January 31 –
Battle of Rusion: The Bulgarian forces (some 7,000 men), under Tsar
Kaloyan, defeat the remnants of the Latin army, near the fortress of
Rusion in
Thrace. Around 120 knights, supported by soldiers and cavalry, are killed in battle or captured.
February – The Bulgarians attack and loot the fortified town of
Rodosto (see
Battle of Rodosto), defended by a Venetian garrison. Later, Kaloyan captures many more towns and fortresses.[1]
Temüjin assembles at a Kurultai, a council of Mongol chiefs, the 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.[3]
Muqali (or Mukhali), a Mongol general in service of Genghis Khan, is rewarded with the command of the left-wing of the newly reorganized Mongol army and takes control over the eastern
Mingghans.[4]
King
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.
June – King
John (Lackland) lands an expeditionary army at
La Rochelle to defend his interests in
Aquitaine, which is his from the inheritance from his mother, Queen
Eleanor of Aquitaine. Meanwhile, French forces led by King
Philip II (Augustus) move south to meet John. The year's campaign ends in a stalemate and a two-year truce is made between the two rulers.[6]
A
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.[8]
December – The monks of
Canterbury want their own sub-prior
Reginald for the post of archbishop, while John (Lackland) chooses
John de Gray. Pope
Innocent III appoints
Stephen Langton. Finally, the monks accept the Pope's decision and vote for Langton.
Technic
The Arab engineer
Ismail al-Jazari describes many mechanical inventions in his book (title translated to English) The Book of Knowledge of Ingenious Mechanical Devices.
^Setton, Kenneth M. (1989). A History of the Crusades, Volume VI: The Impact of the Crusades on Europe, p. 436. Madison and London: University of Wisconsin Press.
ISBN0-299-10740-X.
^Nicol, Donald M. (2002). The Last Centuries of Byzantium (1261–1453), p. 12. Cambridge University Press.
^Andrew Roberts (2011). Great Commanders of the Medieval World (454–1582): Genghis Khan, p. 146–147.
ISBN978-0-85738-589-5.
^Hope, Michael (2016). Power, Politics, and Tradition in the Mongol Empire and the Īlkhānate of Iran, p. 36. Oxford University Press.
ISBN978-0-19108-107-1.
^Hywel Williams (2005). Cassell's Chronology of World History, p. 133.
ISBN0-304-35730-8.
^Turner, Ralph V. (2009). King John: England's Evil King?, pp. 107–108. Stroud, UK: History Press.
ISBN978-0-7524-4850-3.
^King John by Warren. Published by University of California Press in 1961. p. 139
^King John by Warren. Published by University of California Press in 1961. p. 11
^Almási, Tibor (1994). "IV. Béla; Gertrúd". In Kristó, Gyula; Engel, Pál; Makk, Ferenc (eds.). Korai magyar történeti lexikon (9–14. század) [Encyclopedia of the Early Hungarian History (9th–14th centuries)] (in Hungarian). Akadémiai Kiadó. pp. 92–93, 234.
ISBN963-05-6722-9.
^a et b Ibn Khaldoun, Histoire des Berbères et des dynasties musulmanes de l'Afrique septentrionale, traduction du baron de Slane (tome III), Ed. Imprimerie du Gouvernement (Alger), 1856
(read online)
^Wilkinson, Louise J. (2000) "Pawn and Political Player: Observations on the Life of a Thirteenth-Century Countess" Historical Research Vol. 73 No. 181, pp. 105-123.
^Conradus Eubel (1913).
Hierarchia catholica (in Latin). Vol. Tomus 1 (second ed.). Münster: Libreria Regensbergiana. p. 35.
^Paul Burns; Alban Butler (1995). Butler's Lives of the Saints. Burns & Oates. p. 47.
ISBN9780860122593.
^William P. L. Thomson (1987). History of Orkney. Mercat Press. p. 77.
ISBN9780901824820.
^B. Smith, "Burgh, Richard de (died 1243)". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography. online edition, Oxford University Press, (2004), [author states, "Burgh, Richard de (d. 1243), justiciar of Ireland, was the son of William de Burgh (d. 1206)".].