Monthly Archives: December 2017

The Ilkhan Turns Muslim, 1291-95

Posted on December 21, 2017 by Ruth

In 1291, the Mamluks finally captured Acre, the last outpost of the Crusader states. The Christian world didn’t know that they’d never take back any of that land, but in fact, they never would, until after World War I. At the … Continue reading →

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In Xanadu did Kublai Khan: the Yuans, 1271

Posted on December 11, 2017 by Ruth

“In Xandu did Cublai Can build a stately Pallace, encompassing sixteen miles of plaine ground with a wall, wherein are fertile Meddowes, pleasant Springs, delightfull streames, and all sorts of beasts of chase and game, and in the middest thereof … Continue reading →

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The Eighth and Ninth Crusades, 1270-2

Posted on December 4, 2017 by Ruth

The Mamluk Sultan Baybars had a field day in the Holy Land during the 1260s. War between Venice and Genoa had drawn the remaining Crusader towns into war with each other, exhausting the region one more time. Mamluk forces, which … Continue reading →

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West African Empires, 1269-1312

Posted on December 4, 2017 by Ruth

The Almohad dynasty had been ruling in Marrakesh and much of Spanish Andalusia for the last century. It wasn’t materially different from the Almoravids before or the Marinids after it; at this point, West and North Africa had settled into … Continue reading →

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The Reconquista in Spain, 1236-1265

Posted on December 3, 2017 by Ruth

The Reconquista moved into final stages when King Ferdinand III of Castile and Toledo inherited the kingdoms of Leon and Galicia, in 1230. He was the wealthiest, most powerful Spanish king yet: he married first a princess from the Hohenstaufen … Continue reading →

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