1240s

This is a list of events occurring in the 1240s, ordered by year.

1240

By area

Asia

• Batu Khan and the Golden Horde sack the Ruthenian city of Kiev.
• Tuan Mash'ika, an Arab, travels and introduces Islam to Sulu.

Europe

• July 15 – Battle of the Neva: Russian prince Alexander Nevsky defeats the Swedes, saving Russia from a full-scale enemy invasion from the North.
• The civil war era in Norway ends.
• The Flemish village Kaprijke is recognized as a city.
• Sancho II of Portugal conquers the cities of Ayamonte and Cacella over the Muslims as part of the Reconquista.^[1]

By topic

Religion

• Saint Maurice starts to be portrayed as a Moor.

1242

By area

Africa

• In Maghrib, after a string of successes against the fast declining Almohads, Abu Zakariya, the first Hafsid ruler of Ifriqiya conquers Tlemcen.^[2]

Asia

• Emperor Go-Saga ascends to the throne of Japan.
• Batu Khan establishes the Golden Horde at Sarai.
• The Mongols invade the Seljuk sultanate.

Europe

• April 5 – During a battle on the ice of Lake Peipus, Russian forces, led by Alexander Nevsky, rebuff an invasion attempt by the Teutonic Knights.
• Cleves, Germany is chartered as a city.
• Kiel, Germany is chartered as a town.
• The archbishop of Wiesbaden conquers the city from the Duke of Nassau.
• The king Sancho II of Portugal conquers the cities of Tavira, Alvor and Paderne in his continuing effort against the Muslims, known as Reconquista.^[1]

• Mongol invasions
  • German colonists arrive in Bratislava after the Mongols failed to conquer the city.
  • The Mongols of the Golden Horde devastate Volga Bulgaria, and force the nation to pay tribute.
  • A French goldsmith working in Budapest named Guillaume Boucher is captured by the Mongols and taken to Karakorum.
  • The golden bull is issued by King Béla IV to inhabitants of Gradec (today's Zagreb) and Samobor in Croatia, during the Mongol invasion of Europe. By this golden bull King Bela IV proclaim a Free Royal Borough (free and royal city).
  • Croats stop the Mongolian invasion after the battle of Grobnicko Polje

By topic

Science

• Timeline of medicine and medical technology: Ibn Nafis suggests that the right and left ventricles of the heart are separate and describes the lesser circulation of blood.

Religion

• The diocese of Warmia, Poland is created.

1243

• March – Treaty of Alcaraz, the king of Castile turns the independent Muslim kingdom of Murcia into a protectorate and initiates the process of colonization and christianization of the region. The Castillan troops are garnisoned in Murcia to support the Huddite dynasty (May 1).^[3]
• June 25 – Pope Innocent IV succeeds Pope Celestine IV as the 180th pope.
• June 26 – Battle of Köse Dag: The Mongols defeat the Seljuk Turks of Rum.
• The city of Brno is founded in what is now Czech Republic.

1244

• The Christian Reconquista in Iberia enjoys a string of successes:
  • March 26 – By the treaty of Almirra, the king of Aragon and prince of Castile come to an agreement on the attribution of Muslim lands to still to be conquered.^[3]
  • May 22 – James I of Aragon takes the Muslim-held city of Janita after several months of siege.^[3] This success is followed by the capture of Biar later that year.^[3]
  • James I of Aragon reconquers Altea, Spain.
  • The heir prince of Castile conduct a series of military operations to support the Muslim Huddite rulers of Murcia against rebel strongholds.^[3]

1245

• A rebellion occurs against King Sancho II of Portugal in favour of his brother Afonso.
• 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.^[4]
• The rebuilding of Westminster Abbey is started.
• Pope Innocent IV sends Giovanni da Pian del Carpine to the Mongol court, suggesting (amongst other things) that the Mongols convert to Christianity.
• First Council of Lyon: Holy Roman Emperor Frederick II is excommunicated and deposed, and the Seventh Crusade is proclaimed.

1246

By area

Americas

• The Mexicans settle Chapultepec, a former Toltec stronghold.

Asia

• Emperor Go-Fukakusa succeeds Emperor Go-Saga on the throne of Japan.
• Güyük Khan is enthroned as the 3rd Great Khan of the Mongol Empire (an event also witnessed by a papal mission under Giovanni da Pian del Carpine) at Karakorum.

Europe

• With the death of Duke Frederick II, the Babenberg dynasty ends in Austria.
• Spain: After two unsuccessful sieges, the Castillans manage to take the city of Jaén from the Andalucians.^[4]

By topic

Arts

• The Gothic chapel of Sainte-Chapelle is built.
• Robert Grosseteste translates Aristotle's Nichomachean Ethics from Greek into Latin, it marks the true start of the rediscovery of the philosopher by Medieval Europe.^[5]

Nature

• The perihelion of the Earth's orbit coincided with the December solstice.

Religion

• Beaulieu Abbey is dedicated.

1247

• December 1 – A rebellion arises among the Muslim subjects of the Crown of Aragon in the region of Valencia. As a punishment, the king issues an order of expulsion of the Muslims from his realm leading numerous people into exile in Andalusia and North Africa in the subsequent year.^[3]
• Shams ad-Din disappears, resulting in Jalal Uddin Rumi writing 30,000 verses of poetry about his disappearance.
• Romford, London, England is chartered as a market town.
• Bedlam becomes part of London.
• The Thuringian War of Succession begins.
• Qin Jiushao publishes the original form of the Chinese remainder theorem.
• Egypt takes control of Jerusalem from the Kharezmians.
• Nijmegen becomes part of Gelderland.
• The Romanesque cathedral of St. Pierre is begun in Beauvais.
• Afonso III succeeds Sancho II as King of Portugal.
• Saint Louis massacres the last remaining Catharists at Montségur.
• Song Ci publishes the Collected Cases of Injustice Rectified, a book considered to be the first monographic work on forensic medicine.

1248

• April 26 – The Gothic chapel Sainte-Chapelle is consecrated in Paris, France.
• August 15 – The foundation stone of the Cologne cathedral is laid after an older cathedral on the site burns down on April 30. Construction is completed 632 years later, in 1880.
• King Louis IX of France launches the Seventh Crusade, leading an army of 20,000 toward Egypt.
• Reconquista: King Ferdinand III of Castile recaptures the city of Seville from the Moors and Prince Alfonso X of Castile the city of Alicante.
• Roger Bacon publishes the formula for black powder in Europe.
• Pope Innocent IV grants the Croats permission to use their own language and script in liturgy (see Glagolitic alphabet).
• Construction on the Alhambra palace, in Granada, Spain, is begun by the Nasrids.
• The University of Piacenza is founded.
• Tallinn (Reval) receives the Lübeck Rights.
• The Dutch city of Ommen receives city rights and fortification rights from Otto III, Archbishop of Utrecht on August 25.
• The Aztec Empire is established.

1249

By place

Africa

• King Louis IX of France captures Damietta in Egypt, the first major military engagement of the Seventh Crusade.

Asia

• Pho Khun Si Indrathit becomes the first king of the Sukhothai kingdom, marking the founding of the modern Thai nation.
• The Hikitsuke, a judicial organ of the Kamakura and Muromachi shogunates of Japan, is established.
• The Japanese Hōji era ends, and the Kenchō era begins.

Europe

• February 16 – Andrew of Longjumeau is dispatched by King Louis IX of France as an ambassador to meet with the Khan of the Mongols.
• June 13 – coronation of Alexander III as King of Scots.
• August 15 – The First Battle of Athenry is fought in Galway, Ireland.
• The city of Stralsund (in present-day Germany) is burned to the ground by forces from the rival city of Lübeck.
• Swedish statesman Birger Jarl subjugates the province of Tavastia in Finland, securing Swedish power in Finland.
• Alphonse of Toulouse orders the expulsion of Jews from Poitou, France.
• The Hungarian capital is moved from Esztergom to Buda.

Mediterranean

• May 26 – The Battle of Fossalta is fought between the Holy Roman Empire and the Lombard League. The Lombards capture the German commander.
• The Moors lose possession of Alicante in Al-Andalus (Islamic Spain).
• King Afonso III of Portugal recaptures Faro and Silves in the Algarve from the Moors, thus ending the Portuguese Reconquista.^[1]
• The city of Mystras, Greece is fortified and a palace is constructed there by William II Villehardouin.

By topic

Education

• University College, the first College at Oxford, is founded with money gifted 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, has 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.

References