1200s (decade)

Decade From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The 1200s began on January 1, 1200, and ended on December 31, 1209.

Births

Transcluding articles: 1200, 1201, 1202, 1203, 1204, 1205, 1206, 1207, 1208, and 1209

1200

1201

1202

1203

1204

1205

1206

1207

1208

1209

Deaths

Transcluding articles: 1200, 1201, 1202, 1203, 1204, 1205, 1206, 1207, 1208, and 1209

1200

1201

1202

1203

1204

1205

1206

1207

1208

1209

Events

1200

This section is transcluded from 1200. (edit | history)

By place

Europe
Britain
Levant
Asia
  • Temüjin (or Genghis Khan) manages to unite about half the feuding Mongol clans under his leadership. He delegates authority based on skill and loyalty, rather than tribal affiliation or family. The main rivals of the Mongol confederation are the Naimans to the west, the Merkits to the north, the Tanguts to the south and the Jin Dynasty (or Great Jin) to the east.[69]

By topic

Education
  • The University of Paris receives its charter, from Philip II. He issues a diploma "for the security of the scholars of Paris", which affirms that students are subject only to ecclesiastical jurisdiction.

1201

This section is transcluded from 1201. (edit | history)

By place

Byzantine Empire
Europe
British Isles
  • July 11 – Llywelyn the Great pays homage to John, King of England after Llywelyn has added Eifionydd and Llŷn to his kingdom of Gwynedd in north Wales.[75]
  • King John puts an embargo on wheat exported to Flanders, in an attempt to force an allegiance between the states. He also puts a levy of a fifteenth on the value of cargo exported to France and disallows the export of wool to France without a special license. The levies are enforced in each port by at least six men – including one churchman and one knight. John affirms that judgments made by the court of Westminster are as valid as those made "before the king himself or his chief justice".[76]

By topic

Religion

1202

This section is transcluded from 1202. (edit | history)

By place

Fourth Crusade
  • April–May – The bulk of the Crusader army gathers at Venice, although with far smaller numbers than expected: about 12,000 men (4–5,000 knights and 8,000 soldiers) instead of 33,500 men. Several contingents decide to make their own way to the Holy Land by different routes. A Crusader fleet, sailing from Flanders, carrying supplies for the Counts Baldwin IX and his brother Henry of Flanders, winters in Marseille, but is slowed by adverse weather. Later it sails on to the Middle East, along with other contingents from southern France.[78]
  • Summer – The Crusader army, encamped on the island of San Niccolo di Lido, between the Venetian Lagoon and the Adriatic Sea, is threatened by Doge Enrico Dandolo to keep them interned unless full payment is made as agreed in 1201. As the Crusaders wait on the Lido for men to arrive, they also use up food supplies that Venice has agreed to supply. Dandolo faces a financial catastrophe, having halted Venice's commerce for a year to prepare the expedition. The Crusader lords can offer Dandolo only 51,000 silver marks.[79]
  • September 8 – Enrico Dandolo takes the cross and agrees to lead a Venetian force, which, in an outburst of Crusading enthusiasm, reaches some 21,000 men – the largest contingent of the Fourth Crusade. He proclaims the debts will be wiped if the Crusaders take the 'rebel' Dalmatian city of Zara (modern-day Zadar) which has pledged its loyalty to Emeric, king of Hungary and Croatia. The Zara proposal causes disquiet in the Crusader ranks and also upsets Pope Innocent III who threatens to excommunicate those who attack Zara.[80]
  • September – Byzantine Prince Alexios Angelos sends representatives from Verona to the Crusader leaders in Venice. He promises to submit the Greek Orthodox Church to papal obedience and to provide the Crusade with 200,000 silver marks, together with provisions for a year. Alexios also will contribute 10,000 mounted soldiers to the expedition. In return he wants the Crusade to overthrow his uncle, the Byzantine emperor Alexios III Angelos.[81]
  • November 10–24 – Siege of Zara: The Crusaders under Boniface of Montferrat besiege and conquer Zara (modern-day Zadar) in Dalmatia. Despite letters from Innocent III forbidding such an action, and threatening excommunication. The leading citizens of Zara hang banners of crosses along the outer walls, professing their Catholic faith. Nevertheless, the Crusaders breach and sack the city, killing many.[82]
  • Winter – Innocent III excommunicates the Crusader army, along with the Venetians, who winter at Zara. Many Crusaders, including some senior men, either abandon the Fourth Crusade or make their own way to the Holy Land. However, the majority remain in Zara, where the army receives some welcome reinforcements. During the winter, negotiations continue with Alexios Angelos.[83]
Europe
Middle East

By topic

Religion

1203

This section is transcluded from 1203. (edit | history)

By place

Fourth Crusade
  • April 20 – The Crusader army evacuates Zara (modern Zadar) and sets sail to Corfu; Boniface of Montferrat and Doge Enrico Dandolo stay behind to await Prince Alexios Angelos. After a brief pause at Durrës (modern Albania), the fleet reaches Corfu. Meanwhile, news of its approach (through spies) has reached Emperor Alexios III Angelos at Constantinople. He gives order to strengthen the city walls and the fortifications.[91]
  • May – June – The Crusader fleet rounds Greece and stops at Negroponte (modern-day Halkis), where the local authorities submit to Alexios Angelos. Encouraged by this, the Crusader leaders send him and several ships to extend his authority over the neighboring island of Andros. Mid-June, the Crusader fleet sails from Greece to Abydos, where it enters the Dardanelles.[92]
  • June 23 – The Crusader fleet comes within sight of Constantinople, and enters the Bosporus. The Byzantine capital is defended by a garrison of 15,000 soldiers (including 5,000 men of the Varangian Guard), and a fleet of 20 galleys. On June 26, the Byzantine troops skirmish with the Crusader forces, who attack, without success, the cities of Chalcedon and Chrysopolis.[92][93]
  • July 2 – Crusader leaders sail close to the city's walls in order to display the young Alexios Angelos, where they call upon the Byzantines to rise up in his favour. After rowing back and forth for a while, receiving insults and missiles, the attempt is abandoned. The Crusader leadership decides to land an invasion force north of Galata – using prevailing currents and winds.[94]
  • July 5 – The Crusader fleet disembarks their horse transports, and barrels down upon the Byzantine defenders in a full cavalry charge. The Byzantines flee after brief combat, and retreat to the Tower of Galata, where they fortify themselves. After a bitter struggle, the Crusaders capture the tower and break the floating chain, and allow their fleet to enter the Golden Horn.[95]
  • Siege of Constantinople: The Crusaders, led by Boniface of Montferrat, capture Constantinople, in support of the deposed Emperor Isaac II and his son Alexios Angelos. This marks the main outcome of the Fourth Crusade.
    • July 11 – The Crusaders take positions opposite the Palace of Blachernae on the northwest corner of the city. Their first attempts are repulsed, but on July 17 the Venetians take a section of the wall of about 25 towers, while the Varangian Guard holds off the Crusaders on the land wall, inflicting heavy casualties. The Venetians set fire to the buildings inside the Golden Horn walls, and then abandon the occupied fortifications.[96]
    • July 17–18 – Alexios III tries to counterattack from the Gate of St. Romanus but retreats without a fight. Embarrassed, he prefers to escape and abandon his subjects, fleeing with the imperial treasure to Develtos (a fortified town on the Gulf of Burgas) in Thrace. Meanwhile, the Byzantine aristocracy restores the ex-emperor Isaac II to the imperial throne. On August 1, Alexios Angelos is crowned co-emperor as Alexios IV.[97]
  • August – Alexios IV announces new taxes and enrages the Orthodox Church by confiscating large quantities of Byzantine icons, many centuries old, and melts them down to produce enough silver to pay the massive debt to the Venetians. A riot breaks out in Constantinople – during which the Byzantine populace loots and burns the homes of Italian residents in the city.[98]
  • August 31 – The Venetians rally a rabble of soldiers and storm through the walls, attacking the Mitation Mosque which results in extensive fires in Constantinople. Finally, they are fought off by the Byzantines and Muslims standing side by side. It becomes one of the most extensive urban conflagrations in European History and renders some 100,000 people homeless.[99]
  • August–October – Alexios IV leads a Crusader expedition (some 6,000 men) to extend his central-government control, against the fugitive Alexios III in Thrace. Meanwhile, a Crusader fleet operates in the Sea of Marmara in support of the Thracian campaign. The Crusaders seize several towns, including Adrianople, while Alexios escapes and withdraws to Macedonia.[100]
Europe
Levant
  • Summer – On orders of Al-Adil I, sultan of Egypt, Muslim ships attack Crusader vessels off Cyprus. Ships from Acre retaliate this action, by capturing six Muslim ships off Acre. King Aimery of Jerusalem declares the truce void between Al-Aldil and the Crusaders, and raids Muslim territory in northern Palestine. Al-Adil responds by taking his army to the outskirts of Acre – but does not launch an assault and retires afterward. A plague breaks out in Acre and half the newly arrived Crusader army dies.[102]
East Asia
Japan

By topic

Economy
  • First evidence that the Temple in London is extending loans to John, King of England. The sums remain small, but are often used for critical operations, such as the ransoming of the king's soldiers captured by the French.[105]
Religion

1204

This section is transcluded from 1204. (edit | history)

1205

This section is transcluded from 1205. (edit | history)

By place

Byzantine Empire
Europe
England
Levant
Africa

By topic

Religion

1206

This section is transcluded from 1206. (edit | history)

By place

Byzantine Empire
Asia
  • Temüjin assembles at a Kurultai, a council of chiefs of the Mongol 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.[134]
  • 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.[135]
  • March 15 – Sultan Muhammad of Ghor is murdered and succeeded by Qutb al-Din Aibak, his deputy in India, who founds the Mamluk Dynasty, the first dynasty of the Delhi Sultanate.[136]
Europe
Britain
  • June – John, King of England ("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.[137]

By topic

Art and Culture
Religion
  • 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.[138]
  • December – The monks of Canterbury want their own sub-prior Reginald for the post of archbishop, while King John chooses John de Gray. Pope Innocent III appoints Stephen Langton. Finally, the monks accept the Pope's decision and vote for Langton.
Technology
  • 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.

1207

This section is transcluded from 1207. (edit | history)

By place

Byzantine Empire
Europe
England
  • John, King of England ("Lackland") introduces the first income tax. One-thirteenth of income from rents and moveable property has to be paid. Collected locally by sheriffs and administered by the Exchequer, the tax is unpopular with the English nobility and especially in the churches and monasteries, but does raise a lot of money for John, doubling his annual income for the year.
  • May 24 – John still refuses to accept Stephen Langton as archbishop; Innocent III threatens to place England under an Interdict. In response, John confiscates church property. Many of the English bishops of the great churches in the country flee abroad to the Continent.
  • November – Leeds, a market town in West Yorkshire, receives its first charter (approximate date).
Asia

By topic

Economy
  • The first documentary evidence of forced loans in Venice. This technique becomes the staple of public finance in Europe, until the 16th century.[145]
Religion

1208

This section is transcluded from 1208. (edit | history)

By place

Asia
  • April 15 – A fire breaks out in the Song Chinese capital city of Hangzhou, raging for four days and nights, destroying 58,097 houses over an area of more than 3 miles (4.8 km), killing 59 people, and an unrecorded number of other people, who are trampled while attempting to flee. The government provides temporary lodging for 5,345 people, in nearby Buddhist and Taoist monasteries. The collective victims of the disaster are given 160,000 strings of cash, along with 400 tons of rice. Some of the government officials who lose their homes take up residence in rented boathouses on the nearby West Lake.
Europe

By topic

Literature
Religion

1209

This section is transcluded from 1209. (edit | history)

By place

Europe
Britain
  • November – Against the backdrop of the continuing Papal Interdict of 1208, John, King of England, is excommunicated by Pope Innocent III. Despite the excommunication, John will continue to make amends to the Church – including giving alms to the poor whenever he defiles a holy day by hunting during it. He feeds 100 paupers to make up for when he "went into the woods on the feast of St. Mary Magdalen", and three years from now, he will feast 450 paupers "because the king went to take cranes, and he took nine, for each of which he feasted fifty paupers."[156]
  • Black Monday, Dublin: A group of 500 recently arrived settlers from Bristol are massacred by warriors of the Irish O'Byrne clan. The group (accompanied by women and children) leaves the safety of the walled city of Dublin to celebrate Easter Monday near a wood at Ranelagh, and are attacked without warning. Although a relatively obscure event in history, it is commemorated by a mustering of the Mayor, Sheriffs, and soldiers on the day, as a challenge to the native tribes for centuries afterwards.
  • London Bridge is completed by a stone-arched structure. On the bridge are houses built; this is for paying the maintenance, though it has to be supplemented by other rents and by tolls.
Asia
  • Spring – The Mongols led by Genghis Khan begin their first invasion against the Western Xia state (or Xi Xia). They push up along the Yellow River, capturing several garrisons and defeating an imperial army. The Mongols besiege the capital Zhongxing – which holds a well-fortified garrison of some 70,000 men (hastily reinforced with another 50,000). Genghis lacks the proper equipment and experience to take the city. In October, an attempt to flood the city by diverting the Yellow River is disastrous and floods the Mongol camp, forcing the Mongols to withdraw.[157]
  • Tamar the Great, queen of Georgia, raids Eastern Anatolia and seizes Kars. She leads a liberational war in southern Armenia.

By topic

Education
Markets
Religion
  • February 24 – The Franciscan Order is founded by the Italian priest Francis of Assisi. He and 11 of his followers journey to Rome where he receives approval of his rule from Pope Innocent III. Franciscan friars can not own any possessions of any kind. They wander and preach among the people, helping the poor and the sick. They support themselves by working and by begging for food, but they are forbidden to accept money either for work or as alms. The Franciscans work at first in Umbria and then in the rest of Italy. The impact of these street preachers and especially of their founder is immense, so that within 10 years they number some 5,000 followers.[161]
  • October 21 – Innocent III crowns Otto IV as emperor of the Holy Roman Empire in St. Peter's Basilica at Rome.[162]

References

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