text:
1244

Year 1244 (MCCXLIV) was a leap year starting on Friday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar.

Europe

 * March 16 – Siege of Montségur: French forces capture and destroy Château de Montségur in Languedoc, after a 9-month siege. Some 200 'heretics' (perfecti and credentes) are burnt in a bonfire, near the foot of the castle. This marks the final defeat of the Cathars (or Albigensians); the followers become scattered fugitives, meeting in forests and mountain wilds.
 * March 26 – Treaty of Almizra: King James I (the Conqueror) and King Ferdinand III (the Saint) agree on the distribution of Muslim lands yet to be conquered. All lands south of a line, from the cities of Biar to Villajoyosa through Busot, are reserved for the Crown of Castile. This ends further Aragonese expansion on the Iberian Peninsula.
 * December – King Louis IX (the Saint) falls desperately ill of a severe malarian infection. Near-death, he vows that if he recovers he will set out for a crusade. Louis' life is spared and as soon as his health permits him, he takes the cross and immediately begins preparations for the Seventh Crusade.

Levant

 * June – Khwarazmian forces (some 10,000 men) invade Syrian territory, ravaging the land and burning the villages. As Damascus is too strong for a siege, they attack Galilee, past the town of Tiberias – which they capture. The Khwarazmians attack further southward through Nablus towards Jerusalem.
 * July 15 – Siege of Jerusalem: Khwarazmian horsemen attack and sack the 'holy city' of Jerusalem. There is bloody fighting in the streets, the Khwarazmian force their way into the Armenian Quarter, where they decimate the Christian population, and drive out the Jews. The city is left in a state of ruin.
 * August 23 – The Tower of David surrenders to the Khwarazmian forces, some 6,000 Christian men, women and children march out of Jerusalem. As they move along the road toward Jaffa, they see crusader flags waving on the Walls of Jerusalem. Returning, some 2,000 of them are massacred.
 * October 4 – The Crusaders assemble a force of some 1,000 cavalry and 6,000 men outside Acre, after hearing that Jerusalem is sacked by the Khwarazmians. They are joined by the Ayyubid forces (some 4,000 men) of Damascus and Homs – while Emir An-Nasir Dawud brings his army from Kerak.
 * October 17 – Battle of La Forbie: A Crusader army (some 10,000 men) under Walter IV of Brienne and Ayyubid allies are defeated near Hiribya (or La Forbie) by Egyptian and Khwarazmian forces. The army is destroyed, with about 7,500 men killed. Walter and William of Chastelneuf are captured.

Religion

 * June 7 – Pope Innocent IV is driven from Rome by imperial forces of Emperor Frederick II, and travels secretly in disguise to Sutri. Genoese galleys prepared by his relatives are waiting for him at the port of Civitavecchia to take him to Genoa.
 * October 5 – Innocent IV flees to France and travels to Lyon, where he arrives on November 29. Although the city is nominally subject to the Holy Roman Empire, Innocent falls under the protection of Louis IX.
 * December 27 – Innocent IV summons a general council to meet in Lyon (some 140 bishops eventually come) to attend what becomes later the First Council of Lyon.

Births

 * June 24 – Henry I of Hesse, German nobleman (d. 1308)
 * June 25 – Ibn al-Fuwati, Arab historian and writer (d. 1323)
 * Agnes Blannbekin, Austrian Beguine and mystic (d. 1315)
 * Dai Biaoyuan, Chinese litterateur, poet and writer (d. 1310)
 * Elizabeth the Cuman, queen consort of Hungary (d. 1290)
 * Folquet de Lunel, French troubadour and writer (d. 1300)
 * Guy de Montfort, English nobleman and knight (d. 1291)
 * Heinrich II of Virneburg, archbishop of Cologne (d. 1332)
 * Henry I (the Fat), king of Navarre (House of Blois) (d. 1274)
 * Hong Dagu (or Charghu), Korean military leader (d. 1291)
 * Ingeborg Eriksdotter, queen consort of Norway (d. 1287)
 * John III of Prague, margrave of Brandenburg (d. 1268)
 * Louis of France, French nobleman and regent (d. 1260)
 * Margaret of Antioch, Outremer noblewoman (d. 1308)
 * Otto III (or IV), German nobleman and knight (d. 1285)

Deaths

 * March 1 – Gruffud ap Llywelyn, Welsh nobleman (b. 1196)
 * March 19 – Isnardo da Chiampo, Italian preacher and priest
 * April 2 – Henrik Harpestræng, Danish physician and writer
 * September 3 – Guala de Roniis, bishop of Brescia (b. 1180)
 * October 24 – William Briwere, English bishop and diplomat
 * November 18 – Ibn Abi'l-Dam, Syrian historian (b. 1187)
 * December 5 – Joan, countess of Flanders and Hainaut
 * Alexander de Stirling, Scottish nobleman and knight
 * Baldwin III, Flemish nobleman and knight (b. 1198)
 * Bouchard IV of Avesnes, French nobleman and knight
 * Eleanor of Castile, queen consort of Aragon (b. 1200)
 * James of Pecorara, Italian monk, cardinal and diplomat
 * John Komnenos (Doukas), emperor of Thessalonica
 * Manfred III of Saluzzo, Italian nobleman and knight
 * Meir Abulafia (or Ramah), Castilian rabbi and writer
 * Minamoto no Mitsuyuki, Japanese politician (b. 1163)
 * Ralph de Neville, English archbishop and politician
 * Robert of Strathearn, Scottish nobleman and knight
 * Saionji Kintsune, Japanese poet and writer (b. 1171)
 * Sophia of Saxony, German noblewoman and abbess
 * Yelü Chucai, Chinese advisor and statesman (b. 1190)

title: 1244


text:
1245

Year 1245 (MCCXLV) was a common year starting on Sunday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar.

Europe

 * Winter – Siege of Jaén: Castilian forces under King Ferdinand III (the Saint) besiege the Moorish-held city of Jaén. During the siege Moorish knights sally out and manage to capture a Castilian supply caravan. Meanwhile, Ferdinand tries to launch attacks on the various city gates, but all are ineffective.
 * In witness of the toll taken by war and fiscal pressure in the Kingdom of Castile, the region of Segovia is described this year as depopulated and sterile.

England

 * King Henry III starts the work of rebuilding Westminster Abbey, as a tribute to Edward the Confessor.

Levant

 * April – Egyptian forces under As-Salih Ayyub besiege the city of Damascus. After six months, As-Salih Ismail, ruler of Damascus, surrenders to Ayyub in return for a vassal-principality, consisting of Baalbek and the Hauran. Ayyub is awarded the title of sultan by Caliph Al-Musta'sim in Baghdad.

Religion

 * February 21 – Thomas, bishop of Turku (modern Finland), is granted resignation by Pope Innocent IV. He admits to committing several felonies, such as torturing and forging a papal letter.
 * April 16 – Innocent IV sends Giovanni da Pian del Carpine (accompanied by Stephen of Bohemia) to the Mongol court at Karakorum, suggesting that the Mongols convert to Christianity.
 * June 28 – First Council of Lyon: In a general church council held at Lyon, Innocent IV declares Emperor Frederick II excommunicated and deposed. He proclaims the Seventh Crusade.

Births

 * January 16 – Edmund Crouchback, son of Henry III (d. 1296)
 * May 1 – Philip III (the Bold), king of France (d. 1285)
 * November 14 – Sang Sapurba, Indonesian ruler (d. 1316)
 * Antony Bek (or Beck), English bishop and patriarch (d. 1311)
 * Araniko (or Anige), Nepalese architect and painter (d. 1306)
 * Eric of Brandenburg, archbishop of Magdeburg (d. 1295)
 * Fujiwara no Saneko, Japanese empress consort (d. 1272)
 * Giovanna da Signa, Italian miracle worker and saint (d. 1307)
 * Kikuchi Takefusa, Japanese nobleman and samurai (d. 1285)
 * Kunigunda of Halych, queen consort of Bohemia (d. 1285)
 * Ma Duanlin, Chinese encyclopaedist and politician (d. 1322)
 * Nichirō, Japanese Buddhist disciple and scholar (d. 1320)
 * Rinaldo da Concorezzo, Italian priest and archbishop (d. 1321)
 * Roger Bigod, English nobleman and Lord Marshal (d. 1306)
 * Thomas de Berkeley (the Wise), English nobleman (d. 1321)
 * Yahballaha III, patriarch of the Church of the East (d. 1317)
 * Ziemomysł of Kuyavia, Polish ruler of Bydgoszcz (d. 1287)

Deaths

 * January 27 – Ralph of Maidstone, bishop of Hereford
 * January 28 – Giovanni Colonna, Italian cardinal (b. 1170)
 * February 8 – John of la Rochelle, French theologian (b. 1200)
 * February 15 – Baldwin de Redvers, English nobleman (b. 1217)
 * March 22 – Roger I of Fézensaguet, French nobleman (b. 1190)
 * July 22 – Kolbeinn ungi Arnórsson, Icelandic chieftain (b. 1208)
 * August 19 – Ramon Berenguer IV, Spanish nobleman (b. 1198)
 * August 21 – Alexander of Hales, English theologian (b. 1185)
 * November 27 – Walter Marshal, English nobleman (b. 1209)
 * December 4 – Christian of Oliva, bishop of Prussia (b. 1180)
 * Adam of Harcarse, Scottish Cistercian priest and abbot
 * Beatrice d'Este, queen consort of Hungary (b. 1215)
 * Cletus Bél, Hungarian prelate, bishop and chancellor
 * Diya al-Din al-Maqdisi, Syrian scholar and writer (b. 1173)
 * Fujiwara no Tadataka, Japanese regent and monk (b. 1163)
 * Guillaume le Vinier, French composer and poet (b. 1190)
 * Ibn al-Salah, Syrian scholar, imam and writer (b. 1181)
 * Isabel de Bolebec, English noblewoman and co-heiress
 * Rusudan of Georgia, queen consort of Georgia (b. 1194)

license: Creative Commons - Attribution Share-Alike - https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/

title: 1245


text:
1246

Year 1246 (MCCXLVI) was a common year starting on Monday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar.

Europe

 * February 28 – Siege of Jaén: Castilian forces, led by King Ferdinand III (the Saint), manage to take the city of Jaén from the Andalucians. In a combined assault with the knights of the Order of Santiago, the city is handed over by Sultan Muhammad I, who accepts Ferdinand's overlordship in exchange for a 20-year truce. The Emirate of Granada becomes a vassal state of the Kingdom of Castile.
 * May 22 – Henry Raspe is elected anti-king in Germany in opposition to Conrad IV of Germany and Conrad's father, the excommunicated emperor Frederick II.
 * June 15 – Battle of the Leitha River: Hungarian forces, under King Béla IV, defeat Duke Frederick II (the Quarrelsome) at the banks of the Leitha River. Frederick is killed (leaving no male heirs); the House of Babenberg is dissolved. Emperor Frederick II places the fiefs of Austria and Styria under his rule. This ends the Austrian claims to the western counties of Hungary.
 * November – Michael II Asen, ruler (tsar) of the Bulgarian Empire, succeeds his brother Kaliman I (possibly poisoned). He confirms the reconquest of Bulgarian territories against John III (Doukas Vatatzes), Byzantine ruler of the Empire of Nicaea.
 * Frederick II suppresses a Sicilian revolt and deports the remaining Muslim inhabitants of Lucera (approximate date).

Mongol Empire

 * August 24 – Güyük Khan, eldest son of Ögedei Khan, is enthroned as the 3rd Great Khan of the Mongol Empire (which is witnessed by a papal mission under Giovanni da Pian del Carpine) at Karakorum. Güyük reverses several edicts of his mother, Töregene Khatun, and orders Eljigidei, Mongol viceroy of Persia, to advance into Syria and prepare an attack on Baghdad.
 * September 30 – Yaroslav II, father of Alexander Nevsky, is poisoned by Töregene Khatun, after he is summoned by Güyük Khan in Karakorum.

Levant

 * Alice of Champagne, queen and regent of Jerusalem, dies after a 3-year reign. She is succeeded by her son, Henry I of Cyprus (the Fat), who appoints Balian III of Beirut as his bailli and confirms Philip of Montfort in the possession of Tyre.
 * 2 October – Damascus falls to the Ayyubid vizier Mu'in al-Din Hasan ibn al-Shaykh after a siege of some four months.

Asia

 * February 16 – Emperor Go-Saga abdicates the throne in favor of his 3-year-old son, Go-Fukakusa, who becomes the 89th Emperor of Japan.

Arts

 * Robert Grosseteste translates Aristotle's Nicomachean Ethics from Greek into Latin, which marks the true start of the rediscovery of the philosopher by Medieval Europe.

Nature

 * The perihelion of the Earth's orbit coincides with the December solstice.

Religion

 * Beaulieu Abbey in England, founded earlier by King John, is dedicated in the presence of King Henry III, Queen Eleanor and 7-year-old Prince Edward.
 * Katedralskolan in Uppsala is established beside Uppsala Cathedral as a seminary for the clergy (the founding year according to tradition).

Births

 * March 8 – Nikkō Shōnin, Japanese religious leader (d. 1333)
 * March 24 – Henry Bate of Mechelen, Brabantian philosopher
 * September 14 – John FitzAlan, English nobleman (d. 1272)
 * Angelo da Furci, Italian priest, orator and theologian (d. 1327)
 * Drakpa Odzer, Tibetan Imperial Preceptor (Dishi) (d. 1303)
 * Enrique Enríquez (the Elder), Castilian nobleman (d. 1323)
 * Hugh of Lincoln (Little Saint), English Jewish boy (d. 1255)
 * Jutta of Denmark (or Judith), Danish princess and abbess
 * Konoe Motohira, Japanese nobleman and regent (d. 1268)
 * Nicholas of Tolentino, Italian monk, friar and mystic (d. 1305)
 * Paolo Malatesta, Italian nobleman and diplomat (d. 1285)
 * Riccobaldo of Ferrara, Italian chronicler and geographer
 * Safi al-Din al-Hindi, Indian scholar and theologian (d. 1315)
 * Takezaki Suenaga, Japanese retainer and samurai (d. 1314)
 * Teodosije the Hilandarian, Serbian hagiographer (d. 1328)

Deaths

 * February 25 – Dafydd ap Llywelyn, Welsh prince (b. 1212)
 * April 15 – Peter González (Telmo), Castilian priest (b 1190)
 * May 19 – Umiliana de' Cerchi, Italian noblewoman (b. 1219)
 * June 4 – Isabella of Angoulême, queen consort of England
 * June 15 – Frederick II, duke of Austria and Styria (b. 1211)
 * June 16 – Lutgardis (or Lutgarde), Flemish nun (b. 1182)
 * June 28 – Al-Mansur Ibrahim, Ayyubid governor and ruler
 * September 20 – Michael of Chernigov, Kievan Grand Prince
 * September 30 – Yaroslav II, Kievan Grand Prince (b. 1191)
 * October 22 – Mieszko II (the Fat), duke of Kalisz-Wieluń
 * November 3 – Robert de Bingham, bishop of Salisbury
 * November 8 – Berengaria (the Great), queen of Castile
 * Alice of Champagne, queen consort of Cyprus (b. 1193)
 * Ednyfed Fychan, Welsh nobleman and knight (b. 1170)
 * Elias of Dereham, English master stonemason designer
 * Erard of Brienne-Ramerupt, French nobleman (b. 1170)
 * Eva Marshal, Cambro-Norman noblewoman (b. 1203)
 * Geoffrey II of Villehardouin, prince of Achaea (b. 1195)
 * Henry Audley (or Aldithel), English nobleman (b. 1175)
 * Hōjō Tsunetoki, Japanese nobleman and regent (b. 1224)
 * Kaliman Asen I, ruler of the Bulgarian Empire (b. 1234)
 * Kaykhusraw II, ruler of the Sultanate of Rum (b. 1221)
 * Matteo Rosso Orsini, Italian nobleman and politician
 * Muhammad Al-Makki, Arab ruler and explorer (b. 1145)
 * Richard FitzRoy, illegitimate son of John (Lackland)
 * Tello Téllez de Meneses, bishop of Palencia (b. 1170)
 * Temüge (or Otgon), brother of Genghis Khan (b. 1168)
 * Theodora Angelina, Byzantine noblewoman (b. 1190)
 * Walter IV (the Great), French nobleman and knight
 * Walter Stewart, Scottish politician and High Steward
 * Wansong Xingxiu, Chinese Buddhist monk (b. 1166)

title: 1246


text:
1247

Year 1247 (MCCXLVII) was a common year starting on Tuesday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar.

Europe

 * War of the Thuringian Succession: The claims on the Ludovingians' inheritance after the death of Henry Raspe, landgrave of Thuringia, leads to a dispute over the succession territories of Thuringia and Hesse, between his niece Sophie of Thuringia and her cousin Henry III (the Illustrious), who claims the territories as fiefs of the Electorate of Mainz.
 * July 2 – King Béla IV grants territories to the Knights Hospitaller in the Banate of Severin and Hungarian Cumania (according to a document called the Diploma of the Joannites), makes an early mention of Litovoi and other Vlach/Romanian local rulers, in Wallachia and Transylvania.
 * Summer – Siege of Seville: Castilian forces under King Ferdinand III (the Saint) begin to besiege Seville, the city is isolated and Ramón de Bonifaz sails with 13 galleys up the Guadalquivir River to scatter some 40 smaller Almohad ships trying to oppose him (with many destroyed).
 * December 1 – A rebellion arises among the Muslim subjects in the region of Valencia. As a punishment, King James I (the Conqueror), issues an order of expulsion of the Muslims from his realm, leading numerous people into exile in Andalusia and North Africa.

Levant

 * June 17 – Egyptian forces under Sultan As-Salih Ayyub capture Tiberias and his castle. Mount Tabor and Belvoir Castle are occupied soon afterward. Next, Ayyub moves his army to siege Ascalon – which is defended by a garrison of Knights Hospitaller. They summon the help from Acre and Cyprus.
 * Summer – King Henry I (the Fat) sends a Cypriot squadron of 8 galleys with 100 knights led by Baldwin of Ibelin, to Acre. With the support of the Italian colonists, they fitted out 7 more galleys and some 50 lighter ships, to relieve the siege at Ascalon – which is now blockaded by the Egyptian fleet.
 * The Egyptian fleet (some 20 galleys) confronts the Crusader ships led by Baldwin of Ibelin at Ascalon. But before contact is made, it is caught in a sudden Mediterranean storm. Many of the Muslim ships are driven ashore and wrecked; the survivors sail back to Egypt.
 * October 15 – Egyptian forces under As-Salih Ayyub capture Ascalon by surprise – while a battering-ram forces a passageway under the walls right into the citadel. Most of the defenders are massacred, and the remainder of the garrison is taken prisoner.

British Isles

 * Battle of Ballyshannon: Norman forces under Maurice FitzGerald defeat a Gaelic army near Ballyshannon in northern Ireland. After the battle, the entire country of Donegal is devastated and plundered by the Normans.
 * The Bethlem Royal Hospital is founded in London during the reign of King Henry III.
 * Romford (located within Greater London) is chartered as a market town.

Asia

 * The Hōjō clan under Hōjō Tokiyori destroys the Miura family; and in so doing, the clan consolidates its authority as regents in Japan.

Mathematics

 * Qin Jiushao, Chinese mathematician, writes the Mathematical Treatise in Nine Sections.

Medicine

 * Song Ci publishes the Collected Cases of Injustice Rectified, a book considered to be the first monographic work on forensic medicine.

Births

 * Angelo da Clareno, Italian priest and religious leader (d. 1337)
 * Isabelle of Luxembourg, countess of Flanders (d. 1298)
 * John II Avesnes, count of Hainaut and Holland (d. 1304)
 * John of Montecorvino, Italian diplomat and bishop (d. 1328)
 * Philippe de Rémi, French official and seneschal (d. 1296)
 * Rashid al-Din, Persian statesman and historian (d. 1318)
 * Robert FitzWalter, English nobleman and knight (d. 1326)
 * Todros ben Judah Halevi Abulafia, Castilian Jewish poet
 * Yishan Yining, Chinese monk and calligrapher (d. 1317)
 * Yolande II of Nevers, French noblewoman (d. 1280)

Deaths

 * February 12 – Ermesinde, countess of Luxembourg (b. 1186)
 * February 16 – Henry Raspe, landgrave of Thuringia (b. 1204)
 * February 25 – Henry IV, duke of Limburg (House of Limburg)
 * May 9 – Richard de Bures, French knight and Grand Master
 * June 10 – Rodrigo Jiménez de Rada, Spanish bishop (b. 1170)
 * July 8 – Mōri Suemitsu, Japanese nobleman and samurai (b. 1202)
 * August 31 – Konrad I of Masovia, Polish nobleman (House of Piast)
 * November 5 – Ogasawara Nagatsune, Japanese samurai (b. 1179)
 * December 21 – Roger of Salisbury, bishop of Bath and Wells
 * December 24 – Shōkū, Japanese Buddhist disciple (b. 1177)
 * unknown date – Śārṅgadeva, Indian scholar, musicologist and writer (b. 1175)
 * probable – William de Ferrers, 4th Earl of Derby, English nobleman and knight (b. 1168)

title: 1247


text:
1249

Year 1249 (MCCXLIX) was a common year starting on Friday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar.

Seventh Crusade

 * May 13 – King Louis IX (the Saint) assembles a Crusader fleet of 120 transports and embarks an army (some 15,000 men) at Limassol. Unfortunately, a storm scatters the ships a few days later. On May 30, Louis sets sail to Egypt – only a quarter of his forces sails with him, the others make their way independently to the Egyptian coast. Finally, the royal squadron arrives off Damietta on June 4 aboard Louis' flagship the Montjoie. The king's advisers urges a delay until the rest of his transports arrive before attempting to disembark, but Louis refuses.
 * June 5 – Siege of Damietta: Louis IX lands with a Crusader force and captures Damietta, after a fierce battle at the edge of the sea. The onslaught of the knights of France and those of Outremer under John of Ibelin, force the Ayyubids back with heavy losses. At nightfall, Fakhr ad-Din withdraws his army over a bridge of boats to Damietta. Finding the population there in panic and the garrison wavering, Fakhr ad-Din decides to evacuate the city. On June 6, Louis marches triumphantly over the bridge into Damietta and builds a camp to attack Cairo.
 * November 20 – Louis IX sets out (against the advice of his nobles) with a Crusader force from Damietta, along the southern road to Mansourah. A garrison is left to guard the city – where Queen Margaret of Provence and Patriarch Robert of Nantes remain. The Crusaders make slow progress along the Nile, carrying a number of supplies and equipment. After 32 days, Louis orders to make camp opposite the Ayyubid camp near Mansourah, protected by a branch of the river and fortifications. Both camps use their catapults to bombard each other.
 * December – Louis IX consolidates his forces at Mansourah. After the death of Sultan As-Salih Ayyub, Fakhr ad-Din effectively becomes the ruler of Egypt. He takes command of the city's defense and his cavalry harasses the Crusaders but none of these skirmishes is successful in holding up the Crusader's advance. Meanwhile, Louis orders the construction of a dyke at Mansourah, although the Crusaders build covered galleries to protect the workmen, the Egyptian bombardment (particularly Greek fire), is so formidable that the work is halted.

Europe

 * February 16 – Louis IX sends Andrew of Longjumeau on a diplomatic mission to meet the "Great Khan" of the Mongol Empire. He carries letters from Louis and the Papal States, and rich presents, including a chapel-tent lined with scarlet cloth and embroidered with sacred pictures. From Cyprus he goes to the port of Antioch in Syria and travels for a year to the khan's court at Karakorum.
 * May – Nicaean–Latin Wars: Latin forces led by William of Villehardouin, arrive on the island of Rhodes on their way to join the Seventh Crusade. This causes the Nicaeans to raise the siege of Rhodes. William concludes an agreement with the Genoese and leaves behind some 100 knights before departing for the Holy Land.
 * May 26 – Battle of Fossalta: King Enzo of Sardinia, an illegitimate son of Emperor Frederick II, is captured and imprisoned by Lombard forces, in a clash between the Guelphs and Ghibellines. Enzo is put in golden chains and paraded around Bologna on a horse. He becomes a prisoner in a palace, named Palazzo Re Enzo.
 * July 6 – King Alexander II dies of a fever at the island of Kerrera in the Inner Hebrides. He is succeeded by his 7-year-old son, Alexander III, who is crowned as ruler of Scotland at Scone, on July 13. Alexander's minority causes a struggle for control of affairs between Walter Comyn and Alan Durward, Justiciar of Scotia.
 * Summer – Second Swedish Crusade: A Swedish expedition led by Birger Jarl subjugates the province of Tavastia – securing Swedish power in Finland. As a part of the Treaty of Lödöse Birger marries off his 11-year-old daughter Rikissa to Haakon the Young, ruler and eldest son of King Haakon IV (the Old) of Norway.
 * King Afonso III (the Boulonnais) recaptures Faro and Silves in the Algarve from the Almohads, thus ending the Portuguese Reconquista. The Almohads lose possession of Alicante in Al-Andalus (modern Spain).
 * August 15 – First Battle of Athenry: Gaelic forces of Connacht besiege Athenry Castle in County Galway in Ireland. But are repelled by the Normans under Jordan de Exeter, Sheriff of Connacht.
 * Winter – William of Villehardouin tours the Peloponnese and selects sites for new fortifications such as Grand Magne and Leuktron. At Mystras (ancient Sparta), he builds a fortress and a palace.

Asia

 * March – The Japanese Hōji period ends during the reign of Emperor Go-Fukakusa and the Kenchō period begins (until 1256).
 * The Hikitsuke, a judicial organ of the Kamakura and Ashikaga shogunates of Japan, is established.

Cities and Towns

 * The city of Stralsund is burned to the ground, by German forces from the rival Free City of Lübeck. Later, the town is rebuilt with a massive defensive wall having 11 city gates and some 30 watchtowers.

Education

 * Spring – University College, the first college at Oxford, is founded with money from the estate of William of Durham.

Microhistory

 * Jean Mouflet makes an agreement with the abbot of Saint-Pierre-le-Vif in the Senonais region in France: in return for an annual payment, the monastery will recognize Jean as a "citizen of Sens". He is a leather merchant, with a leather shop that he leases for the rent of 50 shillings a year. The agreement is witnessed by Jean's wife, Douce, daughter of a wealthy and prominent citizen of Sens, Felis Charpentier.

Science

 * Roger Bacon publishes a major scientific work, including writings of convex lens spectacles for treating long-sightedness, and the first publication of the formula for gunpowder in the western world.

Births

 * July 9 – Kameyama, emperor of Japan (d. 1305)
 * September 4 – Amadeus V, count of Savoy (d. 1323)
 * December 26 – Edmund, English nobleman (d. 1300)
 * Constance II of Sicily, queen consort of Aragon (d. 1302)
 * Frederick I, margrave of Baden and Verona (d. 1268)
 * Gaucher V de Châtillon, French nobleman (d. 1329)
 * Humphrey VI de Bohun, English nobleman (d. 1298)
 * John XXII, pope of the Catholic Church (d. 1334)
 * Menachem Meiri, Catalan rabbi and writer (d. 1315)
 * Richard of Middleton, Norman theologian (d. 1308)
 * Robert III, Flemish nobleman and knight (d. 1322)
 * Wu Cheng, Chinese philosopher and poet (d. 1333)
 * Zhu Shijie (or Hanqing), Chinese mathematician

Deaths

 * January 15 – Archambaud IX, French nobleman
 * March 9 – Siegfried III, archbishop of Mainz (b. 1194)
 * April 16 – Contardo of Este, Italian nobleman (b. 1216)
 * June 28 – Adolf I of the Mark, German nobleman
 * July 6 – Alexander II, king of Scotland (b. 1198)
 * July 19 – Jacopo Tiepolo, doge of Venice (b. 1169)
 * August 31 – Rodrigo Díaz, Spanish prelate and bishop
 * September 27 – Raymond VII, French nobleman (b. 1197)
 * October 5 – Abu Zakariya Yahya, Hafsid ruler (b. 1203)
 * November 22
 * As-Salih Ayyub, Ayyubid ruler of Egypt (b. 1205)
 * Geoffrey de Liberatione, Scottish cleric and bishop
 * December 10 – Choe U, Korean military leader (b. 1166)
 * December 18 – Conrad II of Reifenberg, German bishop
 * Dōjonyūdō, Japanese nobleman and waka poet (b. 1196)
 * Hugh X of Lusignan, French nobleman and knight (b. 1183)
 * John I of Montfort, Breton nobleman and knight (b. 1228)
 * Pietro della Vigna, Italian chancellor and diplomat (d. 1190)
 * Robert I (the Chaplain), Scoto-Norman priest and bishop
 * Song Ci, Chinese physician, judge and scientist (b. 1186)
 * William of Auvergne, French bishop and writer (b. 1180)
 * Wuzhun Shifan, Chinese monk and calligrapher (b. 1178)

title: 1249


text:
1253

Year 1253 (MCCLIII) was a common year starting on Wednesday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar.

Europe

 * January 18 – King Henry I of Cyprus ("the Fat") dies and is succeeded by his son Hugh II, who is only a few months old. His mother, Queen Plaisance of Antioch, claims the regency of Cyprus and the titular regency of Jerusalem. The High Court of Cyprus confirms her position, but the barons of Outremer require her attendance in person before they will recognize her. John of Ibelin, count of Jaffa, remains as bailli, and Plaisance contemplates marrying John's youthful son Balian. Meanwhile, King Louis IX of France ("the Saint"), still staying at Acre, continues to administer the government.
 * Summer – The Kingdom of Galicia–Volhynia becomes a vassal state to the expanding Mongol Empire. Prince Daniel of Galicia is crowned "Rex Rusiae" and becomes officially an Orthodox subject of the Papal States.
 * July 4 – William II, count of Holland, defeats the Flemish forces under Guy of Dampierre at Westkapelle. He forced him and his mother, Margaret II, to respect the division of Flanders and Hainaut.
 * July 6 – Mindaugas and his wife Morta are crowned as king and queen of Lithuania, ruling between 300,000 and 400,000 subjects.
 * October 10 – German imperial forces under King Conrad IV suppress the Sicilian rebellion and recapture Naples.

England

 * August 6 – King Henry III leads an expedition to Gascony, to repel a rumoured invasion from Castile. Meanwhile, Simon de Montfort returns from Gascony where he allies himself with the barons who oppose Henry.
 * Henry III meets with the nobles and church leaders to reaffirm the validity of Magna Carta in exchange for taxation.

Levant

 * April – An-Nasir Yusuf, Ayyubid ruler of Damascus, cedes Palestine, together with Jerusalem, Nablus and the coastline of Al-Sham to Aybak, Mamluk sultan of Egypt.

Asia

 * April 28 – Nichiren, Japanese Buddhist monk, declares his intent to preach the Lotus Sutra and Namu Myōhō Renge Kyō as the true Buddhism, thus founding Nichiren Buddhism.
 * May – Louis IX of France ("the Saint") dispatches William of Rubruck from Constantinople on a missionary journey to Karakorum to seek an alliance against Syrian and Egyptian Muslims.
 * Mongol forces under Hulagu Khan begin a campaign against the Nizari Ismaili State. An advance guard (12,000 men) under Kitbuqa captures several fortresses in Quhistan.
 * Mongol forces under Kublai Khan conquer the Dali Kingdom (modern-day Yunnan). The population migrates to Siam (modern Thailand).
 * Kublai Khan introduces the baisha xiyue song and dance suite to the music of Yunnan.

Literature

 * Matthew Paris, English Benedictine chronicler, completes the major part of his Chronica Majora, a chronicle of English history.

Religion

 * October – Pope Innocent IV returns to Rome, after being deposed for 9 years by former Emperor Frederick II, whose clash forms an important chapter in the conflict between the Papal States and the Holy Roman Empire.
 * Innocent IV offers the crown of Sicily, which he controls, to Richard of Cornwall and Charles of Anjou, both of whom refuse, and later to the 8-year-old Edmund, son of Henry III of England.
 * The upper Basilica of Saint Francis of Assisi, the earliest important structure of Italian Gothic architecture, is completed in Assisi.
 * Sligo Abbey, a Dominican monastery, is founded by Maurice FitzGerald, Norman chief governor of Ireland.

Births

 * March 1 – Mattia de Nazarei, Italian abbess and saint (d. 1319)
 * March 20 – Wareru, founder of the Martaban Kingdom (assassinated 1307)
 * September 11 – Dmitry Borisovich, Kievan nobleman (d. 1294)
 * October 17 – Ivo of Kermartin, Breton priest and saint (d. 1303)
 * November 25 – Katherine of England, English princess (d. 1257)
 * Amir Khusrau, Indian Sufi musician, poet and scholar (d. 1325)
 * Anna of Greater Poland, Polish princess and abbess (d. 1295)
 * Berengaria of Castile, Spanish princess and regent (d. 1300)
 * Blanche of France, daughter of Louis IX ("the Saint") (d. 1323)
 * Eschiva of Ibelin, Outremer noblewoman and regent (d. 1312)
 * Eufemia of Greater Poland, Polish princess and nun (d. 1298)
 * Everhardt I, count of Limburg and Hohenlimburg (d. 1308)
 * Hugh II (de Lusignan), Cypriot ruler and regent (d. 1267)
 * John II ("the One-Eyed"), count of Holstein-Kiel (d. 1321)
 * Nikō, Japanese Buddhist monk and disciple (d. 1314)

Deaths

 * January 1 – Marino Morosini, doge of Venice (b. 1181)
 * January 18 – Henry I ("the Fat"), king of Cyprus (b. 1217)
 * April 3 – Richard of Chichester, English bishop (b. 1197)
 * April 5 – Wilbrand von Käfernburg, German archbishop
 * April 22 – Elias of Cortona, Italian friar and vicar general
 * June 11 – Amadeus IV, Italian nobleman and knight (b. 1197)
 * June 12 – Boniface II ("the Giant"), king of Thessalonica (b. 1201)
 * July 8 – Theobald I, French nobleman and trouvère (b. 1201)
 * July 22 – Albert IV, German nobleman and knight (b. 1180)
 * August 11 – Clare of Assisi, Italian nun and saint (b. 1194)
 * September 22 – Dōgen, Japanese Buddhist priest (b. 1200)
 * September 23 – Wenceslaus I, king of Bohemia (b. 1205)
 * October 9 – Robert Grosseteste, English bishop (b. 1168)
 * October 22 – William de Vesci, English nobleman (b. 1205)
 * November 16 – Agnes of Assisi, Italian abbess and saint
 * November 21 – Christian II, German archbishop (b. 1185)
 * November 29 – Otto II, German count palatine (b. 1206)
 * Ahmad al-Tifashi, Almohad poet and anthologist (b. 1184)

title: 1253


text:
1254

Year 1254 (MCCLIV) was a common year starting on Thursday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar.

Byzantine Empire

 * Battle of Adrianople: Byzantine forces under Emperor Theodore II (Laskaris) defeat the invading Bulgarians near Adrianople. The young and inexperienced Tsar Michael II Asen (also mentioned Michael I Asen) is caught by surprise and the Bulgarians suffer heavy losses. Michael is wounded during his hasty retreat through the forest.

Europe

 * May 21 – King Conrad IV, son of the late Emperor Frederick II, dies of malaria at Lavello (southern Italy). With Conrad's death a interregnum begins, during which no ruler manages to gain undisputed control of Germany. The 22-year-old Manfred, half-brother of Conrad, refuses to surrender Sicily to Pope Innocent IV, and accepts the regency on behalf of Conrad's 2-year-old son Conradin (the Younger).
 * November 2 – German forces under Manfred start an anti-papal revolt against Innocent IV and seize Lucera in the Tavoliere Plains. He defeats the papal army at Foggia and gains the loyalty of Apulia, on December 2.
 * King Afonso III (the Boulonnais) holds the first session of the Cortes (Portugal's general assembly composed of nobles, members of the middle class and representatives from all municipalities), in Leiria.
 * William II, anti-king of Germany, holds a diet (princely convention) at Worms, in which the German cities are represented for the first time. He give orders to build strong castles in Heemskerk and Haarlem.
 * Doge Reniero Zeno sends the Horses of Saint Mark, looted from Constantinople during the Fourth Crusade, to Venice, where they are installed on the terrace of the façade of St. Mark's Basilica.

England

 * King Henry III grants his eldest son Edward (the Lord Edward) areas of land including crown lands in Wales, Ireland, the Channel Islands and Gascony. He is also given the cities of Bristol, Stamford and Grantham. The reason for these concessions is to give Edward experience of governing lands of his own before becoming a king. Edward is granted the Three Castles in Wales, Skenfrith Castle, White Castle and Grosmont Castle.
 * Summer – Edward (the Lord Edward) travels from Portsmouth with his mother, Queen Eleanor of Provence, and Boniface of Savoy, archbishop of Canterbury, to marry the 13-year-old Eleanor of Castile. She is the half-sister of King Alfonso X (the Wise). In August, they arrive in Burgos, capital of Castile, where the marriage is due to take place.
 * November 1 – Edward marries Eleanor of Castile in the Cistercian monastery Las Huelgas at Burgos. Henry III has demanded the marriage, in exchange for ending the war with half-brother Alfonso X.

Levant

 * February 21 – King Louis IX (the Saint) signs a multi-year truce with An-Nasir Yusuf, Ayyubid ruler of Damascus, who is well aware of a Mongol threat and has no wish for war with the Crusader States.
 * April 24 – Louis IX and his family sails from Acre to France. His boat is nearly wrecked off the coast of Cyprus and later nearly destroyed by fire. In July, the royal party arrives at Hyères in Provence.

Asia

 * January 4 – William of Rubruck, Flemish missionary and explorer, is received courteously with an embassy at Karakorum. He is given an audience with Möngke Khan, who is loaded with gifts and letters from Louis IX.

Cities and Towns

 * June 12 – The Dutch city of Alkmaar obtains city rights from William II, anti-king of Germany.
 * The Danish city of Copenhagen receives its city charter from Bishop Jacob Erlandsen.

Commerce

 * The Rhenish League, a confederation of trading cities, is established in the Rhineland, Western Germany. The league (or Städtebund) comprises 59 cities.

Literature

 * The Japanese classic text Kokon Chomonjū is completed during the Kamakura Period under the reign of the 11-year-old Emperor Go-Fukakusa.

Markets

 * As part of an offensive against usury in north-western Europe, Innocent IV relieves the city of Beauvais from its obligations to its creditors.

Religion

 * December 7 – Innocent IV dies after a pontificate of 11-year. He is succeeded by Alexander IV as the 181st pope of the Catholic Church.
 * The construction of the Cathedral of Saint Martin is initiated by Henry I van Vianden, bishop of Utrecht.
 * The Catholic dogma of purgatory is clarified and named by the Catholic Church (approximate date).

Births

 * March 27 – Hkun Law, Burmese ruler of Martaban (d. 1311)
 * May 4 – Benvenuta Bojani, Italian nun and mystic (d. 1292)
 * May 13 – Marie of Brabant, queen of France (d. 1322)
 * June 24 – Floris V, count of Holland and Zeeland (d. 1296)
 * September 15 – Marco Polo, Venetian explorer (d. 1324)
 * Beatrice of Castile, marchioness of Montferrat (d. 1286)
 * Benedict, Swedish prince, nobleman and knight (d. 1291)
 * Bonacossa Borri (or Bonaca), Italian noblewoman (d. 1321)
 * Charles II (the Lame), son of Charles I of Anjou (d. 1309)
 * Fujiwara no Tamekane, Japanese official and poet (d. 1332)
 * Gerhard II (the Blind), German nobleman and knight (d. 1312)
 * Nijō Morotada, Japanese nobleman and official (d. 1341)
 * Osman I, founding ruler of the Ottoman Empire (d. 1324)
 * Ren Renfa (or Ziming), Chinese artist and politician (d. 1327)
 * Roger de Mowbray, English nobleman and knight (d. 1297)
 * Tetsugyū Enshin, Japanese monk and scholar (d. 1326)
 * Zhao Mengfu, Chinese scholar and calligrapher (d. 1322)

Deaths

 * March 28 – William de Ferrers, English nobleman (b. 1193)
 * May 21 – Conrad IV, king of Germany en Sicily (b. 1228)
 * June 3 – Andrea Caccioli, Italian friar and priest (b. 1194)
 * June 8 – Robert of Nantes, Latin patriarch of Jerusalem
 * June 17 – Ingeborg Eriksdotter, Swedish princess (b. 1212)
 * August 6 – Hugh of Northwold, English abbot and bishop
 * September 25 – William III de Cantilupe, English nobleman
 * November 3
 * John III (Doukas Vatatzes), Byzantine emperor
 * Manuel II, Byzantine patriarch of Constantinople
 * November 11 – Gil Torres, Spanish archdeacon and cardinal
 * December 1 – Abel de Gullane (or Golynn), Scottish bishop
 * December 7 – Innocent IV, pope of the Catholic Church
 * Berthold of Pietengau, German prince-bishop of Passau
 * Faris al-Din Aktai, Egyptian nobleman and emir (prince)
 * Peter Chaceporc, English archdeacon and ambassador
 * Rudolf von Ems, German knight, poet and writer (b. 1200)
 * Silvester de Everdon, English bishop and Lord Chancellor
 * Bab Bachir, spouse of last Abbasid caliph al-Musta'sim.

title: 1254


text:
1255

Year 1255 (MCCLV) was a common year starting on Friday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar.

Europe

 * February 25 – Battle of Montebruno: Guelph forces under Thomas II of Savoy invade the Ghibelline territory of Asti (located in the Piedmont region), but he is defeated by the Astigiani army, led by William VII, at Garzigliana (Northern Italy). Thomas retreats and takes refuge in Turin; however, he is later captured by the Ghibellines.
 * May – William of Rubruck from Constantinople returns to Cyprus from his missionary journey to convert the Mongols of central and eastern Asia, his efforts have been unsuccessful.
 * Emperor Theodore II (Laskaris), who is in exile in the Empire of Nicaea, conducts a military campaign to recover Thrace from the Bulgarians.
 * King Afonso III (the Boulonnais) moves his residence and royal court from Lisbon to Coimbra, which becomes the capital of Portugal.
 * The Teutonic Knights in Prussia found Königsberg (modern-day Kaliningrad) and name it in honour of King Ottokar II of Bohemia.
 * The lands of the House of Nassau are divided between the brothers Walram II and Otto I, not to be reunited until 1806.

England

 * June – Battle of Bryn Derwin: Llywelyn ap Gruffudd defeats his two brothers Dafydd ap Gruffydd and Owain Goch ap Gruffydd, to become sole ruler of northern Wales. Dafydd and Owain are both imprisoned.
 * August – Following the death of Little Saint Hugh, in an instance of blood libel, eighteen Jews of Lincoln, are tortured and executed by royal command on suspicion of being involved in the boy's murder.
 * A survey of royal privileges is conducted, which is included in the Hundred Rolls, a census seen as a follow-up to the Domesday Book (completed in 1086). The Hundred Rolls is later completed with two larger surveys, in 1274/75 and 1279/80.

Art and Culture

 * The Gothic cathedral at Bourges in central France, is completed (it will become a UNESCO World Heritage Site).

City and Towns

 * The town of Banská Bystrica (located in central Slovakia) is granted municipal privileges by King Béla IV of Hungary.

Market

 * Orlando Bonsignori, an Italian minor merchant, forms a consortium called the Gran Tavola ("Great Table"), which becomes the most powerful bank in western Europe. He becomes the exclusive banker for the deposits of the income of the Papal States.

Births

 * October 23 – Fernando de la Cerda, Spanish prince (d. 1275)
 * Adolf of Nassau-Weilburg, king of Germany (d. 1298)
 * Albert I of Germany, Holy Roman Emperor (d. 1308)
 * Andrey of Gorodets, Kievan Grand Prince (d. 1304)
 * Bogislaw IV, Polish nobleman and knight (d. 1309)
 * Dino Compagni, Italian historian and writer (d. 1324)
 * Francesca da Rimini, Italian noblewoman (d. 1285)
 * John of Paris, French theologian and writer (d. 1306)
 * Margherita Colonna, Italian nun and abbess (d. 1280)
 * Nicholas I, Bohemian nobleman and knight (d. 1318)
 * William Ros, Scottish nobleman and knight (d. 1316)
 * Sanjar al-Jawli, Mamluk governor and ruler (d. 1345)
 * Sybille of Bâgé, countess consort of Savoy (d. 1294)
 * Takaoka Muneyasu, Japanese nobleman (d. 1326)

Deaths

 * May 1 – Walter de Gray, English archbishop and statesman
 * August 27 – Little Saint Hugh, English Jewish boy (b. 1246)
 * Al-Faqih al-Muqaddam, Yemeni religious leader (b. 1178)
 * Alice de Montfort, French noblewoman and ruler (suo jure)
 * Batu Khan, Mongol ruler and founder of the Golden Horde
 * Carintana dalle Carceri, ruler of the Principality of Achaea
 * Denis Türje, Hungarian nobleman and military commander
 * Eva de Braose, heiresses and wife of William de Cantilupe
 * Helena Pedersdatter Strange, queen of Sweden (b. 1200)
 * Majd al-Din ibn Taymiyyah, Seljuk judge and theologian
 * Masanari, Japanese nobleman and waka poet (b. 1200)
 * Muhammad III, ruler of the Nizari Ismaili State (b. 1211)
 * Shams al-Din 'Ali ibn Mas'ud, Mihrabanid ruler of Sistan

title: 1255


text:
1257

Year 1257 (MCCLVII) was a common year starting on Monday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar.

Europe

 * January 13 – At the first recorded meeting of the college of the seven Electors of the Holy Roman Empire, the 48-year-old Richard of Cornwall (the brother of King Henry III of England) is elected King of the Romans. He is crowned at Aachen, on May 17. His candidacy is opposed by King Alfonso X (the Wise), Pope Alexander IV and King Louis IX (the Saint) favour Alfonso, but both are ultimately convinced by Richard's sister-in-law, Queen Eleanor of Provence, to support Richard.
 * Spring – The Epirote–Nicaean conflict begins between the Despotate of Epirus and the Empire of Nicaea. Despot Michael II Komnenos Doukas revolts and defeats the Nicaean army under George Akropolites. The Epirote and Serbian forces join their attacks against Michael, who sends his forces into Macedonia and marches on to Thessalonica. In response, Michael is attacked – on the west coast of Epirus – by Manfred of Sicily. Manfred first occupies the major Ionian Islands, including Corfu. Then he lands on the Albanian coast and takes Durazzo, Berat, Valona and their environs.
 * The pagan Karelians start a destructive expedition to Sweden in which King Valdemar requests Alexander IV to declare a crusade against them. This leads to the Third Swedish Crusade to Finland (see 1293).

British Isles

 * Battle of Cadfan: An English expeditionary army under Stephen Bauzan is ambushed and defeated by Welsh forces. The English are decimated by devastating guerilla attacks and the Welsh capture the English supply train. Stephen Bauzan is killed along with some 1,000–3,000 of his men. The remaining English flee the battle, Prince Llywelyn ap Gruffudd is said to have been present at the battle, collecting spoils from the fallen English army. According to sources, it is one of the greatest victories of a Welsh army in the field against a much more powerful English force.
 * King Henry III orders the production of a twenty pence, English coin of pure gold. Unfortunately, the bullion value of the coins is about 20% higher than the nominal face value, leading to poor circulation, as coins are melted down by individuals for their gold content.
 * Henry III relents to the demands of his son Edward (the Lord Edward) for assistance to fight the Welsh (see 1256). He joins him on a campaign to retake the territories lost to the Welsh forces led by Llywelyn ap Gruffudd.
 * Battle of Creadran Cille: Norman invading forces under Maurice FitzGerald are driven out by Gofraid O'Donnell in northern Connacht. Later, FitzGerald is killed in personal combat by O'Donnell, on May 20.

Levant

 * Venetian–Genoese War: The Venetian fleet under Admiral Lorenzo Tiepolo breaks through the harbour chain at Acre and destroys several Genoese ships. He also attacks the fortifications but Tiepolo is unable to expel the Genoese garrison (some 800 men strong and armed with 50–60 ballistae), from their quarter of the city throwing up a blockade.
 * April 10 – Izz al-Din Aybak, Mamluk sultan of Egypt, is murdered on orders of his wife, Shajar al-Durr. He is succeeded by his 14-year-old son, Nur al-Din Ali, as ruler of the Mamluk Sultanate (until 1259).

Mongol Empire

 * Spring – Mongol forces under Uriyangkhadai conduct a campaign against local Yi and Lolo tribes in Vietnam. He returns to Gansu and sends messengers to the court of Möngke Khan informing him that Yunnan is firmly under Mongolian control. Möngke Khan honors and rewards Uriyangkhadai for his military achievements.
 * Winter – Mongol forces move down from their base at Hamadan, while Baiju Noyan crosses the Tigris River at Mosul with his army. On the left-wing Kitbuqa enters the plain of Iraq, while Mongol forces under Hulagu Khan advance through Kermanshah.

Asia

 * March – The Japanese Kōgen era ends and the Shōka era begins during the reign of the 14-year-old Emperor Go-Fukakusa (until 1259).

City and Towns

 * June 5 – The city of Kraków is granted Magdeburg rights by High Duke Bolesław V (the Chaste), having been rebuilt after being nearly destroyed during the Mongol invasion of Poland.

Education

 * Louis IX (the Saint) confirms the foundation by his chaplain Robert de Sorbon of the College of Sorbonne in Paris, giving a formal college (and still-common name) to the already existing University of Paris.

Literature

 * Matthew Paris, English monk and chronicler, personally interviews Henry III for an entire week while compiling his major work of English history, Chronica Majora.

Natural Disaster

 * Samalas eruption: Mount Samalas volcano erupts on Lombok Island, Indonesia. One of the largest volcanic eruptions in the past 10,000 years, it creates severe climatic changes across the globe, leading to severe famine and death, and to one of the biggest geopolitical changes across the globe over the next few centuries.

Births

 * March 24 – Yolanda I, French noblewoman (d. 1314)
 * August 15 – Muhammad III, ruler of Granada (d. 1314)
 * October 14 – Przemysł II, king of Poland (d. 1296)
 * Agnes of Brandenburg, queen of Denmark (d. 1304)
 * Beatrice of Burgundy, French noblewoman (d. 1310)
 * Frederick I (the Brave), German nobleman (d. 1323)
 * Malise III of Strathearn, Scottish nobleman (d. 1312)
 * Parsoma (the Naked), Egyptian Coptic hermit (d. 1317)
 * Philip III of Falkenstein, count of Münzenberg (d. 1322)
 * Robert de Vere, English nobleman and knight (d. 1331)
 * William Russell, English nobleman and knight (d. 1311)

Deaths

 * April 10 – Izz al-Din Aybak, ruler of the Mamluk Sultanate
 * April 26 – Euphemia de Walliers, English nun and abbess
 * May 3 – Katherine of England, English princess (b. 1253)
 * May 5 – Haakon the Young, junior king of Norway (b. 1232)
 * May 17 – Choe Hang, Korean general and dictator (b. 1209)
 * May 20 – Maurice FitzGerald, Norman nobleman and knight
 * June 4 – Przemysł I, Polish nobleman and co-ruler (b. 1221)
 * June 8 – Simon of Elmham, English prior and bishop-elect
 * August 15 – Hyacinth of Poland, Polish missionary (b. 1185)
 * December 24 – John of Avesnes, count of Hainaut (b. 1218)
 * December 26 – Richard Blund (or Blundy), English bishop
 * Lanfranc Cigala (or Cicala), Genoese nobleman and knight
 * Maria of Antioch-Armenia, Outremer noblewoman (b. 1215)
 * Matilda I, countess of Nevers, Auxerre and Tonnerre (b. 1188)
 * Mohammad Baba as-Samasi, Abbasid Sufi leader (b. 1195)
 * Roger Weseham, English bishop of Coventry and Lichfield
 * Sartaq Khan (or Sartak), Mongol ruler of the Golden Horde
 * Stephen Bauzan, English nobleman, seneschal and knight
 * Valdemar III (Abelsøn), Danish prince and heir apparent
 * Willikin of the Weald, English warrior and guerrilla leader
 * Yuan Haowen, Chinese politician, poet and writer (b. 1190)

title: 1257


text:
1258

Year 1258 (MCCLVIII) was a common year starting on Tuesday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar.

Mongol Empire

 * February 10 – Siege of Baghdad: Mongol forces (some 150,000 men), led by Hulagu Khan, besiege and conquer Baghdad after a siege of 13 days. During the first week of February, the eastern walls begin to collapse, and the Mongols swarm into the city, on February 10. Caliph Al-Musta'sim surrenders himself to Hulagu – together with all the Abbasid chief officers and officials. They are ordered to lay down their arms, and are massacred. Hulagu imprisons Al-Musta'sim among his treasures, to starve him to death. Meanwhile, massacres continue throughout the whole city; in 40 days about 80,000 citizens are murdered. The only survivors are the ones who are hiding in cellars which are not discovered, and a number of attractive girls and boys who are kept to be slaves, and the Christian community, who take refuge in the churches which are left undisturbed, by the special orders of Hulagu's wife, Doquz Khatun.
 * February 15 – Hulagu Khan enters Baghdad, where many quarters of the city are ruined by fire. The Great Library (or House of Wisdom) is destroyed, numerous precious book collections are thrown into the Tigris River. Before the siege, about 400,000 manuscripts are rescued by Nasir al-Din al-Tusi, Persian polymath and theologian, who takes them to Maragheh (located in East Azerbaijan Province). The sack of Baghdad brings an end to the Abbasid Caliphate (750-1258) and the Islamic Golden Age. Many professors, physicians, scientists, clerics, artists and lecturers are also massacred.

Europe

 * May 11 – Treaty of Corbeil: King Louis IX (the Saint) signs a peace treaty with King James I (the Conqueror). Louis, heir of Charlemagne, formally renounces his feudal overlordship over Catalonia (independent de facto since 988), while James renounces his claims over Occitania.
 * June – War of the Euboeote Succession: Achaean forces under William II Villehardouin defeat a coalition of Greek princes led by Guy I de la Roche (Great Lord), duke of Athens, which ends the conflict, on August 6.
 * August 10 – Manfred, son of the late Emperor Frederick II, is crowned king of Sicily at Palermo. Pope Alexander IV, who has an alliance with the Saracens, declares the coronation void and excommunicates Manfred.
 * August 16 – Theodore II (Laskaris) dies after a 4-year reign at Magnesia. He is succeeded by his 7-year-old son, John IV, as ruler of the Empire of Nicaea. His regent becomes the bureaucrat George Mouzalon.
 * August 25 – George Mouzalon is assassinated in Magnesia ad Sipylum, as part of a conspiracy led by Byzantine nobles, under future Emperor Michael VIII (Palaiologos).
 * Gissur Þorvaldsson, Icelandic chieftain (or goði), is made Earl of Iceland for his loyal service to King Haakon IV (the Old).

England

 * May 2 – King Henry III accepts the demand of Simon de Montfort and his baronial supporters that the government is reformed with a committee of 22 barons, including the king. As an act of faith, Simon de Montfort hands over his estates at Odiham and Kenilworth as part of the proposals. The Provisions of Oxford establish baronial control of the government, also known as the Oxford Parliament, on June 11.

Wales

 * Llywelyn ap Gruffudd proclaims himself Prince of Wales, first used in an agreement between Llywelyn and his supporters and the Scottish nobility. He becomes the final ruler of an independent Wales before its conquest by King Edward I of England (Edward Longshanks).

Levant

 * June 25 – Battle of Acre: The Genoese send an armada (some 50 galleys) to relieve the blockade at Acre and ask for the assistance of Philip of Montfort, lord of Tyre, and the Knights Hospitaller for a combined attack from the land side. The Genoese fleet's arrival takes the Venetians by surprise but the superior experience and seamanship result in a crushing Venetian victory, with half the Genoese ships lost. Later, the Genoese garrison is forced to abandon Acre.

Asia

 * Mongol invasions of Vietnam: Mongol forces (some 30,000 men) under Uriyangkhadai, son of Subutai, invade Vietnam. After many battles, the Vietnam army is routed and defeated. The senior leaders are able to escape on pre-prepared boats, while the remnants are destroyed on the banks of the Red River. The Mongols occupy the capital city, Thăng Long (modern-day Hanoi), and massacres the city's inhabitants, by the end of January.

Global

 * The consequences of the volcanic Samalas eruption (see 1257) in Indonesia include the following anecdotal accounts: very dry fog in France; lunar eclipses in England; severe winter in Europe; a harsh spring in Iceland; famine in England, Germany, France and Italy; and pestilence in London, parts of France, Austria, Iraq, Syria, and southeast Turkey.

Markets

 * In Genoa, the Republic starts imposing forced loans, known as luoghi, to its taxpayers; they are a common resource of medieval public finance.

Religion

 * Civil unrest in northern Italy spawns the medieval musical form of Geisslerlieder, penitential songs sung by wandering bands of Flagellants.
 * Kudahuvadhoo is converted to Islam

Births

 * Osman I, Founder of the Great Ottoman Empire (d. 1324)
 * March 8 – Arghun Khan, Mongol ruler of the Ilkhanate (d. 1291)
 * October 10 – Joachim Piccolomini, Italian altar server (d. 1305)
 * October 20 – Bolko I, Polish co-ruler (House of Piast) (d. 1313)
 * December 7 – Trần Nhân Tông, Vietnamese emperor (d. 1308)
 * Bertrand of Saint-Geniès, French jurist and patriarch (d. 1350)
 * Ferrantino Malatesta, Italian nobleman and knight (d. 1353)
 * Henry I, German nobleman (House of Schaumburg) (d. 1304)
 * Henryk IV (the Righteous), High Duke of Poland (d. 1290)
 * John I, French nobleman (House of Chalon-Arlay) (d. 1315)
 * Liu Guandao (or Zhong Xian), Chinese court artist (d. 1336)
 * Usman Serajuddin, Bengali Sufi scholar and mystic (d. 1357)

Deaths

 * January 6 – Konrad I von Wallhausen, bishop of Meissen
 * February 20 – Al-Musta'sim, Abbasid caliph of Baghdad
 * March 26 – Floris de Voogd, Dutch nobleman (b. 1228)
 * April 5
 * Juliana of Liège, Flemish nun, mystic and saint
 * Pełka (or Fulko), Polish archbishop of Gniezno
 * April 14 – Rüdiger of Bergheim, German bishop (b. 1175)
 * May 10 – Sewal de Bovil, English cleric and archbishop
 * June 2
 * Edmund de Lacy, English nobleman and knight
 * Peter I (or Pedro), Portuguese prince (b. 1187)
 * June 15 – Ada of Holland, Dutch noblewoman (b. 1208)
 * July 22 – Meinhard I, count of Gorizia (House of Gorizia)
 * August 8 – Henry of Lexington, English cleric and bishop
 * August 18 – Theodore II (Laskaris), emperor of Nicaea
 * August 25 – George Mouzalon, Byzantine high official
 * August 28 – Gerhard II of Lippe, German archbishop
 * November 8 – Grzymisława of Łuck, Polish princess
 * November 10 – William de Bondington, Scottish bishop
 * November 23 – John Fitzgeoffrey, English nobleman
 * Abu Yahya ibn Abd al-Haqq, Marinid sultan
 * Abul Hasan al-Shadhili, Almohad Sufi leader (b. 1196)
 * Al-Mahdi Ahmad bin al-Husayn, Yemeni ruler (b. 1216)
 * Baha al-Din Zuhayr, Arab secretary and poet (b. 1186)
 * Bartholomew of Brescia, Italian teacher and canonist
 * Bruno of Altena-Isenberg, prince-bishop of Osnabrück
 * Choe Ui, Korean military leader and dictator (b. 1233)
 * Clement of Dunblane, Scottish cleric, friar and bishop
 * Eberhard von Sayn, German knight and Landmeister
 * Fujiwara no Tomoie, Japanese nobleman (b. 1182)
 * Guillaume de Chateauneuf, French Grand Master
 * Hong Pok-wŏn, Korean general and official (b. 1206)
 * Ibn Abi'l-Hadid, Abbasid scholar and writer (b. 1190)
 * Ingerd Jakobsdatter, Danish noblewoman (b. 1200)
 * John of Arsuf (or Ibelin), Outremer nobleman (b. 1211)
 * John of Wallingford, English abbot, historian and writer
 * Robert de la Piere, French magistrate and troubadour
 * Walter Comyn, Scottish magnate, adviser and regent

title: 1258


text:
1259

Year 1259 (MCCLIX) was a common year starting on Wednesday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar.

Europe

 * September – Battle of Pelagonia: The Empire of Nicaea defeats the Principality of Achaea, ensuring the eventual reconquest of Constantinople in 1261.
 * December 4 – Kings Louis IX of France and Henry III of England agree to the Treaty of Paris, in which Henry renounces his claims to French-controlled territory on continental Europe (including Normandy), in exchange for Louis withdrawing his support for English rebels.
 * The famous frescoes of the Boyana Church in Bulgaria are completed (the church and its murals are now a UNESCO World Heritage Site).
 * The German cities of Lübeck, Wismar, and Rostock enter into a pact to defend against pirates of the Baltic Sea, laying the groundwork for the Hanseatic League.
 * Nogai Khan leads the second Mongol Golden Horde attack against Lithuania, and Poland.
 * Epirote–Nicaean conflict.

Asia

 * August 11 – While conducting a siege against the Song Dynasty city known as Fishing Town in the province of Chongqing, China, the Mongol Great Khan, Möngke Khan, dies in the nearby hills. Persian, Chinese, and Mongol records have different accounts of how he died, including succumbing to an arrow wound received by a Chinese archer in the siege, dysentery, and even a cholera epidemic. His death sparks a succession crisis in the Mongol Empire, while his brothers Ariq Böke and Kublai soon convene their own kurultai to elect themselves as the next Khan of Khans, opening the path to a four–year-long Toluid Civil War from 1260 to 1264. In the end, Ariq Böke surrenders to Kublai.
 * While engaged in a war with the Mongols, the Song Chinese official Li Zengbo writes in his Kozhai Zagao, Xugaohou that the city of Qingzhou is manufacturing one to two thousand strong iron-cased gunpowder bomb shells a month, dispatching to Xiangyang and Yingzhou about ten to twenty thousand such bombs at a time.
 * Lannathai, a kingdom in the north of Thailand, is founded by King Mangrai.
 * The Goryeo Kingdom in Korea surrenders to invading Mongol forces.
 * The Chinese era Kaiqing begins and ends, in the Northern Song Dynasty of China.
 * The Japanese Shōka era ends, and the Shōgen era begins.

Births

 * February 25 – Infanta Branca of Portugal, daughter of King Afonso III of Portugal and Urraca of Castile (d. 1321)
 * March 25 – Andronikos II Palaiologos, Byzantine emperor (d. 1332)
 * Pietro Cavallini, Italian painter (d. 1330)
 * Demetre II of Georgia (d. 1289)
 * Richard Óg de Burgh, 2nd Earl of Ulster (d. 1326)

Deaths

 * January – Matilda II, Countess of Boulogne, ruler of Boulogne, queen consort of Portugal (b. 1202)
 * February 7 – Thomas, Count of Flanders
 * May 29 – King Christopher I of Denmark (b. 1219)
 * July 21 – Gojong of Goryeo
 * August 11 – Möngke Khan of the Mongol Empire
 * October 7 – Ezzelino III da Romano, Italian ruler
 * November 18 – Adam Marsh, English scholar and theologian
 * date unknown – Matthew Paris, English chronicler

title: 1259


text:
1260

Year 1260 (MCCLX) was a leap year starting on Thursday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. It was the 1260th year of the Common Era (CE) and Anno Domini (AD) designations, the 260th year of the 2nd millennium, the 60th year of the 13th century, and the first year of the 1260s decade.

Africa

 * October 24 – Saif ad-Din Qutuz, Mamluk sultan of Egypt, is assassinated by Baibars, who seizes power for himself.
 * The civil servant and bard longing for lost al-Andalus, Ibn al-Abbar, is burnt at the stake by the Marinid ruler.
 * The Arba'a Rukun Mosque is completed in Mogadishu. The Arba'a Rukun Mosque (Arabic: أربع روكون), also known as Arba Rucun, is a mosque in the medieval district Shangani, Mogadishu, Somalia.

Asia

 * The Toluid Civil War begins between Kublai Khan and Ariq Böke, for the title of Great Khan.
 * May 5 – Kublai Khan becomes a claimant to the Mongol Empire, after the death of Möngke Khan.
 * May 21 – Kublai sends his envoy Hao Jing to negotiate with Song Dynasty Chancellor Jia Sidao, after the small force left by Kublai south of the Yangtze River is destroyed, by a Chinese army of the Southern Song Dynasty. Chancellor Jia Sidao imprisons the entire embassy of Kublai. This slight will not be forgotten by Kublai, but he is unable to assault the Song, due to the civil war with his rival brother Ariq Böke.
 * September 3 – Battle of Ain Jalut in Galilee: The Mamluks defeat the Mongols, marking their first decisive defeat, and the point of maximum expansion of the Mongol Empire. Isa ibn Muhanna is appointed amir al-ʿarab under the Mamluks.
 * The Chinese era Jingding begins and ends in the Southern Song Dynasty of China.
 * The Japanese Shōgen era ends, and the Bun'ō era begins.

Europe

 * July 12 – Battle of Kressenbrunn: King Ottokar II of Bohemia captures Styria from King Béla IV of Hungary.
 * July 13 – Livonian Crusade: The Baltic Samogitians and Curonians of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania decisively defeat the Livonian Order in the Battle of Durbe. This leads the Estonians of Saaremaa Island to once again rebel against the Livonian Order.
 * September 4 – Battle of Montaperti: The Sienese Ghibellines, supported by the forces of King Manfred of Sicily, defeat the Florentine Guelphs.
 * September 20 – Second of the two major Prussian uprisings by the Old Prussian tribe of Balts against the Teutonic Order begins.
 * The Duchy of Saxony is divided into Saxony-Lauenberg and Saxony-Wittenberg, marking the end of the first Saxon state.
 * War breaks out in the Valais (in modern-day Switzerland), as the Bishopry of Sion defends against an invasion by the County of Savoy.
 * Croatia is divided into two sub-regions ruled by ban: the Croatian region on the south and Slavonian region on the north, by King Béla IV of Hungary.

Arts and culture

 * October 24 – The Cathedral of Chartres is dedicated in the presence of King Louis IX of France (the cathedral is now a UNESCO World Heritage Site).
 * Jacobus de Voragine compiles his work, the Golden Legend, a late medieval best-seller.
 * The mosaic Christ between the Virgin and St Minias is made on the facade of Florence's Basilica di San Miniato al Monte.
 * German musical theorist Franco of Cologne publishes Ars Cantus Mensurabilis, in which he advances a new theory of musical notation, in which the length of a musical note is denoted by the shape of that note, a system still used today.
 * Construction begins on the Dunkeld Cathedral in Perthshire, Scotland.
 * Construction begins on the cathedrals at Meißen and Schwerin.
 * Nicola Pisano sculpts the pulpit in the Pisa Baptistery.

Religion

 * The newly formed Sukhothai Kingdom of Thailand adopts Theravada Buddhism.
 * The advent of the Age of the Holy Spirit predicted by Joachim of Fiore, according to his interpretation of the Book of Revelation, chapter 6.

Births

 * May 15 or July 25 – John of Castile, Lord of Valencia de Campos (d. 1319)
 * August 2 – Kyawswa of Pagan, last ruler of the Pagan Kingdom (d. 1299)
 * approximate date
 * Enguerrand de Marigny, minister to King Philip IV of France
 * Fatima bint al-Ahmar, Nasrid princess in the Emirate of Granada (d. 1349)
 * Henry de Cobham, 1st Baron Cobham (d. 1339)
 * Matthew III Csák, Hungarian oligarch
 * Meister Eckhart, German theologian, philosopher and mystic (d. 1328)
 * Guillaume de Nogaret, keeper of the seal to King Philip IV of France (d. 1313)
 * Maximus Planudes, Byzantine grammarian and theologian (approximate date; d. 1330)
 * Khutulun, Mongol princess and warrior (d. 1306)

Deaths

 * April 28 – Luchesius Modestini, founding member of the Third Order of St. Francis
 * May – Marie of Brabant, Holy Roman Empress, wife of Otto IV, Holy Roman Emperor (alternative date is June)
 * August 9 – Walter of Kirkham, Bishop of Durham
 * October 24 – Saif ad-Din Qutuz, Mamluk sultan of Egypt
 * December 4 – Aymer de Valence, Bishop of Winchester (b. 1222)
 * date unknown
 * Kitbuqa, Mongol military leader (executed)
 * Sicko Sjaerdema, ruler of Friesland
 * Ibn al-Abbar, Andalusian diplomat and scholar (b. 1199)
 * probable – Franciscus Accursius, Italian jurist

title: 1260


text:
1261

Year 1261 (MCCLXI) was a common year starting on Saturday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar.

Byzantine Empire

 * March 13 – Treaty of Nymphaeum: Emperor Michael VIII (Palaiologos) signs a trade and defense agreement with the Republic of Genoa, to counterweight the Venetian presence in the region. Genoa agrees to ally with the Empire of Nicaea, by providing a fleet of up to 50 galleys during the projected Nicaean siege of Constantinople, while 16 galleys are to be immediately sent against the Latin Empire.
 * July – Michael VIII (Palaiologos) sends his general Alexios Strategopoulos with a small advance force of 800 soldiers, most of them Cumans, to keep watch on the Bulgarians and scout the defending positions of the Latin forces in the surroundings of Constantinople. When they reach the village of Selymbria, Strategopoulos is informed by local farmers that the entire Latin garrison and the Venetian fleet, are absent conducting a raid against the Nicaean island of Daphnousia. He decides not to lose such a golden opportunity and makes plans (without the consent of Michael) to retake the capital.
 * July 25 – Reconquest of Constantinople: Alexios Strategopoulos and his men hide at a monastery near the city gates, before entering through a secret passage. After a short struggle, the guards who are completely taken by surprise are killed and the Venetian quarter is set ablaze. Panic spreads through the capital and Emperor Baldwin II rushes out to save his life, evacuating along with many other Latins with the help of the Venetian fleet. Baldwin manages to escape to the still Latin-held parts of Greece, but Constantinople is lost for good.
 * August 15 – Michael VIII (Palaiologos) enters Constantinople in triumph and is crowned as emperor of the Byzantine Empire at the Hagia Sophia. To solidify his claim, the legitimate ruler, John IV (Laskaris), is blinded on Michael's orders on his 11th birthday. He banishes him to a monastery and marries his two sisters to lesser Latin and Bulgarian nobles in an attempt to wipe out the Laskarid Dynasty.

Mongol Empire

 * Kublai Khan releases 75 Chinese merchants, who were captured along the border of the Mongol Empire. By doing this, Kublai hopes to bolster his popularity and depend on the cooperation of his Chinese subjects to ensure that his army receives more resources.

Levant

 * June 13 – Al-Mustansir becomes the first Abbasid ruler in Cairo (after his escape during the Siege of Baghdad). He is sent with an army by Sultan Baibars I to recover Baghdad, but is killed in a Mongol ambush near Anbar (modern Iraq), on November 28. The Abbasid caliphs continue as religious figureheads for the Mamluks in Egypt until the 16th century.

England

 * June 12 – King Henry III obtains a papal bull to absolve himself from his oath to maintain the Provisions of Oxford. He hires an army of 300 French knights as a bodyguard and takes up position in the Tower of London. He dismisses the baronial officials (led by Simon de Montfort) who wish the royal power to be modified by the principle of representation. This sets the stage for the Second Barons' War.
 * August – Battle of Callann: Norman forces under John FitzThomas are defeated by a Gaelic army led by King Fínghin Mac Carthaigh. John FitzGerald is killed during the fighting.

Asia

 * February – The Japanese Bun'ō era ends and the Kōchō era begins during the reign of the 11-year-old Emperor Kameyama (until 1264).

Literature

 * The earliest extant Chinese illustration of "Pascal's Triangle" is from Yang Hui's (or Qianguang) book Xiangjie Jiuzhang Suanfa, published this year.

Religion

 * May 25 – Pope Alexander IV dies after a pontificate of 6-years at Viterbo. He is succeeded by Urban IV as the 182nd pope of the Catholic Church.
 * August 29 – Urban IV offers the crown of Sicily to Charles of Anjou, youngest son of King Louis VIII (the Lion), hoping to strengthen his position.
 * Wurmsbach Abbey (located in Bollingen) is established by Count Rudolf V of Rapperswil in Switzerland.

Births

 * February 1 – Walter de Stapledon, bishop of Exeter (d. 1326)
 * February 11 – Otto III, king of Hungary and Croatia (d. 1312)
 * February 28 – Margaret of Scotland, queen of Norway (d. 1283)
 * March 1 – Hugh le Despenser, English chief adviser (d. 1326)
 * July 25 – Arthur II, Breton nobleman (House of Dreux) (d. 1312)
 * October 9 – Denis I (the Poet King), king of Portugal (d. 1325)
 * Abu Abdallah ibn al-Hakim, Andalusian vizier and poet (d. 1309)
 * 'Ala' al-Dawla Simnani, Persian Sufi mystic and writer (d. 1336)
 * Albertino Mussato, Italian statesman and chronicler (d. 1329)
 * Constantine Palaiologos, Byzantine prince and general (d. 1306)
 * Daniel of Moscow (Aleksandrovich), Russian prince (d. 1303)
 * Danyi Chenpo Zangpo Pal, Tibetan religious leader (d. 1323)
 * Elizabeth of Sicily, queen of Hungary (House of Anjou) (d. 1303)
 * Konoe Iemoto, Japanese nobleman (kugyō) and regent (d. 1296)
 * Pier Saccone Tarlati, Italian nobleman and condottiero (d. 1356)
 * Władysław I Łokietek (Elbow-High), king of Poland (d. 1333)

Deaths

 * February 28 – Henry III (the Good), duke of Brabant (b. 1230)
 * April 1 – Ahi Evren, Bektashi Sufi preacher and poet (b. 1169)
 * May 25 – Alexander IV, pope of the Catholic Church (b. 1199)
 * July 8 – Adolf IV, German nobleman (House of Schaumburg)
 * July 25 – Nicephorus II of Constantinople, Byzantine patriarch
 * August 24 – Ela of Salisbury, English noblewoman (b. 1187)
 * September 18 – Konrad von Hochstaden, German archbishop
 * October 27 – Sancho of Castile, Spanish archbishop (b. 1233)
 * November 9 – Sanchia of Provence, German queen (b. 1225)
 * November 26 – Hōjō Shigetoki, Japanese samurai (b. 1198)
 * November 27 – Athanasius III of Alexandria, Egyptian pope
 * November 28 – Al-Mustansir, Abbasid ruler (caliph) of Cairo
 * Abu Bakr ibn Sayyid al-Nās, Andalusian theologian (b. 1200)
 * An-Nasir Dawud, Ayyubid ruler (emir) of Damascus (b. 1206)
 * Benedict II, Hungarian chancellor, governor and archbishop
 * Bettisia Gozzadini, Italian noblewoman and jurist (b. 1209)
 * Conrad I (the Pious), German nobleman and knight (b. 1186)
 * John FitzThomas, Norman nobleman (House of Desmond)
 * Plaisance of Antioch, queen consort of Cyprus (b. 1235)
 * Qin Jiushao, Chinese mathematician and writer (b. 1202)
 * Sayf al-Din al-Bakharzi, Persian poet and sheikh (b. 1190)
 * Stephen of Bourbon, French Dominican preacher (b. 1180)

title: 1261


text:
1262

Year 1262 (MCCLXII) was a common year starting on Sunday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar.

Mongol Empire

 * Berke–Hulagu War: Mongol forces under Berke Khan, ruler of the Golden Horde, raid territory in the Caucasus belonging to his cousin Hulagu Khan, ruler of the Ilkhanate. Berke supports the Georgian rebels and allies with the Mamluks. He defeats the Ilkhanate forces on the Terek River, together with the Mamluk army led by Baibars (or Abu al-Futuh), saving Palestine and Arabia from Ilkhanate occupation.

Europe

 * March 8 – Battle of Hausbergen: The bourgeois of Strasbourg defeat a German army of knights (some 5,000 men) under Bishop Walter of Geroldseck. Strasbourg becomes an imperial Free City of the Holy Roman Empire.
 * May – King Alfonso X (the Wise) of Castile and León, at a meeting in Jaén, demands military support from Muhammad I, ruler of Granada, and relenquishes the ports of Tarifa and Algeciras to prepare an invasion of North Africa.
 * September 14 – Castilian-Leonese forces led by Alfonso X (the Wise) conquer Cádiz, the city has been under Moorish rule since 711. The Muslims are ousted, and Alfonso repopulates the region (also called the Repoblación).
 * The Icelandic Commonwealth enters into the Old Covenant (also called Gissurarsáttmáli), establishing a union with Norway, and acknowledges King Haakon IV (the Old) as its ruler.
 * King Mindaugas renounces Christianity, returning to his pagan roots, and reverting to Grand Duke of Lithuania.

Levant

 * Al-Hakim I, a member of the Abbasid Dynasty, travels to Egypt and is proclaimed as caliph of Cairo in succession to his former rival Al-Mustansir II. After his arrival, he is imprisoned at the Citadel of Cairo by orders of Sultan Baibars and released in 1296 by Sultan Lajin.

Asia

 * King Mangrai of the Lan Na Kingdom (modern Northern Thailand) founds the city of Chiang Rai, as the kingdom's capital.

Arts and Culture

 * Adam de la Halle, French trouvère and musician, writes the first operetta, "Le Jeu de la Feuillee".

Markets

 * The Venetian Senate starts consolidating all of the city's outstanding debt into a single fund, later known as the Monte Vecchio. The holders of the newly created prestiti are promised a 5% annual coupon. These claims can be sold, and quickly (before 1320) give rise to the first recorded secondary market for financial assets, in Medieval Europe.

Religion

 * Richard of Chichester is canonized as a saint; he is best known for authoring the prayer later adapted into the song Day by Day, in the musical Godspell.

Science and Technology

 * Alfonso X (the Wise) commissions Yehuda ben Moshe and Isaac ibn Sid to compile the Alfonsine Tables, describing the movement of the planets.

Births

 * May 6 – John Hastings, English nobleman and knight (d. 1313)
 * August 5 – Ladisslaus IV (the Cuman), king of Hungary (d. 1290)
 * October 18 – Ranulph Neville (or Ralph), English nobleman (d. 1331)
 * Bérenger de Landore, French preacher and archbishop (d. 1330)
 * Elisabeth of Carinthia (or Tyrol), queen of Germany (d. 1312)
 * Guan Daogao, Chinese calligrapher, poet and painter (d. 1319)
 * Guan Daosheng, Chinese painter, poet and writer (d. 1319)
 * John II (Megas Komnenos), emperor of Trebizond (d. 1297)
 * John of Castile, Spanish prince (infante) and regent (d. 1319)
 * Takatsukasa Kanetada, Japanese nobleman (kugyō) ((d. 1301)
 * U Tak (or Woo Tak), Korean scholar and philosopher (d. 1342)
 * William de Cantilupe, Norman nobleman and knight (d. 1308)

Deaths

 * April 23 – Giles of Assisi, companion of Francis of Assisi (b. 1190)
 * May 18 – John Climping, English cleric, chancellor and bishop
 * June 23 – Siemowit I, Polish nobleman and knight (House of Piast)
 * July 13 – Henry Wingham, English Lord Chancellor and bishop
 * July 14 – Richard de Clare, English nobleman and knight (b. 1222)
 * August 24 – Robert de Mariscis, English priest and archdeacon
 * September 1 – Giuliana of Collalto, Italian Benedictine abbess
 * September 12 – Baldwin de Redvers, English nobleman (b. 1236)
 * October 5 – Teruko, Japanese princess and empress (b. 1224)
 * December 13 – Giles of Bridport, English archdeacon and bishop
 * December 21 – Bahauddin Zakariya, Ghurid scholar and poet
 * Ibn al-Adim, Syrian diplomat, biographer and historian (b. 1192)
 * Izz al-Din ibn 'Abd al-Salam, Syrian jurist and theologian (b. 1181)
 * Matilda II (or Maud), French noblewoman and regent (b. 1235)
 * Mem Soares de Melo, Portuguese nobleman and knight (b. 1200)
 * Peter de Rivaux, English High Sheriff and Lord High Treasurer

title: 1262


text:
1263

Year 1263 (MCCLXIII) was a common year starting on Monday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar.

Byzantine Empire

 * Summer – Emperor Michael VIII (Palaiologos) sends a Byzantine expeditionary force (some 3,500 men) led by his half-brother, Constantine Palaiologos, to the Peloponnese in southern Greece. The army is transported to Monemvasia on Genoese ships, while a small Byzantine fleet is sent to harass the Latin island holdings in Euboea and the Cyclades. After arriving at Monemvasia, Constantine lays siege to Lacedaemon (or Sparta), while the Byzantine fleet seizes the southern coast of Laconia.
 * Battle of Prinitza: Constantine Palaiologos marches the Byzantine army up the rivers Eurotas and Alfeios towards the Achaean capital, Andravida. At a narrow pass at Prinitza (near Ancient Olympia) in Elis, the Byzantines are attacked by Achaean forces (some 300 horsemen) under John of Katavas, who inflict a resounding defeat upon them; many Byzantine soldiers are killed. Constantine himself barely escapes with his life, and flees with the remainder of his army to the safety of Mystras.
 * Battle of Settepozzi: A Byzantine-Genoese fleet (some 50 galleys) is routed by the Venetians near Spetses in the Argolic Gulf, who capture four ships and inflict considerable casualties. Later, the Genoese that survive the battle managed to capture Chania on Crete. They receive orders to avoid direct confrontations with the Venetian fleet, but instead are engaged in raiding against the Venetian merchant convoys in the Euripus Strait.

Europe

 * July – Scottish–Norwegian War: King Haakon IV (the Old) assembles a fleet (some 120 warships), and sets sail to defend the Hebrides, in an attempt to reassert Norwegian sovereignty over the Western Isles of Scotland. Haakon stops at the Isle of Arran – where in August negotiations are started with the 21-year-old King Alexander III. The talks are prolonged by the Scots until the autumn storms begin.
 * October 2 – Battle of Largs: Scottish forces under Alexander Stewart rout a Viking invasion force led by Haakon IV at Largs in North Ayrshire. The battle is inconclusive, on the morning of October 3, the Norwegians return to collect their dead and burn their beached ships. By the end of October, the Viking fleet reaches Orkney, where Haakon becomes ill and dies at the Bishop's Palace, on December 16.
 * December – Magnus VI (the Law-mender) succeeds his father Haakon IV (the Old) as king of Norway. The chieftains of the eastern part of Iceland become the last to pledge fealty to Magnus – bringing a more complete end to the Icelandic Commonwealth and the Age of the Sturlungs.
 * Mindaugas (Mendog), the only Christian king of Lithuania, is assassinated by his cousin Treniota. The country reverts to paganism and loses its status as a kingdom. Treniota usurps the throne (until 1264).
 * King James I (the Conqueror) captures Crevillent from the Moors and becomes a part of the Kingdom of Valencia during the Reconquista.
 * Winter – King Alfonso X (the Wise) conquers Niebla from the Moors – terminating any Muslim presence in the western region of Spain.

England

 * Baronial forces led by Robert de Ferrers and Henry de Montfort lay siege to Worcester. The attackers finally enter the city and are allowed to sack the city, The Jewish community is also targeted by the attackers. Most of them are killed. The Worcester massacre is part of a wider campaign by allies of Simon de Montfort at the start of the Second Barons' War.

Levant

 * April 4 – Egyptian forces led by Sultan Baibars (or Abu al-Futuh) attack Acre, there is severe fighting outside the walls, in which the seneschal, Geoffrey of Sergines, is badly wounded. Baibars is not yet ready to besiege the city and begins a major campaign to eliminate the Crusader kingdom of Jerusalem, the county of Tripoli and the principality of Antioch.

Arts and Culture

 * The Savoy Palace is constructed in London by Peter II, Count of Savoy.

Education

 * Balliol College, Oxford is founded by the English nobleman John I de Balliol (approximate date).

Markets

 * Edward (the Lord Edward), son and heir of King Henry III, seizes £10,000, which had been deposited to the trust of the Knights Templar in London, by foreign merchants and English magnates.
 * The Bonsignori firm gains the full market of the transfer of fiscal revenue, from the papal estates to Rome.

Religion

 * July 20–24 – Nahmanides, Spanish chief rabbi, defends the Talmud in an important debate (also called the Disputation of Barcelona) against Pablo Christiani, before James I (the Conqueror).
 * The doctrines of Joachim of Fiore, French hermit and theologian, are condemned as heresy by the Catholic Church at a synod in Arles (approximate date).

Births

 * January 22 – Ibn Taymiyyah, Syrian philosopher (d. 1328)
 * February 8 – Afonso of Portugal, Portuguese prince (d. 1312)
 * March 20 – Yolande of Dreux, queen of Scotland (d. 1330)
 * Henry III, German nobleman (House of Gorizia) (d. 1323)
 * Ingeborg of Sweden, countess of Holstein-Plön (d. 1292)
 * Juliana FitzGerald, Norman-Irish noblewoman (d. 1300)
 * Napoleone Orsini, Italian cardinal and diplomat (d. 1342)
 * Philip of Flanders, Flemish nobleman and knight (d. 1308)
 * Roseline de Villeneuve, French nun and saint (d. 1329)
 * Theobald II (or Thiebaut), German nobleman (d. 1312)
 * Tolberto III, Italian nobleman and condottiero (d. 1317)
 * Zhongfeng Mingben, Chinese Buddhist master (d. 1323)

Deaths

 * January 7 – Agnes of Merania, duchess of Carinthia (b. 1215)
 * January 16 – Shinran Shonin, founder of Shin Buddhism (b. 1173)
 * March 19 – Hugh of Saint-Cher, French friar and bishop (b. 1200)
 * April 20 – John I, German nobleman (House of Schauenburg)
 * November 14 – Alexander Nevsky, Grand Prince of Novgorod
 * December 16 – Haakon IV (the Old), king of Norway (b. 1204)
 * December 24 – Hōjō Tokiyori, Japanese nobleman (b. 1227)
 * Al-Ashraf Musa, Ayyubid prince (emir) and ruler (b. 1229)
 * Boniface, Savoyan nobleman (House of Savoy) (b. 1245)
 * Caesarius of Alagno, Italian priest, bishop and counsellor
 * Gilbert I de la Hay, Scottish nobleman, knight and regent
 * Guy I de la Roche, duke of Athens and Thebes (b. 1205)
 * John XIII Aaron bar Ma'dani, Syrian patriarch of Antioch
 * Manuel I (Megas Komnenos), emperor of Trebizond
 * Martino della Torre, Italian nobleman and condottiero
 * Mindaugas (or Mendog), king of Lithuania (b. 1203)
 * Senana ferch Caradog, Welsh noblewoman (b. 1198)

title: 1263


text:
1264

Year 1264 (MCCLXIV) was a leap year starting on Tuesday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar.

Byzantine Empire

 * Spring – Battle of Makryplagi: Constantine Palaiologos, half-brother of Emperor Michael III (Palaiologos), resumes operations against the Principality of Achaea. He advances up in northern Elis, and sets up his camp at a location called "St. Nicholas of Mesiskli". Prince William II of Villehardouin with his own troops march to meet him and arrays his men ready for battle. The Byzantine vanguard under Michael Kantakouzenos, ride forth from the Byzantine lines, but the force is ambushed and Michael is killed by the Achaeans. Constantine retreats and goes on to lay siege to the fortress of Nikli. There, Turkish mercenaries (some 1,000 horsemen), confront him and demand that he pay them their arrears of 6 months. Constantine refuses, whereupon the Turkish troops desert to William. He decides to raise the siege and departs for Constantinople. He leaves Alexios Philes with a force and marches towards Messenia, where he occupies the passes, situated near Gardiki Castle. William, reinforced by the Turkish contingent, marches to Messenia to attack the Byzantines, despite their holding strong positions on the high ground. The first two attacks are beaten off, but during the third attack, the Byzantines flee in panic. Alexios, along with many Greek nobles, are captured.

Europe

 * January 23 – King Louis IX (the Saint) issues the Mise of Amiens, a settlement between King Henry III and his rebellious barons under Simon de Montfort, heavily favouring the former – which leads to the Second Barons' War. At Amiens, Henry accuses the barons of destroying his castles and laying waste to royal lands. For this he demands a compensation of some £300,000 and 200,000 marks, which is defended by Louis.
 * August – Mudéjar Revolt: Muslim rebel forces, aided by allies from Algeciras and Tarifa, take the town of Jerez de la Frontera after defeating the outnumbered Castilian garrison led by Nuño González de Lara (the Good). The rebels are supported by Muhammad I, ruler of the Emirate of Granada, while King Alfonso X (the Wise) is allied with Aragon. The rebels manage to capture Murcia, as well as several smaller towns.
 * August 14 – Battle of Saseno: The Genoese fleet (16 galleys) manages to trick and capture an entire Venetian trade convoy near Saseno Island off the coast of Albania. The captured merchandise and ships are valued at more than 100,000 Genoese pounds, an enormous sum for the period, of which 30,000 goes into the Genoese treasury through the sale of the plunder.
 * October 9 – Castilian forces under Alfonso X (the Wise) counter-attack and recapture Jerez de la Frontera, after a siege. The rebel-held towns of Vejer de la Frontera, Rota, and Sanlúcar de Barrameda also fall to Alfonso. Muslims in the retaken towns are expelled and the mosques in Jerez are converted to churches. The region is settled by Christians from elsewhere.
 * December 10 – Hungarian Civil War: A dynastic conflict erupts between King Béla IV and his son, Duke Stephen. Hungarian forces under Ladislaus II Kán invades Stephen's realm and push forward unhindered penetrating the valley of the Mureș River in the southern part of Transylvania. Stephen's army halts Ladislaus' advance at the Fortress of Deva (modern Romania).
 * Winter – The War of the Thuringian Succession ends after 17 years with the state of Hesse gaining its independence from Thuringia and becoming the Landgraviate of Hesse, a principality of the Holy Roman Empire.
 * High Duke Bolesław V (the Chaste) promulgates legal protection for Jewish communities in Lesser Poland, including protection from kidnapping and forcible baptism of Jewish children (approximate date).

British Isles

 * April 5 – Battle of Northampton: English forces under Roger Mortimer, advance over the water meadows south of Northampton to attack its main gate with engines. Meanwhile, another party rides clockwise along the built-up area's western perimeter, looking for an easier entrance. While the townsmen entrust to hold up the initial attack, the outflanking detachment founds a breach in the garden wall of St. Andrew's Priory, at the north of the town. Simon de Montfort (the Younger), son of Simon de Montfort, reacts to the break-in – riding upon his horse with his squire, and some followers to contest the breach. But Simon is captured and throws the defenders into disarray. Simon de Montfort mounts a rearguard to relieve his son, but on April 6 the castle falls.
 * April 17–19 – English rebels under Simon de Montfort beset Rochester from two directions in a pincer movement from north and south. The garrison sortie burns the suburbs to deprive the rebels of cover. Initial assaults on the bridge the next morning are repulsed by Roger de Leybourne. In the evening, however, supported by archers shooting across the river, Simon launches an amphibious assault, wind and current carrying his fireship across to set fire to the bridge defenses. The rebels capture the castle's outer bailey and the garrison retires inside the keep on April 19. Meanwhile, rebels under Gilbert de Clare (the Red Earl) occupy the cathedral. The siege then boggs down, Simon receives reports of a relief force and orders to withdraw on April 26.
 * April – Gilbert de Clare (the Red Earl) leads a massacre of the Jews at Canterbury, during the outbreak of the Second Barons' War. In the meantime, another of de Montfort's followers, John FitzJohn, leads a massacre against the Jews in London. The Jewish communities of Northampton, Winchester, Cambridge, and Lincoln are looted. The archæ (official chest of records) is destroyed or deposited at the headquarters of de Montfort's supporters at Ely.
 * May 14 – Battle of Lewes: English rebels led by Simon de Montfort defeat Henry III and Prince Edward (the Lord Edward), at Lewes. Henry leaves the safety of Lewes Castle and St. Pancras Priory, to engage the rebels. Edward routes part of the rebel army (some 5,000 men) with a cavalry charge, but during the battle de Montfort's forces capture both Henry and Edward, making Simon the "uncrowned king of England" for 15 months.
 * May – Simon de Montfort marches on London but the drawbridge on London Bridge has been raised by the Lord Mayor. Simon has the support of the Londoners, who manage to lower the bridge allowing him into the city. Henry III is forced to pardon the rebel nobles and reinstates the Provisions of Oxford. With Henry's power diminished, Simon announces that all debts owed to the Jews would be canceled.
 * June – Simon de Montfort summons Parliament in London to confirm new constitutional arrangements. Two knights are summoned for each county, and are allowed to comment on general matters of state – the first time this has occurred. In France, Queen Eleanor of Provence, wife of Henry III, makes plans for an invasion of England with the support of Louis IX (the Saint).
 * June – Edward (the Lord Edward) is held captive at Wallingford Castle, but after an escape attempt he is moved to Kenilworth Castle.
 * June 18 – The Parliament of Ireland meets at Castledermot in County Kildare, the first definitely known meeting of this Irish legislature.
 * December 24 – The title Baron de Ros, the oldest held peerage title, is created by writ of summons during the reign of Henry III.

Mongol Empire

 * The Toluid Civil War ends: Kublai Khan defeats his brother and pretender to the title of "Great Khan", Ariq Böke, who surrenders to Kublai on August 24. He is imprisoned and with the Chinese support behind him, Kublai is acknowledged by the rulers of the western khanates and as sole ruler of the Mongol Empire. He moves his capital from Shangdu in Inner Mongolia, to the Chinese city of Dadu (modern-day Beijing).

Asia

 * February – The Japanese era Kōchō ends and the Bun'ei era begins during the reign of the 14-year-old Emperor Kameyama (until 1275).

Education

 * September 14 – Walter de Merton formally completes the foundation of the House of Scholars of Merton (later Merton College, Oxford), to provide education in Malden and the University of Oxford.

Religion

 * August 11 – By the papal bull Transiturus, Pope Urban IV declares the Feast of Corpus Christi (festum corporis) to be celebrated by the entire Catholic Church.
 * October 2 – Urban IV dies after a pontificate of 3-years and is succeeded by Clement IV. His papal election occurs at Perugia, which will last for four months.
 * Thomas Aquinas completes his theological work Summa contra Gentiles (approximate date).

Births

 * January 21 – Alexander, Scottish heir apparent (d. 1284)
 * February 2 – Sancha of Portugal, Portuguese princess (d. 1279)
 * May 26 – Koreyasu, Japanese prince and shogun (d. 1326)
 * Ahmed al-Ghubrini, Hafsid scholar and chronicler (d. 1314)
 * Darmabala (Protector of the Law), Mongol prince (d. 1292)
 * Louis of France, French prince and heir apparent (d. 1276)
 * Nichiin, Japanese Buddhist monk and disciple (d. 1329)
 * Wang Qinghui, Chinese concubine and poet (d. 1288)

Deaths

 * February 16 – Azzo VII d'Este, marquis of Ferrara (b. 1205)
 * April 25 – Roger de Quincy, Scotto-Norman nobleman (b. 1195)
 * May 17 – Wartislaw III, Polish nobleman and knight (b. 1210)
 * July 10 – Isabella de Clare, English noblewoman (b. 1226)
 * August 1 – John I (the Theologian), German nobleman
 * September 12 – Hōjō Nagatoki, Japanese regent (b. 1227)
 * October 2 – Urban IV, pope of the Catholic Church (b. 1195)
 * November 11 – Farinata degli Uberti, Italian nobleman (b. 1212)
 * November 16 – Li Zong (or Zhao Yun), Chinese emperor (b. 1205)
 * Andrey II Yaroslavich, Grand Prince of Vladimir (b. 1222)
 * Danylo Romanovych, ruler of Galicia–Volhynia (b. 1201)
 * Dharmasvamin, Tibetan monk and explorer (b. 1197)
 * Domentijan, Serbian monk and philosopher (b. 1210)
 * Fujiwara no Ieyoshi, Japanese waka poet (b. 1192)
 * Hugh l'Aleman, Outremer knight and heir apparent
 * Isabella of Cyprus, Cypriotic princess and regent
 * John II of Beirut, Outremer nobleman and knight
 * Nicholas I de Soules, Scottish nobleman and knight
 * Perceval Doria, Genoese military leader and poet
 * Robert de Vieuxpont, English nobleman and knight
 * Vincent of Beauvais, French friar and encyclopedist

title: 1264


text:
1265

Year 1265 (MCCLXV) was a common year starting on Thursday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar.

War and politics

 * January 20 – In Westminster, the first elected English parliament (called Montfort's Parliament) conducts its first meeting in the Palace of Westminster, later to be known as the Houses of Parliament.
 * March – End of the Hungarian Civil War (1264–1265) – Battle of Isaszeg: Younger King Stephen decisively defeats his father's army.
 * May 28 – Future King Edward I of England escapes the captivity of Simon de Montfort, 6th Earl of Leicester.
 * June 18 – A draft Byzantine–Venetian treaty is concluded between Venetian envoys and Emperor Michael VIII Palaiologos, but is not ratified by Doge Reniero Zeno
 * August 4 – Second Barons' War: The Battle of Evesham is fought in Worcestershire, with the army of Edward defeating the forces of rebellious barons led by Simon de Montfort, resulting in the death of Montfort and many of his allies. This is sometimes considered the death of chivalry in England.
 * The Isle of Man comes under Scottish rule.
 * Mongol armies, led by Nogai Khan, raid Thrace.
 * In the first major battle in five years (since the Song Dynasty Chinese pushed the forces of Kublai Khan back across the Yangzi River, after Möngke Khan's failed invasion in 1259), Kublai Khan engages the Chinese in Sichuan province. Kublai gains a preliminary victory, and war booty of 146 captured Song Dynasty naval ships.

Culture

 * The Book of Aneirin, a Welsh manuscript of poetry, is penned.
 * The brewing of Budweiser Budvar beer begins in Bohemia; Budweiser Budvar has been produced continuously there to this day.
 * Correspondence from Pope Clement IV contains the first known mention of the ring of the Fisherman, an item of papal regalia then used to seal personal correspondence from the pope, and later for papal bulls.
 * February 5 – Pope Clement IV succeeds Pope Urban IV, as the 183rd pope.

Africa and Asia

 * The Mamluk Sultanate Bahri dynasty of Egypt captures several cities and towns from Crusader states in the Middle East, including the cities of Haifa, Arsuf, and Caesarea Maritima; these events eventually precipitate the Eighth Crusade in 1267.
 * Kublai Khan sends a delegation to Japan, which loots islands along the way.
 * Fire destroys parts of Old Cairo.
 * India, Delhi: Ghiyas-Ud-Din-Balban comes to the throne and introduces Sijdah.

Births

 * May 10 – Emperor Fushimi of Japan (d. 1317)
 * December 17 – Emperor Go-Uda of Japan (d. 1324)
 * King Alfonso III of Aragon
 * approximate date – Dante Alighieri, Italian poet (d. 1321)
 * approximate date – Maria de Molina, regent of Castile (d. 1321)
 * approximate date – Beatrice Portinari, Dante Alighieri's beloved and guide through Heaven in The Divine Comedy (d. 1290)

Deaths

 * January 20 – John Maunsell, Lord Chancellor of England
 * February 8 – Hulagu Khan of the Mongol Empire (b. 1217)
 * May 16 – Simon Stock, English prior, canonized (b. c. 1165)
 * June 26 – Anne of Bohemia, Duchess of Silesia (b. 1203 or 1204)
 * August 4 (Killed in the Battle Of Evesham)
 * Hugh le Despencer, 1st Baron le Despencer (b. 1223)
 * Henry de Montfort (b. 1238)
 * Peter de Montfort
 * Simon de Montfort, 6th Earl of Leicester (b. 1208)
 * November 24 – Magnús Óláfsson, King of Mann and the Isles
 * December 3 – Odofredus, Italian jurist
 * Al-Abharī, Persian philosopher and mathematician (b. 1200)

title: 1265