1396

Year 1396 (MCCCXCVI) was a leap year starting on Saturday of the Julian calendar.

Year 1396 Overview

The year 1396 (MCCCXCVI) was a leap year that began on a Saturday according to the Julian calendar.

Key Events of 1396

January–December Highlights

  • May 19 – Martin I ascends the throne as King of Aragon, succeeding his brother, John I.
  • July 20 – Queen Margaret I of Denmark, Norway, and Sweden publishes the Treaty of Kalmar, proposing a personal union of the three nations.
  • July 23 – Queen Margaret appoints her great-nephew and adopted son Eric of Pomerania as joint ruler of Sweden, already holding similar status in Norway.
  • September – The Battle of the North Inch concludes with the Clan Cameron defeating the Clan Mackintosh.
  • September 19 – Duke of Brittany, John V, marries Joan of France.
  • September 25 – The Battle of Nicopolis sees the Ottomans overpower a crusade led by King Sigismund of Hungary.
  • October – A Transylvanian expedition captures Vlad I Uzurpatorul, reinstating Mircea I of Wallachia.
  • October 31 – The widowed Richard II of England marries six-year-old Isabella of Valois in Calais, fostering temporary peace with France.
  • November 24 – The Transit of Venus is possibly observed by Aztec astronomers.
  • November 29 – Ralph Neville, 1st Earl of Westmorland, marries Joan Beaufort.

Notable Events of Unknown Dates

  • The Ottomans capture the Bulgaria fortress of Vidin, leading to the fall of the Second Bulgarian Empire.
  • France conquers the Republic of Genoa.
  • After a 14-year interregnum, Pedro de San Superano is declared ruler of the Principality of Achaea.
  • Abu Amir succeeds Abdul Aziz II as ruler of the Marinid dynasty in Morocco.
  • Timur appoints his son Miran Shah as viceroy of present-day Azerbaijan.
  • The Kart dynasty is ended in east Persia, following the assassination of its remaining rulers.
  • Philibert de Naillac becomes the Grand Master of the Knights Hospitaller.
  • Huitzilihuitl succeeds his father as ruler of the Aztecs.
  • The Ulu Camii Mosque is constructed by the Ottomans in Bursa.
  • The Ming dynasty sends envoys to resolve a dispute in the Ava Kingdom of Burma.
  • Timur orders the creation of a garden known as the House of Flowers.
  • Peasants in modern-day Hunan and Hubei plant 84 million fruit trees.
  • The University of Zadar is founded, marking the establishment of the first university in Croatia.

Births in 1396

  • July 31 – Philip III, Duke of Burgundy (d. 1467)
  • October 16 – William de la Pole, 1st Duke of Suffolk (d. 1450)
  • Date unknown – Alfonso V of Aragon (d. 1458)
  • Date unknown – Bonne of Artois, countess regent of Nevers (d. 1425)
  • Date unknown – Ambroise de Loré, baron of Ivry (d. 1446)
  • Date unknown – Michelozzo, Italian architect (d. 1472)
  • Date unknown – Ponhea Yat, ruler of the Khmer Empire (d. 1460?)

Deaths in 1396

  • January 11 – Isidore Glabas, Metropolitan bishop of Thessalonica (b. 1341/2)
  • May 19 – John I of Aragon (b. 1350)
  • July 31 – William Courtenay, Archbishop of Canterbury
  • September 15 – Queen Sindeok, politically active Korean queen (b. 1356)
  • November 29 – Robert Ferrers, 3rd Baron Ferrers of Wemme (b. 1373)
  • Date unknown – John Beaumont, 4th Baron Beaumont (b. 1361)
  • Date unknown – Frederick II, Marquess of Saluzzo
  • Date unknown – Saint Stephen of Perm (b. 1340)
  • Date unknown – She Xiang, Chinese tribute chieftain (b. 1361)