1268 CE

Battle of Antioch: The Principality of Antioch, a crusader state, falls to the Mamluk Sultan Baibars; his destruction of the city of Antioch is so great, as to permanently negate the city's importance. Battle of Tagliacozzo: The army of Charles of Anjou defeats the Ghibellines supporters of Conradin of Hohenstaufen, marking the fall of the Hohenstaufen Family from the Imperial and Sicilian thrones, and leading to the new chapter of Angevin domination in Southern Italy. Conradin, the last legitimate male heir of the Hohenstaufen Dynasty of Kings of Germany and Holy Roman Emperors, is executed, along with his companion Frederick I, Margrave of Baden, by Charles I of Sicily, a political rival and ally to the hostile Roman Catholic Church.

In the 1260s, the 13th century.

Geopolitics & Diplomacy

  • April 4 – A five-year Byzantine–Venetian peace treaty is concluded between Venetian envoys and Emperor Michael VIII Palaiologos. It is ratified by the Doge of Venice Reniero Zeno on June 30.source
  • The County of Wernigerode becomes a vassal state of the Margrave of Brandenburg.source

Conflict & Security

  • February 18 – Battle of Rakvere: The Livonian Order is defeated by Dovmont of Pskov.source
  • May 18 – Battle of Antioch: The Principality of Antioch, a crusader state, falls to the Mamluk Sultan Baibars; his destruction of the city of Antioch is so great, as to permanently negate the city's importance.source
  • August 23 – Battle of Tagliacozzo: The army of Charles of Anjou defeats the Ghibellines supporters of Conradin of Hohenstaufen, marking the fall of the Hohenstaufen Family from the Imperial and Sicilian thrones, and leading to the new chapter of Angevin domination in Southern Italy.source
  • King Stephen V of Hungary launches a war against Bulgaria.source
  • Kublai Khan sends an emissary to the Kamakura shogunate of Japan, demanding an acknowledgment of suzerainty and payment of tribute; the Japanese refuse, starting a diplomatic back-and-forth, lasting until the Mongols attempt to invade in 1274.source
  • The Battle of Xiangyang, a 6-year battle between the Chinese Song dynasty and the Mongol forces of Kublai Khan, begins in what is today Hubei.source

Religion & Belief

  • New election procedures for the election of the doge are established in Venice, in order to reduce the influence of powerful individual families and possibly to prevent the popular Lorenzo Tiepolo from becoming elected.source
  • The Tibetan monk Drogön Chögyal Phagpa of the Sakya School completes the 'Phags-pa script, which was sponsored by Kublai Khan as a new writing system in his empire.source
  • The Irish Franciscan friars establish a monastery in Multyfarnham.Irelandsource

Climate & Environment

  • An earthquake in Cilicia occurs in 1268 northeast of the city of Adana. Over 60,000 people perished in the Armenian Kingdom of Cilicia in southern Asia Minor.source

Culture & Society

  • The town of Guta is founded (currently Kolárovo, Slovakia).source
  • In France, the use of hops as the exclusive flavoring agent used in the manufacture of beer is made compulsory.source
  • Nicola Pisano completes the famous octagonal Gothic-style pulpit, at the Duomo di Siena.source
  • The carnival in Venice is first recorded.source

Births

  • April/June – Philip IV of France (died 1314)source
  • Saint Clare of Montefalco (died 1308)source
  • Mahaut, Countess of Artois (died 1329)source
  • Emperor Duanzong of China (died 1278)source
  • Vedanta Desika, Indian Hindu poet and philosophersource

Deaths

  • May 15 – Peter II, Count of Savoy (born 1203)source
  • July 7 – Reniero Zeno, Doge of Venicesource
  • August 11 – Agnes of Faucigny, Dame ruler of Faucigny, countess consort of Savoysource
  • October 29 – Conradin, Duke of Swabia (executed) (born 1252)source
  • October 29 – Conradin, the last legitimate male heir of the Hohenstaufen Dynasty of Kings of Germany and Holy Roman Emperors, is executed, along with his companion Frederick I, Margrave of Baden, by Charles I of Sicily, a political rival and ally to the hostile Roman Catholic Church.source
  • October 29 – Frederick I, Margrave of Baden (executed) (born 1249)source
  • December 9 – Vaišvilkas, Prince of Black Rutheniasource
  • Pope Clement IV dies; the following papal election fails to choose a new pope for almost three years, precipitating the later creation of stringent rules governing the electoral procedures.source
  • Henry de Bracton, English juristsource
  • Barral of Baux, Grand Justiciar of Sicilysource