World map in 1279

Border history

The interactive map lets you inspect named territories in 1279 and compare them to earlier or later snapshots on the timeline.

Biographical context

Meet figures alive in, or close to, 1279 and move from political geography to the people connected to the period.

Era-based reading

The related chronicles below provide long-form reading tied closely to the medieval period.

1206 – 1368

Mongol Conquests

Mongol Empire vs Various kingdoms and empires

The largest contiguous land empire in history — Genghis Khan and his successors conquered from Korea to Hungary, killing tens of millions and connecting East and West through the Pax Mongolica.

Key battles and events: Siege of Beijing (1215); Siege of Baghdad (1258)

1096 – 1291

The Crusades

Christian Crusader states vs Muslim dynasties

Two centuries of religious warfare for control of the Holy Land — nine major crusades that transformed trade, culture, and the balance of power between Christendom and Islam.

Key battles and events: Siege of Jerusalem (1099); Hattin (1187)

1274 – 1281

Mongol Invasions of Japan

Mongol Empire / Yuan Dynasty vs Kamakura Shogunate

Kublai Khan launched two massive naval invasions of Japan, both repelled by fierce samurai resistance and devastating typhoons the Japanese called 'kamikaze' (divine wind). These were the largest seaborne invasions before D-Day.

Key battles and events: Battle of Bun'ei / First Invasion (1274); Battle of Koan / Second Invasion (1281)

1258 – 1288

Mongol Invasions of Vietnam

Mongol Empire / Yuan Dynasty vs Dai Viet (Tran Dynasty)

The Vietnamese Tran Dynasty repelled three massive Mongol invasions — one of the few nations to successfully resist Mongol conquest. General Tran Hung Dao's guerrilla tactics and the decisive naval Battle of Bach Dang River remain cornerstones of Vietnamese national identity.

Key battles and events: First invasion (1258); Second invasion (1285)

1235 – 1340

Mali Empire Conquests

Mali Empire (Sundiata Keita, Mansa Musa) vs Sosso Kingdom, neighbouring states

Sundiata Keita defeated the Sosso king Sumanguru at the Battle of Kirina, founding the Mali Empire — the richest state in medieval Africa. Under Mansa Musa, Mali controlled the trans-Saharan gold trade; Musa's 1324 pilgrimage to Mecca was so lavish it crashed gold prices across the Mediterranean.

Key battles and events: Battle of Kirina (1235); Conquest of Timbuktu (c. 1285)

1235 – 1279

Mongol Conquest of Song China

Mongol Empire / Yuan Dynasty vs Southern Song Dynasty

The Mongols' decades-long campaign to conquer the Southern Song — the richest and most populous state in the world. The war ended at the naval Battle of Yamen, where the last Song emperor drowned, completing Mongol unification of China.

Key battles and events: Siege of Xiangyang (1267-1273); Battle of Yamen (1279)

1235 – 1599

Wars of the Mali Empire

Mali Empire (Sundiata, Mansa Musa) vs Sosso Kingdom, rival Sahelian states

Sundiata Keita defeated the Sosso at Kirina and founded the Mali Empire, which became the wealthiest state in the medieval world under Mansa Musa. At its peak it controlled the trans-Saharan gold and salt trade across West Africa.

Key battles and events: Battle of Kirina (1235); Sundiata's unification campaigns

1206 – 1398

Delhi Sultanate Wars

Delhi Sultanate (various dynasties) vs Hindu kingdoms, Mongol invaders

The Delhi Sultanate expanded Muslim rule across most of the Indian subcontinent through successive dynasties. It also successfully repelled multiple Mongol invasions that would have devastated India as they did Persia and Central Asia.

Key battles and events: Battle of Tarain (1192); Battle of Amroha (1305)

Florence

Dante Alighieri

c. 1265 – 1321

Author of the Divine Comedy, founder of the Italian literary language, poet of exile

Mali / West Africa

Mansa Musa

c. 1280 – c. 1337

Ruler of the Mali Empire, his 1324 hajj pilgrimage flooded Egypt and Arabia with gold and crashed prices across the Mediterranean world for a decade

Kingdom of Sicily / Paris / Rome

Thomas Aquinas

c. 1225 – 1274

Scholastic philosopher, theologian, author of the Summa Theologiae, synthesiser of Aristotle and Christianity

West Africa

Sundiata

c. 1217 – c. 1255

Founder of the Mali Empire, victor at the Battle of Kirina, father of the Manden Charter

Morocco / Global

Ibn Battuta

1304 – c. 1368

Greatest medieval traveller, author of the Rihla, visited 44 modern countries across three decades

Mongolia / Central Asia

Genghis Khan

c. 1162 – 1227

Unifier of Mongolia, founder of the largest contiguous empire in history

Built 1250 · Asia

Konark Sun Temple

Chariot-shaped 13th-century Hindu temple dedicated to Surya in Odisha

Built 1250 · Oceania

Lelu Ruins

Basalt-walled royal compound on Kosrae, Micronesia, a rival to Nan Madol with massive walls enclosing sacred royal residences

Built 1250 · Africa

Thulamela

Late Iron Age stone-walled settlement in Kruger National Park, linked to the Great Zimbabwe trade network in South Africa

Built 1248 · Europe

Cologne Cathedral

Gothic masterpiece and Germany's most visited landmark

Built 1240 · Africa

Great Mosque of Djenné

World's largest mud-brick building, heart of West African Islamic learning

Built 1238 · Europe

Alhambra

Moorish palace and fortress complex overlooking Granada, the finest surviving example of medieval Islamic architecture in Europe.

Florence · Thinker

Dante Alighieri

The Poet Who Mapped the Afterlife

The Florentine poet who wrote the greatest work of medieval literature — a journey through Hell, Purgatory, and Paradise that mapped the entire moral universe of the Western world, and did it in exile, condemned to death by the city he loved.

Mali / West Africa · Leader

Mansa Musa

The King Who Broke the World's Gold Market

The ruler of the Mali Empire whose 1324 pilgrimage to Mecca flooded Cairo with gold and crashed the Egyptian economy for a decade — and who built Timbuktu into the greatest centre of Islamic learning in sub-Saharan Africa.

Kingdom of Sicily / Paris / Rome · Philosopher

Thomas Aquinas

The Angelic Doctor

The Dominican friar who reconciled ancient reason with Christian faith — kidnapped by his own family, silenced by a vision, and the author of the most systematic work of philosophy in the medieval world.

West Africa · Conqueror

Sundiata Keita

The Lion Who Founded an Empire

The child who could not walk became the man who built an empire. Sundiata Keita — born into prophecy, hardened by exile, victorious at Kirina — founded the Mali Empire and gave his people one of history's earliest human rights charters.