Black Monday (1360)

April 13–14, 1360

“It was non for zip that my olfactory organ fell a-bleeding on Black Mon last, at half dozen o’clock i’ the morning.” 
—William Shakespeare, ‘The Merchant of Venice’, ii. 5

From Ancient Origins:

Black Monday: The Deadly 14th Century Hailstorm That Killed Over K Soldiers in addition to 6000 Horses 

On Easter Monday, xiii ^th Apr 1360, a freak hail tempest broke over English linguistic communication troops equally they were preparing for battle with the French during the Hundred Years’ War. So savage was the tempest that over 1,000 men in addition to 6,000 horses lost their lives that night. Convinced it was a sign from God, King Edward rushed to pursue peace with the French, mark the cease of the outset stage of the Hundred Years’ War.

Inheritance Dispute Results inwards 116 Years of War
The Hundred Years’ War was a serial of military machine conflicts betwixt French Republic in addition to England which began inwards 1337 due to an inheritance dispute over the French throne, in addition to exclusively very ended inwards 1453. The 116 years of the state of war saw the ascension in addition to autumn of several kings in addition to nobles.

During the course of written report of the war, King Edward III of England was actively attempting to conquer France. In Oct 1359, he led an invading forcefulness of 10,000 men across the English linguistic communication Channel to France. The French avoided straight conflicts in addition to remained sheltered behind protective walls, piece Edward’s regular army sacked in addition to burned the countryside.

On v ^th Apr 1360, Edward led his regular army to the gates of Paris, attempting to provoke the Dauphine of French Republic (Charles V) into battle, merely he refused. Unable to breach the Paris defences, Edward led his regular army onto the gates of Chartres, where they were 1 time to a greater extent than met with heavy fortifications.

Collage of paintings representing battles of the Hundred Years' War. Clockwise, from overstep left: La Rochelle, Agincourt, Patay, Orleans. ( CC past times SA 4.0 )

The Storm Hits On Easter Mon Apr 13, the English linguistic communication regular army made campsite exterior Chartres inwards an opened upward manifestly when a abrupt tempest materialized. The temperature dropped dramatically in addition to thunder in addition to lightning crashed overhead, bang in addition to killing 2 of the English linguistic communication leaders. Panic ready inwards with the soldiers, who had nowhere to run or seek shelter, in addition to the horses stampeded. High winds in addition to huge hailstones along with freezing pelting began pelting down. Within half-an-hour, to a greater extent than than 1,000 men in addition to 6,000 horses lay dead....MUCH MORE 

I had never seen the storey until re-reading (missed it outset time) Barbara Tuchman's "A Distant Mirror: The Calamitous 14th Century"

Also at Ancient Origins:

Like Something Out of The Walking Dead: Medieval Warrior Found with Knife Hand Prosthesis