- Africa
Flourishing of Benin and Oyo
The Edo kingdom of Benin and the Yoruba empire of Oyo rose as major forest powers, Benin renowned for its court art and Oyo for the cavalry empire of its Alaafin.
Era: The great precolonial kingdoms: Kanem-Bornu, Hausa, Oyo and Benin
Sources: Oyo empire · Encyclopaedia Britannica, Benin Bronzes · Encyclopaedia Britannica, Nigeria (country overview and history) · Encyclopaedia Britannica
- Europe
Vilnius founded by Gediminas
The capital Vilnius is first recorded in Grand Duke Gediminas's letters of 1323, in which he invited merchants, craftsmen and clergy from across Europe to settle freely in his expanding realm.
Era: The Pagan Kingdom and the Rise of the Grand Duchy
Sources: Gediminas · Encyclopaedia Britannica, The Precepts of Grand Duke Gediminas to Vilnius and Lithuania · National Museum, Palace of the Grand Dukes of Lithuania
- North America
Founding of Tenochtitlan
The Mexica establish their capital on an island in Lake Texcoco, the site of present-day Mexico City.
Era: The Mexica (Aztec) Empire
Sources: Aztec Civilization · National Geographic Education, Aztec · Encyclopaedia Britannica
- Europe
- Asia
Iliyas Shah founds the Bengal Sultanate
Shamsuddin Iliyas Shah unifies Bengal's principalities and establishes the independent Iliyas Shahi Sultanate at Lakhnauti, beginning more than two centuries of sovereign Muslim rule.
Era: The Bengal Sultanate and the Spread of Islam
Sources: Iliyas Shah · Banglapedia (Asiatic Society of Bangladesh)
- Europe
The county of Vaduz takes shape
A separate county of Vaduz emerged in the fourteenth century in the upper Rhine valley, alongside the smaller lordship of Schellenberg, both small and often impoverished holdings within the Holy Roman Empire.
Era: The Lordships of the Rhine and the Distant House of Liechtenstein
Sources: Liechtenstein: History (Alpine, Principality, Sovereignty) · Encyclopaedia Britannica, How the Principality of Liechtenstein came into being · Swiss National Museum (Blog)
- Europe
Founding of the Principality of Moldavia
Vlach migrants from Maramures established a principality east of the Carpathians; its independence is traditionally attributed to the voivode Bogdan I, making Moldavia the second Romanian principality.
Era: The Principality of Moldavia and the Golden Age of Stephen the Great
Sources: Moldavia (historical principality) · Encyclopaedia Britannica, Moldova: History · Encyclopaedia Britannica
- Africa
Rise of the Jolof Empire
A Wolof confederation unites provinces between the Senegal and Gambia rivers, drawing tribute and trade across the western savanna.
Era: The Jolof Empire and Its Successor Kingdoms
Sources: Wolof Empire · World History Encyclopedia, Jolof kingdom · Encyclopaedia Britannica
- Asia
Foundation of Ayutthaya
King Ramathibodi I founds Ayutthaya at the meeting of three rivers, beginning a kingdom that would dominate the Chao Phraya basin for over four centuries.
Era: The Kingdom of Ayutthaya
Sources: Thailand · Encyclopædia Britannica, Historic City of Ayutthaya · UNESCO World Heritage Centre
- Asia
Fa Ngum founds Lan Xang
Fa Ngum unifies the Lao principalities of the Mekong by conquest and proclaims the kingdom of Lan Xang, the "million elephants," with its capital at Muang Swa (Luang Prabang).
Era: The Kingdom of Lan Xang
Sources: Fa Ngum · Encyclopaedia Britannica, Lan Xang · Encyclopaedia Britannica
- Europe
Principality of Zeta under the Balsic
After the fall of the Serbian Empire an independent Zeta emerged, ruled by the House of Balsic and then from 1431 by the House of Crnojevic, under whom the name Montenegro came into use.
Era: Duklja, Zeta and the Coming of the Name Montenegro
Sources: Montenegro: History · Encyclopaedia Britannica, Montenegro History (Duklja and Zeta) · FamilySearch
- Europe
- Asia
Founding of the ruling dynasty
The line descended from Muhammad Shah, later the House of Bolkiah, establishes itself as Brunei's royal house, beginning a continuous monarchy that endures to the present.
Era: The Coming of Islam and the Birth of the Sultanate
Sources: History of Brunei · Encyclopaedia Britannica, Country Facts: Brunei Darussalam · Permanent Mission of Brunei Darussalam to the United Nations
- Asia
Ming dynasty restores Han rule
Zhu Yuanzhang overthrows the Yuan and founds the Ming dynasty (1368-1644), which rebuilds the Great Wall in stone, constructs the Forbidden City, and revives Han Chinese imperial governance.
Era: Empires of Conquest and Restoration: Yuan, Ming, Qing
Sources: China · Encyclopaedia Britannica, Yuan Dynasty · World History Encyclopedia
- Asia
Timur takes power and makes Samarkand his capital
Timur (Tamerlane) seizes control of Transoxiana and makes Samarkand the capital of an empire reaching from Anatolia to India, adorning it as the cultural heart of Central Asia.
Era: The Mongol Storm and the Empire of Timur
Sources: Timur — Biography, Conquests, Empire & Facts · Encyclopaedia Britannica, Samarkand — Uzbekistan, Map, History & Facts · Encyclopaedia Britannica
- Europe
Coronation of Tvrtko I
Tvrtko I was crowned king, raising Bosnia from a banate to a kingdom; under him it reached the Dalmatian coast and became, briefly, the most powerful state in the western Balkans.
Era: Medieval Bosnia: Banate, Kingdom and the Bosnian Church
Sources: Kotromanić dynasty · Encyclopaedia Britannica, Bosnia and Herzegovina: History · Encyclopaedia Britannica
- Africa
Kingdom of Kongo founded
Lukeni lua Nimi establishes the kingdom of Kongo on the lower Congo River, ruling from Mbanza Kongo.
Era: Kongo & the Savanna Kingdoms
Sources: Kongo (historical kingdom, Africa) · Encyclopædia Britannica, Kingdom of Kongo · Wikipedia
- Asia
Joseon dynasty founded
Yi Seong-gye founds the long-lived Joseon dynasty, which adopts Neo-Confucianism and under King Sejong creates the hangul alphabet.
Era: Shared Korean Heritage
Sources: Joseon dynasty · Encyclopaedia Britannica, Korea (history) · Encyclopaedia Britannica
- Asia
Joseon dynasty founded
Yi Seong-gye establishes the Joseon dynasty, adopts Neo-Confucianism as state ideology, and soon moves the capital to Hanyang (Seoul).
Era: The Joseon Dynasty
Sources: Joseon dynasty · Encyclopaedia Britannica, Korea (history) · Encyclopaedia Britannica
- Africa
Founding of the Bamum kingdom
The Bamum dynasty was founded by Nshare Yen, who established Foumban as the capital of a Grassfields kingdom that grew through conquest and diplomacy.
Era: Grassfields kingdoms, the Douala coast and the Fulani north
Sources: Kingdom of Bamum · Wikipedia, Bamum (people and kingdom) · Encyclopaedia Britannica
- Europe
The Kalmar Union
At Kalmar the magnates of Denmark, Norway and Sweden crowned Erik of Pomerania as common king under the regency of Margaret I, uniting the three Scandinavian kingdoms in a single monarchy.
Era: The Medieval Kingdom and the Kalmar Union
Sources: Kalmar Union · Encyclopaedia Britannica, Margaret I, queen of Scandinavia · Encyclopaedia Britannica
Formation in the 14th century
Every event in the Terralore archive tagged formation — origins, unifications and the founding of states as each nation's archive records them, narrowed to the 14th century — 21 of them, drawn from 20 nations, running from 1300 to 1397. Each entry keeps the sources it was verified against and links back to the chronicle it came from.
- Events
- 21
- Nations
- 20
- Earliest
- 1300
- Latest
- 1397
- Asia
- 8
- Europe
- 8
- Africa
- 4
- North America
- 1
Every entry below is the same record, with the same sources, as the one on its nation’s chronicle.