1279

Events

Europe

* March 5 - Battle of Aizkraukle: Lithuanian forces led by Traidenis defeat the Teutonic Knights.
* The first of the Statutes of Mortmain are passed under King Edward I of England, which prevents land from passing into possession of the church.
* The second of two main surveys of the Hundred Rolls, an English census seen as a follow up to the Domesday Book completed in 1086, is begun; it lasts until 1280.
* Al-Razi's important medical writings are translated into Latin by Faraj ben Salim, some 350 years after Al-Razi's death.
* The Royal Mint of England moves into the Tower of London.
* The town of Haapsalu, Estonia is founded.

Asia

* March 19 - Battle of Yamen: Kublai Khan's Mongol Yuan Dynasty defeats and ends the Song Dynasty, completing the Mongol conquest of China.
* The Mongol Empire reaches it's largest extent.
* October 12 - The "Dai-Gohonzon", the supreme object of veneration of Nichiren Shoshu Buddhism, is inscribed by Nichiren.
* A Mongol diplomatic party sent by Kublai Khan to Japan is killed by Japan's regent Hōjō Tokimune, leading to a second invasion attempt by the Mongols in 1281.
* The Chola Dynasty of South India falls under attacks by the Hoysala Empire and Pandyan Kingdom.
* Mamluk sultan Baraka Khan and emir Qalawun of Egypt invade Armenia; a revolt in Egypt while they are away forces Baraka to abdicate and allows Qalawun to become sultan.

Births

* Louis I, Duke of Bourbon (d. 1342)

Deaths

* February 16 - King Afonso III of Portugal (b. 1210)
* March - Zhang Shijie, Chinese admiral and official
* March 19 - Emperor Bing of Song China (b. 1271)
* April 14 - Duke Boleslaus of Greater Poland
* September 11 - Robert Kilwardby, Archbishop of Canterbury
* December 7 - King Boleslaus V of Poland (b. 1226)
* Walter Giffard, Lord Chancellor of England and archbishop
* Jeanne of Dammartin, Queen consort of Castile and León (b. 1216)