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. •
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. •
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. •
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. •
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. •
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. •
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. • 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. •
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. • 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.
Europe • Spring – King
Philip II of France invades
Normandy and attacks a number of castles in the surrounding region. In April,
John, King of England loses the support of his French vassals who desert him. Philip enters
Rouen, leading to the eventual
Treaty of Paris (1259) and unification of Normandy and France. • At Rouen,
William de Braose, an English nobleman, becomes the guardian of the imprisoned 16-year-old
Arthur of Brittany, designated heir to the throne of
England – who is not known to be alive after April and is probably murdered by or at the orders of his uncle, King John. • August –
Siege of Château Gaillard: French forces under Philip II begin the siege at
Château Gaillard as part of a campaign to reconquer the continental properties of King John of England. During the winter of 1203/1204, the English under
William Marshal attempt to relieve the castle. • October –
Brothers' Quarrel:
Emeric, King of Hungary captures his rebellious brother
Duke Andrew without resistance following their third confrontation in recent years. •
December 6 – King John abandons the lands that have been held by the
Dukes of Normandy for over a hundred years and returns to England. Only two castles hold out against the French forces – they are
Chinon Castle, controlled by
Hubert de Burgh and
Loches Castle. • The
Oeselians ravage
Danish Scania. The returning pirates later skirmish with the German settlers of
Riga, near
Visby in
Gotland.
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.
East Asia • Early –
Battle of Khalakhaljid Sands: Temüjin,
khan of the
Mongol tribe and the future
Genghis Khan, is comprehensively defeated by the forces of
Toghrul, khan of the
Kereit. • Midyear – The
Baljuna Covenant, an
oath of mutual fidelity, is sworn by Temüjin and a small group of companions. • Late – In a 3-day battle at the Jeje'er Heights on the lower
Kherlen River, Temüjin defeats the Kereit and Toghrul is killed.
Japan •
Minamoto no Sanetomo becomes the third
shogun of the
Kamakura Shogunate. During his reign, Sanetomo is a puppet ruler for his mother
Hōjō Masako who uses him as a pawn in her war with her father
Hōjō Tokimasa.
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.
Religion •
April 8 – Congress of
Bilino Polje:
Ban Kulin, ruler of
Bosnia, officially declares his allegiance to the
Roman Catholic Church and denounces
heresy. •
Ragnall mac Somairle, a Scottish nobleman, invites
Benedictine monks to establish the abbey of
Iona. • The Temple of
Nataraja is completed, at
Chidambaram in
India. == Births ==