Directory

1258 CE

Hulagu Khan enters Baghdad, where many quarters of the city are ruined by fire. The House of Wisdom (or Great Library) is destroyed, numerous precious book collections are thrown into the Tigris River. Before the siege, about 400,000 manuscripts are rescued by Nasir al-Din al-Tusi, Persian polymath and theologian, who takes them to Maragheh observatory (located in East Azerbaijan Province). The sack of Baghdad brings an end to the Abbasid Caliphate (750–1258) and the Islamic Golden Age. Many professors, physicians, scientists, clerics, artists and lecturers are also massacred. Treaty of Corbeil: King Louis IX of France ("the Saint") signs a peace treaty with King James I of Aragon ("the Conqueror"). Louis, heir of Charlemagne, formally renounces his feudal overlordship over Catalonia (independent de facto since 988), while James renounces his claims over Occitania. Theodore II Laskaris dies after a 4-year reign at Magnesia. He is succeeded by his 7-year-old son, John IV, as ruler of the Empire of Nicaea. His regent becomes the bureaucrat George Mouzalon.

Geopolitics & Diplomacy

  • May 2 – King Henry III of England accepts the demand of Simon de Montfort and his baronial supporters that the government is reformed with a committee of 22 barons, including the king. As an act of faith, Simon de Montfort hands over his estates at Odiham and Kenilworth as part of the proposals. The Provisions of Oxford establish baronial control of the government, also known as the Oxford Parliament, on June 11.source
  • May 11 – Treaty of Corbeil: King Louis IX of France ("the Saint") signs a peace treaty with King James I of Aragon ("the Conqueror"). Louis, heir of Charlemagne, formally renounces his feudal overlordship over Catalonia (independent de facto since 988), while James renounces his claims over Occitania.source
  • Gissur Þorvaldsson, Icelandic chieftain (or goði), is made Earl of Iceland for his loyal service to King Haakon IV of Norway ("the Old").source
  • Llywelyn ap Gruffudd proclaims himself Prince of Wales, first used in an agreement between Llywelyn and his supporters and the Scottish nobility. He becomes the final ruler of an independent Wales before the conquest of Wales by Edward I of England.source

Conflict & Security

  • June 25 – Battle of Acre: The Genoese send an armada (some 50 galleys) to relieve the blockade at Acre and ask for the assistance of Philip of Montfort, lord of Tyre, and the Knights Hospitaller for a combined attack from the land side. The Genoese fleet's arrival takes the Venetians by surprise but the superior experience and seamanship result in a crushing Venetian victory, with half the Genoese ships lost. Later, the Genoese garrison is forced to abandon Acre.source
  • June – War of the Euboeote Succession: Achaean forces under William II Villehardouin defeat a coalition of Greek princes led by Guy I de la Roche ("Great Lord"), duke of Athens, which ends the conflict, on August 6.source
  • August 25 – George Mouzalon is assassinated in Magnesia ad Sipylum, as part of a conspiracy led by Byzantine nobles, under future Emperor Michael VIII Palaiologos.source
  • Civil unrest in northern Italy spawns the medieval musical form of Geisslerlieder, penitential songs sung by wandering bands of Flagellants.source
  • Mongol invasions of Vietnam: Mongol forces (some 30,000 men) under Uriyangkhadai, son of Subutai, invade Vietnam. After many battles, the Vietnam army is routed and defeated. The senior leaders are able to escape on prepared boats, while the remnants are destroyed on the banks of the Red River. The Mongols occupy the capital city, Thăng Long (modern-day Hanoi), and massacres the city's inhabitants, by the end of January.source

Religion & Belief

  • August 10 – Manfred, son of the late Emperor Frederick II, is crowned king of Sicily at Palermo. Pope Alexander IV, who has an alliance with the Saracens, declares the coronation void and excommunicates Manfred.source
  • September 29 – Consecration of the newly rebuilt Salisbury Cathedral in England.source
  • Kudahuvadhoo is converted to Islam.source

Economy & Finance

  • The Republic of Genoa starts imposing forced loans, known as luoghi, onto its taxpayers; they are a common resource of medieval public finance.source

Crime & Justice

  • Irish, assisted by Scottish gallowglasses, halt the English advance westward through Ireland.source

Disasters & Accidents

  • February 15 – Hulagu Khan enters Baghdad, where many quarters of the city are ruined by fire. The House of Wisdom (or Great Library) is destroyed, numerous precious book collections are thrown into the Tigris River. Before the siege, about 400,000 manuscripts are rescued by Nasir al-Din al-Tusi, Persian polymath and theologian, who takes them to Maragheh observatory (located in East Azerbaijan Province). The sack of Baghdad brings an end to the Abbasid Caliphate (750–1258) and the Islamic Golden Age. Many professors, physicians, scientists, clerics, artists and lecturers are also massacred.source

Climate & Environment

  • The consequences of the volcanic 1257 Samalas eruption in Indonesia include the following anecdotal accounts: very dry fog in France; lunar eclipses in England; severe winter in Europe; a harsh spring in Iceland; famine in England, Germany, France and Italy; and pestilence in London, parts of France, Austria, Iraq, Syria, and southeast Turkey.source

Births

  • March 8 – Arghun Khan, Mongol ruler of the Ilkhanate (d. 1291)source
  • October 10 – Joachim Piccolomini, Italian altar server (d. 1305)source
  • October 20 – Bolko I, Polish co-ruler (House of Piast) (d. 1313)source
  • December 7 – Trần Nhân Tông, Vietnamese emperor (d. 1308)source
  • John I, French nobleman (House of Chalon-Arlay) (d. 1315)source
  • Usman Serajuddin, Bengali Sufi scholar and mystic (d. 1357)source
  • Henry Probus (Henryk IV Probus or Prawy, "the Righteous"), High Duke of Poland (d. 1290)source
  • Bertrand of Saint-Geniès, French academic lawyer and patriarch (d. 1350)source
  • Liu Guandao (or Zhong Xian), Chinese court artist (d. 1336)source
  • Osman I, founder of the Great Ottoman Empire (d. 1324)source
  • Ferrantino Malatesta, Italian nobleman and knight (d. 1353)source
  • Henry I, Count of Holstein-Rendsburg, German nobleman (House of Schaumburg) (d. 1304)source

Deaths

  • January 6 – Konrad I von Wallhausen, bishop of Meissensource
  • February 20 – Al-Musta'sim, Abbasid caliph of Baghdadsource
  • March 19? – Clement of Dunblane, Scottish cleric, friar and bishopsource
  • April 5 – Juliana of Liège, Flemish nun, mystic and saintsource
  • April 5 – Pełka (or Fulko), Polish archbishop of Gnieznosource
  • April 14 – Rüdiger of Bergheim, German bishop (b. 1175)source
  • June 2 – Edmund de Lacy, English nobleman and knightsource
  • June 2 – Peter I, Count of Urgell (or Pedro), Portuguese prince (b. 1187)source
  • July 22 – Meinhard I, count of Gorizia (House of Gorizia)source
  • August 14 – John of Wallingford, English abbot, historian and writersource
  • August 16 – Theodore II Laskaris dies after a 4-year reign at Magnesia. He is succeeded by his 7-year-old son, John IV, as ruler of the Empire of Nicaea. His regent becomes the bureaucrat George Mouzalon.source
  • August 18 – Theodore II Laskaris, emperor of Nicaeasource
  • August 25 – George Mouzalon, Byzantine high officialsource
  • October/November – Walter Comyn, Lord of Badenoch, Scottish magnate, adviser and regentsource