1423 to 1450

Literature

"Dick Whittington and His Cat." Anonymous. British. 1423? Legend. Poor boy contributes cat to ship; king of Morocco has mice trouble and cat eats mice. King pays tremendous sum for cat; owner becomes wealthy and Lord Mayor of London.

"Kingis Quair." King James I of Scotland. British. 1424. Poem. Written while prisoner in England; laments his fortune; celebrates Lady Jane Beaufort whom he married.

Imitation of Christ. Thomas A' Kempis. German. 1426. Religion. Explores inner life, value of contemplation; mystical tone; great influence on Christianity.

Society

1429. Joan of Arc becomes the heroine of France and changes the course of history.

1430. Joan of Arc is taken prisoner, and is turned over to the English. No one makes any effort to save her.

1431. Joan of Arc is convicted of high treason against God and the Maid of Orleans is burned at the stake in the Old Market Square of Rouen, May 30.

1434. African slaves introduced into Portugal.

1438. The Inca dynasty that will rule Peru in the Western Hemisphere until 1553 is founded.

1441. African slaves are sold in the markets of Lisbon.

1446. Ireland's Blarney Castle is completed by Cormac McCarthy, Lord of Muskerry. Set in a turret below the battlements is a limestone rock that will be called the Blarney Stone that will be reputed to confer eloquence on anyone who hangs head downward to kiss it.

1450. Cade's Rebellion demands English governmental reforms and restoration of power to Richard, duke of York. Kentish rebel John (Jack) Cade rallies 30,000 small Kentish and Sussex landowners in May to protest oppressive taxation and corruption in the court of Henry VI. They defeat Henry's forces, June 18, at Sevenoaks, enter London, July 3. The rebels grow violent, exact forced contributions to their cause, are denied readmission to the city, are repulsed at London Bridge, and dispersed under amnesty. Cade is hunted down and killed, July 12.

1450. The English Nobility encloses more lands to raise sheep at the expense of the peasantry.

Literature

The Arabian Nights' Entertainment. Anonymous. Persian/Arab. 1450. Tales. Persian/Indian/Arabian tales. Scheherazade postpones her execution by telling her husband stories without revealing the climax until the following session. Includes Ali Baba; the Calendars; Magiic Carpet; Sinbad the Sailor.

"Tales of the Calendars." Begging order of dervishes founded in 13th century obliged to be perpetual wanderers.