Middle Ages
Boyana Church Frescoes (1259): A Medieval Bulgarian Masterpiece
The 1259 murals survived largely intact and the church was inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List in 1979.
Region
Europe
Middle Ages
Battle of Montaperti (1260): Guelphs and Ghibellines at War
Decisive Sienese and Ghibelline victory; the Florentine Guelphs fled into exile and Ghibellines took control of Florence until 1266–1267.
Middle Ages
Recapture of Constantinople (1261): Byzantium Restored
The Empire of Nicaea retook Constantinople, ending the Latin Empire and restoring the Byzantine Empire under the Palaiologos dynasty.
Middle Ages
Thomas Aquinas and the Summa Theologica: Faith Meets Reason
An unfinished but enormously influential synthesis of Aristotelian philosophy and Christian doctrine that became the foundation of Thomism.
Middle Ages
Simon de Montfort's Parliament (1265) and the Barons' War
Montfort's regime summoned knights and town representatives to parliament, but he was killed at Evesham on 4 August 1265 and royal power was restored.
Middle Ages
Marco Polo in China: A Venetian at Kublai Khan's Court (1275)
Marco Polo spent about 17 years in Yuan China, and his book became medieval Europe's most influential account of Asia.
Middle Ages
Battle on the Marchfeld (1278): The Rise of the Habsburgs
Victory for Rudolf I and his Hungarian allies; Ottokar II was killed and the Habsburgs gained the Austrian duchies.
Middle Ages
Sicilian Vespers (1282): The Revolt Against Charles of Anjou
Angevin rule in Sicily collapsed; Peter III of Aragon became King of Sicily and the War of the Sicilian Vespers lasted until 1302.
Middle Ages
Edward I's Conquest of Wales (1282-1283): Fall of Llywelyn
English conquest of the Principality of Wales; Llywelyn ap Gruffudd was killed, Dafydd executed and Wales placed under English rule by the Statute of Rhuddlan (1284).
Middle Ages
Castles of Edward I in Wales: Caernarfon, Conwy and Harlech
A chain of castles and fortified towns that secured English rule in north Wales; four of them form a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1986.
Middle Ages
Invention of Eyeglasses: Medieval Italy's Gift to Reading
Convex reading lenses mounted in frames appeared in Italy and spread across Europe within decades, greatly extending the working lives of readers and craftsmen.
Middle Ages
Rabban Bar Sauma: A Mongol Envoy in Europe (1287–1288)
Bar Sauma was warmly received by European rulers, but no Mongol–European military alliance against the Mamluks resulted.