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The 1260s

365 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.

1260 CE45 entries

  • September 3 – Battle of Ain Jalut in Galilee: The Egyptians defeat the Mongols, marking their first decisive defeat, and the point of maximum expansion of the Mongol Empire. Isa ibn Muhanna is appointed amir al-ʿarab under the Egyptian Mamluk Sultanate.
  • October 24 – Saif ad-Din Qutuz, Mamluk sultan of Egypt, is assassinated by Baibars, who seizes power for himself.
  • October 24 – The Cathedral of Chartres is dedicated in the presence of King Louis IX of France (the cathedral is now a UNESCO World Heritage Site).

1261 CE42 entries

  • February 8 – Egyptian politician Bahaa el-Din bin Hanna appointed Vizier of Egypt for the third term that will last until April 1278.
  • 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.
  • 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.

1262 CE38 entries

  • January 25 – Richard of Chichester in England (d. 1253) is canonized as a saint; he is best known for authoring the prayer adapted into the song "Day by Day" in the musical Godspell (1971).
  • March 8 – Battle of Hausbergen: The bourgeois of Strasbourg defeat a German army of knights (some 5,000 men) under Bishop Walter of Geroldseck. Strasbourg becomes an imperial Free City of the Holy Roman Empire.
  • September 14 – Reconquista: Castilian-Leonese forces led by Alfonso X conquer Cádiz. The city has been under Moorish rule since 711. The Muslims are ousted, and Alfonso repopulates the region (also called the Repoblación).

1263 CE45 entries

  • July 20–24 – Nahmanides, Spanish chief rabbi, defends the Talmud in an important debate (the Disputation of Barcelona) against Pablo Christiani, before James I of Aragon.
  • July – Scottish–Norwegian War: King Haakon IV of Norway ("the Old") assembles a fleet (some 120 warships), and sets sail to defend the Hebrides, in an attempt to reassert Norwegian sovereignty over the Western Isles of Scotland. Haakon stops at the Isle of Arran, where in August negotiations are started with the 21-year-old King Alexander III of Scotland. The talks are prolonged by the Scots until the autumn storms begin.
  • September 12 – Mindaugas (or Mendog), the only Christian king of Lithuania, is assassinated by his cousin Treniota. The country reverts to paganism and loses its status as a kingdom. Treniota usurps the throne (until 1264).

1264 CE41 entries

  • April – Gilbert de Clare leads a massacre of the Jews at Canterbury, during the outbreak of the Second Barons' War. In the meantime, another of de Montfort's followers, John FitzJohn, leads a massacre against the Jews in London. The Jewish communities of Northampton, Winchester, Cambridge, and Lincoln are looted. The archæ (official chest of records) is destroyed or deposited at the headquarters of de Montfort's supporters at Ely.
  • June 18 – The Parliament of Ireland meets at Castledermot in County Kildare, the first definitely known meeting of this Irish legislature.
  • August 11 – By the papal bull Transiturus, Pope Urban IV declares the Feast of Corpus Christi (festum corporis) to be celebrated by the entire Catholic Church.

1265 CE31 entries

  • March – End of the Hungarian Civil War (1264–1265) – Battle of Isaszeg: Younger King Stephen decisively defeats his father's army.
  • June 18 – A draft Byzantine–Venetian treaty is concluded between Venetian envoys and Emperor Michael VIII Palaiologos, but is not ratified by Doge Reniero Zeno
  • August 4 – Second Barons' War in England: The Battle of Evesham is fought in Worcestershire, with the army of Edward defeating the forces of rebellious barons led by Simon de Montfort, resulting in the death of Montfort and many of his allies. This is sometimes considered the death of chivalry in England.

1266 CE38 entries

  • May 15 – Second Barons' War: Battle of Chesterfield: English forces led by Henry of Almain, son of Richard of Cornwall, defeat rebels under Robert de Ferrers in a minor skirmish at Chesterfield. Robert is taken as a prisoner to London, and at the Parliament of England disinherits. In July, he is forced to surrender land and Liverpool Castle to Edmund Crouchback, second son of King Henry III of England.
  • July 2 – Treaty of Perth: King Alexander III of Scotland agrees to a peace settlement with King Magnus VI of Norway ("the Law-mender") in which the Outer Hebrides and Isle of Man are ceded to Scotland in exchange for 4,000 marks. In return, Alexander confirms Norwegian sovereignty over the islands of Shetland and Orkney.
  • July 23 – Siege of Safed: Mamluk forces capture the castle of Safed, defended by a garrison of 1,700 men (including some 500 Knights Templar), after a 6-week siege. Sultan Baibars promises safe conduct but when the Christians and Templars are on their way towards Acre, they are seized and beheaded.

1267 CE22 entries

  • February 16 – Kings Afonso III of Portugal and Alfonso X of Castile sign the Badajoz Convention, determining the border between the Kingdom of Portugal and the Kingdom of León and ensuring Portuguese sovereignty over Algarve.
  • May 27 – Treaty of Viterbo: Emperor Baldwin II of Constantinople gifts the Principality of Achaea to King Charles I of Sicily, in the hope that Charles can help him restore the Latin Empire.
  • November 18 – In England, the Statute of Marlborough is passed, the oldest English law still (partially) in force.

1268 CE30 entries

  • 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.
  • 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.
  • 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.

1269 CE33 entries

  • March – Ode de Pougy, French Abbess of Notre Dame aux Nonnains, and several associates who assist her, are excommunicated.
  • June 16 – Battle of Colle Val d'Elsa: Guelph forces (2,200 men) led by King Charles I of Anjou defeat the Ghibellines at Tuscany. After the battle, the Guelphs drive out their adversaries at Colle di Val d'Elsa, destroying their houses, and confiscating their possessions.
  • June 19 – King Louis IX of France ("the Saint") orders all Jews found in public without an identifying yellow badge to be fined ten livres of silver. He also confiscates goods from the Jewish population to fund the Eighth Crusade.