13th century - Definition and Overview

(12th century - 13th century - 14th century - other centuries)

As a means of recording the passage of time, the 13th century was that century which lasted from 1201 to 1300. In the history of European culture, this period is considered part of the High Middle Ages.

Events

• Fourth through eighth crusades of western European kingdoms against Islam
• King John of England forced to sign Magna Carta at Runnymede
• Fall of the Hohenstaufen dynasty of Holy Roman Emperors
• Genghis Khan, Temujin by birth is claimed "Khan of Khans" by the Mongol tribes.
• Mongols under Genghis Khan conquer and rule over most of Asia and Eastern Europe by establishing Mongol Empire
• Ogedei Khan establish Mongolian dynasty in China. Some Mongol leaders convert from Tantric Buddhism to Islam.
• Marco Polo and his family reach China
• James I of Aragon takes control of Balearic Islands and Valencia.
• Theravada overtakes Mahayana as the dominant form of Buddhism in Cambodia.
• Persian historian Rashid al-Din records eleven Buddhist texts circulating in Arabic translation.
• The Thai Kingdom of Sukhothai is established, with Theravada Buddhism as the state religion. Later in the century it vassalises significant parts of modern Thailand, Laos, Burma, and Malaysia.
• Norway cedes the Isle of Man to Scotland.
• First European universities founded.
• The Utiguri Bulgar state on the Volga vanishes from history.
• Bantu-speaking peoples arrive in modern Angola, partially displacing the original Khoisan inhabitants.

Significant people

• Genghis Khan, founder of Mongol Empire
• Alexander of Hales, philosopher and theologian
• Albertus Magnus, German philosopher and theologian
• Thomas Aquinas, theologian
• Francis of Assisi, founder of the Franciscan order
• Roger Bacon, Franciscan, philosopher, and scientist
• Bonaventure, Franciscan theologian
• Petrus Peregrinus, scientist
• Robert Grosseteste, English statesman and theologian
• Louis IX of France, St. Louis, French king and crusader
• Frederick II, emperor of the Holy Roman Empire
• Dante, Italian writer
• Ramon Llull, Majorcan philosopher
• Kublai Khan, Khan ruler, founder of Yuan Dynasty in China
• Alexander Nevsky, Grand Prince of Novgorod and Vladimir

Inventions, discoveries, introductions

Decades and years

External links

• The Thirteenth: Greatest of Centuries (http://www.nd.edu/Departments/Maritain/etext/walsh.htm) by James J. Walsh, 1907