3870 entries. Last updated May 17, 2013.

1200 to 1300 Timeline Outline

  • Eras
  • Themes

A scence from the long scroll 'Along the River During Qing Ming Festival,' in which a fifteen column saunpan is visible next to the account book and doctor's prescriptions. (View Larger)
The Suanpan
(Circa 1200)

Beginnings of an Active Book Trade Outside of Monasteries
(Circa 1200)

Private Libraries in the Muslim World, Destroyed or Plundered by Crusaders
(Circa 1200)

Knowledge of Greek and Greek Texts During the Middle Ages
(Circa 1200 – 1450)

Postal System within the Mongol Empire and China
(Circa 1200)

Folio 124r of the Codex magliabechiano, a manuscript of Liber Abaci preserved in the Biblioteca Nazionale di Firenze. (View Larger)
Fibonacci Introduces Arabic Numerals to the European Public and Describes…
(1202)

A depiction of the 1204 seizure of Constantinople by Palma le Jeune. (View Larger)
Norman Crusaders Sack Constantinople and Burn the Imperial Library
(1204)

Modern replicas of Al-Jazari's automated musicians, perhaps the oldest programmable automata known. (View Larger)
First Recorded Designs of a Programmable Automaton
(1206)

A depiction of the Castle Water Clock from al-Jazari's 'Book of Knowledge of Ingenious Mechanical Devices.' This manuscript is preserved at the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston. (View Larger)
Perhaps the Earliest Programmable Analog Computer
(1206)

The coat of arms belonging to Cambridge University. (View Larger)
Origins of Cambridge University
(1209)

A 1297 copy of the Magna Carta. (View Larger)
The Magna Carta
(January – June 17, 1215)

A bust of Genghis Khan. (View Larger)
The Greatest Destruction of Muslim Libraries
(1218 – 1220)

Two pages from the Heidelberg Sachsenspiegel. (View Larger)
Most Important Law Book of the German Middle Ages
(1220 – 1235)

A gold hyperpyron, depicting, on the obverse, a regal Christ, and on the reverse, Emperor John III, crowned by the Virgin Mary. (View Larger)
Emperor John III Reestablishes the Byzantine Imperial Library
(1222)

First Recorded Issue of Paper Money in the Mongol Empire
(1224 – 1227)

Perhaps the Oldest State-Supported University
(June 5, 1224)

The Earliest Known Classical Latin Piece Written on Paper
(Circa 1225)

The Greater Kyz Kala at Merv, presumed to be the residence of a noble or royal personage. (View Larger)
No Fewer than Twelve Libraries Available to the Public in Merv
(1228)

The Pecia System
(April 4, 1228)

The Cover of Codex Gigas: 92cm tall, 50 cm wide. (View Larger)
The Largest Extant Medieval Manuscript- The Devil's Bible
(1229)

Folio 1r of Fr. 1573 at the Bibliotheque Nationale, the earliest extant copy of 'Le Roman de la Rose.' (View Larger)
Le Roman de la Rose: A Medieval Best Seller
(Circa 1230 – 1275)

The First Concordance of the Bible, Compiled by 500 Monks
(Circa 1230 – 1239)

Folio 1r of the 'C' manuscript of the Nibelungenlied. (View Larger)
The Song of the Nibelungs
(Circa 1230)

Villard's schematic illustration of a perpetual-motion machine. Folio 1 of Fr.19093 preserved at the Bibliotheque Nationale. (View Larger)
The Portfolio of Villard de Honnecourt
(Circa 1230)

From his book, De arte venandi cum avibus (The art of hunting with birds), a portrait of Holy Roman Emperor Frederick II, flanked by a falcon. (View Larger)
Banning the Use of Paper for Legal Documents
(1231)

Confirmation that Printed Textiles Exist in Europe
(1234)

A portrait of Pope Gregory IX. (View Larger)
Gregory IX Condemns Jews to Inferior Status
(1234)

Pope Gregory IX Orders the Seizure and Burning of Jewish Books
(June 9 – June 20, 1239)

Perhaps the First Grammar of a Romance Language
(Circa 1240)

A portrait of Louis IX.
French Copies of the Talmud Seized
(June 3, 1240)

Louis IX Orders the Burning of 12,000 Manuscripts of the Talmud
(June 1242)

The First Record of a Chinese Printed Seal in Europe
(1245)

The Vatican Archives Follow the Movements of the Pope
(1245 – 1783)

The Earliest Surviving German Document Written on Paper
(1246 – 1247)

Rome and its vicinity, as depicted on a reproduction the Tabula Peutingeriana. (View Full Map - Very Large)
The Tabula Peutingeriana
(Circa 1250)

The incipit of HLS MS 1, Harvard Law School's copy of Bracton's De legibus et consuetudinibus Angliae, probably written around the year 1300. (View Larger)
Precedent and Common Law
(1250 – 1256)

The First Alphabetical Subject Indexes
(Circa 1250)

Possibly the First Joint-Stock Company
(Circa 1250)

Henry III, by an unknown artist. (View Larger)
The Domus Conversorum, Later the Public Record Office
(1253)

Robert de Sorbon, founder of the University of Paris. (View Larger)
Formation of the University of Paris
(1257)

Hulagu Khan with his wife, Dokuz Kathun. (View Larger)
So Many Books were Thrown into the Tigris River that they Formed a Bridge…
(1258)

Portrait of Michael VII Palaiologos. (View Larger)
Michael VIII Palaiologos Reestablishes the Imperial Library
(1261)

(View Larger)
139 Professional Scribes Are Working in Bologna
(1265 – 1268)

A map illustrating both the first and second Polo expeditions. (View Larger)
The Travels of Niccolo and Maffeo Polo
(1266)

A schematic for Pierre de Maricourt's perpetual motion machine, from an early edition of the Epistola. (View Larger)
Discovery of the Compass--The Earliest Known European Work of Experimental…
(1269)

Survival of the Works of Archimedes was Dependent upon Three Manuscripts, Only One of Which Survived to the Present
(1269 – 1544)

Humbert de Romans, Dominican scholar who promulgated the notion of arranging books by subject matter.
The Arrangement and Cataloguing of Books
(Circa 1270)

A map of the Polos' eastward journey, begun in 1271. (View Larger)
Carrying the Pope's Response to Kublai Khan
(1271)

From a late 14th century copy of Richard de Fournival's 'Biblionomia.' A catalog of the section on philosophy, in which books are described by their dimensions. (View Larger)
Foundation of the Library of the Sorbonne, and "Perhaps the Earliest Specific…
(1271)

Folio 54r of the Worms Mahzor, upon which, in the interstices of the first word in the Prayer for Dew, is inscribed the oldest known Yiddish text: a small blessing in the form of a rhymed couplet, directed towards those who are charged with the seemingly onerous task of carrying the heavy Mahzor from the house of the owner to the synagogue. (View Larger)
The Oldest Surviving Literary Document in Yiddish
(1272)

Early Origins of the Star Chamber
(1275)

A round type case in which Chinese characters are organized by a rhyme scheme, designed and used by Wang Zhen for the production of his book, 'Nong Shu.' (View Larger)
Wooden Movable Type
(Circa 1275 – 1298)

Edward I, portrayed in the stained glass of Westminster Abbey.
Edward I's Statute of the Jewry
(1275)

The Earliest Surviving Statute Regulating the Paris Book Trade
(December 8, 1275)

The Merton College Library, at Oxford. (View Larger)
"The World's Oldest Continuously Functioning Library for University Academics…
(1276)

What remains of an early Fabriano paper mill. (View Larger)
The First Paper Mills in Italy
(1279)

Autograph Manuscript by Ibn-al-Nafis on the Art of Medicine
(Circa 1280)

Probably the Largest Medieval Library in Europe
(1289)

The infamous Edward I. (View Larger)
Edward I Expells the Jews from England
(1290)

Organization of the Sorbonne Library, and the Way it Was Physically Arranged
(1290)

John of Monte Corvino.
The First European Patrons of the Art of Printing?
(1294)

Tabriz, Iran, as seen through Google Earth. (View Larger)
A Clear Record of Early Block Printing in Tabriz
(1294)

Llull's Tree of Knowledge
(September 29, 1295 – April 1, 1296)

Folio 54r from a facsimile of 'Le divisament dou monde,' preserved at the University of Graz, in Germany. (View Larger)
The Lure and Romance of Travel to the East
(1298 – 1299)

A woodblock from Gregor Reisch's Margarita Philosophoca, 1508, depicting a table abacus. (View Larger)
The European Table Abacus
(Circa 1299)

The Planudean Anthology as Basis for the Anthologia Graeca
(1299 – 1301)