1421

1421 (MCDXXI) was a common year starting on Wednesday of the Julian calendar, the 1421st year of the Common Era (CE) and Anno Domini (AD) designations, the 421st year of the 2nd millennium, the 21st year of the 15th century, and the 2nd year of the 1420s decade. As of the start of 1421, the Gregorian calendar was 9 days ahead of the Julian calendar, which was the dominant calendar of the time.

Events

• March 21 – Battle of Baugé. A small French force surprises and defeats a smaller English force under Thomas, Duke of Clarence, a brother of Henry V of England, in Normandy.
• May 26 – Mehmed I, Sultan of the Ottoman Empire dies and is succeeded by his son Murad II.
• November 17–19 – St. Elizabeth flood. The coastal area near Dordrecht in the Netherlands was flooded due to an extremely high tide of the North Sea. 72 villages were drowned, killing about 10,000 people.
• John III of Dampierre, Marquis of Namur, sells his estates to Philip the Good, Duke of Burgundy.
• The first patent is issued by the Republic of Florence.
• In a theory proposed by Gavin Menzies, supposedly the year that Chinese explorer Hong Bao and Zhou Wen discovered the Americas, beating Columbus by about 70 years.

Births

• July 25 – Henry Percy, 3rd Earl of Northumberland, English politician (died 1461)
• December 6 – King Henry VI of England (died 1471)
• date unknown
  • Sogi, Buddhist priest and Japanese poet (died 1502)
  • Agnès Sorel, mistress of Charles VII of France
  • Ponhea Yat, ruler of the Khmer Empire (died 1467)

Deaths

• January 21 – Niccolò I Trinci, lord of Foligno (assassinated)
• March 22 – Thomas of Lancaster, 1st Duke of Clarence, second son of Henry IV of England (killed in battle) (born 1388)
• May – Balša III, ruler of Zeta
• May 26 – Mehmed I, Ottoman Sultan (b. 1389)
• date unknown – John FitzAlan, 13th Earl of Arundel (born 1385)

References