Year 1368: A Significant Leap Year in History
Year 1368 (MCCCLXVIII) was a leap year that began on Saturday of the Julian calendar, marking a pivotal time in various regions of the world.
Key Events
January – December
- January 23 – The Hongwu Emperor (Zhu Yuanzhang) establishes the Ming dynasty in China, ending the disintegration of the Mongol Yuan dynasty. The new dynasty will endure until 1644. The Emperor mandates the establishment of four granaries in every county and halts taxation on books.
- March 29 – Emperor Chōkei ascends to the throne of Japan.
Other Notable Events
- The Revolt of Saint Titus against the Republic of Venice in the Kingdom of Candia concludes in failure.
- Durrës (modern-day Albania), known as Dyrrhachium at the time, is seized from the Angevins by Karl Thopia, a powerful feudal prince.
- Lațcu, son of Bogdan I, ousts his nephew Petru I to become the voivode of Moldavia. Some sources suggest Lațcu had succeeded his father in 1367.
- Timur ascends to the throne of Samarkand (now in Uzbekistan).
- Maha Thammaracha II begins his rule over the Sukhothai Kingdom in modern-day northern Thailand following the death of Maha Thammaracha I.
- Construction commences on the remaining sections of the Great Wall of China.
- Mikhail Aleksandrovich becomes the sole ruler of Tver (in western Russia) after the death of co-ruler Vasiliy Mikhailovich of Kashin.
- Moscow launches an attack on Tver, which retaliates with the assistance of Lithuania and the Blue Horde.
- The last Royal Ship from Norway is sent to the Greenland Eastern Settlement, tied to the history of Norse colonization of the Americas.
- A peace treaty is established between Norway and the Hanseatic League.
- The Bibliothèque nationale de France (National Library of France) is founded as the Royal Library at the Louvre Palace in Paris by Charles V of France.
- Petrarch finishes writing the collection of Italian sonnets and poems known as Il Canzoniere.
Notable Births
- February 14 – Sigismund, Holy Roman Emperor (d. 1437)
- December 3 – King Charles VI of France (d. 1422)
- Probable births include Louis VII, Duke of Bavaria (d. 1447), Ida de Grey, a Cambro-Norman noble (d. 1426), Pope Martin V (d. 1431), and Thomas Hoccleve, English poet (d. 1426).
Notable Deaths
- March 29 – Emperor Go-Murakami of Japan (b. 1328)
- August 25 – Andrea Orcagna, Italian painter, sculptor, and architect
- September 12 – Blanche of Lancaster, English duchess and spouse of John of Gaunt (b. 1345)
- October 7 – Lionel of Antwerp, 1st Duke of Clarence, son of Edward III of England (b. 1338)
- Undated – Maha Thammaracha I, Thai ruler of the Sukhothai Kingdom and Buddhist philosopher (b. c. 1300)
- Probable death – Ibn Battuta, Arabian traveler