Middle Ages
Dante's Divine Comedy: The Medieval Journey Through Hell
Completed shortly before Dante's death in 1321, the poem became a foundation of Italian language and European literature.
Era · c. 500 – 1500
Middle Ages
Kingdoms, crusades and plagues: the medieval world from the end of the Western Roman Empire to the fall of Constantinople.
Middle Ages
Avignon Papacy (1309-1377): When the Popes Left Rome
The papacy returned to Rome in 1377, but the long stay in Avignon damaged its prestige and led directly into the Western Schism.
Middle Ages
Abu Bakr II's Atlantic Voyage: Mali's Lost Expedition (c. 1311)
According to Mansa Musa, the ruler and his fleet vanished at sea, leaving Musa on the throne; there is no evidence that any of the ships reached the Americas.
Middle Ages
Battle of Bannockburn (1314): Robert the Bruce Defeats England
Decisive Scottish victory; Stirling Castle surrendered and Bruce's kingship was secured, though England did not recognise Scottish independence until 1328.
Middle Ages
Kebra Nagast: Ethiopia's Book of the Glory of Kings
The book gave definitive form to the legend that Ethiopia's kings descended from Solomon and that the Ark of the Covenant rests in Ethiopia, legitimising the Solomonic dynasty for 650 years.
Middle Ages
Battle of Morgarten (1315): Swiss Peasants Ambush the Habsburgs
Victory for Schwyz and its allies; the Habsburg army was routed and the alliance of the forest cantons was renewed at Brunnen.
Middle Ages
Great Famine of 1315–1317: Rain, Hunger and Death in Europe
Millions died, perhaps 5–12% of the population of northern Europe, and rural economies were left weakened decades before the Black Death.
Middle Ages
Declaration of Arbroath (1320): Scotland's Letter to the Pope
The pope urged peace but did not immediately recognise Bruce; England accepted Scottish independence in 1328 and the letter later became a symbol of Scottish nationhood.
Middle Ages
Husuni Kubwa: The Sultan's Palace at Kilwa (c. 1320s)
A vast palace and trading complex was built for the sultans of Kilwa but was abandoned, apparently unfinished, within a few decades.
Middle Ages
Mansa Musa's Hajj (1324): Mali's Gold Pilgrimage to Mecca
Mansa Musa's lavish pilgrimage made Mali famous across the Islamic world and Europe and brought scholars and an architect back to West Africa.
Middle Ages
Ibn Battuta's Travels (1325-1354): Journeys Across Islam
Ibn Battuta's dictated account, the Rihla (completed 1355), became one of the most important sources on the 14th-century Islamic world.
Middle Ages
Templo Mayor: The Great Temple of Aztec Tenochtitlan
The temple was rebuilt and enlarged at least seven times, destroyed by the Spanish after 1521 and rediscovered in 1978, becoming Mexico's most important Aztec archaeological site.