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The 1240s

408 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.

1240 CE40 entries

  • June 12 – The Disputation of Paris begins at the court of King Louis IX ("the Saint"), where four rabbis defend the Talmud against Nicholas Donin's accusations of blasphemy.
  • July 15 – Battle of the Neva: A Swedish army under Bishop Thomas sails up the Gulf of Finland in their longboats. They proceed into the Neva River with the aim of seizing control over Lake Ladoga and from there, striking at the city of Novgorod. Prince Alexander rallies his druzhina comparable to the 'household' of western European countries, and decisively routs the Swedish forces, saving the Novgorod Republic from a full-scale enemy invasion from the North. As a result, Alexander wins his first military victory at the age of 19 and receives the title of 'Nevsky'.
  • September – 1240 Izborsk and Pskov campaign: An alliance of the Livonian Order, the Bishopric of Dorpat and the pretender-prince Yaroslav Vladimirovich of Pskov besiege and conquer the border fortress of Izborsk in the Pskov Land. After Pskovian defenders fail to retake the town, the allied forces advance to the capital Pskov itself, compelling it to surrender, resulting in the brief overthrow of the pro-Suzdalian faction that supports prince Alexander Nevsky.

1241 CE33 entries

  • April 11 – Battle of Mohi: Batu Khan and Subutai defeat Béla IV of Hungary. The battle is the last major event in the Mongol Invasion of Europe.
  • May 10 – Battle of Cameirge in Ulster: The Milesian Irish septs of the Ó Dónaills from Donegal, the Ó Néills from Armagh and the Ó Dochartaighs of Connacht defeat the last Tuatha Dé Danann sept, the Meic Lochlainn of Tír Eoghain and Inishowen under Domhnall mac Muirchertaigh Mac Lochlainn. From now on the Kings of Tír Eoghain will all be of the Ó Néill dynasty, Brian Ua Néill becoming sole ruler.
  • May – Battle of Giglio: an Imperial fleet defeats a Genoan fleet in the Tyrrhenian Sea.

1242 CE46 entries

  • April 5 – Battle of Lake Peipus (or Battle on the Ice): Russian forces led by Alexander Nevsky, rebuff an invasion attempt by a Crusader army (some 2,600 men), including German Teutonic Knights. The opposing armies meet upon the frozen surface of Lake Peipus. The outnumbered Teutonic Knights are defeated on the slippery surface, by Alexander's elite druzhina and the Novgorod forces.
  • May 28 – Avignonet massacre: A group of Cathars, with the probable connivance of Count Raymond VII of Toulouse, murder the inquisitor William Arnaud and eleven of his companions.
  • November 16 – King Béla IV issues the Golden Bull to the inhabitants of Gradec (modern-day Zagreb) and Samobor in Croatia. By this golden bull, Béla proclaimes Gradec a royal free city.

1243 CE39 entries

  • April 27 – Treaty of Bordeaux: King Louis IX (the Saint) and King Henry III agree to a truce that ends the Saintonge War. The truce does not stop the on-going clashes (and further tensions) between France and England.
  • June 12 – A Crusader force under Balian III, lord of Beirut, captures Tyre after a long siege. The barons seize the citadel on July 10, with the help of Alice, queen of Cyprus, whose forces arrive on June 15. This ending the War of the Lombards.
  • June 26 – Battle of Köse Dağ: The Mongols under Baiju Noyan defeat the Seljuk Turks of the Sultanate of Rum and their Byzantine allies. The Seljuks and the Empire of Trebizond become vassals of the Mongols.

1244 CE39 entries

  • June 7 – Pope Innocent IV is driven from Rome by imperial forces of Emperor Frederick II, and travels secretly in disguise to Sutri. Genoese galleys prepared by his relatives are waiting for him at the port of Civitavecchia to take him to Genoa.
  • June – Khwarazmian forces (some 10,000 men) invade Syrian territory, ravaging the land and burning the villages. As Damascus is too strong for a siege, they attack Galilee, past the town of Tiberias – which they capture. The Khwarazmians attack further southward through Nablus towards Jerusalem.
  • July 15 – Siege of Jerusalem: Khwarazmian horsemen attack and sack the 'holy city' of Jerusalem. There is bloody fighting in the streets. The Khwarazmian force their way into the Armenian Quarter, where they decimate the Christian population, and drive out the Jews. The city is left in a state of ruin.

1245 CE38 entries

  • February 21 – Thomas, bishop of Turku (modern Finland), is granted resignation by Pope Innocent IV. He admits to committing several felonies, such as torturing and forging a papal letter.
  • April 16 – Innocent IV sends Giovanni da Pian del Carpine (accompanied by Stephen of Bohemia) to the Mongol court at Karakorum, suggesting that the Mongols convert to Christianity.
  • April – Egyptian forces under As-Salih Ayyub besiege the city of Damascus. After six months, As-Salih Ismail, ruler of Damascus, surrenders to Ayyub in return for a vassal-principality, consisting of Baalbek and the Hauran. Ayyub is awarded the title of sultan by Caliph Al-Musta'sim in Baghdad.

1246 CE41 entries

  • June 15 – Battle of the Leitha River: Hungarian forces, under King Béla IV, defeat Duke Frederick II (the Quarrelsome) at the banks of the Leitha River. Frederick is killed (leaving no male heirs); the House of Babenberg is dissolved. Emperor Frederick II places the fiefs of Austria and Styria under his rule. This ends the Austrian claims to the western counties of Hungary.
  • August 24 – Güyük Khan, eldest son of Ögedei Khan, is enthroned as the 3rd Great Khan of the Mongol Empire (which is witnessed by a papal mission under Giovanni da Pian del Carpine) at Karakorum. Güyük reverses several edicts of his mother, Töregene Khatun, and orders Eljigidei, Mongol viceroy of Persia, to advance into Syria and prepare an attack on Baghdad.
  • 2 October – Damascus falls to the Ayyubid vizier Mu'in al-Din Hasan ibn al-Shaykh after a siege of some four months.

1247 CE39 entries

  • June 17 – Egyptian forces under Sultan As-Salih Ayyub capture Tiberias and his castle. Mount Tabor and Belvoir Castle are occupied soon afterward. Next, Ayyub moves his army to siege Ascalon – which is defended by a garrison of Knights Hospitaller. They summon the help from Acre and Cyprus.
  • July 2 – King Béla IV grants territories to the Knights Hospitaller in the Banate of Severin and Hungarian Cumania (according to a document called the Diploma of the Joannites), makes an early mention of Litovoi and other Vlach/Romanian local rulers, in Wallachia and Transylvania.
  • December 1 – A rebellion arises among the Muslim subjects in the region of Valencia. As a punishment, King James I of Aragon ("the Conqueror"), issues an order of expulsion of the Muslims from his realm, leading numerous people into exile in Andalusia and North Africa.

1248 CE49 entries

  • August 12 – King Louis IX of France ("the Saint") leaves Paris together with his wife, Queen Margaret of Provence, and her sister Beatrice of Provence. Two of Louis' brothers, Charles of Anjou and Robert of Artois, are also present. He is followed by his cousins, Hugh IV of Burgundy and Peter Mauclerc, both are veterans of the Barons' Crusade.
  • August 25 – Louis IX departs from Aigues-Mortes and Marseilles with a French expeditionary force (some 10,000 men) transported by 100 ships. An English detachment (some 5,000 men) under William Longespée the Younger, grandson of King Henry III, and his mistress Ida de Tosny follows close behind with 36 transport ships.
  • December – Louis IX receives an embassy during his stay in Cyprus from the Mongol general, Eljigidei, who is viceroy in Persia. They bring a letter from Guyuk Khan (who had died by the time his envoys reached Cyprus) with no demands of submission, but talking in terms about Mongol favouritism for Christianity, and a proposal of a joint invasion against the Ayyubid forces in Syria.

1249 CE44 entries

  • February 16 – Louis IX sends Andrew of Longjumeau on a diplomatic mission to meet the "Great Khan" of the Mongol Empire. He carries letters from Louis and the Papal States, and rich presents, including a chapel-tent lined with scarlet cloth and embroidered with sacred pictures. From Cyprus he goes to the port of Antioch in Syria and travels for a year to the khan's court at Karakorum.
  • May – Nicaean–Latin Wars: Latin forces led by William of Villehardouin, arrive on the island of Rhodes on their way to join the Seventh Crusade. This causes the Nicaeans to raise the siege of Rhodes. William concludes an agreement with the Genoese and leaves behind some 100 knights before departing for the Holy Land.
  • November 20 – Louis IX sets out (against the advice of his nobles) with a Crusader force from Damietta, along the southern road to Mansourah. A garrison is left to guard the city – where Queen Margaret of Provence and Patriarch Robert of Nantes remain. The Crusaders make slow progress along the Nile, carrying a number of supplies and equipment. After 32 days, Louis orders to make camp opposite the Ayyubid camp near Mansourah, protected by a branch of the river and fortifications. Both camps use their catapults to bombard each other.