1249

For broader historical context, see 13th century.

Events

Europe

• February 16 - Andrew of Longjumeau is dispatched by King Louis IX of France as an ambassador to meet with the Khan of the Mongols
• University College, the first College at Oxford, is founded with money gifted from the estate of William of Durham
• The Moors lose possession of Alicante in Al-Andalus (Islamic Spain).
• King Afonso III of Portugal captures Faro, Portugal from the Moors.
• Roger Bacon publishes a major scientific work, including writings of convex lens spectacles for treating long-sightedness and the first publication of the formula for gunpowder in the western world.
• The city of Mystras, Greece is fortified and a palace is constructed there by William II Villehardouin.
• The city of Stralsund (in present-day Germany) is burned to the ground by forces from the rival city of Lübeck.
• Swedish statesman Birger Jarl subjugated the province of Tavastia in Finland, laying the foundations for Sweden's expansionism.
• Alphonse of Toulouse orders the expulsion of Jews from Poitou, France.

Asia

• Pho Khun Si Indrathit becomes the first king of the Sukhothai kingdom, marking the founding of the modern Thai nation.
• The Hikitsuke, a judicial organ of the Kamakura and Muromachi shogunates of Japan, is established.
• The Japanese Hoji era ends, and the Kencho era begins.

Africa

• King Louis IX of France captures Damietta in Egypt, the first major military engagement of the Seventh Crusade.

Births

• July 9 - Emperor Kameyama of Japan (d. 1305)
• Pope John XXII (d. 1334)
• Frederick I, Margrave of Baden (d. 1268)
• Eric V of Denmark (d. 1286)
• Humphrey de Bohun, 3rd Earl of Hereford (d. 1297)

Deaths

• July 6 - Alexander II of Scotland (b. 1198)
• September 27 - Raymond VII of Toulouse, Count of Toulouse (b. 1197)
• November - As-Salih Ayyub, Ayyubid Sultan of Egypt and Damascus

See also

• List of state leaders in 1249