Directory

1346 CE

A year defined by the English victory at the Battle of Crecy, where longbowmen devastated the French cavalry, and the beginning of the Siege of Calais, while in Central Europe the Serbian Empire reached its greatest extent under Stefan Dusan.

Geopolitics & Diplomacy

  • Stefan Dusan of Serbia proclaimed himself Emperor of the Serbs and Greeks, presiding over the largest Serbian state in history, which encompassed much of the Balkans.
  • King Edward III of England launched a major chevauchee across Normandy and northern France, raiding and burning towns before turning north toward Flanders.

Conflict & Security

  • The Battle of Crecy was fought on August 26 in northern France, where English longbowmen and dismounted men-at-arms inflicted a crushing defeat on a much larger French army under King Philip VI.
  • English longbows proved devastatingly effective at Crecy, with rapid volleys of arrows cutting down successive waves of French cavalry and Genoese crossbowmen before they could close to fighting distance.
  • The blind King John of Bohemia was killed fighting in the French ranks at Crecy, and his son Charles, later Holy Roman Emperor Charles IV, was wounded and narrowly escaped the battlefield.
  • Edward III began the Siege of Calais in September following his victory at Crecy, surrounding the fortified French port city by land and sea in a siege that would last nearly a year.
  • Edward III's eldest son, Edward the Black Prince, distinguished himself in his first major battle at Crecy at the age of sixteen, commanding a division of the English army.

Technology & Infrastructure

  • The Battle of Crecy is notable as one of the earliest European battles in which gunpowder weapons were employed, with English forces reportedly using primitive cannon alongside their longbows.

Climate & Environment

  • Atmospheric carbon dioxide concentration was approximately 272 parts per million, as later confirmed by ice core analysis.

Culture & Society

  • The estimated world population was approximately 375 million, on the eve of the catastrophic pandemic that would soon devastate populations across Eurasia.