By place Asia •
Shanghai County is established. •
Kublai Khan sends a Mongol expeditionary force (some 20,000 men) to
Java. He collects an invasion fleet with some 500–1,000 ships and enough provisions for a year from
Fujian,
Jiangxi and
Huguang in southern
China. The fleet travels past
Champa (modern
Vietnam) and the
Karimata Islands. The Mongols land on Java, taking the capital of
Kediri, but it proves impossible to hold. • King
Mangrai the Great of
Ngoenyang conquers and annexes the
Mon kingdom of
Hariphunchai, creating a political union in the form of the
Lan Na Kingdom. • The
Vaghela dynasty in
Gujarat (located along the
western coast of
India) is subjugated by the
Deccan Seuna (Yadava) dynasty of
Daulatabad.
Britain •
November 17 –
John Balliol is selected by King
Edward I of England as ruler of
Scotland at
Berwick from among 13
competitors for the Crown of Scotland. Edward then treats John as a
puppet ruler and Scotland as a vassal state, provoking the
Wars of Scottish Independence, commencing in
1296. John is crowned at
Scone on
November 30 (
Saint Andrew's Day). Scotland's castles are returned to the powerful magnates. •
December – John Balliol is summoned by Edward I to
Westminster to answer an appeal by
Macduff of Fife against a judgment imposed on him by the Scottish Parliament. John refuses to answer Macduff's appeal, 'without consulting the people of his realm'. Edward asks for compensation for the violation of English law and demands to hand him over three Scottish castles as repayment for the crime committed.
Europe •
May 5 – The College of Electors select
Adolf, count of Nassau, as the new King of the Romans and successor of Habsburg
Rudolf I who had died the previous year. Adolf is forced to make wide-ranging concessions to the Electors to get elected. He is crowned king on June 24 in Aachen by the Archbishop of Cologne. •
June 24 – Castilian forces led by King
Sancho IV ("the Brave") begin the siege of
Tarifa: eleven newly built engines bombard the city constantly by land and sea. Meanwhile,
Muhammad II, Nasrid ruler of
Granada, provides the army of Sancho with men, arms and also aids the blockade in the
Strait of Gibraltar. Muhammad attacks Marinid outposts and his forces seize
Estepona on the coast to the west of
Málaga. Sancho conquers Tarifa after a siege of four months, on
October 13. •
December – Muhammad II sends ambassadors to the Castilian court to ask Sancho IV to surrender Tarifa. Sancho refuses to yield the city to Granada and Muhammad, feeling betrayed, switches sides to form an alliance with the Marinids.
Levant • Mamluk forces under Sultan
Al-Ashraf Khalil accompanied by his vizier
Ibn al-Sal'us arrive in
Damascus. Khalil travels via
Aleppo to besiege the castle of
Rumkale (Qal'at ar-Rum, "Castle of the Romans"), the official seat of
Stephen IV, patriarch of
Armenia. The Mamluks besiege the castle with more than 30 catapults and capture it after 30 days. • Al-Ashraf Khalil returns to Damascus and assembles an army to attack
Sis, the capital of the
Armenian Kingdom of Cilicia. An Armenian embassy arrives in Damascus, and reaches a settlement with Khalil. The cities of
Til Hemdun,
Marash and
Behesni are given to the Mamluks in order to maintain peace. •
November –
Michael II becomes
Syriac Orthodox patriarch of
Antioch (until
1312).
By topic Religion • Spring – The
Taxatio Ecclesiastica, compiled in 1291–1292, is completed under the order of
Pope Nicholas IV. It is a detailed database valuation for ecclesiastical taxation of English, Welsh and Irish churches. •
April 4 – Nicholas IV dies after a 4-year pontificate in
Rome. The cardinals assemble at
Perugia to elect a new pope (
1292–1294 papal election). == Births ==