1365
Crusader sack of Alexandria
Peter I of Cyprus led a Latin fleet to the great Egyptian port, stormed it with a surprise amphibious assault, and let his men spend three days raping and burning. The crusaders fled when Mamluk relief approached, taking their plunder with them. The sack devastated Alexandrian commerce and convinced the Mamluks to deal harshly with European merchants for years.
Tamerlane and the grave of Tughlugh Temur
Tughlugh Temur, the last significant Chagatayid khan, died in Central Asia, leaving a power vacuum that Timur exploited with stunning speed. The old Mongol legitimacy crumbled as rival claimants fought over scraps of authority. Within three years Timur would rule Transoxiana in fact if not in name, dispose of his rival Husayn, and take the title of sovereign emir.
Rudolph IV founds the University of Vienna
The young Habsburg duke, jealous of his father-in-law Charles IV's Prague foundation, planted his own studium generale on the Danube. He also forged the Privilegium Maius, a set of imperial charters granting Austria preposterous privileges. Initial papal recognition was grudging, but Vienna would become the major Catholic university of the German-speaking south, a counterweight to Prague's ferment.
Ming sea cucumber trade reaches Borneo
Ming tribute missions seeking coral, pearl, and sea cucumber visited the northern Borneo coast, establishing informal diplomatic ties with the sultan of Brunei. Chinese porcelain and copper cash circulated throughout the archipelago alongside local currencies. Fujian merchants built shrine communities in Brunei and Melaka's forerunner settlements, creating a Chinese commercial diaspora across maritime Southeast Asia.