1424 was a year in the 15th century notable for continuing military conflicts in Western Europe and for its place in the late medieval calendar. In contemporary reckoning it was a leap year under the Julian calendar and is sometimes described in modern sources as a leap year starting on Saturday.
Calendar and dating
Under the Julian system then in widespread use, years divisible by four were leap years. That made 1424 a leap year with an extra day in February. Modern references that compare old-style dates and weekday alignments often point readers to a calendar conversion resource: calendar reference. Note that the Gregorian reforms of the 16th century later altered the relationship between weekday and date for many historical years.
Major events
The most widely recorded event of 1424 was the Battle of Verneuil, fought on 17 August 1424 during the Hundred Years' War. English forces, commanded by the Duke of Bedford, achieved a significant victory over a combined French and Scottish army. The clash inflicted heavy losses on the French-Scottish side and reinforced English influence in northern France for a period.
Political and cultural context
The year fell within a period of prolonged dynastic warfare and shifting alliances across Western Europe. The Hundred Years' War continued to shape politics on both sides of the English Channel. Elsewhere, the early Renaissance was developing in parts of Italy, while maritime exploration sponsored by Portuguese patrons was beginning to extend European knowledge of the Atlantic and African coasts.
Legacy and notable facts
1424 is written MCDXXIV in Roman numerals. It is remembered primarily by historians for the Verneuil engagement and as part of the broader 15th-century transformations that led from medieval to early modern Europe. Because many regional chronologies differ, precise lists of births and deaths for the year vary between sources; major themes are better established than exhaustive day-by-day records.