1318
Ethiopian Solomonic dynasty consolidates under Amda Seyon
The warrior-king of Ethiopia launched a campaign against the Muslim sultanates of Ifat and Adal along the eastern lowlands, securing the Christian highlands and the trade routes that fed them. Amda Seyon's conquests doubled his kingdom's reach and cemented the Solomonic myth that Ethiopia's kings descended from Solomon and Sheba.
Rashid al-Din executed in Tabriz
The great vizier and universal historian was accused of poisoning the Ilkhan Öljaitü, dragged through Tabriz, and beheaded at seventy. His endowed quarter, the Rab-i Rashidi - a university, hospital, and manuscript workshop that had employed hundreds of scholars and scribes - was looted. The murder silenced the most cosmopolitan intellect the Mongol world had produced.
Bruce takes Berwick from the English
After two decades of sieges, Scotland's southern gateway fell to Robert Bruce by stealth and assault, Scottish soldiers scaling the walls at night with rope ladders. The capture humiliated Edward II and gave the Scots a base for raiding Northumberland. Berwick would change hands another dozen times before the century closed, but this capture felt decisive.
Franciscan spirituals burned at Marseille
Four Franciscan friars who insisted that Christ and the apostles had owned nothing were handed by the inquisition to the secular arm and burned in Marseille. John XXII had decreed that apostolic poverty in the absolute sense was heretical, a position that outraged purists within the order. The Spirituals' movement went underground, feeding later apocalyptic dissent.
Battle of Faughart ends the Bruce invasion of Ireland
Edward Bruce, king of Ireland for three chaotic years, charged into an Anglo-Irish army near Dundalk and was cut down. His head was sent to Edward II in London as proof of the pretender's death. The Scottish dream of opening a second front against England through Ireland died with him in the October mud.
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Frequently asked
What happened in the year 1318?
Saeculum lists 5 curated events from 1318. The most significant is Ethiopian Solomonic dynasty consolidates under Amda Seyon: The warrior-king of Ethiopia launched a campaign against the Muslim sultanates of Ifat and Adal along the eastern lowlands, securing the Christian highlands…
What era was 1318 part of?
1318 falls within the Late Middle Ages (1301-1500). Plague, papal schism, and the seeds of nation-states.
Which regions saw notable events in 1318?
The curated events from 1318 span Africa, Middle East and Europe.