1261 CE

Pope Alexander IV dies after a pontificate of 6-years at Viterbo. He is succeeded by Urban IV as the 182nd pope of the Catholic Church. Al-Mustansir II becomes the first Abbasid ruler in Cairo (after his escape during the Siege of Baghdad). He is sent with an army by Sultan Baibars to recover Baghdad, but is killed in a Mongol ambush near Anbar (modern Iraq), on November 28. The Abbasid caliphs continue as religious figureheads for the Mamluks in Egypt until the 16th century. Michael sends his general Alexios Strategopoulos with a small advance force of 800 soldiers, most of them Cumans, to keep watch on the Bulgarians and scout the defending positions of the Latin forces in the surroundings of Constantinople. When they reach the village of Selymbria, Strategopoulos is informed by local farmers that the entire Latin garrison and the Venetian fleet, are absent conducting a raid against the Nicaean island of Daphnousia. He decides not to lose such a golden opportunity and makes plans (without the consent of Michael) to retake the capital.

In the 1260s, the 13th century.

Geopolitics & Diplomacy

  • February 8 – Egyptian politician Bahaa el-Din bin Hanna appointed Vizier of Egypt for the third term that will last until April 1278.source
  • March 13 – Treaty of Nymphaeum: Emperor Michael VIII Palaiologos signs a trade and defense agreement with the Republic of Genoa, to counterweight the Venetian presence in the region. Genoa agrees to ally with the Empire of Nicaea, by providing a fleet of up to 50 galleys during the projected Nicaean siege of Constantinople, while 16 galleys are to be immediately sent against the Latin Empire.source
  • Kublai Khan releases 75 Chinese merchants who were captured along the border of the Mongol Empire. By doing this, Kublai hopes to bolster his popularity and depend on the cooperation of his Chinese subjects to ensure that his army receives more resources.source
  • Cormac MacCarthy becomes King of DesmondIrelandsource

Conflict & Security

  • February – The Japanese Bun'ō era ends and the Kōchō era begins during the reign of the 11-year-old Emperor Kameyama (until 1264).source
  • June 13 – Al-Mustansir II becomes the first Abbasid ruler in Cairo (after his escape during the Siege of Baghdad). He is sent with an army by Sultan Baibars to recover Baghdad, but is killed in a Mongol ambush near Anbar (modern Iraq), on November 28. The Abbasid caliphs continue as religious figureheads for the Mamluks in Egypt until the 16th century.source
  • July – Michael sends his general Alexios Strategopoulos with a small advance force of 800 soldiers, most of them Cumans, to keep watch on the Bulgarians and scout the defending positions of the Latin forces in the surroundings of Constantinople. When they reach the village of Selymbria, Strategopoulos is informed by local farmers that the entire Latin garrison and the Venetian fleet, are absent conducting a raid against the Nicaean island of Daphnousia. He decides not to lose such a golden opportunity and makes plans (without the consent of Michael) to retake the capital.source
  • August – Battle of Callann in Ireland: Norman forces under John FitzThomas are defeated by a Gaelic army led by King Fínghin Mac Carthaigh. John FitzGerald is killed during the fighting.source
  • Battle of Callann: John fitz Thomas of Desmond and his heir are defeated and killed by Finghin MacCarthy, himself slain later that year.Irelandsource

Religion & Belief

  • June 12 – King Henry III of England obtains a papal bull to absolve himself from his oath to maintain the Provisions of Oxford. He hires an army of 300 French knights as a bodyguard and takes up position in the Tower of London. He dismisses the baronial officials (led by Simon de Montfort) who wish the royal power to be modified by the principle of representation. This sets the stage for the Second Barons' War.source
  • July 25 – Reconquest of Constantinople: Alexios Strategopoulos and his men hide at a monastery near the city gates, before entering through a secret passage. After a short struggle, the guards who are completely taken by surprise are killed and the Venetian quarter is set ablaze. Panic spreads through the capital and Emperor Baldwin II rushes out to save his life, evacuating along with many other Latins with the help of the Venetian fleet. Baldwin manages to escape to the still Latin-held parts of Greece, but Constantinople is lost for good.source
  • August 15 – Michael enters Constantinople in triumph and is crowned as emperor of the Byzantine Empire at the Hagia Sophia. To solidify his claim, the legitimate ruler, John IV Laskaris, is blinded on Michael's orders on December 25, his 11th birthday. Michael banishes him to a monastery and marries his two sisters to lesser Latin and Bulgarian nobles in an attempt to wipe out the Laskarid dynasty.source
  • August 29 – Urban IV offers the crown of Sicily to Charles of Anjou, youngest son of King Louis VIII of France, hoping to strengthen his position.source
  • Wurmsbach Abbey (located in Bollingen) is established by Count Rudolf V of Rapperswil in Switzerland.source

Culture & Society

  • Early – Following disputes, northern academics from the University of Cambridge in England set up a University of Northampton by royal charter but it is suppressed by the Crown in 1265.source
  • The earliest extant Chinese illustration of "Pascal's Triangle" is from Yang Hui's (or Qianguang's) book Xiangjie Jiuzhang Suanfa, published this year.source

Births

  • February 1 – Walter de Stapledon, English bishop of Exeter (died 1326)source
  • February 11 – Otto III, Duke of Bavaria, king of Hungary and Croatia (died 1312)source
  • February 28 – Margaret of Scotland, queen consort of Norway (died 1283)source
  • March 1 – Hugh Despenser the Elder, English chief adviser (died 1326)source
  • July 25 – Arthur II, Breton nobleman (House of Dreux) (died 1312)source
  • October 9 – Denis I ("the Poet King"), king of Portugal (died 1325)source
  • November – 'Ala' al-Dawla Simnani, Persian Sufi mystic and writer (died 1336)source
  • Władysław I Łokietek ("Elbow-High"), king of Poland (died 1333)source
  • Abu Abdallah ibn al-Hakim, Andalusian vizier and poet (died 1309)source
  • Pier Saccone Tarlati di Pietramala, Italian nobleman and condottiero (died 1356)source
  • Elizabeth of Sicily, queen consort of Hungary (House of Anjou) (died 1303)source
  • Zangpo Pal, Tibetan religious leader (died 1323)source
  • Albertino Mussato, Paduan statesman, poet and chronicler (died 1329)source
  • Daniel of Moscow (Aleksandrovich), Russian prince (died 1303)source

Deaths

  • February 28 – Henry III ("the Good"), duke of Brabant (born 1230)source
  • April 1 – Ahi Evran, Bektashi Sufi preacher and poet (born 1169)source
  • May 25 – Alexander IV, pope of the Catholic Church (born 1199)source
  • May 25 – Pope Alexander IV dies after a pontificate of 6-years at Viterbo. He is succeeded by Urban IV as the 182nd pope of the Catholic Church.source
  • July 8 – Adolf IV of Holstein, German nobleman (House of Schaumburg)source
  • August 24 – Ela of Salisbury, English noblewoman (born 1187)source
  • August – John FitzThomas, 1st Baron Desmond, Norman Irish nobleman, killed in battlesource
  • September 18 – Konrad von Hochstaden, German archbishopsource
  • September 22/27 – Plaisance of Antioch, queen consort of Cyprus (born 1235)source
  • October 27 – Sancho of Castile, Spanish archbishop (born 1233)source
  • November 2 – Bettisia Gozzadini, Bolognese noblewoman and academic lawyer (born 1209)source
  • November 9 – Sanchia of Provence, Queen of the Romans, German queen consort (born 1225)source
  • November 27 – Athanasius III of Alexandria, Egyptian popesource
  • November 28 – Al-Mustansir II, Abbasid ruler (caliph) of Cairo, killedsource
  • John FitzThomas FitzGerald, 1st Baron DesmondIrelandsource