| University Of Paris, Fourth Crusade, Danish Empire, Crusaders Capture Constantinople, Genghis Khan, Las Navas de Tolosa Battle, Magna Carta, French English Battles, 6th Crusade Controls Jerusalem, Great Khan, Golden Bull Of Sicily, Use Of Rockets, Royal Charter For Coal Fields, Cordoba Taken From Moors, Nevsky Defeats Swedes, Jerusalem Recaptured By Muslims, Mameluke Dynasty, Provisions Of Oxford, Battle Of Ain Jalut, Iceland\Greenland Annexed, Louis IX Dies, Marco Polo, Hapsburg Dynasty, Kublia Khan, Chinese Attack On Japan, Denmark Limitation Of Power, Genoa Defeats Pisa, Swiss Confederation, Finland Conquered, Scottish Rebellion, Chinese Develop A Cannon
| 1200 AD University Of Paris Founded -Phillip II, King of France, issued a charter to establish the University of Paris. The University offered a traditional liberal education. |
| 1202 AD Fourth Crusade- The Fourth Crusade began at the behest of Emperor Henry, King of Sicily. Pope Innocent III issued a call to European monarchs to participate in the Crusade. The call was answered primarily by the French baronage. The only way to reach Egypt -- the objective of the Crusade -- was by sea. The Crusaders asked the Venetians to transport them, but the Venetians demanded 85,000 marked and half the booty. When the impossibility of raising that sum became clear, the Venetians agreed to transport the Crusaders, if the Crusaders would promise to capture the Christian city of Zara. Pope Innocent, who had opposed the action, excommunicated the Crusaders. |
| 1202 AD Danish Empire- Valdemar II succeeded to the Danish throne upon the death of his brother. Valdemar expanded the Danish Empire to include Northern Germany. |
| 1204 AD Crusaders Capture Constantinople - Constantinople was captured for the first time in 1204. Soldiers of the Fourth Crusade seized the city on April 12 after a six-month siege. They mercilessly sacked the city. |
| 1206 AD Genghis Khan In 1206, Temujin was proclaimed Genghis Khan. Khan established the Mongolian capital at Karakorum. He expanded the empire to include to much of Northern China and Korea. In 1220, he turned his attentions to Persia. |
| 1212 AD Las Navas de Tolosa Battle- At the Battle of Las Navas de Tolosa, forces of the Christian Spanish King Alfonso VIII of Leon and Castile were victorious against Muslim Almohades. This marked the beginning of the end of Muslim rule in Iberia. |
| 1215 AD Magna Carta- In 1215, a group of determined barons forced King John of England to sign the Magna Carta. Under the terms of Magna Carta, the British aristocracy was granted the rights of trial by jury and protection from arbitrary acts by the King. |
| 1217 AD French English Battles- With the death of King John, civil war soon divided England. The French with prince Louise intervened and occupied part of England. The French were defeated by the English at the Battle of Lincoln and then lost their fleet at the naval Battle of Sandwich. They were forced to withdraw. |
| 1228 AD 6th Crusade Controls Jerusalem- The Sixth Crusade, led by Frederick II, managed to gain control of Jerusalem through diplomatic means. Frederick signed a treaty with Malik al-Kamil, the nephew of Saladin. Under the terms of the treaty Malik ceded Bethlehem, Jerusalem, Nazareth and a corridor to the port of Acre to Frederick. Frederick had himself crowned King of Jerusalem at the Church of the Holy Sepulchre on March 18th 1228. |
| 1229 AD Great Khan- Genghis Khan died in 1227. By that time, he had captured much of the Persian Empire, and had led raids as far away as the Steppes of Russia. Genghis Khan was succeeded by his third son, Ogadai. Ogadai, whose title became 'the Great Khan' subdued the Chin dynasty in northern China, and ravaged much of Eastern Europe. |
| 1231 AD Golden Bull Of Sicily- The Golden Bull of Sicily was issued in 1212 by Frederick I. It brought about a complete reorganization of Sicily. More importantly, it constituted a complete promulgation of a code of laws for the subjects of Sicily. |
| 1232 AD 1st Known Use Of Rockets- In the 1232 the Chinese used rockets in battle for the first time. This demonstrated the military use of gunpowder. From this moment on the use of gunpowder spread rapidly around the world. |
| 1232 AD Royal Charter For Coal Fields- A royal charter was issued in 1239 for the development of the coal fields in New Castle. This began the rapid development of coal as a source of energy. |
| 1236 AD Cordoba Taken From Moors- In 1236, Ferdinand III captured Cordoba from the Moors. By 1248, after the capture of Seville, only Granada was left in Moorish hands. |
| 1240 AD Nevsky Defeats Swedes- In 1240, Alexander Nevsky a Russian prince, defeated the Swedes, near St. Petersburg. The Swedes had invaded at the request of Pope Gregory IX, who wanted to punish the Orthodox Russians for helping the Finns avoid conversion to Latin Catholicism. |
| 1244 AD Jerusalem Recaptured By Muslims- Muslim mercenaries under the direction of the Egyptian pasha Khwarzmi, captured Jerusalem. This leads to the Sixth Crusade, which did not achieve its goals. Egypt controlled Jerusalem until 1517, and it remained in Muslim hands until 1918. |
1250 AD Seventh Crusade Ended First Mameluke Dynasty Founded- The Seventh Crusade met defeat at the hands of Egyptian forces led by the new Caliph, Turanshah, at the Battle of Fairskur on April 6th 1250. Turanshah captures Louis IX whom he released only after the payment of a ransom.
The actions of the new caliph troubled many of the Egyptian leaders who had supported him. They turned to the Mamelukes to overthrow Turanshah. The Mamelukes went on to rule Egypt until 1517. |
| 1258 AD Provisions Of Oxford- In 1258, a crisis developed in England over a new series of taxes levied by Henry III. Rebellious barons led by Simon de Montfor demanded a program of reforms be enacted by the "Mad Parliament". There would be a council of fifteen who would have veto power over the actions of the king. The council was to meet three times each year. |
| 1260 AD Battle Of Ain Jalut- The advance of the Mongols on the Muslim world was stopped at the Battle of Ain Jalut, fought in Palestine between the Mamelukes (led by the ex-slave Baybars) and Julegu Khan, who had captured Damascus. In the course of the battle, the Mongol general Ket Buqa was killed and thus the Mamelukes carried the day. |
| 1262 AD Norway Annexes Iceland and Greenland- Norway's King Haakon IV intervened in a civil war in Iceland. The result: annexation by Norway of both Iceland and Greenland. |
| 1270 AD Louis IX Dies- Louis IX died in 1270 while on the Eighth Crusade. His reign was marked by a huge expansion of royal power. The King's power increased at the expense of both the Church as well as local communal movements. The royal justice system was also greatly expanded. This was a period marked by material and cultural advances in France. |
1271 AD Marco Polo- In 1271, Marco Polo -- accompanied by his father -- set off for China. They arrived in the court of the Great Khan, where Khan took the European visitors into his service.
Polo became intimately acquainted with all parts of China. When he returned to Europe after 15 years of service to the Khan, he wrote the Book of Various Experiences about his time in Asia, that garnered wide readership in Europe. |
| 1273 AD Hapsburg Dynasty Established- The great Interregnum ended. It had been in existence since 1254 when the last Emperor of the Holy Roman Empire died. The new Emperor was Rudolf I of the Hapsburgs. In 1278, the Hapsburgs gained control over Austria. Thus began a dynasty that lasted until 1918. |
| 1280 AD Kublia Khan- Kublai Khan, the grandson of Genghis Khan, founded the Yuan dynasty in China. The site of present-day Peking became his capital. Khan completed the conquest of China becoming the first non-Chinese to rule that land. Kublai Khan's empire stretched from China to Arabia and Eastern Europe- the largest the world has ever known. |
| 1281 AD Failed Chinese Attack On Japan- A large Mongolian armada that may have number 145,000 men landed at Hakozaki Bay. The Japanese were waiting for them and repulsed the attack. A typhoon then destroyed the Mongol fleet, leaving their army to be killed or enslaved. |
| 1282 King Of Denmark Accepts Limitation Of Power- Danish nobility forced Eric V to sign a Danish "Magna Carta". This document established a Danish parliament that met once each year. The King was made subordinate to the Parliament. |
| 1284 AD Genoa Defeats Pisa- The Republic of Genoa fought the rival Italian city state of Pisa. Pisa was defeated at a naval battle off Meloria. Genoa then enjoyed a golden age, while Pisa was occupied by a series of other city states. |
| 1291 AD Swiss Confederation Founded- Three Swiss cantons, Uri, Schwyz, and Unterwalden formed the League of the Three Forest Cantons in 1291. The League was established for mutual defense. The cantons made no claims of independence, but this League constituted the basis for the ultimate establishment of the Swiss state. |
| 1293 AD Finland Conquered by Sweden- Eric IX (Jedvardsson) Christian King of Sweden, defeated the Finns. He then forced them to convert to Christianity |
| 1298 AD Scottish Rebellion Against English- The English under Edward I won a decisive victory over the Scots at the Battle of Falkirk. The Scots had rebelled under the leadership of William Wallace. The English used long bows successfully to subdue to the Scots and end the rebellion. |
| 1298 AD Chinese Develop A Cannon- The Chinese developed the first prototype canon. While the Chinese were at the forefront of the early use of gunpowder, it was the Europeans who soon developed pistols and other guns that gave them a decisive military advantage. |
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