1260s
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The 1260s is the decade starting January 1, 1260 and ending December 31, 1269.

In the Mongol Empire, Kublai Khan became the supreme leader and moved his capital to Beijing; while he fought the southern Chinese Song Dynasty, the empire saw its first significant military defeats — first in Palestine at the hands of the Mamluks of Egypt, and later in the Caucasus. The Mamluks, led by their new sultan Baibars, quickly became a regional power in the Middle East by capturing a number of crusader states and repulsing Mongol attacks. The Empire of Nicaea succeeded in capturing Constantinople and the rest of the Latin Empire, thus re-establishing the Byzantine Empire.

In Europe, political strife and territorial disputes led to widespread warfare around the continent. England witnessed the Second Barons' War, a civil war fought over the aristocracy's disillusionment with King Henry III's attempts to maintain an absolute monarchy. The pope of the Catholic Church, aligned against the Hohenstaufen dynasty of the Holy Roman Emperor, succeeded in eliminating the line when the last male heir, Conradin, was killed by papal ally Charles I of Sicily, a Frenchman. Meanwhile, King Otakar II of Bohemia became the most powerful prince in Europe, expanding his territories through both warfare and inheritance. In other developments, both Iceland and Greenland accepted the overlordship of Norway, but Scotland was able to repulse a Norse invasion and broker a favorable peace settlement. In Spain, the Reconquista continued as several important cities were recaptured from the Moors. Political reforms were instituted in the election procedures of the pope and the doges of Venice, and the parliaments of Ireland and England met for the first time.

Several important cultural achievements were made in the decade, including publication of Roger Bacon's important scientific work Opus Majus and Thomas Aquinas' Summa contra Gentiles. Masterpieces of architecture and sculpture were completed at cathedrals around Europe, including the Cathedral of Chartres and Nicola Pisano's pulpits for the Duomo di Siena and Pisa's Baptistery. In religion, the Sukhothai kingdom in Thailand adopted Buddhism as its official religion. In Europe anti-Semitism intensified, as several authorities promulgated laws requiring Jews to wear identifying yellow badges, Jews were massacred in England, and the Talmud was attacked and censored by the Catholic Church.

War and politics

Europe

War and peace

North and West Europe

• 1260 - The Baltic Samogatians and Curonians defeat the Teutonic knights in the Battle of Durbe.
• 1263 - October - King Alexander III of Scotland defeats the Viking armada of King Haakon IV of Norway in the Battle of Largs.
• 1263 - The chieftains of the eastern part of Iceland become the last to pledge fealty to the Norwegian king, bringing a more complete end to the Icelandic Commonwealth and the Icelandic civil war.
• 1266 - The war between Scotland and Norway ends as King Alexander III of Scotland and King Magnus VI of Norway agree to the Treaty of Perth, which cedes the Western Isles and Isle of Man to Scotland in exchange for a large monetary payment.

Central and South Europe

• 1260 - September 4 - The forces of King Manfred of Sicily, in league with the Ghibellines, defeat the Guelphs at Monte Aperto.
• 1260 - War breaks out in the Valais (today in Switzerland) as the Bishopric of Sion defends against an invasion by the County of Savoy.
• 1261 - Byzantine Empire reemerges, Latin empire brought down
• 1263 - Genoa captures the city of Chania on Crete from the Venetians.
• 1264 - The Thuringian War of Succession ends.
• 1266 - February 26 - In the Battle of Benevento, an army led by Charles, Count of Anjou, defeats a combined German and Sicilian force led by King Manfred of Sicily. Manfred is killed in the battle and Pope Clement IV invests Charles as king of Sicily and Naples.

Iberian Peninsula

• 1263 - King James I of Aragon conquers Crevillente, Spain from the Moors during the Reconquista.
• 1264 - In Spain, King James I of Aragon reconquers the cities of Orihuela in Alicante and Elx in Valencia from the Moors, ending over 500 years of Islamic rule.
• 1265 - King Alfonso X of Castile captures the city of Alicante, Spain from the Moors during the Reconquista.
• 1267 - King Afonso III of Portugal and King Alfonso X of Castile sign a treaty determining the southern border between Portugal and Spain as the Guadiana River, a border that remains to this day.

Southeast Europe

• 1260 - King Otakar II of Bohemia captures Styria from King Bela IV of Hungary in the Battle of Kressenbrunn.
• 1261 - Bela IV of Hungary repels a Tatar invasion.
• 1268 - King Stephen V of Hungary launches a war against Bulgaria.

England: The Second Barons' War

• 1261 - King Henry III of England obtains a papal bull releasing him from the Provisions of Oxford, setting the stage for a civil war over the power struggle between the crown and the aristocracy of England.
• 1264 - Before May - Second Barons' War, an English civil war, begins.
• 1264 - May 12 to May 14 - The Battle of Lewes is fought between Simon de Montfort, 6th Earl of Leicester and King Henry III of England in Sussex. By the end of the battle, de Montfort's forces capture both King Henry and his brother, future King Edward I, making de Montfort the "uncrowned king of England".
• 1265 - January 20 - In Westminster, the first English parliament conducts its first meeting in the Palace of Westminster, now also known as the Houses of Parliament.
• 1265 - Before August - Future King Edward I escapes captivity in the hands of Simon de Montfort.
• 1265 - August 4 - The Battle of Evesham is fought in Worcestershire, with the army of Edward defeating the forces of rebellious barons led by Simon de Montfort and killing de Montfort and many of his allies. This is sometimes considered the death of chivalry in England.
• 1266 - October - The war winds down as supporters of the slain rebel leader Simon de Montfort make an offer of peace to the king in the Dictum of Kenilworth.
• 1267 - The Second Barons' War ends, as the rebels and King Henry III of England agree to peace terms as laid out in the Dictum of Kenilworth.

Political entities

• 1260 - The Duchy of Saxony is divided into Saxony-Lauenberg and Saxony-Wittenberg, marking the end of the first Saxon state.
• 1261 - The population of Greenland accepts the overlordship of the King of Norway.
• 1262 - Strasbourg becomes an Imperial Free City of the Holy Roman Empire.
• 1262 - The Icelandic Commonwealth enters into a treaty establishing a union with Norway and acknowledges Norwegian King Haakon IV as its ruler.
• 1264 - The state of Hesse gains its independence from Thuringia and becomes a free state of the Holy Roman Empire.
• 1265 - The Isle of Man comes under Scottish rule for a brief period of 10 years.
• 1267 - Emperor Baldwin II of Constantinople gifts the Principality of Achaea to King Charles I of Sicily in the Treaty of Viterbo in the hopes that Charles could help him restore the Latin Empire.
• 1268 - The county of Wernigerode become a vassal state of the margrave of Brandenburg.

Political reform

• 1264 - June 18 - The Parliament of Ireland meets at Castledermot in County Kildare, the first definitively known meeting of this Irish legislature.
• 1264 to 1267 - The civil war in England known as the Second Barons' War marks a high point of struggle for political power between the landed aristocracy of England and the King.
• 1268 - New election procedures for the election of the doge are established in Venice in order to reduce the influence of powerful individual families.
• 1268 - Pope Clement IV dies; the following papal election fails to choose a new pope for almost three years, precipitating the later creation of stringent rules governing the electoral procedures.

People

• 1262 - King Mindaugas of Lithuania renounces Christianity, returning to his pagan roots and reverting to Grand Duke of Lithuania.
• 1263 - Mindaugas, the first and only Christian king of Lithuania, is assassinated by his cousin Treniota.
• 1264 - In the Peerage of England, the title Baron de Ros, the oldest continuously held peerage title in England, is created by writ of summons.
• 1267 - King Henry III of England acknowledges Llywelyn ap Gruffudd's title of Prince of Wales in the Treaty of Montgomery.
• 1268 - 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 Catholic church.
• 1268 - The House of Bourbon first rises to prominence with the marriage of Robert, Count of Clermont to King Louis IX of France's daughter, Beatrice of Burgundy, heiress to the lordship of Bourbon.
• 1269 - King Otakar II of Bohemia inherits Carinthia and part of Carniola, making him the most powerful prince within the Holy Roman Empire.

Asia and Africa

Mongol Empire

• 1260 - May 5 - Kublai Khan becomes ruler of the Mongol Empire.
• 1260 - September 3 - The Mongols are defeated by the Mamluks at the Battle of Ain Jalut in Palestine, marking the first decisive defeat of the Mongols and the point of maximum expansion of the Mongol Empire.
• 1263 - Hulagu Khan is defeated in an attempted invasion of the Golden Horde, north of the Caucasus. This marks the beginning of the disintegration of the Mongol Empire.
• 1265 - Mongol raid against Thrace and Byzantium, led by Nogai Khan.
• 1266 - Niccolo and Maffeo Polo, brother and uncle of Marco Polo reach Kublai Khan's capital Khanbaliq (now Beijing) in China, setting the stage for Marco's famous expedition starting five years later. Kublai Khan sends the Polos back with a message requesting the pope dispatch western scholars to teach in the Mongol Empire; however, this request is largely ignored.
• 1268 - The Battle of Xiangyang, a six-year battle between the Chinese Song Dynasty and the Mongol forces of Kublai Khan, begins in what is today Hubei.
• 1268 - Kublai Khan sends an emissary to the Kamakura Shogunate of Japan demanding an acknowledgment of souzerainty and payment of tribute; the Japanese refuse, starting a diplomatic back-and-forth lasting until the Mongols attempt to invade in 1274.

Mamluk sultanate of Egypt

• 1260 - September 3 - The Mamluks defeat the Mongols at the Battle of Ain Jalut in Palestine.
• 1260 - October 24 - Saif ad-Din Qutuz, Mamluk sultan of Egypt, is assassinated by Baibars, who seizes power for himself.
• 1261 - Baibars establishes a puppet Caliphate in Cairo.
• 1266 - Baibars expands his domain, capturing the city of Byblos (in present-day Lebanon) and the important castle of Toron from crusader states, and defeating the Armenians at Cilicia.
• 1268 - May 18 - The Principality of Antioch, a crusader state, falls to Baibars after the Siege of Antioch; Baibars' destruction of the city of Antioch was so great as to permanently negate the city's importance.

Byzantine Empire

• 1261 - July 25 - The city of Constantinople is recaptured by Nicaean forces under the command of Michael VIII Palaeologus, thus re-establishing the Byzantine Empire. The Byzantines also succeed in capturing Thessalonica and the rest of the Latin Empire.

North Africa

• The Almohad dynasty of caliphs (not universally accepted) that once ruled most of North Africa and Al-Andalus (Moorish Spain) is extinguished when Idris II is murdered in the dynasty's last remaining possession, Marrakesh.
• The Berber Marinid completes the conquest of Morocco, replacing the Almohad dynasty which it defeated in Marrakesh.

South Asia

• 1260 - The Sena Dynasty of Bengal falls.
• 1260 - The Hindu Silharya Dynasty, which ruled an area around Mumbai, ends.
• 1267 - Malik ul Salih establishes Samudra Pasai, the first Muslim state in Indonesia.

Culture

Science, literature, and industry

• 1260 - Jacobus de Varagine compiles his work, the Golden Legend, a late medieval best-seller.
• 1265 - The Book of Aneirin, a Welsh manuscript of poetry, is penned.
• 1265 - The brewing of Budweiser Budvar beer begins in Bohemia (now part of the Czech Republic); Budweiser Budvar has been produced continuously there to this day.
• 1266 - In France, the gold écu and silver grosh coins are minted for the first time.
• 1267 - Roger Bacon completes his work Opus Majus and sends it to Pope Clement IV, who had requested it be written; the work contains wide-ranging discussion of mathematics, optics, alchemy, astronomy, astrology, and other topics, and includes what some believe to be the first description of a magnifying glass. Bacon also completes Opus Minus, a summary of Opus Majus, later in the same year.
• 1268 - In France, the use of hops as the exclusive flavoring agent used in the manufacture of beer is made compulsory.
• 1269 - Pélerin de Maricourt first describes magnetic poles and remarks on the nonexistence of isolated magnetic poles.

Art, architecture, and music

• 1260 - October 24 - The spectacular Cathedral of Chartres is dedicated in the presence of King Louis IX of France; the cathedral is now a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
• 1260 - Construction on the Dunkeld Cathedral begins in Perthshire, Scotland, as well as other important cathedrals in Meißen and Schwerin.
• 1260 - Nicola Pisano sculpts the pulpit of the Pisa Baptistery.
• 1260 - The mosaic Christ between the Virgin and St Minias is made on the facade of Florence's Basilica di San Miniato al Monte.
• 1260 - German musical theorist Franco of Cologne publishes Ars Cantus Mensurabilis, in which he advances a new theory of musical notation in which the length of a musical note is denoted by the shape of that note, a system still used today.
• 1262 - Adam de la Halle writes the first operetta, "Le Jeu de la Feuillee".
• 1263 - The Savoy Palace is constructed in London by Count Peter II of Savoy.
• 1267 - The "Grand Capital" is constructed in Khanbaliq (present-day Beijing by Kublai Khan, having moved the capital of the Mongol Empire there three years prior.
• 1268 - Nicola Pisano completes the famous octagonal Gothic-style pulpit at the Duomo di Siena.
• The construction of Blair Castle in Scotland is begun by John Comyn.

Cities and institutions

• 1262 - King Mengrai of the Lannathai kingdom in present day Thailand founds the city of Chiang Rai as the kingdom's first capital.
• 1263 - Balliol College, Oxford is founded by John I de Balliol.
• 1264 - Merton College is founded at the University of Oxford by Walter de Merton.
• 1264 - Kublai Khan, supreme leader of the Mongol Empire, moves the empire's capital from Karakorum in Mongolia to the Chinese city of Khanbaliq (now Beijing).
• 1265 - Fire destroys parts of Old Cairo.
• 1268 - An earthquake in Cilicia kills an estimated 60,000 people.

Religion

Christianity

• 1261 - January - Pope bans the movement of Flagellants.
• 1261 - August 29 - Urban IV becomes Pope, the last man to do so without being a Cardinal first.
• 1261 - Wurmsbach Abbey is established in Switzerland.
• 1262 - Richard of Chichester is canonized as a saint; he is best known for authoring the prayer later adapted into the song Day by Day in the musical Godspell.
• 1263 - The doctrines of theologian Joachim of Fiore are condemned as heresy by the Roman Catholic Church at a synod in Arles.
• 1264 - Thomas Aquinas completes his theological work Summa contra Gentiles.
• 1265 - Correspondence 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.
• 1268 - The carnival in Venice is first recorded.
• 1269 - The Eastern Orthodox Patriarchy of Antioch returns to Antioch after a 171-year exile, during which it had been replaced by the Latin Patriarch of Antioch.

Judaism

• 1263 - Nahmanides, chief rabbi of Catalonia, defends the Talmud in an important disputation against Pablo Christiani before King James I of Aragon.
• 1264 - April - Gilbert de Clare, 7th Earl of Hertford leads a massacre of the Jews at Canterbury.
• 1264 - King Boleslaus V of Poland promulgates legal protection for his Jewish subjects, including protection from the kidnapping and forcible baptism of Jewish children.
• 1264 - In Barcelona, a commission of Dominicans censors portions of the Talmud for the first time by ordering the cancellation of passages found reprehensible from a Christian point of view.
• 1267 - The leadership of Vienna forces Jews to wear Pileum cornutum,a cone-shaped head dress, in addition to the yellow badges Jews were already forced to wear.
• 1269 - June 19 - King Louis IX of France orders all Jews found in public without an identifying yellow badge to be fined ten livres of silver.

Buddhism

• 1260 - The newly formed Sukhothai kingdom of Thailand adopts Theravada Buddhism.

Births

• 1264 - Pope Clement V (d. 1314)
• 1265 - May 14 - Dante Alighieri, Italian poet (d. 1321)

Deaths

• 1263 - November 14 - Alexander Nevsky, Grand Prince of Novgorod and Vladimir
• 1264 - October 2 - Pope Urban IV
• 1265 - February 8 - Hulagu Khan, Mongol khan (b. 1217)
• 1265 - August 4 - Simon de Montfort, 6th Earl of Leicester
• 1266 - Berke, khan of the Golden Horde of the Mongol Empire
• 1266 - Birger Jarl, Swedish regent and founder of Stockholm
• 1268 - October 29 - Conradin, duke of Swabia and King of Jerusalem and Sicily (b. 1252)