1401 (MCDI) was a common year starting on Saturday of the Julian calendar, the 1401st year of the Common Era (CE) and Anno Domini (AD) designations, the 401st year of the 2nd millennium, the 1st year of the 15th century, and the 2nd year of the 1400s decade. As of the start of 1401, the Gregorian calendar was 9 days ahead of the Julian calendar, which was the dominant calendar of the time.

• Timur raids the city of Baghdad in the Jalayirid Empire.
• Passing of the De heretico comburendo Act in England – the Archbishop of Canterbury pressures King Henry IV of England into outlawing as heretics anyone owning an English translation of the Bible.
• Dilawar Khan establishes the Malwa Sultanate in present-day northern India.
• Grand Duke Vytautas of Lithuania is granted increased autonomy by King Jogaila of the Poland-Lithuania union.
• Emperor Ho Quy Ly of Dai Ngu (now Vietnam) passes the throne to his son, Thai Thuong Hoang.
• A civil war, lasting four years, breaks out in the Majapahit Empire in present-day Indonesia.
• The Joseon Dynasty in the present-day Korea officially enters into a tributary relationship with Ming Dynasty China.
• Japan re-enters into a tributary relationship with Ming Dynasty China.

• May 12 – Emperor Shoko of Japan (died 1428)
• July 23 – Francesco I Sforza, Duke of Milan (died 1466)
• October 27 – Catherine of Valois, queen of Henry VI of England (died 1437)
• November 26 – Henry Beaufort, 2nd Earl of Somerset (died 1418)
• December 21 – Tommaso Masaccio, Italian painter (died 1428)
• Charles I, Duke of Bourbon (died 1456)
• Jacqueline, Countess of Hainaut (died 1436)
• probable
  • Nicholas of Cusa, German philosopher, mathematician and astronomer (died 1464)

• March – William Sawtrey, English Lollard martyr (burned at the stake)
• April 8 (or August 8) Thomas de Beauchamp, 12th Earl of Warwick (born 1338)
• October 20 – Klaus Störtebeker, German pirate
• date unknown
  • Anabella Drummond, queen of Scotland