1240

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political events

Aleksandr Yaroslavich, prince of Novgorod, wins the name Nevski July 15 by defeating a Swedish invasion force on the banks of the Neva River where it meets with the Izhora (see 1238). Encouraged by Russian losses at the hands of Mongol invaders, the Swedes have been trying to expand into northwestern Russia and force the Russians to convert from Greek Orthodoxy to Roman Catholicism. The immediate excuse for their invasion is to punish Novgorod for encroaching on Finnish tribes and to bar the Russians from access to the sea. Led by the 30-year-old Birger Magnusson of Bjälbo, a brother-in-law of Erik Eriksson, the Swedes have who has come from Finland, landed at the mouth of the river, and tried to block Novgorod's approach to the Baltic, but most of his army is destroyed, and he sails back to Finland with the survivors. Aleksandr tries to intervene in the affairs of Novgorod and is expelled from the city in the fall (but see 1242).

Mongol and Turkish horsemen and archers conquer Kiev, sacking the city and burning it as they sweep through southern and central Russia (see 1237). They are commanded by Genghis Khan's grandson Batu Khan, a son of the late Juchi (Jöchi) who has founded what will become known as the Golden Horde (see Liegnitz, 1241).

Turkish-backed Hindu troops murder the Muslim ruler Sultana Raziya and her husband, Altuniyya, October 13 after a surprise attack near Kaithal while en route to Delhi (see 1236). She was deposed early in the year and imprisoned, has married her jailer, and has persuaded him and his army to travel with her to Delhi (see 1266).

Mali forces under Sundiata Keita complete their takeover of the entire Ghana Empire, a once-mighty power whose roots are lost in legend (see 1235; 1255).

England and Scotland fix the border between their two countries.

The walled Languedoc city of Carcassonne banishes rebellious citizens, who establish the Ville Basse outside the Cité.

religion

A crusade to the Holy Land that violates a prohibition by Pope Gregory IX embarks under the leadership of Henry III of England's brother Richard, earl of Cornwall and Simon de Montfort, earl of Leicester, who expels the Jews from Leicester before departing on his crusade (see 1242; Richard, 1239).

literature

Bolognese poet Guido Guinizelli founds the dolce stilnuovo school of Italian love poetry.

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