John became king of France after the death of his father Philippe. ¹

The Spanish fleet was returning from Sluys where it had stayed over winter. King Edward III had taken his time and prepared an English fleet that could attack the Spanish boats as they came back down the English Channel. The two fleets met off the south coast near Winchelsea. Fierce hand-to-hand fighting took place as the ships, using grappling hooks, came together. Both Edward III and his son the Black Prince took part in the battle and defeated the Spanish. ¹

Because so many people died from the plague, labour was a scarce resource. To prevent workers demanding their own prices, the costs were fixed for labourer's wages at the pre-plague levels. Labourers had to stay in their own villages, and had to appear before a steward or constable each year to swear to abide by the rules of the statute. Stocks were built in each village to punish and deter any that did not abide by the rules. ¹

This was a statute that allowed the King to overrule Church appointments proposed by the Pope.

Edward III makes Henry of Grosmont the Duke of Lancaster.

Edward III founded a new Cistercian abbey near the Tower of London. Monks from Beaulieu Abbey populated the new abbey. ¹

Corpus Christi College was founded in Cambridge.

After an initial selection that seemed favourable was quashed by one of the Cardinals, Stephen Aubert, the Bishop of Ostia was chosen and crowned on the 30th of December taking the name Innocent.

The Statute of Staples. A law that fixed 15 towns as staple towns. A staple town was a town that was restricted in what it could sell to foreign merchants. The towns were Bristol, Canterbury, Carmarthen, Chichester, Cork, Drogheda, Dublin, Exeter, Lincoln, London, Newcastle, Norwich, Waterford, Winchester and York.

Restormal Castle hosted Edward, the Black Prince and his court.

Robert Wyvil, the Bishop of Salisbury regained control of the castle at Sherborne.

After the death of Isabella de Fortibus in 1293 Carisbrooke Castle became the property of Edward I and the Crown. In 1355 Edward III granted the ownership of the castle to his daughter Isabel.

Thomas of Woodstock was born to Philippa and Edward III.

Edward III landed in Calais. His plan was to lay waste to the northern lands owned by France. ¹

Edward the Black Prince set out from Bordeaux at the start of a chevauchée into lands held by King John of France. Chevauchée was a medieval term for a process destroying the towns, villages and land of an enemy lord in an attempt to reduce the wealth that the lord could extract and put to use in going to war. It also caused panic in the local population and an exodus of refugees. ¹

Construction of new walls around Paris started in this year and building work would take several years.

After the defeat of David II of Scotland at Neville's Cross Edward Balliol had attempted to claim the Scottish throne but eventually decided to surrender his title as King of the Scots to Edward III and accept a pension in return.

On Saturday 17th of September while the Black Prince was moving his army to English owned city of Bordeaux the English and French armies finally came across each other near Poitiers. Edward moved his army into a defensive position protected by hedges on three sides and a narrow lane on the fourth.

On the Sunday a Cardinal attempted to get the English prince and French king to agree a truce, but the two leaders used the Sunday to rest their troops and prepare for the battle ahead.

On Monday the 19th of September the battle of Poitiers took place. Even though the English army was outnumbered the Black Prince used superior tactics in the battle and defeated the French without suffering many losses. John, the French King, was captured along with many other French nobles and taken to Bordeaux.

King John of France was held prisoner at St. Alban's monastery after being captured at Poitiers.
 ¹

Eruption of the large Icelandic volcano. Plus or minus three years. ¹

On behalf of the King of England, Edward, the Black Prince arranged a two year truce with John, the King of France at Bordeaux.

The Black Prince with the French king and many other prisoners began the journey from France to England. Once back in England these nobles were ransomed for large amounts of money.

The Treaty of Berwick, signed between King Edward III of England and David II of Scotland, allowed David to go free from prison where he had been kept for the previous 11 years. A ransom of 100,000 marks was the price of his freedom.

This treaty attempted to agree peace between England and France and the release of the French King, John, from captivity. The terms the King Edward III wanted, were a large ransom and the surrender of several French states.

To celebrate St. George's day Edward III held a large tournament at Windsor Castle. Edward, the Black Prince, oversaw the proceedings in which kings and nobles from all over Europe were given safe passage to take part in.

Known as the Jacquerie, the French peasants revolt started in the area of Beauvais. It was led by Guillaume Calle.The cause is unknown but this was a terrible time for the poor of the country. With no King, demands for taxes to pay for ransoms and groups of outlaws pillaging the villages it is not surprising that a revolt started. Charles the Bad of Navarre, an enemy of the Dauphin, took it upon himself to deal with the uprising. At Mello, just to the north of Paris, Charles defeated the rebels and set about massacring hundreds of peasants in the area in revenge. An army of several hundred peasants from Paris, under the leadership of Etienne Marcel, advanced on Meaux. The gates of Meaux were opened for them but were attacked by knights from the local fort who killed many and set fire to the town. ¹

Queen Isabella, the wife of Edward II and the mother of Edward III died on the 22nd or 23rd of August.

Edward and his eldest sons departed from England and arrived in Calais the same day. They met no resistance as they marched to Rhiems. But the town was too well fortified to be captured so the English troops spent their time attacking the local towns and villages and taking supplies.

Work began on the West Front of Winchester Cathedral. Extra work was carried out on the North and South aisles ¹

The Treaty of Bretigny brought a period of peace for nine years during the Hundred Years War. The treaty was arranged between the Black Prince and the dauphin the future King Charles V of France before being approved by King Edward III of England and King John of France. As part of the treaty Edward was given control of the areas of Gascony, Calais and Ponthieu as long as he agreed to give up his claim for the French throne. King John of France, currently being held hostage in England, was to be released on condition of a payment of 3 million gold crowns to be paid in instalments.

At Calais Edward III of England and King John of France, who had be released from captivity, signed the Treaty of Bretigny.

Another outbreak of the plague takes its toll. In Avignon many people died including several Cardinals.

John of Gaunt married Blanche, the daughter of Henry, Duke of Lancaster. Henry owned Kenilworth Castle and when he died (?) John became Duke of Lancaster and took ownership of the castle. Gaunt rebuilt the hall and constructed new grand apartments. ¹

Under the direction of Archbishop Thoresby the eastern end of the building was extended elongating the choir. The architectural fashion of Decorated Gothic was changing to Perpendicular Gothic as this construction work was undertaken. ¹

Queenborough Castle was built by Edward III and named after his wife Philippa of Hainault.

Edward, the black Prince married Joan of Kent at Westminster Abbey.

John of Gaunt, Edward III's fourth son is created Duke of Lancaster.

Rebuilding work was begun on the nave and west cloister at Westminster Abbey. The architect in charge of the works was Henry Yevele. ¹

A fierce storm or hurricane hit Britain and the spire at Norwich Cathedral fell. The spire damaged the presbytery as came down.. ¹

King Edward III transferred control of Gascony to his eldest son, the Black Prince. Edward the Black Prince had just married Joan of Kent at Windsor and together they created a magnificent court in Bordeaux.

The consort of King David II of Scotland died.

Pope Innocent VI died on the 12th of September. He was succeededby Pope Urban V.

The Black Prince organised the construction of the Chantry Chapel at Canterbury Cathedral and he expressed the wish to be buried there.

The Black Prince chantry in the crypt of Canterbury cathedral built by John Box. ¹

Extra work on the choir at Carlisle Cathedral was carried out between 1363 and 1395. ¹

At a confererence held at Westminster, Edward III of England and David II of Scotland discussed the issues of the non-payment of the ransom agreed upon at the Treaty of Berwick several years earlier. It was agreed that the outstanding amount did not have to be paid if Edward or one of his sons would become King of Scotland after the death of David.

King John of France was still in captivity after his capture at the Battle of Poitiers and livng in a certain amount of luxury at the Savoy in London. But a mysterious illness became serious and his died. His body was transported to France for burial. His son Charles became king of France and was crowned at Rheims Cathedral. ¹

William Wynford was the architect behind the South-west tower of Wells Cathedral. ¹

Restormal Castle hosted Edward, the Black Prince and his court.

William of Wykeham became the Bishop of Winchester. Although not approved of by Pope Urban V, Wykeham was consecrated in October 1367.

Richard of Bordeaux was born at the abbey of St. Andre in Bordeaux in France. His father was Edward, the Black Prince and his mother was Joan, the Fair Maid' of Kent. He was their second son after Edward of Angouleme. Edward died at an early age and so Richard became second in line to the English throne after his father.

William of Wykeham became Chancellor of England.

Henry was born at Bolingbroke Castle in Lincolnshire. He would become King Henry IV of England.

Edward the Black Prince went to assist Peter the Cruel, King of Castile, who had been driven from his throne by Henry Trastamara. With a combined army of English, Gascons, Navarrese and Castilians the Black Prince won a battle to put Peter back on the thrown. The victory at Nájera also brought the Castilian fleet under control which had been fighting on the side of the French when Trastamara was in power. Peter was later overthrown and the fleet again started fighting on the French side.

In China the Mongol dynasty was overthrown and was followed by the Ming dynasty which would last until 1644. ¹

Another outbreak of the plague affects England.

When Peter de Montfort died, the castle's ownership passed to Thomas, Earl of Warwick. ¹

The English Parliament freed Edward III from the Treaty of Bretigny that was signed in 1360. When Edward signed the treaty he had agreed to give up the claim for the French throne. Now that Edward was free from the treaty he was able to restate and pursue his claim to be the French King. ¹

John of Gaunt, the Duke of Lancaster, left Calais with 2,000 soldiers and marched across northern France destroying towns along the way. ¹

Queen Philippa, Edward's wife, died. Edward's affections turned to Alice Perrers who became his mistress and had several illegitimate children. ¹

French forces led by the Duke of Berry retook the town of Limoges. ¹

Edward, the Black Prince, used miners to undermine the section of the town that did not surrender to the English. The walls were brought down and those who had not surrendered were executed. This included women and children. ¹

William of Wykeham, Bishop of Winchester and chancellor, asked for supplies for war. Parliament petitioned the king to stop the practice of ecclesiastics having positions of power and not being liable to account for their actions, and that non-clerical laymen should replaced them. An important supporter of this action was John of Gaunt.

Edward, the Black Prince, arrived back in England. He had run out of money and was unable to pay his men. He was suffering with a sickness that may have started with dysentery as a result of living conditions on his campaigns. He was physically exhausted.

In Scotland, the Stewart dynasty was begun when Robert II took the Scottish throne after the death of David II. ¹

Edward was the first son of the Black Prince, and Joan of Kent. Edward died at an early age of around seven years old. He was second in line to the English throne at the time, The date of his death may have been late in 1370.

Robert II is crowned King of Scotland at Scone Abbey.

Canterbury Crypt Lady Chapel building work by John Box. ¹

King Edward III granted the castle at Knaresborough to his son John of Gaunt. This couild have been in 1371.

The Battle of La Rochelle was a Castilian-English naval battle fought at the entrance of the harbour of La Rochelle on the French coast in the Bay of Biscay. Commanded by John Hastings, the English fleet had been sent to rescue the town that was being besieged by the French. Both fleets sides were equally matched but after two days of fighting the English fleet was totally destroyed and many of the English sailors and knights had been killed or captured.

Work on the Somerset castle by Sir John de la Mare began. ¹

Henry Yevele was commissioned to design a tomb for John of Gaunt and his first wife Blanche of Lancaster to be built at St. Paul's Cathedral. ¹