13th-century eyeglasses

Timeline

1. c. 1286–1300Pisa · TuscanyCraftsmen in north-central Italy mounted two convex lenses in a frame joined by rivets, creating pince-nez reading glasses to serve the presbyopic needs of literate clergy and merchants. No reliable contemporary record names the specific inventor.
2. 1306Florence · TuscanyDominican friar Giordano da Pisa stated in a Florence sermon that the invention of eyeglasses was less than twenty years old, praising it as a new art beneficial to reading. This is currently the earliest documentary evidence with a clear date.
3. c. 1310–1400Western European cities · Western EuropeEyeglasses spread northward with university, church, and commercial literacy needs; figures wearing glasses began to appear in manuscript illustrations and tomb carvings, with frame materials including bone, horn, leather, and metal.
4. c. 1450Venice · VenetoGuilds in Venice and elsewhere regulated lens quality and exports; concave lenses for myopia appeared in the mid-to-late 15th century. Eyeglass craftsmanship thereafter provided lenses and grinding experience for telescopes and microscopes, and continued to improve into modern optical glasses.