| Country | Leader | From | To | |
| England | Edward I Longshanks (1239-1307) | Nov. 16, 1272 | July 7, 1307 |  |
| Scotland | Margaret of Scots, Maid of Norway (1283-90) | 1286 | Sept. 1290 |  |
| France | Philip IV the Fair (Le Bel) (1268-1314) | Oct. 5, 1285 | Nov. 29, 1314 |  |
| Germany | HRE Rudolf I of Hapsburg (1218-91) | Oct. 29, 1273 | July 15, 1291 |  |
| Papacy | Pope Nicholas IV (-1292) | 1288 | Apr. 4, 1292 |  |
1290 The Joachites, followers of Joachime of Fiore (1135-1202) proclaim that this year will see Armageddon, since it didn't happen in 1260 like he originally predicted; they later reschedule it for 1335 - because nobody has to live with frizz? On Feb. 1 Mamluk sultan #10 (since 1287) Kaikobad is murdered by a Khilji (Khalji), and Jalauddin (Jalal ud din Firuz Khilji) (-1296) becomes sultan #1 of the Muslim Turkic Khilji (Khalji) Dynasty in N India (ends 1320), ruling from Kilughari near Deli, becoming the 2nd dynasty to rule the Delhi Sultanate, going on to raid into S India and defend against repeated Mongol invasions while becoming known for faithlessess and ferocity. On July 10 Ladislas IV the Cuman (b. 1262) is murdered in his camp by the Cumans for deserting them, and his Venetian-born distant relative (son of Stephen d'Este and Tomasina Morosini, and grandson of Andrew II via 3rd wife Beatrice d'Este) Andras (Andrew) III (the Venetian) (1265-1301) is elected as the last native Arpad king of Hungary by the barons (until Jan. 14, 1301), and moves in from Italy and marries Polish princess Fenenna of Kujavia to go native (their only child dies in infancy); this being too off-the-wall for him, HRE Rudolf I appoints his son Albert (Albrecht) I of Hapsburg (Habsburg) (1255-1308) on Aug. 31, but Pope Nicholas IV confers the throne upon Charles Martel of Anjou (1271-95), eldest son of Charles II of Naples and Maria of Hungary, and a battle royal ensues, with Martel only able to gain control of parts of Croatia before croaking in 1295, but leaving able son Charles I Robert (b. 1288), who finishes the job in 1310. Who's that lady, beautiful lady, lovely lady, really fine lady, look but don't touch? Big mistake in Scotland? On July 18 the Treaty of Birgham (Salisbury) in Berwickshire between Edward I of England, Eric II of Norway, and the Six Scottish Guardians formalizes the betrothal of 6-y.-o. Edward II (b. 1284) to 7-y.-o. Queen Margaret of Scots (b. 1283), the Maid of Norway, with the happy couple to hold Scotland as a "separate and divided" kingdom; Edward I sends a lavish fleet (captained, according to the folk song, by Sir Patrick Spens, who is sent "To Noroway, to Noroway") to fetch the bride from Norway, but she leaves Bergen in Aug. in a Norwegian vessel under the care of Bishop Navre of Bergen bound for Norwegian soil on Orkney, where an embassy of Scottish knights sent by William Fraser, bishop of St. Andrews is to meet and escort her to Scone for her inauguration; too bad, on Sept. 26 the first rumors reach Scotland that she has died of illness (smallpox? too much rotten walrus meat?) before or after reaching Orkney, and is taken back to Bergen, ending the Canmore Dynasty and leaving no obvious heir, bringing out the worst in Scottish clannishness, starting with Robert Bruce, 5th Lord of Annandale arriving at the site of Queen Margaret's planned coronation with an army after hearing that his friends the earl of Mar and earl of Atholl are raising their forces; the descendants of David of Scotland, 8th Earl of Huntington (1144-1219), paternal grandson of David I of Scotland, and brother of William I the Lion (father of Alexander II, who started the spent line of Alexander III) lead the pack of 13 claimants, who incl. Edward I himself (whose claim is based on his descent from Edith, wife of Henry I of England and daughter of Malcolm III of Scotland), John de Balliol (1249-1313), son of John Balliol, 5th baron de Balliol of Barnard Castle and Devorguilla of Galloway (daughter of David's daughter Margaret), Robert Bruce, 5th Lord of Annandale (1215-95) (grandfather of future King Robert I the Bruce), and John Hastings, 2nd Baron Hastings (1287-1325); too bad, since there are three women between them and Earl David, and you know what they think about that, civil war looms, with the Bruces, who are lords of Annandale and earls of Carrick in camp #1, and the Balliols, who are lords of Durham and Galloway, backed by the Bruce's local rivals the Comyns and other lords of Galloway in camp #2; smelling napalm (victory) in the morning, and already considering himself king, er, overlord of Scotland, Edward I holds a parliament in Kings Clipstone in Nottinghamshire and summons the Scottish magnates to meet him at Norham Castle in NW Nottinghamshire, claiming the right (of Norman blueblood superiority?) to mediate and decide the controversy, with an implied threat of English invasion; despite opposition by the Scottish people, each candidate acknowledges Edward I as overlord by next May, letting him appoint a commission to examine their claims, meanwhile taking over the govt. of Scotland himself - so Longshanks can tell his puppet commissioners to choose the biggest whimp, who will become his puppet king and march into Scotland leading an English army to take it without firing an arrow, with the sell-out Normanized Scottish nobles applauding it, while the "inferior" Celtic common Scots are scheduled for extermination, forcing the real patriots to flee to the highlands to fight for their free-ee-ee-dom? Or was Balliol really the best claimant, and Scotland's time was just up? Like all wars, the Jews started this one too, right Mel (insert music and mugshot here?) On Nov. 28 as they travel from Clipstone toward Lincoln, Eleanor of Castile (b. 1241), beloved queen consort (since 1254) of English king (1272-1307) Edward I "Longshanks" (1239-1307) dies in the village of Harby in Nottinghamshire (10 mi. from Lincoln), and he is so grief-stricken that he has an "Eleanor Cross" ("of immense height") called chere reine (Fr. "dear queen") erected at each site (Lincoln, Grantham, Stamford, Geddington, Northampton, Stony Stratford, Woburn, Dunstable, St. Albans, Waltham, Westcheap) where her body is set down during the journey back to Westminster Abbey in London, the last one, Eleanor Charing Cross in the hamlet of Charing, Westminster, London later being used as the geographical center of London; needing to blow off steam, on July 18 Edward I issues the Edict of Expulsion, ordering the 16K remaining pesky Jews (who since 1218 had to wear a marking badge) expelled from England by Nov. 1 (9th of Av), abandoning their real estate and loans, and it's bye-bye for over 350 years until Oliver Cromwell lets them return in 1655 (expelled rather than burned, so not to contribute to the recent smog problem?); allowed to take only what they can carry, they pay mucho dinero for their passage and are thrown overboard by ship captains, who keep everything, then turn around to pick up the next boatload?; those who reach France are ordered to leave by Lent of 1291; Italian goldsmiths from Lombardy take over the moneylending business in England, and are granted some land in London which later becomes known as Lombard Street, the main banking center. In Nov. John Balliol, claiming to be "heir to the kingdom of Scotland" grants lands in Cumberland held by dead king Alexander III to Bishop Anthony Beck of Durham, Edward I's emissary to Scotland - in order to impress him? On Dec. 18 king (since 1275) Magnus III (b. 1240) dies, and his son Birger Magnusson (1280-1321) (who was hailed as king at age 4 by his father) becomes king of Sweden (until Apr. 1318), being crowned in Soderkoping after marrying Princess Martha of Denmark, daughter of Eric V. Charles of Valois is defeated and renounces his claim to Sicily in return for Anjou. Wenceslaus II (b. 1271) has his mother's secret hubby Zavis of Falkenstein (b. 1245) beheaded, and begins his personal rule in Bohemia. Henry IV Probus is killed, and his son Przemysl (Premislas) II (1257-96) is crowned king of Poland (until Feb. 8, 1296) by Gniezno archbishop Jakub Swinka (-1314) of Gniezno. The Court of King's (Queen's) Bench is established in Dublin, Ireland, becoming one of the Four Courts. About this time the principality of Wallachia (Walachia) between the Danube River and the Transylvanian Alps is founded by a group of Orthodox Slavonic Walachians (Vlachs) from Roman Catholic Hungary, led by maybe-real-maybe-not Radu ("joy") Negru (Rudolph the Black) (1269-) under the suzerainty of Hungary (until 1330). An episcopal see is founded in Orvieto (Urbs Vetus) in C Italy, with Pope Nicholas IV laying the cornerstone of the Gothic Cathedral of Orvieto on Nov. 13. King Rudolph of Hapsburg gives the city of Duisburg to the duke of Cleves. Italian goldsmiths from Lombardy take over the moneylending business in England, and are granted some land in London which later becomes known as Lombard Street, the main banking center. By this decade the Border Reivers begin raiding and cattle rustling along the lawless English-Scottish border; they aren't stopped until the end of the 16th cent., by Sir Robert Cary, 1st Earl of Monmouth (1560-1639), who crows about it in his autobio. Edward I of England has King Arthur's Round Table painted in Winchester Cathedral, using his own face for Arthur, and reburies the bones of Arthur and Guinevere in a marble tomb in Glastonbury in wild wild Somersetshire in SW England. Lisbon U. is founded in Coimbra, becoming Portugal's only univ. for 620 years. Architecture: Late in this decade in response to a 1287 attack by Earl Alv Erlingsson of Sarpsborg (-1290), Haakon V begins Akershus Fortress in Oslo, Norway, becoming the royal residence, and in modern times the office of the Norwegian PM. In this decade the Royal Monastery of Santa Maria de Guadalupe in Spain is founded after shepherd Gil Cordero discovers a statue of the Virgin Mary that had been hidden from the Moorish invaders of 714, becoming the #1 Spanish monastery for the next four cents. after Alfonso XI declares it a royal monastery for helping him win the 1340 Battle of Rio Salado. In this decade Robert I the Bruce of Scotland builds the Gothic arch Auld Brig o' Balgownie across the Don River in Aberdeen (N Scotland), which survives to modern times; Lord Byron mentions the deep salmon pool below it in "Don Juan". Harlech Castle in Wales (begun 1283) is completed. Nonfiction: Late in this cent. the Triads of Britain (Welsh Triads) begin to be written, preserving Celtic history, incl. King Arthur, Caractacus, and Caswallon. Plays: In this decade the English miracle play The Harrowing of Hell is written in the East Midland dialect, about the trimphant descent of Christ into Hell after his Crucifixion, where he brings salvation to all righteous people who died since Creation; 1 Peter 4:6 says "Good tidings were proclaimed to the dead." Poetry: Late in this cent. the Rondeaux form of poetry originates in France, becoming one of the three formes fixes of French verse along with the Ballade and the Virelai, going on to be used until the 15th cent.; a virelai with only one stanza is called a Bergerette. Dante Alighieri (1265-1321), La Vita Nuova (The New Life); the first sonnet describes his strange dream of Beatrice Portinari; "My lady lay asleep wrapped in a veil./ He woke her then and trembling and obedient/ She ate that burning heart out of his hand." Births: Flemish statesman Jacob van Artevelde (the Brewer of Ghent) (the Wise Man) (d. 1345) in Ghent. Italian philosopher-monk (first opponent of Hesychasm) Barlaam of Seminara (Calabria) (Bernardo Massari) (d. 1348) in Calabria (Seminara, Italy); emigrates to Constantinople in the 1320s; teaches Greek to Petrarch; converts from Greek Orthodoxy to Roman Catholicism. Italian Sienese school painter Ambrogio Lorenzetti (di Lorenzo) (Ambruogio Laurati) (d. 1348); brother of Pietro Lorenzetti (1280-1348). Italian sculptor-architect Andrea Pisano (da Pontedera) (d. 1348) in Pontedera; pupil of Mino di Giovanni; father of Nino Pisano (1315-68). French philosopher-mathematician Jean (Johannes) de Murs (Muris) (d. 1351) in Normandy; relative of Charles V's secy. Julian des Murs. Indian sultan of Delhi (1325-51) Muhammad bin Tughluq (Mohammad Tughlak) (d. 1351). Deaths: Scottish noble Devorguilla of Galloway (b. 1210) on Jan. 28. Chinese painter Qian Xuan (b. 1235). Swedish king (1275-90) Magnus III (b. 1240) on Dec. 18. English queen Eleanor of Castile (b. 1241) on Nov. 28 in Harby, Nottinghamshire. Hungarian king (1272-90) Ladislaus IV the Cuman (b. 1262) on July 10 in Korosszeg (assassinated by the Cumans). Dante's beau Beatrice Portinari (b. 1266). Scottish queen Margaret of Scots, the Maid of Norway (b. 1283) in Sept. English baroness Devorguilla on Jan. 28. Egyptian Mamluk sultan al-Mansur Kalavun.
1291 On Feb. 19 the Treaty of Tarascon (halfway between Avignon and Arles) between Pope Nicholas IV, Philip IV of France, Charles II of Naples, and Alfonso III of Aragon ends the Aragonese Crusade (begun 1284) as well as Aragon's domination of Sicily;Alfonso III agrees to go to Rome in person to have his excommunication lifted, pay a tribute of 30 oz. of gold to the Church, carry out a Crusade to the Holy Land, and remove all Aragonese and Catalan knights from Sicily; he also promises that his brother James II will not hold his kingdom against the wishes of the papacy. On Mar. 5 after Arghun Khan grows ill and anti-Jewish riots begin in the Ilkhanid Mongol state in Persia and Iraq (where Jews had figured in the Mongol admin. from the start), Jewish grand vizier (physician) Sa'ad al-Dawla (b. 1240) (Arab. "felicity of the empire") is murdered along with his Jewish associates, and Jews are purged from the Mongol admin.; on Mar. 7 paralyzed pro-Christian Buddhist khan #4 (since 1284) Arghun Khan (b. 1258) is murdered by Mongol cmdr. Ta'achar, and by his nomination his brother Gaykhatu ("amazing/surprising") (-1295) becomes Mongol Ilkhanid khan #5 of Persia (until 1295), becoming known for his dissolute lifestyle incl. wine, women, and sodomy with boys; meanwhile after Arghun loses his favorite wife Bolgana (-1286), and asks his granduncle Chinese emperor Kublai Khan to send him one of her relatives as his new bride, Marco Polo, after 17 years in the service of Kublai Khan and after visiting Indochina, Burma, and Tibet, and serving three years as gov. of Yangchow province returns with his family to Italy, setting out next year from the port of Zayton in boats specially fitted out at the emperor's orders (arrives 1295), visiting Java, Sumatra, Singapore, Ceylon, and the Persian Gulf, accompanying 17-y.-o. princess Kokotchin (Kokochin) (Celestial/Blue Dame) to Persia before returning to Venice via Trebizond (by land) and Constantinople; too bad, the journey to Persia takes two years and Arghun dies, so she marries Arghun's son Ghazan instead. On Apr. 4-May 18 the last Crusader (Frankish) state of Acre (Saint-Jean d'Acre) (Akka) in Syria is sieged and captured by the Mamluks, followed in May by Tyre; the Christian Crusades (begun 1095) end miserably with the expulsion of the Crusaders from the Middle East (Palestine), and the Mamluks in control of all of Egypt and Syria; Pope Nicholas IV calls upon all Christian princes to pray for all the needless deaths, er, take up arms against the Muslims one more time, and for synods to discuss the advisability of uniting the Knights Templar and the Knights of St. John, whose catfights he partly blames for the loss of the Ptolemais; in Aug. he sends a letter to Persian Mongol khan Arghun informing him of plans of Edward I of England to lead another Crusade to recapture the Holy Land, stating that it could only be successful with the help of the "powerful arm" of the Mongols, and asking Arghun to receive Christian baptism and march against the Mamluks; after Arghun dies in Mar. 1291, followed by Nicholas IV in Mar. 1292, Edward I sends Geoffrey de Langley to Persian Mongol khan Gaikhatu, leaving from Genoa and arriving in Tabriz, then returning to Genoa; "Had the Mongol alliance been achieved and honestly implemented by the West, the existence of Outremer would almost certainly have been prolonged; the Mameluks would have been crippled if not destroyed; and the Ilkhanate of Persia would have survived as a power friendly to the Christians and the West" (Sir Steven Runciman, A History of the Crusades, p. 402); meanwhile the Knights of St. John are transferred to conveniently-located Cyprus; too bad, the Templars end up back in Europe with no coverstory and too much land and wealth, causing a ton of pissed-off royals who owe them money to get ideas? - they got sixteen years left? In May Edward I meets with the Scottish barons in Norham to get them to acknowledge him as overlord of Scotland; the Bruces do so first, the Balliols last; the Great Cause, an 18-mo. legal hearing to decide the kingship of Scotland begins (ends 1292); on June 11 as Lord Paramount of Scotland, Edward I orders all Scottish castles to be placed under the control of his army, which he uses to force them to surrender and accept his supremacy until he, er, his commission picks a successor to the Scottish throne (he never said they'd leave?); in Nov.-Dec. Sir Malcolm Wallace (b. 1249) and his son Malcolm Jr. are killed by an English knight named Sir Fenwick at Loudon Hill for refusing to swear allegiance, and in Dec. the pissed-off eldest remaining son, tall (6'7"? 6'5"? 6'4"?), handsome, studly, educated 19-y.-o. poetry-quoting dornick-thrower and hurly-burly maker William Wallace (1272-1305) kills Selby, son of the constable (sheriff) of Dundee (a seaport in E Scotland on the Firth of Tay) and goes into hiding - what about the story of the wet dream Scottish lass? In May Genoese explorer-merchants Ugolino Vivaldi (de Vivaldo) and Vandino (Vadino) (Guido) Vivaldi set out from Genoa in two galleys to sail around Africa to India, accompanied by two Franciscan missionaries; too bad, after reching Cape Nun off the S coast of Morocco they are never heard from again, becoming one of the first voyages from the Mediterranean to the Atlantic since the ancient Roman Empire in the 5th cent. C.E. On June 18 27-y.-o. Alfonso III the Liberal of Aragon (b. 1265) dies childless, and his brother James II the Just resigns as king of Sicily to become king of Aragon (until 1327), giving Sicily to his younger brother Frederick III as regent. On July 15 HRE (since 1273) Rudolf I (b. 1218) dies in Speyr; the electors reject his only surviving son Albert (Albrecht) I (1255-1308) as king of Germany in favor of Count Adolf of Nassau-Weilburg (1255-98), who becomes king of Germany (until 1298), while Albrecht I becomes duke of Austria; meanwhile, taking advantage of the confusion, and vowing never to be ruled by any blinking Hapsburg, the Swiss forest cantons of Uri, Schwyz, and Unterwalden form the League of the Three Forest Cantons (Everlasting League) for mutual defense, going on to get the cantons of Zurich, Glarus, Bern, Lucerne, and Zug to join in the 14th cent., followed by Fribourg and Solothurn in the 15th cent., after which the Hapsburgs give up trying to claim it in 1474. Duke Przemysl II of Poland cedes the duchy of Cracow (Krakow) to Wenceslaus II of Bohemia, forgetting about its previous overlordship of Poland. The Franciscan-led Inquisition is imposed on Bosnia, which goes after the pesky Manicheaean dualist Patarenes (Bogomils). The Great Council of Venice orders the removal of glassmaking furnaces from the city to small Murano Island in the Lagoon of Venice; during the 13th-14th cents. Murano is the only glassmaking center in Europe capable of producing blown glass works of art. The Crusader/Ayyubid Period in archaeology ends, and the Mamluk/Late Arab Period begins (ends 1516). Durham College at Oxford U. is founded by Benedictine monks from Durham Abbey; it is closed by Henry VIII in Mar. 1545. Architecture: Edward I of England erects a Gothic Eleanor Cross at Charing Cross (from Fr. "chere reine" = dear queen) in Westminster, London on the NW bank of the Thames River between the Strand and St. Martin's Lane 1.25 mi. from St. Paul's as a token that the bier of his wife Eleanor of Castile had been laid down there on its journey from Grantham, Lincolnshire to Westminster Abbey; the Roundheads demolish it in 1647; a copy is erected in 1865. The Gothic York Minster Nave in England is built, with wood used to span the space as a safeguard. Nonfiction: Abraham Abulafia (1240-92), Words of Beauty (Imre Shefer). Births: Italian Ghibbeline condottiero Cangrande (It. "big dog") (Can Francesco) della Scala (d. 1329) on Mar. 9 in Verona; brother of Alboino della Scalla (-1311); leading patron of Dante Alighieri; named after his uncle Mastino ("mastiff"); uses a dog motif in his insignia; knighted by his father in 1304. English soldier Gilbert de Clare (d. 1314) on May 10 in Winchombe (near Tewkesbury), Gloucester; son of Sir Gilbert "the Red Earl" of Clare (1243-95) and Joan of Acre (daughter of Edward I). French Ars Nova composer-poet Philippe de Vitry (d. 1361) on Oct. 31 in Vitry-en-Artois (near Arras). Savoy count (1329-43) Aymon (the Peaceful) (d. 1343) on Dec. 15 in Chambery; son of Amadeus V; brother of Edward; father of Amadeus VI (1334-83). Portuguese king #7 (1325-57) Afonso (Alfonso) IV (d. 1357); son of Dinis I (1261-1325); father of Pedro I (1320-67). English gen. Ralph de Neville, 2nd Baron Neville de Raby (d. 1367); son of RalphNeville, 1st baron Neville de Raby and Euphemia de Clavering (1262-1331); father of John de Neville, 3rd Baron Neville (-1388). Deaths: Persian poet Saadi (b. 1210); leaves The Gulistan. German Hapsburg HRE #1 (1237-91) Rudolf I (b. 1218) on July 15 in Speyer. Spanish king of Aragon (1285-91) Alfonso III the Liberal (b. 1265) on June 18; Dante's "Divine Comedy" portrays him as seated outside the gates of Purgatory with other Euro monarchs causing political chaos.
1292 On Apr. 4 Pope (since 1288) Nicholas IV dies, and it takes over two years to elect his successor. Begin the beguine, but where's the colleen? On Apr. 23 William Wallace kills some English soldiers at Irvine Water and goes into hiding in Leglen Wood. On Nov. 7 Robert de Brus, 5th Lord of Annandale (1215-95) concedes loss of the Great Cause, and resigns Annandale to his son Robert de Brus, 6th Lord of Annandale (1243-1304), father of future Scottish king (1306-29) Robert I the Bruce (1274-1329). On Nov. 17 John de Balliol (an Anglo-Saxon magnate having little Scottish blood) is selected by Edward I's commissioners; on Nov. 20 in return for Edward surrendering the govt. of Scotland to him, he swears an oath of fealty to him as his lord paramount, and the Great Seal of Scotland is broken up and sent to Westminster; on Nov. 30 (St. Andrew's Day) he is crowned king John I Balliol (1249-1313) of Scotland (until July 10, 1296) at Scone Abbey near Perth (in E Perthshire), becoming the last king to be crowned on the Stone of Scone (pr. SKOON); as an omen the ceremony is overseen by Edward's officials instead of the usual Scottish earls and churchmen; Robert the Bruce the 7th refuses to do homage to him; on Dec. 26 John is recrowned personally by Edward I in Newcastle, renewing his homage to his overlord and releasing him from any past promises about Scottish autonomy, further degrading Scotland to a province of England, while Edward, as overlord, begins hearing appeals from Scottish courts despite everything King John can do - while the common Scots soil their kilts? German king Adolf er, Count of Nassau is crowned at Aix-la-Chappele. Castile captures Tarifa (S tip of Spain) from the Marinids. Viraballala III (-1342) becomes ruler of the Hoysala Dynasty, which controls most of S India. Eric II of Norway marries Isabel Bruce (1272-1358), sister of future Robert I of Scotland, who travels to Norway for the wedding. The Christian Nestorian movement in China resurges. Architecture: The Church of St. Nicholas-on-the-Lipna near Peryn, Russia is built, becoming the first Novgorodian structure to be built after the liberation of Russia from the Mongols-Tartars. Nonfiction: Roger Bacon (1214-94), Compendium Studii Theologiae; his last work, pub. after being freed from prison. Births: Syrian Sunni scholar-scientist-jurist ("Scholar of the Heart") Ibn Qayyim al-Jawziyya (d. 1350) in Damascus. French philosopher and Roman Catholic priest Jean Buridan (d. 1363) in Bethune; educated at the U. of Paris; invents impetus as an alternative to angels as an explanation of why things move, contributes to the history of medieval science, and is falsely attributed with the story of Buridan's Ass, which starves because it cannot find a good reason to prefer one bale of hay to another equally desirable one, or to water. Byzantine emperor (1347-54) John VI (V) Cantacuzene (Cantacuzenos) (d. 1383) (AKA Josaph Christodoulos) in Constantinople. Deaths: Italian pope (1288-92) Nicholas IV (b. 1227) on Apr. 4 in Rome. Spanish Jewish mystic Abraham Abulafia (b. 1240) in Comino Island (near Malta); leaves 26 works.
1293 In Dec. An-Nasir Muhammad (Abu al-Ma'ali) (Ibn Qalawun) (Al-Malik an-Nasir Nasir adDin Muhammad ibn Qalawun) (1285-1341) becomes Bahriyya Mamluk sultan #9 of Egypt (until Dec. 1294, then 1299-1309 and 1309-41). To stop their banditry, looting, kidnapping and torture in the Baltic Sea, the Third Swedish Crusade sees Christian king (1290-1318) Birger Magnusson of Sweden conquer the pagan Finns in W Karelia, and force them to accept Christianity, ruling the area for the next four cents; Swedish marshal Torkel (Torgils) (Tyrgils) Knutsson (-1306) founds the city of Vyborg along with Vyborg Castle - good job holding out this long for Santa? Georgian king (1245-93) David VI Narin (b. 1225) dies, and his elder son Konstantini I (-1327) becomes king of Imereti (W Georgia) (until 1327). 55-y.-o. widowed Edward I of England, having heard of the charms of Blanche, daughter of the late Philip III of France petitions her half-brother Philip IV the Fair for her hand in marriage, and accepts his conditions of a truce and the loss of the province of Gascony for her; too bad, after sending his brother Edmund Crouchbach, 1st Earl of Lancaster (1245-96) (crouchback meaning he went on the 9th Crusade with his bro' Longshanks in 1271 and is entitled to wear a cross on his back?) to fetch her, he returns with news that she has been betrothed instead to Rudolph I of Bohemia (eldest son of Albert I of Germany), and that Philip IV had bait-and-switched to her 13-y.-o. sister Marguerite of France (b. 1279), pissing Edward off; meanwhile, after a long rivalry, a fleet of English and Gascon merchant ships defeats a Norman fleet, and in recompense, Edward agrees to a temporary surrender of part of Gascony, but Philip IV, long coveting Aquitaine treacherously seizes all of it, causing Edward to declare war, starting the Anglo-French Gascony War next year (ends 1298, and again in 1300-1303). English King Edward I humiliates Scottish King John Balliol by compelling him to appear in English courts as a defendant in cases brought by his own subjects. Hetum II the One-Eyed abdicates, and his brother Theodore (Toros) III (1271-98) becomes king of Lesser Armenia (until 1294). Kertanagara dies, and on Nov. 10 his son Raden Vijaya (Wijaya) (-1309) founds the Madjapahit Empire of E Java (ends 1527), and repels an invasion sent by Kublai Khan of China. The town council of Nuremberg (Nürnberg), Germany issues an ordinance mandating that only barley be used to brew beer; they are followed by Erfurt in 1351, and Weisensee in 1434. Art: Pietro Cavallini (1250-1330), The Last Judgment; his masterpiece? Births: French Capetian (last) king (1322-8) Charles IV (the Fair) (d. 1328); brother of French kings Louis X and Philip V. French Valois king #1 (1328-50) Philip VI (the Fortunate) (d. 1350); son of Charles of Valois (1270-1325); nephew of Philip IV; grandson of Philip III; father of John II (1319-64) and Philip of Valois, duke of Orleans (1336-75). Deaths: Flemish scholastic philosopher Henry of Ghent (b. 1217) in Tournai (Paris), France. Flemish Franciscan monk-writer William of Rubruck (b. 1220); leaves The Journey of William of Rubruck to the Eastern Parts of the World, 1253-5. Georgian king (1245-93) David VI Narin (b. 1225) in Kutaisi. Mongol Nestorian traveler-diplomat Rabban Bar Sauma (b. 1230).
1294 On Feb. 18 Chinese Mongol emperor #1 (since Dec. 18, 1271) Kublai Khan (b. 1214) dies after killing 18M Chinese, and on May 10 he is succeeded by his grandson Temur Oljeitu (1265-1307) as Yuan emperor #2 of China (until Feb. 10, 1307). On July 5 after sending the cardinals assembled in Perugia since Apr. 1292 a letter warning them of divine vengeance if they don't quickly elect a new pope, causing Latino Malabranca, dean of the College of Cardinals to elect him, Benedictine hermit Pietro Di Murrone (da Morrone) is dragged from the wilderness by a deputation of cardinals accompanied by the kings of Naples and Hungary, and on Aug. 29 is elected Pope (#191) (St.) Celestine V (1215-96) in Aquila, becoming the last non-conclave pope, and the last Celestine until ?; after a series of simple-minded screwups he does the unprecedented and abdicates on Dec. 13 (after 5 mo. 8 days) after ordering the shutting of cardinals in a conclave to elect future popes, and declaring the right of a pope to abdicate; 11 days later (Dec. 24) Benedetto Gaetani (Caetani) is elected Pope (#192) Boniface VIII (1235-1303), promptly annulling his predecessor's work, then imprisoning and finally murdering him on May 19, 1296 by starvation and disease in Fumone Castle near Ferentino in Campagna; an alleged gay atheist with numerous lovers, Boneface the Eight's papacy marks the beginning of the decline of the Church's medieval power and glory in the face of the rising European kingdoms after he gets into a death struggle with Philip IV the Fair of France over who's boss, and gets too big for his holy britches? How many days of nonstop horror that will leave your head spinning? In the fall Madog ap Llywelyn (-1313), a distant relation of Llywelyn ap Gruffudd becomes the last native prince of Wales, beginning a revolt in what's left of N and W Wales after the stankin' English impose a one-fifteenth tax on all moveables, and it spreads to S Wales; Morlais Castle is captured, and half of the town of Caerphilly is burnt, but super-fortress Caerphilly Castle holds out; Harlech Castle is sieged, and defended by just 37 men; Conwy Castle is sieged with Edward I Longshanks leading the defense until his navy relieves him next year. Is this the beginning or is this the end, when will I see you again? Philip IV announces a war levy on the clergy, and when they balk he begins a violent anti-papal pamphlet campaign, debasing the currency to finance the war; meanwhile in the summer Edward I demands that King John I Balliol supply Scottish soldiers for his war on France; although he is ready to do it, the nobles balk, and set up a council of 12 magnates (ecclesiastics and nobles) to rule in his place but in his name, and it declares estates held by Englishmen in Scotland forfeited; the Welsh see their chance, unite and revolt, causing Edward to waste a year on them, while depleting his French expedition of troops. Count Guy of Flanders arranges a marriage between his daughter Philippa and Prince Edward of Wales, causing Philip IV to imprison Guy and two of his sons until he calls off the marriage, imprisoning Philippa in Paris until her death in 1306. Hetum II the One-Eyed regains the throne of Lesser Armenia (until 1294). The Hanseatic cities recognize Lubeck as their leading member. Ethiopian emperor (since 1285) Yagbe'u Seyon dies, and decides that his sons will rule in turn for one year each (until 1299). After squandering his predecessors' fortune, Persian khan Gaykhatu deals with a massive rinderpest epidemic by printing paper fiat money, which becomes a total failure and causes economic chaos, causing him to be deposed and executed next year. Charles of Anjou visits Florence, and Dante is among his escorts. England establishes four circuits for assizes, reorganizing them in 1328 into six circuits. The first known accusation in Spain of a ritual crime by Jews is made in Zaragoza. Yew wood first begins to be imported for bowstaves after the local supplies are depleted. Architecture: The red brick Bad Doberan Minster in Munich, Germany is built. Births: French duke of Burgundy (1306-15) Hugh V (d. 1315); eldest son of Robert II (1248-1306) and Agnes of France (1260-1327); brother of Eudes IV (1295-1350); maternal grandson of Louis IX and Marguerite Berenger. French Capetian king (1316-22) (founder of the French House of Burgundy) Philip V (the Tall) (d. 1322); son of Philip IV and Jeanne of Navarre; brother of Louis X; uncle of John I; founds the French House of Burgundy through his wife Jeanne of Burgundy, their daughter Jeanne and her hubby Eudes IV of Burgundy, and their son Philip of Burgundy; founds the French House of Flanders through his wife Jeanne of Burgundy, their daughter Margaret, her hubby Louis II of Flanders, and their son Louis III of Flanders. Italian marquess of Ferrara (1317-52) Obizzo III d'Este, Marquis of Ferrara (d. 1352) on July 14; son of Aldobrandoni III d'Este (-1326) and Alda Rangoni; father of Niccolo II d'Este (1338-88) and Alberto V d'Este (1347-93). Deaths: English scientist-friar Roger Bacon (b. 1214) in Oxford; buried in Grey Friars' Church: "Mathematics is the gate and key of the sciences... Neglect of mathematics works injury to all knowledge, since he who is ignorant of it cannot know the other sciences of the things of this world"; "If in other sciences we should arrive at certainty without doubt and truth without error, it behooves us to place the foundations of knowledge in mathematics"; "Reasoning draws a conclusion, but does not make the conclusion certain, unless the mind discovers it by the path of experience... Argument is conclusive... but... it does not remove doubt , so that the mind may never rest in the sure knowledge of the truth , unless it finds it by the method of experiment." Mongol emperor (1260-94) Kublai Khan (b. 1215) on Feb. 18. Baghdad musician Safi al-Din al-Urmawi (b. 1216); leaves Al-Adwar, a treatise on musical theory. Italian poet Brunetto Latini (b. 1220). Chinese-born Nestorian monk Rabban Bar Sauma (b. 1220) in Baghdad; leaves The History of the Life and Travels of Rabban Bar Sauma. Russian grand prince Dmitry Alexandrovich (b. 1250). Belgian duke of Brabant (1267-94) John I the Victorious (b. 1252) on May 3; dies after being made an honorary member of the brewers' guild in Brussels, possibly spawning the legendary hero Gambrinus (Jan Primus) (named after Gambrivium AKA Hamburg?), alleged inventor of and patron saint of beer; either him or Duke John I the Fearless of Burgundy (1371-1419). Ethiopian emperor (1285-94) Yagbe'u Seyon (b. ?).
1295 On Mar. 5 the Welsh Revolt (begun 1294) is crushed at the Battle of Maes Moydog after they do a Sir William Wallace and use the schiltron, only to be showered with arrows; Madog, who had declared himself prince of Wales is captured in early Aug. by John de Havering, and taken to London, but supposedly not executed; Edward imposes humiliating laws on the Welsh kicking the Celtic dogs down William-the-Conqueror-style. On Apr. 1 Robert Bruce the 5th (b. 1215) (original claimant of 1290) dies, and on Apr. 3 his son Robert Bruce the 6th, 2nd earl of Carrick resigns his earldom to his 18-y.-o. son Robert Bruce the 7th (future Robert I), and goes on an extended tour of the Holy Land. On Apr. 25 king (since Apr. 4, 1284) Sancho IV the Brave (b. 1258) dies in Toledo, and his son Ferdinand IV (the Summoned) (Emplazado) (1285-1312) becomes king of Castile and Leon (until Sept. 7, 1312), going on to face violent attacks by his nobles and hide behind his regent mother Maria de Molina (1265-1321) as well as the citizens of Avila, who give him refuge behind their walls; even then, he proves a weak ruler, ungrateful even to his momma. On June 20 Pope Boniface VIII ratifies the Treaty of Anagni, confirming the 1291 Treaty of Tarascon; James II of Aragon agrees to surrender Sicily to Charles II, and grants him Sardinia and Corsica in compensation; Aragon returns the Balearic Islands to James II of Majorca. On Sept. 8 Russian hunters from Rylsk discover the sacred Root Icon of Kursk near the Tartar-ruined city of Kursk. In Dec. Cambro-Norman judge Sir John Wogan (de Wogan), Lord of Picton (-1321) becomes Norman justiciar of Ireland based in Dublin (until 1313), immediately arranging a short truce in the Burke-Geraldine feud, suppressing the Knights Templars based in Kilmainham in Feb. 1308 under orders of Edward II, and holding three Parliaments in Kilkenny (1297, 1307, 1310); in 1307 it decrees that Irish cannot join Anglo-Irish religious houses; in 1310 the first elected representatives of cities and boroughs are summoned, as well as lay and spiritual peers and elected knights of the shire representing the counties and Liberties; no Irish are allowed until 1541. At the urging of the Committee of Twelve, King John Balliol ignores a summons to attend Edward I, and instead the Scots and the French sign the Auld Alliance, one of the world's first mutual defense treaties, which lasts almost three cents., with France agreeing to invade England if England invades Scotland; France excludes English ships from its ports - Scotland becomes the Cuba of the 14th-16th cents.? Przemyslav II (d. 1296) is crowned king of Poland in Gniezno with the pope's consent, becoming the first coronation in almost 200 years; he establishes the crowned white eagle as the royal emblem. Edward I subdues the Welsh, and their incorporation into England is complete - you're next, Scotland? Strapped for funds, and knowing better after what they did to his grandfather King John than to try taxation without representation, Edward I summons the Model Parliament, with the soundbyte: "What touches all should be approved by all, and... common dangers should be met by measures agreed upon in common"; it becomes the first to incl. reps. from outside the clergy and aristocracy, consisting of the Great Council, plus two burgesses "from every city, borough, and leading town"; the knights of the shire deliberate with the barons, while the burgesses and clergy act by themselves in meetings to grant money, although the clerics sit apart and usually refuse to vote for taxes except in their provincial assemblies, pissing-off Edward I; the principle is established that only Parliament can abrogate its own statutes. Edward I's 24th Statute of 1295 forbids the "degenerate English in Ireland" from imitating the native Irish "by allowing their hair to grow in coolins" (curls). Edward I directs his courts to hear no case in which a cleric is plaintiff, and to try every case in which one is a defendant. Byzantine Emperor Andronicus II shares his reign with his son Michael IX. Marco Polo, that Christian, he's a wuss? Gaykhatu is strangled by a bowstring to make it bloodless, and his Muslim cousin Baydu (Baidu) (-1295) becomes Mongol Ilkhanid khan #6 of Persia, becoming sympathetic to Christianity and permitting churches, but is assassinated near Tabriz on Oct. 4 by Hulagu's Christian-raised great-grandson (descendant of Mangu) Mahmud Ghazan (1271-1304), who becomes Mongol Ilkhanid khan #7 of Persia (until May 11, 1304), taking the title Yuan Chen Zong, Yuan emperor of China, converting to Sunni Islam and dumping Christianity because it is the "stronger" religion, making it the official religion and changing his name to Mahmud, although that doesn't stop his war with the Muslim Mamluks; with his grand vizier (1298-1318) (a Jewish physician who wisely converts to Islam) Rashid al-Din Hamadani (Tabib) (1247-1318) he attempts to reform the govt., stop overtaxation, restore agricultural land, and integrate the Mongols into the supremacist Islamic mindset, starting by showing them Islam's violent side by destroying Buddhist temples and going back to tried and true restrictions on the rights of pesky Christians and Jews. They'd seen his face before, nobody was sure? The three Polos return to Venice after 25 years, and are refused admittance to their own villa by their servants, who have given them up for dead; they host a banquet to convince doubters, producing their cool Tartar clothes, and producing showers of precious gems from their seams, which seals the deal, causing Marco Polo to become known as Marco Millions, and Venetian silk merchants to begin heading for Cathay along his route. Prophecies of the Castilian rabbis point to this year (5055 in the Jewish calendar) as the year of the Messiah's arrival, but sorry, he's a no show? Moscow becomes capital of the new principality of Moscow, and begins growing from a village to a sprawling city. Guelph-run Florence passes a law requiring any noble wanting a public office to first enrol in one of the "Corporazioni delle Arti de dei Mestieri" (Arts and Crafts Guilds), causing Dante Alighieri to join the apothecaries' guild, since books are sold at their shops. In exchange for releasing some tenements to the abbot and convent of Burton upon Trent, England, Matilda, daughter of Nicholas Shoben is granted a daily ration of two white loaves of breed, two gal. of beer, and one penny, plus seven more gal. of beer for her men; the monks of nearby Wetmore, Staffordshire discovered the superior quality of the water of Burton for brewing earlier in the cent. Inventions: Flavio Gioja of Amalfi, Italy invents the first practical compass using a copper bowl instead of wooden tub, dampening excessive oscillations. Art: Cimabue (1240-1302), Madonna with St. Francis (Assisi). Giotto (1267-1337), Marriage of St. Francis to Poverty; Glorification of St. Francis; Triumph of Obedience; Triumph of Chastity (all at Assisi) - Giotto loves his St. Francis of Assisi? Nonfiction: Anon., Codex Gigas (Giant Book); AKA the Devil's Bible; approx. 1m in length took 160+ animal skins to make it; created in the Benedictine Podlazice Monastery in Bohemia; supposedly produced by a monk in one night with the Devil's help during this cent., but really produced by a single monk over a 25-year period?; pawned to the Sedlec Monastery this year; contains the Vulgate Bible, Josephus' "Antiquities of the Jews" and "De Bello Iudaico", Isidore of Seville's "Etymologiae", Cosmas of Prague's "Chronicle of Bohemia", two books by Constantine the African et al., plus a full-page illustration of the Devil. Duns Scotus (1265-1308), Sententiae; tries to refine Thomas Aquinas' calculation of a just price, defending the role of mechants in transporting and facilitating goods; examines the issue of "mental content", the feature of mental acts in virtue of which each has the character it does qua mental act. Births: English heiress Elizabeth de Clare, 11th Lady of Clare (d. 1360) on Sept. 16 in Tewkesbury, Gloucestershire; daughter of Gilbert de Clare, 6th earl of Hertford and Joan of Acre; sister of Gilbert de Clare (-1314); wife (1308-) of John de Burgh (-1313), (1316) Theobald II de Verdun, and (1317-32) Sir Roger D'Amory. French duke of Brittany (1341-5) John (Yann) (Jean) IV of Montfort (d. 1345); son of Arthur II (1262-1312) and 2nd wife Yolande de Dreux (1265-1330). English chaplain (of Queen Philippa of Hainault) Robert de Eglesfield (d'Eglesfield) (d. 1349); founder of The Queen's College, Oxford U. (1341). French duke of Burgundy (1315-50) Eudes IV (d. 1350); 2nd son of Robert II and Agnes of France; brother of Hugh V (1294-1315). English champagne blonde queen consort (1308-27) (supermodel of the 14th cent.?) ("the She-Wolf of France") Isabella (Isabelle) of France (Provence) (d. 1358) in Paris; daughter of Philip IV Le Bel (1268-1314) and Jeanne of Navarre (1271-1305); wife (1308-27) of Edward II of England (1284-1327); lover of Roger Mortimer (1287-1330). Greek Byzantine theologian-historian-astronomer Nicephorus (Nicephoras) Gregoras (d. 1360) in Heraclea Pontica; grows up in Constantinople. English noblewoman Jeanne de Bar (d. 1361); niece of Edward II; granddaughter of Edward I; sister of Edouard de Bar (1302-36). Russian Orthodox metropolitan (1354-78) (St.) Alexius (Elephtherios) (d. 1378) in Moscow; feast day: Feb. 12. Deaths: Scottish noble Robert Bruce, 5th Lord of Annandale (b. 1220) on Mar. 31 in Lochmaben Castle. French queen consort (1234-70) Margaret of Provence (b. 1221) on Dec. 20 in Paris. Dutch poet Jacob van Maertant (b. 1235). English soldier Sir Gilbert "the Red Earl" de Clare (b. 1243) on Dec. 7 in Monmouthshire; his cagey widow Joan of Acre keeps control of his estates despite the efforts of her daddy Edward I, and secretly marries nobody knight Ralph Monthermer in 1297, pissing him off. Spanish king of Castile and Leon (1284-95) Sancho IV the Brave (b. 1258) on Apr. 25 in Toledo.
1296 On Feb. 8 Przemsylav (b. 1257) II is kidnapped and murdered by the men working for the electors of Brandenburg, and Wladyslaw (Vladislav) (Ladislas) I Lokietek (the Short) (Elbow-High) (1261-1333) proclaims himself king of the 1-y.-o. revived kingdom of Poland, establishing himself in Lesser Poland and Pomeriania, while Wenceslaus II of Bohemia claims overlordship and vies for the crown (by 1300). On Mar. 25 after the Sicilians revolt and offer the crown to James II's young brother Frederick, he is crowned king Frederick II (III) of Sicily (1272-1337) (technically II but uses III?) (until June 25, 1337), separating Sicily from Aragon under a rival branch of the Aragonese Dynasty for more than a cent. (until 1412); the pissed-off pope excommunicates him, and a war begins. On Mar. 26 the First Scottish War of Independence (ends May 1, 1328) begins after English under Edward I sack the Scottish main port of Berwick-upon-Tweed on the Scottish-English border, and massacre 8K, declaring it a free borough ("county of itself"), pissing-off the Scots (it takes until 1318 to get it back), and on Apr. 5 King John I Balliol renounces his fealty to England and holes up in Berwick Castle, with forces commanded by Sir William the Hardy (le Hardi) of Douglas (1255-98), which is taken by Edward I, with Douglas captured and imprisoned; Sir John Wogan (de Wogan), Lord of Picton (-1321), Norman justiciar of Ireland (since 1295) organizes a force with Richard Og de Burgh, 2nd Earl of Ulster, Theobald Butler, and John FitzGerald, 1st Earl of Kildare to assist English king Edward I Longshanks in his war against the pesky Scots; on Apr. 27 the English, led by John de Warenne, 8th Earl of Surrey (1286-1347) (Balliol's father-in-law) rout the Scots (who are not led by Balliol) at the First Battle of Dunbar (1489, 1650), where Robert Bruce the 8th obeys his father and sides with Edward I in hopes of receiving the kingship of Scotland as a vassal of the English crown; 10K Scots are KIA, and the Stone of Scone is taken to Westminster Abbey and placed under the coronation chair (until 1996) (where English monarchs can fart on it to show what they think of Scottish independence?); Sir William Sinclair of Rosslyn is captured, and ends up dying in the Tower of London, and his son Henry is also captured and imprisoned in St. Briavels Castle; Dundee Castle is taken and garrisoned by English troops; Roxburgh Castle on the Scottish borders, residence of the Scottish kings since David I in 1128 is captured by the English, and goes on to change hands repeatedly until it is destroyed in 1460; on Aug. 22 Edward I appoints John de Warenne "warden of the kingdom and land of Scotland", soon claiming that the Scottish climate is bad for his health and returnin S to England, only to be called back next spring and returning after intially refusing; Sir Hugh de Cressingham (-1297) becomes treasurer of the English admin. in Scotland, and advisor to John de Warenne, becoming hated by the Scots while the English don't like him either; on July 7 after fleeing NE, John Balliol surrenders in Montrose, is taken W to Stracathro, stripped of his royal vestments and forced to denounce his French alliance, then forced to renounce his kingship on July 10 at Brechin; in Aug. he is again ceremonially stripped of his royal regalia by Edward I and made to pay homage to him in his underwear (white shirt and underpants) (hence the nickname Toom Tabard or empty coat), and held in the Tower of London along with his son Edward Balliol; Robert the Bruce requests the kingship of Scotland from Edward I, and is turned down; Scottish landowners are forced to sign the Ragman Rolls, swearing allegiance to Edward I, although many refuse and become rebels, running to the highlands with weapons made out of farm implements; Douglas is released and his estates restored, then joins William Wallace's revolt, is captured again, and dies in the Tower of London in 1298; three English commissioners are appointed by Edward to rule Scotland in his name, but they fail to move against the rebels and alienate everybody; English troops garrison Edinburgh castle (until 1313); English abuses of the Scots, esp. Prima Nocta (Ius Primae Noctis) (Lat. "first night") (first knockup?) AKA Droit du seigneur ("right of the lord") arouse bitter animosity, causing highland revolts by ballsy knight Andrew de Moray (Murray) (1270-97) et al. - just when the Scots are about to wink out, a hero arises and teaches them how to fight for their free-ee-ee-dom? On May 19 Pope (since 1294) Celestine V (b. 1215) dies. On July 20 Sultan Jalaluddin of Delhi is murdered, and is succeeded by Alauddin (Ala ud-din) (Juna Muhammad) Khilji (-1316) as sultan #2 of the Khilji Dynasty of Delhi, becoming one of its most powerful rulers. An English expedition launched against France is undersized and makes little headway, and Edward I goes too far in trying to force the nobility to give money to finance all his wars, causing them to arm themselves against him, but Edward I backs down, and instead squeezes the Church, but Canterbury archbishop (since 1294) Robert Winchelsey (Winchelsea) (1245-1313) tells him to stuff it, and appeals to Pope Boniface VIII, who on Feb. 5 issues the bull Clericis Laicos, which begins "Antiquity reports that laymen are exceedingly hostile to the clergy, and our experience certainly shows this to be true at present", forbidding the clergy of any country (esp. pesky France and England) from paying taxes to lay rulers without his permission; when the English clergy refuse a royal demand for a fifth, Edward I, backed by public opinion outlaws them and withdraws the protection of the royal courts, bringing them to their knees until they get around the bull by giving the crown "presents", while the recalcitrant ones get their lands and manors seized; Philip IV retaliates against the bull by forbidding export of precious metals, threatening papal finances, and waging a propaganda campaign; the pope soon caves in and modifies his bull sheet to permit clergy to pay a tax to a lay ruler in case of an "emergency", practically annulling it - what happened to founder Jesus Christ and his story of the rich man's chances of going to heaven? Count Guy of Flanders is summoned before Philip IV again, and the principal cities of Flanders are taken under royal protection until Guy pays an indemnity and surrenders his territories, to hold them at the grace of the king. Hetum II the One-Eyed is deposed, and Smbat (Sambat) (Sempad) (Smpad) (1277-1310), son of Leo II and Kyranna de Lampron becomes king of Lesser Armenia (until 1298). Architecture: Florence Cathedral is begun by Arnolfo di Cambio. Science: William of St. Cloud complains that astronomers are spending too much time on reading and philosophy instead of observation. Births: Scottish high steward #6 Walter Stewart (d. 1327); son of James Stewart, 5th high steward and Giles (Egidia) de Burgh, daughter of Walter de Burgh, 1st earl of Ulster. Bohemian king (1311-46) (blind) John of Luxembourg (d. 1346); son of HRE Henry VII (1275-1313); father of HRE Charles IV of Luxembourg (1316-78). Greek Orthodox Hesychast theologian monk (St.) Gregory Palamas (d. 1359) (d. 1357?) in Constantinople; feast day: Nov. 14. Lithuanian grand duke (1345-77) (pagan) Olgerd (Algirdas) (d. 1377); one of seven sons of Gediminas (1275-1341); brother of Kestutis (1297-1382); father of Wladyslaw II Jagiello (1362-1434). Deaths: Italian pope (1294) Celestine V (b. 1215) on May 19 in Fumone Castle, Campagna; canonized in 1313; in 2013 his remains are examined, and murder by head trauma is ruled out. English prince Edmund Crouchback, 1st earl of Lancaster (b. 1245) on June 5 in Bayonne, France; buried in Westminster Abbey.
1297 French Franciscan monk Petrus Iohannis Olivi (1247-98) predicts the imminent coming of the Antichrist between 1300 and 1340, followed by the Age of the Holy Spirit, which will end around the year 2000 with Gog and the Last Judgment. On Jan. 8 after being expelled from Genoa and taking refuge in Provence last year, the Guelphs (incl. sword-brandishing monks) led by Francois (Francesco) Grimaldi (-1309) (nicknamed Il Malizia = the Cunning) take the fortress of the Rock of Monaco (Gr. "monoikos" = single house, supposedly because Hercules kicked out all the other gods, and a temple to him alone was erected there) after dressing as a Franciscan friar to gain entrance, founding the House of Grimaldi; the royal motto becomes "Deo Juvante" (With God's Help); his cousin and stepson Rainier I (1267-1314) assists him also disguised as a friar, and later succeeds him. In the spring the Franco-Flemish War (ends 1305) begins when Edward I invades N France with a large force in alliance with Count Guy of Flanders, who hopes to get revenge on Philip IV, to which Philip responds by declaring Flanders annexed to the royal domain, on Aug. 20 the Battle of Furnes (Veurne) sees Guy defeated by Robert II of Artois, causing Edward Ito make peace with Philip next year and leave Guy in the lurch; Count Walram of Julich (Jülich) (b. 1240) is brutally murdered by the French after surrendering, pissing-off the Flemish, who get even at the Battle of the Golden Spurs in 1302; meanwhile Edward leaves John Warenne, earl of Surrey as his gen. in charge of Scotland, giving William Wallace a free hand to attack the English; in May Wallace's new wife Marian Braidfoot (Braidfute) (Murron MacClannough in the "Braveheart" flick), whom he just married in the St. Kentigern Church in Lanark in S Scotland is executed under orders of Lanark sheriff Sir William de Hazelrig, pissing-off Wallace bigtime and causing him to attack the Lanarck garrison and kill Hazelrig; Wallace, who has killed an English sheriff and is now a big rebel attracts many followers, then attempts to surprise the English judiciar at Scone, and holes up with a large force in Selkirk Forest while Robert the Bruce, after conferring with Bishop Robert Wishart of Glasgow and Wallace's daddy's liege lord James Stewart the High Steward of Scotland decides to help Wallace in the summer, in Balliol's name but really with himself in mind, claiming to "join my own people and the nation in which I was born", but on July 9 he and his nobles capitulate to the English at the Capitulation of Irvine in Ayrshire in SW Scotland, and are chastened but allowed to keep their lands; watching the *!?*! nobles sell-out just makes Wallace and Andrew Murray madder, and they take control of the rebel army and consolidate it. In May Pope Boniface VIII removes Cardinal Jacopo Colonna from the College of Cardinals after he disinherits his brothers Ottone, Matteo, and Landolfo and they appeal to him, and Jacopo refuses his orders to hand over the strongholds of Colonna, Palestrina, and other towns; he goes on to excommunicate him and his followers for four generations, causing Jacopo and the rest of the Colonna family to close ranks and declare that Boniface VIII had been elected illegally, causing the pope to strike back by appointing Landolfo as head of an army to crush them, which he does by the end of next year, causing the brothers to receive the Colonna lands and the bad side of the house to flee Italy. On Aug. 11 French king Louis IX (1214-70) is canonized by Pope Boniface VIII to smooth things over with Philip IV, but the truce only lasts until the papal jubilee of 1300 - fast-tracked? Here are Scotland's terms: Your commander will come out here and kiss his own arse, and then you stankin' English will lay down your weapons and march back to England, stopping at every village and hamlet along the way to apologize for a hundred years of rape and pillage, or or we'll slay every last one of you today, erin go bragh - oops? The 1995 Mel Gibson film Braveheart is moose hockey? On Sept. 11 (Sept. 19 Gregorian) (Thur.) after they retake Dundee Castle, the way-outnumbered Scots (nobles and commoners) under the leadership of oh-what-a-man 6'7" (6-6? 6-4? 5-10?) 25-y.-o. William Wallace (1272-1305) (carrying a 5'7" Claymore in a scabbard on his back?) and Andrew Murray (b. 1270) defeat the English army under John de Warenne, 6th Earl of Surrey (1231-1304) in the not-quite-sporting Battle of Stirling Bridge, "the gateway of the Highlands", originally deployed across the impassible Forth River at the end of a valley from Stirling Castle, catching the English marching single file on the bridge then trapping and cutting them in half before slaughtering them with their farm implements and an occasional stolen English weapon or family Claymore (which isn't okay according to the rules of chivalry, which say they must be allowed to set up on the field of battle first?); 5K English are KIA; Wallace has Warrene's back flayed and turns the skin into a souvenir; the Scots shout Alba go Bragh ("Scotland forever", a version of Erin go Bragh or Ireland/Freedom forever); (Erin Go Bragh - go over there baby an' take off your bra, Freedom Forever?); hated Sir Hugh de Cressingham is KIA, and his body is flayed and pieces distributed as souvenirs, with one choice head-to-foot cut used by Wallace as the baldrick (belt) for his sword; Andrew Murray is mortally wounded, leaving posth. son Sir Andrew Murray of Petty and Bothwell (1298-1338), and Wallace becomes sole rebel leader, and by the end of Oct. no English soldiers remain on Scottish soil; on Oct. 18 he invades Northumbria all the way to Durham County, never reaching York, but scaring Longshanks enough to make him swear to destroy Wallace completely; he then recrosses the Tweed River on Christmas; meanwhile Edward I is in Flanders fighting the French, causing him to begin negotiations with Philip IV to free him to kick their kilted butts ASAP; meanwhile after Edward I demands heavy taxes on personal property for the fourth consecutive year, and the barons and the higher clergy protest, along with the middle classes, a coalition led by Archbishop Winchelsea drafts the Confirmation of the Charters (Confirmatio Cartarum), the most important document since the 1215 Magna Charta, confirming it and other charters, with the provision that no non-feudal levy on personal property can be laid by the crown without a parliamentary grant "by the common assent of all the realm"; the English Parliament of the future is foreshadowed, along with the principle of no taxation without representation; too bad, Longshanks never actually grants the concession, leaving it to his son Edward II as regent, and Pope Clement V later frees Longshanks from his promise in exchange for the right to collect annates in England. Genoa and Venice begin a war over trade, and rich Marco Polo becomes a "gentleman commander" of a galley. After going to war in 1295, the Treaty of Alcanices (Alcañices) between King Denis of Portugal and Fernando IV of Castile sets their 754-mi. mutual border ("the Stripe") (La Raya) (A Raia) and establishes an alliance of friendship and mutual defense, leading to 40 years of peace; Fernando marries Denis' daughter Infanta Constance of Portugal, becoming the oldest uninterrupted border in the modern day European Union (EU); the border is undefined for 11 mi. between the Caia River and the Ribeira de Cuncos because of the disputed status of Olivenza/Olivenca; Couto Misto, tied to the House of Braganza and House of Monte-Rei remains disputed until 1868. The first representative Irish Parliament of the Lordship of Ireland meets in Dublin; in 1537 it is expanded to two chambers; it is abolished in 1800. The nobility of Hesbaye (Haspengouw) N of Liege on the Flanders border around Awans begin a 40-year feud which ruins the principality and destroys itself (ends 1335). William de Leyburn is appointed by Edward I as England's first admiral, a corruption of the Arabic term Amir al-Bahr (cmdr. of the sea); the office of Lord High Adm. of England (in charge of the Navy) gradually merges with it. The Seljuk Turks under bey (since 1280) Osman (Osmanli) (Othman) I Gazi ben Ertugrul (Kara) (the Black) (El-Bazi) (1258-1326) (black meaning he attained the highest degree of manly beauty, and and Osman meaning bone-breaker), whose father Ertugrul (-1280) was leader of the Turkic Kayi tribe, who fled from the Mongols W from C Asia to W Anatolia and pledged alliance to Seljuk Sultan Kayqubad I in return for a beylik overrun Bithynia on the S shores of the Black Sea, but cannot conquer all of the fortified cities. Science: The moas (giant giraffe birds) of New Zealand become extinct. Nonfiction: Arnold of Villanova (1238-1310), The Time of the Coming of the Antichrist; claims it will be 1378 - see the learning at leapfrog dot com? Births: Byzantine emperor (1328-41) Andronicus III Palaeologus (Andronikos III Palaiologos) (d. 1341) on Mar. 25 in Constantinople; son of Michael IX (1277-1320) and Princess Rita of Armenia (1278-1333) (daughter of Levon II). Lithuanian grand duke Kestutis (Kiejstut) (d. 1382); son of grand duke Gediminas (1275-1341); brother of Algirdas (1296-1377); uncle of Wladyslaw II Jagiello (1362-1434). Deaths: French bishop St. Louis of Toulouse (b. 1274) on Aug. 19 in Brignoles (typhoid?); dies 6 mo. after being appointed bishop on Feb. 5; canonized on Apr. 7, 1317 by Pope John XXII.
1298 In Mar. William Wallace is knighted by Robert Bruce the 8th in Tor Wood (Selkirk Forest), and elected guardian of Scotland ("governor of Scotland in name of King John") by the Scottish nobles; out of love of Scotland Wallace fights for the return of ineffective King John Balliol (Toom Tabard). In Mar. after ending the French-English Gascony War (begun 1293) with a truce with Philip IV the Fair of France negotiated by Pope Boniface VIII, requiring him to marry Marguerite of France in return for the key city of Guinne and £15K, Edward I Longshanks returns to England, immediately organizing an army to invade pesky Scotland, moving his govt. to York (until 1304); in Apr. a council of war is held, and when the Scottish magnates fail to appear they are declared to be traitors, and Edward I orders his army to assemble in Roxburgh on June 25, and assembles 28.8K men incl. 3K cavalry, 14.8K infantry, and 11K Welsh longbowmen, marching N in early July to take on pesky rebel Sir William Wallace and his ragtag Scots, who deprive them of provisions along the way by removing all food and pop., causing them to begin starving and rioting at Temple Liston near Edinburgh, ended by the English cavalry killing 80 drunken Welshmen; on July 22 after Edward I decides to fall back to Edinburgh then learns that Wallace is holed-up in Callendar Wood near Falkirk only 13 mi. away to harass their retreat, uttering the soundbyte: "As God lives... they need not pursue me, for I will meet them this day", the First Battle of Falkirk (AKA Eaglais Breac, from Gael. "church of speckled stone") (2nd in 1746) in Stirlingshire 3 mi. S of Grangemouth on the Firth of Forth (22 mi. NE of Glasgow) (near the ruins of the Antonine Wall) sees 6K pesky Scottish freedom fighters (incl. 1K cavalry) take on the stankin' English invaders despite being outnumbered almost 5-1; Robert the Bruce fights on Longshanks' side; Wallace introduces the Schiltron (Sheltron) (Shiltron) (Schiltrom) (Sceld-Trome) (shield wall), a phalanx of 12-ft. pikes ("twice as long as a man") to defend against the English heavy horse (actually a hedgehog of men carrying regular spears pointing outward in a circle, which were used in prior battles, and aren't that great, as horses aren't stupid enough to charge into them, they are too immoble, and missile fire can break them); despite positioning themselves in front of a heavy forest and in front of a marsh, the Scots are overwhelmed with numbers, and after the English longbows are finally brought into position to attack the schiltrons, they score the first great longbow V in warfare; after losing 2K and seeing 2K desert, Wallace escapes with his last 2K into the impenetrable Torwood Forest; the starving English lose 2K, the retreat to Carlisle, in which many desert causing Edward to disband his army and remain on the border until the end of the year, after which he returns to England, pissed off at his disloyal barons; Wallace is forced to resign as guardian of Scotland and flees to France to seek support from Philip IV the Fair and later the pope, becoming a hunted man until his last hurrah in 1305; right after the battle, Bruce (who may or may not have helped Wallace escape from the battlefield) revives his claim for the kingship, burning English-held Ayr Castle in Aug., pissing-off Edward I, who chases him into Carrick, where he goes into hiding after razing his own Turnberry Castle to the ground, then joins the patriotic rebel side in the name of King John Balliol, becoming joint guardian of Scotland with his cousin John III "the Red" Comyn, Lord of Badenoch (1270-1306), son of John II "Black" Comyn (a descendant of Donald Ban) and Eleanor Balliol (eldest daughter of King John Balliol), and husband of Joan de Valence, daughter of William de Valence (an uncle of Edward I), whose Celtic-Norman blood and marital connection makes him a leading candidate for Scottish king, pissing-off Robert the Bruce; meanwhile William (de) Lamberton (-1328) is appointed bishop of St. Andrews by the pope. On July 2 after Adolf of Nassau is dethroned by the electors, he is KIA in the decisive Battle of Gollheim (Göllheim) (Hasenbuhl) near Wurms, and Austrian duke Albert (Albrecht) I of Austria (1255-1308) (son of Rudolph I of Hapsburg) succeeds him as king of Germany and HRE. On Aug. 30 emperor (since Nov. 27, 1287) abdicates under the pressure of the shogunate, and his son Go-Fushimi (Fushimi II) (1288-1336) becomes Japanese Yamato emperor #93 (until Mar. 2, 1301). On Sept. 9 Genoa defeats Venice in the naval Battle of Curzola, causing weakened Venice to sign a treaty with the Turks next year; Genoan merchants and bankers begin to get respect. Smbat IV is deposed and imprisoned, and his brother Constantine (Constantin) I/III (1278-1310) becomes king of Lesser Armenia (until 1299). My mind's such a sweet thing, crimson and clover, over and over? Italian world traveler Marco Polo (1254-1324) is captured in battle and thrown in jail in Genoa, which gives him the leisure to write up his cool travels, and he begins dictating his memoirs to his cellmate, incl. a sherbet recipe brought home from Asia, finishing ca. 1300; it takes until 1447, but finally A Description of the Marvels of the World (The Travels of Marco Polo), AKA (by his many doubters) Il Milione (The Million Lies) (The Marco Millions) is pub.; it describes heating coal ("black stones"), oil lamps, asbestos, Chinese scholars wearing eyeglasses, crocodiles, yaks ("grunting oxen"), coconuts, how emperor Kublai Khan's harem is filled with 100 new concubines every two years by special emissaries, the Pacific Ocean, his route across the Asian continent and all the cool wonders and sights, the interior workings of unsaved China, everything except tea, foot binding, and the Great Wall of China?; on the other hand, he claims that a prince "sixth in descent from Prester John" rules a territory W of Peiping (Peking); although there really is a Kublai Khan who rules from Siberia to the Punjab, and he really did go away from age 17-40 and mainly tell it like it is, it takes cents. for him to be believed by members of the Holy Mother Church and its infallible Pope with a pipeline to Christ and God; the stories introduce Japan, Peking, Java, Sumatra, Siam, Burma, Ceylon, the Zanzibar Coast, Madagascar, and Abyssinia to the West, inspiring commerce and travel, and helping inspire Columbus. The entire Jewish pop. of Rottingen, Bavaria, Germany is burned to death after a charge of desecrating a consecrated host; pious Baron Rindfleisch leads an armed band of Roman Catholics to exterminate the Jewish pop. of Wurzburg, plus 698 in Nuremberg, wiping out 140 Jewish congregations in 6 mo. The first doctors of the Roman Catholic Church are named: St. Ambrose, St. Augstine, St. Jerome, and Pope St. Gregory I. Silver is discovered at Kutna Hora in C Bohemia, and Wenceslaus III makes it his royal monopoly, minting the Prague Groschen; between 1300 and 1340 the mine produces up to 20 tons of silver a year. Inventions: Song Dynasty Chinese writer Zhou Mi (1232-98) dies after writing Former Events in Wulin, containing the first mention of the game of Dominoes; in the early 18th cent. they spread to Italy; the name domino comes from a hood worn during the Venice carnival. Births: Austrian Hapsburg duke (1330-58) Albert II (the Wise) (the Lame) (d. 1358) on Dec. 12 in Hapsburg Castle; son of Albert I (1255-1308) and Elisabeth of Tirol (1262-1312); brother of Otto IV the Merry (1301-39); father of Leopold III (1351-86). English bishop of Norwich (1344-55) William Bateman (d. 1355); educated at Cambridge U. Deaths: Italian surgeon Theodoic Borgognoni (b. 1205) (d. 1296?). Italian historian Jacobus de Varagine (b. 1230) on July 13 (16?) in Genoa; leaves The Golden Legend, legendary lives of the saints, which becomes a Middle Ages bestseller. Thai ruler Ramkamhaeng of Sukothai (b. ?).
1299 On July 15 Eric II Magnusson (b. 1268) dies without an heir, and his brother Haakon V Magnusson (1270-1319) becomes the last Fairhair king of Norway (until 1319), going on to give preferential treatment to Hanseatic over English traders. Come fly with me, we'll fly away? On July 27 Osman (Osmanli) (Othman) I (the Black) (El-Bazi) (1258-1326) declares independence from the Seljuk Turks, becoming sultan #1 of the Sunni Muslim Ottoman Empire, which lasts until Mar. 3, 1924, calling himself bey not sultan; he is crowned by his blueblood Arab Banu Tamim father-in-law Sheikh Edebali (Baliseyh) (1258-1326) (who converted him to Islam?) with the Sword of Osman (Taklide-Seif), which becomes a custom, proclaiming them as warriors of Allah; he shows how Muslim he is by murdering his uncle at a council for opposing the forceful conquest of surrounding tribes; "If then such murderous slaughter of their kindred be reckoned by the panegyrists of Osmanlis among their praiseworthy acts, what are we to think of those which cannot be praised, and of which their history is therefore silent" (Edward Gibbon); since Ottoman sultans end up going on jihad virtually half of their careers, and have to guard the empire the rest of the time, they eventually decide to skip the Hajj. On Sept. 8 Edward I of England marries Marguerite (Margaret) of France (1279-1318), "the Pearl of France", who turns out to be a model queen, intervening several times to save people from her hubby's wrath, and pleasing him by joining him at the Scottish border a few mo. after he leaves (like his dead babe Eleanor of Castile would have done?); they go on to have three children, Thomas of Brotherton, 1st Earl of Norfolk (1300-38) (who joins Queen Isabelle's revolt against Edward III), Edmund of Woodstock, 1st Earl of Kent (1301-30) (who sides with Edward II against Isabelle and gets executed for it), and short-lived Eleanor of England (1306-10); meanwhile the Scots use Edward I's absence to recapture Stirling Castle, and Sir William Wallace goes to France to seek support for his cause; Bishop William Lamberton of St. Andrews is appointed the 3rd guardian of Scotland to balance Bruce and Comyn after they meet in the summer in Peebles and become violently divided when the Comyns accuse the Bruces of treason for wanting to dump Toom Tabard (King John I Balliol); in July after pressure from France and Scotland, Balliol is released from the Tower of London into papal custody, leaving for exile in Avignon, after which he never leaves France. On Nov. 10 John I (b. 1284) dies in Haarlem, and his son John II of Avesnes (1247-1304) becomes count of Holland (until Aug. 22, 1304). On Dec. 22-23 after the Mongols invade Syria again (last time 1281) with an army of 10K Mongols and 10K Georgians and Armenians, and cross the Euphrates River and seize Aleppo, they win the Third Battle of Homs (Wadi al-Khaznadar) against 60K-90K Mamluks from Damascus, whose banner features a Star and Crescent Moon, which is later erroneously claimed to be adopted by Muslims after taking Constantinople in 1453; the Mongols lose 5K-14K KIA, vs. 40K-50K Mamluks KIA, after which the Mamluks flee S towards Damascus while being harassed by 12K Marionite and Druz bowmen seeking independence, leaving after which the Mongols sack Damascus and seige the citadel until 1300, when they have to retreat across the Euphrates River to stop an invasion by the Chagatais, leaving the Christians briefly in control of Syria and Palestine until the Mamluks return - Merry Christmas? Al-Nasir Muhammad (1293-4) reascends the throne as sultan of the Mamluk Empire (until 1309). HRE Albert I allies with Philip IV of France. Constantin II is deposed and imprisoned, and his brother Hetum III the One-Eyed becomes king of Lesser Armenia for the 3rd and last time (until 1305). Wedem Arad (-1314), brother of Yegbe'u Seyon seizes power from his nephews and becomes Solomonic emperor of Ethiopia (until 1314); he then defuses a revolt led by Muslim sheik Abu-Abdallah by giving them land on the border of Shewa (modern-day Abdalla). After lobbying by abacists, a law is passed in Florence against using "newfangled figures" (Hindu numerals, the zero, decimals) to do accounting; Hindu numerals don't replace Roman numerals until the 16th cent. Sports: The earliest known bowling green to survive to modern times is the Master's Close (now the Old Bowling Green) in Southampton, England. Architecture: The Palazzo Vecchio (Old Palace) (originally the Palazzo della Signoria) (finished 1301) in Florence, Italy is begun on the site of the ruins of two palaces owned by the pesky rebel Uberti family, designed by architect Arnolfo di Cambio (1240-1310), who crowns it with the ancient La Vacca (The Cow) Tower of the Foraboschi family, which becomes the Torre d'Arnolfo, which in 1353 has a large 1-handed clock added by Nicolo Bernardo, and replaced in 1667 with a replica from Augsburg, Germany made by Georg Lederle and installed by Vincenzo Viviani; in May 1540 Duke Cosimo I de'Medici moves his official seat there, renaming it Palazzo Vecchio (Old Palace) after moving to Palazzo Pitti. Inventions: The Farolfi Ledger of Giovanno Farolfi & Co. of Florence becomes the first known double-entry bookkeeping ledger, allowing modern banking and capitalism to bloom in 14th cent. Italy. Births: Spanish king of Aragon and count of Barcelona (1327-36) Alfonso IV (the Kind) (d. 1336) on Nov. 2 in Naples; 2nd son of James II the Just (1267-1327) and Blanche of Anjou (1280-1310). Deaths: Norwegian king (1280-99) Eric II Magnusson (b. 1268) on July 15. Dutch count of Holland (1296-9) John I (b. 1284) on Nov. 10 in Haarlem (dysentery) (murdered?).