1281 CE
Frenchman Simon de Brion succeeds Nicholas III as Pope Martin IV, becoming the 189th pope of the Catholic Church. 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.
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
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
- The Mon Kingdom of Hariphunchai falls, as its capital Lamphun (in modern-day Thailand) is captured by King Mangrai's Lannathai Kingdom.source
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
- Guy of Dampierre, count of Flanders, licenses the first Lombard merchants to open a changing business in his realm.source
Religion & Belief
Births
- May 18 – Agnes of Austria, queen consort of Hungary (House of Árpád) (d. 1364)source
- August 4 – Külüg Khan (or Wuzong), Mongol emperor (d. 1311)source
- December 25 – Alice de Lacy, English noblewoman (d. 1348)source
- John Harington, English nobleman and politician (d. 1347)source
- Yury of Moscow (Yuri III Danilovich), Grand Prince of Vladimir (d. 1325)source
- Joan Butler (or FitzGerald), Irish countess of Carrick (d. 1320)source
- Maurice de Berkeley, English nobleman (d. 1326)source
- Orhan Ghazi, Turkish ruler of the Ottoman Empire (d. 1362)source
- Sancia of Majorca, queen consort and regent of Naples (d. 1345)source
- Hamdallah Mustawfi, Persian official and historian (d. 1340)source
- Zhu Shizhen, Chinese founder of the Ming dynasty (d. 1344)source
- Richard Grey, English nobleman and diplomat (d. 1335)source
- Henry of Lancaster, English nobleman and knight (d. 1345)source
- Castruccio Castracani, Italian nobleman and knight (d. 1328)source
Deaths
- February 1 or 17 – Bruno von Schauenburg, German bishop, advisor and diplomatsource
- February 16 – Gertrude of Hohenberg, queen of Germany (b. 1225)source
- March 20 – Chabi, Mongol empress consort of Kublai Khan (b. 1225)source
- March 30 – Conrad of Mure, Swiss monk, scholar and writer (b. 1210)source
- April 4 – Maurice de Berkeley, English nobleman and knight (b. 1218)source
- September 10 – John II, margrave of Brandenburg-Stendal (b. 1237)source
- September 20 – Reinhard I, Lord of Hanau, German nobleman and knight (b. 1225)source
- October 8 – Constance of Greater Poland, Polish princess (b. 1245)source
- December 24 – Henry V ("the Great"), count of Luxembourg (b. 1216)source
- Anna of Hungary, Byzantine empress consort (House of Árpád) (b. 1260)source
- Alfonso Fernández el Niño, Spanish nobleman and prince (b. 1243)source
- c. 1280/1281 – Ertuğrul Ghazi, Turkish ruler of the Sultanate of Rum (b. 1198)source
- Xu Heng, Chinese scholar, official and philosopher (b. 1209)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