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The Second millenium

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1259 just got here.

You might remember that European Catholics had captured Constantinople and formed a Latin Empire. This year, the Catholics suffer a major defeat from the Byzantines, and their Latin Kingdom begins a decline that eventually causes it to collapse.

The Mongolians return to eastern Europe, attacking Lithuania and Poland. But political problems return as well. The Great Khan dies, and his four sons all claim the throne, beginning a four-year civil war among the Mongolians.

The Kingdom of a Million Rice Fields is founded in northern Thailand, and it will last for five centuries.
 
1260

You've never heard of Baybars, but he's one of the most important men in history. Although Turkish, he commanded the Egyptian army, inflicting a massive defeat on the Seventh Crusade. This year, the Mongols show up, and Baybars hands them the greatest defeat they have ever received so far. Some historians consider his massive victory over the Mongols as a major turning point in world history. The defeat also marks the greatest extent of the Mongol Empire, which now enters a decline. Baybars then assassinates Egypt´s ruler, seizes the throne, and unites the nation with Syria to form a nation so powerful that it will eventually cause the permanent defeat of the Crusaders and the Mongolians. For the next seventeen years he will wage war against Moslems, Christians, and Mongolians, with only a few defeats. He would often promise to spare a city if it would surrender and then massacre the inhabitants. In addition to his military genius, he constructed roads and bridges to speed his troop movements and communications.

For reasons that are unclear, Spanish Moslems burn 61 year old Ibn al-Abbar at the stake. The famous poet, scholar, diplomat, and theologian got someone upset with his writings.

As civil war breaks out in the Mongol Empire, Kublai Khan seizes the most power. He wants to invade China but is too busy fighting a civil war with his brothers.

Ever heard of Franco of Cologne? This year he invents the system of musical notes that we use today.
 
The news continues with 1261!

Urban IV begins his three year reign as Pope and has to deal with some bad news: The Byzantine Empire retakes Constantinople from the Latin Empire. The Pope also begins lengthy negotiations with hostile European rulers, dying before they are completed. He did succeed in enacting several truces while negotiations took place. He is the last Pope who was not a cardinal first.

Two weeks before the new Pope is installed, victorious Byzantines install Michael VIII as their Emperor. During his 22 year reign, he doubles the population of Constantinople from 35 to 70 thousand. He immediately bars all Catholic rituals, completely restoring the Orthodox religion. He blinds a competitor for the throne and is excommunicated by the Orthodox Church for appointing a new Patriarch. Incredibly, he gains the support of the Catholic Church, which helps him force the Moslems to restore some former territory to Byzantium. He actually forced the Orthodox Church to re-unite with the Catholic Church, but the union was widely rejected and ignored, eventually falling apart. He was not half-hearted in his wars, winning several major victories and suffering several major losses. But his best skill was instigating revolts against Catholic rulers in Europe and Asia; he was so good at it that the Catholic Church excommunicated him. He recaptured territory from both Moslems and Catholics, rebuilt the navy, and established a dynasty that lasted for two centuries.
 
Let's see what's new in 1262.

After more than four decades of civil war (The bloodiest battle had fifty men killed. They also fought a naval battle in which they threw rocks at each other) Iceland unites with Norway. The agreement is later expanded to include Denmark, and it lasts until 1944, when Iceland becomes independent again.

A major storm hits the Flemish/Dutch coast.

The King of Lithuania renounces Christianity and voluntarily resigns.
 
Welcome to 1263!

WIth the support of the inhabitants, Scotland seizes the Hebrides Islands from Norway. Norway is then defeated when it invades the islands, and after four years of small-scale warfare, Scotland buys the islands and still owns them today.

Spaniish Catholics capture two more Moslem cities, and all of western Spain is now under their control.

Meanwhile, the Italian city-states are warring against each other in the eastern Mediterranean, leaving the Moslems alone.

Remember Longshanks, the evil English King in the movie "Braveheart"? He's only a prince this year, but he steals a fortune that had been entrusted to the Knights Templar for safekeeping. Later, as King, he will brutalize both the Scots and the Jews, but will make Parliament a permanent institution, reform the Law, and establish justice throughout his realm.
 
A Scotsman, are ye, Jasoncran?

And now it be 1264.

After defeating his brother, Kubla Khan becomes sole ruler of the Mongolian Empire. He immediately begins appeasing the Chinese portion of the Empire, hoping that they will accept their new status peacefully.

Gilbert the Red, a powerful English nobleman who will later lead a successful revolt, massacres the Jews of Canterbury. Anti-Jewish riots also break out in Germany. Poland passes laws protecting the Jews.

England's King Henry III is captured by rebels, who effectively take over the government. But next year, Henry will escape and regain his throne.

The Irish Parliament has its first recorded meeting.

In Spain, Catholics capture three more Moslem cities.
 
actually I have a tinge of scot. I am half celtic. my mothers maiden name is O'Rourke. of the O'Rourke county in Ireland. I have done some research on the angry green island of my ancestry. mom also has some scot in her that being from her mothers side. Courtney and McNamara on that side.
 
When you can, [MENTION=11841]jasoncran[/MENTION] , you should take a trip to Scotland ... gorgeous land & extraordinary people. I love Scotland!
 
Sorry, Folks, but my computer was on the blink. But now it's time for 1265.

Clement the Fat begins his three year reign as Pope. A widower with two children, he had been a successful soldier, lawyer, and politician before entering the priesthood, where he rose rapidly. He aided an ally in conquering Sicily, conducted successful negotiations with the Mongols, persecuted Jews while removing the death penalty for them, and helped organize the next Crusade. Ruthlessly honest, he refused demands that he appoint incompetent family members to Church office. When he died, the cardinals were so bitterly divided that it took them three years to elect another Pope.

After escaping his captors, Longshanks, Prince of England, beats the daylights out of them on the battlefield.

Having conquered all of the rebel Chinese kingdoms, the Mongolians invade China itself. They quickly capture 146 ships of the Chinese navy.

Czechoslavakia invents Budweiser Beer, and they still make it today. Four and a half centuries later, an American firm would steal the name and copyright it, and the lawsuits are still going on.

Egypt captures several Crusader cities and towns, hastening the Start of another Crusade.
 
It's 1266 time!

Two brothers, one the father and one the uncle of Marco Polo, meet Kublai Khan personally. The Khan sends them back with a request to the Pope to send European scholars to the Mongol Empire. Five years later, Marco Polo will become a legend when he meets Kublai Khan.

Egypt continues its expansión into the Crusader states.
 
1267 just rolled in.

For the next 101 years, the disunified Mongol Empire will undergo a collapse, although parts of it will survive into the seventeenth century.

In Jerusalem, Jews build the Ramban Synagogue, which is still in use. It has been captured, recaptured, destroyed, returned, rebuilt, and expanded over the centuries.

Constantinople gives Sicily some important territory in the Holy Land. Despite its conflicts with the Catholic Church, Byzantium wants to restore the Latin Empire, as it needs Catholic help against the Moslems.

The great English scientist Roger Bacon sends a major explanation of his scientific work to the Pope.

England's Parliament forbids recovering damages by any means except the courts. It is the oldest English law still in force.

Catholic Spain invades Moslem Morocco. Morocco throws them out.
 
[MENTION=16165]Vince[/MENTION]. you might want to pause and post whom Ramban is. for the readers. both stovebolts and I quote him a lot and he is BIG sage and well respected rabbi in Judaism.
 
jasoncran said:
[MENTION=16165]Vince[/MENTION]. you might want to pause and post whom Ramban is. for the readers. both stovebolts and I quote him a lot and he is BIG sage and well respected rabbi in Judaism.
Click to expand...

Jasoncran, Old Buddy! Feel free to post an article here on him. People like you are always welcome to post on this thread.

And now it is time for 1268.

16 year old Conrad the Boy, King of Jerusalem, was the last legitimate heir to Germany and the Holy Roman Empire. Despite his youth, he was a brilliant military commander who proclaimed himself King of Sicily. Strongly backed by the Catholic Church, he led a large coalition of Catholic knights against Sicily, and is defeated and executed, thus ending his royal line. There were, of course, other royal lines.

An earthquake in Southern Turkey kills about 60,000 people.

Pope Clement IV dies, and a bitterly divided Catholic Church cannot agree on another Pope for the next three years. As a result, stringent rules are enacted to prevent such delays.

Egypt defeats the Kingdom of Antioch, destroying the city itself. To this day, it has not recovered.

Mongolian invaders are stalled for a six year long battle with China. When Mongolia finally wins, China has no natural barriers left to keep the Mongols out. And Mongolia sends ambassadors to Japan, demanding that the Japanese accept Mongolian lordship and pay tribute. The Japanese refuse.
 
1269 is here.

Last year, the Moslems destroyed Antioch. This year, 171 years after being driven out by the Catholic Church, the Patriarch of the Eastern Orthodox Church returns.

Peter the Pilgrim publishes his great work on magnetism. His experiments and improvements of compasses made long-distance exploration more feasible.

In England, Longshanks obtains the right to seize 5% of the Church's wealth to finance the next Crusade. And France begins fining Jews caught in public without a yellow badge.
 
Welcome to the year 1270 AD.

The Eighth Crusade lasts less than two months. Beginning its liberation of the Holy Land by besieging Tunis, the Crusaders are forced to accept a peace treaty and go home.

Yekuno Amlak seizes the throne of Ethiopia and establishes the Solomonic Dynasty. Sparce records report that the previous king had tried to kill him, but the Ethiopian church supported Amlak. He wages war when necessary but mostly strives for peaceful relations with his Moslem neighbors and even with the Byzantine Empire. He actually maintains loose alliances with some of the Crusader kingdoms and is consulted about the appointment of bishops in the Holy Land.

"The Three Elite Patrols" were Korean soldiers and pólice officers who rebel this year against Kore's puppet Mongol government. They sieze enough islands to form a maritime kingdom, but within two years, a combined Mongolian-Korean army annihilates them.

Remember Ashkelon, the Philistine city in the Bible? Egypt captures it and fills in its harbor, a disaster that it has still not recovered from. It is an Israeli city today with a population of about 113,000.


The Summa Theologica, a work by Thomas Aquinas that is considered within the Roman Catholic Church to be the paramount expression of its theology, is completed about this time.
 
It is now 1271!

England begins the Ninth Crusade by itself. Lasting into the next year, the Crusaders win some victories, but are forced to withdraw because of problems back in England. It is the last major Crusade. Before they arrive, Egypt siezes more territory.

It takes three years to elect him (still a Catholic record), but Gregory X begins his five year reign as Pope. The cardinals were deeply divided politically, and could still not agree on a Pope, when the common people took over. They seized the building where the cardinals were meeting, removed the roof, wouldn't let them leave, and allowed them only bread and water. Three days later, they elected Gregory as the Pope.

His election surprised Gregory, who was in northern Israel with the Ninth Crusade at the time. He tried to get help for the Crusaders, lessened (but did not stop) persecution of the Jews, sent Marco Polo on his famous mission to Kublai Khan, reformed a lot of Church abuse, and was trying to negotiate a unified Crusader army that would include the Mongols when he died.

Accompanied by his father and uncle, and with the approval of the new Pope, Marco Polo sets off from Venice to visit Kublai Khan.

The Welsh finish building the incredible Castle Caerffilli. Britain's second-largest castle, it is surrounded by a series of artificial lakes and walls, and it was never captured. Today it is a tourist attraction.
 
1272


Portugal captures the last Moslem city and now holds all of its present territory.

Edward Longshanks, “Hammer of the Scots,” becomes King of England for the next 35 years. Brilliant and brutal, he would conquer Wales; wage a long, costly, and unsuccessful war against Scotland; and (officially) expel Jews from England for the next 350 years. Desperately needing taxes to finance his wars, he made Parliament a permanent institution (so it could raise taxes), wisely codified laws, and reformed many abuses of the poor by the nobility.

Ever heard of the Kingdom of Makuri? This Black African Christian nation had existed in the Southern part of Egypt and northern part of Sudan for centuries. A literate, prosperous people, they benefitted from Egypt's internal struggles, which prevented invasions. But this year they attack an Egyptian city, and the powerful Egyptian Moslems counter-attack. Makuri will survive another few centuries, but it will steadily decline under pressure from Moslem Egypt, Moslem nomads, and various Black African groups.

Spanish Catholics complete the Alfonsine Tables. Based on the work of Moslem astronomers, they added observations by Jewish and Catholic scholars. For the next three centuries, they would be the most popular European astronomical tables for calculating the positions of the planets and would be a basis of Copernicus' discoveries.
 
Folks, my last two days of posts have disappeared. Let's look at 1273.

The House of Habsburg is one of the most prominent families in Europe. This year, Rudolf I, becomes the first Habsburg to become King of Germany. The title is mostly symbolic, as the Holy Roman Emperor is the real ruler of Germany.

A major Chinese army surrenders to the Mongolians after holding them off for six years. China now has no natural defenses on what is left of its borders.
 
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