1270

1261 1262 1263 1264 1265 1266 1267 1268 1269 1270

political events

Hungary's Arpád king Béla IV dies May 3 at age 63 after a 35-year reign during which Mongol invasions have left three fourths of the country in ruins and Bohemia's Ottakar II has taken much of his territory; he is succeeded by his headstrong son Stephen (István), now 31, who will reign until his death in 1272 as Stephen V.

Genoese noblemen Oberto Spinola and Oberto Doria seize power as captains of the people (see 1262). The Fieschi family's Guelph party has allied itself with the French prince Charles d'Anjou, the people of Genoa have taken exception to the alliance, and the Ghibelline party will rule the city-state for 15 years under the leadership of Spinola and Doria.

Louis IX embarks from southern France in July at the head of an Eighth Crusade, arrives at Carthage after a 17-day voyage, but dies of plague August 25 along with his son Jean Tristan as his army is cut down by heat and disease. His brother Charles d'Anjou arrives with the Sicilian fleet and negotiates the evacuation of what remains of the army in payment for an indemnity. Louis will be canonized as St. Louis in 1297; survived by his widow, Marguerite de Provence, now 49, he is succeeded after a reign of nearly 44 years by his 25-year-old son, who will reign until 1285 as Philippe III.

Louis IX walls Carcassonne with an outer ring of fortifications before his departure. The city is considered impregnable and will not be attacked for centuries.

music

The German poet-minnesinger Tannhäuser dies at age 65.

1261 1262 1263 1264 1265 1266 1267 1268 1269 1270

Astronomy

Chinese astronomer Guo Shoujing (a.k.a. Kuo Shou-Ching) [b. 1231, d. 1314] builds the "simplified instrument," the first known astronomical device to use an equatorial mounting. The instrument is mounted to revolve parallel to Earth's axis. When aimed at a star, it keeps it in view despite Earth's rotation. The "simplified instrument" is made from bronze and weighs several tons. It is a form of the torquetum, an improvement of the armillary sphere first described by Ptolemy. See also 140 ce Astronomy; 1276 Astronomy.

Alchemist Arnold of Villanova [b. near Valencia (Spain), c. 1235, d. near Genoa (Italy), September. 6, 1311] about this time produces the first preparation of pure alcohol and also nearly discovers carbon monoxide. See also 900 Food & agriculture.

William of Moerbeke completes his translation of almost the complete works of Archimedes from Greek into Latin. See also 1260 Communication; 1277 Medicine & health.

Naturalist physician Witelo's Perspectiva ("perspectives") is a treatise on optics that deals with refraction, reflection, and geometrical optics. He rejects the notion that rays are emitted from the eye. See also 1020 Physics; 1604 Physics.

Years: 1267 1268 1269 – 1270 – 1271 1272 1273

Decades: 1240s 1250s 1260s – 1270s – 1280s 1290s 1300s

Centuries: 12th century – 13th century – 14th century

1270 by topic

Politics

State leaders – Sovereign states

Birth and death categories

Births – Deaths

Establishments and disestablishments categories

Establishments – Disestablishments v • d • e

Art and literature

1270 in poetry v • d • e

1270 in other calendars

Gregorian calendar	1270 MCCLXX
Ab urbe condita	2023
Armenian calendar	719 ԹՎ ՉԺԹ
Bahá'í calendar	-574 – -573
Berber calendar	2220
Buddhist calendar	1814
Burmese calendar	632
Byzantine calendar	6778 – 6779
Chinese calendar	己巳年十二月初八日 (3906/3966-12-8) — to — 庚午年十一月十八日 (3907/3967-11-18)
Coptic calendar	986 – 987
Ethiopian calendar	1262 – 1263
Hebrew calendar	5030 – 5031
Hindu calendars
- Vikram Samvat	1325 – 1326
- Shaka Samvat	1192 – 1193
- Kali Yuga	4371 – 4372
Holocene calendar	11270
Iranian calendar	648 – 649
Islamic calendar	668 – 669
Japanese calendar
Korean calendar	3603
Thai solar calendar	1813
v • d • e

The cathedral atop the Rock of Cashel in Ireland was completed in 1270.

Contents 1 Events 1.1 Africa 1.1.1 The Eighth Crusade 1.1.2 Other events in Africa 1.2 Asia 1.3 Europe 2 Births 3 Deaths

Events

Africa

The Eighth Crusade

• Before August – King Louis IX of France launches the Eighth Crusade in an attempt to recapture the crusader states from the Mamluk sultan Baibars; the opening engagement is a siege of Tunis.
• August 25 – King Louis IX of France dies while besieging the city of Tunis, possibly due to poor quality drinking water.
• October 30 – The siege of Tunis and the Eighth Crusade end by an agreement between Charles I of Sicily (Louis IX's brother) and the sultan of Tunis.

Other events in Africa

• Yekuno Amlak overthrows the Ethiopian Zagwe dynasty, claims the throne and establishes the Solomonic dynasty.

Asia

• In Korea, the Sambyeolcho Rebellion begins against the Goryeo Dynasty, a puppet government of the Mongol Empire.
• The ancient city of Ashkelon is captured from the crusader states and utterly destroyed by the Mamluk sultan Baibars, who goes so far as to fill in its important harbor, leaving the site desolate and the city never to be rebuilt.
• The city of Tabriz, in present-day Iran, is made capital of the Mongol Ilkhanate Empire (approximate date).
• The independent state of Kutch is founded in present-day India.
• A census of the Chinese city of Hangzhou establishes that some 186,330 families reside within it, not including visitors and soldiers. (Historian Jacques Gernet argues that this means a population of over 1 million inhabitants, making Hangzhou the most populous city in the world.)

Europe

• December – Crucial aspects of the philosophy of Averroism (itself based on Aristotle's works) are banned by the Roman Catholic church in a condemnation enacted by papal authority at the University of Paris.
• The Summa Theologica, a work by Thomas Aquinas that is considered within the Roman Catholic Church to be the paramount expression of its theology, is completed (year uncertain).
• Witelo translates Alhazen's 200-year-old treatise on optics, Kitab al-Manazir, from Arabic into Latin, bringing the work to European academic circles for the first time.
• The Sanskrit fables known as the Panchatantra, dating from as early as 200 BCE, are translated into Latin from a Hebrew version by John of Capua.
• Construction of the Old New Synagogue in Prague is completed.
• The cathedral on the Rock of Cashel in Ireland is completed.

Births

• March 12 – Charles of Valois, son of Philip III of France (d. 1325)
• Jacob ben Asher, Spanish rabbi and religious writer
• Theodore Metochites, Byzantine statesman and author
• Michael of Cesena, Franciscan theologian (d. 1342)
• Marsilius of Padua, Italian scholar (d. 1342)
• Aymer de Valence, 2nd Earl of Pembroke (d. 1324)
• Cino da Pistoia, Italian poet (d. 1336)
• Ma Zhiyuan, Chinese poet
• Namdev, Marathi saint and poet (d. 1350)
• William Wallace, Scottish patriot (d. 1305)

Deaths

• February 23 – Saint Isabel of France, daughter of Louis VIII of France (b. 1225)
• March 17 – Philip of Montfort, Lord of Tyre
• May 3 – Béla IV of Hungary (b. 1206)
• July 14 – Boniface of Savoy, Archbishop of Canterbury
• August 25
  • King Louis IX of France (b. 1214)
  • Alphonso of Brienne (b. c. 1225)
• September 24 – Philip of Montfort, Lord of Castres
• December 4 – Theobald V of Champagne, King of Navarre (b. c. 1238)
• Mansa Wali Keita, second mansa of the Mali Empire
• Roger Bigod, 4th Earl of Norfolk (b. 1212)
• David VII Ulu, King of Georgia (b. 1215)
• Isaac ben Moses of Vienna, Jewish rabbi and scholar (b. 1200)

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