1376

## **World Events**

* March 31 – Pope Gregory XI excommunicates all members of the government of Florence and places the city under an interdict.
* May 3 – Olav IV Haakonsson is elected King Oluf II of Denmark, following the death of his grandfather, Valdemar IV, in 1375.
* June – Catherine of Siena visits Pope Gregory XI in Avignon to attempt to persuade him to make peace with Florence and move the Papacy back to Rome.
* August 12 – With the help of the Genoese, Byzantine co-emperor Andronicus IV Palaeologus invades Constantinople and dethrones his father, John V Palaeologus, as co-emperor. John V Palaeologus is taken prisoner.

### **Date unknown**

* The city of Sredets in Bulgaria is renamed Sofia after the Church of St Sophia.
* Khan Qamar al-din of Mongolistan unsuccessfully invades Timur’s eastern province of Farghana.
* Timur leads his army against troops of the White Horde which have arrived at Sighnaq. However, winter sets in, preventing an immediate battle.
* Dmitri Donskoi of Moscow raids Mongol-ruled Volga Bulgaria (now in Russia).
* Acamapichtli is elected Tlatoani of the Aztec empire after the death of Tenoch, the first Aztec ruler.
* Mamluk Sultan of Egypt Nasir-ad-Din Shaban II is succeeded by Alah-ad-Din Ali.
* Qutbuddin succeeds his brother, Shahabuddin, as Sultan of Kashmir.

## **The Sphere of Magic**

### **January:** the moderating effect of the Brothers...

* By the end of January, and 20 collective years of junior royalty between them, the brothers Edward (11) and Richard (9) were staples of a royal court that was open 18 hours a day, 7 days a week. Even when the *Brothers* *Eddy & Rick* weren't there, they were running an open court that had *some* feature draw sitting in as a guest to preside over the boys' regular itinerary of academics and entertainment.
* Alice Perrers was one of those who was again a regular at Court, and one of King Edward III's "indulgences," but in the presence of the boys, she (and the court) was comparatively wholesome.
* Joan of Kent also made regular appearances, but the condition of her husband weighed heavily upon her. Unlike the original timeline, there were conversations regarding a Joan regency as queen mother should Prince Edward outlive King Edward.
* John of Gaunt (and the boys other uncles) were regular visitors, and the deference given by him was strong signals that they recognizedEdward of Angoulême's future on the throne (and Richard's potential as the Number Two).
	+ With the still failing health of Edward III and Crown Prince Edward, this recognition at court went a long way in soothing fears of turbulence in the royal succession.
* As for the brothers, the court was easing closer to official business. In the academics, there were points of inquiry regarding *the philosophy of accounting*, and direct application to accounting the funds of the Royal Wardrobe. Occasional guests Richard Lyons (Warden of the Mint) and Lord Latimer became increasingly sparse during the proceedings...
* By now, the academics and scholarship of the boys has marked young Edward as a genius. For those who noticed, Richard was a matching prodigy, but it wasn't isolated intellect that people thought of with Richard. No, it was magic – and extended to fashion, including the trend of carrying faux wands. If somebody got a hold of a *Glow Stone* and mounted it? They were the coolest person ever.

### **February:** the *unmoderating* effect of the Brothers...

* When asked "What would be the first thing you did as king?", the boys had answers that set many back on their heels... and the boys followed that up with polemics on unchristian judgement.
	+ Edward of Angoulême condemned the Statues of Kilkenny, saying he'd repeal those instantly. They simply weren't working, and that's because they were punitive. There were better ways to demonstrate leadership – and Edward laid out exactly how. This elevated respect for his thoughtfulness and foresight, as well as earning him some allies in Ireland.
	+ Richard would rescind the Edict of Expulsion, reminding people that Jesus was, in fact, "King of the... *Jews*." And he thoroughly shamed antisemites in the crowd.
* There was pushback, of course, but the boys welcomed it. This was a *dialogue*.
* One thing seemed to stick under Richard's skin: *if you healed the youngest Edward, why can't you heal the elder Edwards?*
	+ Richard answered frankly: *"All is possible with the Holy Spirit, but he has told me it is his time. Who am I to delay my grandfather's return to heaven? As for my father...? That is because he is too stubborn to accept help..."*
	+ There was a boatload to unpack there, from Richard's relationship with the Holy Spirit, to confirmation that royalty wasn't above death (even in a magical world), to the necessity of consent in medical treatment. It didn't necessarily confirm that Richard used the magic of the Holy Spirit, but that was the connotation given healing his brother.
	+ There were rumors of other miraculous healings, enough that there were now pilgrims from as far as Prague lodged in London, but there was rarely confirmation. Nor was no disappointment or disillusion, just growth of an army of quiet, oddly healthy, common supporters.

### **March**

* The *Treaty of Bruges* is extended a year: Negotiated by John of Gaunt, the armistice between England and France was extended until April of 1377.

### **April:** The *Long* *Parliament*

* Parliament had not met since November 1373, 2½ years previously, because Edward III and his councilors recognized the danger of calling parliament during a period of dissatisfaction. However, the need for funds was so pressing in 1376 that another Parliament was necessary.
* Similar to the original timeline, Peter de la Mare, a knight of the shire representing Herefordshire, was been elected as Speaker by the House of Commons. On the first day, he delivered an address criticizing England's recent military failures, condemning the corruption at court, and calling for close scrutiny of the royal accounts (and his words sounded a great deal like the brothers'...).
* John of Gaunt raised the question of the Salic law, which was the basis for the French case against Edward III's claim to the Crown of France. He suggested that the English follow the French custom, but was unable to sway the assembly to his point of view.

### **May:** the *Miraculous Recovery* of Crown Prince Edward of Woodstock

* May 4 – After touch-and-go weeks, with his wife and sons by his side, Crown Prince Edward stabilizes and shows signs of gradual improvement.
* While Richard is silent on the matter, Joan and Edward credit the presence of *the Boys* as a therapeutic miracle. This introduced a complicating religious factor to the extended royal family...
	+ More than just a medical intervention, this was *an education* for Edward and Joan. For REFEREE EYES ONLY: ***Spoilers***.
* The survival of Edward is another major change to the original sequence of the timeline. At this point, the causality dynamic begins to accelerate with differences.
* As Edward reacquired his feet, John of Gaunt was free to retreat.
	+ The failed campaign in France had seriously dented John's finances (and Lancaster was one of the richest Houses in England). John downsized his London presence to a small estate with less overhead, while allowing older brother Ed to buy him out of the Savoy Palace.
	+ The reality was that the purse strings weren't so much Edward as Richard.

### **June:**sweeping changes to thePrivy Council

* After Lyons and Latimer, Parliament imposed a new councillor on King Edward III, but it wasn't the same group as the original *Good Parliament*. Instead, it was his own, newly recovered son: Crown Prince Edward of Woodstock. Quickly regaining strength and presence, the Prince had some strong ideas about Privy Council staffing and national guidance.

* **Created:***the Council on Monetary Affairs*

* **Created:** *the Council on Military Affairs*

### **July:** the *Long Parliament* is dissolved

* July 21 – Edward didn't simply "get better" – he engaged with the fury of a protector whose charges have been brutalized. In this case, he was defending his father – and England – against the mismanagement that cost far more than gold, it cost blood.
	+ Edward took a seat in parliament and led what would come to be known as ***the Audit and Rectification***. With information gleaned in the Councils, this brought family before parliament and England. It brought a dozen earls and barons, too, but it demonstrated that nobody was safe.
* With the survival, improvement and apparent hellfire of Prince Edward, there was massive relief about the stability of the future crown. At that time, it was the longest Parliament to have sat in England.

### **August:** founding the *Royal Company* (RC)

* Owning an actual merchant business wasn’t normally associated with Royalty. In fact, it was actually barred in France – with typical merchant enterprise “beneath” the nobility.
* *The future Crown of England disagreed...*
	+ Crown Prince Edward granted incorporation to the Royal Company in a ***story unto itself***.

### **September:** John Wycliffe appointed liaison to the Church

* September – Prince Edward summoned and summarily installed religious reformer John Wycliffe as the newest part of the Royal Council: *liaison to the Church*. Given that Lollardy was Target #1 of the Church, this appointment signaled the English Reformation was officially underway.
	+ Outside England, the wider Protestant Reformation, through France, Germany, Italy and beyond, saw this as a great stride forward.
* The stance of Pope Gregory XI, and the constant friction of Church approval and manipulation, further sparked House Plantagenet to completely overhaul the nature of how the English Royal Household would be organized – and how English lines of succession would be decided in the future.
	+ ***The Reorganization of House Plantagenet***

### **October:** *Office of Works* established; Royal Architect appointed

* The Royal Household was expanding rapidly, including a ***Crown civil engineering group*** that was going to take England from the 14th century to the 24th.
* Even as the office is forming, they're shaking out the administrative bugs in their first project: the ***Royal Company Shipworks***. There was major of regency-Crown involvement, including legislation, and this was public confirmation that Royal Arms were coming – though in this case, a *Royal Navy*.
* The Office of Works, as well as the Royal Company, would be working with the *Royal Academy of Natural Philosophies* (RANP), formed that December, as they created survey and cartographic tools.

### **December:** *Royal Academy of Natural Philosophies* (RANP) established

* A ***research college***, they would be the filter for a pipeline to advanced knowledge – and the tool to call for human inspiration, research and development.
* Between the Office of Works and the RANP, House Plantagenet was building tools for serious change...