Major Events
- Feb 26 English Catholic priest William Sawtrey convicted of heresy and later becomes 1st Lollard martyr to be publicly burnt at the stake
- Mar 24 Timur attacks city of Damascus, second city of the Mameluke Empire. Though scholar and negotiator Ibn Khaldūn's life spared, the city is sacked and the Umayyad Mosque destroyed.
- Jul 9 Turko-Mongol ruler Tamerlane (Timur) destroys Baghdad, killing 20,000
Born in 1401
- May 12 Emperor Shōkō, 101st Japanese Emperor (412-428) (d. 1428)
- Jul 23 Francesco Sforza, Italian condottiero and Duke of Milan (1401–1466), born in San Miniato, Tuscany (d. 1466)
- Aug 16 Jacqueline, Countess of Hainaut, dauphine of France (d. 1436)
- Oct 27 Catherine of Valois, Queen of Henry V of England, born in Paris (d. 1437)
- Dec 21 Tommaso Masaccio, Italian painter, born in San Giovanni Valdarno, Italy (d. 1428)
Who Died in 1401
- Feb 26 William Sawtrey, English Roman Catholic priest and 1st English religious martyr, sentenced to be burned at the stake for heresy in London
- May 18 Vladislaus II, Duke of Opole, dies at 69
- May 25 Maria, Queen of Sicily and Duchess of Athens & Neopatria, dies at 37
Gregory I
Gregory XIII
Julius II
Julius III
Leo X
Pius V