Major Events
- Mar 19 A Mongolian victory at the naval Battle of Yamen ends the Song Dynasty in China
- Jul 29 Five emissaries dispatched by Kublai Khan from the Mongol Yuan dynasty are beheaded by Japan
- Oct 12 Nichiren, a Japanese Buddhist monk, founder of Nichiren Buddhism, inscribes the Dai-Gohonzon
- Dec 12 Discovery of a sarcophagus supposedly containing the body of Mary Magdalene in the crypt of the church of Saint-Maximin, southeastern France
Who Died in 1279
- Feb 16 Afonso III, King of Portugal (1248-79), dies at 68
- Mar 19 Emperor Bing of Song China (b. 1271)
- Apr 14 Boleslaw the Pious, Polish duke dies
- Sep 10 Robert Kilwardby [Anglicus], English Archbishop of Canterbury (1272-78), philosopher and Cardinal, dies (b. 1215)
- Dec 7 Bolesław V the Chaste, High Duke of Poland (1243-79), dies at 53
Kublai Khan