1314: A year of great change

The year 1314 was, like many years during the Middle Ages, was a tumultuous year. Many great changes, some beginnings and some endings, occurred that year. Battles were fought, freedom won, and men were put to the stake in the name of religion.

Most notable in the year 1314 was the election of Louis IV to the rank of Emperor of the Holy Roman Empire. However, it would not be for another fourteen years before he was coronated Holy Roman Emperor, as the politics at the time would wage on for years. His cousin, Frederick the Fair, had also received a vote of election to the Imperial crown in the year 1314.

A dark event that took place in the year 1314 was the burning of Jacques de Molay at the stake. de Molay, the last Grand Master of the Knights Templar, was a victim of greed and politics. Two years prior, the Knights Templar had been dissolved by Papal decree, allowing their wealth to be claimed by the church. de Molay was held captive for two more years, before finally being sentenced to death, and he was burned at the stake on 19 march, in the year 1314.

The Battle of Bannockburn, the decisive battle of the First War of Scottish Independence, took place in June of the year 1314. In that battle, Robert the Bruce’s forces defeated those of English King Edward II, attaining the independence of Scotland, which lasted until King James I, King of Scotland, was crowned King of England. His dual monarchy united the two kingdoms in the early 17th century, almost 400 years later.

In a less bloody, but equally important event, Norway’s Håkon V Magnusson relocated the throne from the city of Bergen to Oslo, where he built Akershus Fortress, where the rulers of Norway ruled from for another 500 years.

The pivotal year 1314

One of the worst famines in European history struck northern Europe in the year 1314. Caused by a series of cold wet years and exacerbated by political turmoil, the famine which began in 1314 lasted for three years and killed off between ten and fifteen percent of the population. After effects of this famine were still being felt in northern European countries well into the 1320′s. At the same time, the year 1314 saw some significant political events which were to have long range impact on European history.

Perhaps the most famous event of the year 1314 was the battle of Bannockburn, where a small force of Scots led by Robert Bruce defeated a much larger English army under Edward II. Although full recognition of Scottish independence was not achieved until more than ten years later, the battle of Bannockburn is considered to be the significant turning point in the Scottish battle for independence from England.
Across the Channel, Phillip IV, the last strong Capet ruler of France, died in the year 1314.

Phillip had spent his reign, much like Edward II of England, consolidating the power of the monarchy. Over nearly thirty years, Phillip expelled the Jews from France (and seized their assets), levied taxes on the clergy, and seized control of the papacy, moving it from Rome to Avignon. Phillip also disbanded the once powerful Order of Knights Templar. In the year 1314, Phillip had the last Master of the Templars, Jacques de Molay, burned at the stake.

According to legend, de Molay cursed Phillip from the flames, and Phillip died a few months later. The Pope whom Phillip had created and controlled, Clement V, also died in the year 1314.
In the same year, Haakon V of Norway moved his capital to Oslo, where it has remained ever since, and Louis IV was elected Holy Roman Emperor.