timelinescience - 1301 to 1400

1301 to 1400


Setting the scene
	The years of the 14th century see many events which will still be remembered by many people in the 21st century, not just those who study history. The Hundred Years war between England and France begins. Several books which are still well known in the 21st century are written - or at least started - during this time. These include the Divine Comedy by Dante, the Decameron by Boccaccio and best known of all, Geoffrey Chaucer's Canterbury Tales. In the mid 1340s Italian ships bring rats carrying fleas infected with the Black Death to Europe. Over a period of 80 years the disease wipes out 75% of the population of Europe. Over 25 million people die from the dreaded disease, and this massive death rate affects the structure of society from then onwards.

The science
	A Dominican monk called Theodoric investigates the rainbow using globes of water. He correctly explained much of how rainbows are formed. Wearing eyeglasses to help poor sight becomes relatively common in Europe. Mondino de'Luzzi publishes the first Western book on human anatomy, based on the dissection of corpses. An alchemist (known as The False Geber because he wrote under the name of another alchemist called Geber who had died 5 centuries earlier!) describes sulphuric acid. Henri de Mondeville suggests stitching and cleansing wounds to aid healing - advice that is not wholeheartedly followed for centuries. Alchemy is banned by the Pope in 1317. Jean Buridan from France says that the movement of the celestial bodies is not due to God and the angels pushing them round, and develops the idea of impetus to explain their motion. The first quarantine station is set up in the port of Ragusa (in the former Yugoslavia) in 1377: those suspected of carrying plague have to stay there for forty days until the disease either occurs or they are obviously not going to get it. Cast iron becomes generally available in Europe.