1377
Ibn Khaldun writes the Muqaddima
Sequestered in a remote Algerian fortress for four years, the Tunisian-born jurist composed the introduction to a universal history of Berbers and Arabs. It analyzed the cyclical rise and fall of dynasties through tribal solidarity, luxury's enervations, and the inevitable decay of settled civilization by its own comforts. Modern historiography would later recognize him as one of its founders.
Gregory XI returns the papacy to Rome
Persuaded by Catherine of Siena and the implosion of papal authority in central Italy, Gregory XI brought the curia back to a half-ruined Rome after sixty-eight years in Avignon. He would die in Rome the following year, leaving the Church to choose his successor in the most dangerous conclave in medieval history.
Edward III dies at Sheen
The fifty-year king who had begun the Hundred Years' War, founded the Order of the Garter, and presided over the plague died senile in Surrey, allegedly stripped of his rings by his mistress as he expired. His ten-year-old grandson Richard II inherited a kingdom of veterans, debts, and angry peasants.
John of Gaunt protects Wycliffe from prosecution
When London bishops summoned John Wycliffe to answer charges at St Paul's, John of Gaunt arrived with armed retainers and broke the proceedings up. The duke's political protection bought Wycliffe years in which to write his most radical theological works. London's mob, however, hated Gaunt and sacked the Savoy in 1381 partly for it.