1220s

Millennium:	2nd millennium
Centuries:	12th century – 13th century – 14th century
Decades:	1190s 1200s 1210s – 1220s – 1230s 1240s 1250s
Years:	1220 1221 1222 1223 1224 1225 1226 1227 1228 1229
Categories:	Births – Deaths – Architecture Establishments – Disestablishments

1220s: events by year

Contents: 1220 1221 1222 1223 1224 1225 1226 1227 1228 1229

1220

• May – St. Francis of Assisi resigns from the leadership of the Franciscan Order.
• August 8 – Battle of Lihula: The Estonians defeat the invading Swedes.
• November 22 – Frederick II is crowned Holy Roman Emperor by Pope Honorius III.
• The Mongols first invade the Abbasid Caliphate; Bukhara and Samarkand are taken.
• The Dominican Order is approved by Pope Honorius III.
• Conrad of Masovia drives out the heathen Prussians from a Masovian territory of Chelmno Land.
• Trial by ordeal is abolished in England.
• The German Hohenstaufen dynasty, which had ruled Sicily since 1194, adopts Palermo as its principal seat.
• Dordrecht receives city rights, making it the oldest city in the present-day Netherlands.
• Ljubljana receives its town rights.
• The Islamic lands of Central Asia are overrun by the armies of the Mongol invader Genghis Khan (ca. 1155–1227), who lays waste to many civilizations and creates an empire that stretches from China to the Caspian Sea. However, he fails to destroy the strength of Islam in Central Asia.
• The Thai Kingdom of Sukhothai is established.
• St Benedict of Nursia was Canonized by the Roman Catholic Church.
• Gothic architecture becomes increasingly popular in Europe.
• The rebuilding of the Cathedral of Chartres, which had been destroyed by a fire in 1194, is completed.
• Rebuilding of Amiens Cathedral begins.
• Rebuilding of York Minster begins.
• Building of the Salisbury Cathedral begins.
• Rebuilding of the city of London begins

1222

• April 17 – Stephen Langton, Archbishop of Canterbury, opens a council at Osney.
• May 11 – Cyprus earthquake.
• August – After the death of Johan Sverkersson on March 10, Erik Eriksson is elected new king of Sweden sometime between this time and July 1223.
• The Cistercian convent is completed in Alcobaça, Portugal.
• Eric XI becomes King of Sweden.
• Premysl Ottokar I reunites Bohemia and Moravia.
• John III Ducas Vatatzes becomes Byzantine Emperor (in the Empire of Nicaea).
• Alexander of Hales enters the Franciscan Order.
• The Manden Charter is proclaimed in Mali.
• The Golden Bull of 1222 is issued in Hungary.
• Royal Standard of Scotland adopted

1223

• March 25 – Sancho II is crowned King of Portugal
• May 31 – Battle of the Kalka River: The Mongol armies of Genghis Khan defeat the Russian warriors.
• August 6 – Louis VIII is crowned King of France.
• The Franciscan Rule is approved by Pope Honorius III.
• Failure of an attempt by the Sicilian fleet to reconquer Jerba.

By area

Americas

• The Chichimecas capture Tula, Hidalgo.

Europe

• The Livonian Brothers of the Sword conquer the Latgallians and the stronghold of Tartu from Ugaunian and Russian troops.
• The last Muslims inhabitants are expelled from Sicily and Malta.
• February – At Carrión he king of Castile, Ferdinand III announces his intention to resume his effort of reconquest against al-Andalus. That same year, the Almohad caliph, Yusuf II al-Mustansir dies. He is succeeded by Abu Muhammad al-Wahid, but in al-Andalus, two competing pretenders also claim their rights to the throne: Abu Muhammad Ibn al-Mansur al-Adil in Seville, and Abu Muhammad abu Abdallah al-Bayyasi in Cordoba. The chronic political instability on the Muslim side allow the Castillan prince to beginning his campaign victoriously with the capture of Quesada (October).

By topic

Education

• The University of Naples is founded.

Religion

• September 14 – St. Francis of Assisi, while praying on the mountain of Verna, during a 40-day fast, is said to have had a vision, as a result of which he received the stigmata (approximate date). Brother Leo, who had been with Francis at the time, left a clear and simple account of the event, the first definite account of the phenomenon of stigmata.

1225

• The Teutonic Order is expelled from Transylvania because they wanted to separate from Hungary.
• The Magna Carta is reissued for the third time.
• Iltutmish, the sultan of Delhi, repels a Mongol attack.

By area

Europe

• Frederick II calls the Imperial Diet of Cremona.
• November 8 – Louis IX of France starts to rule.
• The king Sancho II of Portugal launches a large offensive against the Muslims and takes the city of Elvas.
• The king of France, Louis VIII, launches a large southward offensive against the Albigensians and the count of Toulouse. The count of Provence, Ramon Berenguer IV, uses the opportunity to reassert his authority upon the autonomous municipalities of his estates (October). Most cities have to accept the authority of the count but Marseille and Nice rebel.

By topic

Arts and culture

• In Norway, Brother Robert writes Saga Af Tristram ok Ísodd, one of the rare fully surviving versions of the legend of Tristan and Iseult.
• The Carmelite Order is approved by Pope Honorius III.

1227

• January 11 – The city of Požega is first mentioned in a charter of Andrew II of Hungary.
• March 19 – Pope Gregory IX succeeds Pope Honorius III as the 178th pope.
• November 23 – Polish Prince Leszek I the White is assassinated at an assembly of Piast dukes at Gąsawa.
• Henry III of England declares himself of age and assumes power.
• According to Russian chronicles, Novgorod attacks Finland with devastating results.
• The Estonian ancient fight for independence ends with foreign rule in the country for next 700 years.
• Dogen introduces Zen Buddhism into Japan.

By area

Africa

• Abu Zakariya founds the Hafsid dynasty in Ifriqiyah (today's Tunisia).

Asia

• Sukaphaa, the first Ahom king, establishes his rule in Assam. The Ahom kings reign for close to 600 years.

Europe

• April 25 – Conrad IV of Germany becomes titular King of Jerusalem, with Frederick II, Holy Roman Emperor as regent.
• June 28 – The Sixth Crusade is launched from Brindisi by Emperor Frederick II, after delays due to sickness and an excommunication from Pope Gregory IX.
• Baldwin II becomes emperor of the Latin Empire in Constantinople, with John of Brienne as regent.
• The Transylvanian town of Reghin is first mentioned in a charter of Andrew II of Hungary.
• Spain: King James I of Aragon launches a major offensive against the Muslims in Majorca. The same year, in Murcia, confronted to increasing Christian pressure, the cadi (soon to be called emir), Ibn Hud al-Yamadi, denounces the Almohads and acknowledges the Abbasids as legitimate caliphs, in effect declaring independence. Other notable Christian success: Alfonso IX of Leon conquers Mérida.

By topic

Markets

• The city of Tournai emits its first recorded life annuity, thus confirming a trend of consolidation of public debts started ten years earlier in Rheims.
• First evidence of the use of the knights Templar as cashiers by the king of England to transfer safely important sums to the continent using letters of exchange. This shows that large transfers could take place across Europe even before the emergence of important networks of Italian merchant-bankers.

Religion

• July 16 – Saint Francis of Assisi is canonized by Pope Gregory IX.

1229

• February 18 – Sixth Crusade: Frederick II signs a ten-year truce with al-Kamil, regaining Jerusalem, Nazareth, and Bethlehem with neither military engagements nor support from the papacy.
• March 6 – The University of Paris strike of 1229 begins on Shrove Tuesday and lasts 2 years.
• March 18 – Sixth Crusade: Frederick II crowns himself King of Jerusalem.
• April 12 – The Treaty of Paris brings the Albigensian Crusade to an end.
• April 23 – Alfonso IX of León conquers Cáceres.
• September 12 – The Catalan-Aragonese army under the command of James I of Aragon disembarks at Santa Ponça, Majorca, with the purpose of conquering the island.
• November 28 or November 29 – Erik Eriksson is defeated in the Battle of Olustra and deposed as king of Sweden by Knut Långe, who proclaims himself new king of Sweden.
• Beverston Castle, Gloucestershire, England is founded.
• Following the deadlock tie in the election of the Venetian Doge, the number of electors is increased from 40 to 41 in order to prevent such future occurrences.
• The University of Toulouse is founded in France.
• The city of Turku, Finland is founded.
• The city of Rapperswil was established by Count Rudolf II of Rapperswil