The 1370s: political realignments, Ottoman expansion and cultural renewal

Overview of the 1370s: political and military shifts across Eurasia, the rise of Timur and Ottoman gains in the Balkans, the papal return and Western Schism, and cultural and economic recovery after mid‑14th century crises.

The 1370s were a decade of cautious recovery after the mid‑14th century crises and of important political realignments across Eurasia. States and elites adjusted to long‑term demographic and economic change following the Black Death, while new military powers consolidated control at the margins of older empires. Developments in this decade helped set the scene for the political and cultural transformations of the late 14th and 15th centuries.

Major political and military developments

In southeastern Europe the Ottoman emirate under Murad I expanded its influence across the Balkans. The 1371 defeat of a coalition of Balkan nobles at Maritsa (Chernomen) accelerated the fragmentation of Serbian authority and eased Ottoman penetration of the region. In western Europe the Hundred Years' War continued to shape politics: French monarchs worked to rebuild royal power while English affairs changed with the death of Edward III in 1377 and the accession of his young grandson Richard II.

In Central Asia the Turco‑Mongol leader Timur (Tamerlane) began to assert control over Transoxiana and made Samarkand his principal base early in the decade, launching campaigns that would produce a powerful Timurid state. Maritime competition and naval clashes in the Atlantic and Mediterranean reflected shifting sea power among England, France, Castile and Italian maritime republics.

Religion and the papacy

The papacy’s return from Avignon to Rome in 1377 and the death of Pope Gregory XI in 1378 precipitated the Western Schism. Political pressures on the curia and rival allegiances among monarchs led to competing claimants to the papacy, a crisis that divided Christendom and had long political and cultural consequences.

Culture, learning and society

Intellectual and artistic currents continued to develop. In Italy and parts of northern Europe renewed interest in classical texts and human‑centered learning — associated with figures such as Petrarch and Boccaccio, who died in the 1370s — contributed to early humanist tendencies. Gothic architecture, manuscript production and vernacular literature remained vibrant. In East Asia the Ming dynasty, founded in 1368, consolidated imperial institutions and supported economic recovery.

Economy and trade

Across Europe societies continued to adapt to labor shortages and changed land use after the plague. Urban commerce and long‑distance trade persisted, driven by Italian city‑states, Iberian ports and the Hanseatic League in northern Europe. These networks sustained the flow of goods and ideas even as political borders shifted.

Notable events and figures

1370s: Timur establishes Samarkand as a center of his power in Transoxiana and begins wider campaigns.
1371: Ottoman victory at Maritsa weakens Balkan principalities and accelerates Ottoman expansion.
1374–1375: Deaths of key literary figures Petrarch (1374) and Boccaccio (1375), whose works influenced later cultural movements.
1377: Death of Edward III and accession of Richard II in England.
1377–1378: Papal return to Rome and the contested elections that lead to the Western Schism.

The 1370s do not mark a single transformation but a set of linked developments: political consolidation and fragmentation in different regions, the rise of new military powers on Eurasian frontiers, continued economic adaptation after demographic upheaval, and cultural currents that foreshadowed later Renaissance and imperial formations.