Directory

1228 CE

The 16-year-old Isabella II, Holy Roman Empress and wife of Frederick II, dies after giving birth to her second child, Conrad IV, at Andria. He receives the title King of Jerusalem (as Conrad II) – with Frederick as regent. By his father, Conrad is the grandson of the Hohenstaufen Emperor Henry VI and great-grandson of the late Emperor Frederick I (Barbarossa). Stephen of Anagni, Italian papal chaplain, is commissioned to collect a special tax in England, Ireland, Scotland and Wales to finance Gregory X's War of the Keys against Frederick II. Battle of Bolnisi: Khwarazmian forces led by Sultan Jalal al-Din Mangburni defeat a coalition of Georgians, Kipchaks, Alans, Vainakhs and Laks (some 40,000 men) at Bolnisi (modern Georgia).

Geopolitics & Diplomacy

  • King James I (the Conqueror) launches a major offensive against the Almohads in Majorca. At the same moment, Emir Ibn Hud al-Yamadi (confronted by increasing Christian pressure) denounces Almohad rule in Murcia (modern Spain) and acknowledges the Abbasid Caliphate as legitimate overlord, in effect declaring independence. Other notable Christian success: King Alfonso IX of León conquers Mérida.source

Conflict & Security

  • November – Frederick II puts pressure on the negotiations by a military display. He assembles his Crusader army and marches down the coast to Jaffa – which he proceeds to refortify. At the same moment, Ayyubid forces under An-Nasir Dawud, who are not participating in the revolt at Damascus, move to Nablus, to intercept Al-Kamil's supply lines. Al-Kamil breaks off the negotiations, saying that the Crusaders have pillaged several Muslim villages, and only resumes them again when Frederick pays out compensation to the victims.source
  • King Sukaphaa establishes the Ahom Dynasty and becomes the first Ahom ruler in Assam (until 1268).source
  • Autumn – Frederick II receives an embassy of Egypt's Sultan Al-Kamil, including Fakhr al-Din ibn as-Shaikh, at the Hospitaller camp at Recordane, near Acre. Meanwhile, Al-Kamil is engaged in suppressing a rebellion in Syria and has concentrated his forces on a siege at Damascus. Frederick is pressed for time, because his army is not large enough for a major campaign. Al-Kamil, who has full control of Jerusalem, starts diplomatic negotiations.source
  • Battle of Bolnisi: Khwarazmian forces led by Sultan Jalal al-Din Mangburni defeat a coalition of Georgians, Kipchaks, Alans, Vainakhs and Laks (some 40,000 men) at Bolnisi (modern Georgia).source

Exploration & Expansion

  • The first evidence is uncovered of the use of the Knights Templar as cashiers by King Henry III of England, to safely transfer 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.source
  • The Transylvanian town of Reghin is first mentioned, in a charter of King Andrew II of Hungary.source

Religion & Belief

  • July 16 – Saint Francis of Assisi is canonized by Gregory IX.source
  • December 23 – Stephen of Anagni, Italian papal chaplain, is commissioned to collect a special tax in England, Ireland, Scotland and Wales to finance Gregory X's War of the Keys against Frederick II.source

Culture & Society

  • The city of Tournai emits its first recorded life annuity, thus confirming a trend of consolidation of public debts started ten years earlier, in Reims.source

Births

  • April 25 – Conrad IV (or Conrad II), king of Germany (d. 1254)source
  • Takatsukasa Kanehira, Japanese nobleman (kugyō) (d. 1294)source
  • Shihab al-Din al-Qarafi, Egyptian scholar and jurist (d. 1285)source
  • Wang Yun, Chinese politician, poet and writer (d. 1304)source
  • Ibn Daqiq al-'Id, Egyptian scholar, jurist and writer (d. 1302)source
  • Bartolo da San Gimignano, Italian Franciscan priest (d. 1300)source
  • Alfonso of Brienne, Norman nobleman and knight (d. 1270)source
  • Eleanor de Braose, Cambro-Norman noblewoman (d. 1251)source

Deaths

  • January 13 – Yvette of Huy, Belgian anchoress (b. 1158)source
  • January 31 – Guy de Montfort, French nobleman and knightsource
  • February 17 – Henry I, German nobleman and knight (b. 1155)source
  • February 18 – Vladislaus II, margrave of Moravia (b. 1207)source
  • April 25 – The 16-year-old Isabella II, Holy Roman Empress and wife of Frederick II, dies after giving birth to her second child, Conrad IV, at Andria. He receives the title King of Jerusalem (as Conrad II) – with Frederick as regent. By his father, Conrad is the grandson of the Hohenstaufen Emperor Henry VI and great-grandson of the late Emperor Frederick I (Barbarossa).source
  • April 25 – Isabella II, queen and regent of Jerusalem (b. 1212)source
  • June 18 – Mathilde of Bourbon, French noblewoman (b. 1165)source
  • August 8 – Rujing, Japanese Sōtō Zen patriarch (b. 1163)source
  • September 24 – Stefan the First-Crowned, king of Serbiasource
  • October 15 – Shichijō-in, Japanese noblewoman (b. 1157)source
  • October 31 – Eustace of Fauconberg, bishop of Londonsource
  • December 4 – Bruno von Porstendorf, bishop of Meissensource
  • December 8 – Geoffrey de Burgh, bishop of Ely (b. 1180)source
  • Emperor Robert I (or Courtenay) dies after a 7-year reign in Morea (Southern Greece). He is succeeded by his 11-year-old brother, Baldwin II, as ruler of the Latin Empire in Constantinople, with John of Brienne as regent.source