Events of 1420

• May 21 - Treaty of Troyes: With the Burgundian faction dominant in France, King Charles VI of France acknowledges Henry V of England as his heir and as virtual ruler of most of France.
• May 25 - Henry the Navigator is appointed governor of the Order of Christ.
• October 22 - Ghiyasu'd-Din Naqqah, an envoy of the embassy sent by the Timurid ruler of Persia, Mirza Shahrukh (r. 1404–1447), to the Ming Dynasty of China during the reign of the Yongle Emperor (r. 1402–1424), records his sight and travel over a large floating pontoon bridge at Lanzhou (constructed earlier in 1372) as he crosses the Yellow River on this day. He writes that it was:

  "...composed of twenty three boats, of great excellence and strength attached together by a long chain of iron as thick as a man's thigh, and this was moored on each side to an iron post as thick as a man's waist extending a distance of ten cubits on the land and planted firmly in the ground, the boats being fastened to this chain by means of big hooks. There were placed big wooden planks over the boats so firmly and evenly that all the animals were made to pass over it without difficulty."

• The Madeira Islands are discovered by the Portuguese João Gonçalves Zarco.
• Hussite Wars: Sigismund, Holy Roman Emperor fails at the Battle of Vysehrad and is ejected from Bohemia.
• Catherine of Valois marries Henry V of England.
• Henry V of England commences construction of Grace Dieu (ship).
• Construction begins on the Temple of Heaven in Beijing, China while the palace complex of the Forbidden City is completed. In this year the Yongle Emperor confers the title "Beijing" ("Northern Capital") for the Ming Dynasty's new capital city, replacing Nanjing.

Births