1297

1291 1292 1293 1294 1295 1296 1297 1298 1299 1300

political events

The Confirmation of Charters reaffirms the Magna Carta of 1215. Angered by the loss of Gascony to France, a coalition of English barons joins with middle-class groups angered by rising taxes in forcing Edward I to reaffirm the great charter and agree that the crown may not levy a nonfeudal tax without a grant from Parliament (see Gascony, 1303).

England's Edward I invades northern France.

Scotland's "Hammer and Scourge of England" William Wallace, 25, ravages Northumberland, Westmoreland, and Cumberland after driving the English out of Perth, Stirling, and Lanark (see 1296). Wallace routs an English army of more than 50,000 at Stirling Bridge in September (but see 1298).

religion

A royal tomb at Samudra in northern Sumatra is inscribed entirely in Arabic, indicating Islamic presence in the islands that will later become Indonesia and have the world's largest Muslim population (see politics, 1292). Sumatra's hinterland is rich in gold and forest products, and foreign traders have been drawn to ports on the Bay of Bengal, far from pirate strongholds at the southern end of the Strait of Malacca, but while the aristocracy of the islands has adopted Hindu and Buddhist teachings, Islam will spread rapidly through a proliferation of Koran schools. The islands will be home to more than 300 separate ethnic groups and 250 distinct languages (Indonesia's motto will be "Unity in Diversity" ["Bhinneka Tunggai Ika"]), and most of the world's major religions will have their adherents, but the majority of the people will be of Malay ancestry, Javanese will be the predominant language, and most of the population will follow the teachings of Islam (see politics, 1364).

environment

The giant Moas giraffe bird becomes extinct in the South Pacific islands that will be called New Zealand.

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