35 Historical Facts about the 1200s

The Mongol hordes, in 1223, executed the recently conquered Kievan nobles using the traditional caveat reserved for nobility: without shedding blood. They were buried and suffocated under the Mongol general's victory platform at the victory feast.

27. During the sack of Kyiv in 1240 by the Mongols, only two thousand of the city's fifty thousand residents survived, and only six of an original forty buildings were left standing, however, Voivode Dmytro, the commander in charge of the city's defenses was shown mercy because of his bravery.

28. In 1222 A.D., a physician named Najabuddin Unhammad described the delusion of love as one of the seven mental disorders.

29. In 1241, a Mongol general named Subotai destroyed the armies of Hungary and Poland within two days of each other, with forces over five hundred kilometers apart.

30. In 1224, the Knight Gaspard de Stérimberg returned from battle wounded, and with permission from the Queen of France, he built a hillside sanctuary for his recovery, dubbed Hermitage Hill. Today, that hill is where Hermitage wine is produced.

In his 1225 essay on the nature of color (Du Luce/On Light), the English Bishop Robert Grosseteste described the birth of the Universe in an explosion and the crystallization of matter to form stars and planets in a set of nested spheres around Earth. This was seven centuries before the Big Bang theory was put forth.

32. Mathematician Ramon Llull, who discovered ether in 1275, became a Franciscan monk after trying to write a dirty poem three times and seeing a vision of Christ each time.

33. The setting for the videogame Ghost of Tsushima is based on an actual Mongol/Yuan invasion of Japan, starting at Tsushima Island in 1274. The invaders landed on Komoda beach, were held there until evening, where the battle ended in a final cavalry charge that ended with all of the defenders being slain.

34. In 1277, Pope John XXII was so worried about the discovery of the laws of nature, he declared them a heresy. Later that year gravity visited him, when the roof of the palace collapsed, killing him.

35. In 1292, the Mongolians launched a failed invasion of Java because a Javanese king named Kertanegara of Singhasari was offended by Men Shi's proposal and branded his face with a hot iron as was done to common thieves, cut his ears, and scornfully sent him on his way.