1270
A basic spinning wheel for cotton is in use in China.
1271 - 1368
The Yuan Dynasty in China.
1271 - 1295
Marco Polo (1254-1324) travels through Asia to Mongolia and China, becoming a friend of Kublai Khan and governor of a Chinese city. Polo visits Sumatra and returns to Venice via the Indian Ocean telling tales of gold, silk, spices and other riches.
Marco Polo reports the Baku region as having established a commercial oil industry.
1271 - 1295
Venetian merchant and explorer Marco Polo reports of his travels in China: “In that province is a city, named Ti-min-gui [Jingdezhen] where they make the most beautiful cups in the world; they are of porcelain, and are manufactured in no other part of the earth besides that city.”
1273
The linen trade flourishes in Ireland.
1279
The silver ingot is used as currency in China.
1279
Mongol armies of Kublai Khan invade China.
1280
Marco Polo notes that cotton is a major export of Persia.
1280
Marco Polo notes that rice wine is more popular than grape wine in China.
1282
The earliest known European paper mill is built in Spain.
1284
The Gold Ducat is introduced as a coin in Venice and becomes a major trading currency.
1284
The Gold Florin is introduced in England.
1291
Muslim forces take Acre, ending the age of crusades.
1292
Mustard makers appear in Paris and Dijon.
1299
Osman I declares independence from the Seljuk Turks and founds the Ottoman Empire.
1300
The Travels of Marco Polo is published in Venice as an account of his travels through Asia.
1300
The Major Oak in Sherwood Forest starts to spread and is later associated with Robin Hood. However, the Forest is dramatically reduced by clearance and logging.
1300
Vodka is distilled in Poland, Belarus, Ukraine and Russia.
130
Forest code is introduced in France to regulate wood production for the navy.
1300
Blue and white porcelain first produced in Jingdehzen. Chinese imperial government monopolize the high-quality kaolin used for porcelain mined at Macang.
1300 - 1330
Earliest-documented porcelain in Europe.
1304 - 1374
Francesco Petrarch.
1306
Edward I decrees that coal burning should not take place when Parliament is in session.
1313 - 1375
Giovanni Boccacio.
1313
Multi-spindle wheels are in use in China.
1316
The Guild of Spicers joins with the Guild of Pepperers.
1316 - 1329
Italian missionary, Odoric de Pordenone, travels from France to China and back via India and Tibet.
1319
Sugar is sold as a luxury good in England and sugar sculptures are a noted feature of banquets.
1324
Mansa Musa, head of the Mali Empire takes the hajj to Mecca accompanied by camels laden with gold.
1324
Orhan, son of Osman, captures Bursa in Turkey and makes it the capital of the Ottoman Empire.
1325 - 1354
Moroccan explorer, Ibn Battutah travels throughout North Africa, the Middle East, the Silk Road, India and China.
1333 - 1370
Toghan Temur serves as the last Yuan Emperor and the final Khagan of the Mogols.
1337
The Hundred Years War between Britain and France starts when Edward III of England invades Northern France and makes a claim to the French crown.
1343 - 1400
Geoffrey Chaucer.
1346 - 1353
The Black Death sweeps through Europe wiping out 30-60% of the population. Spices are used to fend off the plague and their value soars.
1346
Battle of Crecy - Edward III defeats French forces.
1347 - 1350
The Bubonic Plague kills around one third of the population in Europe and Asia. Attempts are made to introduce public health and quarantine laws.
1356
The Golden Bull issued at Nuremburg establishes an agreed formula for the election of the Holy Roman Emperor.
1357
The Travels of Sir John Mandeville begin to circulate, giving fantastic accounts of foreign lands and mentioning the islands of Spicerie and lambs growing on the end of bushes (cotton).
1358
The Hanseatic League establish control over the Baltic Timber, Fish and Wheat trades.
1358
The Hanseatic League establish control over the Baltic Timber, Fish and Wheat trades.
1360
Battle of Poitiers - Edward III defeats French forces and England claims much of northern and western France.
1368 - 1644
The Ming Dynasty in China ends Mongol control of China. The army is reformed and strong centralised government is resumed.
1368 - 1644
Porcelain begins to be exported to Europe. Later, porcelain for the European market starts to be produced in China.
1369
Murad I captures Adrianople in Thrace and makes it the new capital of the Ottoman Empire.
1369
King Charles V of France reclaims much of the territory taken by the English in 1360, but sparks a series of reprisals.
1375 - 1521
Aztec Civilisation in Central America.
1375
The Catalan Atlas describes world trade routes.
1380 - 1389
Chaucer mentions Beaver Felt Hats from Flanders in the Canterbury Tales.
1385 - 1441
Jan Van Eyck.
1386
Treaty of Windsor allying Portugal and England.
1387 - 1389
Orhan takes Thessaloniki from the Venetians and Kosovo from the Serbs and expands the Ottoman Empire.
1388
UK Parliament passes an act forbidding the throwing of rubbish into ditches, rivers and waters and Cambridge passes the first urban sanitary laws.
1391
Loose leaf tea becomes popular following the preferences of Emperor Hung-wu.
1398
Tamerlane invades India.
140
Coffee is grown on a large enough scale in Yemen to be sold as a commodity. Yemen dominates the trade for 200 years.
1400
The art of paper making reaches Germany.
1400
The carrack (multi-masted and high sided sailing vessel) is developed by the Portuguese for sailing in rough sea conditions and makes long distance voyages possible.
1400
The Aztecs enjoy a fermented drink called Octli based on the blue agave plant.
1402
The Ottoman Empire is defeated by Tamerlane at the Battle of Ankara and has to regroup.
1403
Emperor Yongle moves the Chinese capital from Nanjing to Beijing.
1404 - 1472
Alberti, humanist scholar and architect.
1405 - 1433
Chinese Admiral Zheng-He leads seven voyages of exploration and trade to South East Asia, South Asia, East Africa and the Middle East before such voyages were banned by the Emperor. They discovered the Spice Islands.
1406
Emperor Yongle invades Vietnam.
1406 - 1420
Construction of the Forbidden City complex in Beijing.
1412 - 1431
Joan of Arc.
1415
Henry V of England invades Normandy and wins a decisive victory over the French at the Battle of Agincourt.
1420
Portuguese planters introduce sugar to Madeira and then on to the Canaries, the Azores and West Africa.
1420 - 1424
Venetian trader Nicolo de Conti duplicates Marco Polo's voyage to Asia.
1420
Prince Henry 'the Navigator' of Portugal commences a systematic investigation of the coast of West Africa, resulting in the colonisation of the Madeira Islands in 1420 and the Azores in 1427.
1422
Henry VI is crowned King of England and France.
1426 - 1516
Giovanni Bellini. He helps to establish the Venetian school of painting.
1429
The Aztecs forge an alliance with nearby city states in Texcoco and Tlacopan.
1429
English forces lay siege to Orleans, but the siege is broken by brave resistance led by Joan of Arc.