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1248
a few interesting things here:
August 15 – The foundation stone of the Cologne cathedral is laid after an older cathedral on the site burns down on April 30. Construction is completed 632 years later, in 1880!
Our king Louis IX of France launches his Seventh Crusade, and marches unto Egypt with an army of 20,000.
Construction on the Alhambra palace, in Granada, Spain, is begun by the Moors. (wonderful place, albeit a little spoiled by the re-designed 1930s gardens. Still, the Generalife is the most enchanting place I have ever seen...)
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1247 - Shams ad-Din disappears, resulting in Jalal Uddin Rumi writing 30,000 verses of poetry about his disappearance.
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1246
The papal emissionary Johannes de Plano Carpini becomes one of the first europeans to be granted audience with the Mongol Kahn in the capital Karakorum.
The Mexicans settle Chapultepec, a former Toltec stronghold.
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1245
The rebuilding of Westminster Abbey is started.
King Philip 111 of France is born.
The First Council of Lyon takes place.
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1244
In the siege and subsequent fall of Jerusalem the Khwarezmians completely razed the city, leaving it in ruins, utterly useless to Christians and Muslims alike. This event sparked The Seventh Crusade under Louis IX of France.
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1243
Castile captures the city of Murcia from the Moors.
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1242
Europe seemed destined for disaster as Batu, grandson of Ghengis Kahn was all set to pillage the continent, but the threat never materialized: In early 1242, word reached Batu of the death of his father, Ogedai Khan late in the previous year. Tradition demanded that a successor be chosen, and Batu was forced to return to the capital in Krakorum, pulling out of Europe. Christendom may owe its existence today to the death of an Asian war chief back in 1241.
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1241
The Mongol invasion of Europe continues. Poland and Hungary suffer heavy losses but the mongol leader, Ogedei Khan, dies
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1240
Jul 15th - A Novgorodian army led by Alexander Nevsky defeats the Swedes in the Battle of the Neva.
Dec 6th - Mongols under Batu Khan occupy & destroy Kiev
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1239
Ziyanid dynasty takes control from the Almohads in Algeria.
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1238
The mongols under Batu Khan invade and defeat the Rus' under Yuri Vsevolodovich of Vladimir-Suzdal. Later in the year they seize Moscow, a small town at the time .
Mohammed I ibn Nasr, begins the Alhambra complex on the site of a pre-Islamic fortress.
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1237
England and Scotland sign the Treaty of York, establishing the location of their common border.
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1236
Córdoba is retaken by the Christians, and becomes a a rallying point against the remaining Islamic population.
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1235
A general inquisition begins in France.
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1234 - Pope Gregory IX calls for a crusade against Bosnia
