1286

By place

Europe

• January 6 - The 17-year-old Philip IV is crowned king of France at Reims. He settles the Aragonese conflict, and intensifies his predecessors' efforts to reform and rationalize the administration of the realm. Philip persists in reforms, which strengthen the monarchy's position in Europe. The gabelle - a tax on salt in the form of a state monopoly - will become immensely unpopular and grossly unequal, but persist until 1790.
• March 20 - Sultan Abu Yusuf Yaqub ibn Abd al-Haqq dies after a 28-year reign at Algeciras. He is succeeded by his son Abu Yaqub Yusuf an-Nasr, who becomes ruler of the Marinid Sultanate. Abu Yaqub makes a peace agreement with Muhammad II, Nasrid ruler of Granada, ceding all the towns previously occupied. After confirming the peace with Castile on May 28, he leaves 3,000 men in the Peninsula.
• Old Prussians resettle in Samland and start an uprising against Teutonic rule. The Prussians are defeated by the Teutonic Knights and forced to submit.
• The War of the Donkey is fought between the rival noble families of the Ghisi and the Sanudo, in the Duchy of the Archipelago in the Aegean Sea.
• The Guelph Republic of Siena allows exiled Ghibelline rebels back into the city.

  England & Scotland

• March 19 - King Alexander III dies in a fall from his horse at Kinghorn in Fife, leaving Queen Yolande of Dreux's unborn child and the 3-year-old Margaret as heirs to the throne. After Alexander's death, Scotland is governed by the nobility and clergy, known collectively as the Guardians of Scotland. This sets the stage for the First War of Scottish Independence.
• June - King Edward I and Queen Eleanor of Castile travel to France. There they pay homage to Philip IV and attend to other matters. Edward travels around in the duchy of Gascony and orders the rebuilding of fortifications in the region.

  Levant

• June 4 - The 15-year-old Henry II sails from Cyprus and lands in Acre, but is refused entry into the citadel. There, he stays for six weeks in the palace to negotiate an agreement to take over the city from the Angevins.
• August 15 - Henry II is crowned king of Jerusalem at Tyre. After the ceremony, he returns to Acre for the festivities. A few weeks later, Henry returns to Cyprus and appoints his uncle Philip of Ibelin as regent.

  Africa

• Abu Hafs Umar I, ruler of the Hafsid Sultanate, takes control of Béjaïa and becomes a rival of the main Hafsid entity based in Tunis.

  Asia

• In the Lao kingdom of Muang Sua, King Panya Leng is overthrown in a coup d'état led by his son, Prince Panya Khamphong, which is likely to have been supported by the Mongol-led Yuan Dynasty in China.
• Kublai Khan makes plans for a final Mongol invasion of Japan, but aborts the preparations due to a lack of necessary resources.

  By topic

Art and Culture

• March 7 - The Catholicon, a religious Latin dictionary, is completed by John of Genoa.