1384
John Wycliffe dies a free man
The Oxford theologian, retired to his rectory at Lutterworth, suffered a fatal stroke during mass on the last day of the year. Despite condemnations from Rome, English authorities had never prosecuted him in person. Thirty-one years later the Council of Constance would order his bones dug up and burned and his ashes scattered in the river Swift.
Zhao Mengfu's painting tradition dominates Yuan-Ming transition
The literati painting style championed by Zhao Mengfu and the Four Masters of the Yuan - spare, calligraphic, drenched in scholarly nostalgia - survived the dynasty's fall and became the aesthetic canon of Ming court and garden alike. Chinese painting had chosen ink over color, suggestion over description, for the next five centuries.
Geert Groote's Brethren of the Common Life
The Dutch lay preacher from Deventer, dying of plague after years of itinerant preaching, left behind a community of laymen and laywomen living in voluntary poverty without monastic vows. The Brethren would educate Erasmus, copy books, and pioneer a quiet, interior 'modern devotion' that prefigured the Reformation's emphasis on personal faith over institutional ritual.
Jadwiga crowned king of Poland
The ten-year-old Angevin princess was crowned rex (not regina) of Poland, a legal fiction that allowed a female sovereign to exercise full royal authority. She would soon marry the Lithuanian Jogaila and bankroll the University of Krakow from her personal jewels. Canonized centuries later, she remains one of Poland's beloved medieval figures.
Bruges emerges as northern Europe's financial center
The Flemish city's bourse - named for the Van der Beurse family's inn where merchants gathered - formalized commodity trading and money-changing into something resembling a modern exchange. Italian bankers, Hanseatic traders, and Iberian wool merchants converged on Bruges, making it the clearing house of Atlantic and Baltic commerce and the prototype for later financial centers at Antwerp and Amsterdam.
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Frequently asked
What happened in the year 1384?
Saeculum lists 5 curated events from 1384. The most significant is John Wycliffe dies a free man: The Oxford theologian, retired to his rectory at Lutterworth, suffered a fatal stroke during mass on the last day of the year.
What era was 1384 part of?
1384 falls within the Late Middle Ages (1301-1500). Plague, papal schism, and the seeds of nation-states.
Which regions saw notable events in 1384?
The curated events from 1384 span Europe and East Asia.