1390
Sigismund crowned king of Hungary
The young Luxembourg prince, son of Charles IV and husband of Mary of Hungary, took the Hungarian throne after his wife's death in a fall from horseback. He would rule Hungary for half a century, lead the disastrous Crusade of Nicopolis against the Ottomans, and eventually become Holy Roman Emperor.
Koryo kingdom's final decline
The Korean dynasty, nominally still ruling from Gaeseong, was exhausted by Japanese pirate raids, Red Turban incursions, and factional court politics that had paralyzed decision-making. Yi Seonggye's rise to power was made inevitable by this military and institutional exhaustion. Two years later the Joseon dynasty would replace the five-century-old Koryo regime.
Second pestilence of the fourteenth century ends
Recurring plague outbreaks since 1361 finally subsided across western Europe around this time, leaving populations a third lower than at the century's opening. Labor remained scarce, wages high, lords resentful, serfdom decaying. Scarcity was, paradoxically, building the economic foundation of a post-plague Europe in which surviving workers commanded better conditions than their grandparents had ever known.
Conrad Celtis brings humanism to German lands
The young Franconian Latin poet returned from Italian study tours determined to import Petrarchan humanism to Vienna and Krakow. Celtis would lecture, edit, and organize sodalities of scholars, becoming the central figure in early German humanist circles bridging the late Middle Ages and Erasmus's generation, proving that humanism need not remain an Italian monopoly.
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Frequently asked
What happened in the year 1390?
Saeculum lists 4 curated events from 1390. The most significant is Sigismund crowned king of Hungary: The young Luxembourg prince, son of Charles IV and husband of Mary of Hungary, took the Hungarian throne after his wife's death in a fall from horseback.
What era was 1390 part of?
1390 falls within the Late Middle Ages (1301-1500). Plague, papal schism, and the seeds of nation-states.
Which regions saw notable events in 1390?
The curated events from 1390 span Europe and East Asia.