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Timeline of Religious Events (1400 .. 1499)

1400

Chapter House at Canterbury building work by Stephen Lote.
Building work on the East Window of York Minster took place until 1405.
Construction of the tower and north transept at Carlisle Cathedral was begun in 1400 and completed in 1419.

1401

The statute called De heretico comburendo was passed by Henry IV allowing heretics to be burnt at the stake. It was forbidden for anyone to translate the Bible into English and illegal to own a copy.
William Sawtrey was a follower of John Wycliffe.

1404

Construction work began on the north and south cloisters of Worcester Cathedral and continued until 1432.
William of Wykeham the Bishop of Winchester died in this year. He was replaced by Henry Beaufort.
The cardinals entered into the Conclave in mid October after the death of Boniface at the start of the month. The new Pope was elected on the 17th who took the name Innocent VII.

1405

Richard Scrope colluded with the Earl of Northumberland to overthrow Henry IV. Scrope was the Archbishop of York.
The Archbishop's revolt was crushed with the aid of the Nevilles and the king had him executed.

1406

1407

Building work on the central tower of York Minster took place until 1423.

1409

A general council was held at Pisa to dispose of the two rival Pontiffs who both refused to attend. the council agreed that the two current Popes were guilty of perjury and heresy and that the position of Pope was now vacant. In their place the council chose Petros Philargos who took the name Alexander V.
Alexander V was chosen to the the Pope at the Council of Pisa after the current rival Popes were accused of heresy and dismissed.

1410

1411

Richard, Duke of York, was born on the 21st of September. His father was Richard, Earl of Cambridge, and his mother was Anne Mortimer.

1412

Joan is born at Domremy.

1413

As the leader of the Lollards, the friend of the King was arrested and sent to the Tower of London.
In an act of respect to Richard II, Henry had the dead king's body moved to its proper resting place in Westminster Abbey.

1414

Alien priories were those in England who were dependant on usually French mother houses. During the Hundred Years War these priories were seen as a security risk. They also were a means of transferring much needed English money to France. A law was passed confiscating these priories. Many were transferred over to other religious orders.
A meeting of the Lollards was stormed by the King's troops and many were arrested and subsequently put to death. Their leader, Sir John Oldcastle, managed to escape capture.

1417

1420

The marriage of King Henry V and Catherine, the daughter of Charles VI king of France, took place and sealed the Treaty of Troyes.

1421

Prince Henry (later Henry VI) was born at Windsor.

1423

Canterbury South West Tower building work by Thomas Mapilton.
The Council of Pavia, northern Italy, was transferred to Siena further south due to an outbreak of the plague. It was part of efforts to reform the Church but ended in failure.

1425

The North-west tower of Wells Cathedral was constructed during this time.

1429

It is believed that Owen Tudor and Catherine were secretly married in this year or just before.
Richard Duke of York married Cecily Neville.
With an escort of attendants, Joan of Arc left Vaucouleurs dressed as a man. The party headed for Chinon where King Charles VII was staying. They reached Chinon in early March.
Joan was granted an audience with the dauphin at Vaucouleurs. At the meeting Charles had disguised himself as a servant and had a servant dress as himself. Joan was not fooled and picked the king out. Charles was impressed when Joan told him that God had told her that he was the true heir.
Joan of Arc and the dauphin entered Reims. Charles was crowned in the Cathedral and became King of France.
The French fail to retake Paris that had been captured by the English. Joan was slightly injured during the fighting.

1430

Joan's main objective was to liberate Paris from the Burgundians, but first she needed to free Compiegne. It was during the fighting here that she was wounded again and this time captured. Joan was then sold to the English who handed her over to the Church. As Compiegne was under the bishopric of Beauvais Joan was delivered to Pierre Cauchon, the Bishop of Beauvais, who led the trial.

1431

Joan's trial began.

1432

Building work on the south-west tower of York Minster took place until 1456.

1437

Catherine died in this year after retiring to Bermondsey Abbey. Some reports say she died whilst giving birth, but this is probably wrong.

1439

1446

Pope Eugenius IV granted the gift of the Golden Rose to King Henry VI for his devotion to both the Church and education. The Golden Rose was a solid gold ornament in the shape of a rose.

1447

A parliament was held at Bury St. Edmunds where the Duke of Gloucester was accused of treason and arrested. It was said that he was planning an uprising against the king. The accusations were made falsely by the Duke of Suffolk. Gloucester died only days after his arrest.

1450

The West window of Southwell Cathedral was begun in this year.

1455

Edmund Tudor married Margaret Beaufort, the heiress of the Duke of Somerset. Margaret was only twelve years old. Edmund Tudor and Margaret Beaufort were the parents of Henry Tudor, the future King of England, Henry VII.

1458

1463

Lightning once again hit the wooden and lead spire at Norwich Cathedral causing a fire that spread to the roof. After this disaster stone was used in the roof to provide vaulting and used in the new spire to replace the wood.

1464

At the Great Council at Reading Abbey King Edward IV announced his marriage and Elizabeth Woodville was recognised as Queen.

1466

Elizabeth, the first daughter to Edward IV and Elizabeth was born. A second daughter, Mary, was born on August 8th 1467.

1468

Canterbury Lady Chapel Vault built.
Edward arranged for his sister Margaret to marry Charles the Duke of Burgundy. Burgundy had for some time been a supporter of the Yorkists and this marriage strengthened the bond. For Warwick, this was a disaster. Warwick had been attempting to make an alliance with France and that was not about to happen.

1469

Warwick and the Duke of Clarence travelled to France where Clarence was married to Warwick's fifteen year old daughter Isabel. The ceremony was conducted by Warwick's brother George Neville the Archbishop of York.

1470

Building work on the north-west tower of York Minster took place until 1474.
The present Lady Chapel at Gloucester Cathedral was built between 1470 and 1483. Lady Chapels at Canterbury Cathedral and Westminster Abbey were built around the same time in honour of the Blessed Virgin Mary.
King Edward IV's wife Elizabeth gave birth to her first son. Elizabeth had taken refuge at Westminster Abbey after King Henry VI had been restored to the throne by the Earl of Warwick and King Edward had fled to Burgundy. The baby was named Edward and would be heir to the English throne.
The marriage between Edward of Lancaster, the son of Henry VI and Margaret of Anjou, to Anne Neville, the daughter of Richard Neville the Kingmaker was a marriage to cement the agreement that Richard and Margaret would support each other and try to get Henry VI back on the English throne. The marriage took place in France at the Chateau d'Amboise where Margaret and Edward were exiled.

1471

1475

Edward IV ordered the construction of the new St. George's Chapel at Windsor Castle. Its size dwarfed the previous chapel builrt by his predecessors. Inside were hung the banners and insignia of the Knights of the Garter. Edward himself would be buried inside the chapel.

1477

The construction of the massive church of St. George's Chapel at Windsor Castle was begun by Edward IV. The church was not completed until 1528 in the reign of King Henry VIII some fifty years later.

1478

Richard, duke of York, married Anne Mowbray, daughter of the Duke of Norfolk, at Westminster. The two were only children. Anne died in 1481 at the age of 8 or 9.

1481

The roof and tower of Reims Cathedral were badly damaged by fire after workmen left a lit brasier unattended overnight in the roof space.

1484

1485

Catherine of Aragon is born at Alcala de Henares, Madrid, Spain. Her father and mother were Ferdinand and Isabella of Aragon.

1486

Henry married Elizabeth of York, the daughter of Edward IV, at Westminster Abbey. This act brought the two houses, the Lancastrians and Yorkists, together under a new house, house Tudor.

1490

Work was carried out on the Lady Chapel of Winchester Cathedral.

1491

The future king of England Henry was born at Greenwich Palace. He was the third child of Henry VII and Elizabeth of York.

1492

Elizabeth Woodville had retired to Bermondsey Abbey and it was here that she died at the age of round 55.

1493

At Canterbury Cathedral building work was undertaken on the central tower including strainer arches in the crossing.

1499

Building work of a new church in the Perpendicular style began at Bath Abbey.

A Medieval Mystery

There appear to be some strange connections between the fourteenth century Old Wardour Castle and ancient stone circle Stonehenge.

1: Location

Old Wardour Castle appears to be aligned to ancient sites in the Stonehenge landscape.

2: Alignment

Stonehenge is aligned to the Summer Solstice. Old Wardour has a very similar alignment.

3: Size

Could the builders of Old Wardour used mesaurements from Stonehenge to layout the geometrical keep?

Learn More