1440s in England explained

Other decades
		1440s		1460s

Events from the 1440s in England.

Incumbents

• Monarch – Henry VI

Events

• 1440
  • 7 July – Hundred Years' War: John Talbot, 1st Earl of Shrewsbury recaptures Harfleur from the French.^[1]
  • 12 September – King Henry VI founds Eton College.^[2]
• 1441
  • 2 April – King Henry VI founds King's College, Cambridge.
  • 19 September – Hundred Years' War: French capture Pontoise and Île-de-France.
• 1442
  • 19 January – Eleanor Cobham, wife of Humphrey, Duke of Gloucester, convicted of treason and witchcraft.
  • 11 June – Hundred Years' War: France invades Gascony.
• 1443
  • 23 April – perpetual truce signed with Burgundy.
  • 13 May – John Stafford enthroned as Archbishop of Canterbury.
  • August – Hundred Years' War: 8,000 strong expeditionary force under John Beaufort, 1st Duke of Somerset lands at Cherbourg.
• 1444
  • 22 May – the Treaty of Tours, signed between England and France, secures a truce in the Hundred Years' War for 5 years and includes an arrangement for Henry VI to marry Margaret of Anjou.
  • A serious fire occurs at Old St Paul's Cathedral in London.^[3]
• 1445
  • 23 April – Henry VI marries Margaret of Anjou^[1] at Titchfield Abbey.
  • 14 July – Hundred Years' War: negotiations for a peace treaty begin in London.
• 1446
  • 26 June – Hundred Years' War: Henry re-asserts his claim over Brittany.
  • 25 July – Henry lays the foundation stone of King's College Chapel, Cambridge.
• 1447
  • 18 February – Duke of Gloucester arrested for treason. He dies five days later.
  • 9 December – Richard Plantagenet, 3rd Duke of York appointed as the King's representative in Ireland.
• 1448
  • 11 March – Hundred Years' War: England cedes Maine to France.
  • 16 March – Hundred Years' War: peace negotiations break down over the issue of English control over Brittany.
  • 15 April – Queen Margaret of Anjou founds Queens' College, Cambridge.
  • May – Earliest known reference to Morris dance in England.
  • 23 October – Scottish victory over the English at the Battle of Sark.
• 1449
  • 24 March – Hundred Years' War: English capture Fougères in Brittany.^[4]
  • May – An English privateering fleet led by Robert Wennington challenges ships of the Hanseatic League.^[5]
  • July – Hundred Years' War: French invade Normandy.^[4]
  • 29 October – Hundred Years' War: Rouen surrenders to the French.^[4]
  • Earliest known grant of a patent in England, by Henry VI to John of Utynam for the introduction of coloured glass manufacture.^{[6] [7]}

Births

• 1440
  • approximate Henry Deane, Archbishop of Canterbury (died 1503)
• 1442
  • 28 April – King Edward IV of England (died 1483)
  • 27 September – John de la Pole, 2nd Duke of Suffolk (died 1491)
  • Anthony Woodville, 2nd Earl Rivers (died 1483)
• 1443
  • 17 May – Edmund, Earl of Rutland, brother of Kings Edward IV of England and Richard III of England (died 1460)
  • 31 May – Lady Margaret Beaufort, mother of Henry VII of England (died 1509)
  • John de Vere, 13th Earl of Oxford, Lancastrian leader (died 1513)
  • Anne Beauchamp, 15th Countess of Warwick (died 1449)
• 1444
  • John de Mowbray, 4th Duke of Norfolk (died 1476)
• 1446
  • Edmund de Ros, 10th Baron de Ros, politician (died 1508)
  • William Grocyn, scholar (died 1519)
• 1449
  • 21 October – George Plantagenet, 1st Duke of Clarence, brother of Edward IV and Richard III (died 1478)

Deaths

• 1440
  • 30 September – Reginald Grey, 3rd Baron Grey de Ruthyn, soldier and politician (born c. 1362)
  • 13 November – Joan Beaufort, Countess of Westmoreland (born c. 1379)
• 1441
  • 27 October – Margery Jourdemayne, "the witch of Eye", burned at the stake
• 1443
  • 12 April – Henry Chichele, Archbishop of Canterbury, having served since 1414, the longest ever in this office (born c. 1364)
• 1444
  • 27 May – John Beaufort, 1st Duke of Somerset, military leader (born 1404)
• 1445
  • 5 June – Leonel Power, composer (year of birth unknown, between 1370–1385)
  • 11 June – Henry de Beauchamp, 1st Duke of Warwick (born 1424)
• 1447
  • 23 February – Humphrey, Duke of Gloucester (born 1390)
  • 11 April – Henry Beaufort, Cardinal, Lord Chancellor (born 1377)
  • John Holland, 2nd Duke of Exeter (born 1395)
• 1449
  • Anne Beauchamp, 15th Countess of Warwick (born 1443)

Notes and References

1. Book: Williams, Hywel. Cassell's Chronology of World History. registration. London. Weidenfeld & Nicolson. 2005. 0-304-35730-8. 177–178.
2. Book: Penguin Pocket On This Day. Penguin Reference Library. 0-14-102715-0. 2006.
3. Book: The London Encyclopaedia. Ben. Weinreb. Christopher. Hibbert. Macmillan. 1995. 0-333-57688-8. 287.
4. Book: Palmer, Alan. Palmer . Veronica. 1992. The Chronology of British History. Century Ltd. London. 123–125. 0-7126-5616-2.
5. Book: Sobecki, Sebastian I.. The Sea and Medieval English Literature. D.S. Brewer. Cambridge. 2008. 9781846155918. 155.
6. Web site: United Kingdom Patent Applications. LexisNexis. 2011-11-17.
7. Allan. Gomme. Early British Patent Grants. Nature. 119. 494. 1927. 10.1038/119494b0. 2996. free.