Directory

1356 CE

A year defined by the English victory at the Battle of Poitiers, where the Black Prince captured the King of France, and the promulgation of the Golden Bull by Emperor Charles IV, which established the constitutional framework of the Holy Roman Empire.

Geopolitics & Diplomacy

  • Holy Roman Emperor Charles IV issued the Golden Bull on January 10, a decree that established the formal procedure for electing the Holy Roman Emperor and defined the rights of the seven prince-electors.
  • The Golden Bull codified the constitutional structure of the Holy Roman Empire, granting extensive sovereign rights to the electoral princes and reducing papal influence over imperial elections.
  • The capture of King John II of France at Poitiers plunged France into a severe political crisis, with the Dauphin Charles struggling to govern amid military defeat, financial exhaustion, and popular unrest.

Conflict & Security

  • The Battle of Poitiers was fought on September 19 in western France, where an English force led by Edward the Black Prince defeated and captured King John II of France.
  • The English longbow again proved decisive at Poitiers, with English archers devastating the advancing French cavalry and infantry before English men-at-arms completed the rout.
  • King John II of France was taken prisoner to England, where he would remain in captivity for years while France paid an enormous ransom for his release.
  • The Jacquerie, a major peasant uprising, and urban revolts in Paris under Etienne Marcel would erupt in the following years as the consequences of French military defeat and royal captivity destabilized the kingdom.

Economy & Finance

  • The ransom demanded for King John II of France was set at three million gold ecus, an astronomical sum that placed crushing financial burdens on the French population.

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 350 million, still severely reduced from pre-plague levels as recurrent outbreaks of the Black Death continued to suppress demographic recovery.