Religion & Belief in the 13th century

325 sourced entries, 1200 CE to 1299 CE, oldest first. Also see Religion & Belief across every century or everything else in the 13th century.

1200August 25 – Eager to make peace with Aymer Taillefer, count of Angoulême, John marries 15-year-old Isabella of Angoulême at Bordeaux. In order to remarry, John needs to abandon his first wife, Isabella of Gloucester. John accomplishes this by arguing that he has failed to get the necessary papal dispensation to marry Isabella of Gloucester.source
1200Spring – Boniface I, Marquis of Montferrat, sends envoys to Venice, Genoa and other city-states to negotiate a contract for transport to the Levant. Meanwhile, Boniface and various nobles are mustering an expeditionary army (mainly forces from France and the Holy Roman Empire) at Paris. On February 23, Baldwin IX, count of Flanders and his brother Henry of Flanders take the cross at Bruges (modern Belgium), and agree to take part in the Fourth Crusade called by Pope Innocent III (see 1199).source
1201March 25 – Constance, duchess of Brittany, founds Villeneuve Abbey and gives it a charter.source
1201Autumn – Prince Alexios Angelos, son of the deposed, blinded and imprisoned late Emperor Isaac II Angelos, escapes from Constantinople. He makes his way to Sicily and then Rome where he is turned away by Pope Innocent III. Next, Alexios travels to the court of his brother-in-law, Philip of Swabia, the King of Germany, who receives him well.source
1201Pope Innocent III recognizes Otto IV as the only legitimate ruler of the Holy Roman Empire, against his rival King, Philip of Swabia. In return, Otto promises to support the pope's interests in Italy.source
1201Northern Crusades: The town of Riga is chartered as a city by Albert of Buxhoeveden, bishop of Livonia, who has landed on the site with some 1,500 Crusaders earlier in the year.source
1202September 8 – Enrico Dandolo takes the cross and agrees to lead a Venetian force, which, in an outburst of Crusading enthusiasm, reaches some 21,000 men – the largest contingent of the Fourth Crusade. He proclaims the debts will be wiped if the Crusaders take the 'rebel' Dalmatian city of Zara (modern-day Zadar) which has pledged its loyalty to Emeric, king of Hungary and Croatia. The Zara proposal causes disquiet in the Crusader ranks and also upsets Pope Innocent III who threatens to excommunicate those who attack Zara.source
1202September – Byzantine Prince Alexios Angelos sends representatives from Verona to the Crusader leaders in Venice. He promises to submit the Greek Orthodox Church to papal obedience and to provide the Crusade with 200,000 silver marks, together with provisions for a year. Alexios also will contribute 10,000 mounted soldiers to the expedition. In return he wants the Crusade to overthrow his uncle, the Byzantine emperor Alexios III Angelos.source
1202Winter – Innocent III excommunicates the Crusader army, along with the Venetians, who winter at Zara. Many Crusaders, including some senior men, either abandon the Fourth Crusade or make their own way to the Holy Land. However, the majority remain in Zara, where the army receives some welcome reinforcements. During the winter, negotiations continue with Alexios Angelos.source
1202Spring – Pope Innocent III reasserts his right to evaluate and crown the Holy Roman Emperor, in a letter to Berthold V, Duke of Zähringen.source
1202Rueda Abbey is founded by Cistercians at Sástago, in the Kingdom of Aragon (modern Spain).source
1202Danish forces make a Crusade to Finland which is led by Anders Sunesen, archbishop of Lund, and his brother.source
1202The Livonian Brothers of the Sword is founded by Bishop Albert of Riga, this to support the Livonian Crusade against the inhabitants of Terra Mariana (medieval Livonia).source
1203April 8 – Congress of Bilino Polje: Ban Kulin, ruler of Bosnia, officially declares his allegiance to the Roman Catholic Church and denounces heresy.source
1203Ragnall mac Somairle, a Scottish nobleman, invites Benedictine monks to establish the abbey of Iona.source
1203The Temple of Nataraja is completed, at Chidambaram in India.source
1204February 5 – Alexios V Doukas is crowned Byzantine emperor.source
1204May 16 – Baldwin, Count of Flanders, is crowned emperor of the Latin Empire a week after his election by the members of the Fourth Crusade.source
1204Tsar Kaloyan is recognized as king of Bulgaria by Pope Innocent III, after the creation of the Bulgarian Uniate church.source
1204Boniface I, Marquis of Montferrat, a leader of the Fourth Crusade, founds the Kingdom of Thessalonica.source
1204The writings of French theologian Amalric of Bena are condemned by the University of Paris and Pope Innocent III.source
1204The Cistercian convent of Port-Royal-des-Champs is established.source
1205January 6 – Philip of Swabia becomes King of the Romans and is crowned again with great ceremony at Aachen by Archbishop Adolf of Cologne. After several threats, Adolf is removed from office by Pope Innocent III and excommunicated, on July 19. Philip is able to increasingly assert his kingship against Otto of Brunswick (who is also crowned king of Germany) in the northern parts of the Alps.source
1205July 15 – Pope Innocent III lays down the principle that Jews are doomed to perpetual servitude, because they had crucified Jesus.source
1205Caliph Muhammad al-Nasir establishes Almohad domination over the eastern parts of Ifriqiya (modern Tunisia). He appoints General Abu Mohammed ibn Abi Hafs as governor of Ifriqiya.source
1206December – The monks of Canterbury want their own sub-prior Reginald for the post of archbishop, while King John chooses John de Gray. Pope Innocent III appoints Stephen Langton. Finally, the monks accept the Pope's decision and vote for Langton.source
1206King Valdemar II ("the Conqueror") and Archbishop Andreas Sunonis raid Saaremaa Island (modern Estonia), forcing the islanders to submit. The Danes build a fortress, but finding no volunteers to man it, they burn it down themselves and leave the island.source
1206Temüjin assembles at a Kurultai, a council of chiefs of the Mongol tribes under his rule, and is elected as their leader. He is given the title of Genghis Khan of the Mongol people – founding the Mongol Empire. Genghis takes immediate steps to underpin his military command, starting with a fundamental reordering of tribal loyalties. United under one nomadic nation, under one banner and one authority.source
1206A peasant named Thurkhill in England claims that Saint Julian took him on a tour of Purgatory. Thurkhill includes realistic touches of descriptions of Purgatory's torture chambers. This is also believed by Roger of Wendover, one of his society's leading historians.source
1207February 2 – Terra Mariana (or Medieval Livonia), comprising modern-day Estonia and Latvia, is established as a principality of the Holy Roman Empire. During its existence there is a constant struggle over supremacy between the lands ruled by the Teutonic Order, the secular German nobility, and the citizens of the Hanseatic towns of Riga and Reval.source
1207May 24 – John still refuses to accept Stephen Langton as archbishop; Innocent III threatens to place England under an Interdict. In response, John confiscates church property. Many of the English bishops of the great churches in the country flee abroad to the Continent.source
1207June 17 – Stephen Langton is consecrated as archbishop of Canterbury in England by Innocent III at Viterbo.source
1207Pope Innocent III declares for King Philip of Swabia as Holy Roman Emperor, a reversal of his previous support for Philip's rival Otto IV.source
1207John, King of England ("Lackland") introduces the first income tax. One-thirteenth of income from rents and moveable property has to be paid. Collected locally by sheriffs and administered by the Exchequer, the tax is unpopular with the English nobility and especially in the churches and monasteries, but does raise a lot of money for John, doubling his annual income for the year.source
1207Before 1207 – Kosho writes Kuya Preaching, during the Kamakura period (it is later kept at Rokuharamitsu-ji Temple in Kyoto).source
1208January 15 – Pierre de Castelnau is murdered by heretics supported by Raymond VI, count of Toulouse. He is held responsible and excommunicated by Pope Innocent III, leading to the Albigensian Crusade.source
1208March 24 – Innocent III places England under a Papal Interdict, as punishment for John, King of England ("Lackland")'s refusal to accept Stephen Langton as archbishop of Canterbury. During the interdict, religious services as marriages, burials, or baptisms cannot be performed. John confiscates church property of clergy who are unwilling to conduct services. Many bishops in the country flee abroad to the Continent.source
1208Robert of Courçon, an English cardinal, writes his Summa – devoted to questions of canon law and ethics – dealing at length with the question of usury.source
1209October 21 – Innocent III crowns Otto IV as emperor of the Holy Roman Empire in St. Peter's Basilica at Rome.source
1209November – Against the backdrop of the continuing Papal Interdict of 1208, John, King of England, is excommunicated by Pope Innocent III. Despite the excommunication, John will continue to make amends to the Church – including giving alms to the poor whenever he defiles a holy day by hunting during it. He feeds 100 paupers to make up for when he "went into the woods on the feast of St. Mary Magdalen", and three years from now, he will feast 450 paupers "because the king went to take cranes, and he took nine, for each of which he feasted fifty paupers."source
1210May – 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.source
1210September 14 – The 18-year-old Maria of Montferrat marries the French nobleman John of Brienne, who brings a dowry of 40,000 silver pounds (from King Philip II and Pope Innocent III). On October 3, the couple is crowned as King and Queen of Jerusalem in the Crusader Cathedral of Tyre (modern Lebanon).source
1210The church of St Helen's Bishopsgate in the City of London is founded, as a priory of Benedictine nuns.source
1210The Papal Interdict of 1208 remains in force.source
1210Pope Innocent III allows the formation of the mendicant order of Francis of Assisi, to begin the Order of Friars Minor.source
1210King John extends his taxes and raises £100,000 from church property as an extraordinary fiscal levy; the operation is described as an “inestimable and incomparable exaction” by contemporary sources.source
1210Gottfried von Strassburg writes his epic poem Tristan (approximate date).source
1211April 21 – Santiago de Compostela Cathedral (begun in the 11th century) is consecrated, in the presence of King Alfonso IX of León.source
1211June – 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.source
1211September – The 16-year-old Frederick II is elected in absentia as German king by rebellious nobleman (supported by Pope Innocent III) at the Diet of Nuremberg (Germany).source
1211The Papal Interdict of 1208 laid by Innocent III remains in force after John refuses to accept the pope's appointee.source
1211Archbishop Aubrey (or 'Alberic of Humbert') lays the first stone of the chevet of Reims Cathedral.source
1212December 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.source
1212Kamo no Chōmei, a Japanese poet and essayist, writes the Hōjōki, one of the great works of classical Japanese prose.source
1212John, King of England, impounds the revenue of all prelates appointed by bishops, who have deserted him at his excommunication. He remains on good terms, however, with churchmen who stood by him, including Abbot Sampson, who this year bequeaths John his jewels.source
1212The Children's Crusade is organized. There are probably two separate movements of young people, both led by shepherd boys, neither of which embark for the Holy Land – but both of which suffer considerable hardship.source
1212The Papal Interdict of 1208 laid on England and Wales by Innocent III remains in force.source
1212Early Spring – Nicholas leads a group from the Rhineland and crosses the alps into Italy. In August, he arrives with some 7,000 children in Genoa. Nicholas travels to the Papal States where he meets Pope Innocent III.source
1212The contemplative Order of Poor Clares is founded by Clare of Assisi (approximate date).source
1213May 15 – John, King of England submits to Pope Innocent III, who in turn lifts the interdict of 1208 the following year.source
1213Pope Innocent III issues a charter calling for the Fifth Crusade to recapture Jerusalem.source
1214April 13 – Simon of Apulia is elected bishop of Exeter in England (approximate date).source
1214June 20 – A papal ordinance defines the rights of the scholars at the University of Oxford in England.source
1214July 2 – The Papal Interdict of 1208, laid against the Kingdom of England, is lifted.source
1215January 8 – Simon de Montfort, 5th Earl of Leicester, is elected lord of Languedoc in a council at Montpellier (Southern France), after his campaign against the Cathar heretics during the Albigensian Crusade. The Crusaders capture Château de Castelnaud-la-Chapelle and enter Toulouse; the town pays an indemnity of 30,000 marks and is gifted to Montfort.source
1215March 4 – John, King of England ("Lackland"), hoping to gain the support of Pope Innocent III against the Barons, takes the oath to go on Crusade. By doing so, Innocent declares John to be his vassal and claims ownership of the whole kingdom (with political protection under church law). On April 1, Innocent sends a letter to the Barons, asking them to halt their actions against John.source
1215June 15 – A large number of barons, led by Stephen Langton, archbishop of Canterbury, meet King John of England on an island in the Thames at Runnymede. They force John to sign Magna Carta, a document that grants liberties to the "free men" – the Barons, the church and the towns. He is subjected to the rule of law, by confirming the status of trial by jury, on June 19.source
1215August 24 – Pope Innocent III annuls Magna Carta, freeing King John from its limitations. He annuls the charter on the grounds that John signed it because he is forced and that the document is illegal.source
1215September 13 – King John of England seeks help from Innocent III in his fight against the Barons. In a letter, written while staying at Dover Castle, he states that the defense of England is the responsibility of God and the Pope.source
1215November 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.source
1215Summer – Emperor Otto IV is excommunicated and forced to abdicate as ruler of the Holy Roman Empire. The German nobles, supported by Innocent III, again elect the 20-year-old Frederick II as King of the Romans who is crowned in Aachen, on July 25. The same day, Frederick takes the Cross and promises to go on Crusade.source
1216February 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.source
1216November 12 – William Marshal and Cardinal Guala Bicchieri, Italian diplomat and papal legate to England, issue a Charter of Liberties, based on Magna Carta, in the new king's name.source
1216December 22 – Honorius III officially approves the Order of Preachers (the Dominican Order), by the Papal bull Religiosam vitam.source
1216Ballintubber Abbey is founded by King Cathal Crobhdearg Ua Conchobair of Connacht, in Ireland.source
1217April 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.source
1217unknown date – Stefan Nemanjić is elevated to be the first King of the Serbian lands by Pope Honorius III and crowned by Stefan's brother, Archimandrite Sava, in Žiča.source
1217Summer – Various groups of French knights reach the Italian ports. King Andrew II of Hungary arrives with his army in Split, in Dalmatia. He is joined by German forces, led by Duke Leopold VI (the Glorious). At the end of July, Pope Honorius III orders the crusaders assembled in Italy and Sicily to proceed to Cyprus, but there is no transport provided by the Italian city-states, Venice, Genoa and Pisa.source
1218July – In order to facilitate the movement of Reconquista, Pope Honorius III reverses Innocent III's earlier judgement, and declares King Ferdinand III (the Saint) legitimate heir to the Kingdom of León.source
1218Pedro Nolasco founds the Order of the Blessed Virgin Mary of Mercy in Barcelona, Spain.source
1219September – Francis of Assisi, an Italian preacher, arrives in the Crusader camp and introduces Catholicism in Egypt. He seeks permission from Pelagius to visit Al-Kamil. After an initial refusal, he sends Francis under a flag of truce to Faraskur. Al-Kamil receives him courteously and offers him many gifts. He accepts a death-bed baptism, and is escorted back to the Crusader camp.source
1220April 26 – King Frederick II confirms rights of independence to the German bishops (the Confoederatio cum principibus ecclesiasticis) in an attempt to secure the election of his 9-year-old son, Henry VII as King of Germany.source
1220May 17 – The 12-year-old Henry III is crowned at Westminster Abbey. He is reminded of his duties as king to maintain peace, defend the rights of the English crown, and the barons swear an oath of fealty.source
1220November 22 – Frederick II is crowned Holy Roman Emperor at Rome by Pope Honorius III. He makes Sicily an absolute monarchy and adopts Palermo as its principal seat.source
1220The rebuilding of Amiens Cathedral begins.source
1220The rebuilding of Oxford Cathedral begins.source
1220The rebuilding of Cathedral of Chartres, which had been destroyed by a fire in 1194, is completed.source
1220Early part of Toulouse Cathedral is completed.source
1220The building of Salisbury Cathedral begins.source
1220In France the medical school of the University of Montpellier is granted its first statutes by the German cardinal-bishop Conrad of Urach.source
1222April 17 – Stephen Langton, Archbishop of Canterbury in England, opens a council at Osney Abbey, Oxford.source
1222May 9 – Synod of Oxford – The 1222 Christian Synod of Oxford passes antisemitic laws that forbid social interactions between Jews and Christians, places a specific tithe on Jews and requires them to wear an identifying badge.source
1222The Cistercian convent in Alcobaça, Portugal, is completed.source
1223January 4 – Germanus II takes office as Patriarch of Constantinople, leader of the Eastern Orthodox Church, after moving the patriarchate's capital 56 mi from Constantinople (now Istanbul) to Nicaea (now Iznik in Turkey), as the guest of John III Doukas Vatatzes, Emperor of Nicaea.source
1223February – A council of Russian princes summons at Kiev; several princes are convinced by Köten Khan to assemble an allied army to drive the Mongols back. During the first half of March, Russian princes return to their principalities and begin to raise forces for the forthcoming campaign. The alliance has a combined force of some 60,000 men, mainly cavalry. Subutai unites his army with Jebe, and sends ambassadors to the Kievan Rus' princes, to tell them to stay out of the conflict as it didn't involve them.source
1223March 23 – At a meeting in Ferentino at the imperial villa of the Papal States, Pope Honorius III hosts a meeting with the newly-widowed Frederick II, Holy Roman Emperor; John I, King of Jerusalem; Patriarch Raoul of Mérencourt; and papal legate Pelagius Galvani to prepare for the Sixth Crusade by European Christians against the Muslims of the Middle East. Frederick agrees to lead the crusade in return for being able to marry John's daughter, Yolande of Brienne.source
1223April 13 – Pope Honorius III issues a papal bull relaxing the strict rules that had applied to monks of the Valliscaulian Order.source
1223August 6 – The coronation of King Louis VIII of France takes place at the Reims Cathedral.source
1223August 10 – The Order of the Blessed Virgin Mary of Mercy, whose followers are called the Mercedarians, is legally constituted in Barcelona by King James I of Aragon. It will receive papal approval 12 years later.source
1223October 20 – Otto I, Duke of Merania, issues five charters for lavish donations to religious communities.source
1223November 1 – King Louis VIII of France issues an ordinance prohibiting the kingdom's officials from registering debts owed to Jewish moneylenders, and limiting the lenders to a recovery of the principal amount owed, without interest.source
1223November 29 – Pope Honorius III approves the Franciscan Rule (also called "Regula Bullata"). The rule sets regulations for discipline, preaching, and entering the order for Franciscan friars.source
1223December 24 – Father Francis of Assisi (Giovanni di Pietro di Bernardone), founder of the Order of the Franciscans with in the Roman Catholic Church, begins the tradition of celebrating Christmas with a nativity scene. Having received permission from Pope Honorius III, Francis arranges for a display in a cave near the Italian city of Greccio, with the representation of the events associated with the birth of Jesus Christ as described in the Gospel of Matthew and in the Gospel of Luke, using real people and animals.source
1223Pope Honorius III gives his legate to France, Conrad d'Urach, free authority to negotiate a peace with Raymond VII, Count of Toulouse, in France.source
1224February 20 – Jacopo Tiepolo (later: Doge of the Republic of Venice, 1229–1249), reaches an agreement in his capacity as Podestà, with Robert I, Emperor of Constantinople Latin Emperor, for favorable treatment for the Venetians in the Empire.source
1224March 1 – Pope Honorius III sends a letter to the Roman Catholic Patriarch of Jerusalem, Francisco Clemente Pérez Capera, notifying him that the armies and navies of the Holy Roman Empire, the Teutonic Knights and the Kingdom of Sicily will be departing soon to begin the Sixth Crusade to recapture Jerusalem from the Arab rulers.source
1224June 5 – The University of Naples is founded by Emperor Frederick II. Frederick's main purpose is to create an institution of higher learning that will put an end to the predominance of the universities of northern Italy, most notably these of Bologna and Padua, which are considered either too independent or under the strong influence of \Pope Honorius III.source
1224September 14 – Francis of Assisi, while praying on the mountain of La Verna during a 40-day fast, has a vision, as a result of which he receives the stigmata. Brother Leo, who is with Francis at the time, leaves a clear and simple account of this event, the first definite account of the phenomenon of stigmata.source
1225February 11 – The Magna Carta is reaffirmed (for the third time) by Henry III, in return for issuing a property tax. It becomes the definitive version of the text.source
1225March 3 – As the envoy of Pope Honorius III, Romanus, Cardinal-deacon of San Angelo, leaves Rome to travel to France to the court of King Louis XIII.source
1225April 15 – Pope Honorius III issues the papal bull Magistro Andree canonico Palentino, granting the Andree, a former Jew who converted to Christianity, the title of canon of Palencia, with full eccleastical dignities.source
1225May 10 – Gerold of Lausanne, French bishop of Valence, becomes the new Latin patriarch of Jerusalem (until 1239).source
1225May 15 – Pope Honorius exhorts Hungarian Catholics to launch the Bosnian Crusade against the autonomous Bosnian Church Christians.source
1225June 10 – Pope Honorius III issues the bull Vineae Domini custodes in which he approves the mission of two friars to Morocco. The bull is reissued in October when Honorius III exhorts the Dominican and Franciscan order to participate in that mission.source
1225July 25 – Emperor Frederick II takes an oath at San Germano (near Cassino) and promises to depart on a Crusade (the Sixth Crusade), for the Near East in August 1227. He sends 1000 knights to the Levant and provides Rome with 100,000 ounces of gold, to be forfeited to the Catholic Church should he break his vow. These funds will be returned to Frederick once he arrives at Acre.source
1225July 25 – The Agreement of San Germano is signed between the Holy Roman Emperor Frederick II and Pope Honorius III, with the Emperor Frederick agreeing to lead the Sixth Crusade to recapture Jerusalem and the rest of the Christian Holy Land in the Middle East from the Muslims. In return for the financing and the provision of soldiers by the Catholis Church in Syria, Frederick agrees to launch the Crusade on or before August 15, 1227.source
1225July 27 – Visby Cathedral in Sweden is consecrated.source
1225September 11 – The Republic of Massa is founded in Central Italy with Bernardino del fu Losco as its first podesta appointed by the council of nine lords to serve as executive of the independent state.source
1225The 8-year-old Henry I (the Fat) is crowned as king of Cyprus in the Cathedral of Saint Sophia at Nicosia. His uncle Philip of Ibelin orders the coronation, so that when Henry comes of age at fifteen a regency could not be prolonged on the ground that he is not yet crowned.source
1226January 30 – Pope Honorius III approves the "Rule of Saint Albert (written by Saint Albert Avoggadro of Vercelli as the guide for the Carmelites (the Order of the Brothers of the Blessed Virgin Mary of Mount Carmel) with the papal bull Ut vivendi normam.source
1226January 30 – King Louis VIII of France takes the cross to resume the Albigensian Crusade against the Catharism movement in Languedoc in southern France.source
1226February 20 – Pope Honorius III directs the Franciscan Archbishop of Toledo, Rodrigo Jiménez de Rada, to lead the Franciscans in converting Moroccan Muslims to Christianity.source
1226March 26 – Frederick II, Holy Roman Emperor issues the Golden Bull of Rimini, in which he grants Teutonic Knights the right to all of the lands they will get during the mission in Prussia; he also declares himself a senior of the Teutonic Order and Poland, as well as the universal ruler of Christian Europe.source
1226May 17 – Ralph Neville is appointed as the new Lord Chancellor of England by the Great Council of Regency, regent for the Kingdom of England during the reign of King Henry III.source
1226September 11 – The Catholic Church practice of eucharistic adoration among lay people formally begins in Avignon, Provence.source
1226November 29 – The coronation of Louis IX as King of France takes place at the Reims Cathedral at the direction of Queen Blanche, who also orders the defeated French nobles from the Albigensian Crusade to swear allegiance to her son.source
1226December 23 – Jean Halgrin, the French Roman Catholic archbishop of Besançon, is offered the opportunity to be the Catholic patriarch of Constantinople, but declines the position because of health issues.source
1226Brother Robert writes the Old Norse Tristrams saga ok Ísöndar, one of the rare fully surviving versions of the legend of Tristan and Iseult.source
1226The Carmelite Order is approved by Pope Honorius III in the bull Ut vivendi normam.source
1227January 11 – The city of Požga in Croatia is first mentioned, in a charter of King Andrew II of Hungary.source
1227September 29 – Gregory IX excommunicates Frederick II, due to his broken promises and delay of the Sixth Crusade.source
1227October 10 – Frederick II recovering at Pozzuoli, receives a letter from Pope Gregory IX, announcing his ex-communication. Frederick is branded a wanton violator of his sacred oath taken many times, at Aachen, Ferentino, Veroli and San Germano. Meanwhile, the Crusader army fortifies Sidon Sea Castle and rebuilds Montfort Castle, northeast of Acre, as a new headquarter castle for the Teutonic Knights, who called it Starkenburg.source
1227Dōgen Zenji receives Dharma transmission and inka from his master Rujing in China, settling his "life's quest of the great matter", going on to introduce Sōtō Zen Buddhism into his native Japan.source
1228July 16 – Saint Francis of Assisi is canonized by Gregory IX.source
1228December 23 – Stephen of Anagni, Italian papal chaplain, is commissioned to collect a special tax in England, Ireland, Scotland and Wales to finance Gregory X's War of the Keys against Frederick II.source
1229January 23 – The episcopal seat is moved from Nousiainen to Koroinen (located near the current centre of Turku) by the permission of Pope Gregory IX. The date is starting to be considered as the founding of Turku.source
1229September 13 – Ögedei Khan, the third son of Genghis Khan is proclaimed "Great Khan" of the Mongol Empire, at a Kurultai council.source
1229Council of Toulouse: The Catholic Church permanently establishes the Inquisition, in the charge of the Dominican Order in Rome.source
1229Autumn – Frederick II recovers the lost Italian territories and tries to condemn the leading rebel barons, but avoids crossing the frontiers of the Papal States. Meanwhile, a first serious raid on Jerusalem is made by a mass of unorganized Beduins and plunderers of pilgrims. An advance guard encouraged the Christians to expel the Muslims.source
1230Pluscarden Priory is founded in Scotland; it will be revived to become an abbey in 1974.source
1230Frederick II bestows on the Teutonic Order a special privilege for the conquest of Prussia, including Chełmno Land, with papal sovereignty. He allows the Teutonic Knights to forcibly convert the Prussians to Christianity.source
1231April 13 – Pope Gregory IX issues Parens scientiarum. The bull assures the independence and self-governance of the University of Paris.source
1231Peter des Roches, Bishop of Winchester, negotiates a 3-year truce between England and France.source
1232May 30 – Anthony of Padua is canonized by Pope Gregory IX at Spoleto, less than a year after his death. He becomes the patron saint of lost items.source
1232October 29 – Gregory IX orders the Stedinger Crusade to be proclaimed in northern Germany.source
1232The Domus Conversorum ("House of the Converts"), a building and institution in London for Jewish converts to Christianity, is established by Henry III.source
1232The Almohad army besieges the city of Ceuta, where Abu Musa, rebellious brother of Caliph Idris al-Ma'mun, has received shelter and the support of the population. The Genoese rent a part of their fleet to the rebels, who successfully resist the forces of the caliph. The consequences of this revolt are threefold: the city becomes de facto independent from the Almohads, but its reliance on the Italian maritime powers increases, and the Trans-Saharan trade routes begin to shift eastward, due to the local turmoil.source
1233August 20 – Oath of Bereg: King Andrew II of Hungary vows to the Holy See that he will not employ Jews and Muslims to administer royal revenues, which causes diplomatic complaints and ecclesiastical censures.source
1233Pope Gregory IX establishes the Papal Inquisition, to regularize the persecution of heresy.source
1234July 3 – Saint Dominic is canonized by Pope Gregory IX.source
1234November – Pope Gregory IX proclaims war on the city of Rome after a local revolt forces him into exile. He issues the papal bull Rachel suum videns, calling for a new crusade to the Holy Land.source
1234Lund Cathedral in Sweden is heavily damaged in a catastrophic fire. Large donations are made to the church, to rebuild the cathedral.source
1235Elizabeth of Hungary (d. 1231) is canonized by Pope Gregory IX.source
1236January 14 – King Henry III marries the 14-year-old Eleanor of Provence, one of the four daughters of Raimond Berenguer, count of Provence. The ceremony takes place at Canterbury Cathedral, with Simon de Montfort, as Lord High Steward, takes care of the banquet and kitchen arrangements. Eleanor is crowned queen at Westminster Abbey shortly afterward.source
1236October 10 – Razia Sultana, daughter of Mamluk Sultan Shamsuddin Iltutmish, becomes the first female Muslim ruler of the Indian subcontinent, deposing her half-brother, Ruknuddin Firuz, as sultan of the Delhi Sultanate.source
1236A tournament at Tickhill turns into a battle between northerners and southerners, but peace is restored by papal legate Otto of Tonengo.source
1236Pope Gregory IX condemns the links that both the Knights Templer and Knights Hospitaller have with the Assassin fighters in the Middle East. He issues a bull (a formal papal proclamation) preventing further contact with the Assassins.source
1238January – Simon de Montfort marries the 23-year-old Eleanor, sister of King Henry III. While the marriage takes place with the king's approval, the act itself is performed secretly and without consulting the barons. Eleanor has previously been married to William Marshal and has sworn a vow of perpetual chastity upon his death, which she breaks by marrying Montfort. Archbishop Edmund of Abingdon condemns the marriage for this reason.source
1238The Nizari Imam Muhammad III and the Abbasid caliph Al-Mustansir send a joint diplomatic mission to the European kings Louis IX of France and Henry III of England to forge a Muslim–Christian alliance against the Mongols, but this is unsuccessful.source
1238Autumn – Muhammad I, Almohad ruler of the Emirate of Granada, begins the construction of the Alhambra Complex on the site of a pre-Islamic fortress.source
1239March 20 – Gregory IX renews the excommunication of Frederick II, Holy Roman Emperor, while he is at his court in Padua. Frederick responds by expelling the Franciscans and Dominicans from Lombardy.source
1239November – Pope Gregory IX grants the status of Crusade to King Ferdinand III of Castile ("the Saint"), who leads a successful campaign against the Almohads in Murcia.source
1240May 24 – Duke Skule Bårdsson, claimant to the Norwegian throne, is defeated by King Haakon IV ("the Old") and his supporters. He seeks refuge in Elgeseter Priory in Trondheim, and Haakon burns down the monastery, in which Skule is burned alive. Haakon becomes the undisputed ruler; this ends the civil war era in Norway, after 110 years.source
1240June 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.source
1240Pope Gregory IX authorizes a Crusade against Novgorod, hoping that the Kievan Rus' will be too preoccupied dealing with the raiding Mongols to the east to defend.source
1241Emperor Lizong of Song China accepts the Neo-Confucian teachings of the late Zhu Xi, including his commentary on the Four Books. This will have an impact upon the philosophical schools of surrounding countries as well, including Korea, Japan, and Vietnam.source
1242Siegfried III, archbishop of Mainz, conquers Wiesbaden (a free imperial city) and orders the city's destruction, during the war of Emperor Frederick II against the Papal States.source
1242William of Modena, Italian bishop and papal diplomat, sets up four dioceses in Poland, including the Archdiocese of Warmia.source
1243June 25 – Pope Innocent IV succeeds Celestine IV as the 180th pope of the Catholic Church, after a sede vacante of 7 months.source
1244June 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.source
1244December 27 – Innocent IV summons a general council to meet in Lyon (some 140 bishops eventually come) to attend what becomes later the First Council of Lyon.source
1245February 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.source
1245April 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.source
1245June 28 – First Council of Lyon: In a general church council held at Lyon, Innocent IV declares Emperor Frederick II excommunicated and deposed. He proclaims the Seventh Crusade.source
1245King Henry III starts the work of rebuilding Westminster Abbey, as a tribute to Edward the Confessor.source
1246May 22 – Henry Raspe is elected anti-king in Germany in opposition to Conrad IV of Germany and Conrad's father, the excommunicated emperor Frederick II.source
1246August 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.source
1246Katedralskolan in Uppsala is established beside Uppsala Cathedral as a seminary for the clergy (the founding year according to tradition).source
1246Beaulieu Abbey in England, founded earlier by King John, is dedicated in the presence of King Henry III, Queen Eleanor and 7-year-old Prince Edward.source
1246Robert Grosseteste translates Aristotle's Nicomachean Ethics from Greek into Latin, which marks the true start of the rediscovery of the philosopher by Medieval Europe.source
1247July 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.source
1248April 26 – The Gothic chapel Sainte-Chapelle (Holy Chapel) is completed and consecrated in Paris. Louis IX moves the relics of the True Cross and Holy Lance to the chapel with great ceremony.source
1248August 15 – The foundation stone of Cologne Cathedral is laid by Archbishop Konrad von Hochstaden, after the older cathedral is burned down on April 30 (construction is completed in 1880).source
1248August 25 – The Dutch city of Ommen receives city rights and fortification rights from Otto III, archbishop of Utrecht, after the town has been pillaged by a local robber baron.source
1248Pope Innocent IV grants the Croatians of southern Dalmatia permission to use their own language and script in the Roman Rite liturgy (see Glagolitic alphabet).source
1249February 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.source
1249November 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.source
1249Jean Mouflet makes an agreement with the abbot of Saint-Pierre-le-Vif in the Senonais region in France: in return for an annual payment, the monastery will recognize Jean as a "citizen of Sens". He is a leather merchant, with a leather shop that he leases for the rent of 50 shillings a year. The agreement is witnessed by Jean's wife, Douce, daughter of a wealthy and prominent citizen of Sens, Felis Charpentier.source
1250March 11 – Egyptian politician Bahaa el-Din bin Hanna appointed Vizier of Egypt as the last vizier in the Ayyubid Sultanate of Egypt.source
1250The Hafsid caliph al-Mustansir enforces laws of ghiyar, or differentiation for non-Muslims. As such, Jews have to wear a distinguishing badge (shikla) which Tunisian Jews will have to wear into the nineteenth century.source
1250The Sienese bankers belonging to the firm known as the Gran Tavola, under the steering of the Bonsignori Brothers, become the main financiers of the Papacy.source
1251The earliest known manuscript of The Proverbs of Alfred, a collection of sayings of England's Alfred the Great, is written.source
1251Mindaugas of Lithuania is baptized, in prelude to his crowning as King of Lithuania in 1253.source
1252May 15 – Pope Innocent IV issues the papal bull Ad exstirpanda, which authorizes the torture of heretics in the Medieval Inquisition. Torture quickly gains widespread usage across Catholic Europe.source
1252December 25 – Christopher I of Denmark is crowned King of Denmark, in the Lund Cathedral.source
1252The town and monastery of Orval Abbey in Belgium burn to the ground; rebuilding takes 100 years.source
1253April 28 – Nichiren, Japanese Buddhist monk, declares his intent to preach the Lotus Sutra and Namu Myōhō Renge Kyō as the true Buddhism, thus founding Nichiren Buddhism.source
1253October – Pope Innocent IV returns to Rome, after being deposed for 9 years by former Emperor Frederick II, whose clash forms an important chapter in the conflict between the Papal States and the Holy Roman Empire.source
1253Sligo Abbey, a Dominican monastery, is founded by Maurice FitzGerald, Norman chief governor of Ireland.source
1253Summer – The Kingdom of Galicia–Volhynia becomes a vassal state to the expanding Mongol Empire. Prince Daniel of Galicia is crowned king of Ruthenia (rex Russiae) and becomes officially an Orthodox subject of the Papal States.source
1253Matthew Paris, English Benedictine chronicler, completes the major part of his Chronica Majora, a chronicle of English history.source
1254March (possible date) – The existence and name of purgatory is acknowledged by the Catholic Church.source
1254November 1 – Edward marries Eleanor of Castile in the Cistercian monastery of Las Huelgas at Burgos.source
1254November 2 – German forces under Manfred start an anti-papal revolt against Innocent IV and seize Lucera in the Tavoliere Plains. He defeats the papal army at Foggia and gains the loyalty of Apulia, on December 2.source
1254Summer – The Lord Edward travels from Portsmouth with his mother, Queen Eleanor of Provence, and Boniface of Savoy, archbishop of Canterbury, to marry the 13-year-old Eleanor of Castile, the half-sister of King Alfonso X of Castile. Henry III has demanded the marriage in exchange for ending the war with Alfonso. In August, the party arrives in Burgos, capital of Castile, where the marriage is due to take place.source
1254The Danish city of Copenhagen receives its city charter from Bishop Jacob Erlandsen.source
1254The construction of the Cathedral of Saint Martin is initiated by Henry I van Vianden, bishop of Utrecht.source
1255Orlando Bonsignori, an Italian minor merchant, forms a consortium called the Gran Tavola ("Great Table"), which becomes the most powerful bank in western Europe. He becomes the exclusive banker for the deposits of the income of the Papal States.source
1255The Gothic cathedral at Bourges in central France, is completed (it will become a UNESCO World Heritage Site).source
1256May 4 – Pope Alexander IV issues the papal bull Licet ecclesiae catholicae, constituting the Order of Saint Augustine at Lecceto Monastery.source
1256August 25 – In Bologna, slavery and serfdom are abolished; this event is recorded in the document called Liber Paradisus (or Heaven Book).source
1256War of Saint Sabas: A dispute between Venice and Genoa arises about concerning land in Acre owned by Mar Saba but claimed by both Venice and Genoa – which leads to a Genoese attack of the monastery in the Venetian quarter. The Venetians are supported by Pisa and the Knights Templar, while the Genoese are joined by the Knights Hospitaller.source
1257January 13 – At the first recorded meeting of the college of the seven Electors of the Holy Roman Empire, the 48-year-old Richard of Cornwall (the brother of King Henry III of England) is elected King of the Romans. He is crowned at Aachen, on May 17. His candidacy is opposed by King Alfonso X of Castile ("the Wise"), Pope Alexander IV and King Louis IX of France ("the Saint") who favour Alfonso, but both are ultimately convinced by Richard's sister-in-law, Queen Eleanor of Provence, to support Richard.source
1257Matthew Paris, English monk and chronicler, personally interviews Henry III for an entire week while compiling his major work of English history, Chronica Majora.source
1258August 10 – Manfred, son of the late Emperor Frederick II, is crowned king of Sicily at Palermo. Pope Alexander IV, who has an alliance with the Saracens, declares the coronation void and excommunicates Manfred.source
1258September 29 – Consecration of the newly rebuilt Salisbury Cathedral in England.source
1258Kudahuvadhoo is converted to Islam.source
1260October 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).source
1260The advent of the Age of the Holy Spirit predicted by Joachim of Fiore, according to his interpretation of the Book of Revelation, chapter 6.source
1260The mosaic Christ between the Virgin and St Minias is made on the facade of Florence's Basilica di San Miniato al Monte.source
1260Construction begins on the Dunkeld Cathedral in Perthshire, Scotland.source
1260The newly formed Sukhothai Kingdom of Thailand adopts Theravada Buddhism.source
1260Nicola Pisano sculpts the pulpit in the Pisa Baptistery.source
1260Construction begins on the cathedrals at Meißen and Schwerin.source
1260The Duchy of Saxony is divided into Saxony-Lauenberg and Saxony-Wittenberg, marking the end of the first Saxon state.source
1260The Arba'a Rukun Mosque is completed in Mogadishu. The Arba'a Rukun Mosque (Arabic: أربع ركون), also known as Arba Rucun, is a mosque in the medieval district Shangani, Mogadishu, Somalia.source
1261June 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
1261July 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
1261August 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
1261Wurmsbach Abbey (located in Bollingen) is established by Count Rudolf V of Rapperswil in Switzerland.source
1262January 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).source
1262Al-Hakim I, a member of the Abbasid dynasty, travels to Egypt and is proclaimed as caliph of Cairo in succession to his former rival Al-Mustansir II. After his arrival, he is imprisoned at the Citadel of Cairo by orders of Sultan Baibars but released in 1296 by Sultan Lajin.source
1262King Mindaugas of Lithuania perhaps renounces Christianity, returning to the country's pagan roots, and reverting to Grand Duke.source
1263July 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.source
1263The Bonsignori firm gains the full market of the transfer of fiscal revenue from the papal estates to Rome.source
1263Probable date – The doctrines of Joachim of Fiore, French hermit and theologian, are condemned as heresy by the Catholic Church Synod of Arles.source
1264August 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.source
1264December 24 – The title Baron de Ros, the oldest held peerage title, is created by writ of summons during the reign of Henry III.source
1264Approximate date – Thomas Aquinas completes his theological work Summa contra Gentiles.source
1265February 5 – Pope Clement IV succeeds Pope Urban IV, as the 183rd pope.source
1265Correspondence from Pope Clement IV contains the first known mention of the ring of the Fisherman, an item of papal regalia then used to seal personal correspondence from the pope, and later for papal bulls.source
1265The Book of Aneirin, a Welsh manuscript of poetry, is penned.source
1268October 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
1268New 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
1268The 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
1269March – Ode de Pougy, French Abbess of Notre Dame aux Nonnains, and several associates who assist her, are excommunicated.source
1269June 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.source
1269Approximate date – Opizzo Fieschi, Latin patriarch of Antioch, is exiled, being displaced because of the East–West Schism of 1054.source
1270December – Crucial aspects of the philosophy of Averroism (itself based on Aristotle's works) are banned by the Roman Catholic Church, in a condemnation enacted by papal authority at the University of Paris.source
1270The Summa Theologica, a work by Thomas Aquinas that is considered within the Roman Catholic Church to be the paramount expression of its theology, is completed (year uncertain).source
1270The Sanskrit fables known as the Panchatantra, dating from as early as 200 BCE, are translated into Latin, from a Hebrew version by John of Capua.source
1270The cathedral on the Rock of Cashel in Ireland is completed.source
1270Edmund, 2nd Earl of Cornwall, donates to the Cistercian Hailes Abbey in England (his father's foundation) a phial held to contain the Blood of Christ, acquired in the Holy Roman Empire; this becomes such a magnet for pilgrimage that within 7 years the monks are able to rebuild their abbey on a magnificent scale.source
1271September 1 – Pope Gregory X succeeds the late Clement IV as the 184th pope of the Catholic Church, as the compromise candidate between French and Italian cardinals, ending a three-year conclave, the longest ever.source
1272November – Charles I orders his officials to take all Genoese prisoner within his territories, except for the Guelphs and to seize their property. The Sicilian fleet occupies Ajaccio on Corsica. Pope Gregory X condemns the aggressive policy of Charles and proposes that the Genoese elect Guelph officials.source
1273October 1 – Rudolf I is elected King of Germany over the rival candidate Ottokar II, king of Bohemia, ending the Great Interregnum. He is the first of many Habsburgs to hold the throne and is crowned in Aachen Cathedral, on October 24. Ottokar refuses to acknowledge Rudolf as the new ruler and is placed under the imperial ban, leading to the outbreak of war in 1276.source
1273October 6 – Thomas Aquinas, Italian priest and theologian, writes Summa Theologica, a master work of Catholic theology, leaving it unfinished, after having a mystical experience during Mass.source
1274August 2 – Edward I of England finally returns from the Holy Land to be crowned king of England on August 19 at Westminster Abbey two years after his father King Henry III's death.source
1274Gregory X obtains the region of Romagna from Rudolf I, in exchange for acknowledging him as Holy Roman Emperor. With this important acquisition, the Papal States become the second-largest power block in Italy after the Kingdom of Sicily.source
1274Pope Gregory X decrees that conclaves (gatherings of the College of Cardinals where the elections of a bishop of Rome are convened) should be used for papal elections, reforming the electoral process which had taken over 3 years to elect him.source
1274Bonvesin da la Riva, Italian poet, writes the didactic-allegoric poem Liber di Tre Scricciur ("Book of the Three Scriptures"). The text is in the Western Lombard language (similar to other Gallo-Italic languages). The poem is one of the first great literary works in Italy. It tells about Hell, the Passion of Jesus and Paradise; the plot later prefigures Dante Alighieri in his Divine Comedy (Divina Commedia).source
1275The 21-year-old Marco Polo together with his father and uncle, Niccolò and Maffeo Polo, arrives at Kublai Khan's opulent summer palace at Shangdu (or 'Xanadu'), after a 4-year journey. They present the "Great Khan" sacred oil from Jerusalem and letters from Pope Gregory X. Kublai takes Marco into his royal court and appoints him as a 'special envoy' (possibly as a tax collector).source
1276The foundation stone of the Minoritenkirche in Vienna is laid by Ottokar II.source
1277March 7 – Condemnation of 1277: Pope John XXI instructs Étienne Tempier, bishop of Paris, to investigate the complaints of theologians in France. By order 219 propositions of philosophical and theological doctrines such as Averroism are prohibited from discussion in the University of Paris, under a decree promulgated by Tempier.source
1277March 18 – Charles I, king of Sicily, buys the title to the Kingdom of Jerusalem from Maria of Antioch, for 1,000 bezants and an annual payment of 4,000 livres tournois.source
1277March – Siger of Brabant, Dutch teacher and philosopher, is condemned by the French Inquisition for his advocacy of the Averroist doctrine that reason is separate from Christian faith.source
1277April – John XXI sends a papal embassy to Constantinople to force Michael VIII Palaiologos, his 18-year-old son and heir Andronikos and Patriarch John XI Bekkos to reaffirm their allegiance to the Union of Lyon in the Palace of Blachernae. Michael refuses to accept a religious union of the Greek Orthodox Church with Rome.source
1278September 8 – Pere d'Urtx, Catalan bishop of Urgell, becomes the first Episcopal Co-Prince of Andorra, when he signs the paréage, establishing joint-sovereignty over the territory with Roger-Bernard III, count of Foix.source
1278Giles of Lessines writes his De usuris. He estimates that some credit contracts need not to be usurious, as "future things are not estimated to be of such value as those collected in the instant". The prevalence of this view in the usury debate allows for the development of the financial industry in Roman Catholic Europe.source
1278The earliest known written copy of the Avesta, a collection of ancient sacred Persian Zoroastrian texts previously passed down orally, is produced.source
1279October 12 – The Dai-Gohonzon, supreme object of veneration of Nichiren Shōshū Buddhism, is said to be inscribed by Nichiren Daishonin.source
1279November 15 – The first of the Statutes of Mortmain are passed during the reign of King Edward I ("Longshanks"), which prevents land from passing into the possession of the Church.source
1279November – Alfonso X ("the Wise") grants the cities of Medina-Sidonia and Alcalá de los Gazules to the Order of Saint Mary of Spain. He also donates the town of Morón de la Frontera to the Order of Alcántara.source
1279Abu Bakr al-Razi's (or Rhazes') medical writings are translated into Latin by Faraj ben Salim, some 350 years after al-Razi's death.source
1279The town of Haapsalu in Estonia is founded and later becomes the centre of the Bishopric of Ösel–Wiek.source
1279Abu Ishaq, uncle of the Hafsid caliph Abu Ishaq Ibrahim I, sides with the Almohad rebels of Béjaïa, and takes Tunis.source
1280The final expansion of Lincoln Cathedral in England is completed.source
1281February 22 – Frenchman Simon de Brion succeeds Nicholas III as Pope Martin IV, becoming the 189th pope of the Catholic Church.source
1281Kublai Khan orders the burning of sacred Taoist texts, resulting in the reduction in number of volumes of the Daozang (Taoist Canon) from 4,565 to 1,120.source
1282September 4 – Peter III of Aragon is proclaimed "King of Sicily". Charles is forced to flee across the Strait of Messina, and be content with the Kingdom of Naples (ruling a part of the Italian Peninsula with the Pope).source
1282John Peckham, archbishop of Canterbury, orders all the synagogues of London to close, and forbids Jewish doctors from practicing on non-Jews.source
1282Construction of Albi Cathedral in Languedoc begins.source
1283January 2 – Most of Dublin, including St. Patrick's Cathedral, is burned in a fire.source
1283June 28 – A parliament of England summoned by Edward I to assemble at Shrewsbury Abbey to decide the fate of the Welsh prince Dafydd ap Gruffydd (captured on June 22) is the first to include commoners.source
1283June – Qalawun ("the Victorious"), Mamluk ruler of Egypt, signs a peace treaty for 10 years with the Crusader States at Caesarea. It guarantees the Crusaders the possession of the territory from the Ladder of Tyre, north of Acre, to Mount Carmel and Atlit. But Tyre and Beirut are excluded. The right of free pilgrimage to Nazareth is permitted for the Christians.source
1284Aragonese Crusade: The first French armies under King Philip III ("the Bold") and his 14-year-old son Charles of Valois enter Roussillon. They include 16,000 cavalry, 17,000 crossbowmen, and 100,000 infantry, along with 100 ships in south French ports. Though they have the support of James II, ruler of Majorca, the local populace rises against them. Elne is valiantly defended by Aragonese troops, but the French occupy the city, and burn the cathedral, while the population is massacred.source
1284Peterhouse, oldest collegiate foundation of the University of Cambridge in England, is established by Bishop Hugh de Balsham.source
1284Construction of Beauvais Cathedral is interrupted by a partial collapse of the choir; the event unnerves French masons working in the Gothic style.source
1285January 6 – Archbishop Jakub Świnka organizes a synod in Łęczyca. During the meeting, he orders all priests who are subject to his bishopric to deliver their sermons in Polish rather than German. This further unifies the Catholic Church in Poland and fosters a national identity.source
1285The writ Circumspecte Agatis, issued by King Edward I (Longshanks), defines the jurisdictions of church and state, thereby limiting the church's judicial powers to ecclesiastical cases only.source
1285The Mor Bar Sauma Monastery, one of the most important monasteries of the Syriac Orthodox Church, is destroyed. Though a monastic community remains, the patriarchal seat is moved to Sis.source
1285Council of Blachernae: The Eastern Orthodox Church repudiates the Union with the Catholic Church, declared in the Second Council of Lyon.source
1285The English romantic poem The Lay of Havelok the Dane is written (approximate date).source
1286March 7 – The Catholicon, a religious Latin dictionary, is completed by John of Genoa.source
1287March 16 – Synod of Würzburg: A church council is held by Cardinal Giovanni Boccamazza and King Rudolf I at Würzburg. During the assembly, Giovanni announces the taxation of the clergy to finance the expedition of Rudolf (known as the Italienzug) to Rome and the imperial coronation.source
1287December – Parts of Norfolk are flooded, the port of Dunwich in Suffolk is further devastated, and in The Fens through the storm and the violence of the sea, the monastery of Spalding and many churches are overthrown and destroyed: "The whole country in the parts of Holland was, for the most part, turned into a standing pool so that an intolerable multitude of men, women and children were overwhelmed with the water, especially in the town of Boston, a great part thereof was destroyed."source
1287Construction of Uppsala Cathedral in Sweden begins (it lasts until 1435).source
1287The Altar of St. James in Pistoia Cathedral, Italy – a masterwork of the silversmithing trade containing nearly a ton of silver – is begun; it will not be completed for nearly 200 years.source
1288February 22 – Nicholas IV is elected as the successor of the late Honorius IV (see 1287) during a conclave in Rome and becomes the 191st pope of the Catholic Church.source
1288June 16 – Petrus, bishop of Västerås, buys 1/8 of the Stora Kopparberg copper mine in Falun, Sweden. During the reign of King Magnus Ladulås, nobles and foreign merchants from Lübeck take interests in the mining area.source
1288August 8 – Pope Nicholas IV proclaims a crusade against the 26-year-old King Ladislaus IV, who had lost credibility by favoring his semi-pagan Cuman subjects in Hungary, and in general refusing to conform to the social standards of Western Europe. Meanwhile, the Hungarian government loses more power because the clergy and most of the nobles rule the kingdom independently.source
1289Pope Nicholas IV formally constitutes the University of Montpellier in France by papal bull, combining various existing schools under the mantle of a single university.source
1290June – Genoa concludes a new commercial treaty with the Mamluks; five galleys sent by King James II of Aragon ("the Just") join the Venetian Crusader fleet (some 20 ships) on its way to Acre. On board the fleet are Italian urban militias and mercenary forces under Seneschal Jean I de Grailly, who have fought for the Papal States in the so-called Italian Crusades.source
1290July 10 – King Ladislaus IV of Hungary ("the Cuman") is assassinated at the castle of Körösszeg (modern Romania). He is succeeded by Andrew III ("the Venetian"), after an election by Hungarian nobles, who is crowned by Archbishop Lodomer as new ruler of Hungary and Croatia in Székesfehérvár on July 23.source
1290The Dnyaneshwari is written in India. This holy book is a commentary on the Bhagvad Gita and is narrated by Dnyaneshwar.source
1291In Japan the temple of Nanzen-ji at Kyoto is established by Emperor Kameyama. This temple becomes one of the most important religious schools within the Rinzai sect of Zen Buddhism and includes multiple sub-temples.source
1291Pope Nicholas IV confirms the independence of San Marino by papal bull.source
1292November – Michael II becomes Syriac Orthodox patriarch of Antioch (until 1312).source
1292Spring – The Taxatio Ecclesiastica, compiled in 1291–1292, is completed under the order of Pope Nicholas IV. It is a detailed database valuation for ecclesiastical taxation of English, Welsh and Irish churches.source
1292Mamluk forces under Sultan Al-Ashraf Khalil accompanied by his vizier Ibn al-Sal'us arrive in Damascus. Khalil travels via Aleppo to besiege the castle of Rumkale (Qal'at ar-Rum, "Castle of the Romans"), the official seat of Stephen IV, patriarch of Armenia. The Mamluks besiege the castle with more than 30 catapults and capture it after 30 days.source
1293January – Ignatius bar Wahib becomes Syriac Orthodox Patriarch of Mardin.source
1293Torkel Knutsson leads Sweden in beginning the Third Swedish Crusade, against unchristianized Finnish Karelia. In the same year, the construction of Vyborg Castle begins, by orders of Knutsson.source
1293The Ordinances of Justice are enacted in the Commune of Florence.source
1294July 5 – Following the Papal election, 1292–94, Pope Celestine V succeeds Nicholas IV, becoming the 192nd pope.source
1294December 24 – Pope Boniface VIII succeeds Pope Celestine V, becoming the 193rd pope, after Celestine V abdicates the papacy on December 13, only five months after reluctantly accepting his surprise election on July 5, wishing to return to his life as an ascetic hermit.source
1294Edward I of England and Philip the Fair of France declare war on each other. To finance this war, both kings lay taxes on the clergy. Pope Boniface VIII insists that kings gain papal consent for taxation of the clergy, and forbids churchmen to pay taxes.source
1294Strata Florida Abbey is rebuilt; it had been destroyed some years earlier, during King Edward I of England's conquest of Wales.source
1294Architect Arnolfo di Cambio designs Florence Cathedral (Cattedrale di Santa Maria del Fiore, better known simply as Il Duomo); he also begins work on the Basilica of Santa Croce, Florence.source
1295June 26 – Przemysł II is crowned king of Poland at Gniezno, the first coronation of a Polish ruler in 219 years. Przemysł travels to Pomerelia where he confirms the privileges of the monasteries in Oliwa and Żarnowiec. He also visits other major cities: Gdańsk, Tczew and Świecie. In August, Przemysł returns to Greater Poland but in October he travels again to Gdańsk.source
1296February 5 – Pope Boniface VIII issues the papal bull, Clericis laicos, stating that, without authority from the Holy See, Kings and other monarchs couldn't take income from the church. This bull was made in retaliation against King Philip IV raising taxes on the churchsource
1297May 3 – Stefano Colonna, Italian chief magistrate and papal official, captures the treasure of the tomb of Caecilia Metella near Rome, which is sent by the rival Caetani family to Pope Boniface VIII.source
1297July – In Scotland, a group of nobles forms a confederacy (organized by Robert Wishart, bishop of Glasgow), but are defeated by English troops at Irvine. An agreement of submission to Edward I of England is signed by the future Scottish king Robert the Bruce and other Scottish leaders.source
1298Ambrose, Augustine, Jerome and Pope Gregory I are named the first Doctors of the Church. They are known collectively as the Great Doctors of the Western Church.source
1298Pope Boniface VIII issues the decretal Periculoso, requiring all nuns to be in enclosed orders.source
1299June 27 – Pope Boniface VIII issues the papal bull "Scimus, Fili" condemning Edward I of England's invasion and occupation of Scotland.source