Directory

1304 CE

Cardinal Nicolò Albertini de Prato is dispatched by Pope Benedict XI as the papal legate to oversee negotiation of peace between Tuscany, Romagna and the Marca Trevigiana. Brinolfo Algotsson, the Swedish Catholic Bishop of Skara is rewarded for his financial assistance in rebuilding Norway's Stavanger Cathedral, as a Norwegian ship arrives at Skara. He is presented a holy relic, what is purported to be a thorn from the crown of thorns worn by Jesus Christ at the Crucifixion. In a solemn profession led by Algotsson, the thorn is transported to the Skara Cathedral. Treaty of Treviso: After a dispute over salt works, the Italian commune of Padua and Venice sign a peace treaty, ending the Salt War. Venice establishes a salt monopoly and sells salt rights to merchants.

Geopolitics & Diplomacy

  • August 8 – Treaty of Torrellas: The 18-year-old King Ferdinand IV of Castile signs a peace with King James II of Aragon ("James the Just"). In the terms, James agrees to restore the Kingdom of Murcia to Castile, except for Alicante, Elche, Orihuela, and lands north of the Segura River. In return for extensive patrimony, Prince Alfonso de la Cerda renounces his claim to the Castilian throne, ending a conflict that has disturbed the tranquility of the realm for nearly 30 years.source
  • October 5 – Treaty of Treviso: After a dispute over salt works, the Italian commune of Padua and Venice sign a peace treaty, ending the Salt War. Venice establishes a salt monopoly and sells salt rights to merchants.source
  • November 12 – King Edward I summons the English Parliament for the first time in more than two years.source
  • December 29 – William de Hamilton is nominated Lord Chancellor of England, the highest office at the time for a member of Parliament, by King Edward I. He takes office on January 16.source
  • The Byzantines lose the island of Chios, in the Aegean Sea, to the Genoese under Admiral Benedetto I Zaccaria. He establishes an autonomous lordship and justifies the act to the Byzantine court as necessary to prevent the island from being captured by Turkish pirates. Benedetto is granted the island as a fief for a period of 10 years.source
  • Ambassadors from the Mongol rulers of Central Asia and the Yuan Dynasty announce to Toqta Khan, Mongol ruler of the Golden Horde, their general peace proposal. Toqta accepts the supremacy of Emperor Temür Khan and all yams (postal relays) and commercial networks across the Mongol khanates reopen. In response, Toqta solidifies his rule upon the Rus' princes, who pledge allegiance to him at an assembly in Pereyaslavl.source

Conflict & Security

  • February 20 – Battle of Happrew: Scottish rebels led by William Wallace and Simon Fraser fight guerilla warfare against King Edward I of England. They defend themselves against a vanguard of English knights at Peebles, in the Scottish Borders. During the skirmish, the Scots are defeated and routed. Wallace and Fraser narrowly escape being captured.source
  • July 24 – Siege of Stirling Castle: King Edward I of England captures the Scottish rebel stronghold at Stirling. The castle is for four months bombarded by twelve siege engines. During the siege, Edward orders his engineer, Master James of St. George, to build a massive engine called the Warwolf. Eventually, William Oliphant and his garrison surrender.source
  • August 11 – Battle of Zierikzee: A French-Hollandic fleet (some 50 galleys) supported by Genoese ships led by Admiral Rainier I defeats the Flemish ships near Zierikzee. During the battle, the Flemish commander Guy of Namur is captured, and his fleet (which consists of Flemish, English, Hanseatic, Spanish and Swedish ships) is annihilated.source
  • August 18 – Battle of Mons-en-Pévèle: French forces (some 13,000 men) led by King Philip IV of France ("Philip the Fair") defeat a Flemish army at Mons-en-Pévèle. During the battle, the Flemish, led by William of Jülich "the Younger") are forced to retreat to Lille. William is killed, and the French lose the Oriflamme ("Golden Flame"), the battle standard of Philip.source
  • October 24 – Ottoman-Turkish forces led by Sultan Osman I conquer the ancient city of Ephesus from the Byzantine Empire, massacring and deporting its native population.source
  • December – Roger de Flor, Italian nobleman and adventurer, settles with the Catalan Company in Gallipoli and other towns in the southern part of Thrace and visits Constantinople to demand payment for his forces. He lives at the expense of the local population and uses the city as a base for his marauding raids in the surrounding area.source
  • Sultan Alauddin Khalji orders a second invasion of Gujarat, which results in the annexation of the Kingdom of Vaghela into the Delhi Sultanate.source

Religion & Belief

  • January 11 – Messengers from King Edward of England arrive at Kinclaven Castle in Scotland to discuss peace with Scottish noble John Comyn.source
  • January 31 – Cardinal Nicolò Albertini de Prato is dispatched by Pope Benedict XI as the papal legate to oversee negotiation of peace between Tuscany, Romagna and the Marca Trevigiana.source
  • March 17 – Cardinal Albertini, the papal legate and peacemaker, enters Florence and is granted special powers by the government to facilitate his mission.source
  • September 2 – Brinolfo Algotsson, the Swedish Catholic Bishop of Skara is rewarded for his financial assistance in rebuilding Norway's Stavanger Cathedral, as a Norwegian ship arrives at Skara. He is presented a holy relic, what is purported to be a thorn from the crown of thorns worn by Jesus Christ at the Crucifixion. In a solemn profession led by Algotsson, the thorn is transported to the Skara Cathedral.source
  • December 4 – William Greenfield, Lord Chancellor of England, is elected Archbishop of York by the church leaders in the diocese, then sets off for Rome to receive the consecration of the office by the Pope.source

Technology & Infrastructure

  • The construction of Ypres Cloth Hall, in Ypres (modern Belgium), is completed.source

Births

  • January 9 – Hōjō Takatoki, Japanese nobleman and regent (d. 1333)source
  • February 16 – Tugh Temür (or Wenzong), Mongol emperor (d. 1332)source
  • February 24 – Ibn Battuta, Moroccan scholar and explorer (d. 1369)source
  • April 9 – Venturino of Bergamo, Italian Dominican friar and preacher (d. 1346)source
  • May 2 – Margaret Mortimer, Anglo-Norman noblewoman (d. 1337)source
  • June 6 – Francesco Albergotti, Italian nobleman and jurist (d. 1376)source
  • July 20 – Francesco Petrarca, Italian historian and poet (d. 1374)source
  • October 4 – John Beauchamp, English peer and knight (d. 1343)source
  • October 17 – Eleanor de Bohun, English noblewoman (d. 1363)source
  • October 17 – James Butler, Irish nobleman and knight (d. 1338)source
  • Walter VI, French nobleman, knight and constable (d. 1356)source
  • Marie of Luxemburg, queen of France and Navarre (d. 1324)source
  • Engelbert III, German archbishop (House of La Marck) (d. 1368)source
  • Ibn al-Shatir, Syrian astronomer, engineer and writer (d. 1375)source

Deaths

  • March 23 – John I of Arborea, nicknamed "Chiano" and the ruler of western Sardinia as Judge of Arborea dies. He is succeeded by his sons Marianus III and Andrewsource
  • April 1 – Count Albert I of Gorizia dies and is succeeded by his son Henry III.source
  • April 11 – Maud de Lacy, Norman noblewoman (suo jure) (b. 1230)source
  • May 11 – Mahmud Ghazan, Mongol ruler of the Ilkhanate in the Middle East, dies and is succeeded by his brother Öljaitü Qaghan.source
  • May 23 – Jehan de Lescurel, French composer-poet and writersource
  • June 1 – Giovanni Pelingotto, Italian Third order Franciscan and hermit (b. 1240)source
  • June 5 – Abu Said Uthman I, Zenata Berber ruler of Tlemcensource
  • June 5 – Abu Said Uthman I, Zenata Berber ruler of Tlemcen, dies and is succeeded by his son Abu Zayyan I.source
  • July 7 – Benedict XI, pope of the Catholic Church (b. 1240)source
  • July 7 – Pope Benedict XI dies after an 8-month pontificate in Perugia.source
  • July 17 – A papal conclave, with 15 of the 19 living Roman Catholic cardinals, assembles at Perugia to elect a successor to Pope Benedict XI, who had died 10 days earlier. The conclave will be deadlocked for almost a year until Clement V receives the necessary two-thirds majority on June 5, 1305.source
  • July 27 – Andrey III, Russian nobleman and grand prince of Vladimirsource
  • July 27 – Andrey III Aleksandorovich, Russian nobleman and Grand Prince of Vladimir dies and is succeeded by his uncle Mikhail of Tver.source
  • September 22 – Thomas of Corbridge, England's powerful Archbishop of York, dies after a little more than four years in office. The office is vacant for several months, and leads to the resignation of Lord Chancellor William Greenfield to become the new Bishop.source