1281 CE

Treaty of Orvieto: Charles I, Giovanni Dandolo, doge of Venice, and Philip I, Latin emperor, make an agreement to recover the Latin Empire. The treaty is signed in the Papal Palace, which Martin IV has moved to Orvieto after Viterbo is placed under an interdict for imprisoning two cardinals. Two Mongol armies (some 50,000 men) advance into Syria. One is commanded by Abaqa Khan, who attacks the Mamluk fortresses along the Euphrates frontier. The second, led by his brother Möngke Temür makes contact with Leo III, king of Cilician Armenia, and then marches down through Aintab and Aleppo into the Orontes valley, where he is joined by Knights Hospitallerr and some French mercenaries. Meanwhile, Sultan Qalawun assembles his Mamluk forces at Damascus. Emperor Michael VIII Palaiologos is excommunicated by Pope Martin IV without any warning or provocation. Martin authorizes Charles I, king of Sicily, to make a Crusade against Michael, who has re-established his rule in Constantinople. Charles prepares an expedition in Sicily and assembles a fleet of 100 ships, and 300 more in Naples, Provence, and the Greek territories, which carry some 8,000 cavalrymen.

In the 1280s, the 13th century.

Geopolitics & Diplomacy

  • July 3 – Treaty of Orvieto: Charles I, Giovanni Dandolo, doge of Venice, and Philip I, Latin emperor, make an agreement to recover the Latin Empire. The treaty is signed in the Papal Palace, which Martin IV has moved to Orvieto after Viterbo is placed under an interdict for imprisoning two cardinals.source
  • Hugh, son of Donnell Oge O'Donnell, was inaugurated in the place of his father.Irelandsource

Conflict & Security

  • June – Reconquista: Castilian forces led by King Alfonso X ("the Wise") and accompanied by his sons, the Infantes Sancho, Peter and John, invade the lowlands of Granada. Sultan Muhammad II of Granada sends a Moorish army, supported by many archers and cavalry, to repel them. Alfonso defeats the Moors in a battle near Granada's walls on June 25, but after the failure of the negotiations that follow, he leaves Granada.source
  • August 15 – Battle of Kōan (or Second Battle of Hakata Bay): A second Mongol invasion of Japan is foiled, as a large typhoon, famously called a kamikaze, or 'divine wind', destroys much of the combined Mongol and Chinese fleet and forces, numbering over 140,000 men and 4,000 ships. Later, Kublai Khan begins to gather forces to prepare for a third invasion attempt, but is distracted by events in Southeast and Central Asia.source
  • September – Two Mongol armies (some 50,000 men) advance into Syria. One is commanded by Abaqa Khan, who attacks the Mamluk fortresses along the Euphrates frontier. The second, led by his brother Möngke Temür makes contact with Leo III, king of Cilician Armenia, and then marches down through Aintab and Aleppo into the Orontes valley, where he is joined by Knights Hospitallerr and some French mercenaries. Meanwhile, Sultan Qalawun assembles his Mamluk forces at Damascus.source
  • October 29 – Second Battle of Homs: In a pitched battle, Mamluk forces (some 30,000 men) led by Qalawun destroy the Mongol center; Möngke Temür is wounded and flees. He orders a retreat, followed by a disorganized army. The Armenian-Georgian auxiliaries under Leo III fight their way back northwards. The Mongol army recrosses the Euphrates without losses; the river remains the frontier between the Mongols and the Mamluk Sultanate.source
  • Spring – Siege of Berat: A Byzantine relief force under Michael Tarchaneiotes arrives at the strategically important citadel of Berat. Tarchaneiotes avoids a confrontation with the Angevines and relies on ambushes and raids instead. He manages to capture the Angevin commander, Hugh of Sully. A few of Sully's guards escape and reach their camp, where they report his capture. Panic spreads among the Angevin troops at this news and they begin to flee towards Avlon. The Byzantines take advantage of their disordered flight and attack, joined by the troops in the besieged citadel. Tarchaneiotes takes an enormous booty while a small remnant of the Angevin army manages to cross the Vjosa River and reach the safety of Kanina.source
  • The Mon Kingdom of Hariphunchai falls, as its capital Lamphun (in modern-day Thailand) is captured by King Mangrai's Lannathai Kingdom.source
  • A battle was fought between the Barretts and the Cusack, in which the Barretts were defeated.Irelandsource
  • Richard Óg de Burgh, 2nd Earl of Ulster begins a war against the Fitzgeralds.Irelandsource

Exploration & Expansion

  • October 18 – Emperor Michael VIII Palaiologos is excommunicated by Pope Martin IV without any warning or provocation. Martin authorizes Charles I, king of Sicily, to make a Crusade against Michael, who has re-established his rule in Constantinople. Charles prepares an expedition in Sicily and assembles a fleet of 100 ships, and 300 more in Naples, Provence, and the Greek territories, which carry some 8,000 cavalrymen.source

Religion & Belief

  • February 22 – Frenchman Simon de Brion succeeds Nicholas III as Pope Martin IV, becoming the 189th pope of the Catholic Church.source
  • Kublai Khan orders the burning of sacred Taoist texts, resulting in the reduction in number of volumes of the Daozang (Taoist Canon) from 4,565 to 1,120.source

Economy & Finance

  • Guy of Dampierre, count of Flanders, licenses the first Lombard merchants to open a changing business in his realm.source
  • Osman I, founder of the Ottoman Empire, becomes bey of the Söğüt tribe in central Anatolia after the death of his father, Ertuğrul Ghazi. Osman's accession to power is not peaceful, as he has to fight his relatives before he gets hold of the clan's leadership. One of Osman's major rivals is his uncle Dündar Bey, who rebels against him.source

Births

  • May 18 – Agnes of Austria, queen consort of Hungary (House of Árpád) (died 1364)source
  • August 4 – Külüg Khan (or Wuzong), Mongol emperor (died 1311)source
  • December 25 – Alice de Lacy, English noblewoman (died 1348)source
  • John Harington, English nobleman and politician (died 1347)source
  • Yury of Moscow (Yuri III Danilovich), Grand Prince of Vladimir (died 1325)source
  • Joan Butler (or FitzGerald), Irish countess of Carrick (died 1320)source
  • Maurice de Berkeley, English nobleman (died 1326)source
  • Orhan Ghazi, Turkish ruler of the Ottoman Empire (died 1362)source
  • Sancia of Majorca, queen consort and regent of Naples (died 1345)source
  • Hamdallah Mustawfi, Persian official and historian (died 1340)source
  • Zhu Shizhen, Chinese founder of the Ming dynasty (died 1344)source
  • Richard Grey, English nobleman and diplomat (died 1335)source
  • Henry of Lancaster, English nobleman and knight (died 1345)source
  • Castruccio Castracani, Italian nobleman and knight (died 1328)source

Deaths

  • February 1 or 17 – Bruno von Schauenburg, German bishop, advisor and diplomatsource
  • February 16 – Gertrude of Hohenberg, queen of Germany (born 1225)source
  • March 20 – Chabi, Mongol empress consort of Kublai Khan (born 1225)source
  • March 30 – Conrad of Mure, Swiss monk, scholar and writer (born 1210)source
  • April 4 – Maurice de Berkeley, English nobleman and knight (born 1218)source
  • September 10 – John II, margrave of Brandenburg-Stendal (born 1237)source
  • September 20 – Reinhard I, Lord of Hanau, German nobleman and knight (born 1225)source
  • October 8 – Constance of Greater Poland, Polish princess (born 1245)source
  • December 24 – Henry V ("the Great"), count of Luxembourg (born 1216)source
  • Sheikh Yusof Sarvestani, Persian astronomer and calligraphersource
  • Anna of Hungary, Byzantine empress consort (House of Árpád) (born 1260)source
  • Alfonso Fernández el Niño, Spanish nobleman and prince (born 1243)source
  • c. 1280/1281 – Ertuğrul Ghazi, Turkish ruler of the Sultanate of Rum (born 1198)source
  • Xu Heng, Chinese scholar, official and philosopher (born 1209)source