(Redirected from Thirteenth century)
As a means of recording the passage of
time, the '13th century' was that
century which lasted from
1201 to
1300. In the history of European culture, this period is considered part of the
High Middle Ages, and after its conquests in Asia the
Mongol Empire stretched from Korea to Eastern Europe.
Events
★
1199 —
Pope Innocent III writes to
Kaloyan, inviting him to unite the
Bulgarian Church with the
Roman Catholic Church.
★
1204 —
Fourth Crusade sacks
Byzantine Constantinople and creates the
Latin Empire.
★
1205 —
Battle of Adrianople (1205):
Tsar Kaloyan with his army crushed the (otherwise unbeaten)
Fourth Crusade's
knights and the soldiers of Emperor
Baldwin I of Constantinople who was attacking
Bulgarian lands with the goal to conquer them.
★
1206 —
Mongols united under Temüjin, who is proclaimed "
Genghis Khan".
★
1212 — The
Battle of Las Navas de Tolosa in
Iberia sees the beginning of a rapid
Christian reconquest of the southern half of the
Iberian peninsula, with the defeat of
Moorish forces.
★
1215 — King
John of England forced to sign
Magna Carta at
Runnymede.
★
1227 — Genghis Khan dies during the prolonged siege of the
Western Xia Dynasty capital (located in northwestern China), while the
Tangut Western Xia Dynasty falls soon after.
★
1234 — the
Jin Dynasty of northeastern China is conquered by the forces of the Mongol ruler
Ögedei Khan.
★
1238 — The
Thai Kingdom of
Sukhothai is established, with
Theravada Buddhism as the state religion. Later in the century it vassalises significant parts of modern
Thailand,
Laos,
Burma, and
Malaysia.
★
1249 — End of the
Portuguese Reconquista against the
Moors, when King
Afonso III of Portugal reconquers the
Algarve.
★
1250-
1275 — the Arab or Persian born Muslim Kuwabara (
Chinese: Pu Shou-geng) was appointed by the
Song Dynasty Chinese government as the Commissioner of Merchant Shipping for
Quanzhou. He published a detailed monograph of the shipping industry and maritime economy of China's
seaports during his tenure there.
★
1258 —
Baghdad (Iraq), seat of the Islamic
Abbasid Caliphate, is besieged and burnt to the ground by the forces of the Mongol commander
Hulagu Khan. The last Abbasid Caliph
Al-Musta'sim is executed by means of trampling horses.
★
1259 — the Mongol ruler
Möngke Khan is killed in battle by a Chinese
cannon blast at
Fishing Town,
Chongqing, located in southwestern China.
★
1260 — the Mongols are defeated by the Egyptian
Mamluks in the
Battle of Ain Jalut.
★
1270 — Restoration of
Solomonic dynasty in
Ethiopia, deposing the
Zagwe dynasty.
★
1279, the
Battle of Yamen marks the fall of the Chinese
Song Dynasty and the rise of the Mongol
Yuan Dynasty led by
Khublai Khan.
★
1282 —
Aragon acquires
Sicily, after the
Sicilian Vespers.
★
1284 —
Peterhouse, Cambridge founded by Hugo de Balsham, the
Bishop of Ely.
★
1291 — The
Swiss Confederation is formed by
Uri,
Schwyz, and
Unterwalden.
★
Andrew II of Hungary signs the
Golden Bull which afferms the privileges of
Hungarian nobility.
★
Bantu-speaking peoples arrive in modern
Angola, partially displacing the original
Khoisan inhabitants.
★
Battle of Bouvines
★
Persian historian
Rashid al-Din records eleven Buddhist texts circulating in
Arabic translation.
★
James I of
Aragon takes control of
Balearic Islands and
Valencia.
★
Marco Polo and his family reach
China.
★
Norway cedes the
Isle of Man to
Scotland, following the signing of the
Treaty of Perth.
★
Ögedei Khan establishes a Mongolian dynasty in
China. Some Mongol leaders convert from
Tantric Buddhism to
Islam.
★
Teutonic Knights begin activity in Eastern Europe.
★
Theravada overtakes
Mahayana as the dominant form of
Buddhism in
Cambodia.
★ A period of civil unrest, ''
Sturlungaöld'', leads to
Iceland becoming part of the
Kingdom of Norway.
★ End of
Hohenstaufen dynasty at the
Battle of Tagliacozzo. The
Kingdom of Sicily goes to French
Anjou house.
★ Fall of the
Ghana Empire.
★ Fall of the
Hohenstaufen dynasty of Holy Roman Emperors.
Sicily and
Naples are acquired by the French count
Charles I of Naples.
★ Fifth through eighth
crusades of western European kingdoms against
Islam.
★
Finland gets its first city,
Turku.
★ First
European universities founded.
★ Most of Asia and Eastern Europe is conquered and incorporated into the
Mongol Empire.
★ The
Medieval Warm Period ends.
★ The
Utiguri Bulgar state on the
Volga vanishes from history.
★ The Chinese become familiar with the story of the
Lighthouse of Alexandria.
Significant people

William Wallace of Scotland.
★
Albertus Magnus, German philosopher and theologian
★
Alexander of Hales, philosopher and theologian
★
Alexander Nevsky, Grand Prince of
Novgorod and
Vladimir
★
Baibars, Mamluk sultan
★
Béla IV of Hungary rebuilder of
Hungary after the devastating Mongol invasion
★
Birger jarl, Swedish statesman, earl, and founder of
Stockholm
★
Bonaventure, Franciscan theologian
★
Ch'in Chiu-Shao, Chinese mathematician
★
Dante Alighieri, Italian writer
★
Francis of Assisi, founder of the
Franciscan order
★
Frederick II, emperor of the
Holy Roman Empire
★
Genghis Khan, founder of
Mongol Empire
★
Giotto di Bondone Italian painter
★
Ibn Taymiyyah, famous
Hanbali,
Salafi Scholar of Islam
★
Ivan Asen II, Emperor of
Bulgaria
★
Kaloyan, Emperor of Bulgaria
★
Kitbuqa, Christian Mongol commander
★
Kublai Khan, Khan ruler, founder of
Yuan Dynasty in China
★
Lembitu, Estonian ruler
★
Louis IX of France, St. Louis, French king and crusader
★
Emperor Ningzong of Song, ruler of China
★
Petrus Peregrinus, scientist
★
Qutuz, Mamluk sultan
★
Ramon Llull, Majorcan philosopher
★
Robert Grosseteste, English statesman, theologian, and scientist
★
Roger Bacon, Franciscan, philosopher, and scientist
★
Saadi Persian poet
★
Snorri Sturluson, historian and saga-writer
★
Sundiata Keita semi-historical founder of the
Mali Empire
★
Thomas Aquinas, theologian
★
Wen Tianxiang, Chinese Prime Minister
★
William Wallace,
Scottish national leader
★
William Marshal,
knight and statesman
★
Yang Hui, Chinese mathematician
★
Zhao Mengfu, Chinese painter
Inventions, discoveries, introductions
★
List of 13th century inventions
★ The
motet form originates out of the
Ars antiqua tradition of
Western European music.
★
Manuscript culture develops out of this time period in cities in Europe, which denotes a shift from monasteries to cities for books.
★
''Pecia'' system of copying books develops in Italian university-towns and was taken up by the
University of Paris in the middle of the century.
★ Wooden
movable type printing invented by the Chinese governmental minister
Wang Zhen (official) in
1298.
★ The earliest known
rockets,
landmines, and
handguns are made by the Chinese for use in warfare.
★ The Chinese adopt the
windmill from the
Islamic world.
Decades and Years
External links
★
The Thirteenth: Greatest of Centuries by
James J. Walsh,
1907