1377

The *Incidence of Incidents*, the maybe-magical, definitely-supernatural oddities happening around the globe were hands-down the world's #1 concern. To a degree, the rise of England's *Order of Merlin* was seen as likely connected, though given the timing, was more a reaction than a cause.

No place felt that more than Aquitaine (and France beyond). The *Glow Stones* had turned the tide of France's attempt at reclaiming Gascony and Guyenne. It wasn't "powerful" magic in the sense of exploding fireballs, but it was an ever-ready source light without heat (and risk of fire). It was an advantage for troops and nighttime logistics. It could be carried, worn, covered or amplified. Mostly, it gave a sense of wonder – and one step beyond, a powerful source of *hope*.

In that extent, for those who weren't in the circle for the Order of Merlin, the OM itself was an incidence of the incidents. Whether it was good or bad had entirely to do with one's thoughts on England.

By the end of 1377, even the OM took a back seat to the political havoc in London alone. The resurgent health of Prince Edward had changed the strategies of France and the English aristocracy. By Christmas, the commons were still talking about the *Audit and Rectification* that Prince Edward, regent of England, had imposed upon a corrupt nobility.

By the beginning of 1378, there were hints of a Royal Army in the works, the foundation of the Royal Academy of Natural Philosophies (study of the sciences), and a sudden wellspring of gold fueling a resurgent English Crown...

## **World Events**

* **1377** was an active year, though comparing the original time stream with the current time stream, far-Western Europe was increasingly divergent.
* **January:** Pope Gregory XI moves the Papacy from Avignon to Rome.
* **February:** the Pope's representative in northern Italy, Robert of Geneva (the future antipope Clement VII), pillages Cesena and 4,000 antipapal rebels are massacred.
* **May:** Local Roman riots, enflamed by the recent massacre at Cesena, force Pope Gregory to move the Papacy back to Avignon.
* **October:** Tvrtko I of Bosnia is crowned.
* **November:** Pope Gregory returns to Rome (again) after the riots have quelled. There is still massive discontent as the new English printing presses have been sold here – and the protestant movement has begun in earnest.

### **Date Unknown**

* A sermon by a German monk states "the game of cards has come to us this year", and prohibitions against cards are issued by Prince John of Castile, and the cities of Florence and Basel.
* Radu I succeeds Vladislav I as Prince of Wallachia (now southern Romania).
* The Trezzo sull'Adda Bridge is completed, and becomes the longest arch bridge in the world to be built for four centuries.
* Sayf ad-Din Barquq leads a revolt against the Mamluk Sultan of Egypt, Alah-ad-Din Ali.
* Harihara II succeeds Bukka Raya I, as ruler of the Vijayanagara Empire (now in southern India).
* Informed that Khan Urus of the White Horde has died, Timur of the Timurid Empire sends Tokhtamysh to take the Horde throne, but is defeated by Urus' son, Timur Malik.
* King U of Goryeo adopts the Ming calendar, and begs to be invested by the Hongwu Emperor.
* Tran Hien succeeds Tran Kính, as King of Vietnam.
* A rebellion against the Majapahit Empire is quashed in Sumatra.

## **The Sphere of Magic**

### **January**

* As ground was breaking on the Royal Academy, the Royal Company was expanding, and the Royal Architect was unveiling the plans for both headquarters. The Sergeants-at-Arms were now visible in London, particularly in Westminster as the next Parliament assembled. London was a whirlwind of activity and optimism, but one point outshone them all: the chartering and announcement of the ***Royal Order of Merlin*** (ROM).
* There was some politics here: the Crown was co-opting Richard's existing effort. He'd already created the "Order of Merlin" and didn't actually need (or want) a charter – but now it was evolving into something *Royal*. Insisted on by Prince Edward (dad), this was optics for French relations. Richard got it, but it wasn't his first choice. Once the need was identified, though, he went with it and went as far as providing an introductory class in magic to the Royal Court – **that lasted for an entire week**.
* With the *Glow Stones* paving the path of perceptions, the new ROM was already on a national prestige par with the Order of the Garter (if not higher).
* There was already a perfusion of arcane desire in the RANP, itself now only a month old, but that wasn't the *Academy's* intended purpose. Rather, the RANP was to explore all the forces of the "mundane" (non-magical) world. Richard was going to make this requested Merlin chartering work for him – and shunt some of the magical attention to the Royal Academy. In the process, ***the world was about to leapfrog research and development***...

### **February**

* **An Urgency to Progress:** Prince Edward, acting regent, had gradually assumed control of the Royal Court. England itself was still ringing from the *Audit and Rectification*, but there were signs in the growing *Incidence of Incidents* that something larger was on the horizon. It was with this mandate for action that Prince Edward called a late-February parliament.
* What might've been the Bad Parliament in an alternate universe, was instead called the ***Golden Parliament***. Given recent successes, it became a parliamentary rubber stamp on the Crown Prince's management, but it also foreshadowed massive changes...

### **March**

* Even as King Edward III's health declined, Prince Edward was back to fighting strength. There were signs the Aquitaine English could be rallied and Richard of Bordeaux revealed himself *an actual wizard in the style of Merlin*. That was enough to keep the French close to the bargaining table.
* John of Gaunt successfully extended the Treaty of Bruges, with continued points of contention over English demands for the reclamation and retention of Greater Aquitaine. Charles V, and his commander Olivier de Clisson, were cautious but not about to give up ground gained in the south. Still, the hesitation was enough to buy time for the English in the face of superior French logistics.

### **April**

* **The** ***Cavalon Construction Company******:*** An entirely commercial subsidiary of the *Order of Merlin* was actually the first to monetize magic (outside of actually creating money). This group combined the study and employment of massively powerful magic with design and structural engineering to create a company that could create bigger buildings, faster.
* This was roughly the same time that the Royal Company was expanding their "mundane" ***metalworking ability*** at the Rainham estate.

### **May**

* **The Royal Company storefronts**: The RC opened their doors to actual shops in London, York and Bordeaux. The range of products was massively varied, but all of them hit society like a sledgehammer. There were paper products (for writing and wiping), lubricants and soap, spectacles, maritime magic down on the docks, carriages unlike any ever seen, and new processes that made previously difficult to find metal commonplace for other English artisans and craftsmen.
* **English turbulence with the Church:** Pope Gregory XI, having just fled Rome back to Avignon, issues five Bulls condemning the opinion of John Wycliffe that Catholic priests should live in poverty like the twelve disciples of Jesus. Unlike the original timeline, nestled among this polemic is the regular denunciation of England's recently-created *Society of Jesus*. This attack was inspirational to Prince Edward to do the Christian thing of paying back old debts, in this case to Florence... *while they fought Papal forces during the War of the Eight Saints*...

### **June**

* **The Passage of King Edward III**, English war hero and *re-payer of debts*. Celebrated, mourned and remembered, the former king left a recently-stabilized kingdom but an unfinished war in his wake.

* **The accession of** ***King Edward IV:***Two days after the passing, Edward IV convened his first *official* Royal Court and issued over thirty Royal edicts. The marquee changes included revoking the Statues of Kilkenny, forbidding English Courts to be used as a method of income, rescinding the Edict of Expulsion, standardizing punishments and outlawing torture, banning serfdom and unfair rents. This struck certain portions of the aristocracy *hard*, especially given the ongoing labor shortage, but instantly rocketed *King Edward **IV*** to absolute superstar status with the commons. With that surge, the Palatine interests were vested and Edward went through his coronation – including the Royal Order of Merlin's presentation of *Excalibur, Reborn*.

### **July**

* The changes through London and southern England were picking up speed. ***Queen Joan went through her own coronation***. The RANP, in cooperation with the RC, now unveiled the ***seed drill***.
* Mostly, though, ***the King chartered the Royal Arms***. What assembled for the ceremony was already a uniform fighting force, so it was apparent this was in the works for some time – likely from the moment the Council on Military Affairs first mentioned it. The ceremony of the charter unveiled several developments, each potent in their respect, but it was the commons' first chance to see Edward hold *Excalibur* in his hands. Noted: *the sword was blindingly bright outdoors, too, even in the daytime*.
* The Royal Company had also been a key part of the Royal Arms assembly, their military efforts industrializing warfare five centuries earlier than the alt-Timeline. The idea was to make their military so effective that it made warfare itself obsolete.

### **August**

* Charles V of France brought Castilian allies to join Richard FitzAlan, attaindered Earl of Arundel, on a march against Edward IV in southeastern England.
* Edward IV responds with his newly formed *Regiment of St. George*. While the castle was still in the process of being built, the force itself was fully equipped. This started the English policy of active defense: riding out to meet an invader, rather than letting them run rampant and perhaps siege a castle. The Regiment, including its training, equipment and armament, operated as designed – devastatingly effective.
* The ***Battle of Arundel*** earned King Edward IV, who personally led troops at this battle, a new name that he'd carry into history: *the King of Blood and Thunder*. One Castilian ship escaped, with both French and Castilian soldiers, to bear witness to Charles, and the rest of France, the results of the battle.
* After the Battle, with an eye toward the future, ***the SA are extended to France***.

### **September**

* In the maritime realm, the first Royal Company Galleon was christened. This new design marked the biggest, fastest thing on the seas – and they've got cannons on the decks. ***The Endeavour was the first of 10 coming off in short order***.
* House Plantagenet: a one-year review of the new ***House Rules***...

### **October**

* England blazes trails in science, engineering, commerce and industry as the RC intros ***Birth Control***, the RANP introduced***Pendulum Clocks***; and Crown itself introduced ***Tax Stamps*** to simplify and streamline the process.

### **November**

* ***Arcane Crystal-powered motors set to replace horses for wagons***. This was about to bypass several hundred years of mechanical engineering progress and kick off a magically-driven Industrial Revolution.
* ***La Rochelle reclaimed by English-Aquitaine forces***. This doesn't erase the English defeat, per se, but rather reverses it. This becomes another morale boost for England and a blow to France.

### **December**

* The ***Vernacular featured Wycliffe's Bible in Middle English***, but Prince Rick accelerated that to include several languages. Incorporated in Wycliffe's effort was Rick's effort to standardize English itself (and they printed a dictionary at the same time as the bibles).