Life In Good Measure

It is about people, history and your own place on the map

Data for 1230s

In the year 1230, Bulgarian tsar Ivan Asen II defeats the Emperor of Thessalonica, and quickly extends his control over most of Thrace, Macedonia, and Albania (Mar 9), (), the Teutonic Knights are invited into Prussia in order to forcibly convert the Prussians and Yatvags to Christianity, and the Sena Dynasty of Bengal falls. 1231 1232 1233 1234 1235 1236 1237 1238 1239 Individual post add here the link!!!!!!!!!!!!! In the year 1239, Pereyaslavl in Kievan Rus' is sacked by the Mongols (Mar), the Hungarian king Béla IV allows some 40,000 Cumans (pagan nomads fleeing the Mongols) to settle in Hungary after their leader has promised to convert to Christianity (autumn), a Crusader force under King Theobald I of Navarre arrives at Acre where plans are made to prepare an expedition against the Ayyubids in Egypt (Sep 1) the Kievan Rus' town Chernigov is attacked and pillaged by the Mongols (Oct 18), the Crusader army led by Henry of Bar is defeated by the Egyptians near Gaza (Nov 13) - and all these fine people were born: Continue reading

Data for 1239

The Crusader States around 1240-1241. Map credit: Ziegelbrenner In the year 1239, Pereyaslavl in Kievan Rus’ is sacked by the Mongols (Mar), the Hungarian king Béla IV allows some 40,000 Cumans (pagan nomads fleeing the Mongols) to settle in Hungary after their leader has promised to convert to Christianity (autumn), a Crusader force under King Theobald I of Navarre arrives at Acre where plans are made to prepare an expedition against the Ayyubids in Egypt (Sep 1) the Kievan Rus’ town Chernigov is attacked and pillaged by the Mongols (Oct 18), the Crusader army led by Henry of Bar is defeated by the Egyptians near Gaza (Nov 13) – and all these fine people were born: Continue reading

Data for the 1200s

Coat of Arms of the University of Paris After touring an army through Aquitaine in the Kingdom of France, to assert his right to it, King John of England marries 12-year-old Isabella of Angoulême at Bordeaux, probably in order to strengthen his hold of that part of France (Aug 24), the Iroquois tribe invade modern-day Ohio from the north, the University of Paris receives its charter, the Mongols defeat Northern China - and all these fine people were born (adding a few as we go along): Continue reading

Data for 1266

Outer Hebrides In the year 1266, the Moors yield Murcia to King James I of Aragon (Jan 31), peace settlement between Scotland and Norway results in the Outer Hebrides and Isle of Man being ceded to Scotland, and Scotland acknowledging Norwegian sovereignty over Shetland and Orkney (Jul 2), Niccolo and Maffeo Polo, father and uncle of Marco Polo, reach the Mongol capital Khanbaliq (modern-day Beijing], setting the stage for Marco’s famous expedition 5 years later, in the modern-day United States, a decades long period of drought begins in the Four Corners Region, putting an end to the ancient Puebloans Civilization - and all these fine people were born (as indicated by the xxxx after the year, none of the birthdates here are certain, but let’s go with this): Continue reading

Data for the 1260s

In the year 1260, Kublai Khan becomes a claimant to the Mongol Empire, after the death of Möngke Khan (May 5), the Cathedral of Chartres is dedicated in the presence of King Louis IX of France (Oct 24), Croatia is divided into two sub-regions by King Béla IV of Hungary, the Japanese Shōgen era ends, and the Bun’ō era begins, and the German musical theorist Franco of Cologne 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. Continue reading

Data for the 1280s

In the year 1280, troops of the Emirate of Granada defeat those of the Kingdom of Castile and Kingdom of León (Jun 23), King Magnus III of Sweden founds a Swedish nobility, by enacting a law accepting a contribution of a cavalry member in lieu of ordinary tax payments (Sep 27), the Ancestors of the Māori people from eastern Polynesia become the first human settlers of New Zealand - and all these fine people were born: Continue reading

Data for the 1250s

In the year 1250, Erik Eriksson dies (Feb 2) and Birger Jarl’s eldest son Valdemar I becomes the new king of Sweden (Feb), King Louis IX of France is released by his Egyptian captors after paying a large ransom and turning over the port city Damietta (Apr 30), the Rialto Bridge in Venice is converted from a pontoon bridge to a permanent, raised wooden structure, the German scientist Albertus Magnus isolates the element arsenic as the 8th discovered metal - and all these fine people were born: Continue reading

Data for 1274

A version of the Yellow badge. The 1274 edict in England required Jews to wear a yellow badge shaped like the Ten Commandments. In the year 1274, nine-year-old Dante Alighieri first sees the 8-year-old Beatrice, his lifelong muse, in Florence (May 1), Pope Gregory X convenes the Second Council of Lyon where a settlement between the Catholic and the Orthodox Church is agreed over several key issues (May 7), prince Edward returns from the Ninth Crusade, to be crowned king EdWard I of England (Aug 2), and one of his first acts is to require all Jews to wear yellow badges (Aug 22), Kublai Khan attempts to invade Japan (Nov 4), but much of the fleet is dashed on the rocks and destroyed by a great typhoon that the Japanese call kamikaze (Nov 19) - and all these fine people were born: Continue reading

Data for 1255

Bourges Cathedral, completed in 1255 In the year 1255, Guelph forces under Thomas II of Savoy invade the Ghibelline territory of Asti in Northern Italy, but is defeated by the Astigiani army led by William VII at Garzigliana (Feb 25), Llywelyn ap Gruffudd becomes the sole ruler of northern Wales (Jun), (), the Teutonic Knights in Prussia found Königsberg (modern-day Kaliningrad) and name it in honour of King Ottokar II of Bohemia, the Gothic cathedral at Bourges (a future Unesco World Heritage Site) in central France is completed, and all these fine people were born: Continue reading

Data for 1227

The Amida Buddha Statue in Kamakura. Sōtō Zen is the largest of the three traditional sects of Zen in Japanese Buddhism. In the year 1227, the Livonian Brothers of the Sword conquer Danish Estonia, and Reval is given town rights under Riga law (Jan), King Valdemar II of Denmark is defeated in the Battle in Bornhöved, whereby the Danish border with the Holy Roman Empire is moved to the Eider River, in effect until 1806 (Jul 22), Genghis Khan dies in Western Xia (Aug 18), Grand Prince Yaroslav II leads a devastating attack from the Novgorod Republic on Baltic Finnic peoples called “Yem” (Häme in modern Finnish) in eastern Fennoscandia, the Japanese priest Dōgen Zenji leaves China, and goes on to introduce Sōtō Zen Buddhism into his native Japan - and all these fine people were born: Continue reading

Data for 1282

In the year 1282, the attack of Dafydd ap Gruffydd at an English castle, later supported by his brother, leads to the final English conquest of Wales (Mar), the Sicilian Vespers begins against the rule of Angevin King Charles I of Sicily (Mar 30), Peter III of Aragon becomes King of Sicily (Sep 4), the technology of watermarks is introduced by paper manufacturers of Bologna, Archbishop of Canterbury orders all the synagogues of London to close, and forbids Jewish doctors from practicing on non-Jews - and all these fine people were born: Continue reading

Data for 1279

Haapsalu in Estonia In the year 1279, Kublai Khan becomes the emperor of all China, the Mongol Empire reaching its largest extent (Mar 19), a meeting in Alsnö in Sweden decrees that anyone with horse and rider is exempted from taxation, and that farmers must offer accomodation to higher-ups (Aug 23 ), the Royal Mint of England moves into the Tower of London, and the town of Haapsalu, Estonia is founded - and all these fine people were born: Continue reading

Data for the 1270s

Rock of Cashel (Carraig Phádraig) in County Tipperary, Ireland In the year 1270, King Louis IX of France launches the Eighth Crusade, in an attempt to recapture the Crusader States from the Mamluk sultan Baibars (summer), Yekuno Amlak claims the imperial throne and establishes the Solomonic Dynasty in Ethiopia, lasting until 1974 (Aug 10), King Louis IX dies while besieging the city of Tunis (Aug 25), the cathedral on the Rock of Cashel in Ireland is completed, and a census of the Chinese city of Hangzhou establishes it as the most populous city in the world. Continue reading

Data for 1209

In the year 1209, settlers from Bristol celebrating Easter Monday are massacred in Dublin by warriors of the Irish O’Byrne clan (Apr), the University of Cambridge is founded, the London Bridge is completed by a stone-arched structure and with houses on it to pay for part of the maintenance, the Franciscan order of the Roman Catholic Church is founded by the Italian priest Francis of Assisi - and all these fine people were born: Continue reading

Data for the 1290s

In the year 1290, King Edward I of England orders all Jews to leave England by November 1 (in the Hebrew calendar this is Tisha B’Av, a day that commemorates many calamities) (Jul 18), the country of Wallachia is founded (Aug 1), King Denis of Portugal decrees that Portuguese will replace classical Latin as the official language of Portugal, construction on the Akershus Fortress of Oslo, Norway begins - and all these fine people were born: Continue reading

Data for 1299

All territories once possessed by the Ottoman Empire In the year 1299, Alauddin Khalji, sultan of Delhi, sends his generals to conquer Gujarat (Feb 24), the Scots take Stirling Castle from the English (Apr), the Ottoman Empire - lasting till 1922 - is founded by Osman I (Jul 27), Marco Polo is released from captivity by the Genoans (Aug) and becomes a wealthy mechant in Venice, Håkon V Magnusson becomes king of Norway (Nov 1), the city of Florence bans the use of Arabic numerals for commerce, allowing only Roman numerals - and all these fine people were born: Continue reading

Data for 1248

Cologne Cathedral in Cologne (Köln), Germany In the year 1248, the Gothic chapel Sainte-Chapelle is consecrated in Paris, France (Apr 26), the foundation stone of Cologne Cathedral is laid, with construction completed 632 years later in 1880! (Aug 15), Roger Bacon publishes the formula for black powder in Europe, Muslims are expelled from the Crown of Aragon, King Louis IX of France launches the Seventh Crusade, toward Egypt - and all these fine people were born: Continue reading

Data for 1219

In the year 1219, Danish crusaders conquer Tallinn, and what is to become **the flag of Denmark **(Dannebrog) allegedly falls from the sky during that battle (Jun 15), Damietta in Egypt falls to the crusaders during the Fifth crusade (Nov 5), the Egyptian city of Al Mansurah is founded, Genghis Khan summons Qiu Chuji to visit him, to advise him on the medicine of immortality (the Philosopher’s Stone) - and all these fine people were born: Continue reading

Data for 1240s

Novgorod Republic (1136–1478) with Ladoga in the west In the year 1240, Russian prince Alexander Nevsky defeats the Swedes on the Neva river, securing Novgorod the all-important access from Lake Ladoga to the Baltic Sea (Jul 15), the Mongol ruler Batu Khan and his troops sack the Ruthenian city of Kiev (Dec 6), the civil war era in Norway ends - and all these fine people were born: 1240-xxxx Magnus III of Sweden* King of Sweden/son of Birger Jarl - (1290/c. Continue reading

Data for the 1210s

Tristan and Isolde, a painting by Edmund Blair Leighton In the year 1210, King Eric X of Sweden is crowned, which is the first known coronation of a Swedish king (Nov 21), Genghis Khan' sons Jochi leads a Mongol campaign against the Kyrgyz, Gottfried von Strassburg writes his epic poem Tristan - and all these fine people were born: 1210-0505 Afonso III of Portugal* son of King Afonso II of Portugal - Coimbra, Kingdom of Portugal (1279/68) Continue reading