January–March •
January 17 – A major earthquake strikes
Byzantium and
Constantinople (now
Istanbul in Turkey). Byzantine Emperor
Michael IX Palaiologos spreads the word that the former Patriarch of the Eastern Church,
Athanasius I had given him a warning about the imminent wrath of God against the city. •
January 21 –
John XII is forced to resign as Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople and leader of the Eastern Orthodox Church after the January 17 earthquake. •
February 24 –
Battle of Roslin: Scottish forces (some 8,000 men) led by
John Comyn III "the Red" and
Simon Fraser ambush and defeat an English scouting party under
John Segrave at
Roslin. During the battle, the Scots attack the English camp, capturing Segrave and several other nobles. But a second English brigade manages to rescue Segrave in a pitched battle. Later, the English army is again defeated, according to sources they lose between 28,000 and 30,000 men. •
March 17 –
Joan II of the
Anscarids becomes the Countess and ruler of
Burgundy, a free state within the
Holy Roman Empire (now the département of Jura in France), upon the death of her father
Otto IV.
April–June •
April 4 –
Battle of Arques: Flemish forces (some 10,000 men) led by
William of Jülich ("the Younger") defeats a French army at
Arques in
Flanders. During the battle, the French cavalry (1,600 men) tries to break the Flemish infantry militia formations, but to no avail. Finally, the French withdraw to
Saint-Omer, leaving 300 dead behind. Later, William receives a warm reception in
Bruges as a liberator in May. •
April 20 – Pope
Boniface VIII founds the
University of Rome with the papal bull
In Supremae praeminentia Dignitatis, as a
Studium for ecclesiastical studies under his control, making it the first pontifical university. •
April 22 –
Battle of Marj al-Saffar: Mamluk forces (some 20,000 men) under Sultan
Al-Nasir Muhammad defeat a Mongol army and their Armenian allies led by
Qutlugh-Shah, on the plain of
Marj al-Saffar. After the battle, Al-Nasir enters
Damascus and chases the Mongols as far as
Al-Qaryatayn in
Syria. He returns to
Cairo in triumph through the
Bab al-Nasr ("Victory Gate") with chained prisoners of war. •
May 16 – King Edward I of England assembles 7,500 troops at
Roxburgh to prepare for a resumption of his campaign against the
Kingdom of Scotland, to begin after concluding peace between England and France. In advance of the invasion, Edward orders that three pre-fabricated pontoon bridges be built and transported, in a fleet of 27 ships. After crossing into Scotland, Edward and his soldiers burns hamlet and towns, granges and granaries. Meanwhile,
Richard Óg de Burgh, "the Red Earl" with forces from
Ireland capture the castles of
Rothesay and
Inverkip. •
May 20 –
Treaty of Paris: King
Philip the Fair of
France signs a peace treaty with
Edward Longshanks, King of England. According to the terms of the treaty,
Gascony is restored to
England – as well as the cities of
Bordeaux and
Bayonne. In return, Edward swears allegiance to Philip as his vassal and agrees that Philipp's daughter,
Isabella of France, be married to his son
Edward of Caernarfon, until she is old enough. •
May 26 –
Elizabeth Richeza, 14-year-old daughter of the late
King Przemysl II of Poland, marries her father's former rival and the new King of Poland,
King Wenceslaus II of Bohemia. The marriage takes place at the
Prague Cathedral in Bohemia (now in the
Czech Republic, and Elizabeth is crowned as Queen Consort of Bohemia. •
May 31 –
Pope Boniface VIII orders the nullification of the election of Wenceslaus as King of Hungary, and declares that
Károly Róbert, son of the late Hungarian king
Charles Martel of Anjou, is the rightful claimant to the throne. The Pope also threatens Wenceslaus with excommunication from the Roman Catholic Church if Wenceslaus continues to style himself "King of Hungary". The decision causes a breakdown of Hungary between supporters of Wenceslaus and supporters of Károly. •
June 18 – Scottish nobles
Edmund Comyn and
Simon Fraser lead an invasion from
Dumfriesshire in Scotland, crossing the border into England at
Cumberland and laying waste to
Carlisle and its surrounding area. •
June 23 –
Athanasius I returns to leadership of the Eastern Orthodox church in
Byzantium, receiving recognition as the
Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople almost 10 years of having been driven from that office. •
August 26 –
Siege of Chittorgarh: Delhi forces led by Sultan
Alauddin Khalji capture the massive
Chittor Fort in northern
India, after an 8-month-long siege. Alauddin orders a general massacre of Chittor's population. •
August – The 17-year-old King
Ferdinand the Summoned, supervised by his mother, Queen-Regent
María de Molina, signs a peace treaty at
Córdoba with
Granada for three years. In return,
Muhammad III renews his vassalage with
Castile and pays the same tribute given as to his father, the late King
Sancho the Brave. The strategic port city of
Tarifa remains in Castilian hands. •
September 7 – Boniface VIII is imprisoned by
Guillaume de Nogaret, French councillor and advisor, on behalf of Philip the Fair at his residence in
Anagni. During the incident,
Gregory Bicskei, archbishop of
Esztergom, is killed. Boniface is for three days held in captivity, where he is beaten, tortured and nearly executed. •
September 16 – The Kagen era begins in Japan during the reign of the Emperor Gonijo. •
September 25 –
1303 Hongdong earthquake: An earthquake destroys the cities of
Taiyuan and
Pingyang, some 200,000 people are killed. •
September – Emperor
Andronikos II Palaiologos, facing a possible siege of
Constantinople by Ottoman-Turkish forces, seeks support from the European kingdoms. He makes
Roger de Flor, Italian military adventurer and nobleman, an offer of service. Roger with his fleet and army (some 7,000 men), now known as the
Catalan Company, departs from
Messina with 36 ships (including 18 galleys), and arrives in Constantinople. He is adopted into the imperial family, Andronikos appoints him as grand duke (
megas doux) and commander-in-chief of the Byzantine army and fleet.
October–December •
October 11 –
Pope Boniface VIII dies while imprisoned at
Anagni, after a
pontificate of 8 years. •
October 22 – At the
papal conclave in Rome to select a new Roman catholic Pontiff, Cardinal Nicolò Boccasini, Bishop of Ostia, is elected unanimously. •
October 27 – The coronation of Cardinal Boccasini as
Pope Benedict XI, 194th pope of the
Roman Catholic Church, is performed at St. Peter's Basilica by
Cardinal Matteo Rosso Orsini. •
November 9 – Edward I Longshanks, King of England spends the winter at
Dunfermline Abbey where he plans the attack on
Stirling Castle. He stations an army in the field and operations continue throughout the winter. An English force (some 1,000 men) raids and plunder into
Lennox as far as
Drymen. Meanwhile, Lord
John Botetourt raids
Galloway in strength, with four
bannerets (some 3,000 men). •
December 18 –
Pope Benedict XI issues a mandate directing that the rights of Cardinal
Jean Lemoine of
France, to income from the dioceses of Bayeux and Amiens is to be protected while Lemoine is serving as
papal legate. == By place ==