For detailed accounts regarding the events for a particular year, click on the date.
| Anno Domini
| Events of note
|
| 1200
|
- University of Paris receives charter from Philip II of France.
|
1202
-
1204
|
- The fourth crusade is diverted to Constantinople.
|
| 1209
|
- Albigensian Crusade against Cathars begins.
- The Franciscans are founded.
- Cambridge University is founded.
|
| 1215
|
- Fourth Council of the Lateran.
- Magna Carta adopted.
|
| 1250
|
- The Moors are competely expelled from Portugal.
|
| 1253
|
- King Henry III of England meets with English nobles and church leaders to reaffirm the validity of the Magna Carta.
|
| 1254
|
- King Louis IX of France, having exhausted his funds and being needed at home, abandons the Seventh Crusade (which he had conducted first in Egypt and then Syria) and returns to France.
- King Louis IX of France expels all Jews from France.
- In England, an important step in the evolution of the Parliament and Peerage occurs, as lesser barons are replaced on the King's Council by elected representatives from shires and cities.
|
| 1258
|
- King Henry III of England is forced by seven powerful barons to accept the Provisions of Oxford, effectively ending the absolute monarchy in England by requiring the calling of a parliament.
|
| 1259
|
- Kings Louis IX of France and Henry III of England agree to the Treaty of Paris, in which Henry renounces his claims to French-controlled territory on continental Europe (including Normandy) in exchange for Louis withdrawing his support for English rebels.
|
| 1250
|
- University of Valladolid is founded in Spain.
|
| 1252
|
- The first European gold coins are minted in the Italian city of Florence, and are known as florins.
|
| 1257
|
- Robert de Sorbon founds the Collège de Sorbonne at Paris, giving a formal college (and still-common name) to the already existing University of Paris in France.
|
| 1252
|
- Pope Innocent IV issues the papal bull ad extirpanda, which authorizes the torture of heretics in the Medieval Inquisition. Torture quickly gains widespread usage across Catholic Europe.
|
| 1256
|
- Pope Alexander IV issues a papal bull constituting the Augustinian monastic order.
|
| 1263
|
- King Alexander III of Scotland defeats the Viking armada of King Haakon IV of Norway in the Battle of Largs.
|
| 1266
|
- The war between Scotland and Norway ends as King Alexander III of Scotland and King Magnus VI of Norway agree to the Treaty of Perth, which cedes the Western Isles and Isle of Man to Scotland in exchange for a large monetary payment.
|
| 1261
|
- King Henry III of England obtains a papal bull releasing him from the Provisions of Oxford, setting the stage for a civil war over the power struggle between the crown and the aristocracy of England.
- Urban IV becomes Pope, the last man to do so without being a Cardinal first.
|
| 1263
|
- Balliol College, Oxford is founded by John de Balliol.
|
| 1264
|
- The Second Barons' War, an English civil war, begins.
- The Battle of Lewes is fought between Simon de Montfort, 6th Earl of Leicester and King Henry III of England in Sussex. By the end of the battle, de Montfort's forces capture both King Henry and his brother, future King Edward I, making de Montfort the "uncrowned king of England".
- In the Peerage of England, the title Baron de Ros, the oldest continuously held peerage title in England, is created by writ of summons.
- Merton College is founded at the University of Oxford by Walter de Merton.
- Gilbert de Clare, 7th Earl of Hertford leads a massacre of the Jews at Canterbury.
|
| 1265
|
- In Westminster, the first English parliament conducts its first meeting in the Palace of Westminster, now also known as the Houses of Parliament.
- Future King Edward I escapes captivity in the hands of Simon de Montfort.
- The Battle of Evesham is fought in Worcestershire, with the army of Edward defeating the forces of rebellious barons led by Simon de Montfort and killing de Montfort and many of his allies. This is sometimes considered the death of chivalry in England.
- The Isle of Man comes under Scottish rule for a brief period of 10 years.
|
| 1266
|
- The war winds down as supporters of the slain rebel leader Simon de Montfort make an offer of peace to the king in the Dictum of Kenilworth.
|
| 1267
|
- The Second Barons' War ends, as the rebels and King Henry III of England agree to peace terms as laid out in the Dictum of Kenilworth.
- King Henry III of England acknowledges Llywelyn ap Gruffudd's title of Prince of Wales in the Treaty of Montgomery.
|
| 1268
|
- Pope Clement IV dies; the following papal election fails to choose a new pope for almost three years, precipitating the later creation of stringent rules governing the electoral procedures.
|
| 1269
|
- King Louis IX of France orders all Jews found in public without an identifying yellow badge to be fined ten livres of silver.
|
| 1270
|
- King Louis IX of France launches the Eighth Crusade in an attempt to recapture the crusader states from the Mamluk sultan Baibars; the opening engagement is a siege of Tunis.
- King Louis IX of France dies while besieging the city of Tunis, possibly due to poor quality drinking water.
- The siege of Tunis and the Eighth Crusade end by an agreement between Charles I of Sicily (Louis IX's brother) and the sultan of Tunis.
|
| 1271
|
- Edward I of England and Charles of Anjou arrive in Acre, starting the Ninth Crusade against Baibars; however, they are unable to capture any territory and a peace is quickly negotiated.
- Pope Gregory X is elected pope by compromise between French and Italian cardinals, ending a three-year conclave, the longest ever.
- The construction of Caerphilly Castle, the largest in Wales, is completed.
|
| 1272
|
- The Worshipful Company of Cordwainers receives the right to regulate the leather trade in London, England.
|
| 1274
|
- Pope Gregory X decrees that conclaves (meetings during which the electors have no contact with the outside) should be used for papal elections, reforming the electoral process which had taken over three years to elect him.
- King Edward I of England enforces a decree requiring all English Jews to wear yellow badges.
- The first main survey of the Hundred Rolls, an English census seen as a follow up to the Domesday Book completed in 1086, is begun.
|
| 1275
|
- Eleanor de Montfort is captured by pirates in the employ of Edward I of England to prevent her marriage to Llywelyn the Last, prince of Wales; she is used as a bargaining chip over the coming years in Edward's attempts to subjugate Llywelyn and Wales.
- Scottish forces defeat the Manx of the Isle of Man in a decisive battle, firmly establishing Scottish rule of the island.
- The first of the Statutes of Westminster are passed by the English parliament, establishing a series of laws in its 51 clauses, including equal treatment of rich and poor, free and fair elections, and definition of bailable and non-bailable offenses.
- A purported witch is first burned to death by sentence of a judicial inquisitor in Toulouse, France.
|
| 1276
|
- Four different men are pope over the course of the year, as Popes Gregory X, Innocent V, and Adrian V all die in quick succession.
|
| 1277
|
- Llywelyn ap Gruffyd is subdued by King Edward I of England in the First Welsh War.
|
| 1278
|
- An edict by Pope Nicholas III requires all Jews to attend conversion sermons.
|
| 1279
|
- The first of the Statutes of Mortmain are passed under king Edward I of England, which prevents land from passing into possession of the church.
- The second of two main surveys of the Hundred Rolls, an English census seen as a follow up to the Domesday Book completed in 1086, is begun; it lasts until 1280.
- The Royal Mint of England moves into the Tower of London.
|
| 1280
|
- King Edward I of England forms the Court of King's Bench to hear petitions for justice instead of the king hearing them himself.
- The second of two main surveys of the Hundred Rolls, an English census seen as a follow up to the Domesday Book completed in 1086, is completed; it began in 1279.
|
| 1281
|
- Pope Martin IV authorizes the Ninth Crusade against the newly re-established Byzantine Empire in Constantinople; French and Venetian expeditions set out toward Constantinople but are forced to turn back in the following year.
|
| 1282
|
- Dafydd ap Gruffydd, brother to Prince of Wales Llywelyn the Last, attacks an English castle; his brother feels compelled to support him despite poor preparation for war, quickly leading to the final English conquest of Wales by King Edward I of England.
- Hertford College is founded at the University of Oxford.
- The Archbishop of Canterbury orders all synagogues of London to close, and forbids Jewish doctors from practicing on non-Jews.
|
| 1283
|
- Death by drawing and quartering is first used as a form of capital punishment (for the newly created crime of high treason) by King Edward I of England in his execution of Dafydd ap Gruffydd, the last ruler of an independent Wales.
- Construction of Caernarfon castle, Conwy Castle (completed in 1289), and Harlech Castle is begun in Wales by King Edward I of England as a system of defenses against possible future Welsh uprisings.
- King Philip III of France causes a mass migration of Jews when he outlaws their residence in the small villages and rural localities of France.
|
| 1284
|
- The Statute of Rhuddlan is created, formally incorporating Wales into England in the entity England and Wales.
- The Republic of Venice begins coining the ducat, a gold coin that is to become the standard of European coinage for the following 600 years.
- Peterhouse College, the oldest college at the University of Cambridge, is founded by Hugo de Balsham.
|
| 1285
|
- The writ Circumspecte Agatis, issued by King Edward I of England, defines the jurisdictions of church and state in England, thereby limiting the church's judicial powers to ecclesiastical cases only.
- The Second statute of Westminster is passed in England, reforming various laws; it includes the famous clause de donis conditionalibus, considered one of the fundamental institutes of medieval law in England.
|
| 1286
|
- King Alexander III of Scotland dies in a horse accident with only the 3-year-old Margaret of Scotland as an heir; this sets the stage for the First war of Scottish Independence and increased influence of England over Scotland.
- King Philip IV of France imposes the gabelle — a tax on salt in the form of a state monopoly — which would become immensely unpopular and grossly unequal, but persist until 1790.
|
| 1287
|
- A fringing barrier between the North Sea and a shallow lake in Holland collapses during a heavy storm, causing the fifth largest flood in recorded history which creates the Zuider Zee inlet and kills over 50,000 people; it also gives sea access to Amsterdam, allowing its development as an important port city.
- The English city of Old Winchelsea on Romney Marsh is destroyed by catastrophic flooding during a severe storm; a new town of the same name is later constructed some two miles away on higher ground.
- King Edward I of England arrests the heads of Jewish households, and demands their communities pay hefty ransoms for their release.
|
| 1288
|
- The Scottish Parliament creates a law allowing women to propose marriage to men during leap years; men who refuse such proposals are required to pay a fine to the spurned bride-to-be.
|
| 1289
|
- Franciscan friars begin missionary work in China.
- Pope Nicholas IV formally constitutes the University of Montpellier in France by papal bull, combining various existing schools under the mantle of a single university.
|
| 1290
|
|
| 1291
|
|
| 1292
|
|
| 1293
|
|
| 1294
|
|
| 1295
|
|
| 1296
|
|
| 1297
|
|
| 1298
|
|
| 1299
|
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