20 Mad Facts About the 1300s That’ll Sound Really Strange

In 1325, the two Italian cities of Modena and Bologna had a war in which 2000 people died after a man stole a bucket from Bologna. Modena still has the bucket to this day.

In 1313, 60 Scottish soldiers disguised as cows seized control of the Roxburgh castle held by the English.

In 1318, Joan of Leeds, an English nun, who, bored with her monastic and enclosed life, at some point escaped from St Clement's by York priory to journey to Beverley, where she lived with a man. To escape, she feigned her death with a dummy that was buried in her place.

In 1351, 30 knights from England and France fought a melee to decide which nation would inherit the Duchy of Brittany. The fight is hailed as a noble display of the ideas of Chivalry.

In 1315, a small change in climate caused a great famine in Northern Europe which was so grim that one day even the King Edward II of England was left without bread.

In 1303, a wool merchant named Richard Pudlicott stole £100,000 of valuables from King Edward I, equal to England's entire yearly tax income. Ministers discovered the robbery when priceless jewels began turning up in London brothels.

In 1382, a French bookseller named Nicholas Flamel claimed to have transformed lead into gold after decoding an ancient book of alchemy. True or not, historical records show that Flamel did come into considerable wealth around this time, and donated his riches to charity.

In 1386, a pig was accused of eating a child, a trial was held and the pig was given human clothes, the pig was determined guilty and sentenced to death by public hanging.

In 1311, the Lincoln Cathedral was the first building to steal the title of "tallest structure in the world" from the Great Pyramid, which held the title for almost 4,000 years.

In June of 1316, King Louis X of France drank a large quantity of cooled wine after an exhausting tennis match. He subsequently died and because of the contemporary accounts of his death, became the first tennis player known by name.