1239 CE

Barons' Crusade: A Crusader force (some 1,500 knights) under King Theobald I of Navarre arrives at Acre. At a council of local barons – most prominently Walter IV of Brienne, Odo of Montbéliard, Balian of Beirut, John of Arsuf, and Balian of Sidon – plans are made to prepare an expedition against the Ayyubids in Egypt. Later, Theobald is joined by some Crusaders from Cyprus. An expeditionary force (some 4,000 knights) under Theobald I sets out from Acre for the Egyptian frontier, detachments from the military orders and several local barons accompany the Crusaders. While marching to Jaffa, a Crusader column led by Peter of Brittany and his lieutenant Raoul de Soissons with two hundred knights, lay an ambush and attacks a rich Muslim caravan. Battle of Gaza: The Crusader army led by Henry of Bar is defeated by the Egyptians near Gaza. More than a thousand men are slaughtered, including Henry himself. Six hundred more are captured and carried off to Egypt. Among them are Amaury VI de Montfort and Philippe de Nanteuil – who, in the dungeons of Cairo, writes a Crusade song about the failure of the expedition.

In the 1230s, the 13th century.

Geopolitics & Diplomacy

  • King Louis IX of France ("the Saint") holds a parlement (or "court of law") at Paris, for the first time recorded in Ancien Régime France.source

Conflict & Security

  • October 18 – Sack of Chernigov: The Mongols led by Batu Khan attack Chernigov; the garrison rallies outside the walls to face the Mongols in a pitched battle. Prince Mstislav III Glebovich comes to help with his troops but they are slaughtered by Mongol catapults. The city is pillaged as are the towns in the surrounding countryside.source
  • November 2 – An expeditionary force (some 4,000 knights) under Theobald I sets out from Acre for the Egyptian frontier, detachments from the military orders and several local barons accompany the Crusaders. While marching to Jaffa, a Crusader column led by Peter of Brittany and his lieutenant Raoul de Soissons with two hundred knights, lay an ambush and attacks a rich Muslim caravan.source
  • November 12 – Sultan as-Salih Ayyub sends an Ayyubid army to Gaza to protect the Egyptian border. At nightfall, Henry of Bar, jealous of the successful ambush of Peter of Brittany, decides to march out towards Gaza with a Crusader force (some 500 knights and 1,000 soldiers). Although warned by Theobald I, Henry sets up camp in a flat terrain surrounded by sand dunes near Gaza.source
  • December 7 – Ayyubid forces under An-Nasir Dawud march on Jerusalem, which is largely undefended. The garrison of the city surrenders to Dawud, after accepting his offer for a safe-conduct to Acre. Dawud destroys Jerusalem's fortifications, including the Tower of David. Meanwhile, Theobald I (losing many men underway) moves with the remnants of the Crusader army northward to Acre.source
  • The Mongol invasion of Kievan Rus': The Mongols under Batu Khan continue their campaign across the Pontic Steppe. After devastating the Crimea and campaigning against the Circassians in the Caucasus, they turn towards the Kievan Rus'. In March, Pereyaslavl, capital of the Principality of Pereyaslavl, is sacked by the Mongols.source
  • Summer – A German expeditionary force under Frederick II, Holy Roman Emperor, invades the Romagna and Tuscany, hoping to capture Rome. He appoints his 21-year-old son, Enzo of Sardinia, as imperial vicar general for Northern Italy. Frederick also threatens with war against Venice, which has sent ships to blockade the harbors on Sicily. In order to finance his growing need for arms, he institutes an administrative reorganization of the Holy Roman Empire (among others, the formation of 10 vice regencies in Italy).source

Exploration & Expansion

  • September 1 – Barons' Crusade: A Crusader force (some 1,500 knights) under King Theobald I of Navarre arrives at Acre. At a council of local barons – most prominently Walter IV of Brienne, Odo of Montbéliard, Balian of Beirut, John of Arsuf, and Balian of Sidon – plans are made to prepare an expedition against the Ayyubids in Egypt. Later, Theobald is joined by some Crusaders from Cyprus.source
  • Autumn – King Béla IV of Hungary allows some 40,000 Cumans, pagan nomads fleeing the Mongols, to settle in Hungary between the rivers Danube and Theiss, after their leader, Köten, has promised to convert to Christianity.source

Religion & Belief

  • March 20 – Gregory IX renews the excommunication of Frederick II, Holy Roman Emperor, while he is at his court in Padua. Frederick responds by expelling the Franciscans and Dominicans from Lombardy.source
  • November – Pope Gregory IX grants the status of Crusade to King Ferdinand III of Castile ("the Saint"), who leads a successful campaign against the Almohads in Murcia.source

Culture & Society

  • June 17 or June 18 – Edward I ("Longshanks"), first son of King Henry III of England and Queen Eleanor of Provence, is born at the Palace of Westminster. Henry names him after Edward the Confessor and chooses Simon de Montfort as his godfather.source
  • November 13 – Battle of Gaza: The Crusader army led by Henry of Bar is defeated by the Egyptians near Gaza. More than a thousand men are slaughtered, including Henry himself. Six hundred more are captured and carried off to Egypt. Among them are Amaury VI de Montfort and Philippe de Nanteuil – who, in the dungeons of Cairo, writes a Crusade song about the failure of the expedition.source

Births

  • June 3 or June 4 – John II, Duke of Brittany, French nobleman and knight (died 1305)source
  • June 17 or June 18 – Edward I ("Longshanks"), king of England (died 1307)source
  • December 17 – Kujō Yoritsugu, Japanese ruler (shogun) (died 1256)source
  • Stephen V, king of Hungary (House of Árpád) (died 1272)source
  • Constance of Aragon, Spanish princess (infanta) (died 1269)source
  • Thomas I of Saluzzo, Italian nobleman and knight (died 1296)source
  • Peter III, king of Aragon and Valencia (died 1285)source
  • Robert de Ferrers, English nobleman and knight (died 1279)source
  • Álvaro, Count of Urgell ("the Castilian"), Spanish nobleman and knight (died 1268)source
  • Balian of Arsuf, Cypriot nobleman (House of Ibelin) (died 1277)source

Deaths

  • February 3 – Kujō Ninshi, Japanese empress consort (born 1173)source
  • February – Aimery III of Narbonne (or Aimeric), French noblemansource
  • March 3 – Vladimir IV of Kiev, Kievan Grand Prince (born 1187)source
  • March 20 – Hermann von Salza, German Grand Master (born 1165)source
  • March 28 – Go-Toba (Toba II), emperor of Japan (born 1180)source
  • April 7 – William I de Cantilupe, Norman nobleman (born 1159)source
  • June 5 – Władysław Odonic ("the Spitter"), Polish noblemansource
  • August – Thomas of Capua, Italian prelate, cardinal and diplomatsource
  • September 21 – Simon of Dammartin, French noblemansource
  • November 1 – Robert of Esztergom, Hungarian prelatesource
  • November 13 – Henry II of Bar, French nobleman (born 1190)source
  • December 13 – Albert IV, Count of Habsburg ("the Wise"), German noblemansource
  • December 21 – Henry de Turberville, English nobleman and knightsource
  • Robert, Lord of Champignelles (de Courtenay), French nobleman, knight and Crusader (born 1168)source