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Wikipedia / 1281

Year 1281 (MCCLXXXI) was a common year starting on Wednesday of the Julian calendar.

Events

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By place

Byzantine Empire

  • Spring Siege of Berat: A Byzantine relief force under Michael Tarchaneiotes arrives at the strategically important citadel of Berat. Tarchaneiotes avoids a confrontation with the Angevines and relies on ambushes and raids instead. He manages to capture the Angevin commander, Hugh of Sully. A few of Sully's guards escape and reach their camp, where they report his capture. Panic spreads among the Angevin troops at this news and they begin to flee towards Avlon. The Byzantines take advantage of their disordered flight and attack, joined by the troops in the besieged citadel. Tarchaneiotes takes an enormous booty while a small remnant of the Angevin army manages to cross the Vjosa River and reach the safety of Kanina.

  • October 18 Emperor Michael VIII Palaiologos is excommunicated by Pope Martin IV without any warning or provocation. Martin authorizes Charles I, king of Sicily, to make a Crusade against Michael, who has re-established his rule in Constantinople. Charles prepares an expedition in Sicily and assembles a fleet of 100 ships, and 300 more in Naples, Provence, and the Greek territories, which carry some 8,000 cavalrymen.

Europe

Middle East

  • September Two Mongol armies (some 50,000 men) advance into Syria. One is commanded by Abaqa Khan, who attacks the Mamluk fortresses along the Euphrates frontier. The second, led by his brother Möngke Temür makes contact with Leo III, king of Cilician Armenia, and then marches down through Aintab and Aleppo into the Orontes valley, where he is joined by Knights Hospitallerr and some French mercenaries. Meanwhile, Sultan Qalawun assembles his Mamluk forces at Damascus.

  • October 29 Second Battle of Homs: In a pitched battle, Mamluk forces (some 30,000 men) led by Qalawun destroy the Mongol center; Möngke Temür is wounded and flees. He orders a retreat, followed by a disorganized army. The Armenian-Georgian auxiliaries under Leo III fight their way back northwards. The Mongol army recrosses the Euphrates without losses; the river remains the frontier between the Mongols and the Mamluk Sultanate.

  • Osman I, founder of the Ottoman Empire, becomes bey of the Söğüt tribe in central Anatolia after the death of his father, Ertuğrul Ghazi. Osman's accession to power is not peaceful, as he has to fight his relatives before he gets hold of the clan's leadership. One of Osman's major rivals is his uncle Dündar Bey, who rebels against him.

Asia

By topic

Markets

Religion

Births

(some dates approximate)

Deaths

References