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The 1210s

464 sourced entries across 10 years, inside the 13th century. Each year below opens its own page; the lines under it are that year’s highest-ranked entries.

1210 CE39 entries

  • May – The Second Parliament of Ravennika, convened by Emperor Henry of Flanders, is held in the town of Ravennika (in modern Greece), in order to resolve the differences between the princes of Frankish Greece, and the Roman Catholic clergy of their domains. The assembled nobles and prelates conclude a concordat, which recognizes the independence and immunity of all Church property in Frankish Greece from any feudal duties.
  • July 18 – Battle of Gestilren: Sverker the Younger, the exiled former King of Sweden, is defeated and killed by the reigning King Erik Knutsson. After the battle, Erik takes the Swedish throne and marries Princess Rikissa of Denmark, daughter of the late King Valdemar I of Denmark to improve the relations with Denmark, which had supported King Sverker.
  • November 18 – Emperor Otto IV is excommunicated by Pope Innocent III after he occupies Apulia in southern Italy. Otto annuls the Concordat of Worms and demands from Innocent recognition of the imperial crown's right. A German civil war breaks out, and Otto prepares an invasion against Frederick II, king of Sicily.

1211 CE42 entries

  • April 21 – Santiago de Compostela Cathedral (begun in the 11th century) is consecrated, in the presence of King Alfonso IX of León.
  • June – Shams ud-Din Iltutmish, son-in-law of the former Sultan Qutb al-Din Aibak, becomes ruler of the Delhi Sultanate and quells the Hindu rebellions in India.
  • June – Papal legate Pandulf Verraccio arrives in Northampton to serve John with his excommunication ordered by Innocent III. For John this is a serious blow to his ability to rule the country.

1212 CE52 entries

  • May 4 – The Treaty of Lambeth (also called Treaty of Kingston) is signed by King John of England and several French counts, including Renaud I of Dammartin and Boulogne and Ferdinand of Flanders.
  • June – The Children's Crusade: The 12-year-old Stephen of Cloyes leads a group across France to Vendôme. Attracting a following of over 30,000 adults and children. On the orders of Philip II, advised by the University of Paris, the people were implored to return home. Philip himself did not appear impressed, especially since his unexpected visitors were led by a mere child, and refused to take them seriously.
  • December 9 – The 18-year-old Frederick II is crowned King of the Germans at Mainz. Frederick's authority in Germany remains tenuous, and he is recognized only in southern Germany. In the region of northern Germany, the center of Guelph power, his rival Otto IV continues to hold the imperial power despite his excommunication.

1213 CE19 entries

  • May 30 – Battle of Damme: The English fleet under William Longespée, 3rd Earl of Salisbury, destroys a French fleet off the Belgian port in the first major victory for the fledgling Royal Navy.
  • September 12 – Battle of Muret: The Toulousain and Aragonese forces of Raymond VI of Toulouse and Peter II of Aragon are defeated by the Albigensian Crusade, under Simon de Montfort.
  • Jin China is overrun by the Mongols under Genghis Khan, who plunder the countryside and cities, until only Beijing remains free, despite two bloody palace coups and a lengthy siege.

1214 CE47 entries

  • October 5 – Upon the death of their father, King Alfonso VIII of Castile ("the Noble"), and of their mother, Eleanor of England, Queen of Castile on October 31, Berenguela becomes regent of her 10-year-old brother, Henry I.
  • November 1 – Siege of Sinope: The Seljuk Turks under Sultan Kaykaus I capture the strategic Black Sea port city of Sinope – at the time held by the Empire of Trebizond (one of the Byzantine successor states formed after the Fourth Crusade). Emperor Alexios I of Trebizond leads an army to break the siege, but he is defeated and captured. His capture forces the Byzantines to accept tributary status to Kaykaus.
  • November 20 – A group of English nobles, after finding a copy of the Charter of Liberties, swear an oath at the altar of Bury St Edmunds, to force King John to acknowledge their rights.

1215 CE57 entries

  • October – First Barons' War: The Barons offer the English crown to Prince Louis VIII of France and invite him to England.
  • November 11–30 – The Fourth Council of the Lateran (or "Great Council") convened by Innocent III ends at Rome and approves the papal proposal for a Fifth Crusade in Palestine. The Pope promulgates a canon against clerical participation in trial by ordeal, replacing it by compurgation.
  • 11 November – Echdonn Mac Gilla Uidir, Archbishop of Armagh, attends the Fourth Council of the Lateran in Rome.

1216 CE56 entries

  • February 14 – Leo I, King of Armenia ("the Magnificent"), with support of the Knights Hospitaller, reconquers the Principality of Antioch. Armenian troops enter Antioch while Prince Bohemond IV of Antioch ("the One-Eyed") is absent. The Knights Templar, supporting Bohemond, abandon the citadel, and Raymond-Roupen is installed as Prince of Antioch by the Latin Patriarch, Peter II.
  • May 21 – First Barons' War: Prince Louis of France, son of King Philip II, invades England in support of the barons, landing in Thanet. He enters London without opposition, and is proclaimed, but not crowned, King of England at Old St Paul's Cathedral.
  • May – Pope Innocent III travels to Perugia to try to settle the long feud between Genoa and Pisa, that both states might contribute to the transport of the Fifth Crusade. There, after a short illness, Innocent dies on July 16. Two days after his death the aged Cardinal Cencio Savelli (later Honorius III) is elected as the 177th pope of the Catholic Church.

1217 CE61 entries

  • April 9 – Peter II of Courtenay is crowned emperor of the Latin Empire of Constantinople at Rome, by Pope Honorius III. Shortly after his coronation, Peter borrows some ships from the Venetians, promising in return to conquer Durazzo for them. He fails in this enterprise and seeks to make his way to Constantinople by land. On the journey, he is seized by troops of Theodore Komnenos Doukas, despot of Epirus, and is put in prison.
  • August 24 – Battle of Sandwich: A Plantagenet English fleet commanded by Hubert de Burgh attacked and defeated a Capetian French fleet led by Eustace the Monk and Robert of Courtenay off Sandwich, Kent. The English captured the French flagship and most of the supply vessels, forcing the rest of the French fleet to return to Calais. When the news reached Louis, he entered into renewed peace negotiations.
  • September 5 or 6 – Negotiations between Louis VIII of France and regent William Marshal, on behalf of the young King Henry III of England start at either Staines on 6 September, because the royal court was nearby at Chertsey or possibly on 5 September on an island of the Thames near Kingston.

1218 CE52 entries

  • March 11 – Treaty of Worcester: King Henry III writes to the Welsh ruler Llywelyn the Great and promises safe-conduct if they meet at Worcester. A peace treaty is signed, which confirms Llywelyn's ownership of Wales. In return, Llywelyn agrees to pay homage to Henry and to return those castles that he has captured during his recent conquests.
  • May 24 – A Crusader expeditionary force, (some 30,000 men) under King John I of Jerusalem, embarks at Acre (supported by Frisian ships), and sails for Egypt. They arrive at the harbour of Damietta, on the right bank of the Nile, on May 27. Sultan Al-Adil, surprised by the invasion, recruits an army in Syria, while his son Al-Kamil marches an Egyptian force northwards from Cairo, and encamps at Al-Adiliya, a few miles south of Damietta.
  • August – King Alfonso IX of León grants a royal charter to the University of Salamanca.

1219 CE39 entries

  • February – Pelagius orders the Crusader army to prepare an attack against the Egyptians but is unsuccessful because of the weather and strength of the defenders. Sultan Al-Kamil, in command of the Egyptian forces, is almost overthrown by a conspiracy in his entourage. He considers fleeing to the Ayyubid Emirate of Yemen, ruled by his son Al-Mas'ud Yusuf, but the arrival of his brother Al-Mu'azzam, with reinforcements from Syria, ends the conspiracy. On hearing the news that Al-Kamil and his army is retreating to Cairo, the Crusaders march to Al-Adiliya. After driving back an assault from the garrison of Damietta they occupy the town on February 5.
  • June 15 – Livonian Crusade: Danish Crusaders led by King King Valdemar II (the Victorious), conquer Tallinn in the Battle of Lyndanisse. What is to become the flag of Denmark (Dannebrog) allegedly falls from the sky during that battle. Their stronghold in Tallinn will help the Danes conquer the entirety of Danish Estonia.
  • October – Al-Kamil sends two captive knights as envoys, to renew his former offers of an armistice. If the Crusaders evacuate Egypt, he will return the True Cross (lost in the Battle of Hattin) and they can have Jerusalem, all central Palestine and Galilee. John I advised its acceptance, along with the nobles from England, France and Germany. Pelagius again refuses the peace terms.