Under the Yongle EmperorofMing China, work begins to reinstate the ancient Grand Canal of China, which fell into disuse and dilapidation during the previous Yuan dynasty. Between 1411 and 1415, a total of 165,000 laborers dredge the canal bed in Shandong, build new channels, embankments, and canal locks. Four large reservoirs in Shandong are also dug, in order to regulate water levels, instead of resorting to pumping water from local tables. A large dam is also constructed, to divert water from the Wen River southwest into the Grand Canal.
The first mention is made of Wallachian knights competing in a jousting tournament, in Buda.
John II of Castile declares the Valladolid laws, that restrict the social rights of Jews. Among many other restrictions, the laws force Jews to wear distinctive clothes, and deny them administrative positions.
The TibetanlamaJe Tsongkhapa, of the Gelug school of Buddhism, declines the offer of the Yongle Emperor of China to appear in the capital at Nanjing, although he sends his disciple Chosrje Shākya Yeshes, who is given the title "State Teacher". The later Xuande Emperor will grant Yeshes the title of a king, upon a return visit to China (to the new capital at Beijing).
June 5 – The Council of Constance condemns the writings of John Wycliffe and asks Jan Hus to recant in public his heresy; after his denial, he is tried for heresy, excommunicated, then sentenced to be burned at the stake.
The Grand Canal of China is reinstated by this year after it had fallen out of use; restoration began in 1411, and was a response by the Yongle Emperor of the Ming Dynasty to improve the grain shipment system of tribute traveling from south to north, towards his new capital at Beijing. With this action, the food supply crisis is solved by the end of the year.
June 29 – An English fleet, led by the Earl of Huntingdon, defeats a fleet of Genoese carracks and captures their admiral, the "Bastard of Bourbon".[12]
August 12 – King Henry V of England begins using English in correspondence (back to England from France whilst on campaign), marking the beginning of this king's continuous usage of English in prose, and the beginning of the restoration of English as an official language for the first time since the Norman Conquest, some 350 years earlier.
The use of street lighting is first recorded in London, England when Sir Henry Barton, the mayor, orders lanterns with lights to be hung out on the winter evenings, between Hallowtide and Candlemas.
The Timurid rulerofPersia, Mirza Shahrukh (r. 1404–1447), sends a large embassy to the court of the Yongle EmperorofChina. One of the Persian envoys, Ghiyāth al-dīn Naqqāsh, keeps a diary of his travels throughout China, which soon becomes widely known throughout Iranian and the Turkic Middle East, thanks to its inclusion into historical works by Hafiz-i Abru, and Abdur Razzaq. Naqqash writes about China's wealthy economy and huge urban markets, its efficient courier system as compared to that in Persia, the hospitality of his hosts at the courier stations in providing comfortable lodging and food, and the fine luxurious goods and craftsmanship of the Chinese.
^Knoll, Paul W. (1983). "In Search of the Battle of Grunwald. Review of Die Schlacht bei Tannenberg 1410, Quellenkritische Untersuchungen, vol. I: Einführung und Quellenlage by S. Ekdahl". The Polish Review. 28 (3): 67–76. JSTOR25777993.
^Barsoum, Ephrem (2003). The Scattered Pearls: A History of Syriac Literature and Sciences. Translated by Matti Moosa (2nd ed.). Gorgias Press. p. 497.
^"Henry V". Oxford Reference. Oxford University Press. Retrieved 2020-02-15.
^Great Britain. Commission for Visiting the Universities and Colleges of Scotland (1837). University of St. Andrews. London: W. Clowes and Sons. p. 173.
^Schutte, O. (1979). "Genealogische gegevens". In Tamse, C.A. (ed.). Nassau en Oranje in de Nederlandse geschiedenis (in Dutch). Alphen aan den Rijn: A.W. Sijthoff. p. 41. ISBN90-218-2447-7.
^Dek, A.W.E. (1970). Genealogie van het Vorstenhuis Nassau (in Dutch). Zaltbommel: Europese Bibliotheek. p. 67.
^Vorsterman van Oyen, A.A. (1882). Het vorstenhuis Oranje-Nassau. Van de vroegste tijden tot heden (in Dutch). Leiden: A.W. Sijthoff/Utrecht: J.L. Beijers. p. 92.
^Barsoum, Ephrem (2003). The Scattered Pearls: A History of Syriac Literature and Sciences. Translated by Matti Moosa (2nd ed.). Gorgias Press. p. 495.
