| Date | Country | Description |
|---|---|---|
| 1250 | Egypt | Brief reign of Shajar al-Durr, widow of al-Salih Ayyub, as Sultana for 80 days. |
| 1250 | Italy | Death of Frederick II. |
| 1250 | Sweden | Stockholm, Sweden’s capital today is founded by Birger Jarl. |
| 1253 | Tunisia | The socio-cultural movement in Ifriqiya flourishes with individuals such as Sidi Bou Saïd and Sidi Mehrez venerated as patron saints. |
| 1258 | Italy | Manfred, son of Frederick II, becomes King of Sicily (1258–66). |
| 1259–1260 | Syria | After devastating Baghdad, the Mongols, led by Hulegu, invade Syria and put an end to the Ayyubid dynasty. The Mongols lose Syria when they are defeated by the Mamluks in Ain Jalut. |
| 1259 | Germany | The Hanseatic League, an alliance of trading guilds from the cities of Lübeck, Hamburg, Wismar and Rostock is officially founded. |
| 1260 | Jordan | On 3 September the Battle of ‘Ain Jalut takes place in Palestine between the Muslim Mamluks and the nomadic tribes of Mongols who defeated the Islamic world in the 13th century, destroying cities and killing citizens. The Mamluk victory in this battle stops the march of the Mongol army in Jordan and Palestine. |
| 1260 | Palestine* | The battle of ‘Ain Jalut, the first defeat of the Mogul armies and the rise of the Mamluk power in Greater Syria in addition to Egypt. |
| 1260 | Egypt | Al-Zahir Baybars defeats the Mongols at Ain Jalut and reinstates the Abbasid caliph in Cairo. |
| 1262 | Jordan | The Mamluk Sultan al-Zahir Baybars captures Karak castle from the Ayyubids, putting an end to Ayyubid rule there; he rebuilt some of its towers and transferred his wealth to it. |
| 1263 | Spain | Código de las Siete Partidas, a return to Roman law with the unification of Castilian laws. |
| 1266 | United Kingdom | Three years after Scottish victory at Largs, Alexander III of Scotland and Magnus IV of Norway sign the treaty of Perth, handing sovereignty over the Western Isles and the Isle of Man to Scotland. |
| 1268 | Egypt | Al-Zahir Baybars captures the city of Antioch, the second Crusader state in the Levant after al-Raha. |
| 1268 | Germany | Konradin, son of King Konrad IV of the Hohenstaufen Dynasty, is beheaded. This ends the German emperorship in Italy. |
| 1269 | Morocco | The Marinids enter Marrakesh, ousting the Almohads. |
| 1270 | France | Death of Louis IX at the gates of Tunis during the Eighth Crusade following an initial defeat in Egypt (Seventh Crusade). Louis IX will be canonised in 1297. |
| 1270 | Tunisia | Death of Louis IX at the gates of Carthage during the Eighth Crusade against the Kingdom of Tunis. |
| 1271 | Italy | Marco Polo, son of a Venetian merchant, departs for China with his father Nicolò and uncle Matteo. He is one of the first Westerners to reach China. |
| 1271 | Syria | Crac des Chevaliers, a critical Crusader stronghold in the Syrian coastal mountains, falls to the Mamluk Sultan al-Zahir Baybars (r. 1260–77). |
| 1273 | Türkiye | The death of poet Mevlana Rumi (born in Belh, Afghanistan, (1207?). |
| 1275 | Germany | The oldest German code of law (Sachsenspiegel), written by Eike von Repgow (ca.1180–d. after 1233) in Latin and translated to German appears in final form. It becomes a standard for all future codes of law. |
| 1276 | Morocco | The Marinid Sultan Abu Yusuf takes Algeciras, Tarifa and Ronda and founds the town of Fez al-Jdid, al-Madina al-Bayda, in Fez. |
| 1276 | Egypt | Al-Zahir Baybars defeats the Tartars in Asia Minor. |
| 1277 | Türkiye | On 13 May Karamanoğlu Mehmed Bey declares that only the Turkish language is to be used for daily and official use. |
| 1277–1370 | Tunisia | The century is marked by trials and crises that shake the Hafsid kingdom: civil wars, foreign incursions and cholera epidemics. |
| 1277 | Morocco | Sultan Abu Yusuf orders the construction of a new town at Algeciras. |
| 1278 | Hungary | With the decisive help of the Hungarian-Kun army Habsburg Rudolf I defeats the Czech army in the Battle of Dürnkrut (Morvamező). The beginning of the rise of the Habsburgs. |
| 1278 | Czech Republic | Přemysl Otakar II killed at Battle of the Moravian Field. Under his rule, the Czech lands reached to the shores of the Adriatic. Bohemia governed by Otto of Brandenburg, Moravia by Rudolph of Habsburg. |
| 1279 | Sweden | In this, or the following, year, King Magnus grants freedom of taxes for those who serve him in his wars as equestrians. This was important step in the development of privileged nobility. |
| 1280 | Italy | The Guelphs and Ghibellines, supporters of the Papacy and the Emperor respectively, clash in Florence. |
| 1282 | Italy | Revolt of the Sicilian Vespers against Sicily’s French Angevin rulers. Aragon emerges victorious in Sicily, which is separated politically from Southern Italy. |
| 1282 | Hungary | Master Simon Kézai, a cleric of King László (Kun) IV, starts to compile the Gesta Hungarorum, a chronicle of Hungary (completed in 1285) that contains the theory of the Hun-Hungarian identity. |
| 1283 | Czech Republic | Wenceslas II crowned King of Bohemia. Minting of Prague kreuzers, the most sought-after European silver currency. Wenceslas crowned King of Poland 1300, of Hungary 1301. The murder of Wenceslas III (1306) ended male line of Przemyslid dynasty. |
| 1285 | France | Philip the Fair, surrounded by his ‘jurists’, consolidates the authority of the King of France. Levying taxes on Jews and ‘Lombards’ and confiscating the riches of the Knights Templar, he enters into a conflict with the papacy which is only resolved in 1305 with the election of a French pope. |
| 1288 | Croatia | The Law of Vinodol is composed, one of the first juridical regulations in this part of Europe. |
| 1291 | Palestine* | The Mamluks defeat the Crusaders in ‘Akka and the rest of the Palestine and Lebanon coastal cities, putting an end to the Crusader states in Palestine and Syria, which had lasted some two centuries. |
| 1291 | Egypt | Al-Ashraf Khalil defeats the Crusaders who retreat to Cyprus. He annexes the city of Acre in Palestine. |
| 1295 | United Kingdom | King John Balliol of Scotland establishes a mutual defence treaty, the ‘Auld Alliance’, between Scotland and France, directed against the English. |
| 1296 | Algeria | Construction of the Sidi Bel Hassan Mosque in Tlemcen. |
| 1296 | Egypt | Draught and famine in Egypt because of the low Nile flood and more than 17,500 persons die that year. |
| 1297 | Portugal | Treaty of Alcanises, which fixes the Portuguese border. |
| 1297 | United Kingdom | The Scottish Wars of Independence begin following annexation of Scotland (and seizure of the symbolic stone of Scone) by England. Scottish victory at Stirling Bridge is led by William Wallace. |
| 1298 | United Kingdom | Edward I defeats William Wallace at the Battle of Falkirk and reconquers Scotland. Wallace goes into hiding but is captured in 1305 and executed in London for treason. |
| 1299 | Türkiye | The foundation of the Ottoman Empire. |
| 1301 | Hungary | On the death of King András III the Árpád house dies out in the male line. Fights for the Hungarian throne ensue. The coronation of Károly I Róbert of Anjou (Caroberto), descended from the Árpád female line. |
| 1302 | Syria | Arwad Island is the last Crusader position in Syria to be repossessed by the Muslims. |
| 1302 | Italy | Frederick of Aragon (1302–37) is proclaimed King of Sicily. |
| 1303 | Egypt | Sultan al-Nasir Muhammad bin Qalawun defeats Ghazan, King of Tartars, in the Levant. |
| 1303 | Italy | Pope Boniface VIII (1295–1303), in conflict with the French for political reasons, is arrested by the French, but immediately released following a popular uprising. |
| 1303 | Sweden | The most well-known Swedish saint, Saint Birgitta, is born. Her Order, Ordo Sanctissimi Salvatoris (the Order of the Most Holy Saviour), is approved by a Papal Bull in 1370. |
| 1304 | Morocco | The great geographer Ibn Battuta, born in Tangiers, begins a 25-year journey that would take him to China in Asia and Timbuktu in Africa. |
| 1305–1375 | Syria | Damascene Ibn al-Shatir, a great Muslim astronomer, craftsman and instrument designer, composes important new planetary theories that predate Copernicus by two centuries. |
| 1307 | Algeria | The Marinid sultan Abu Ya’qub lays siege to Tlemcen for seven years. |
| 1307 | Italy | Dante Alighieri begins his masterpiece of universal literature, the Divine Comedy, completed in 1313. |
| 1308-1318 | Algeria | During the reign of Abu Hammu Musa I, the Tachfiniya madrasa is built in Tlemcen, the town is fortified and the kingdom is expanded to Constantine and Béjaia. |
| 1309 | Italy | Start of the Avignon Papacy: under the direct influence of the King of France, the popes set up the papal residence in Avignon. |
| 1310 | Czech Republic | John of Luxemburg marries Elizabeth Przemyslid. First Czech-langauge publication Dalimil Chronicle (1314); the first guild code in the Czech lands published (1318). |
| 1311 | Egypt | The Hafsid ruler of Tunis takes refuge in Egypt. The Sultan helped him to take back his throne and he became the deputy of the Egyptian Sultan al-Nasir Muhammad bin Qalawun. The death of Ibn Mandhur, the author of Lisan al-Arab (‘The Arab Tongue’). |
| 1311 | Jordan | A madrasa for teaching Shafi’i rites (one of four Sunni rites in Islam) is established at Karak; King Muhammad ibn Qalawun sent his sons to study at this madrasa. |
| 1311 | Palestine* | Gaza becomes an independent Mamluk governate (niyaba). |
| 1314 | United Kingdom | Scots under Robert Bruce (Robert I) comprehensively defeat the invading English army at the Battle of Bannockburn, re-establishing Scotland’s independence. |
| 1316 | Tunisia | Birth of the illustrious scholar Ibn Arfa. |
| 1326 | Türkiye | Orhan Gazi captures Bursa, which becomes the second Ottoman capital after Söğüt. |
| 1328 | United Kingdom | The Treaty of Northampton officially acknowledges Scottish independence, which in 1320 had been recognised by the papacy following the Declaration of Arbroath. |
| 1328 | Germany | Death of Meister Eckhart (1260–1328), a Dominican monk who was a theologian, philosopher and mystic. His writings on metaphysics and mysticism were of importance for the intellectual spirit of the late Middle Ages. |
| 1328 | Jordan | On 4 October a torrential stream destroys the buildings, markets and mosque of Ajlun. |
| 1328 | Palestine* | Tankaz, the Mamluk governor of Syria begins a comprehensive construction project in Jerusalem including Madrasa Tankaziyya, Suq al-Qattanin, Khan Tankaz, two bathhouses and a minaret. |
| 1332 | Tunisia | Birth of the illustrious scholar Ibn Khaldun in Tunis. |
| 1334 | Czech Republic | Charles IV appointed Margrave of Moravia. |
| 1337 | Algeria | The Marinids annex the Kingdom of Tlemcen, and renovate Mansurah and the Sidi Boumediene mausoleum. |
| 1340 | Spain | Battle of Salado. Decisive victory over the Marinids of North Africa, who had led the final Muslim offensive in the Peninsula. |
| 1344 | Czech Republic | Building of St Vitus Cathedral at Prague Castle commenced (master builder: Matthias of Arras, followed by Peter Parler). Foundation of Prague archbishopric. |
| 1346 | Czech Republic | Charles IV elected Roman king. The period of his rule embraced the greatest flourishing of the Czech lands. Origination of the Czech crown jewels. Cult of St Wenceslas disseminated. |
| 1348 | Portugal | Black death. |
| 1348 | Egypt | A Yellow Fever epidemic rages through Egypt. |
| 1348 | France | A devastating outbreak of the plague compounds the misery of renewed famine and a disastrous war with England. |
| 1348 | Czech Republic | Charles IV’s major projects: revival of Slavonic liturgy (1347); foundation of New Town (1348), making Prague the largest European city; establishment of Prague University, the first in Central Europe; provincial statutes in Brno and Olomouc. |
| 1348 | Syria | The most devastating plague hits Damascus, handicapping the city and killing 2,000 people a day, as recorded in the chronicles of the Moroccan voyager Ibn Battuta. |
| 1348 | United Kingdom | Black Death (the plague) spreads throughout the British Isles from the south coast, killing between one-third and a half of the population. |
| 1348 | Germany | Foundation of the first German university in Prague by Emperor Charles IV. |
| 1349 | Morocco | Sultan Abu Inan founds the library of the Qarawiyin Mosque in Fez. |
| 1350 | Morocco | Abu Inan builds the Buinaniya madrasa in Fez, where Marinid decorative arts find their full aesthetic expression. |
| 1353 | Algeria | The Marinid sultan Abu Inan extends his authority over Constantine, Béjaia and Tunis. |
| 1355 | Czech Republic | Charles IV is the first Czech sovereign to be crowned Holy Roman Emperor. In 1356 he issued the Golden Bull confirming the autonomous Czech state and making the Czech king foremost among the electors. |
| 1356 | Germany | The Golden Bull becomes the first constitution of the empire by which the German emperor is chosen by seven electors. |
| 1356 | Jordan | The Mamluk Amir Sarghatmish builds a madrasa in Amman; it became the headquarters of Balqa, to teach Hanafi rites (one of the four Sunni rites in Islam). |
| 1357 | Czech Republic | Completion of Karlštejn Castle: Emperor’s residence housing the Czech and imperial crown jewels, the archive and relics of saints. The construction of the Stone (now Charles) Bridge, Prague. |
| 1358 | Croatia | The peace of Zadar seals the defeat of the Venetian Republic by Louis of Anjou, King of Hungary–Croatia, and marks the reunification of Dalmatia with the Croatian crown within a common kingdom. |
| 1358 | Hungary | Ragusa falls into the hands of Lajos (Louis) I (the Great). During Medieval times Hungary was its most extensive under his rule. Compilation of a Hungarian chronicle, the Képes Krónika (Illustrated Chronicle). |
| 1361 | Türkiye | Murad I captures Edirne (Adrianople). As the third Ottoman capital, Edirne now becomes the headquarters for the further expansion. |
| 1365 | Algeria | Ibn Khaldun teaches at Béjaia. |
| 1367 | Hungary | Pope Urban V affirms the Paulite order, founded by Hungarians c. 1250. King Lajos (Louis) I founds Pécs University and enriches Aachen Cathedral’s Hungarian Chapel with great artworks. |
| 1369 | Spain | End of the civil war in Castile and start of the Trastámara dynasty. |
| 1370–1394 | Tunisia | Political stability under the reign of the Hafsid princes. |
| 1375 | Portugal | King Ferdinand I promulgates the Sesmaria law on agriculture. |
| 1375 | United Kingdom | John Wyclif, an Oxford scholar, translates the Bible into English from Latin, allowing ordinary people to read it for the first time and inspiring the Lollard political movement. |
| 1376 | Czech Republic | Wenceslas IV inherits Czech crown. Completion of the oldest Czech translation of the Bible. Klaret’s (Claretus) attempt to create Czech scholarly terminology. Discord among the king, his brothers and the aristocracy. |
| 1377 | Italy | The papal residence moved back to Rome from Avignon during the pontificate of Gregory XI (1370–8). |
| 1378 | Italy | Beginning of the Western Schism, which will divide the Christian Church and see two different popes on the papal seat. |
| 1380 | Morocco | Ibn Marzuq, celebrated historian of the Marinid Sultan Abu al-Hassan, dies in Fez. |
| 1383 | Egypt | Sultan Barquq seizes power, establishing the Circassian Mamluk dynasty.Ibn Khaldun arrives in Egypt, where he lectures at al-Azhar and is appointed head of the Hanafite court of justice. |
| 1385 | Portugal | Battle of Aljubarrota. Beginning of the Avis Dynasty with John I. |
| 1386 | Portugal | Alliance between Portugal and England. |
| 1390–1400 | Algeria | Frequent incursions by Portuguese, French, Spanish and Italian fleets in the ports of Central Maghreb: Honain, Oran, Algiers and Béjaia. |
| 1392 | France | The King of France, Charles VI, is afflicted by madness. France falls into civil war, and the Treaty of Troyes recognises Henry V of England as the heir to the French throne. |
| 1394–1434 | Tunisia | Development of commercial relations with Italian towns. |
| 1394 | Algeria | Construction of the El-Eubad mosque. |
| 1395 | Jordan | In March several post offices between Cairo and Karak and between Karak and Damascus are erected during the Mamluk sultanate of Barquq. |
| 1396 | Hungary | The Battle of Nikápoly: Sultan Bayazid I defeats the crusaders of King Sigismund of Luxemburg, sole ruler of Hungary after the death of his first wife, Queen Mary, daughter of Lajos (Louis) I in 1395. |
| 1397 | Sweden | On 17 June in this year, in the Swedish town of Kalmar, the three Nordic countries Denmark, Norway and Sweden are united under the Danish Monarch, Queen Margarethe. For Sweden this loss of independence and Danish sovereignty will last 125 years. |
| 1400-1 | Syria | Last Mongol invasion of Damascus, by Timur i-Lang (Tamerlane). Ibn Khaldun, Tunisian historian in Damascus at the time, pleads with Tamerlane on behalf of the city, but the Citadel is breached and the city sacked. |
| 1400 | Egypt | Timur-i-Lang (Tamerlane) sacks Damascus and the economy deteriorates; plague and famine are rife. |
| 1401 | Tunisia | Death of the scholar Ibn Arfa. |
| 1401 | Germany | Birth of Nikolaus von Kues (1401–64). His De docta ignorantia is notable for his mystical beliefs. He suggested the earth was a nearly spherical shape that revolved around the Sun. |
| 1402 | Türkiye | The Battle of Ankara between Tamerlane and Bayezid and the start of the Interregnum (Fetret) Period. |
| 1404 | Syria | Mongol troops return to Central Asia after sending the scholars and artisans of Damascus to Samarqand and massacring the rest of the population. Mamluk leadership is weakly restored. Internal dissent and militias are rife. |
| 1406 | Algeria | Death of the historian Ibn Khaldun. |
| 1406 | Tunisia | Death of the scholar Ibn Khaldun in Egypt. |
| 1409 | Croatia | Ladislas of Naples, Croat king and a claimant to the Hungarian throne as King Ladislav of Anjou, sells Dalmatia to the Venetians for 100,000 ducats. By 1420 Venice controlled all of Dalmatia except for Dubrovnik. |
| 1409 | Czech Republic | Decree of Kutná Hora adjusts the university voting rights between the Czechs and other nationalities. Jan Hus appointed university chancellor. Origins of the Hussite reformation movement, critical of church rule. |
| 1411 | Jordan | Ajlun becomes the centre of an administrative district (Niabah) extending from the Zarqa river in the south to the Yarmouk river in the north and from the Jordan valley in the west to Badiya in the east. |
| 1412 | Egypt | Mua’yyad Shaykh retakes Syria and rules until his death in 824 / 1421. |
| 1415 | Morocco | The Portuguese take the town of Sebta. |
| 1415 | United Kingdom | Henry V invades France as part of the Hundred Years’ War (1337–1453) and defeats the French at Agincourt despite being considerably outnumbered. |
| 1415 | Portugal | Start of Portuguese expansion in Morocco with the conquest of Ceuta. |
| 1415 | Czech Republic | Hus burned at the stake at the assembly of the Council of Constance. Struggles between Catholics and Utraquists (“heretics”). Crusades, plundering of monasteries and churches, iconoclasm. |
| 1419 | Portugal | Discovery of the Madeira archipelago. |
| 1422 | Egypt | Reign of Barsbay marks the beginning of a period of peace, cultural vitality and increased trade. |
| 1427 | Portugal | Discovery of the Azores archipelago |
| 1429 | France | Charles VII is crowned in Reims, having been proclaimed the true king of France by Joan of Arc. A gradual reconquest of the kingdom begins, to be completed towards the end of the 15th century. |
| 1433 | Croatia | Turks occupy a large part of north Croatia. |
| 1434–1488 | Tunisia | Privateering starts. |
| 1434 | Czech Republic | Battle of Lipany, defeat of the Hussites. Sigismund of Luxemburg crowned Czech king (1436). The Basle “Compacts” acknowledging the communion of bread and wine. |
| 1442 | Egypt | Death of al-Maqrizi, the great Egyptian historian. |
| 1443 | Spain | Aragon incorporates the Kingdom of Naples. |
| 1444 | Hungary | The Battle of Varna: Sultan Murad II defeats the Hungarian army. King Ulaslo I dies but commander-in-chief János Hunyadi survives. Stripes and a double cross first appear together in Hungary’s coat of arms. |
| 1446 | France | Jacques Cœur, based in the south of France, begins profitable trading with countries in the Near East, particularly Egypt. |
| 1452 | Italy | Birth of Leonardo da Vinci, artist, scientist and inventor who will enrich Italian culture with works of great renown, such as the Mona Lisa and Lady with an Ermine. |
| 1453 | Türkiye | The conquest of Constantinople (Istanbul) by Mehmed II which brings the Eastern Roman Empire (Byzantine Empire) to an end. |
| 1453 | Czech Republic | Hungarian King Ladislaus Pohrobek takes the Czech throne. Order to evict Jews from royal towns. George of Poděbrady elected Czech king (1485). Attempt to create union of European rulers aiming to avert Turkish expansion, restrict Catholic church hegemony and secure peace. |
| 1453 | Palestine* | Palestine in general and Jerusalem in particular celebrate the Ottoman conquest of Constantinople. |
| 1455 | United Kingdom | Civil war, known as the Wars of the Roses, breaks out between the rival royal houses of Lancaster and York, marked by the First Battle of St Albans. |
| 1455 | Germany | The invention of the printing machine with movable metal types by Johannes Gutenberg (c. 1398–c. 1468) results in the first printing of the Gutenberg Bible (Biblia Sacra) in 1455. |
| 1456 | Hungary | The Battle of Nándorfehérvár (Belgrade): János Hunyadi defeats the attacking Turks led by Sultan Mehmed II. After his victory Hunyadi dies from plague in the military camp. |
| 1456 | Portugal | Discovery of the Cabo Verde archipelago. |
| 1458 | Hungary | Election of King Mátyás (Matthias) I Hunyadi (Corvinus) son of János Hunyadi. He made Hungary one of the greatest economical and military powers of Europe and defended Europe from the Turks. |
| 1458 | Morocco | The Portuguese take the town of Qsar al-Saghir. |
| 1458 | Palestine* | A severe earthquake causes great damage all over Palestine. |
| 1467 | Czech Republic | Fraternal Union. The origination of an independent church picking up the threads of Hussite ideology. War in Moravia. Matthias Corvinus against George of Poděbrady. |
| 1468 | Egypt | The beginning of a long period of cultural revival under Sultan Qaytbay. |
| 1469 | Italy | Lorenzo de’Medici the Magnificent (1469–92) rules Florence. Under his control, Florence becomes the driving force behind Italian art. |
| 1470/1471 | Algeria | Consecration of the worship of the patron saint of Algiers Alger ‘Abd al-Rahman al-Thaalibi. |
| 1471 | Germany | Birth of the painter, wood carver and engraver Albrecht Dürer (1471–1528). During this period Renaissance art flourished in Germany and Dürer travelled to Italy twice. |
| 1473 | Hungary | The Buda printing house of András Hess publishes his Chronica Hungarorum, a chronicle of Hungary. Fruitless negotiations with Emperor Friedrich III lead Mátyás I to occupy Vienna in 1485. |
| 1476 | Czech Republic | The first printed work issued in the Czech lands: Statutes for the Prague Diocese (Pilsen printing works). |
| 1477 | Syria | The Mamluk Sultan Qaytbay goes on an inspection tour of the Syrian provinces and strengthens urban development as Syria is contested by the rising power of the Ottomans in Turkey. |
| 1477 | Sweden | Uppsala University is founded. It is the oldest university in Scandinavia and still one of Sweden’s most renowned universities. Uppsala is located about 80 km north of the capital Stockholm. |
| 1478 | Czech Republic | Olomouc Agreement: Matthias Corvinus rules Moravia, Silesia and Lusatia, Vladislav Jagellon rules Bohemia. After Matthias’s death (1490) Vladislav appointed King of Hungary. |
| 1478 | Türkiye | The first golden coin is minted by Mehmet II. |
| 1479 | Spain | Dynastic union between Castile and Aragon through Isabel I and Ferdinand II. |
| 1481 | France | Provence becomes part of France. The Kings of France inherit the claims of the Angevins. Start of the Italian Wars. |
| 1485 | Italy | Pico della Mirandola (1463–94) writes Oration on the Dignity of Man, an expression of the new Renaissance humanist culture that exalted man’s dignity and right to self-determination. |
| 1485 | United Kingdom | The Lancastrian Henry Tudor defeats the Yorkist monarch Richard III at Bosworth Field and claims the throne as Henry VII, marking the end of the Plantagenet dynasty and the ascendancy of the Tudors. |
| 1487 | Portugal | Voyage of Bartolomeu Dias around the south of Africa to the Indian Ocean. On his return, he discovers Cape of Storms, renamed the Cape of Good Hope by John II. |
| 1489 | Morocco | A Portuguese column infiltrates Moroccan lands and begin work on the Graciosa fortress on the Loukkos River. |
| 1490 | Hungary | King Mátyás I dies and the all’ antica Renaissance presence in Hungary (see the Renaissance Buda castle, Mátyás I’s famous Corvina library) wanes. Struggle for the Hungarian throne. |
| 1492 | Italy | Christopher Columbus discovers America. Lorenzo de’Medici dies. |
| 1492 | Türkiye | The Jews thrown out of Spain are under the Ottoman protection. |
| 1492 | Spain | Conquest of Nasrid Granada and expulsion of the last Muslim power in the Peninsula. Expulsion of the Jews. Discovery of America. |
| 1492 | Egypt | The discovery of the Cape of Good Hope has an adverse effect on trade in Egypt. |
| 1492 | Algeria | King Boabdil, the last Nasrid king, takes refuge in Oran then Tlemcen. |
| 1493 | Croatia | Battle at Krbavsko Polje after which Ottoman armies overran most of Croatia and Islamisation followed, particularly in the so-called ‘Turkish Croatia’ between the Una and Vrbas rivers. |
| 1494 | Spain | Treaty of Tordesillas: division of the lands discovered and to be discovered in the Eastern, Portuguese, hemisphere and the Western, Spanish, hemisphere. |
| 1494 | Portugal | Treaty of Tordesillas between the Catholic Kings and John II, dividing the world into two spheres of influence: the Portuguese part and the Spanish part. |
| 1495 | Portugal | Death of John II and ascension of Manuel I. |
| 1496 | Portugal | Expulsion of the Jews and the Muslims. |
| 1497 | Morocco | The Duke of Medina-Sidonia takes the town of Melilla. |
| 1497 | Portugal | Vasco da Gama leaves for India. |
| 1499 | Jordan | On 11 October the governor of Sham, Junbalat, goes to southern Jordan to stop Bani Sakher tribes attacking pilgrim caravans and kills 20 of them. |
| 1500 | Portugal | Pedro Álvares Cabral discovers Brazil. |
| 1501 | Italy | Michelangelo Buonarroti starts work on David, a masterpiece of the Renaissance. The work, conceived as a symbol of the Florentine Republic, is completed in 1504. |
| 1502 | Portugal | Work starts on the Hieronymites Monastery. |
| 1505-1510 | Algeria | Spanish presence in the coastal towns of Mers el-Kébir (1505), Oran (1509), Algiers (1510) and Béjaia (1510). |
| 1505 | Morocco | The Portuguese found the fortress of Santa Cruz de Aguer near to the village of Founti. |
| 1506 | Italy | Bramante begins construction of the new Basilica of Saint Peter. |
| 1510 | Portugal | Afonso de Albuquerque conquers Goa. |
| 1513 | United Kingdom | King James IV of Scotland is killed, along with much of the Scottish aristocracy and thousands of Highlanders and Lowlanders, by the English forces of Henry VIII at Flodden Field in Northumberland. |
| 1514 | Türkiye | Victory of Selim I the Grim over Shah Ismail at the Battle of Çaldıran. |
| 1514 | Algeria | Arudj defends the town of Jijel. |
| 1514 | Hungary | Unsuccesful peasant revolt led by György Dózsa. The presentation to the Hungarian Parliament of the Tripartitum, a collection of Hungarian unwritten laws compiled by jurist István Werbőczy (published Vienna, 1518). |
| 1515 | Jordan | Aqaba Castle is established on the shore of the Red Sea during the reign of the Mamluk Sultan Qansawh al-Ghawri. |
| 1515 | France | Beginning of the reign of Francis I. Continuation of the Italian Wars, marked by victory at Marignano and defeat at Pavia (1526). The King of France effects a reconciliation with the Turks, creating a scandal in the Christian world. |
| 1516 | Algeria | The Spanish built the fortress at Gibraltar after a failed attempt to take Algiers. |
| 1516 | Egypt | Sultan al-Ghawri is killed in battle against the Ottomans. His successor Tuman Bay, the last Mamluk sultan, was captured a few months later and hung on Bab Zuweila by Selim I, the Ottoman sultan. Khayrbek, governor of Aleppo, who betrayed the Mamluks was appointed first Ottoman governor of Egypt. |
| 1516 | Syria | At the Battle of Marj Dabiq, north of Aleppo, the Ottoman Empire defeats the Mamluks and takes over Syria. |
| 1516 | Jordan | On 23 August the Ottomans defeat the Mamluks in a decisive battle at Marj Dabiq, marking the end of the Mamluks’ rule in Egypt and Syria. |
| 1516 | Palestine* | The battle of Marj Dabiq, north of Aleppo, between the Ottoman and Mamluk armies, leads to the collapse of the Mamluk empire and the beginning of the Ottomans’ rule in Greater Syria including Palestine. |
| 1517 | Germany | Beginning of the Reformation. Luther nails his 95 theses against the abuse of indulgences to a church door in Wittenberg. His translation of the Bible established the basis of the modern German language. |
| 1517 | Palestine* | Sultan Salim I. (r. 1512–20) visits Jerusalem. |
| 1517 | Türkiye | Conquest of Cairo by Selim I the Grim. |