What happened in the year 1376?
Saeculum lists 5 curated events from 1376. The most significant is Gregory XI returns the papacy from Avignon to Rome: Moved by the pleas of Catherine of Siena and the collapse of papal authority in Italy, the last French pope sailed from Marseille to Ostia and entered a Rome…
What era was 1376 part of?
1376 falls within the Late Middle Ages (1301-1500). Plague, papal schism, and the seeds of nation-states.
Which regions saw notable events in 1376?
The curated events from 1376 span Europe, East Asia and Oceania.