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1230 CE

This year falls in the High and Late Middle Ages (c. 1000–1500 CE). Trade grows across Eurasia, and in the thirteenth century the Mongols build the largest connected land empire in history. The Black Death kills a large share of the people of Europe, the Middle East and North Africa from the 1340s, and the era closes with the fall of Constantinople in 1453 and the first European voyages to the Americas.

Within fifteen years

Philosopher · High and Late Middle Ages · ItalyThomas Aquinas1225–1274Italian Dominican friar whose Summa Theologiae joined Aristotle's philosophy to Christian doctrine in the most complete medieval system. He taught at Paris and Naples. He lived 1225 to 1274 and was canonized in 1323.

Country · ThailandThailand1238–Thailand is a Southeast Asian country, the only one in the region never colonized. The Thai kingdom of Sukhothai was founded in 1238. It has been a constitutional monarchy since 1932, though the army has often ruled.

Ruler · High and Late Middle Ages · ChinaKublai Khan1215–1294Mongol Khagan from 1260 and first emperor of China's Yuan dynasty, 1215 to 1294. He completed the Mongol conquest of China, ending the Song dynasty in 1279. His court at Khanbaliq, modern Beijing, hosted Marco Polo, whose account carried the wealth of China to European readers.