| Country | Leader | From | To | |
| England | Henry III (1207-72) | 1216 | Nov. 16, 1272 |  |
| Scotland | Alexander II (1198-1249) | 1214 | 1249 |  |
| France | Louis IX the Saint (1214-70) | 1226 | Aug. 25, 1270 |  |
| Germany | HRE Frederick II of Hohenstaufen (1194-1250) | 1212 | Dec. 13, 1250 |  |
| Papacy | Gregory IX (1145-1241) | 1227 | 1241 |  |
1230 In Feb. a flood of the Tiber River causes Rome to invite exiled Pope Gregory IX back; on July 20 the Peace of San Germano is concluded between HRE (since 1212) Frederick II (1194-1250) and the pope, who gets his papal states back, while Freddy II gets unexcommunicated, and they kiss and make up by Sept.; now the pope is free to crack down on those !*?! heretics as the Sixth Crusade fizzles and he needs some more sheep to slaughter ("not only the reductio ad absurdum of crusades, but of papal excommunications" - H.G. Wells). On Mar. 9 after Theodore Comnenus Ducas of Epirus (d. 1253), who sees Bulgaria as the only obstacle between him and Constantinople invades with 85K men without a declaration of war, Bulgarian tsar (since 1218) Ivan (John) Asen II (-1241) defeats and captures and blinds him and captures or kills his entire army in the Battle of Klokotnitsa (Klokotnica) (in modern-day Haskovo Province, Bulgaria) (luckiest battle in Bulgarian history), then occupies W Thrace, Macedonia, and N Albania all the way to Dyrrachion, styling himself tsar of the Bulgarians and Greeks, and giving Thessalonica Theodore's brother Manuel Comnenus Ducas (Manuel Komnenos Doukas) (1187-1241)) (until 1237); Theodore and his son John spend seven years in captivity (until 1237), while Manuel goes on to lose Thrace, most of Macedonia, and Albania to the Bulgarians, making Thessalonica a vassal; meanwhile Michael II Comnenus Ducas returns from exile and seizes control of Epirus. On July 28 Leopold VI (b. 1176) dies, and his only son Frederick II (the Quarrelsome) (the Warlike) (1211-46) becomes Babenberg duke of Austria and Styria (until June 15, 1246). On Oct. 25 after Henry III tries to regain his father's lost possessions in France, Gilbert de Clare, 5th Earl of Hertford (b. 1180), son of Richard de Clare, 4th Earl of Hertford (1153-1217) is KIA while fighting for Henry in Brittany. On Dec. 15 Bohemian king (since 1198) Ottokar I (b. 1155) dies, and his son (by wife Constantia) Wenceslaus (Wenceslas) (Wenceslav) (Vaclav) I Premyslid (1205-53) becomes king of Bohemia (until 1253), encouraging German immigration to counteract the nobles, giving them large forested tracts to clear and build cities in, with practical autonomy under German Magdeburg law. On Dec. 20 a cleaned chalice at the Church of Sant'Ambrogio in Florence, Italy (built in the 900s on the site where St. Ambrose stayed) is found to contain blood by parish priest Uguccione, causing the church to become a pilgrim destination. Castilian king (since 1217) (St.) Ferdinand III (1199-1252) becomes king of Leon (until 1252), which makes its final reunion with Castile. The Teutonic Knights (capital Warsaw) under grandmaster #4 (1209-39) Hermann von Salza (1179-1239), at the request of Duke Konrad I of Masovia (1187-1240) begin their Prussian Crusade (ends 1283) to force these holdout militant seafaring cattle-herding pagans in the SE corner of the Baltic Sea to accept Christianity. Alexander II of Scotland sends the earl of Buchan at the head of a royal army to finally defeat and eliminate the pesky Mac William Clan in Moray (tracing back to Macbeth and Malcolm III), pacifying it and dashing out the brains of the last member in whom the Moravian claim to the Scottish crown resides (an infant girl) against the market cross shaft at Forfar in Angus on Alexander's orders, causing them to finally accept Scottish royal rule; Alexander then invites the Dominican friars to Scotland to found their first convent in Edinburgh; meanwhile Olaf II of Man, who had been driven to exile in Norway last year by Lord Alan FitzRoland of Galloway (1175-1234) returns in June with an 80-ship 3K-man fleet, and captures Rothesay Castle on the Isle of Bute, owned by the Stewarts, finding the walls so soft they can be hewn with axes, then goes on to recover the Isle of Man by Aug. About this time the Crusaders bring leprosy back with them to Europe. Norman Marcher lord William De Braose (b. 1197) is hanged for having an affair with Prince Llywelyn's wife Joan. Inventions: About this time Robert Grosseteste (1175-1253) of Oxford U. (teacher of Roger Bacon and John Peckham) discovers the writings on optics of Arab Muslim al-Haitham, and describes how the "visual ray" can be broken up by passing it through transparent lenses to enlarge or reduce visual objects; John Peckham goes on to become archbishop of Canterbury, and pub. Perspectiva Communis, describing reflection, refraction, and the structure of the eye. Art: Berlinghiero of Lucca, Madonna and Child; done in the Byzantine style. In this decade the anon. near life-size German Gothic Bamberg Horseman (Bamberger Reiter) stone equestrian statue is sculpted for the new (1237) Bamberg Cathedral in Germany, becoming the symbol of the city of Bamberg, Bavaria, becoming the first of its kind since antiquity. Poetry: About this time French poet Guillaume de Loris (1200-40) composes the 4,058-line romantic courtly love poem Roman de la Rose (The Romance of the Rose), about the attempts of a courtier to woo his beloved in a walled garden (locus amoenus); in 1275 French poet Jean de Meun (Meung) (Jean Clopinel or Chopinel) (1240-1305) composes 17,724 more lines; it becomes the most-read book in Europe through the 15th cent. after Chaucer translates it into English in the late 14th cent. Music: Anon., Carmina Burana (Lat. "Songs of Beuern"); a German collection of Latin monastic songs for Beuern Monastery appears about this time; set to music in 1937 by Carl Orff (1895-1982); lyrics incl. "In Springtime", "In the Tavern", "The Court of Love", and O Fortuna (Fortune, Empress of the World): "O Fortuna/ velut luna/ statu variabilis/ semper crescis/ aut decrescis./ Vita detestabilis/ nunc obdurat/ et tunc curat/ ludo mentis aciem./ Egestatem/ potestatem/ dissolvit ut glaciem,/ sors immanis/ et inanis/ rota tu volubilis/ status malus,/ vana salus/ semper dissolubilis,/ Obumbrata/ et velata/ michi quoque niteris./ Nunc per ludum/ dorsum nudum/ fero tui sceleris./ Sors salutis/ et virtutis/ michi nunc contraria/ est affectus/ et defectus/ semper in angaria./ Hac in hora/ sine mora/ corde pulsum tangite/ quod per sortem/ sternit fortem/ mecum omnes plangite!"; "O Fortune, like the Moon you are changeable, ever waxing and waning. Hateful life first oppresses and then soothes as fancy takes it. Poverty and power, it melts them like ice. Fate, monstrous and empty, you whirling wheel, you are malevolent, well-being is vain and always fades to nothing, shadowed and veiled you plague me too. Now through the game I expose my bare back to your villainy. Fate is against me in health and virtue, driven on and weighted down, always enslaved. So at this hour without delay pluck the vibrating strings. Since Fate strikes down the string man, everyone weep with me." Births: Bohemian king (1253-78) Premysl Ottokar (Otakar) II (the Iron) (the Golden) (d. 1278) in Mestec Kralove; 2nd son of Wenceslaus I (1205-53) and Kunigunde; grandson of Philip of Swabia (1177-1208); father of Wenceslaus II (1271-1305). Italian "The Golden Legend" historian and archbishop of Genoa blessed Jacobus de Varagine (Voragine) (d. 1298) in Varagine (modern-day Varazze), Liguria. Italian "Stabat Mater" Franciscan monk-poet Jacopone da Todi (d. 1306) in Todi (near Perugia), Umbria. German poet Hugo von Trimberg (d. 1313) in Wern(a) (near Schweinfurt). German "Perspectiva" friar-scientist Witelo (Erazmus Ciolek Witelo) (d. 1313) (d. 1281-1313) in Legnica, Lower Silesia. Deaths: Italian architect-sculptor Benedetto Antelami (b. 1150) in Parma. Bohemian king (1198-1230) Ottokar I (b. 1155) on Dec. 15. German Minnesinger Walther von der Vogelweide (b. 1170) in Wurzburg; leaves Palastinalied (Palästinalied), the earliest Minnesinger melody to survive to modern times. Austrian duke (1198-1230) Leopold VI the Glorious (b. 1176) on July 28 in San Germano. English knight Gilbert de Clare, 5th earl of Herford (b. 1180) on Oct. 25 in Penrose, Brittany. German Roman Catholic priest Burchard of Biberach (b. ?); leaves The Ursperger Chronicle, a history of the world from Assyrian king Ninius to the year 1229 C.E.
1231 On Apr. 13 after the big strike of 1229, Pope Gregory IX issues the bull Parens Scientiarum (Mother of Sciences), formally recognizing the autonomy of his alma mater the U. of Paris; "[T]he papal bull..., which stipulated that anyone admitted to be a teacher in Toulouse had the right to teach everywhere without further examinations (ius ubique docendi), in time, transformed this privilege into the single most important defining characteristic of the university and made it the symbol of its institutional autonomy." (Kemal Guruz) Jesus rolls over in his empty tomb? Now that Bible reading has been prohibited (1229), and pesky Bible-thumpers continue to read it and point out that the Church's doctrines contradict it, Pope (since 1227) Gregory IX (1145-1241) institutes the search-and-destroy Holy Office, AKA the Inquisition, in the hands of the Dominicans, for the apprehension, torture (begun 1252?) and trial of heretics, enacting a law for Rome that heretics condemned by an ecclesiastical court are to be delivered to the secular power to receive their "due punishment", i.e., death by fire, or life in a horrible inhumane prison; this wonderful development in Catholic theology goes on to morph into the Spanish Inquisition in 1478, and the Portuguese Inquisition in 1531, burning its first Protestants in Spain in 1543; it is finally abolished (suspended until future notice?) after 666, er, 603 fun years in 1834; one good thing: Gregory IX absolves those who violated the ban by the 1215 Fourth Lateran Council on teaching Aristotle, but renews it "provisionally, until the books of the philosopher had been examined and expurgated", appointing three Parisian masters to the job, which they give up on; another good thing: Gregory IX exempts the Jews from the jurisdiction of the Inquisition, except when they attack Christianity, attempt to Judaize Christians, or revert to Judaism after Christian conversion. Norwegians invade and pillage the Firth of Clyde, and are repulsed before a Scottish-Norwegian war is declared. Wladyslaw III Spindleshanks (b. 1165) dies trying to conquer Greater Poland and regain the throne of Cracow from his nephew Wladyslaw Odonic with the help of Duke Henry the Bearded. Ezzelino III de Romano (1194-1259) becomes lord of Verona. The Mongols invade Korea for the first time (1231, 1232, 1235-9, 1251, 1254, 1255, 1257-9). After Ogotai sends 300K men to capture pesky exiled Khwarezm shah Jalal al-Din, he leads a futile resistance, assembling an army at Diarbekr, which is defeated, and he is KIA, after which the Mongols ravage Azerbaijan, Armenia, Georgia, and N Mesopotamia. About this time the Mali Empire (Manden Kurufaba) in W Africa is founded (ends 1600), becoming known for the wealth of its rulers, spreading its culture along the Niger River area. About this time Manco Capac (Cápac) ("splendid foundation") founds the Kingdom of Cuzco in Peru; his son Sinchi (Cinchi) Roca ("valorous and generous") becomes king #2 of Cuzco, bldg. terraces and importing soil, and winning the Battle of Mauedipi with the surrounding valleys. The Japanese shogun prohibits parents from selling their children into slavery. Henry III confirms the title and estates of Simon de Montfort - his face will be on the bucket? Baby-bashing Scottish king Alexander II founds Pluscarden, (a colony of super-austere Valliscaulian monks) in Moray to thank or appease God for helping him eliminate the Mac William clan, and goes on to become the greatest patron and founder of monasteries since David I. Architecture: The Pietra del Vituperio (It. "Stone of Shame") is erected in Padua, Italy to punish insolvent debtors in lieu of prison by them making sit on it in their underwear and renounce all worldly goods 3x, followed by banishment. Nonfiction: Jacob Anatoli trans. Ibn Rushd's summary of Ptolemy's Almagest from Arabic into Hebrew. Births: Japanese Yamato emperor #87 (1232-42) Shijo (Mitsuhito) (d. 1242) on Mar. 17; eldest son of Go-Horikawa (1212-32). English nobleman (guardian of Scotland) John de Warenne, 6th Earl of Surrey (d. 1304); son of William de Warenne, 5th earl of Surrey and Maud Marshal, daughter of William Marshal, 1st earl of Pembroke; half-brother of Roger Bigod, 4th earl of Norfolk. Chinese astronomer ("the Tycho Brahe of China" - Johann Adam Schall von Bell) Guo Soujing (d. 1316) in Xingtai, Heibei. Deaths: Polish grand duke (1202-6, 1227-8) Wladyslaw III Spindleshanks (b. 1165). French architect Jean d'Orbais (b. 1175) in Reims. Portuguese Franciscan monk St. Anthony of Padua (b. 1195) on June 13 in Padua; canonized next May 30 by Pope Gregory IX, a speed record; proclaimed a doctor of the Church on Jan. 16, 1946 - fast-tracked? Spanish countess of Urgell (1196-1231) Aurembiaix (b. 1196) in Balaguer. Japanese Yamato emperor #83 (1198-1210) Tsuchimikado (b. 1196) on Nov. 6. Hungarian St. Elizabeth of Hungary (b. 1207) on Nov. 17 in Marburg, Germany.
1232 On Apr. 10 Count Rudolph the Old of Hapsburg (Habsburg) dies, and his sons Albert IV the Wise (1188-1239) and Rudolph III the Younger (-1232) divide the family possessions in S Germany, with Rudolph receiving Laufenberg and founding the House of Hapsburg-Laufenburg (ends 1415), and his big brother Albert getting the rest, founding the Hapsburg-Hapsburg line, which goes on to fame and fortune through Albert's son Rudolf I (1218-91), future king of Germany and HRE (1273). Eric IV (b. 1216) becomes co-king of Denmark with his father (until 1241). In May the Battle of Casal Imbert (Az-Zeeb) N of Acre (2nd field battle in the Lombard-Ibelin War) is a V for the Lombards; on June 15 the Battle of Agridi (3rd) is a V for the Ibelins, allowing 15-y.-o. Henry I (the Fat) (le Gros) of Lusignan (1217-53) to assume control of Cyprus (until Jan. 18, 1253). On Oct. 26 after emperor (since 1221) Go-Horikawa (1212-34) resigns, his 1-y.-o. eldest son Shijo (1231-42) (personal name Mitsuhito) becomes Japanese Yamato emperor #87 (until Feb. 10, 1242), with his maternal relatives Kujo Michiie and Saionji Kintsune doing the real ruling after daddy dies in 1234. Dissatisfaction with Italian clergymen causes an English mob to rob and burn barns containing crops belonging to them; Hubert de Burgh's part in these riots causes him to be charged with treason, jailed, dismissed from office, and stripped of title and estates in disgrace; Henry III's tutor Peter des Roches takes over, getting his relatives and foreign followers appointed to English offices, and importing a band of Flemish mercenaries, pissing-off the English barons. James I the Conqueror of Aragon conquers Minorca. The Almohads are finally kicked out of Spain by Muhammad I ibn Nasir (-1273), who founds the Nasrid Dynasty in Granada, Spain (ends 1492). The Mongol Siege of Kaifeng (Kai-fung-fu) (1232-3) sees the Chinese use rockets in warfare for the first time to defend Kaifeng against pesky Mongols; the use of gunpowder begins to spread. A royal charter for the development of coal fields in Newcastle upon Tyne causes coal to rapidly be developed as a source of energy in England. Nonfiction: Robert Grosseteste (1175-1253), Computus; tables for calculating astronomical events and movable dates (Easter etc.). Births: Sicilian Hohenstaufen king (1258-66) Manfred of Sicily (d. 1266) in "Venosa; illegitimate son of HRE Frederick II and Bianca Lanzia (Lancia); may have been legitimate?; half-brother of Conrad IV (1228-54) - legitimate or not, a Hohenstaufen through and through? Deaths: Yemeni Ba'Alawi Muslim Sufi order founder Al-Faqih Muqaddam As-Sayyid Muhammad bin Ali Ba'Alawi al-Husaini (b. ?)
1233 In his bulls of Apr. 13, 20, and 22, in order to combat the Albigenses in France, Pope Gregory IX founds the Monastic Inquisition, and appoints the Dominicans as the official Inquisitors for all dioceses of France; the smoke-choked Burning Times in France begin; James I the Conqueror of Aragon, champion of the Catalan language stinks himself up by inviting the Inquisition into his realm to stop the Albigensian troubadours finding refuge from S France in Aragon and Catalonia from making a vernacular trans. of the Bible - ah, ah, I need some help here? After Henry III declares himself old enough to assume personal rule, the English barons led by Richard Marshal, 3rd Earl of Pembroke (1191-1234) ally with the Welsh in open revolt; meanwhile (St.) Edmund Rich of Abingdon (1175-1240) is appointed archbishop of Canterbury (until Nov. 16, 1240); he is consecrated next Apr. 2. After his father-in-law Theodore Komenos Doukas of Epirus is defeated by the Bulgarians, Stefan Radoslav is overthrown by his younger half-brother Stefan Vladislav I (1198-1265) with help from his father-in-law Ivan Asen II of Bulgaria, and is crowned king of Serbia (until 1242) by his uncle Archbishop St. Sava; he then marries a daughter of Bulgarian Tsar John Asen II, recognizing Bulgarian domination of E Serbia. After he gives privileges to the bishop of Poznan, the Polish nobles rebel against Wladyslaw Odonic, allowing Henry the Bearded to gain part of Bushy, er, Greater Poland. Ferdinand III of Castile and Leon defeats the Moors of Granada under Ibn Hud at the Battle of Jerez. Song emperor (since Sept. 17, 1224) Song Li Zong (1205-64) and the Mongols attack the Manchurians and their Jin Dynasty. The Great Halleluyah penitential movement in Lombardy in N Italy is founded. The 8th cent. Danish Viking seaport city of Kiel on the SE Jutland Peninsula in Schleswig-Holstein across from the Kiel Fjord in N West Germany a few mi. S of the Danish border (modern-day pop. 248K/643K) is refounded as Holstenstadt tom Kyle by Holstein Count Adolf IV, and granted city rights in 1242 by his eldest son John I of Schauenberg; it goes on to be administered by Denmark in 1864, and annexed by Prussia in 1866, becoming part of Germany in 1871 and used as the HQ of their Baltic fleet. Architecture: Piacenza Cathedral (begun 1122) is finished. Deaths: Arab Mosul scholar Ali ibn al-Athir (b. 1160); leaves Al-Kamil fi al-Tarikh (Middle East Chronicle).
1234 Louis IX (b. 1214) declares himself of age and assumes personal rule. The English clergy, headed by the Archbishop of Canterbury threaten Henry III with excommunication unless he dismisses Peter des Roches and his foreign favorites, which he does; Henry III now finally rules England by himself, so that all can now see what a ninny he is without blinders? Count Theobald IV of Champagne (1201-53) becomes king Theobald I of Navarre, the first Frenchman. The Mongols conquer the Jin Dynasty in Manchuria in NE China (founded 1115). The Peace of Middle between Henry III of England and Llywelyn the Great of Wales is only for two years, but gets extended year by year until Lywelyn's death in 1240, ending his military career. Hubert de Burgh is granted a full pardon and restored to his title of earl of Kent along with his estates - I'll be home for Christmas, if only in my dreams? The Second Council of Tarragona in Spain is held to regulate the procedure of the Inquisition (begun 1233) and to ratify the 1229 Council of Toulouse, issuing several canons, incl. #2: "No one may possess the books of the Old and New Testaments, and if anyone possesses them he must turn them over to the local bishop within eight days, so that they may be burned." After Rabbi Solomon ben Abraham of Montpellier in S France gets antsy about all the Roman Catholic attacks on the Albigensian heretics, and doesn't want his congregation to be next, he anathematizes the philosophical works of Jewish brain man Maimonides (1135-1204), excommunicating all Jews who treat the Bible allegorically or even study science or profane lit.; Maimonides' supporters led by David Kimchi (Kimhi) (Qimhi) (1160-1235) (AKA Radak) and Jacob ben Machir ibn Tibbon (1236-1304) (AKA Prophatius) strike back by persuading the Jewish congregations of Beziers, Lunel, and Narbonne in Provence, and Sargossa and Lerida in Spain to excommunicate Solomon and his followers; Solomon counterattacks by denouncing Maimonides to the Dominican Inquisition in Montpellier, causing them to burn all his works there, followed by Paris in 1242, setting a precedent that makes books too hot to handle in Roman Catholic lands; too bad, 40 days later they burn the Talmud in Paris too; knowing that if you can get away with books, why not people, on June 13 Pope Gregory IX pub. the 5-vol. Liber Extra (Decretals of Gregory IX), a collection of 2K decretals which he has sent to the univs. of Bologna and Paris, repeating St. Augustine's belief that "every pagan, Jew, heretic, and schismatic will go to the eternal fire prepared for the Devil and his demons", giving the force of canonical law to the doctrine of perpetual servitude of the Jews until Judgment Day, banning them from direct influence over the political process and the life of Christian states until the 19th cent. rise of liberalism; it contains the oldest surviving detailed Description of a Diabolical (Witches') Sabbath, describing the novice having to kiss an enormous toad, then a cold, pale, thin man, which causes him to forget the Catholic faith, then, after a feast, having to kiss a black cat, then the head devil (or devil's head), and finally participate in an orgy; Pope Boniface VIII adds a 6th book in 1298 (dominica, nica, what?); meanwhile the Jewish war over Maimonides continues, with Maimonides' followers getting Solomon ben Abraham executed for ratting on fellow Jews, and his leading followers' tongues cut out; meanwhile a rabbinical ban on study of science is issued by Rabbi Don Astruc of Lunel (Abba Mari ben Moses ben Joseph) (Yarhi), supported by Rabbi Asher (Asheri) ben Yehiel (Jehiel) (1250-1327) (AKA Rabbenu Asher, Rosh) and Nacmanides (1194-1270) (AKA Ramban), causing his student Rabbi Solomon (Shlomo) ben Abraham ben Aderet (1235-1310) (AKA Rashba) of Barcelona to do ditto in 1305 for teaching any science, or studying it before age 25, except medicine, causing the rabbis of Montpellier to threaten to excommunicate any Jew who stops his son from studying science; the net result is the decline of science study in the Euro Jewish community, and a retreat into mysticism, esp. the Qabala - I got Scrombosis, I'm dead from the neck up? Jewish widow ? is refused her dower on the grounds that her hubby converted to Christianity, voiding their marriage. Architecture: Bishop's Fortress, the first stone fortress is built on Toome (Toomemagi) Hill in Tartu, Estonia. A Cistercian convent is founded in Duissern by a citizen of Duisburg. Deaths: Iraqi Suhrawardiyya Sufi order founder Umar al-Suhrawardi (b. 1144) in Baghdad; the order is carried to India by Baha' al-Din al-Multani. Japanese Yamato emperor #86 (1221-32) Go-Horikawa (b. 1212) on Aug. 31. Japanese Yamato emperor #85 (1221) Chukyo (b. 1218) on June 18. Seljuk ruler (since 1211) Kaikavus (b. ?).
1235 On Sept. 21 king (since May 29, 1205) Andras II (b. 1175) dies, and his son (by 1st wife Gertrude of Meran) Bela IV (1206-70) becomes Arpad king of bankrupt Hungary (until May 3, 1270), attempting to cure the ills caused by his daddy, which causes the pissed-off magnates to set up a rival ruler, Stephen d'Este (the Posthumous) (1236-71), son of Andras II by 3rd wife Beatrice d'Este. After suppressing a revolt led by his son Henry VII and having him imprisoned, super-educated skeptical Italian-born German HRE (since Nov. 22, 1220) Frederick II (1194-1250) ("Stupor Mundi") (Amazement of the World) holds a Diet at Mainz where he promulgates the Laws of the Empire (best issued since Charlemagne?), establishing order in Germany; he goes on to allow surgeons to dissect human bodies at the Salerno school of medicine, and sponsors the trans. of Aristotle into Latin; Dante later calls his Sicilian court the birthplace of Italian poetry. Bulgarian Tsar John Asen II allies with John III, Greek emperor of Nicaea against the Franks, then breaks with Rome, makes his church independent, and gets the Greeks to recognize the patriarch of Tirnovo; the allies then siege Constantinople until it is relieved by a fleet of six ships, 800 archers, and 100 knights led by Geoffrey II of Achaea next year - good try anyway? Batu Khan (-1255), nephew of the Great Khan becomes leader of the 500K-man Mongol army (one-third of the total royal or golden horde) assigned to invade Europe; his chief gen. is Subotai (Subetei) (Subetai) (Subedei) (1176-1240). James I the Conqueror of Aragon conquers Ibiza, completing the conquest of the Balearic Islands (begun 1229). As if they don't have enough problems with the Khwarezmians, Georgia is invaded again by the Mongols, and surrenders without a fight; by 1240 the entire country is under Mongol rule. Alan, ruler of Galloway, who had been used by Alexander II of Scotland to build a kingdom in the Scottish Isles for his bastard son to check the Ui Neill of W Ulster (who had backed his enemies the Mac Williams clan) dies, and Alexander crushes the son then partitions the area between Alan's daughters after marrying them to loyal Anglo-Scottish barons; he then deposes the native heads of the local Cistercian houses in favor of monks from his favorite monastery of Melrose. An unsolved murder causes Jews to be imprisoned in Freiburg im Breisgau in Baden, Germany until Henry VII orders them released; on Apr. 6, 1233 Pope Gregory IX issues the bull Etsi Judaeorum (Even if the Jews), denouncing mob violence against Jews, demanding that Jews in Christian coutnries be treated with the same humanity with which Christians wish to be treated in heathen lands. Bela IV of Hungary founds the town of Kosice (Kassa) (Kaschau) in E Slovakia on the Hernad River 170 mi. NW of Budapest. Guittone d'Arezzo rediscovers the sonnet form of Giacomo da Lentini of Tuscany and founds the Neo-Sicilian School (ends 1294). Births: Tibetan Lamaist Buddhist monk (first Mongol vice-ruler of Tibet) Drogon Cogyai Phagpa (d. 1280) in Ngari, West Tibet; inventor of a script for the Mongolian language. French Aristotelian Averroist philosopher (secular priest) Siger de Brabant (d. 1281); opponent of St. Thomas Aquinas. Chinese painter Qian Xuan (d. 1290); known for his paintings of flowers and insects. Dutch #1 Flemish poet Jacob van Maertant (d. 1295) (1240-1300?) in Franc de Bruges. Italian pope (1294-1303) Boniface VIII (Benedetto Gaetani) (Caetani) (d. 1303) in Anagni, Italy; founder of the U. of Rome. Spanish rabbi (Jewish) Solomon (Shlomo) ben Aderet (d. 1310) (AKA Rashba) in Barcelona; student of Nahmanides and Yonah Gerondi; teache of Yom Tov Asevilli and Bahya ben Asher. Spanish missionary-alchemist Raymond Lully (Lulli) (d. 1315) in Palma, Majorca; pioneer in the European study of Arabic, which he teaches in Miramar from 1275-85. Deaths: Chinese painter Ma Yuan (b. 1155). French Jewish rabbi David Kimchi (b. 1160); leaves Sefer ha Shorashim (Book of Roots), an entymological dictionary of Hebrew, plus commentaries on the Bible, financialy supported by the family of Rabbi Ibn Yahya (1150-1222) in Lisbon, Portugal, that become so popular that they are incl. with the first printed Hebrew Bibles. Hungarian king (1205-35) Andras II (b. 1175) on Oct. 26. English baron Robert Fitzwalter (b. ?).
1236 Early in the year Henry III of England marries Eleanor of Provence (1223-91), who brings in her fortune-seeking relatives, their retainers and friends; English public life now has to deal with Savoyards and Provencals as well as Poitouiers, stirring English nat. consciousness. On June 29 (Sts. Peter and Paul Day) St. Paul's Cross (Saint Powles Crosse) in the NE corner of the churchyard of Old St. Paul's Cathedral in London hosts its first gen. assembly of the people (folkmoot) to announce that Henry III wishes London to be well-governed and its liberties guarded; ditto in 1259, with the king and archbishop of Canterbury personally attending while the royal army is holding the city gates. On Sept. 22 the Battle of Saule (Schaulen) is a D for the Livonian Brothers of the Sword by the pagan Samogitians, becoming the first large-scale Christian defeat in the Baltic lands, and inspring the other pagan tribes incl. the Curonians, Semigallians, Selonians, and Oeselians to rebel, ending with 30 years worth of Christian conquests lost; 48-60 knights are KIA, along with master (since 1209) Volkwin (Wolquin) (Folkwin) Schenk; the remants of the order are assimilated into the Teutonic Knights in 1237 under master (since 1230) Herman von Balke (Balke) (-1239). The pissed-off pope sends the Hungarians at the Bulgarians, forcing them to withdraw their expedition against the Latin Empire. King Ferdinand III of Castile sieges and captures Cordoba (Cordova) from the Moors, allowing Granada to reach its zenith as the capital of Muslim Spain; the Christians are so awed by a mosque in Cordoba (built in 1784 by Abd al-Rahman I) that they decide to build a cathedral in the midst of its columns and arches, becoming known as the Cathedral of Our Lady of the Assumption AKA the Mosque-Cathedral of Cordoba. Portugal begins the capture of the Algarve (ends 1249). The Livonian Knights (Sword Brothers), working for the bishop of Riga are defeated and "cut down like women" by the pagan Lithuanians at the Battle of Siauliai. Christian Crusaders invade Jewish settlements in Anjou and Poitou, incl. Bordeaux and Angouleme, and order all Jews to be baptized, trampling 3K who refuse to death under their horses' hooves; Pope Gregory IX condemns the slaughter. Bad to the bone? The Mongols return to Russia and subjugate it over the next four years, sending spies deeper into Europe; Prince Yaroslav of Novgorod takes the advice of Danylo of Halych and moves to Kiev, after which his 4th son (St.) Alexander Nevsky (Nevski) (1220-63) is unexpectedly invited by the people of Novgorod to become their grand prince to defend them from pesky German and Swedish invaders. After tiring of the nomadic life and calling in workers from Persia to China, Mongol khan (1229-41) Ogedei Khan establishes his capital at Karakorum ("black sand") in the Orkhon Valley of C Mongolia (until 1263), building a walled palace and turning it into a busy center of trade by encouraging merchants of all nations to pass through or settle there. HRE Frederick II appoints his tyrannical brother-in-law Ezzelino III da Romano (1194-1259) (podesta of Vicenza since last year) as vicar of Padua (until June 1256), becoming known for his horrible cruelties - shrewish cruelties? Parakramabahu II (-1271) becomes ruler of Ceylon (until 1270), and with help from Pandaya repels an attack by the king of Tambralinga (Ligor) on the Straits of Malacca. HRE Frederick II grants the Jews of Frankfurt special protection, with a royal appointee to run the city govt. An Irish chancery is established separate from the English chancery; it is abolished in 1877. Inventions: The Chinese begin using paper money again; they discontinue it in 1311 C.E. after experiencing printing press inflation. Science: Theodoric of Luca pioneers anesthesia. Births: Persian Muslim Sufi polymath astronomer Qutb (Qotb) al-Din Shirazi (d. 1311) in Kazerun in Oct.; born to a Sufi family; pupil of Nasir al-Din Tusi (d. 1274). Deaths: Indian Christi Order founder Khwaja Moinuddin Chishty (b. 1141). Serbian archbishop St. Sava (b. 1174) on Jan. 14 in Tarnovgrad, Bulgaria (pneumonia); dies after founding a hospice in Jerusalem; buried in St. Forty Martyrs Church, the moved on May 6, 1237 to Mileseva Monastery in S Serbia; in 1595 the Ottomans unearth his remains and burn them on a stake on Vracar Hill in Belgrade; in 1985 the Temple of St. Sava is built on the alleged site, becoming the largest Orthodox temple on Earth. Beirut Christian lord (1204-36) John of Ibelin (b. 1179). English monk Roger of Wendover (b. ?), chonicler of St. Albans Abbey; leaves Flores Historiarum (Flowers of History), an account of English history from Creation to the year 1236, incl. Lady Godiva's tale under the year 1057, and the story of the Wandering Jew. Bavarian minnesinger Neidhardt von Reuenthal.
1237 In July Geoffrey II of Achaea gives the Teutonic Knights a hospital in his capital of Andravida. On Sept. 25 Alexander II of Scotland and Henry III of England sign the Treaty of York, in which Alexander OO renounces his claims to Northumberland and other counties in N England along with all past financial peccadillos in return for £200 worth of land in Cumberland and Northumberland; meanwhile his childless wife Joanna makes a pilgrimage to York to get holy help for her problem with fertility. On Nov. 27 HRE Frederick II tries to subject the Lombard League to autocratic rule and establish himself as the emperor of Rome, winning a military V at the Battle of Cortenuova, causing Pope Gregory IX to ally himself with them, esp. as Frederick II had pub. a treatise protesting against the world empire of the pope. Henry III of England authorizes tithes from English parishes to support the pope's wars against Freddy II, later becoming a sore spot with the followers of John Wycliffe and Henry VIII. The Mongols under Batu Khan sweep over S and C Russia, take Ryazan and Vladimir, then come within 60 mi. of Novgorod, and capture and sack Moscow; grand prince Yuri II of Vladimir barely escapes to Yaroslavl after his wife Agatha and family die in a collapsing church. Blind Theodore Comnenus Ducas and his son John Comnenus Ducas (John Komnenos Doukas) (-1244) are released by the Bulgarians, and return to Thessalonica, inciting a revolt against Theodore's brother Manuel Comnenus Ducas, and John becomes ruler of Thessalonica (until 1239), while Theodore retires to Vodena. Baldwin II comes of age and becomes Latin emperor of Constantinople, and John of Brienne (b. 1170) steps down and dies (before or after?). Having married Princess Blanche of Navarre, daughter of King Theobald I of Navarre the year before, John I "the Red" (1217-86) finally becomes ruling duke of Brittany (until 1286), telling his daddy Peter de Dreux to take a hike. Guelf Della Torre (-1277) (It. "lords of the tower or castle") becomes ruler of Milan, going on to implement the dem. uniform castrato, er, catasto tax; meanwhile his Della Torre family engages in bitter warfare with the rival Visconti (viscounts) family. Olaf II dies, and his son Harald I becomes ruler of the Isle of Man (until ?). The Livonian Knights (German Order of Swordbearers) merge with the Teutonic Knights, but continue to form a separate state. The German Hanseatic League town of Wisby (Visby) on Gothland (Gotland) Island secures trading rights in England, followed by Flanders next year. The town of Colln (Cölln) on former Slav settlements around the Spree River in Germany is founded, becoming the start of modern-day Berlin (modern-day pop. 3.7M/6M). The seaport of Elbing (Elblag) in N Poland 30 mi. ESE of Gdansk is founded. Poetry: Anon., La Mort le Roi Artu (The Death of King Arthur) (4 vols.); basis for Sir Thomas Malory's "Le Morte d'Arthur" (1485). Architecture: York House (Norwich Place) in London, England is begun. Deaths: French Crusader-king John of Brienne (b. 1170). German scientist Jordanus Nemorarius (b. ?). Norse king of the Isle of Man (1229-37) Olaf II in Peel Castle.
1238 On Mar. 4 Queen Joan of Scotland (b. 1210) dies in Havering-atte-Bower near London, causing relations with the English to go from simmer to the verge of war by 1244 as the struggle for Northumberland started by Alexander II's daddy William I continues; meanwhile Earl John, son of his uncle Earl David dies in 1237, leaving Alexander with no male heir; meanwhile she is buried in the Cistercian nunnery of Tarrant Kaines in Dorset after he fails to have her body brought back to Scotland. On Mar. 4 Yuri II (b. 1189) is KIA in the Battle of the Sit River with the Mongol hordes, who defeat the army of Vladimir-Suzdal; Yuri II's younger brother Yaroslav becomes grand prince Yaroslav II Vsevolodovich (1191-1246) of what's left of Vladimir (until 1246), giving up his throne in what's left of Kiev, and going on to try to restore his ravaged cities. On Mar. 17 Pope Gregory IX writes the encyclical Considerantes Olim, asking HRE Frederick II for support for a Crusade to bolster the threatened kingdom of Latin Romania. In the spring the Mongols under Batu Khan conquer Poland, destroying Lublin and Cracow; they then turn to Hungary, and "the whole country north of the Danube was lost in a day and depopulated in a summer... Of all the cities and fortresses of Hungary three alone survived the Tartar invasion, and the unfortunate Bela [IV] hid his head among the islands of the Adriatic" - Edward Gibbon, Ch. 64; in the winter after the Danube River freezes they siege the Hungarian capital of Esztergom (Strigonium) and massacre the pop.; meanwhile all of Europe trembles with rumors that the Mongol horde is coming; Pope Gregory IX sends a mission of Franciscan and Dominican friars, which is rebuffed; the town of Neustadt in Austria is defended by only 50 knights with 20 crossbows until a German army arrives. On Sept. 28 king (since Sept 12, 1213) James I the Conqueror of Aragon (1208-76) conquers Valencia in Coastal NE Spain from the Moors, and becomes its first Christian king (until July 27, 1276); he builds the first Christian church in Lliria (Llíria) on the site of a mosque, calling it the Church of the Blood, founding Valencian Gothic Architecture - pass the Orange Clean, er, forget it, let's torch all this infidel crap? In Oct. after judge of Gallura (since 1225) Ubaldo II Visconti (Ubaldo of Gallura) dies, Enzo (Enzio) (1218-72), illegitimate son of HRE Frederick II becomes king of half of Sardinia (until 1272), marrying his widow Adelasia of Torres (1207-59) in Oct. Sukhothai, the first free Thai city and the first Thai kingdom is founded. Simon de Montfort marries Eleanor de Montfort (1252-82), widowed youngest sister of Henry III of England; Eleanor is never satisfied with her dowry - no traction control? Al-Kamil dies, and the Ayyub dynasty in Egypt and Syria is without a caliph for two years (until 1240). The pop. of Gothia (Sweden) and Frisia decide not to send their annual ships to the herring fisheries on the English coast for fear of the Tartars, causing the price of herring on the English market to plummet. Architecture: Muhammad ibn al-Ahmar begins the Alhambra in Moorish Granada. Narasimhadeva I (-1264) becomes ruler of the Eastern Ganga Dynasty kingdom based in Puri on the Bay of Bengal, and begins the Black Pagoda (Sun Temple) at the mouth of the Chandrabhaga River in Konark ("Kona" + "Arka" + corner + Sun), Odisha, India (finished in 1264) as a temple to the Sun god Surya in the form of a chariot drawn by seven horses on 12 pairs of cool wheels, containing 60+ porno sculptures. Births: Norwegian king (1263-80) Magnus VI Haakonsson Lagabote (the Law-Mender) (d. 1280) on May 1 in Tonsberg; youngest son of Hakon Hakonsson (1204-63) and Margaret Skuladotter. Thai Lan Na king #1 (1292-1311) Mangrai (Mengrai) (d. 1311) on Oct. 2 in Ngoen Yang (modern-day Chiang Saen). Bulgarian tsar (1246-1257) Michael I/II Asen (d. 1256) (b. 1239?); son of Ivan Asen II and Irene Komnene Doukaina; half-brother of Kaliman I Asen. French count of Champagne-Brie and king of Navarre (1253-70) Theobald II/V (the Young) (d. 1270); eldest son of Theobald I (1201-53) and 3rd wife Margaret of Bourbon; brother of Henry III the Fat (1244-74). Italian physician and alchemist (inventor of sponge anesthesia) Arnold (Arnau) (Arnaldus Villanovanus) of Villanova (d. 1310) in Villanova, Italy/Spain/France. Turkish mystic native language poet Yunus Emre (d. 1320) in Anatolia. Deaths: Polish prince Henry the Bearded (b. 1163). German Jewish mystic scholar Eleazar of Worms (b. 1176) in Worms. Russian grand prince Yuri II (b. 1189) on Mar. 4. Scottish queen consort (1221-38) Joan of England (b. 1210) on Mar. 4 in Havering-atte-Bower (near London), England.
1239 The Tartars (Mongols) lay waste to Serbia, Bosnia, and Bulgaria, then retreat to Russia so that Batu Khan can seriously enjoy the city and palace of Seria; meanwhile Batu's brother Sheibani conquers Siberia with 15K Mongol families, with capital at Tobolsk for the next three cents. On Mar. 12 Pope Gregory IX excommunicates HRE Frederick II for the 4th time, calling him the "self-confessed heretic", the "blasphemous beast of the Apocalypse", etc., and tries to get him deposed; meanwhile Frederick doesn't care, living a life of luxurious licentiousness, gathering Jewish, Christian, and Muslim philosophers to his court, and doing "much to irrigate the Italian mind with Saracenic influences" (H.G. Wells). In May Pope Gregory IX sends his bushy-tailed Inquisitors (fresh from Inquisitor Training School in Hell?) to burn the entire town of Champagne, France, along with all 180 citizens. In May Scottish king Alexander II marries Marie de Coucy (Couci) (1218-85), daughter of a French baron, and works to make a male heir while temporarily designating his cousin Robert de Brus (the Bruce), Lord of Annandale as heir presumptive. At the call of Pope Gregory IX, the Baron's Crusade of 1239 begins (ends 1241), led separately by king (since 1234) Theobald I the Troubadour of Navarre (1201-53) (count of Champagne since 1201) and super-rich earl (since 1225) Richard of Cornwall (1209-72) (2nd son of King John of England), with a side crusade to Constantinople led by Baldwin the Broke of Courtenay (1217-73) (last Latin emperor of Constantinople since 1228), which captures Tzurulum; in Nov. after Duke (1213-21) Peter Mauclerc I of Brittany (1187-1250) leaves on the march from Acre to Ascalon, he and his lt. Raoul de Soissons (1210-70) leave the main force and attack a Muslim cattle drive on the Jordan River en route to Damascus, holing-them up then taking their castle and seizing POWs and booty, pissed-off caravan leader An-Nasir Dawud (1206-61), emir (1229-48) of Kerak attacks Jerusalem, forcing the garrison of the citadel to surrender on Dec. 7, destroying its fortifications, but due to internecine warfare between the Ayyubids withdraws to Kerak in exchange for Crusader help against the Ayyubid sultan of Egypt, allowing the Franks to return and take control of the city incl. the Temple Mount, causing the Christians to hang church bells in Al-Aqsa Mosque and celebrate Mass in the Dome of the Rock, pissing-off the local Muslim pop; meanwhile on Nov. 12 after the main army reaches Jaffa, a group of 400-600 knights breaks ranks and rides off on a night raid, meeting up with an Egyptian army under Rukn al-Din al-Hijawi in Gaza on Nov. 13 and getting soundly defeated before the main force can catch up and turn around to Acre. Deposed Manuel Comnenus Ducas (-1244) returns with help from Nicaea and regains control of Thessalonica, calling himself emperor, pissing-off John III Ducas Vatatzes of Nicaea, who in 1242 invades and forces him to reduce his title to despot and recognize Nicaean suzerainty. After evidence is presented by Karaite Jewish convert to Christianity (Franciscan) Nicholas (Nicolas) Donin, Pope Gregory IX orders the confiscation of all copies of the Talmud, which is generally ignored except in France, causing Jew-hating French Capetian king (1226-70) (St.) Louis IX (1214-70) to call for a public debate first, which is held in 1240. Emperor Baldwin II presents Jesus' alleged Crown of Thorns worn on the cross to Louis IX, who has it stored in Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris; it is briefly removed during the French Rev., and returned in 1806. Births: English 6'7" king (1272-1307) Edward I (Longshanks) (Hammer of the Scots) (d. 1307) on June 17/18 [Gemini] in Westminster Palace, London; son of Henry III (1207-72); husband (1254-90) of Eleanor of Castile (1241-90). Hungarian king (1270-2) Stephen V (d. 1272) in Dec. in Buda; son of Bela IV (1206-70) and Maria Laskarina (daughter of Theodore I Lascaris of Nicaea). Spanish king of Aragon and Valencia (1276-85), count of Barcelona (1276-85), and king of Sicily (1282-5) Peter III (the Great) of Aragon (d. 1285); eldest son of James I of Aragon (1208-76); brother of James II of Majorca (1243-1311). French duke of Brittany and 2nd earl of Richmond (1286-1305) John (Yann) (Jean) II de Dreux (d. 1305); son of John I the Red (1217-86) and Blanche of Navarre; husband (1260-) of Beatrice of England (1242-75) (daughter of Henry III and Eleanor of Provence, and younger sister of Edward I). Thai (Sukhothai) king Ramkhamhaeng the Great (d. 1317); establisher of Theravada Buddhism as Thailand's dominant religion. Deaths: German Teutonic Knights grandmaster #4 (1210-39) Hermann von Salza on Mar. 20 in Salerno, Italy. Japanese Yamato emperor #82 (1183-98) Go-Toba (b. 1180) on Mar. 28. Polish grand duke (1229-34) Wladyslaw Odonic (b. 1190) on June 5.