1284
Statute of Rhuddlan annexes Wales
Edward I issued a statute from the castle of Rhuddlan that formally incorporated the principality of Wales into the English crown. English common law replaced Welsh customary law in criminal cases; sheriffs replaced native lords. His infant son would become the first English Prince of Wales. The title has been borne by the heir to the English and later British throne ever since, a legacy of conquest disguised as honor.
Genoese destroy Pisan fleet at Meloria
In a single day's battle off the Tuscan coast, Genoa's galleys shattered the naval power of Pisa. Thousands of Pisan sailors spent years in Genoese dungeons. Pisa's long decline into a secondary port began on the sandbanks off Meloria. Among the prisoners was Rustichello of Pisa, who would later share a cell with Marco Polo in Genoa and write down his famous travels.
Alfonso X deposed by his son Sancho
The learned king of Castile, beset by his unruly nobility and family quarrels, was deposed by his second son Sancho. Alfonso died months later in Seville, bitter at his family but proud of his legal and literary legacy. His Cantigas and Siete Partidas outlived the shame of his fall. He reportedly said that had God consulted him at creation, the universe would have been better arranged.
Pied Piper legend originates in Hamelin
The earliest references to a mysterious figure leading one hundred and thirty children out of the German town of Hamelin date to around this year. Whether the tale records a plague, a children's crusade, or a colonization drive to the east, something happened in Hamelin that its citizens never forgot and never fully explained.