1417
Martin V Elected at Constance
After three years of ecclesiastical bargaining, the cardinals finally chose Oddone Colonna, who took the name Martin V. The forty-year Schism ended. Rival popes were deposed or ignored. The papacy returned to Rome to find the city half-ruined, the Vatican roofless, and wolves in the Forum. His election was ratified by all five national delegations, an unprecedented procedure underscoring the extraordinary measures needed to end the schism.
Zheng He Visits Bengal and the Maldives
The treasure fleet's fifth voyage reached the court of the Bengal Sultan and the coral atolls of the Maldives, establishing Chinese diplomatic presence across the full breadth of the Indian Ocean world. Ming envoys exchanged bolts of silk and blue-and-white porcelain for pearls, coconuts, ambergris, and the leopard skins that Chinese scholars valued for writing-desk decoration. The reach of Chinese soft power was unmatched by any contemporary navy in any ocean.
English Recover Caen
Henry V systematically captured Norman cities after Agincourt. The fall of Caen, after a costly siege, gave the English control of central Normandy. A methodical reconquest of the duchy followed. The English occupation of Normandy, which would last thirty-three years, was taking shape castle by castle. The siege involved mining and counter-mining beneath the walls, and its aftermath saw English martial law imposed on sullen Normans.