The Knights of St John capture the island of Rhodes, which they rule as their own sovereign state for more than two centuries

Fifty-four Knights Templars are burned at the stake, during the campaign of the French king to destroy the order

After years of guerilla warfare, Robert de Bruce defeats the English conclusively at Bannockburn - and becomes at last secure in his kingdom

The Swiss, defeating the Habsburgs at Morgarten, make lethal use of their halberds - designed to jab, grapple and slash

Edward Bruce is crowned king of Ireland at Dundalk, but his uprising ends two years later when he is killed in battle with the English

In places such as Siena and Orvieto, Italian architects add a blaze of colour to the more restrained northern pattern of Gothic

Philippe de Vitry, in his Ars Nova ('New Art'), lays out the basis of musical notation

Florence becomes a centre of international finance, with the Bardi and Peruzzi families acting as bankers to Europe's rulers

The leading role of Schwyz in the victory at Morgarten causes the independent cantons to become informally known as the Swiss confederation

Wladyslaw I is crowned king of Poland in Cracow, which he makes his capital city

A treaty divides Finland between two powerfully competitive neighbours, Sweden and Novgorod

Moscow acquires new prestige when the metropolitan (or patriarch) of the Russian Orthodox church moves his residence from Vladimir

Edward II is captured and imprisoned by his queen, Isabella, and her lover, Mortimer

Petrarch glimpses Laura in a church in Avignon and falls helplessly in love with her - or so he tells us

Isabella forces Edward II to renounce the English throne in favour of their 15-year-old son, Edward III

Edward II, imprisoned by his wife and her lover, dies in Berkeley castle - almost certainly the victim of murder

When Charles IV dies, for the first time in more than 400 years of the Capetian dynasty there is no son or brother to inherit the French crown

The English finally accept a treaty, in Edinburgh, declaring that Robert de Bruce is king of a Scotland 'free and divided from the kingdom of England'

A French cousin, Philip of Valois, is selected to succeed Charles IV - in preference to an English cousin, Edward III

On the death of his father, Robert the Bruce, David II becomes king of Scotland

The long reign of Casimir III, known as the Great, is a time of prosperity and achievement in Poland

Philip VI of France confiscates Guienne, a fief belonging to Edward III of England - whose response begins the Hundred Years' War

The Doge's Palace, begun in its present form in this year, is only one of the spectacular beauties of Venetian Gothic

Edward III, in Ghent, publicly assumes the title and the arms of the king of France

William of Ockham advocates paring down arguments to their essentials, an approach later known as Ockham's Razor