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The Provisions of Oxford establish the English House of Commons in a move by Richard de Clare, 7th earl of Gloucester; Simon de Montfort, earl of Leicester; and other rebellious barons to restore the Magna Carta of 1215. Henry III has shocked them by his severity in suppressing the Gascon rebellion 10 years ago and by his more recent undertaking to conquer Sicily for his son Edmund at the behest of Pope Innocent III. Persuaded that Henry is unfit to rule, they establish a council of 15 men, most of them barons, with veto power over the king. It is to meet three times per year with a committee of 12 appointed to advise the king. Henry, his 19-year-old son Edward, and all other officials take an oath of loyalty to the new Provisions June 11 (but see 1259).
The northern Welsh prince of Gwynedd Llywelyn ap Gruffudd sees an opportunity in England's internal conflict, proclaims himself Prince of Wales, and receives homage from the other Welsh princes (see 1255; 1262).
The Treaty of Corbeil signed at Paris May 28 ends hostilities between France's Louis IX and England's Henry III. Louis has abandoned ancient claims to Catalonia and Roussilon in exchange for a renunciation by Barcelona of its rights in Gévaudan and Rouergue; he shows some magnanimity by not stripping Henry of all his continental holdings, choosing rather to let him retain Aquitaine and some neighboring territories (see 1259).
The Sicilian regent Manfred is crowned king at Palermo August 10 after a rumor circulates that Conradin, the 6-year-old king of Jerusalem and Sicily, is dead (see 1254). Now 26, Manfred is the illegitimate son of the late Holy Roman Emperor Friedrich II (Sicily's Frederick I); insisting that Sicily needs a strong, native ruler, he refuses to abdicate when the rumor about Conradin proves false. Pope Alexander IV excommunicates the handsome Manfred, his allies in Naples and Sicily withdraw their support, but the new king rallies Ghibelline support, notably from Florentine nobleman Farinata degli Uberti (see 1260).
The Nicaean emperor Theodore II Lascaris dies in August at age 36 as war continues with Michael, despot of Epirus (see 1256).
The Mongol prince Hülegü Khan routs the last army of Persia's eastern Abbasid caliphate January 17 (see 1225); floods (in 1243, 1253, 1255, and 1256) have undermined the defenses of Baghdad, his brother Möngke Khan has sent Hülegü expressly to topple the Abbasids, Hülegü's forces lay siege to the city. The 45-year-old caliph al-Mustasim who has reigned since 1242 surrenders February 10, Hülegü asks him to have his people lay down their arms, most of them comply and are then put to the sword. The Mongols enter Baghdad February 13, and they massacre tens of thousands in a single week, burning and plundering the city for the next 13 days; they kill the caliph February 20 (he is sewn into a bag and trampled to death by horses), put 300 of his officials to death the same day, kill about 80,000 people, and end the caliphate that has ruled from Baghdad since 762, making it one of the world's great centers of learning and culture. For the first time in its history Islam is without a caliph (see 1260).
Mongol invaders pillage Hanoi in Southeast Asia.
Hülegü Khan makes the Persian philosopher-scientist-mathematician Nasir ad-Din al-Tusi his confidential adviser. Formerly an astrologer to the Ismaili governor Nasr ad-Din Abd ar-Rahim, al-Tusi later pretended to be an Ismaili (rather than a Shiite), studied at the headquarters of the Assassin terrorist sect in its castle at Alamut, and 2 years ago betrayed the defenses of that fortress to the invading Mongols.
A flagellant movement arises in Europe following widespread famine and disease. Organized under masters, the flagellants wear special uniforms, live under strict discipline, and conduct public and private self-flagellation, beating themselves according to a set ritual to divert divine punishment and forestall plagues thought to be sent by heaven as chastisement for sins (see 1349).
Fiction: The Rose Garden (Gulistan) by the Persian poet Sadi, whose collection of stories and personal anecdotes is peppered with short verses containing humorous reflections along with advice and aphorisms.
Vienna's Saint Stephen's Cathedral (the Stephansdom, or Stephanskirche) is largely destroyed by a fire that leaves only the Romanesque west façade standing. Reconstruction will begin in 1304, the south transept's Gothic tower and spire will be completed in 1433, and a Gothic nave in 1450 (see politics, 1945).
Famine and disease follow crop failures in the German and Italian states.
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