1370
Timur declares himself sovereign at Balkh
After defeating his brother-in-law Husayn at Balkh, the Barlas chieftain had himself proclaimed sovereign emir, wielding power in the name of a puppet Chagatayid khan. He wore Genghisid legitimacy as camouflage over his personal conquests, never claiming the title of khan himself since he lacked Chinggisid blood. The Timurid empire had officially begun.
Robert II inaugurates the Stewart dynasty
After David II died childless, the Bruce line gave way to David's nephew, the steward Robert. A reluctant king at fifty-four, already gray-haired and half-blind, Robert II began the dynasty that would rule Scotland and eventually England as the Stuarts for three centuries. His chaotic reign would leave power largely to his magnates.
Casimir III the Great dies, Polish line broken
The last Piast king of Poland fell from his horse hunting near Przedbórz and died of his injuries. He left behind a kingdom doubled in size, a chartered university, and the saying that he found Poland in wood and left it in stone. The throne passed to his nephew Louis of Hungary.
Black Prince sacks Limoges
Furious that the city had defected to the French, the dying Edward of Woodstock had himself carried in a litter to oversee the assault. His men slaughtered three thousand townspeople in three days. The atrocity stained the Black Prince's chivalric reputation forever. He would die in England six years later.