1370 – 1380s

Events in the 1370s 9

• 1300 – 1377 Guillaume de Machaut French composer and poet of Ars Nova Guillaume de Machaut was the leading composer and poet of the Ars Nova period. His Messe de Nostre Dame is the earliest known complete polyphonic mass setting by a single composer.
• 1304 – 1374 Francesco Petrarch Italian scholar and poet Petrarch is considered the father of Humanism. His poetry and rediscovery of classical texts helped spark the Renaissance intellectual movement.
• 1313 – 1375 Giovanni Boccaccio Italian writer and humanist Boccaccio wrote The Decameron, a major influence on European prose and Renaissance storytelling traditions.
• 1370 – 1430 Johannes Alanus English composer Johannes Alanus was a 14th-century English composer whose motets show the influence of the Ars Nova style and represent the sophisticated state of English polyphony.
• 1370 – 1412 Johannes Ciconia Franco-Flemish composer active in Italy Johannes Ciconia was a transitional composer whose works bridge the medieval and early Renaissance periods. Active mainly in Padua, his motets and secular songs were widely admired.
• 1370 – 1420 Solage French Ars Subtilior composer Solage was a French composer of the Ars Subtilior movement whose sophisticated chansons feature complex rhythms and chromatic harmonies.
• 1372 – 1427 The Mexica under Tepanec domination For the first century of their existence in the Valley of Mexico, the Mexica are vassals of the powerful Tepanec kingdom of Azcapotzalco -- paying tribute, providing military service and intermarrying with Tepanec nobility to gain legitimacy. The Tepanec ruler Tezozomoc (c.1372-1427) is the dominant political figure of the valley -- a brilliant, ruthless monarch who uses the Mexica as shock troops to expand his empire while keeping them dependent. The Mexica tlatoani (speaker/ruler) Chimalpopoca is a Tepanec puppet. This subordination shapes the Mexica psyche: the fierce independence and imperial ambition of later Aztec culture is partly a reaction against the memory of vassalage. When Tezozomoc dies in 1427 and his son Maxtla attempts to reassert Tepanec dominance, the Mexica -- allied with Texcoco and Tlacopan -- revolt and destroy Azcapotzalco.
• 1375 – 1430 Matteo da Perugia Italian composer Matteo da Perugia was a northern Italian composer whose works bridge the Ars Subtilior and early Renaissance styles. He served at Milan Cathedral and composed both sacred and secular music.
• 1377 – 1445 Oswald von Wolkenstein German composer and poet Oswald von Wolkenstein was a South Tyrolean composer and poet whose multilingual songs reflect his extensive travels across Europe. He is one of the last Minnesänger.