The Thirteenth Century 1200-1299
Return to home
1200 Jul 1,
Sunglasses were invented in China.
(MC, 7/1/02)
c1200 In China the painting
“Reading the I Ching in the Pine Shade” was made.
(NH, 9/97, p.)
c1200 Condesa de Dia was a female
troubadour of this time. Her songs included “Of things I’d rather keep
in silence I must sing.”
(WSJ, 5/14/97, p.A20)
1200 Bishop Albert, the
head of a group of pilgrim knights, led 23 ships of armed soldiers up
the Baltic to Livonian lands at the mouth of the Dauguva River.
(Ist. L.H., 1948, p.39-40)
c1200 Buttons were invented as a
decoration to embellish hemlines, collars and the sides of sleeves.
(WSJ, 1/11/99, p.R40)
1200 The Anasazi in southwest
Colorado began building their cliff dwellings at Mesa Verde about this
time. The population thrived here for about 70 years making corrugated
pottery and handsomely decorated black and white pottery.
(HN, 2/11/97)(WSJ, 3/14/09, p.W12)
c1200 A drought hit the southwest
(USA) around the Coso Mountains about this time. Shamanism and
rain-making grew in importance and helped men counterbalance the
importance of women engaged in food gathering when hunting declined.
(PacDis, Summer ’97, p.15)
1200 In Germany “The
Nibelungenlied” (the Song of the Nibelungs) was written about this
time. The epic poem of some 10,000 lines was based on tales that
reached back to the 5th century destruction of the Burgundian kingdom
by the Huns. In 2006 Burton Raffel wrote an English translation “Das
Nibelungenlied.”
(WSJ, 10/28/06, p.P13)
1200 The Inca Empire conquered the
area of Bolivia around this time and remained in control until arrival
of Spaniards.
(AP, 12/17/05)
1200 In 2007 Mexican archeologists
discovered the ruins of an Aztec pyramid in the heart of Mexico City
that dated to about this time.
(Reuters, 12/27/07)
c1200 Polynesians settled the 14
Cook Islands that included Rarotonga.
(SFEC, 1/5/97, p.T5)
c1200 The Sorbs, a Slavic people,
settled in areas that later became Germany. They spoke a language
similar to Czech.
(SFC, 11/8/00, p.B2)
c1200 In Tibet the Rakhor nunnery
was established. In 1997 Chinese authorities ordered the nuns to leave
and everything except the main assembly hall was destroyed.
(SFC, 1/29/99, p.E9)
1200s Persia introduced polo to
Arabia, China and India.
(WSJ, 1/11/99, p.R34)
1200-1250 The Longbow was developed from a Welsh bow
that had been used against the English. During the numerous skirmishes
with the Welsh, the English had witnessed the power of this
weapon. An arrow from this weapon had a maximum range of 400
yards, could penetrate four inches of wood at closer range, and could
kill an armored knight at 200 yards. The British would use it to
destroy a French army at Crecy in 1346. This would be the world's
premiere weapon until the development of cannon (artillery) circa 1450.
(www.archers.org/default.asp?section=History&page=longbow)
1200-1258 Jean Buridan, a scholar whose theory of the
earth was absorbed and defended by Leonardo da Vinci.
(NH, 5/97, p.59)
1200-1280 Albertus Magnus, the teacher of Thomas
Aquinas. He wrote extensively on the form and behavior of the earth.
“The Book of Secrets of Albertus Magnus” was edited by Michael R. Best
and Frank H. Brightman in 1974. He and Aquinas created a synthesis of
Aristotelian thought and Catholic theology.
(NH, 5/97, p.59)(AM, 5-6/97, p.10)(NH, 10/98, p.4)
c1200-1300 A mural at Massa Marittima, Italy, dating
to the 13th century, depicts a spidery tree with 25 penises and
testicles hanging in the branches. "It's a message from the Guelphs,
telling people that if the Ghibellines are allowed power they will
bring with them heresy, sexual perversion, civic strife and witchcraft."
(Reuters, 12/7/04)
1200-1300 Moses de Leon, a Spanish Jewish mystic,
wrote the "Zohar," in Aramaic. It was a mystical interpretation of the
Torah disguised as a novel. The Zohar consists of mystical
interpretations and commentaries of the Pentateuch, the first 5 books
of the Old Testament. It became the major text of Jewish mysticism that
came to be called the Kabbalah, as developed a few centuries later by
Isaac Luria in Palestine. In 2003 a new translation was made by Daniel
C. Matt, as part of a 12-volume new edition of the Kabbalah.
(WUD, 1994, p.1662)(WSJ, 5/22/98, p.W11)(SFC,
12/16/03, p.D1)
c1200-1300 Nichiren was 13th-century Japanese monk
and reformer. He founded a Buddhist school and wrote: “When great evil
occurs, great good will follow.”
(WSJ, 3/28/02, p.A20)
c1200-1300 Cesky Krumlov, 100 miles south of Prague,
was founded on the Vltava River on the main trading route between
Bavaria and Italy.
(SSFC, 7/21/02, p.C5)
1200-1300 The Danes built a castle at Narva, Estonia.
(WSJ, 1/25/99, p.A1)
1200-1300 The Mont Orgueil Castle on the east coast
of island of Jersey in the English Channel was built to withstand any
French attack.
(Sky, 4/97, p.28)
c1200-1300 In France the Abbey of Royaumont was
established.
(SFC, 9/8/97, p.D5)
1200-1300 In France the abbey on Mont St. Michel was
established. In 1998 it was planned to remove the sand around the rocky
island off the Normandy coast and re-establish its maritime character.
(SFEC, 5/10/98, p.T3)
1200-1330 A Mayan city in Peten state (Guatemala),
the “El Pajaral” site, dated to the post-classic period of this time.
The ruins were found in 2000.
(SFC, 5/15/00, p.A13)
1200-1300 In Germany the Mauseturm, Tower of Mice,
was built downriver from Rudesheim on an islet on the Rhine in the 13th
century. It was named after the plight of the 9th century Archbishop
Hatto of Mainz.
(SFEC, 3/15/98, p.T4)
1200-1300 Burg Reichenstein, downstream from
Assmannshausen on the Rhine, was the stronghold of the 13th century
robber-knight Philip von Hohenfels who “robbed ladies, imprisoned the
clergy, mistreated vassals and plundered merchants.”
(SFEC, 3/15/98, p.T4)
c1200-1300 St. Gertrude, a German nun, was an
important Catholic mystic.
(WSJ, 12/26/97, p.A9)
1200-1300 In Limerick, Ireland, a 13th century castle
was built overlooking the Shannon River.
(SFEC, 3/15/98, p.T11)
1200-1300 Rival Italian political factions and
families collided in the 13th century at Montaperti, the "hill of
death".
(HN, 5/14/98)
1200-1300 On the coast of Kenya the great palace and
main mosque at Gede (Gedi) were built.
(NH, 6/97, p.41)
1200-1300 In Thailand the site at Prang Ku was
probably one of 108 hospital sites built by the Khmer king Jayavarman
VII.
(AM, Mar/Apr 97 p.G)
c1200-1300 Sidi Bou Said was a 13th century Sufi holy
man. A town 12 miles from Tunis was named after him. It was closed to
non-Muslims until the 1820s.
(SSFC, 8/4/02, p.C12)
1200-1400 Timbuktu, a major trading center in the
Malian Empire, reached a population of some 100,000 during this period.
(WSJ, 2/1/06, p.D12)
1200-1400 Stone birds from Great Zimbabwe were made
in this period and later displayed as part of an African Art exhibit by
the London Royal Academy 1995.
(WSJ, 11/16/95, p.A-18)
1200-1450 As many as 18,000 people in the iron-age
center of Great Zimbabwe.
(AM, Mar/Apr 97 p.72)
1200-1500 Bhaktapur, Nepal, rose to dominate the
entire Kathmandu Valley region culturally and politically.
(SSFC, 9/21/03, p.C8)
c1200-1500 In 2005 researchers using mitochondrial
DNA estimated that 3-6 individuals founded the Mlabri hunter gatherers
of Northern Thailand about this time.
(Econ, 4/16/05, p.71)
1200-1600 The economy of Florence during this period
was later covered by Richard A. Goldthwaite in his book “The Economy of
Renaissance Florence.”
(Econ, 4/18/09, p.90)
1201 Jul 5, An earthquake in Syria
and upper Egypt killed some 1.1 million people.
(www.geohaz.org/member/news/signif.htm)
1201 Oct 9, Robert de Sorbon,
founder of Sorbonne University, Paris, was born.
(MC, 10/9/01)
1201 The Germans founded
the city of Riga in Livonia, now Latvia, and built a castle under
the direction of Bishop Albert.
(Ist. L.H., 1948, p.39-40)
1202 Apr 28, King Philip II threw
out John-without-Country, from France.
(MC, 4/28/02)
1202 Nov, The Fourth Crusade
sacked Zara. The leaders of the Fourth Crusade agreed to sack Zara
(present-day Zadar, Croatia)--a rival of Venice--as payment for
transportation the Venetians supplied the crusaders. Zara, previously
part of the Venetian republic, had rebelled against Venice in 1186 and
since allied itself with Hungary, posing competition to Venice’s
maritime trade. Unable to raise enough funds to pay to their Venetian
contractors, the crusaders agreed to lay siege to the city despite
letters from Pope Innocent III forbidding such an action and
threatening excommunication. The fleet set sail in October of 1202,
reaching Zara in Nov. Zara--the first Christian city to be assaulted by
crusaders--surrendered after just two weeks. The army then wintered in
the city and planned an attack on the Byzantine capital of
Constantinople the following year.
(HNQ, 1/23/01)
1202 King John of England
proclaimed the 1st food law, the Assize of Bread. It prohibited the
adulteration of bread with ground peas.
(Econ Sp, 12/13/03, p.15)
1202 The English again attacked
the Irish town and monastery at Clonmacnoise.
(SFEC, 8/1/99, p.T8)
1202 Assisi fought against Perugia
in the Battle of Collestrada. St. Francis faced his first test in life
as a soldier in this battle.
(SSFC, 3/25/01, BR p.6)
1202 The Hindu-Arabic numbering
system was introduced to the West by Italian mathematician Fibonacci
(Leonardo of Pisa). The Fibonacci series is a sequence of numbers where
each new number is the sum of the previous two. Fibonacci wrote “Liber
abaci” describing how algebraic methods developed in India and how they
could be used in business and commerce.
(WSJ, 10/21/96, p.A18)(WSJ, 12/9/96, p.B8)(Econ,
5/15/04, p.80)(SFC, 8/25/08, p.A10)
1202 Court jesters made their
debut in Europe. [see 1549]
(WSJ, 9/2/99, p.A12)
1203 The Fourth Crusade murdered
100,000 Orthodox Christians.
(WSJ, 7/16/97, p.A23)
1203 Arthur of Brittany, a
political rival of King John of England, died while being held prisoner
in one of John’s dungeons.
(ON, 7/04, p.1)
1203 King Sumanguru, ruler of a
break-away Ghanian kingdom, overthrew the Soninke king and took over
Koumbi. At about the same time a new kingdom to the east called Mali
and ruled by Mandinke, was gaining power.
(ATC, p.113)
1204 Apr 1, Eleanor of Aquitaine
(81), wife of Louis VII and Henry II, died. In 1950 Amy Kelly authored
“Eleanor of Aquitaine and the Four Kings.”
(www.britannica.com/eb/article-9032256/Eleanor-of-Aquitaine)(WSJ,
5/12/07, p.P10)
1204 Apr 9, The Venetians began
their assault on Constantinople.
(www.ellopos.net/elpenor/greek-texts/fathers/pears-constantinople-1204.asp)
1204 Apr 12, The Fourth Crusade,
led by Boniface of Montferrat, sacked Constantinople. Constantinople
fell to a combined force of Franks and Venetians. The 4th Crusade
failed to reach Palestine but sacked the Byzantine Christian capital of
Constantinople.
(AM, May/Jun 97 p.)(NH, 9/96, p.22)(HN, 4/12/98)
1204 Dec 13, Maimonides (b.1135),
Spanish-born Jewish scholar, died in Cairo. His books included the
“Mishnah Torah,” the single most important Jewish book after the Bible
and Talmud, and “Guide for the Perplexed.” In 2005 Sherwin B. Nuland
authored “Maimonides.”
(www.newadvent.org/cathen/09540b.htm)(SSFC,
10/23/05, p.M1)
1204 Frankish knights established
the principality of Achaia in southern Greece.
(AM, May/Jun 97 p.54)
1204 France won back Normandy but
the people of the isle of Jersey chose to remain loyal to England. The
Chateau Gaillard of Richard the Lionhearted was defeated and partly
dismantled as punishment.
(Sky, 4/97, p.28)(AMNH, DT, 1998)
1204 Venice won control over most
of Albania, but Byzantines regained control of the southern portion and
established the Despotate of Epirus.
(www, Albania, 1998)
1204 The rule of Venice over Crete
dates to this year, when the Republic was awarded 3/8 of the Eastern
Roman Empire for its role in supporting the Fourth Crusade.
(http://romeartlover.tripod.com/Creta.html)
1204-1205 Georgia’s Queen Tamara marched with her men
to the rousing victory over the Turks at the Battle of Basiani where
she is hailed with the cry, "Our King Tamara."
(www.undelete.org/woa/woa01-18.html)
1205 Jun 19, Pope Innocent III
fired Adolf I as archbishop of Cologne.
(MC, 6/19/02)
1205 Jul 15, Pope Innocent III
decreed that the Jews were doomed to perpetual servitude and
subjugation due to crucifixion of Jesus.
(MC, 7/15/02)
1206 The city of Dresden, Germany,
was founded.
(SFEC, 7/27/97, p.T6)
1206 Francesco di Pietro di
Bernardone, later Francis of Assisi, renounced his worldly possessions.
(SFC, 10/4/99, p.A21)
1206 Genghis Khan declared himself
“the ruler of those who live in felt tents.”
(SFEM, 10/12/97, p.27)
1206-1226 Genghis Khan unified the Mongols and over
the next twenty years conquered northern China and all of Asia west to
the Caucasus. The Mongols numbered about 2 million and his army about
130,000.
(V.D.-H.K.p.169)(SFEM, 10/12/97, p.27)
1207 Sep 4, Boniface of
Montferrat, leader of the 4th Crusade, was ambushed and killed by the
Bulgarians.
(Nationmaster.com)
1207 Sep 8, Sancho II, king of
Portugal, was born.
(MC, 9/8/01)
1207 Sep 30, Jalal ud-din Rumi
(Jelaluddin Rumi, d.1273), Persian poet and mystic was born in the area
of Balkh, Afghanistan. He later fled the Mongol invasions with his
family to Konya (Iconium), Anatolia. His work “Mathwani” (Spiritual
Couplets) filled 6 volumes and had a great impact on Islamic
civilization. He founded the Mevlevi order of Sufis, later known as the
“whirling dervishes.” In 1998 a film was made about the Sufi poet’s
influence on the 20th century. In 1998 Kabir Helminski edited “The Rumi
Collection” with translation by Robert Bly and others. His work also
included the “Shams I-Tabriz” in which he dismissed the terminology of
Jew, Christian and Muslim as “false distinctions.” The poet Rumi was
also known as Mowlana.
(SFC, 7/9/96, p.B5)(SFEC, 9/20/98, DB p.50)(SFEC,
10/25/98, BR p.6)(WSJ, 9/7/01, p.A14)(SSFC, 10/28/01, p.B7)(SSFC,
4/1/07, p.E3)
1207 Oct 1, Henry III, king of
England (1216-72), was born.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1207)
1208 Feb 24, Francis of Assisi
(26) decided to become a priest in Portiuncula, Italy.
(MC, 2/24/02)
1208 Mar 24, King John of England
opposed Innocent III on his nomination for archbishop of Canterbury.
(HN, 3/24/99)
1209 King John of England was
excommunicated by Pope Innocent III.
(HN, 10/19/98)
1209 England’s Cambridge
University was established.
(AFP, 10/11/06)
1209 The Delhi Sultanate
established Muslim rule in northern India.
(AM, 7/04, p.51)
1209 In Kinnitty, Ireland, the
Kinnitty Castle was built. It was later converted to a hotel.
(WSJ, 2/27/98, p.B8)
1209 Pope Innocent III urged a
crusade against the Albigensians. They were ascetic communitarians of
southern France who viewed the clergy and secular rulers as corrupt. A
war resulted that effectively destroyed the Provencal civilization of
southern France.
(NH, 9/96, p.20)
1209 The Franciscan brotherhood
received papal approval.
(SFC, 7/23/99, p.C8)
1210 Oct 18, Pope Innocent III
excommunicated German emperor Otto IV.
(MC, 10/18/01)
1210 Nov 1, King John of England
began imprisoning Jews.
(MC, 11/1/01)
1210 Francis founded the
Franciscans, and demanded that his followers subsist entirely on what
they can beg while preaching.
(V.D.-H.K.p.108)
1211 St. Francis reportedly landed
on the Isola Maggiore, an island on Lake Trasimeno.
(SFEM, 10/12/97, p.48)
1211 In Latvia construction began
on Riga’s Lutheran Cathedral.
(SSFC, 7/22/07, p.G5)
1211-1228 Vaulted halls called “La Marveille” were
added to the abbey of Mont St. Michel off the coast of Normandy, France.
(WSJ, 10/7/06, p.P18)
1212 Jan 18, Queen Tamara of
Georgia in Transcaucasia died after a 24-year reign during which her
soldiers proclaim her "our King."
(www.undelete.org/woa/woa01-18.html)
1212 Jul 16, Battle of Las Navas
de Tolosa marked the end of Muslim power in Spain.
(MC, 7/16/02)
1212 Jul 17, Moslems were crushed
in the Spanish crusade.
(HN, 7/17/98)
1212 Aug 25, Children's crusaders
under Nicolas (10) reached Genoa.
(MC, 8/25/02)
1212 Stephen, a shepherd boy from
Cloyes-sur-le-Loir, France, had a vision of Jesus and set out to
deliver a letter to the King of France. He gathered 30,000 children who
went to Marseilles with plans to ship to the Holy Land and conquer the
Muslims with love instead of arms. They got shipped to North Africa and
were sold in the Muslim slave markets.
(V.D.-H.K.p.110)
1213 May 15, King John submitted
to the Pope, offering to make England and Ireland papal fiefs. Pope
Innocent III lifted the interdict of 1208. He named Stephen Langton
Archbishop of Canterbury.
(HN, 5/15/99)(MC, 5/15/02)
1213 Sep 12, Simon de Montfort
defeated Raymond of Toulouse and Peter II of Aragon at Muret, France.
(HN, 9/12/98)
1214 Apr 25, Louis IX, king of
France (1226-1270), was born.
(HN, 4/25/02)
1214 Jul 27, At the Battle of
Bouvines in France, Philip Augustus of France defeated John of England.
(HN, 7/27/98)
1214?-1294? Roger Bacon, English philosopher and
scientist. He was imprisoned for alchemy in 1284.
(WUD, 1994, p.109)(HC, 1/9/98)
1215 Jan 6, King John met with
disgruntled barons of northern England who demanded that taxes be
lowered.
(ON, 7/04, p.1)
1215 Apr 19-26, During Easter week
English barons assembled an army of some 2,000 men near London and
demanded that King John address their call for tax relief.
(ON, 7/04, p.1)
1215 May 3, English barons led
their forces on an attack of Northampton Castle. Loyalists to King John
successfully defended the castle and the rebels returned to London.
(ON, 7/04, p.2)
1215 May 12, English barons served
an ultimatum on King John (known as "Lack land").
(MC, 5/12/02)
1215 June 15, The Magna Carta
("the Great Charter") was adopted and sealed by King John, son of Henry
II, at Runnymede, England, granting his barons more liberty. King John
signed the Magna Carta, which asserted the supremacy of the law over
the king, at Runnymede, England. Commercial clauses protected merchants
from unjust tolls.
(CFA, '96, p.48)(HFA, '96, p.32)(AP, 6/15/97)(HN,
6/15/98)(WSJ, 1/11/99, p.R49)
1215 Aug 24, Pope Innocent III,
following a request from King John, declared the Magna Carta invalid.
The barons of England soon retaliated by inviting King Philip of France
to come to England. Philip accepted the offer.
(MC, 8/24/02)(ON, 7/04, p.2)
1215-1216 King John avoided rebel forces in the
south but marched his army across the countryside subduing adversaries
in the north, east and west. Scottish and Welsh armies raided the
English borders.
(ON, 7/04, p.2)
1215-1250 Frederick II became emperor and renewed
conflicts with the papacy. [see Nov 22, 1220, 1250]
(V.D.-H.K. p.111)
1215-1294 Kublai Khan founded the Yuan dynasty and
reunited China for the first time since the fall of the T’angs in 907.
He was the grandson of Genghis Khan and established the Yuan dynasty in
China. He built a court of gilded cane at Tatu (later Beijing) that
inspired Marco Polo and Coleridge. He enforced the use of paper money
and had ships built to carry 1,000 men.
(V.D.-H.K.p.169)(WSJ, 1/11/99, p.R6)
1216 Jun 16, Pope Innocent III
died. In 2003 John C. Moore authored “Pope Innocent III.”
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pope_Innocent_III)(WSJ, 4/12/08, p.W8)
1216 Jul 11, Hendrik of
Constantinople, emperor of Constantinople (1206-16), died.
(MC, 7/11/02)
1216 Oct 19, John, King of England
(1199-1216) died at Newark at age 49. He signed the Magna Carta and was
excommunicated in 1209. King John was succeeded by his nine-year-old
son Henry. The Royal Menagerie was begun during the reign of King John.
(HN, 10/19/98)(SFEC, 10/10/99, p.T3)
1216 Oct 28, Henry III of England
(9) was crowned. Regents led him to agree to the demands made by the
barons at Runnymede. Prince Louis, repudiated by the barons, returned
to France.
(HN, 10/28/98)(ON, 7/04, p.2)
1217 Feb 18, Alexander Neckum de
Sancto Albano (59), English encyclopedist, died.
(MC, 2/18/02)
1217 Aug 24, Eustace "the Monk",
French buccaneer, was killed in battle.
(MC, 8/24/02)
1218 May 19, Otto IV (36), Holy
Roman Emperor, died.
(PC, 1992, p.106)
1218 Aug 31, Al-Malik ab-Adil,
Saphadin, Saif al-Din, brother of Saladin, died.
(MC, 8/31/01)
1218 The university at Salamanca,
Spain, was founded by King Alfonso IX.
(SSFC, 6/8/03, p.C8)
1218 Simon IV de Montfort
(b.1160), Norman knight and leader of the crusade against the
Albigenses (1202-1204), died at the siege of Toulouse.
(WUD, 1994, p.928)
1219 Jan 16, Floods followed a
storm in Northern Netherlands and thousands were killed.
(MC, 1/16/02)
1219 Nov 5, The port of Damietta
(in the Nile delta of Egypt) fell to the Crusaders after a siege.
(WUD, 1994, p.365)(HN, 11/5/98)
1219 St. Francis d’Assisi
journeyed to Egypt and met with the sultan to work for peace.
(SSFC, 9/29/02, p.D2)
1219-1221 Genghis Khan invaded Afghanistan.
Destruction of irrigation systems by Genghis Khan turned fertile soil
into permanent deserts.
(www.afghan, 5/25/98)
1220 Apr 15, Adolf I, archbishop
of Cologne, died.
(MC, 4/15/02)
1220 May 30, Alexander
Nevski, Russian ruler (1252-63), was born.
(MC, 5/30/02)
1220 Nov 22, After promising to go
to the aid of the Fifth Crusade within nine months, German King
Frederick II was crowned emperor by Pope Honorius III.
(HN, 11/22/98)(PCh, 1992, p.106)
1220 Construction began on the
English Cathedral of Salisbury. It was inaugurated in 1258.
(MC, 9/20/01)(Econ, 12/20/03, p.29)
1220 In France the main structure
of Chartres cathedral was completed. In 2008 Philip Ball authored
“Universe of Stone: A Biography of Chartres Cathedral.”
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cathedral_of_Chartres)(WSJ, 7/5/08, p.W9)
c1220 Genghis Khan made Karakorum
his capital.
(SSFC, 3/27/05, p.F4)
1220 Klosters, Switzerland, a
future ski center, has roots to this date.
(Hem, Dec. 94, p.76)
1221 Aug 6, St. Dominic, Italian
founder of the Dominicans religious order, died.
(MC, 8/6/02)
1221 Nov 23, Alfonso X (the Wise,
d.1284), king of Castile & Leon (1252-84), was born. Also known as
Alfonso the Wise, he served as king of Castile from 1252-1284. His
manuscript “Cantigas de Santa Maria” is one of the most important of
the period.
(WUD, 1994, p.36)(WSJ, 5/14/97, p.A20)(MC, 11/23/01)
1221 In France the Chateau de
Bagnols castle was built. Guichard, Lord of Oingt, built the first
three of its 5 round towers. It was restored in the 1990s by English
publishing mogul Paul Hamlyn and his wife Helen.
(SFEM, 10/4/98, p.6)
1221 Emperor Frederick II issued a
law that declared that violence could be committed against jesters
without punishment.
(SFC,12/897, p.A17)
1221 In Russia Nizhny Novgorod was
founded.
(USAT, 10/9/98, p.12A)
1221 Genghis Khan razed the city
of Bamiyan, Afghanistan, and exterminated its inhabitants.
(WSJ, 11/16/01, p.W12)
1221 Genghis Khan is said to have
killed 1,748,000 people at Nishapur in just one hour.
(SFC, 5/25/96, p.B4)
1222 A group of professors broke
free from the Univ. of Bologna, under the control of the Catholic
Church, and created the Univ. of Padua, independent of Catholic
constraints.
(SSFC, 3/25/07, p.G3)
1223 Jul 14, Philip II Augustus
(57), King of France (1180-1223), died. Louis VIII succeeded his father.
(HN, 7/14/98)(MC, 7/14/02)
1223 Dec 25, St. Francis of Assisi
assembled one of the first Nativity scenes, in Greccio, Italy.
(AP, 12/25/97)
c1224/25-1274 Thomas Aquinas born in Aquino between
Rome and Naples. He was a pupil of the Benedictines in the monastery of
Monte Cassino. After nine years Emperor Frederic II temporarily
disbanded the monks at Cassino and Thomas went to Naples to study and
joined the Dominicans. He tried to reconcile theology with the emerging
economic conditions of his time.
(V.D.-H.K.p.119)(NH, 10/98, p.4)(WSJ, 1/11/99, p.R20)
1225 Nov 7, Engelbert I (40), the
Saint, archbishop of Cologne, was murdered.
(MC, 11/7/01)
1226 Oct 3, St. Francis of Assisi
(b.1182), founder of the Franciscan order, died. He was canonized in
1228 and entombed in the St. Francis Basilica in 1230. In 1983 Olivier
Messiaen premiered his opera “Saint Francis d’Assise.” In 2001 Adrian
House authored “Francis of Assisi: A Revolutionary Life;” Valerie
Martin authored “Salvation: Scenes From the Life of St. Francis.” In
2002 Donald Spoto authored “Reluctant Saint: The Life of Francis of
Assisi.” [see Oct 4]
(AP, 10/3/97)(SFEC, 7/25/99, DB p.32)(SSFC, 3/25/01,
BR p.1,6)(SSFC, 9/29/02, p.D2)(SFC, 10/3/02, p.A19)
1226 Oct 4, St. Francis of Assisi,
founder of the Franciscans and one of history's most famous nature
lovers, died. [see Oct 3]
(MC, 10/4/01)
1226 Nov 8, Louis VIII (39), the
Lion, King of France (1223-26), died. He was succeeded by Louis IX.
(HN, 11/6/98)(MC, 11/8/01)
1226 Following Prussian attacks on
Polish lands, the Catholic Poles invited German religious-military
orders to attack Prussia.
(H of L, 1931, p.25)(TB-Com, 10/11/00)
1226 The last mega hurricane
struck the gulf coast of Alabama. The mega hurricane seems to happen on
average every 600 years.
(SFEC, 9/15/96, p.A10)
1226-1270 Era of King Louis IX. In France, the urban
middle-class became a new, economic factor, and King Louis IX tried to
control his vassals through his policy of increased centralization. It
was the era in which the crusades were winding down, and the embassies
of Franciscans and Dominicans to the courts of Mongolian princes were
beginning.
(http://www.let.ruu.nl/C+L/voorbij/vincent/txt/albrecht.htm)
1227 In Spain construction of the
Gothic Cathedral in Toledo was begun.
(SFEC, 3/22/98, p.T11)
1227 Aug 18, Genghis Khan
(Chinggis), Mongol conqueror, died in his sleep at his camp, during his
siege of Ningxia, the capital of the rebellious Chinese kingdom of Xi
Xia. Subotai was one of Genghis Khan's ablest lieutenants, and went on
to distinguish himself after the khan's death. In Khan's lifetime he
and his warriors had conquered the majority of the civilized world,
ruling an empire that stretched from Poland down to Iran in the west,
and from Russia's Arctic shores down to Vietnam in the east.
Russian archaeologist Peter Kozloff uncovered the tomb of Genghis Khan
in the Gobi Desert in 1927. In 2006 Zhu Yaoting, a Beijing academic,
authored a biography of Genghis Khan.
(AP, 8/18/97)(HN, 10/29/98)(Econ, 12/23/06, p.61)
1227 In the Polish Kulm region
there was a struggle with Prussia over land. The Poles called in the
German Knights of the Cross (aka Teutonic Knights) for help in exchange
for the lands of Kulm. The Knights arrived and began to fight Prussia
in wars that lasted some 60 years.
(Ist. L.H., 1948, p. 41)
1227 Roman Emperor Frederick II
was first excommunicated by the Catholic Pope because his growing
empire threatened the independence of the papal states. [see 1239]
(AP, 5/5/06)
1227-1234 The Madrassa al Mustansirija was
constructed in Baghdad by the Caliph al Mustansir. It became world
epicenter of medical sciences and also taught theology, mathematics,
jurisprudence, astrology and other subjects.
(WSJ, 9/20/08, p.W14)
1228 The Basilica di San Francesco
was constructed in Assisi, Italy.
(WSJ, 3/25/99, p.A24)
1228 St. Francis of Assisi,
founder of the Franciscan order, was canonized.
(AP, 10/3/97)
1229 Mar 18, German emperor
Frederick II crowned himself king of Jerusalem.
(MC, 3/18/02)
1229 Apr 14, A scribe name John
completed a religious text that overwrote a manuscript attributed to
Archimedes that had been copied by a scribe in the 10th century. In
2006 scientists attempted to read the final pages of the Archimedes
palimpsest, which contained text from his “Method of Mechanical
Theorems.”
(Econ, 7/22/06, p.76)
1229-1241 Ugoodei, Genghis’ successor, reigned
Mongolia over this period.
(www.gobiexpeditions.com)
1230 Mindaugas began to rule over
Lithuania. Mindaugas found resistance amongst some local rulers who
called in German military orders for assistance. Mindaugas hosted the
German magistrate who said that the only way to save Lithuania would be
to convert to Catholicism and pass western territory over to the German
Order.
(H of L, 1931, p.29)
1230-1253 King Wenceslas I reigned over Bohemia. His
sister, St. Agnes, was canonized in 1989. Both are buried in the
Convent of St. Agnes in Prague.
(SFC, 4/14/96, T-12)
1231 Guo Shoujing (d.1314),
Chinese astronomer, was born. He developed water clocks with
temperature compensation and escapements to provide high resolution
time accuracy for astronomical observations, a “pinhole camera” to
sharpen shadows cast by the sun and moon, mathematical tools for
polynomial generation and interpolation, and other inventions for
measurements.
(www.1421.tv/pages/evidence/content.asp?EvidenceID=420)
1231-1322 The illustrated text of the Chinese Dharani
Sutra of Great Splendor was created.
(SFC, 8/21/03, p.E2)
1232-1316 Ramon Llull proposed an artificial language
that used 4 figures and 9 letters called his Ars magna. It was proposed
as the perfect tool for Christian missionaries.
(Wired, 8/96, p.84)
1233 The Inquisition began and
lasted into the 19th century.
(SFC, 10/30/98, p.A16)
1233 The Japanese royal family
began to stain their teeth black in a fashion statement.
(WSJ, 9/2/99, p.A12)
1234 Ugoodei attacked and overcame
the Chin (Juchen) dynasty of China.
(www.gobiexpeditions.com)
1235 Jan 2, Emperor Joseph II
ordered the Jews of Galicia, Austria, to adopt family names.
(MC, 1/2/02)
1235 Sep 5, Henry I, duke of
Brabant, died. Brabant was a duchy later divided between Netherlands
and Belgium.
(WUD, 1994 p.177)(MC, 9/5/01)
1235 Henry III received 3 leopards
from Frederick II, the Holy Roman Emperor. They became part of the
Royal Menagerie housed in the Tower of London.
(SFEC, 10/10/99, p.T3)
1235 In China a murder was solved
when field men were told to lay down their rice sickles and flies
landed on only one.
(SFEC, 9/28/97, Z1 p.2)
1235 The king of Mali, Sundiata,
defeated Sumanguru at the battle of Kirina. From then on Mali replaced
Ghana as the major power in West Africa. Sundiata established his
capital at Niana on the upper Niger.
(ATC, p.113,118)
1235-1315 Raimon Llull, a Mallorcan Catholic
Franciscan poet. He declared that his ecstatic Christian spirituality
drew from the example of Sufis like Rumi.
(SFEC, 10/25/98, BR p.6)
1236 Jan 14, Henry III married
Eleanor of Provence.
(HN, 1/14/99)
1236 Jun 29, Ferdinand III of
Castile and Leon took Cordoba in Spain. Cordoba, Spain, fell to
Christian forces. The last Islamic kingdom left in Spain is that of the
Berbers in Granada.
(ATC, p.100)(HN, 6/29/98)
1236 Aug 22, The German
Master Volkwin of Riga had prepared a large force of his Knights of the
Sword to attack Lithuania. The Lithuanians learned of the planned
attack and called for forces across the land to repulse the Germans.
The Germans were lured to a marsh near the town of Siauliai and were
severely beaten. Only a tenth of their forces were said to escape back
to Riga.
(Ist. L.H., 1948, p. 41)(TB-Com, 10/11/00)
1236 Dec 23, Philippus
Cancellarius, French theologian and poet (Summa Cum Laude), died.
(MC, 12/23/01)
1236 Queen Rusudani (41), the
daughter of Queen Tamara, fled Georgia as the unstoppable Mongol hordes
ravished the area. She had been proclaimed "King" at the death of her
brother.
(www.undelete.org/woa/woa01-18.html)
1237 Feb 13, Jordanus of Saxon,
2nd father-general of Dominicans, drowned.
(MC, 2/13/02)
1237 Mar 23, Jan of Brienne, King
of Jerusalem, Emperor of Constantinople, died.
(SS, 3/23/02)
1237 The Bishop of Riga sent a
request to Rome that the Pope unite the German Knights of the Sword and
Knights of the Cross into one order. The Pope agreed and the two orders
agreed to fight under one magistrate.
(Ist. L.H., 1948, p. 41)
1237 The
Knights of the Sword ended their activities in Livonia.
(TB-Com, 10/11/00)
1237-1238 Batu Khan, a grandson of Genghis Khan,
invaded Russia.
(AM, Jul/Aug ‘97 p.28)
1237-1240 Mongols conquered Russian lands.
(DVD, Criterion, 1998)
1238 Feb 3, The Mongols took over
Vladimir, Russia.
(HN, 2/3/99)
1238 Sep 28, James of Aragon
retook Valencia, Spain, from the Arabs.
(HN, 9/28/98)
1238 The Knights of the Sword
merged with the German Knights of the Cross.
(TB-Com, 10/11/00)
1238
Mindaugas is mentioned for the 1st time. He ruled to 1263.
(H of L, 1931, p.29)(TB-Com, 10/11/00)
1239 Jun 17, Edward I
(Longshanks), king of England (1272-1307), was born. He became king of
England following the death of his father Henry III. Edward I has been
called "the English Justinian" because of his legal reforms, but is
usually known as one of the foremost military men of the medieval
world. His rule strengthened the authority of the crown and England’s
influence over her neighbors. While successfully subduing Wales he died
while attempting to conquer Scotland.
(HN, 6/17/00)(HNQ, 2/1/01)
1239 Roman Emperor Frederick II
was excommunicated a 2nd time because his growing empire threatened the
independence of the papal states.
(AP, 5/5/06)
1240 Apr 11, Llywelyn ab Iorwerth
the Great, monarch of Wales (1194-1240), died.
(MC, 4/11/02)
1240 Nov 26, Edmund Van Abingdon,
archbishop of Canterbury and Saint, died.
(MC, 11/26/01)
1240 Dec 6, Mongols under Batu
Khan occupied and destroyed Kiev.
(MC, 12/6/01)
1240 A chronicle of the life of
Genghis Khan and his successors: “The Secret Life of the Mongols,” was
written about this time. A Chinese version was discovered by a Russian
diplomat in the early 1800s. In 1982 Francis Woodman Cleaves produced a
modern version.
(www.ezlink.com/~culturev/secret.html)(SSFC,
5/22/05, p.C3)
1240 Henry III ordered the Tower
of London to be whitewashed.
(Hem, 9/04, p.28)
c1240-1302 Giovanni Cimabue, Italian painter and
mosaicist. In 1998 a collection of his work was published with text by
Luciano Bellosi. Cimabue was a teacher of Giotto. Many of his creations
were damaged by a 1966 flood in the Church of Santa Croce in Florence.
(WUD, 1994, p.266)(WSJ, 12/3/98, p.W4)
1240-1630 The site of Thulamela in Kruger Nat’l. Park
in northeastern South Africa had graves containing people with gold
ornaments.
(AM, Mar/Apr 97 p.71)
1241 Apr 9, In the Battle of
Liegnitz, Silesia, Mongol armies defeated the Poles and Germans. In
this year the Mongols defeated the Germans and invaded Poland and
Hungary. The death of their leader Ughetai (Ogedei) forced them to
withdraw from Europe.
(HN, 4/9/98)(TOH)
1241 May 25, 1st attack on Jewish
community of Frankfort-on-the-Main, Germany.
(SC, 5/25/02)
1241 A trumpeter in Krakow,
Poland, was shot through the throat by an archer as he warned the city
of a fast-approaching Mongol army.
(SSFC, 12/28/03, p.C6)
1241 The Great Khan Ogedei died
after completing the Mongol conquest of China and Korea. In April the
Mongols routed the armies of Poles, Germans, and Hungarians, at
Liegnitz and Mohi, within easy distance of Vienna. Only the death of
Ogedei stopped their advance into Europe.
(V.D.-H.K.p.169)
1242 Feb 12, Henry VII, Roman
Catholic German king (1220-35), committed suicide.
(MC, 2/12/02)
1242 Apr 5, Russian troops
repelled an invasion attempt by Teutonic Knights. Alexander Nevsky of
Novgorod defeated Teutonic Knights
(HN, 4/5/99)(MC, 4/5/02)
1242 Jun 6, 24 wagonloads of
Talmudic books were burned in Paris.
(MC, 6/6/02)
1242 In Italy the city wall of
Montagnana were built.
(AMNHDT, 5/98)
1242 Batu, the grandson of Genghis
Khan, established his “Golden Horde” at Sarai on the Lower Volga.
(TOH)
1243 Jun 26, The Seljuk Turkish
army in Asia Minor was wiped out by the Mongols.
(HN, 6/26/98)
1243 A Charter granted permission
for a fair at the monastery of St. Michael at Glastonbury Tor.
(Local Inscription, 2000)
1243-1254 Pope Innocent IV. He established canon law
that recognized communities such as cathedral chapters and monasteries
as legal individuals.
(WSJ, 12/23/99, p.A18)
1244 Jul 11, The Khwarezmian Turks
attacked Jerusalem. By August 23 they completely razed it and left it
in ruins useless to both Christians and Muslims.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_Jerusalem_(Middle_Ages))
1244 Aug 23, Khwarezmian Turks
expelled the crusaders under Frederick II from Jerusalem. Jerusalem’s
citadel, the Tower of David, surrendered. The Turks ruthlessly
decimated the population, leaving only 2,000 people, Christians and
Muslims, still living in the city. This attack triggered the Europeans
to respond with the Seventh Crusade.
(HN,
8/23/98)(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Khwarezmian_Empire)
1244 Oct 17, The Sixth Crusade
ended when an Egyptian-Khwarismian force almost annihilated the
Frankish army at Gaza.
(HN, 10/17/98)
1244 The Cathars, a group of
Catholic heretics, settled at Montsegur, France, in the Ariege region.
They were besieged for more than a year and chose to burn at the stake
rather than submit. Occitania was the ancient name for this region.
(SFEC, 12/8/96, p.T1)
1244 Sheikh Abu el Haggag,
Tunisian born Sufi, died in Luxor, Egypt. His family was from Mecca and
traced its lineage to Mohammed. He founded a Sufi mosque in Luxor and
is buried there. An annual celebration in Luxor, called the moulid,
celebrates his birthday. Egyptologists believe this event is related to
the ancient Opet Festival from the 18th Dynasty.
(Arch, 7/02, p.36)
1244-1248 Mevlana Jalaluddin Rumi met Shams of
Tabriz, a wandering dervish, and the two became mystical companions for
4 years until Shams disappeared. Rumi called his own writings “The
Works of Shams of Tabriz.”
(SFEC, 10/25/98, BR p.6)
1245 Jul 27, Frederick II of
France was deposed by a council at Lyons, which found him guilty of
sacrilege.
(HN, 7/27/98)
1245 Thomas Aquinas was sent to
Paris where he enrolled as a student of Albertus Magnus to study
theology, philosophy, and history. In 1974 Michael R. Best and Frank H.
Brightman edited “The Book of secrets of Albertus Magnus,” which
contained a recipe for Greek Fire.
(V.D.-H.K.p.119)(AM, May/Jun 97 p.10)
1245 John of Plano Carpini was a
Franciscan monk who set out on the instructions of Pope Innocent IV to
gather intelligence. He was met by Mongol horseman and was brought to
witness the enthronement of Guyuk Khan. He experienced a sudden
hailstorm followed by a flash flood that killed 160 people.
(SFC, 4/14/96, T-10)(SFEM, 10/12/97, p.22)
1245 The Rheinfels Castle above
St. Goar was erected by Count Diether III of Katzenelbogen to enforce a
new toll on the Rhine. His family was responsible for many of the Rhine
castles.
(SFEC, 3/15/98, p.T5)
1245 In Flanders cottage weavers
went on strike against cloth merchants.
(WSJ, 1/11/99, p.R25)
1246 May 22, Henry Raspe was
elected anti-king by the Rhenish prelates in France.
(HN, 5/22/98)
1246 The Spanish island of
Mallorca was occupied by the Arabs and reconquered by the Catalans 750
years ago.
(SFC, Z-1, 4/28/96, p.6)
1247 Nov 22, Robin Hood died
according to the 1400 ballad "A Lytell Geste of Robyn Hode." The legend
of Robin Hood is believed to extend into antiquity.
(MC, 11/22/01)(SFC, 2/17/04, p.A2)
1247 Zen monk Yishan Yining
(d.1317), calligrapher and poet, was born in China.
(WSJ, 1/8/02, p.A16)
1248 May 15, Archbishop Konrad von
Hochstaden laid the cornerstone for Köln (Cologne) cathedral. [see
Aug 14]
(MC, 5/15/02)
1248 Aug 14, Construction of
Cologne Cathedral began. [see May 15]
(MC, 8/14/02)
1248 Nov 23, Seville, France
surrendered to Ferdinand III of Castile after a two-year siege.
(HN, 11/23/98)
1248 Sainte Chapelle in Paris was
completed and commissioned by Louis IX to contain what was believed to
be Christ’s crown of thorns.
(Hem. 1/95, p. 78)
1248 In Wales Carreg Cennen, a
castle on a hilltop above Trapp, was built as a Welsh stronghold.
(SFEC, 5/10/98, p.T4)
1249 Feb 7, The Christburg Peace
Treaty forced the Prussians to recognize the rule of the Teutonic
Knights. Within about 50 years the Teutonic Knights and Knights of the
Cross had overcome most of Prussia and established German as the
dominant culture and language. The German orders then turned to
Lithuania.
(H of L, 1931, p.25)(LHC, 2/7/03)
1249 Oxford’s first college,
University College, was founded by William of Durham. (The oldest part
of the existing buildings dates from 1634).
(Econ, 5/21/05, p.16)(http://tinyurl.com/c6eny)
1249-1254 A civil war was fought in
Lithuania. Mindaugas, the feudal ruler of Lithuania found resistance
amongst some local rulers who called in German military orders for
assistance. Mindaugas hosted the German magistrate who said that the
only way to save Lithuania would be to convert to Catholicism and pass
western territory over to the German Order.
(H of L, 1931, p.29)(TB-Com,
10/11/00)(TB-Com, 10/11/00)
1250 Apr 15, Pope Innocent III
refused Jews of Cordova, Spain, permission to build a synagogue.
(MC, 4/15/02)
1250 Apr 30, King Louis IX of
France was ransomed for one million dollars. The Mamluk dynasty exacted
240 tons of silver for his release.
(HN, 4/30/98)(WSJ, 1/11/99, p.R4)
1250 May 2, Toeransa, sultan of
Egypt, was murdered.
(MC, 5/2/02)
1250 Dec 13, Frederick II (55),
German Emperor (1212-1250), died.
(MC, 12/13/01)
1250 Nicolo and Mafeo Polo
embarked on their own cargo ship for Constantinople.
(TMPV, P.4)(This date is questionable and is given
as 1260 in other versions)
1250 China began manufacturing
guns.
(WSJ, 1/11/99, p.R14)
1250 The Mamelukes, a military
class initially composed of slaves, seized control of the Egyptian
Sultanate and ruled until 1517.
(WUD, 1994, p.869)
1250 The Anasazi in southwest
Colorado fought a battle against unknown enemies. Number of kivas built
greatly increased. Quality of workmanship in building decreased. People
began to leave.
(HN, 2/11/97)
c1250 The Tsama Pueblo in New
Mexico contained 1100 rooms and was occupied to the mid-1500s.
(AM, adv. circular, p.2)
1250 Florence, Italy, became a
major center for commerce and industry.
(WSJ, 1/11/99, p.R49)
c1250 A supernova 650 light-years
away should have been visible to observers on Earth according to
scientists who analyzed evidence in 1998.
(SFC, 11/12/98, p.A12)
1250-1350 The 1999 book by Lauren Arnold: "Princely
Gifts and Papal Treasures: The Franciscan Mission to China and Its
Influence on the Art of the West 1250-1350" covered this period.
(WSJ, 12/16/99, p.A20)
1250-1400 In the Upper Xingu region of Brazil's Mato
Grosso state thousands of people occupied 19 settlements in 2 clusters
over this period according to archeological findings in 2003.
(Econ, 9/20/03, p.76)
1250-1540 Late postclassic period of the Maya.
(AM, May/Jun 97 suppl. p.B)
1251 The Polo brothers resided for
a year in the dominions of the Western Tartar chief Berca, who dwelt in
the cities of Bolgara and Assara. A war soon developed between Berca
and Alau, chief of the Eastern Tartars. This war was won by Alau and
the brothers were forced to travel east in order to skirt unsafe roads.
(TMPV, P.5)(This date is questionable and is given
as 1261 in other versions)
1251 In Lithuania Mindaugas
accepted Christianity with his wife, 2 sons, about 600 of his nobility
and many of his people. An envoy was then sent to Rome to request the
Pope’s formal approval for coronation which was granted. The German
Order then worked closely with Mindaugas in establishing the first
Bishopric in Lithuania and were in turn granted lands in western
Lithuania (Zemaiciuose). Pope Innocent IV authorized Mindaugas to be
crowned King.
(H of L, 1931, p.30,32)(XXIA, 7/21/99)
c1251-1254 The Polo brothers traveled to Persia and
arrived at the province of Bokhara ruled by Prince Barak. They remained
there for three years. (This date is questionable and is given as
1261-64 in other versions).
(TMPV, P.6)
1252 Apr 6, Peter of Verona (45),
[Peter Martyr], Italian inquisitor died.
(MC, 4/6/02)
1252 The new "Round Table"
jousting tournament appeared in England.
(WSJ, 1/11/99, p.R34)
1253 Jul 6, Mindaugas was crowned
as King of Lithuania.
(www.itar-tass.com/eng/level2.html?NewsID=12845046&PageNum=0)
1253 Jul 23, Jews were expelled
from Vienne, France, by order of Pope Innocent III.
(MC, 7/23/02)
1253 A Franciscan friar journeyed
to China to see the Great Khan.
(WSJ, 9/4/98, p.W12)
1253-1260 Ata-Malik Juvaini (b.1226) authored “The
History of the World Conqueror,” an account of the life of Genghis Khan
and his successors. Juvaini, in service to the Mongol governors, drew
on the recollections of his father and grandfather. In 1997 J.A. Boyle
published an English translation.
(www.findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m2082/is_3_61/ai_55426809)
1254 Mar 12, Mindaugas
granted Christian, Lithuania’s 1st Bishop, lands in Samogitia.
(LHC, 3/12/03)
1254-1324 Marco Polo was born in Venice.
(V.D.-H.K.p.169)
1255 Mar 6, Pope Alexander
IV permitted Mindaugas to crown his son as king of Lithuania.
(LHC, 3/6/03)
c1255 Duccio di Buoninsegna
(d.1319), Sienese painter, was born.
(Econ, 1/17/04, p.75)
1255 Konigsberg (Kaliningrad) was
founded on the Baltic Sea by the Bohemian King Otakar II, who came to
help Teutonic Knights during their conquest of Prussia disguised as the
Christianization effort called the Northern Crusades. It was annexed by
Russia in 1945.
(Econ, 5/14/05,
p.55)(www.nationmaster.com/encyclopedia/Konigsberg)
c1255 The Polo brothers met an
ambassador of Alau on his way to see the supreme chief of the Tartars,
Kublai. The ambassador offered to take the brothers to meet the grand
khan and the Polo’s accepted. (This date is questionable and is given
as 1265 in other versions).
(TMPV, P.7)
1256 Thomas Aquinas received his
license to teach. He became involved in the current questions of
doctrine on two basic issues. He sided with the Nominalists as opposed
to the Realists on the question of "universals". The second issue was
based on Aristotle's notion of nature. Aquinas saw a distinction
between spirit and nature but also a unity.
(V.D.-H.K.p.121)
1256 Kublai-khan began his reign
as the sixth grand khan, ruler of the Tartars. [see 1259]
(TMPV, p.108)
1256 France banned gambling with
dice.
(WSJ, 1/11/99, p.R34)
1258 Feb 10, Huegu (Hulega Khan),
a Mongol leader and grandson of Genghis Khan, seized Baghdad following
a 4-day assault. Mongol invaders from Central Asia took over Baghdad
and ended the Abbasid-Seljuk Empire. They included Uzbeks, Kazaks,
Georgians and other groups. Some 200 to 800 thousand people were killed
and looting lasted 17 days.
(ATC, p.91)(AP, 2/10/99)(SFC, 4/12/03, p.A1)
1258 Mar 26, Floris the Guardian,
count-regent of Holland, died.
(SS, 3/26/02)
1258 Sep 20, The Cathedral of
Salisbury, begun in 1220, was inaugurated.
(MC, 9/20/01)(Econ, 12/20/03, p.29)
1259 Aug 11, Mongke, Mongol
great-khan, grandson of Genghis Khan, died.
(MC, 8/11/02)
1259 Sep 27, Ezzeline III da
Romano, gentleman of Verona, "cruel monster", died.
(MC, 9/27/01)
1259-1282 Michael VIII Palaeologus governed over
Byzantium from Constantinople. [see 330AD]
(WSJ, 11/14/95, p. A-12)
1259-1294 The great Kublai Khan, a grandson of
Genghis, reigned.
(www.gobiexpeditions.com)
1260 Mar 1, Hulagu Khan, grandson
of Genghis, conquered Damascus.
(SC, 3/1/02)
1260 Sep 3, Mamelukes under Sultan
Qutuz defeated Mongols and Crusaders at Ain Jalut.
(HN, 9/3/98)
1260 Sep 4, At the Battle of
Montaperto in Italy, the Tuscan Ghibellines, who supported the emperor,
defeated the Florentine Guelfs, who supported papal power.
(HN, 9/4/98)
1260 Oct 23,Koetoez, Turkish
sultan of Egypt, was murdered.
(MC, 10/23/01)
1260 The people of
western Lithuania (Zemaiciai) attacked the German Order of the Cross at
a battle near Durbe Lake. This forced Mindaugas to turn against the
Germans but he was not able to gain the full trust of the western
Lithuanians.
(H of L, 1931, p.32)(TB-Com, 10/11/00)
1260-1274 A large scale Prussian uprising took place
against the Knights of the Cross.
(TB-Com, 10/11/00)
1260-1294 The Mongol Empire under Kublai Khan reached
its height.
(ATC, p.160)
1260-1348 Siena flourished as a univ. town and center
for banking, trading, and art.
(SFEC, 6/29/97, p.T11)
1260-1368 The Yuan Dynasty ruled in China. The Yuan
Dynasty was founded by Kublai Khan.
(Jap. Enc., BLDM, p. 214)(SFC, 6/25/98, p.A8)
1260-1368 In China musical productions known as Zaju
became popular during the Yuan Dynasty. Zaju, an early form of opera,
combined music, dance, song and speech into 4-act dramas with complex
plots and characters.
(WSJ, 1/11/99, p.R34)
1260-1390 Carbon-14 dating techniques in 1988
determined that the cloth of the Shroud of Turin dated to this period.
E.T. Hall (d.2001 at 77) of Oxford Univ. led the testing, which was
later held in question. In 1978 Walter C. McCrone (d.2002), chemical
analyst, determined that the image was painted on the cloth some 1300
years after the crucifixion of Christ.
(SFEC, 2/1/98, p.A24)(SFC, 8/22/01, p.D2)(SFC,
7/29/02, p.B5)(www.tqnyc.org/NYC063363/)
1260-1555 In 2004 Diana Norman covered this period in
her book: "Painting in the Late Medieval and Renaissance Siena."
(Econ, 1/17/04, p.75)
1261 Feb 3, Samogitian fighters
defeated the Livonian Knights of the Cross at Lielvarde.
(LHC, 2/3/03)
1261 May 25, Alexander IV [Rinaldo
dei conti di Segni], Pope (1254-61), died.
(SC, 5/25/02)
1261 Aug 15, Constantinople fell
to Michael VIII of Nicea and his army.
(HN, 8/15/98)
1261 Oct 9, Dionysius, the
Justified, king of Portugal (1279-1325), was born.
(MC, 10/9/01)
1261 A great quarrel arose between
king Alau, lord of the Tartars of the East, and Berca, king of the
Tartars of the West based on a border dispute. A great battle was waged
in which Alau was the victor.
(TMPV, pp. 336-340)
1262 After a long and bloody
conflict between the various families and clans, the Icelanders
accepted the rule of the Norwegian kingdom.
(DrEE, 1/4/97, p.4)
1263 Feb 9, A Lithuania army under
Treniota defeated the Livonian Knights of the Cross.
(LHC, 2/9/03)
1263 Aug 19, King James I of
Aragon censored Hebrew writing.
(MC, 8/19/02)
1263 Oct 2, At Largs, King
Alexander III of Scotland repelled an amphibious invasion by King
Haakon IV of Norway.
(HN, 10/2/98)
1263 Nov 14, Alexander Nevski
(43), Russian ruler (1252-63), died.
(MC, 11/14/01)
1263 In Lithuania King Mindaugas
was assassinated along with his 2 sons by Duke Treniota.
(H of L, 1931, p.32)(TB-Com, 10/11/00)
1263 In a Spanish court Rabbi
Moses ben Nachman defended the legitimacy of Judaism against Pablo
Christiani, a converted Jew, who argued for Christianity. The trial was
set up by King James I of Aragon to please the pope. In 1982 Hyam
Maccoby wrote "Judaism on Trial" and turned in into a play, "The
Disputation" in 1999.
(WSJ, 3/23/99, p.A20)
1263-1264 In Lithuania Treniota served as Grand Duke.
(TB-Com, 10/11/00)
1264 May 14, The Baron's War was
fought in England. King Henry III was captured by his brother in law
Earl of Leicester Simon de Montfort at the Battle of Lewes in England.
(HN, 5/14/99)(PC, 1992, p.113)
1264 Aug 5, Anti-Jewish riots
broke out in Arnstadt, Germany.
(MC, 8/5/02)
c1264 Vincent of Beauvais and the
Speculum Maius: the compiling and adapting techniques of a
thirteenth-century Dominican.
(http://www.let.ruu.nl/C+L/voorbij/vincent/txt/albrecht.htm)
1264 Kublai Khan, grandson of
Genghis Khan, moved his capital from Karakorum to what later became
Beijing. Karakorum was all but abandoned and eventually destroyed by
Manchurian invaders over the next century.
(SSFC, 3/27/05, p.F4)
1264 According to Marco Polo,
Kublai Khan in this year sent a large body of troops to attack Japan,
then known as the island of Zipangu. The two officers in charge, named
Abbacatan and Vonsancin, failed to cooperate and the adventure failed.
(TMPV, P.255)
1264-1267 In Lithuania Vaisalgas (Vaiselga) served as
Grand Duke.
(TB-Com, 10/11/00)
1265 Jan 20, The 1st English
Parliament was called into session by Earl of Leicester.
(MC, 1/20/02)
1265 Jan 23, The 1st English
Parliament formally convened.
(MC, 1/23/02)
1265 May 9, Dante Alighieri,
Italian poet (Divine Comedy), was born.
(WUD, 1994 p.367)(MC, 5/9/02)
1265 Aug 4, King Henry III in the
Battle at Evesham put down a revolt of English barons lead by Simon de
Montfort. Montfort, the English earl of Leicester, died in the battle.
(HN, 8/4/98)(MC, 8/4/02)
1265 The coastal settlement of
Caesarea (Palestine) was razed to the ground.
(Econ, 4/24/04, p.83)
1265-1308 Duns Scotus, the Franciscan "subtle
doctor." He stated that God is absolutely free, and absolute freedom
means being free of reason's necessity, as well as of all else. This
was in opposition to Aquinas' statement that what is logically
necessary must necessarily be so.
(V.D.-H.K.p.123)
1265-1321 Dante Alighieri, author of the Divine
Comedy. His original surname was Durante. He died on Sept. 14.
(V.D.-H.K.p.124)(AHD, 1971, p.335)
1266 Feb 26, Charles d’Anjou, king
of the two Sicilies, defeated Manfred (33), in the Battle of Benevento.
Manfred, the bastard son of Emperor Frederik II, king of Sicily, was
killed.
(PCh, 1992, p.114)(SC, 2/26/02)
1266 St. Thomas Aquinas penned his
"Summa Theologica," in which he attempted to reconcile theology with
economic conditions. He argued that reason could operate within faith.
(WSJ, 1/11/99, p.R14)(WSJ, 6/22/99, p.A22)
1266 King Kaidu of Great Turkey, a
nephew of the grand khan, rebelled against the grand Kahn and numerous
battles were fought. Kaidu eventually withdrew to Samarkand. Kaidu is
also said to have had a very strong and valiant daughter, Aigiarm, who
declared not to marry until she met a man who could conquer her by
force.
(TMPV, pp. 317-323)
1267 Feb 9, Synod of Breslau
ordered Jews of Silesia to wear special caps.
(MC, 2/9/02)
1267 May 10, Vienna's Catholic
church ordered all Jews to wear distinctive garb.
(MC, 5/10/02)
1267 Jul 26, The Inquisition
formed in Rome under Pope Clement IV.
(MC, 7/26/02)
1267 Sep 1, Ramban (Nachmanides)
arrived in Jerusalem to establish a Jewish community.
(SC, 9/1/02)
1267 Nov 26, Gozzolini Silvester,
Italian hermit and Saint, died.
(MC, 11/26/01)
1267 Giotto (d.1337), Italian
painter, was born about this time.
(V.D.-H.K.p.128)(WSJ, 11/113/00,
p.A24)(www.mediacult.com/art/giotto/chrono.html)
1267-1269 In Lithuania Shvarno served as Grand
Duke.
(TB-Com, 10/11/00)
1268 Jan 21, Pope Clement IV gave
permission to Poland’s King Premislus II to take over Lithuania and
establish Catholicism.
(LHC, 1/18/03)
1268 Oct 19, Konradin von
Hohenstaufen, duke of Zwaben, was beheaded. [see Oct 20]
(MC, 10/19/01)
1268 Oct 20, Konradijn
Hohenstaufen, son of Koenraad IV, was beheaded in Naples. [see Oct 19]
(MC, 10/20/01)
1268 According to Marco Polo,
Kublai Khan in this year sent a large force of infantry and cavalry to
conquer the country named Ziamba, (Viet-Nam). His forces were under the
leadership of general Sogatu. The king of Ziamba, Accambale, was
advanced in years but resisted from his strongholds. The Tartars laid
waste to the open country and then accepted to withdraw in return for a
yearly tribute of elephants and sweet-scented wood.
(TMPV, P.260)
1269 Apr, The Polo brothers
arrived at Acre.
(TMPV, P.10)
1269 Jun 19, King Louis IX of
France decreed all Jews must wear a badge of shame.
(MC, 6/19/02)
1269 The capital of Morocco was
moved north to Fez after the Almohad dynasty fell.
(SFEC, 7/25/99, p.T11)
1269 Nicolo Polo returned to
Venice from Asia and his visit with Kublai Khan at Shang-tu,
Coleridge’s Xanadu. He carried letters from the Khan asking that the
pope provide 100 intelligent men, “acquainted with the seven arts.”
Pope Clement IV had recently died and Nicolo waited for a successor.
(V.D.-H.K.p.170)
1269 The Prince Facfur ruled the
province of Manji in a peaceful and prosperous manner. He maintained at
his court a thousand beautiful women, in whose society he took delight.
(TMPV, P.10)
1269-1281 In Lithuania Traidenis served as Grand
Duke.
(TB-Com, 10/11/00)
1269-1271 The Polo brothers waited two years in
Venice for a new pope and then departed for Acre and then to Jerusalem
with the young Marco Polo. The Polos continue their journey and reach
Armenia. The legate of Jerusalem was elected Pope and assumed the name
Gregory X.
(TMPV, P.12)
1269-1354 Huang Kung-Wang, Chinese artist. He painted
the 20-foot-long hand-scroll "Dwelling in the Fu-Ch'un Mountains." The
work is part of the traveling exhibit from the National Palace Museum,
Taipei in 1995.
(WSJ, 12/29/95, p.A-11)
1270 Feb 16, In the Karusa Ice war
in Estonia, Lithuanian forces defeated the Livonian Knights of the
Cross.
(LHC, 2/16/03)
1270 Aug 25, King Louis IX (56),
King of France (1226-70), died on The Eighth Crusade, which was
decimated by the Plague.
(PCh, 1992, p.114)(V.D.-H.K.p.110)(MC, 8/25/02)
1270 Oct 30, The seventh crusade
was ended by the treaty of Barbary.
(HN, 10/30/98)
1270 Mongol hordes sacked Babylon
and ended 1,500 years of rule over Eastern Jewry by the high
Mesopotamian priest known as the Exxilarch.
(WSJ, 6/30/03, p.A1)
1271 Aug, Jacob d’Ancona, an
Italian-Jewish trader, arrived at the harbor of Zaitun in southeast
China, 4-years before Marco Polo arrived. He wrote a manuscript that
surfaced in 1997, translated by David Selbourne, a British scholar.
Jacob described printing with movable wooden type, paper money, free
daily newspapers, mass-circulation booklets, use of gunpowder, the
practice of foot-binding, and tea-drinking. He also noted a lot of
pornography and a liberated female sexuality. He described a foreign
community with some 2,000 Jews and a great number of Muslims as well as
Africans and Europeans and the oncoming threat of a Mongol invasion.
The book was titled “The City of Light” and covered Jacob’s travels
from 1270-1273 through China, Syria, the Persian Gulf and India.
(SFEC, 9/21/97, p.A23)(SFC, 10/1/97, p.A12)
1271 Sep 17, Wenceslas II, king of
Bohemia & Poland (1278-1305), was born.
(www.nationmaster.com/encyclopedia/Wenceslas-II-of-Bohemia)
1271 Nov 16, Henry III (b.1207),
king of England (1216-71), died.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henry_III_of_England)
1271 Nicolo and Marco Polo
obtained letters from the papal legate in Palestine, who was soon
elected as Gregory X. The Khan’s request for 100 intelligent men could
not be filled and the Polos departed Acre with two friars who soon
turned back. The Polos continued on their own.
(V.D.-H.K.p.171)
1271 The Polos were called back to
Acre where the new Pope assigned two friars, Fra Nicolo da Vicenza and
Fra Guielmo da Tripoli, to accompany them to visit the grand khan. They
reached Armenia and heard that the soldan of Babylonia, named
Bundokdari, had invaded Armenian territory. The friars feared for their
lives and returned home.
(TMPV, P.12)
1271 The Mamelukes captured The
Crac des Chevaliers in Syria and converted the chapel into a mosque. It
had been held by the Knights Hospitallers since 1144.
(WSJ, 1/31/09, p.W12)
1271-1274 The Polos spent three and a half years
traveling to the residence of the grand khan at Cle-men-fu. The grand
khan was pleased with Marco Polo and employed him for the next
seventeen years as a personal representative of the khan in state
matters.
(TMPV, P.12)
1271-1368 “The Yuan Dynasty” by James Cahill is the
2nd section of Wu Hung’s 1997 “The Origins of Chinese Painting.” The
period is marked by the emergence of the literati-amateur movement.
(WSJ, 1/2/98, p.6)
1272 Feb 24, Jacob, an
Italian-Jewish trader, departed in haste from Zaitun, China. [see 1271]
(SFEC, 9/21/97, p.A23)
1272 Apr 17, Zita (Cita), Italian
maid, saint, died at about age 59.
(MC, 4/17/02)
1272 Nov 21, Edward I was
proclaimed King of England.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_I_of_England)
1272 Kublai-khan sent an army to
the countries of Vochang and Karazan. The King of Mien and Bangala, in
India, opposed the advance of the Tartars and a major battle was
fought, wherein the Tartars were victorious.
(TMPV, P.192)(Jap. Enc., BLDM, p. 214)
1272 Forces of the King of Naples
occupied Durrës and established the Kingdom of Arbëria, the
first Albanian kingdom since the fall of Illyria.
(www, Albania, 1998)
1273 Oct 1, Rudolf of Hapsburg was
elected emperor in Germany.
(HN, 10/1/98)
1273 Marco Polo crossed Afghan
Turkistan.
(www.afghan, 5/25/98)
1273 Kublai-khan assigned his
general, Chin-san Bay-an, the “Hundred-eyed,” to invade the province of
Manji under Prince Facfur. Facfur fled under attack and his queen was
sent to Kublai-khan, who supported her in dignity.
(TMPV, P.211)
1273-1291 Rudolf I, King of Germany and emperor of
the Holy Roman Empire. He founded the Hapsburg dynasty.
(WUD, 1994, p.1251)
1274 Mar 7, Thomas Aquinas (48),
Italian theologian, saint, died.
(MC, 3/7/02)
1274 May 7, The Second Council of
Lyons opened in France to regulate the election of the pope.
(HN, 5/7/99)
1274 Jul 11, Robert the Bruce,
King of Scotland (1306-1329), was born in Turnberry, Scotland.
(HN, 7/11/01)(MC, 7/11/02)
1274 Upon Edward‘s succession to
the English throne, he demanded Llywelyn ap Gruffydd pay homage to him
before he recognized him as Prince of Wales.
(HNQ, 7/14/00)
1274 Thomas Aquinas was summoned
before a council at Lyons to answer for his opinions. He was publicly
chastised but not condemned.
(V.D.-H.K.p.122)
1274 The first Mongol invasion of
Japan. [see 1264]
(Jap. Enc., BLDM, p. 214)
1274 Lal Shahbaz Qalandar
(b.1177), born as Seyyed Shah Hussain Marandi in Marand (near the city
of Tabriz) in Azerbaijan (then part of Iran), died in Sindh (later part
of Pakistan). He had migrated to Sindh and settled in Sehwan and was
buried there. He is also known as Shaikh Hussain Marandi. He was a Shia
Sufi in the regions that lie in the Sindh province of Pakistan.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shahbaz_Qalander)(Econ, 12/20/08, p.73)
c1274 Nadruva, Prussia, was the home of
the pagan spiritual leader Krivis, who was dear to the Baltic
people.
(H of L, 1931, p.25)(TB-Com, 10/11/00)(Petras
Dusburgietis. Prusijos zemes kronika. Vilnius, 1985, p. 87)
1274-1277 The Knights of the Cross overcame the
Prussian towns of Nadruva and Skalva.
(Petras Dusburgietis. Prusijos zemes kronika
(Chronicle of the Prussian Lands). Vilnius, 1985, p. 189-196)
1275 May 23, King Edward I of
England ordered a cessation to the persecution of French Jews.
(MC, 5/23/02)
1275 In England there was an
earthquake at Glastonbury.
(Local Inscription, 2000)
1275-1292 Marco Polo left Italy for China. He lived
there during the reign of Kubla Khan and learned about pasta, sherbet,
and paper currency.
(Jap. Enc., BLDM, p. 214)(WSJ, 1/11/99, p.R14)
1275-1325 The Henderson Site in New Mexico, USA, was
occupied by about a 100 people in a village with about 50 large rooms.
The Indians occupying the site were in between the Plains hunters and
the Pueblo farmers and showed evidence of both cultures. They grew corn
and regularly ate dog. After the corn harvest they abandoned their
village each year to hunt bison. The site is being excavated by a team
from the Univ. of Mich.
(MT, 12/94, p.2-3)
1276 Nov, Edward decided to force
Llywelyn ap Gruffydd into submission in November of 1276. Edward was
aided by Llywelyn‘s brother Daffydd ap Gruffydd and Prince Gruffydd ap
Gwenwynwyn of Powys—both of whom Llywelyn had expelled for plotting his
assassination.
(HNQ, 7/14/00)
1276 A 25-year drought began in
the Four Corner region.
(HN, 2/11/97)(AM, 9/01, p.44)
1276-1299 Tree growth rings revealed that another
drought occurred in the southwest US. This period corresponded with the
abandonment of Anasazi dwelling sites in Arizona.
(Hem., 5/97, p.79)
1277 King Edward of England
invaded Wales. Edward was aided by Llywelyn ap Gruffydd’s brother
Daffydd ap Gruffydd and Prince Gruffydd ap Gwenwynwyn of Powys—both of
whom Llywelyn had expelled for plotting his assassination.
(HN, 2/17/99)(HNQ, 7/14/00)
c1277 Invaders from central Asia
conquered China.
(ATC, p.73)
1278 May 10, Jews of England were
imprisoned on charges of coining. [see Nov 17]
(MC, 5/10/02)
1278 Nov 17, In England 680 Jews
were arrested for counterfeiting coins. 293 were hanged. [see May 10]
(MC, 11/17/01)
1278 Work resumed on the Leaning
Tower of Pisa, whose tilt had shifted from north to south. By 1995 it
was 5.5 degrees off plumb.
(SSFC, 10/19/03, p.C3)
1278 Nestorian Christians under
the governor, Mar-sachis, appointed by the grand-khan for three years,
built three Nestorian Churches in the city of Chan-ghian-fu, in the
province of Manji.
(TMPV, P.220)
1278 The co-principality of
Andorra was created after long-running ownership disputes between the
Bishops of Seu and the Counts of Foix. They agreed to recognize each
other as co-princes of Andorra.
(Hem., 3/97, p.74)
1278 In Wales Carreg Cennen, a
castle on a hilltop above Trapp, fell to English hands.
(SFEC, 5/10/98, p.T4)
1278-1477 In 2004 Tim Hyman covered this period in
his book: "Sienese Painting: "The Art of a City-Republic."
(Econ, 1/17/04, p.75)
1279 Mar 5, Lithuanians
overcame Livonian forces at Aizkraukle.
(LHC, 3/5/03)
1279 In Germany the castle across
the Rhine from Assmannshausen was first mentioned. It was restored by
architect Karl Friedrich Schinkel in the 19th century and named
Rheinstein.
(SFEC, 3/15/98, p.T4)
1279-1368 The Yuan, or Mongol, dynasty in China
(1279-1368) was established by the great Kublai Khan (reigned 1259-94),
a grandson of Genghis.
(www.gobiexpeditions.com)
1280 Nov 15, Albertus Magnus (87),
German leader and bishop Regensburg, died.
(MC, 11/15/01)
1280 Liu Guandao, court painter,
depicted the Mongol ruler Kubilai Khan hunting on a sandy, windswept
landscape.
(SFEC, 10/6/96, DB p.37)
1280 Marco Polo visited the
country of Ziamba (Viet-Nam). He noted that the king had 326 children,
and that it was the custom for all young women to be proved by the king
before being given in marriage. Marco noted the bounty of elephants,
lignum-aloes, and black ebony.
(TMPV, P.261)
1280 St. Julien-le-Pauvre was
built in Paris. It became a barn during the French revolution and is
now a Greek Orthodox church.
(SFC, 9/1/96, T8)
1280 German merchants formed the
Hanseatic League to facilitate trade.
(WSJ, 1/11/99, p.R49)
1280 In Germany a spinning wheel
invented in China was demonstrated in Speyer.
(WSJ, 1/11/99, p.R14)
1280 About this time someone near
Pisa, Italy, riveted 2 small magnifying lenses to form the 1st optical
device that could be worn on the bridge of the nose.
(WSJ, 4/6/06, p.A12)(www.antiquespectacles.com)
1280 In the Netherlands Muiden
Castle, 10 miles east of Amsterdam, dates to this time.
(SFEC, 1/31/99, p.T13)
1280-1354 Wu Chen, Chinese painter and master of
calligraphy. He also mastered the play of void and presence at the
heart of Chinese ink painting.
(SFC, 10/14/96, p.B3)
1281 Aug 14, During the second
Mongol attempt to conquer Japan, Kublai Khan's invading fleet
disappeared in typhoon off of Japan. A Mongol army of 45,000 from Korea
had joined an armada with 120,000 men from southern China landing at
Hakozaki Bay. The typhoon destroyed their fleet leaving them to death
or slavery.
(Jap. Enc., BLDM, p. 214)(EWH, 4th ed., p.369)(MC,
8/14/02)
1281 Osman I came to power
at the age of 23 and began a steady campaign against the Byzantines
until his death in 1324. He managed to capture many Byzantine
fortresses, most notably Bursa, consolidating Ottoman power in the
region. Generally regarded as the founder of the Ottoman Turkish state,
Osman I (also known as Osman Gazi) led ongoing campaigns against the
Byzantines in the 13th and early 14th centuries AD. Part of the
migration of Turkic tribes into Anatolia, Osman was the son of
Ertugrul, who had established a principality in present-day
Sögüt, Turkey.
(HNQ, 2/19/01)
1281-1285 In Lithuania Daumantas served as Grand
Duke.
(TB-Com, 10/11/00)
1282 Mar 30, Furious inhabitants
of Palermo attacked French occupation force in the "Sicilian Vespers."
The Mafia appeared in Sicily to revolt against French rule after a
drunken soldier attacked a young woman on her wedding day.
(WSJ, 1/11/99, p.R42)(MC, 3/30/02)
1282 Mar 31, The great massacre of
the French in Sicily, "The Sicilian Vespers," came to an end. [see Aug
31,1303]
(HN, 3/31/99)
1282 Apr 28, Villagers in Palermo
led a revolt against French rule in Sicily.
(HN, 4/28/98)
1282 Andronicus II Papaeologus
became ruler over Byzantium. [see 330AD]
(WSJ, 11/14/95, p. A-12)
1283 In Germany the Marksburg
Castle was built by the Katzenelbogans to defend the silver and lead
mines of Braubach.
(SFEC, 3/15/98, p.T5)
1284 Apr 25, Edward II, king of
England (1307-1327), was born.
(HN, 4/25/02)
1284 Jun 26, The Pied Piper lured
away 130 children of Hamelin (Hameln, Germany). Robert Browning used
this event for his poem "The Pied Piper of Hamelin" (1842).
(MC, 6/26/02)
1284 In England the eldest son of
Edward I became the Prince of Wales.
(SFC, 7/23/97, p.A10)
1285 Mar 24, Lithuanian Grand Duke
Daumantas (1281-1285) died.
(LHC, 3/24/03)
1285 May 10, Philip IV (Fair)
succeeded Philip III as King of Spain.
(HN, 5/10/99)
1285 Oct 5, Philippe III, the
Stout, King of France (1270-85), died.
(MC, 10/5/01)
1285 Oct 12, 180 Jews refused
baptism in Munich, Germany, and were set on fire.
(MC, 10/12/01)
1286 Nov 22, Erik V Klipping
(b.1249), king of Denmark, was murdered.
(Internet)
1286 Emperor Rudolph I abrogated
the political freedom of Jews and imposed on them special taxes. Rabbi
Meir Ben Baruch (aka Maharam), head of the Jewish community in
Rothenburg, tried to lead group of Jews to Palestine but was arrested
and confined in an Alsatian fortress. He refused to be freed for ransom
and died in prison. The Jews of Rothenburg were then re-expelled to a
ghetto beyond the city walls.
(NH, 9/96, p.24)
1286 Tartar Chief Nayan, kinsman
of Kublai, attempted to gain independence from the grand-khan, and a
war ensued.
(TMPV, P.108)
1286 Arghun, son of Abaga - lord
of the east, engaged and defeated the army of Kaidu under Kaidu’s
brother, Barac, in the plain of the Arbor Secco by the river Ion. Abaga
died shortly after and Arghun was force to fight his uncle, the Acomat
Soldan, who claimed succession. Arghun was initially defeated and
captured, but escaped with the help of the Tartar baron Boga. They
gathered forces and slew the melik Soldan, who was in charge of
Acomat’s army. Later Acomat was captured and slain.
(TMPV, pp.325-334)
1287 Dec 14, The Zuider Zee
seawall collapsed with the loss of 50,000 lives.
(MC, 12/14/01)
1287 The forces of Kublai Khan
overran Burma. The royal city of Bagan (Pagan) was abandoned under
threat from Kublai Khan in the 13th century. The brick temple of Ananda
Pahto is in Bagan. More than 4,400 pagodas and 3,000 other religious
structures of bricks and stones were built in Bagan, Myanmar's former
capital, during a 243-year period from the 11th to 13th centuries, the
result of extraordinary Buddhist fervor.
(SFEC, 10/22/00, p.T9)(DC, 10/10/98)(AP, 12/1/03)
1288 Feb 29, Scotland made it
legal for women to propose to men. The Scottish Parliament passed a
Leap Year Act whereby women could propose to men. The tradition had
begun in 5th century Ireland.
(SFEC, 6/8/97, Z1 p.6)(SFC, 2/29/00, p.A1)
1288 Apr 24, Jews of Yroyes France
were accused of ritual murder.
(MC, 4/24/02)
1288 Sep 29, Maud de Brabant
(b.1224) died in Belgium.
(www.peterwestern.f9.co.uk/maximilia/pafg60.htm)
1288 Kublai Khan was described by
Marco Polo as being 85 years old and having reigned for 42 years. This
would put his rule to begin in 1246.
(TMPV, P.108)
1288 Marco Polo related that the
Christian King of Abascia (or Abyssinia) in Middle India decided to
make a pilgrimage to Jerusalem but was dissuaded by his advisors. In
his place he sent a bishop, who upon returning through Aden was picked
up by the soldan of Aden and urged to become a Mohametan. The bishop
refused and was forcefully circumcised. This later led to a war in
which the Abyssinian king took the city of Aden and gave it up to
pillage.
(TMPV, P.255)
1288 In Sweden a charter
recognized the sale of a stake in the Stora Kopparberg copper mine to
Bishop Petrus of Vasteras for his parish. In the 1970's Stora sold its
mining operations to focus on forest products and power. In 1998 it
merged to become Stora Enso, a paper-packaging and timber firm.
(WSJ, 1/11/99, p.R42)(Econ, 12/18/04, p.105)
1289 Apr 29, Qala'un, the Sultan
of Egypt, captured Tripoli.
(HN, 4/29/98)
1289 Oct 4, Louis X, the Stubborn,
king of France (1314-16), was born.
(MC, 10/4/01)
1289 Eyeglasses were first
recorded in Florence by a man named di Popozo.
(WSJ, 1/11/99, p.R21)
1290 Jul 12, Jews were expelled
from England by order of King Edward I.
(MC, 7/12/02)
1290 Aug 16, Charles of Valois
married Margaret of Anjou.
(MC, 8/16/02)
1290 Oct 9, Last of 16,000 English
Jews, expelled by King Edward I, left. The country was on the verge of
bankruptcy. The debt to Jewish bankers was written off and all Jews
were expelled from England. The Medicis and other northern Italian
bankers were invited as a replacement.
(SFEC, 6/22/97, BR p.3)(MC, 10/9/01)
1290 William of Ockham (d.1349),
English Franciscan scholastic philosopher, was born. He became known
for the maxim called Occam’s Razor (Ockham’s razor): "Entia non sunt
multiplicanda praeter necessitatem." (Entries should not be multiplied
unnecessarily). A modern version of this principle of logic might be:
"The simpler, the better." [see 1349]
(V.D.-H.K.p.123)(WUD, 1994 p.996)(AP, 2/4/99)
1290 The Ottoman Empire began.
(SSFC, 10/14/01, p.A3)
c1290-1361 Philippe de Vitry, French music theorist,
composer and poet.
(WUD, 1994, p.1598)(SFC, 2/15/99, p.E7)
1291 Feb 8, Afonso IV, King of
Portugal (1325-57), was born.
(MC, 2/8/02)
1291 Mar 5, Sa'ad al'Da'ulah,
Jewish grand vizier of Persia, was assassinated.
(MC, 3/5/02)
1291 May 10, Scottish nobles
grudgingly recognized the authority of English king Edward I.
(MC, 5/10/02)
1291 May 18, Sultan of Egypt and
his son took the last Christian stronghold of Acre. Egyptian Mamelukes
(Mamluks) occupied Akko (Acre). The crusaders were driven out of
Palestine. Khalil, al-Ashraf Salah ad-Din, the Mamluk King, conquered
Akko and put an end to the Crusader’s rule in the Holy Land.
(www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/Archaeology/Akko.html)(Arch,
7/02, p.19)
1291 Aug 1, The Everlasting League
formed and became the basis of Swiss Confederation. The people of the 3
small cantons (Uri, Schwyz and Unterwalden) formed a co-operative pact
called the Bundesbrief following the death of Habsburg Emp. Rudolf I.
(Econ, 2/14/04, Survey p.6)
1291 The Catholic Franciscan order
arrived in Bosnia.
(SFC, 4/15/97, p.A10)
1291 A law made by the Doge
ordered that all glass furnaces be moved from Venice to Murano.
(www.henokiens.com/index_barovier_gb.php)
1291-1295 In Lithuania Butvydas served as Grand
Duke.
(TB-Com, 10/11/00)
1292 Dec 9, Sa'di, great Persian
poet (Orchard, Rose Garden), died.
(MC, 12/9/01)
1292 The Polos began their return
journey to Europe. They accompanied a Mongol princess who was to marry
Arghun Khan, ruler of Persia. The Polos arrived at the island of Java
and then sailed for eighteen months in the Indian Seas to reach king
Arghun. They learned that Arghun’s kingdom was being administered by
Ki-akato, and that the Mongol princess should be delivered to Kasan,
son of Arghun, then on the borders of Persia at the arbor secco.
(V.D.-H.K.p.171)(TMPV, P.12)
c1292 A “No Loitering” sign was
engraved on rock at an ancient cemetery near Mill River, Mass., in the
Phoenician language called Iberian Punic some 200 years before Columbus
made his 1492 trip.
(SFC, 10/17/98, p.E5)
1293 The Polos arrived in Persia
and found that Arghun Khan had died. His son Mahmud Ghazan now ruled
Persia and married the princess. The Polos soon reached Trebizond on
the southern coast of the Black Sea and were welcomed by a band of
robbers who stripped them of most of their riches. Years later (1298)
Marco Polo published in Venice “Il Milione,” The Travels of Marco Polo.
(V.D.-H.K.p.171)(WSJ, 9/4/98, p.W12)
1294 Feb 12, Kublai Khan, the
conqueror of Asia, died at the age of 80.
(HN, 2/12/99)
1294 May 3, Jan I, duke of
Brabant, Limburg, poet, died.
(MC, 5/3/02)
1294 Jun 30, Jews were expelled
from Bern, Switzerland.
(MC, 6/30/02)
1294 Jul 5, Pietro di Murrone, a
pious hermit, was elected as Pope Celestine V. He was so besieged by
the political, social and religious challenges of the position that
just five months later, on December 13, he became the first pope to
resign, for which he was imprisoned by his successor, Boniface VIII. He
died in the castle of Fumone, May 19, 1296.
(SFEC, 10/22/00,
p.A20)(www.newadvent.org/cathen/03479b.htm)
1294 When Arghun died by probable
poisoning after six years of rule, he was succeeded by his uncle,
Ki-akato, who was able to seize power because the son of Arghun, Kasan,
was far away. After two years Ki-akato was poisoned and his uncle,
Baidu, a Christian, seized power. Kasan then assembled an army and
marched against Baidu. Kasan was victorious and gained control over the
Eastern Tartars.
(TMPV, pp. 334-336)
1294 The Polos received news of
the death of Kublai, the grand khan.
(TMPV, P.19)
1294 The Great Geysir was
discovered in Iceland and gave rise to the community named Geysir.
Geyser became the generic name for all water spouts.
(SSFC, 7/17/05, p.D6)
1294 In Bologna two-thirds of the
citizens were listed as guild members or their relatives.
(WSJ, 1/11/99, p.R25)
1295 Marco Polo narrated his
travels to master Rustigielo, a citizen of Pisa, from a prison in Genoa.
(TMPV, P.4)
1295 Jacobellus Barovier, founder
of a glass-making family, was born. His sons, Antonio and Bartolomeo in
1348 registered as "fioliare" (glassmakers) in Murano, across the
lagoon from Venice, Italy. The Barovier firm merged with the
Murano-based Toso firm in the 1930s.
(www.henokiens.com/index_barovier_gb.php)(www.artglas.org/html/body_barovier.html)(Econ,
11/24/07, p.73)
1295 Vytenis began to rule
over Lithuania. In response to German castle construction along the
shores of the Nemunas River, Vytenis began constructing castles of
wood in addition to those at: Junigeda, Bisena, Kolainis,
Medvegalis, and Putenikis. He also reorganized the army and ruled to
1316.
(H of L, 1931, p.32)(Ist. L.H., 1948, p. 41)(TB-Com,
10/11/00)
1295 Trieste became a Free
Imperial City.
(www.geocities.com/CapitolHill/Rotunda/2209/Trieste.html)
1296 Apr 27, England’s King Edward
I defeated the Scots at the Battle of Dunbar. He deposed King John and
exiled him to France.
(HN, 4/27/99)
1296 May 19, Pietro di Murrone,
former Pope Celestine V, died in the castle of Fumone, where he was
imprisoned by his successor, Boniface VIII.
(SFEC, 10/22/00,
p.A20)(www.newadvent.org/cathen/03479b.htm)
1296 Aug 10, John the Blind, King
of Bohemia, Count of Luxembourg, was born.
(MC, 8/10/02)
1296 King Edward I of England
stole the 458-pound Stone at Scone from Scotland. It was returned to
Scotland in 1996.
(SFC, 11/16/96, p.A11)
1297 Jan 7, Francois Grimaldi
(Francois the Crafty) of Genoa disguised himself as a monk and appeared
at the fortress on the Rock of Monaco. Once inside he called his
reinforcements and seized the place.
(SFC, 1/8/97, p.C1)(Econ, 12/24/05, p.84)
1297 Sep 11, Scots under William
Wallace “Braveheart” defeated the English army at Stirling Bridge,
Scotland. The 1995 epic film Braveheart dramatized the life of
13th-century Scot William Wallace. While many Scots and others praised
the film for reviving the legend of the Scottish hero, just as many
people criticized the film for its numerous historical inaccuracies.
For instance, the Battle of Stirling Bridge is an excellent example of
Wallace’s military genius and what led him to being knighted in the
film and real life. However, in the film, the battle takes place on an
open field. (Reportedly, when a local asked actor/director Mel Gibson
why the battle was being filmed with such an obvious discrepancy,
Gibson explained that the bridge got in the way. The local responded,
"Aye. That’s what the English found!") In addition, one of the film’s
most intriguing twists is pure Hollywood invention. A calendar puts the
lie to the tale of Wallace’s affair with Princess Isabella, wife of
Prince Edward II, and his fathering of her child. Isabella and Edward
II married in 1307, two years after Wallace’s execution. Her son,
Edward III, was born in the years that followed.
(WSJ, 9/9/97, p.A1)(HN, 9/11/98)(HNQ, 3/19/01)
1297 Sep 11, Hugh de Cressingham,
English treasurer, died in battle.
(MC, 9/11/01)
c1297 In Hawaii a temple was built
near the Kilauea Volcano that is believed to have been used for human
sacrifice. The Waha’ula Heiau temple near Volcanoes National Park was
one of the first temples built on the islands, supposedly by a
foreigner, who brought brutal religious rituals to the islands.
(SFC, 8/12/97, p.A3)(SFEC, 9/7/97, p.T8)
1297 The people of Riga rose
against the Teutonic Knights. The local Bishop asked Vytenis to help
and the Knights were pushed back. This opened a northern trade route
for Vytenis for weapons and supplies.
(Ist. L.H., 1948, p. 50)
1298 Mar 30, Duke Vytenis joined
with Riga and its archbishop against the Livonian order.
(LHC, 3/30/03)
1298 Jun 24, Rindfleish
Persecutions: Jews of Ifhauben, Austria, were massacred.
(MC, 6/24/02)
1298 Jul 2, An army under Albert
of Austria defeated and killed Adolf of Nassua near Worms, Germany.
(HN, 7/2/98)
1298 Jul 22, King Edward I
combined bowmen and cavalry to defeat William Wallace's Scots at
Falkirk.
(HN, 7/22/98)
1298 Jul 23, Jews were massacred
at Wurzburg, Germany.
(MC, 7/23/02)
1298 Oct 19, Rindfleish: 140 Jews
of Heilbron Germany were murdered.
(MC, 10/19/01)
1298 Tamerlane plundered Delhi,
India.
(SFEC, 5/21/00, p.T8)
1298 The “Travels of Marco Polo”
was published.
(WSJ, 9/4/98, p.W12)
1299 The Count of Holland gained
control of the County of Zeeland, which had been under contention
between Holland and Flanders.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zeeland)
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