Elspeth of Harilow Background Information and Research

Elspeth of Harilow - Background story details:

(A biographical note - when I began researching persona details in the SCA some number of years ago, my father sent me a family tree that proves his side descended from Robert the Bruce, because he thought that I would be able to use that info - However, I was more into Henry II and Eleanor of the Aquitaine! Fortunately for me, Henry II was also historically appropriate for my story, as he was another expansionist monarch! So, George Gibson is an actual ancestor of mine, though his foray into Fife County is recorded to have taken place in the 1500s under Henry VIII.)

(Second note - I like real places - they give me a sense of grounding my story more firmly in actual history. Dunfermaline is only 6 miles from Aberdour, and they are both actually located in Fife County! Harlow Hill is at the Mile 16 watch castle along Hadrian's Wall! So, these are actual places that Elspeth would have lived at or spent time in - and they existed in the right time for her life! I am enough of a history geek to really get excited about stuff like that!)

My paternal grandfather, George Gibson, led a small force of men north of the Firth of Forth in 1174, in the name of Henry II, after the Treaty of Falaise - What was the Treaty of Falaise, you ask?

The Treaty of Falaise was an agreement made in December 1174 between the captive William I, King of Scots, and Henry II, King of England. William was captured at the Battle of Alnwick during an invasion of Northumbria and was being held in Falaise in Normandy while Henry sent an army north and took several Scottish castles, including Berwick and Edinburgh. Since he had no heir, William was forced to bargain for release to prevent the end of the Scottish line of kings. The Treaty required William to swear that Scotland would thereafter be subordinate to the English crown. English soldiers were also to occupy several key Scottish castles, and Scotland would be heavily taxed to pay for their upkeep. During the next 15 years, William was forced to observe Henry's overlordship, and to obtain permission from the English crown before putting down local uprisings. The treaty was cancelled in 1189 when Richard the Lionheart, Henry's heir, effectively sold southern Scotland back to the Scottish king to help fund Richard's crusade in the Holy Land.

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George Gibson and his army conquered Fife County, renamed it Fifeshire, England; and took Aberdour Castle as his keep, renaming it Harilow for the duration of his occupancy.



Aberdour Castle is among the oldest standing masonry castles in Scotland; in fact, it may be the oldest. Hidden away in the extensive complex are the remains of a two-storey hall-house. Its cubed ashlar masonry walls are remarkably similar to those in the nearby parish church of St Fillan’s, dated to the mid 12th century. And the double-light lancet window-head is identical to those in Inchcolm Abbey offshore, dated to around 1200. The splayed base course and clasping angle-buttresses at the corners are further evidence of Norman mason work. It is possible that all three buildings were built by the same stonemasons. Hitherto the accolade of oldest standing castle in Scotland has gone to Castle Sween, in far-off Argyll, which is dated to the end of the 12th century. However, Aberdour’s hall-house could conceivably have been built around 1150 (along with St Fillan’s church) by Sir Alan Mortimer, the first of that family to hold the barony, which he had acquired through marriage in the 1120s.

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George, in order to try to integrate with the locals, married his son, also George, off to a Scottish woman, Glynnis Mac Aran, (MacLaran?) in 1175.

There are two quite separate possible origins for the surname MacLaren. One of these comes from the county of Perthshire while the other comes from the island of Tiree in Argyll. In Argyll the MacLaren family is said to be descended from Fergus MacErc, founder of the kingdom of Dál Riata. In Scottish Gaelic the clan name is Clann Labhruinn. The heraldry borne by the clan suggests that they descend from a cadet branch of the Celtic dynastic house of the Earls of Strathearn.

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Earl or Mormaer of Strathearn is a title of Scottish nobility, referring to the region of Strathearn in southern Perthshire. Of unknown origin, the mormaers are attested for the first time in a document perhaps dating to 1115. The first known mormaer, Malise, is mentioned by Ailred of Rievaulx as leading native Scots in the company of King David at the Battle of the Standard, 1138.

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So, Glynnis MacAran (Maclaren?) was a daughter of local Scottish nobility from Perth County, which lies just north of Fife County.

I was born about a year later, in 1176. I am their eldest daughter, of three that survived to adulthood. Raised largely indoors due to tensions between the conquered Scots and their English overlords, I pestered travelers for news of the outside world, and became proficient in most of the domestic arts.

As a young lady during the 1170s and 1180s, I visited the great Abbey at Dunfermaline



From  and was especially fascinated by the shrines of St. Margaret and King Malcom III. I was allowed as a young woman of 12 and 13 to attend the great Abbey Fairs that were held twice a year.

In 1189, the English occupancy of Scotland ended, so the family moved to Harilow Hill (Now called Harlow Hill) on the southern side of Hadrian's wall, to man the Mile 16 castle there along the borderline. While a hereditary position of honor, it was quite a step down in lifestyle! This had been my grandfather George Gibson's position before Henry tasked him with going to Fife.

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Still very much restricted, I left my parents' home at the age of 16 and traveled, learning as much as I could. After some years, I came to the Kingdom of Meridies and with a few like-minded friends founded the Shire of Dragoun's Weal, in what is now the Kingdom of Gleann Ahbann.

(As Elspeth grew up, she learned much of the world:)

When I was seven, Saladin defeated his enemies and became sultan of Syria, in the year of our Lord 1183.

When I was eight, a great fire destroyed several buildings at Glastonbury Abbey, in the year of our Lord 1184.

When I was nine, in the year of our Lord 1185, • Henry II of England knights his heir John of England and sends him to Ireland to enforce English control. According to Gerald of Wales, the only witness to chronicle the expedition, it is a disaster in which money is wasted on alcohol and the Irish chieftains are scorned into uniting against a common enemy. By the end of the year, John has returned to England in defeat. Nonetheless, Henry gets him named King of Ireland by Pope Urban III and procures a golden crown with peacock feathers.

• Templars settle in London and begin building the New Temple Church

• May 1 – Solar eclipse of 1 May 1185, visible across Central America, Northern and Eastern Europe and Kazakhstan.

• First evidence that the king of England is using the safes of the New Temple in London under the guard of the Knights Templar to store part of his treasure.

• November 25 – Pope Urban III succeeds Pope Lucius III as the 172nd pope.

Nothing much of note do I remember from when I was ten, in the year of our Lord 1186…

When I was eleven, in the year of our Lord 1187,

• May 1 – Battle of Cresson: Saladin defeats the crusaders.

• July 4 – Battle of Hattin: Saladin defeats Guy of Lusignan, King of Jerusalem.

• September 20–October 2 – Siege of Jerusalem: Saladin captures Jerusalem.

• 19 October – Pope Urban III dies of a heart attack on hearing news of the Loss of Jerusalem.

• October 21 – Pope Gregory VIII succeeds Pope Urban III as the 173rd pope.

When I was twelve, in the year of our Lord 1188,

• Saladin unsuccessfully besieges the Hospitaller fortress of Krak des Chevaliers in modern Syria.

• Newgate Prison is built in London.

• Richard Lionheart allies with Philip II of France against his father, Henry II of England.

• Giraldus Cambrensis and Baldwin of Exeter travel through Wales attempting to recruit men for the Third Crusade.

• The "Saladin tithe" is levied in England.

When I was thirteen, in the year of our Lord 1189,

• The beginning of the siege of Acre.

• The Crusader castles of Montreal and Kerak are captured by Saladin. • January 21 – Philip II of France and Henry II of England begin to assemble troops to wage the Third Crusade.

• Henry II of England ends a war against Philip II of France & Richard I of England by agreeing to their terms: he pays Philip 20,000 marks and recognizes Richard as the heir to the English throne. Henry is brokenhearted to find that his second heir, John, had also allied against him in the war. He dies within a few months.

• September 3 – Richard the Lionheart is crowned as King of England. He immediately begins selling castles, lordships, privileges, and towns to fund his long-anticipated crusade against the Middle East.

• The town of Dundalk in the Republic of Ireland gains its charter.

• Sancho I of Portugal conquers Silves and Alvor with the help of the troops of the Third Crusade.

• Henry Fitz Ailwyn is Elected Mayor of the City Of London

Due to Richard's selling Scottish lands back to the Scottish crown, my family moved south, to take up our original holdings, in a hereditary post for my father, along Hadrian's wall at Milecastle 16, where our family had originally come from - Harilow Hill, called Harlow Hill in the new fashion.

When I was fourteen, in the year of our Lord 1190,

• June 10 – Third Crusade: Frederick I Barbarossa drowns in the Saleph River while leading an army to Jerusalem.

• November 24 – Isabella of Jerusalem marries Conrad of Montferrat at Acre, making him de jure king.

• The Teutonic Knights are founded to defend the Latin states in the Levant.

• February – Anti-Jewish riots break out in England.

• March 16 – A massacre and mass-suicide of the Jews of York, England, led by Richard Malebys, result in the deaths of 150–500 Jews in Clifford's Tower.

• July 4 – Richard I of England and Philip II of France, having met at Vézelay, set out from Marseille to join the Third Crusade.

• October 4 – Richard I of England threatens war against Tancred of Sicily, and captures Messina.

When I was fifteen, in the year of our Lord 1191,

• July 12 – Saladin's garrison surrenders, ending the two-year siege of Acre. Conrad of Montferrat, who has negotiated the surrender, raises the banners of the Kingdom of Jerusalem and of the Third Crusade leaders Richard I of England, Philip II of France, and Leopold V of Austria on the city's walls and towers. Richard stays to push on to Jerusalem, but Philip returns to France to take possession of a part of Flanders whose count had died at the siege of Acre. Back in France, Philip also schemes with Richard's brother, John of England, to dispossess Richard of his French lands while he is still away, but the intervention of John's (and Richard's) mother, Eleanor of Aquitaine, foils the plan.

• September 7 – Richard I of England defeats Saladin at the Battle of Arsuf during the Third Crusade.

• May 12 – Richard I of England marries Berengaria of Navarre.

• The first reference to the windmill in Europe is made by a Dean Herbert of East Anglia, whose mills are supposedly in competition with the abbey of Bury St Edmunds. This is probably an invention imported from interaction with the Muslim world, since the first windmills were most likely innovated from the Bana Musa brothers in the Islamic Middle East during the middle 9th century.

• April 14 – Pope Celestine III succeeds Pope Clement III as the 175th pope.

• November 27 – Reginald fitz Jocelin is elected Archbishop of Canterbury.

• The monks of Glastonbury Abbey dig up the remains of a large knight and a blonde woman and announce to have discovered the tomb of king Arthur and Queen Guinevere.

When I was sixteen, in the year of our Lord 1192, I left my parents' homes and began to travel the world, seeking education and a home in a place more comfortable to me. The damp, cloudy, almost constant grey of England and Scotland were oppressive to me, and I traveled in search of a warmer, gentler climate with people I could enjoy. As I traveled, I learned much more about the broader world than I had been aware of in my restricted homes in Scotland and England.

• October 9 – The Third Crusade ends. Richard I of England and Saladin negotiate visiting rights for pilgrims to come to the Holy City of Jerusalem.

• Richard I of England is taken hostage by Leopold V of Austria.

When I was seventeen, in the year of our Lord 1193,

• August 15 – Philip II of France marries Ingeborg, daughter of Valdemar I of Denmark

When I was eighteen, in the year of our Lord 1194,

• February 4 – King Richard I of England is ransomed from Henry VI, Holy Roman Emperor.

• c. February 10 – Henry Marshal is nominated Bishop of Exeter in England. • March 12–28 – King Richard returns to England and besieges Nottingham Castle to reclaim it from his brother John.

• April 17 – Second coronation of Richard I at Winchester.

• May 2 – The port of Portsmouth in England is granted a Royal Charter.

• May 12 – After settling affairs in England, Richard I leaves for Barfleur in Normandy to reclaim lands lost to Philip II of France.

• June 10 – A fire at Chartres Cathedral leads to the start of its rebuilding.

• July 3 – Battle of Fréteval: Richard I of England reconquers his French fiefdoms from Philip II.

• November 20 – Palermo in Sicily falls to Henry VI, Holy Roman Emperor.

• December 25 – Henry VI is crowned king of Sicily.

• The Danes attack Estonia.

• Ordinance of the Jewry in England: Strict records are to be kept of financial transactions by Jews in England for taxation purposes.

When I was nineteen, in the year of our Lord 1195,

• The Priory of St Mary's is founded in Bushmead.

When I was twenty, in the year of our Lord 1196,

• England is struck by a pestilence and a resulting famine.

• Spring – In London, a popular uprising of the poor against the rich is led by William Fitz Osbern.

• Upon the death of Knut Eriksson, he succeeded peacefully as king of Sweden by his rival Sverker the Younger.

When I was twenty-one, in the year of our Lord 1197,

• Genghis Khan defeats the Jurkins. Mukhali's father gives him and his brother to Genghis Khan as personal hereditary slaves.

• Amalric II succeeds Henry II of Champagne as King of Jerusalem.

• Theobald III becomes Count of Champagne.

• Kaloyan becomes Tsar of Bulgaria.

• Corfu is occupied by the Genoese.

• Hubert Walter, Archbishop of Canterbury, negotiates a peace with Wales.

• North Crawley is split into Great Crawley and Little Crawley.

• Philip of Swabia marries Irene Angelina, daughter of Byzantine emperor Isaac II.

• The Danes attack Estonia.

• Saracen pirates, from the Balearic Islands, raid the city of Toulon in Provence and the benedictine monastery of Saint Honorat on the Lérins Islands.

• Rainy weather causes the harvest to fail in western Europe. One of the worst famines of the century ensues.

• Arbroath Abbey is consecrated, and dedicated to St. Thomas Becket.

I was glad to have already left England, with this terrible famine, though I worried about my family. I was glad to hear that my mother and two sisters had also moved to the Kingdom of An Tir.

When I was twenty-two, in the year of our Lord 1198,

• March – Philip of Swabia is elected King of Germany by his supporters.

• July – Otto of Brunswick is crowned King of Germany by the House of Welf.

• Frederick II, infant son of German King Henry VI, is crowned King of Sicily.

• John of England captures a party of eighteen French knights & many men-at-arms in the ongoing conflict against France. King Richard I of England introduces a new Great Seal in an attempt to keep the war against France funded. The government proclaims that charters previously struck with the old seal are no longer valid and must be renewed with a fresh payment. The office of Lord Warden of the Stannaries is also introduced to tax the produce of tin mines in Cornwall and Devon.

• January 8 – Pope Innocent III succeeds Pope Celestine III to become the 176th pope. He immediately lays an interdict on Laon in an attempt to stamp out independent beliefs there. This will be followed by interdicts against France in 1199 and Normandy in 1203.

When I was twenty-two, I came in my travels to the Kingdom of Meridies, a fair, warm, southern land. I met several gentles of like mind, and by their years, in the 16th year Anno Societatus (AS), we founded the Shire of Dragoun's Weal. Even though I now lived in Meridies, I kept abreast of news from my home and the rest of the world as best I could.

When I was twenty-three, in the year 1199 by English reckoning, And AS 17 by ours, I was called into court and recognized by the Crowns of Meridies, with an Award of Arms.

• January 13 – Short-lived truce between England and France.

• March 25 – King Richard I of England is shot in the left shoulder with a crossbow by French boy Pierre Basile at the siege of the castle of Châlus in France. The war between the kingdoms of England and France has become so brutal that Hugh of Lincoln is warned that "nothing now is safe, neither the city to dwell in nor the highway for travel".

• April 6 – King Richard I of England dies from gangrene caused by his crossbow wound. His younger brother, John, becomes King of England. Richard's jewels are left to his nephew, Otto, King of the Romans. As a result of Richard's death, French soldier Mercadier has Pierre Basile flayed alive and hanged.

• King Philip II of France renews his war against John of England, supporting the rival claim to the English throne of Arthur of Brittany.

• St Laurence's Church, Ludlow, in England is rebuilt.

When I was twenty-four, in the year 1200 by English reckoning, and AS 18 by ours,

• August 24 – After touring an army through Aquitaine to assert his right to it, John of England weds 13-year-old Isabella of Angoulême at Bordeaux.

• The Mongols defeat Northern China.

• The University of Paris receives its charter from Philip II of France.

• The rebel Ivanko is captured and executed by the Byzantine general Alexios Palaiologos.

When I was twenty-five, in the year 1201 by English reckoning, and AS 19 by ours, I was commissioned by the Crowns of Meridies Lawrence and Ana to undertake the office of Kingdom Minister of the Arts. For this service, I was recognized with a Grant of Arms.

○ July 31 – Attempted usurpation of the throne of the Byzantine Empire by John Komnenos the Fat; he is overthrown and decapitated by the end of the day.

○ John, King of England, 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 also affirms this year that judgements made by the court of Westminster are as valid as those made "before the king himself or his chief justice".

○ The town of Riga is chartered as a city by Albert of Buxhoeveden, Bishop of Livonia, who landed on the site with 1,500 crusaders earlier in the year.

○ Boniface, Marquess of Montferrat is elected leader of the Fourth Crusade, after the death of Theobald III, Count of Champagne.

○ Pope Innocent III supports Otto IV as Holy Roman Emperor, against the rival Emperor, Philip of Swabia.

When I was twenty-six, in the year of our lord 1202, and AS 20 by ours, I was privileged to attend the Twenty-Year Celebration in Ansteorra, in the first Enchanted Ground encampment, to my knowledge, hosted by Cariadoc and Elizabeth.

○ May 20 – 1202 Syria earthquake.

○ Genghis Khan crushes the Tartars.

○ May–October – Fourth Crusade gathers in Venice.

○ July – John, King of England rescues his mother, Eleanor of Aquitaine, from near capture by the rebellious forces of Arthur I, Duke of Brittany.

○ July 27 – Georgians defeat the Seljuqids of Rüm at the Battle of Basian.

○ August 1 – Arthur I, Duke of Brittany is captured in Mirabeau, north of Poitiers, during a battle with John, King of England.

○ November 10–23 – Fourth Crusade – Siege of Zara: In the first major action of the Crusade, the Crusaders besiege and conquer Zadar in Dalmatia. Unable to pay the Republic of Venice in cash for its contributions to the Crusade, the Crusaders agree to sack the city (an economic rival to Venice) despite letters from Pope Innocent III forbidding such an action and threatening excommunication (which is carried out at the urging of Emeric, King of Hungary). This is the first attack against a Catholic city by Catholic Crusaders.

○ The Almohad fleet expels the Banu Ghaniya from the Balearic Islands.

○ The Livonian Brothers of the Sword is founded to support a crusade against the inhabitants of Medieval Livonia.

○ Pope Innocent III reasserts his right to evaluate and crown the Holy Roman Emperor, in a letter to Berthold V, Duke of Zähringen.

○ Leonardo Fibonacci of Pisa writes Liber Abaci, about the modus Indorum, the Hindu–Arabic numeral system, including use of zero; it is the first major work in Europe to move away from the use of Roman numerals.

○ Approximate date – The first jesters are hired in European courts

○ The Rueda Abbey is founded by Cistercians at Sástago in the Kingdom of Aragon (modern-day Spain).

When I was twenty-seven, in the year of our Lord 1203, and AS 21 by our count,

○ April 16 – Philip II of France enters Rouen, leading to the eventual unification of Normandy and France.

○ William de Braose, 4th Lord of Bramber becomes the guardian of Arthur I, Duke of Brittany, and is possibly responsible for his death.

○ Battle of Basiani: The Georgians defeat a Muslim coalition.

○ The Almohads begin the conquest of the Balearic Islands.

○ The troops of the Fourth Crusade reach the Byzantine heartland: § June 23 – The Fleet of the crusaders enters the Bosphorus. § July 17 – The armies of the Fourth Crusade capture Constantinople by assault; the Byzantine emperor Alexios III Angelos flees from his capital into exile. § August 1 – The Fourth Crusade elevates Alexios IV Angelos as Byzantine emperor, after the citizens of Constantinople proclaim as emperor Isaac II Angelos (Alexius IV's father).

○ First evidence that the Temple in London is extending loans to the king of England. The sums remained relatively small but were often used for critical operations such as the ransoming of the king’s soldiers captured by the French.[5]

○ April 8 – Congress of Bilino Polje: Ban Kulin officially declares his allegiance to the Roman Catholic Church and denounces heresy.

○ Foundation of the Benedictine abbey of Iona by Ragnall mac Somairle on previous Columban site.

When I was twenty-eight, in the year of our Lord 1204, and AS 22 by our count, I was saddened by news of the death of Eleanor of Aquitane. I admired her and was sorry to lose her in the world.

○ January – Four-year-old Guttorm is proclaimed King of Norway; his "reign" ends with his death a few months later.

○ January 28 – Byzantine emperor Alexios IV Angelos is overthrown in a revolution.

○ February 5 – Alexios V Doukas is proclaimed Byzantine emperor. Conquest of Constantinople by the Crusaders

○ April 13 – Fourth Crusade: The Crusaders take Constantinople by storm, and pillage the city for 3 days. Forces of the Republic of Venice seize the antique statues that will become the horses of Saint Mark.

○ May 16 – Baldwin, Count of Flanders is crowned emperor of the Latin Empire a week after his election by the members of the Fourth Crusade.

○ Theodore I Laskaris flees to Nicaea after the capture of Constantinople, and establishes the Empire of Nicaea; Byzantine successor states are also established in Epirus and Trebizond.

○ Boniface I, Marquess of Montferrat, a leader of the Fourth Crusade, founds the Kingdom of Thessalonica.

○ The writings of French theologian Amalric of Bena are condemned by the University of Paris and Pope Innocent III.

○ Tsar Kaloyan is recognized as king of Bulgaria by Pope Innocent III after the creation of the Bulgarian Uniate church.

○ Valdemar II of Denmark, is recognized as king in Norway.

○ Angers and Normandy are captured by Philip II of France.

○ The Cistercian convent of Port-Royal-des-Champs is established.

○ The district of Cham becomes subject to Bavaria.

○ Hermann I, Landgrave of Thuringia submits to Philip of Swabia.

○ Beaulieu Abbey is founded.

○ The Channel Islands of Guernsey and Jersey decide, after a plebiscite of wealthy land owners, to remain with the English crown after Normandy is recaptured by Philip II of France.

When I was twenty-nine, in the year of our Lord 1205, and AS 23 by our count, I moved from the Shire of Dragoun's Weal to the then Shire of Hammerhold, still in Meridies.

○ The general Muhammad al_Inti b. Abi Hafs establishes the Almohad domination over the eastern parts of Ifriqiya and enters in Tripoli.

○ Theodore I Laskaris is proclaimed Byzantine Emperor, formally founding the Empire of Nicaea, after repelling the invasions of rivals David Komnenos and Manuel Maurozomes into his domains.

○ January 6 – Philip of Swabia becomes King of the Romans.

○ April 14 – Battle of Adrianople: The Bulgarians defeat the Latins.

○ Anjou is conquered by Philip II of France. Fearing a French invasion of England itself, John of England requires every English male over 12 to enter an association "for the general defence of the realm and the preservation of peace".

○ Othon de la Roche founds the Duchy of Athens.

○ William of Wrotham, Lord Warden of the Stannaries of England, oversees a reform of English currency. In keeping with other high-ranking bureaucrats of his time and place, this is just one of Wrotham's many offices: he is also Keeper of the King's Ports & Galleys, supervisor of the mints of Canterbury and London, ward of the vacant Diocese of Bath and Wells, an archdeacon of Taunton, a canon of Wells, and will serve the following year as a circuit judge.

○ July 15 – Pope lays down the principle that Jews are doomed to perpetual servitude because they had crucified Jesus.

When I was thirty, in the year of our Lord 1206, and AS 24 by our count,

○ Temüjin is proclaimed Genghis Khan of the Mongol people, founding the Mongol Empire.

○ Mukhali is appointed myriarch of the left wing of the newly reorganized Mongol army, and granted immunity for up to 9 breaches of the law.

○ Qutb-ud-din Aybak, a Turkish mameluke from Central Asia proclaims the Mameluk dynasty in India, the first dynasty of the Delhi Sultanate.

○ Theodore Lascaris is crowned Byzantine Emperor at Nicaea.

○ The Livonian Brothers of the Sword, in alliance with the Semigallians, conquer Livs.

○ King Valdemar II and Archbishop Andreas Sunonis raid Saaremaa Island, Estonia, forcing the islanders to submit. The Danes build a fortress, but finding no volunteers to man it, they burn it down themselves and leave the island.

○ Sugar, an import from the Muslim world, is mentioned for the first time in a royal English account. Almonds, cinnamon, ginger, and nutmeg are also imported for royal banquets.

○ Colchester Royal Grammar School founded.

○ Foundation of the Order of the Friars Minor by Francis of Assisi.

○ A peasant named Thurkhill in England claims that Saint Julian took him on a tour of Purgatory. Thurkhill includes realistic touches including descriptions of Purgatory’s torture chambers, and is believed by Roger of Wendover, one of his society’s leading historians.

○ This year, Dominic de Guzmán claims to have received the Holy Rosary from the Virgin Mary.

○ The Arab engineer al-Jazari describes many mechanical inventions in his book (title translated to English) The Book of Knowledge of Ingenious Mechanical Devices.

When I was thirty-one, in the year of our Lord 1207, and AS 25 by our count,

○ Before 1207 – Kosho makes Kuya Preaching. Kamakura period. It is now kept at Rokuhara Mitsu-ji, Kyoto.

○ Hōnen and his followers are exiled to remote parts of Japan, while a few are executed, for what the government considers heretical Buddhist teachings.

○ February 2 – Terra Mariana, comprising present-day Estonia and Latvia, is established as a principality of the Holy Roman Empire.

○ November – Leeds, a market town in England, receives its first charter.

○ Pope Innocent III declares for Philip of Swabia as Holy Roman Emperor, a reversal of his previous support for Otto IV.

○ King John issues letters patent creating the new Borough of Liverpool.

○ First evidence of forced loans in Venice. This technique becomes the staple of public finance in Europe until the 16th century.

○ June 17 – Stephen Langton is consecrated as Archbishop of Canterbury by Pope Innocent III.

When I was thirty-two, in the year of our Lord 1208, an AS 26 by our count, I left the Kingdom of Meridies in search of a better life. I moved to Trimaris, and found employment and housing in the Barony of Darkwater, where I met and married my first husband.

○ April 15 – A fire breaks out in the Song Chinese capital city of Hangzhou, raging for 4 days and nights, destroying 58,097 houses over an area of more than 3 miles, 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 lost their homes take up residence in rented boathouses on the nearby West Lake.

○ January 15 – Peter of Castelnau is killed by a vassal of Raymond VI of Toulouse, who is held responsible and excommunicated by Pope Innocent III.

○ January 31 – Battle of Lena: Inferior Swedish forces defeat the invading Danes and king Sverker the Younger is deposed as king of Sweden. He is succeeded by his rival Erik Knutsson.

○ March 24 – Pope Innocent III places England under an interdict as punishment for King John of England rejecting his choice for Archbishop of Canterbury. Under the interdict, Church sacraments including marriage and consecrated burial are probably stopped, but there is no sign of the popular discontent which interdicts are intended to produce over the next several years.

○ June 21 – Philip of Swabia, King of Germany and rival to Holy Roman Emperor Otto IV, is assassinated in Bamberg by German Count Otto of Wittelsbach, because Philip had refused to give him his daughter in marriage.

○ Livonian Crusade: With the help of the newly converted local tribes of Livs and Letts, the crusader Livonian Brothers of the Sword initiate raids into Ugandi County in southern Estonia. The resulting Estonian ancient fight for independence lasts until 1227.

○ Robert of Courçon writes his Summa.

When I was thirty-three, in the year of our Lord 1209, and AS 27 by our count, my oldest son was born. ○ Genghis Khan conquers Western Xia.

○ The army of the Kingdom of Georgia raids the Muslim principalities in north Iran.

○ The Albigensian Crusade is launched against the Cathars. § July 22 – Massacre at Béziers: Simon de Monfort, leader of the Crusade, sacks Béziers, killing many Cathars and Catholics alike. § August – Simon de Monfort takes over Carcassonne.

○ June – Treaty of Sapienza: the Republic of Venice recognizes the possession of the Peloponnese by the Prince of Achaea, Geoffrey I of Villehardouin, and keeps only the fortresses of Modon and Coron.

○ November – John 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. This year, he feeds a hundred 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."

○ London Bridge is completed.

○ Black Monday, Dublin: A group of 500 recently arrived settlers from Bristol are massacred by warriors of the Gaelic O'Byrne clan. The group leaves the safety of the walled city of Dublin to celebrate Easter Monday near a wood at Ranelagh and are attacked without warning. Although in modern times 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.

○ Cambridge University is founded.

○ Philippe Auguste of France grants a "conduit" to merchants going to the Champagne fairs guaranteeing the safety of their travel as any attempt made against them is now to be considered as a crime of lese-majesty. The decision increases again the appeal of the fairs to merchants from Italy and the Low Countries.

○ Formation of the banking firm known as the Gran Tavola, most of the partners are members of the Bonsignori family.

○ The Franciscan Order is founded.

When I was thirty-four, in the year of our Lord 1210, AS 28 by our count, my family left Trimaris and sojourned for a brief while in the Barony of Tear-Seas Shore, in southern Atlantia.

○ Jochi, eldest son of Genghis Khan, leads a Mongol campaign against the Kyrgyz.

○ The Delhi Sultanate begins.

○ July 17 – Former king Sverker II of Sweden is defeated and killed by the current king Erik X in the Battle of Gestilren.

○ November 18 – Otto IV, Holy Roman Emperor is excommunicated by Pope Innocent III for invading southern Italy in defiance of the Concordat of Worms.

○ King John I of England raises £100,000 from church property as an extraordinary fiscal levy; the operation is described as an “inestimable and incomparable exaction” by contemporary sources.

○ Livonian Crusade: Estonian forces defeat the Livonian Brothers of the Sword in the Battle of Ümera.

○ The citadel of the Acrocorinth surrenders to the Crusaders after a five-year siege.

○ Gottfried von Strassburg writes his epic poem Tristan (approximate date).

○ 1210–1211 – Shazi makes Pen box, from Persia (Iran) or Afghanistan. It is now kept at Freer Gallery of Art, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C..

○ September 24 – Venus occults Jupiter, the last such occurrence until 1570.

○ Pope Innocent III gives oral permission to Francis of Assisi to begin the Order of Friars Minor.

○ The church of St Helen's Bishopsgate in the City of London is founded as a priory of Benedictine nuns.

When I was thirty-five, in the year of our Lord 1211, and AS 29 by our count, we moved north to the Barony of Marinus.

○ September 14 – Canons Regular of the Order of the Holy Cross are founded in Liège.

○ October 15 – Battle of the Rhyndacus: the Latin emperor Henry of Flanders defeats the Nicaean emperor Theodore I Lascaris.

○ Troops led by Estonian resistance fighter Lembitu of Lehola destroy a garrison of missionaries in the historical Estonian region of Sakala, and raid the town of Pskov in the Novgorod Republic.

○ Mongol forces under Genghis Khan invade Jin Dynasty China, aiming at this stage simply to loot the countryside. A Chinese army is defeated and slaughtered at the Battle of the Badger Mouth near Zhangjiakou and another is beaten at Mukden, where the city is taken. Beijing is also besieged by the Mongol hordes.

○ The church in the French city of Reims burns down; soon after, construction begins on Reims Cathedral.

○ King John of England sends a gift of herrings to nunneries in almost every shire despite his status as an excommunicant.

○ The oldest extant double-entry bookkeeping system record dates from this year.

When I was thirty-six, in the year of our Lord 1212, and AS 30 by our count,

○ July 10 – The most severe of several early fires of London burns most of the city to the ground, Over 3,000 people die.

○ July 16 – Battle of Navas de Tolosa: The Christian kingdoms of Spain decisively defeat the Almohads. This victory leaves however the Kingdom of Castile in a difficult financial position as the numerous soldiers have to be paid by the treasury.

○ December – Frederick II of Hohenstaufen is crowned King of Germany with the support of Pope Innocent III.

○ The Children's Crusade for the Holy Land is organised. There are probably two separate movements of young people, both led by shepherd boys, neither of which embark from Europe, but both of which suffer considerable hardship:

§ Early spring – Nicholas leads a group from the Rhineland to Genoa and Rome. § June – 12-year-old Stephen of Cloyes leads a group across France to Marseilles.

○ The contemplative Order of Poor Clares is founded by Clare of Assisi.

○ In Japan, Kamo no Chōmei writes the Hōjōki, one of the great works of classical Japanese prose.

○ Bran Castle is erected by the Teutonic Knights.

○ John of England impounds the revenue of all prelates appointed by bishops who had deserted him at his excommunication. He remains on good terms, however, with churchmen who stood by him, including Abbot Sampson, who this year bequeaths John his jewels.

○ The Banner of Las Navas de Tolosa is begun. It is a trophy of Ferdinand III of Castile, and will end up in the Museo de Telas Medievales.

When I was thirty-seven, in the year of our Lord 1213, and AS 31 by our count, I gave birth to my daughter. That year, she and I traveled to the Barony of Axemoor, then in the Kingdom of Meridies, to attend the Knowne World Dance Symposium and to visit with many old friends.

○ May 15 – King John of England submits to Pope Innocent III, who in turn lifts the interdict of 1208.

○ May 30 – Battle of Damme: The English fleet under William Longespée, 3rd Earl of Salisbury destroys a French fleet off the Belgian port, in the first major victory for the fledgling Royal Navy.

○ September 12 – Battle of Muret: The Toulousain and Aragonese forces of Raymond VI of Toulouse and Peter II of Aragon are defeated by the Albigensian Crusade under Simon de Montfort.

○ Jin China is overrun by the Mongols under Genghis Khan, who plunder the countryside and cities, until only Beijing remains free, despite two bloody palace coups and a lengthy siege.

○ Pope Innocent III issues a charter, calling for the Fifth Crusade to recapture Jerusalem.

○ Mukhali seizes Mizhou and orders all the inhabitants massacred.

When I was thirty-eight, in the year of our Lord 1214, and AS 32 by our count, my first husband left for war and never returned.

○ November 1 – Siege of Sinope: The Black Sea port city of Sinope surrenders to the Seljuq Turks.

○ The Emperor Xuanzong of Jin China surrenders to the Mongols under Genghis Khan, who have besieged Beijing for a year. He pays a huge ransom and then abandons northern China, heading for Kaifeng.

○ In his campaigns in Liaodong, the Mongol general Mukhali commands a newly formed Khitan–Chinese army and a special corps of 12,000 Chinese auxiliary troops.

○ February 15 – John, King of England, lands an invasion force at La Rochelle in France.

○ July 27 – Battle of Bouvines: Philip II of France defeats an army of Imperial German, English and Flemish soldiers led by Otto IV, Holy Roman Emperor, in the Kingdom of France, ending the Anglo-French War (1202–14).

○ Summer – King Alfonso VIII of Castile besieges Almohad troops in Baeza. The famine experienced in the peninsula is such that neither army is able to fight.

○ September 18 – Treaty of Chinon signed by John, King of England, and Philip II of France recognising the Capetian gains from the Angevin Empire.

○ October 5 – Upon the death of their father, King Alfonso VIII of Castile, and of their mother, Eleanor (October 31), Bernguela becomes the regent of her young brother, King Henry I.

○ December 4 – Death of William the Lion, King of the Scots, having reigned since 1165; he is succeeded by his son, Alexander II (crowned at Scone on December 6) who will reign until his death in 1249.

○ The German city of Bielefeld is founded.

○ June 20 – Papal ordinance defines the rights of the scholars at the University of Oxford.

○ April 13 (approx.) – Simon of Apulia elected Bishop of Exeter in England.

○ According to Catholic Church tradition, the rosary is given to Saint Dominic by Mary (mother of Jesus).

When I was thirty-nine, in the year of our Lord 1215, and AS 33 by our count,

○ March 4 – King John of England makes an oath to Pope Innocent III as a crusader to gain his support.

○ June 1 – Mongol conquest of the Jin dynasty: after the long Battle of Zhongdu, Genghis Khan's Mongols captured and torched Beijing (the city burns for more than a month).

○ June 15 – King John of England is forced by rebellious barons of England at Runnymede to put the Great Seal of the Realm on a set of articles confirming their rights and those of the towns and Church, and confirming the status of trial by jury,[7] which on June 19 is confirmed as Magna Carta.

○ August – King John of England rejects Magna Carta, leading to the First Barons' War.

○ August 24 – Pope Innocent III declares Magna Carta invalid.

○ November 11 – The Fourth Council of the Lateran gathers in Rome under Pope Innocent III, who adopts the style "Vicar of Christ".

○ December – First Barons' War: Alexander II of Scotland invades northern England.

○ Otto IV, Holy Roman Emperor, is excommunicated and forced to abdicate as Emperor and King of Burgundy, replaced by Frederick II (King of the Romans 1212–1250).

○ The Dominican Order is founded, according to some sources. ○ Kalinga Magha from Kalinga Province in India lands in Sri Lanka with a force of 24,000 men, to capture the city of Polonnaruwa and depose its King, Parakrama Pandya. When I was forty, in the year of our Lord 1216, and AS 34 by our count, I married my second husband. ○ January – First Barons' War: The English army sacks Berwick-on-Tweed and raids southern Scotland.

○ April 10 – Upon the death of Erik Knutsson, he is succeeded by his rival Johan Sverkersson as king of Sweden.

○ April 22 – Battle of Lipitsa: Mstislav the Daring and Konstantin of Rostov defeat their rivals for the rule of the Principality of Vladimir-Suzdal.

○ May 21 – First Barons' War: Prince Louis of France, the future King Louis VIII, invades England in support of the barons, landing in Thanet. Entering London without opposition, he is proclaimed, but not crowned, King of England at Old St Paul's Cathedral.

○ July 24 – The French Albigensian Crusaders of the castle of Beaucaire surrender to Raymond, future count of Toulouse.

○ October 18 or 19 – John, King of England, dies at Newark Castle, Nottinghamshire; he is succeeded by his nine-year-old son Henry, with William Marshal, Earl of Pembroke, as regent. The young Henry III of England is crowned at Gloucester on October 28.

○ November 12 – William Marshal and the papal legate to England, Guala Bicchieri, issue a Charter of Liberties, based on the Magna Carta, in the new King of England's name.

○ Dresden receives city rights.

○ In England, Roger of Wendover begins to cover contemporary events in his continuation of the chronicle Flores Historiarum.

○ July 24 – Pope Honorius III succeeds Pope Innocent III as the 177th pope.

○ Pope Honorius III officially approves the Order of Preachers (the Dominican Order).

○ Ballintubber Abbey is founded by King Cathal Crovdearg O'Connor of Connaught in Ireland.

When I was forty-one, in the year of our Lord 1217, and AS 35 by our count, my youngest was born.

○ Mukhali is back in Genghis Khan's camp in Mongolia and receives the hereditary title of prince, a golden seal, and a white standard with 9 tails and a black crescent in the middle. He is appointed commander in chief of operations in North China.

○ The Fifth Crusade reaches the Holy Land

○ April 9 – Peter II of Courtenay is crowned emperor of the Latin Empire of Constantinople at Rome, by Pope Honorius III.

○ May 20 – First Barons' War in England: Occupying French forces are defeated at the Battle of Lincoln by English royal troops led by William Marshal, Earl of Pembroke and survivors forced to flee south.

○ June 6 – King Henry I of Castile dies aged thirteen from the fall of a roof tile in Palencia, an event which his regent, Álvaro Núñez de Lara, attempts to conceal. Henry's sister Berengaria succeeds to the throne.

○ June – Haakon Haakonsson becomes King Haakon IV of Norway following the death of Inge II and largely ends the civil war era in Norway, reigning until 1263.

○ August 24 – First Barons' War: In the Battle of Sandwich in the English Channel, English forces destroy the French and the French mercenary Eustace the Monk is captured and beheaded.

○ August 31 – Ferdinand becomes King of Castile on abdication of his mother Berengaria.

○ September 12 – First Barons' War in England ended by the Treaty of Kingston upon Thames: French and Scots are to leave England, and an amnesty is granted to rebels.

○ September 20 – Treaty of Lambeth signed ratifying the Treaty of Kingston.

○ September 21 – Livonian Crusade: The Livonian Brothers of the Sword and allied Livs and Letts defeat the Estonian army in the Battle of St. Matthew's Day and kill their leader Lembitu.

○ November – In the Kingdom of Castile, former regent Álvaro Núñez de Lara is captured and forced to relinquish all his castles.

○ Stefan Nemanjić is elevated to be first King of the Serbian lands by Pope Honorius III and crowned by Stefan's brother, Archimandrite Sava, in Žiča.

○ Alcácer do Sal is reconquered by the troops of King Afonso II of Portugal.

○ A decree made in England establishes that only Englishman can be clergy of Ireland.

When I was forty-two, in the year of our Lord 1218, and AS 36 by our count, I withdrew from the world and began a period of hermitage and contemplation.

○ August 31 – Al-Kamil becomes the new Egyptian Sultan on the death of his father Al-Adil.

○ May 24 – The Fifth Crusade leaves Acre for Egypt.

○ Damietta is besieged by the knights of the Fifth Crusade.

○ Minamoto no Sanetomo becomes Udaijin of Japan.

○ The Kara-Khitan Khanate is destroyed by Genghis Khan's Mongolian cavalry.

○ Genghis Khan's Mongols, under the leadership of his eldest son Jochi, conduct a second campaign against the Kyrgyz.

○ Genghis Khan proposes to the Khwarazm shah of Persia that he accept Mongol overlordship and establish trade relations.

○ March – Treaty of Worcester recognises Llywelyn the Great as regent of south Wales.

○ July – Spain: In order to facilitate the movement of Reconquista, Pope Honorius III reverses Innocent III’s earlier judgement and declares Ferdinand III of Castile legitimate heir to the Kingdom of Leon.

○ The Livonian Brothers of the Sword begin to conquer Estonia.

○ Alfonso IX of Castile founds the University of Salamanca.

○ The northern French city of Rheims emits the first recorded public life annuity in medieval Europe. Theretofore, this type of instrument had been mostly issued by religious institutions. The emission by Rheims is the first evidence of a consolidation of public debt that is to become common in the Langue d'Oïl, the Low Countries and Germany.

○ Saint Pedro Nolasco founds the Order of the Blessed Virgin Mary of Mercy in Barcelona, Spain.

When I was forty-three, in the year of our Lord 1219,  and AS 37 by our count,

○ November 5 – Damietta, Egypt falls to the Crusaders after a siege.

○ Saint Francis of Assisi introduces Catholicism into Egypt, during the Fifth Crusade.

○ The Egyptian city of Al Mansurah is founded.

○ By letter, Genghis Khan summons Qiu Chuji (Chongchan) to visit him to advise him on the medicine of immortality (the Philosopher's Stone)

○ The Hojo family, vassals of the Shogun, reduce him to a figurehead.

○ June 15 – Livonian Crusade: Danish crusaders led by King Valdemar II conquer Tallinn in the Battle of Lyndanisse. The Flag of Denmark allegedly falls from the sky during that battle. Their stronghold in Tallinn will help the Danes conquer the entire Northern Estonia. The Dannebrog remains the national flag of Denmark.

○ Twenty-four Lithuanian dukes and nobles purportedly sign a peace treaty with Halych-Volhynia, stating common cause against invading Christian Crusaders.

○ Upon the death of Aymeric of Saint Maur, Alan Marcell becomes master of the Temple in England.

○ The East Frisian island of Burchana is broken up in a North Sea flood.

○ The windmill is first introduced to China with the travels of Yelü Chucai to Transoxiana.

When I was forty-four, in the year of our Lord 1220, and AS 38 by our count,

○ May 26 - German Frederick II, Holy Roman Emperor grants bishops sovereign rights

○ May – St. Francis of Assisi resigns from the leadership of the Franciscan Order.

○ August 8 – Livonian Crusade: Estonians defeat the invading Swedes in the Battle of Lihula.

○ November 22 – Frederick II is crowned Holy Roman Emperor by Pope Honorius III.

○ The Mongols first invade the Khwarazmian Empire; Bukhara and Samarkand are taken.

○ The Dominican Order is approved by Pope Honorius III.

○ Conrad of Masovia drives out the heathen Prussians from a Masovian territory of Chelmno Land.

○ Trial by ordeal is abolished in England.

○ The German Hohenstaufen dynasty, which had ruled Sicily since 1194, adopts Palermo as its principal seat.

○ Dordrecht receives city rights, making it the oldest city in the present-day Holland area.

○ Ljubljana receives its town rights.

○ The Islamic lands of Central Asia are overrun by the armies of the Mongol invader Genghis Khan (ca. 1155–1227), who lays waste to many civilizations and creates an empire that stretches from China to the Caspian Sea. However, he fails to destroy the strength of Islam in Central Asia.

○ The Thai Kingdom of Sukhothai is established.

○ St Benedict of Nursia was Canonized by the Roman Catholic Church.

○ Gothic architecture becomes increasingly popular in Europe.

○ The rebuilding of the Cathedral of Chartres, which had been destroyed by a fire in 1194, is completed.

○ Rebuilding of Amiens Cathedral begins.

○ Rebuilding of York Minster begins.

○ Building of the Salisbury Cathedral begins.

○ Rebuilding of the city of London begins

When I was forty-five, in the year of our Lord 1221, and AS 39 by our count,

○ January – The Mongol army under Jochi captures the city of Gurganj (modern-day Konye-Urgench in Turkmenistan) and massacres the inhabitants, reported by contemporary scholars as being over a million.

○ February – The oasis city of Merv on the Silk Road is sacked by the Mongols under Tolui at the orders of Genghis Khan. Contemporary scholars report over a million people are systematically killed in a genocide.

○ May 13 – Emperor Juntoku is forced to abdicate and is briefly succeeded by his 2-year-old son Emperor Chūkyō on the throne of Japan. Ex-Emperor Go-Toba leads the unsuccessful Jōkyū War against the Kamakura shogunate.

○ June 16 – The Jews of Erfurt, Germany were massacred al Kiddush Hashem. This day was observed as a fast day for many years.

The Jews were falsely accused of a ritual murder. A crowd stormed the synagogue where the Jews had gathered. As usual the threat was baptism or death. The Jewish quarter including the synagogue was razed, many Jews were tortured and killed. Among the martyrs were Shem Tov ha-Levi and Rabbi and Mrs. Shmuel Kalonymos, Hy"d.

○ July 29 – 10-year-old Emperor Go-Horikawa ascends to the Chrysanthemum Throne of Japan.

○ Mid-December – John III Doukas Vatatzes becomes Byzantine Emperor (in the Empire of Nicaea).

○ A large and highly efficient Mongol army, dispatched under Subutai by Genghis Khan to Georgia, defeats two Georgian armies around Tbilisi, but lacks the will or equipment to besiege the city.

○ Genghis Khan enters the Indus Valley in modern-day Pakistan.

○ Majd al-Mulk al-Muzaffar, the grand vizier of Greater Khorasan, is killed in a genocide by the Mongol invaders.

○ Sultan al-Kamil, son of al-Adil ("Saphadin") who was a brother of Saladin, offers Jerusalem to the Crusaders for ten years in return for Damietta, which the Crusaders eventually give up in exchange for a safe retreat from the Nile Delta.

○ The city of Nizhny Novgorod in Russia is founded.

When I was forty-six, in the year of our Lord 1222, and AS 40 by our count,

○ April 17 – Stephen Langton, Archbishop of Canterbury in England, opens a council at Osney Abbey, Oxford.

○ May 11 – Cyprus earthquake.

○ August – After the death of John I of Sweden on March 10, 6-year-old Erik Eriksson is elected new King of Sweden sometime between this time and July 1223.

○ Livonian Crusade: Failed Danish attempt to conquer Saaremaa Island from the Estonians.

○ The Cistercian convent is completed in Alcobaça, Portugal.

○ Ottokar I of Bohemia reunites Bohemia and Moravia.

○ Traditional date of foundation of the University of Padua in Italy by Frederick II, Holy Roman Emperor.

○ The Golden Bull of 1222 is issued in Hungary, limiting the power of the monarchy over the nobility.

○ Approximate date – Royal Standard of Scotland adopted

When I was forty-seven, in the year of our Lord 1223, and AS 41 by our count,

○ March 25 – Sancho II is crowned King of Portugal

○ May 31 – Battle of the Kalka River: The Mongol armies of Genghis Khan defeat the Russian warriors.

○ August 6 – Louis VIII is crowned King of France.

○ Battle of Samara Bend: Volga Bulgars defeat the Mongol army.

○ The Franciscan Rule is approved by Pope Honorius III.

○ Failure of an attempt by the Sicilian fleet to reconquer Jerba.

When I was forty-eight, in the year of our Lord 1224, and AS 42 by our count,

○ The Chichimecas capture Tula.

○ June 8 – Maya Long Count calendar: The eleventh b'ak'tun comes to an end, and the twelfth b'ak'tun begins the next day (June 9).

○ Livonian Crusade: The Livonian Brothers of the Sword defeat the Latgallians and reconquer the captured strongholds in Southern and Central Estonia. With the surrender of Tartu stronghold, only Saaremaa Island remains under Estonian control.

○ The last Muslims inhabitants are expelled from Sicily and Malta.

○ February – At Carrión the king of Castile, Ferdinand III announces his intention to resume his effort of reconquest against al-Andalus.[9] That same year, the Almohad caliph, Yusuf II al-Mustansir dies. He is succeeded by Abu Muhammad al-Wahid, but in al-Andalus, two competing pretenders also claim their rights to the throne: Abu Muhammad Ibn al-Mansur al-Adil in Seville, and Abu Muhammad abu Abdallah al-Bayyasi in Cordoba. The chronic political instability on the Muslim side allow the Castillan prince to beginning his campaign victoriously with the capture of Quesada (October).

○ The University of Naples is founded.

○ September 14 – St. Francis of Assisi, while praying on the mountain of Verna, during a 40-day fast, is said to have had a vision, as a result of which he received the stigmata (approximate date). Brother Leo, who had been with Francis at the time, left a clear and simple account of the event, the first definite account of the phenomenon of stigmata.[10]

When I was forty-nine, in the year of our Lord 1225, and AS 43 by our count,

○ The Teutonic Knights are expelled from Transylvania because they want to separate from Hungary.

○ Magna Carta is reaffirmed (for the third time) by Henry III of England, in return for issuing a property tax.

○ Iltutmish, the sultan of Delhi, repels a Mongol attack and marches against Ghiyasuddin who cedes Bihar to him.

○ July 27 – Visby Cathedral in Sweden is consecrated.

○ December 31 – Lý Chiêu Hoàng, the only empress regnant in the history of Vietnam, marries Trần Thái Tông, making him the first emperor of the Trần Dynasty at age seven.

When I was fifty, in the year of our Lord 1226, and AS 44 by our count,

○ King Louis VIII of France launches a large southward offensive against the Albigensians and the Count of Toulouse. Ramon Berenguer IV, Count of Provence, uses the opportunity to reassert his authority upon the autonomous municipalities of his estates (October). Most cities have to accept the authority of the Count but Marseille and Nice rebel.[12]

○ November 8 – Louis IX of France starts to rule on the death of Louis VIII.

○ King Sancho II of Portugal launches a large offensive against the Muslims and takes the city of Elvas.

○ Frederick II, Holy Roman Emperor, calls the Imperial Diet of Cremona.

○ Nuneaton is granted a Chartered market status by King Henry III of England.

○ Rǫgnvaldr Guðrøðarson, King of the Isles is overthrown as ruler of the Kingdom of the Isles and replaced with his half-brother, Olaf the Black.

○ October 30 – Trần Thủ Độ, head of the Trần Dynasty of Vietnam, forces Lý Huệ Tông, last emperor of the Lý Dynasty, to commit suicide.

○ In Norway, Brother Robert writes Saga Af Tristram ok Ísodd, one of the rare fully surviving versions of the legend of Tristan and Iseult.

○ The Carmelite Order is approved by Pope Honorius III.

When I was fifty-one, in the year of our Lord 1227, and AS 45 by our count,

○ January § Livonian Crusade: The Livonian Brothers of the Sword and their crusader allies cross the sea ice from mainland Estonia and defeat the last Estonian strongholds on Muhu and Saaremaa islands. This marks the end of the Estonian campaign in the Livonian Crusade. The Sword Brothers conquer Danish Estonia and Tallinn (Reval) is given town rights under Riga law. § Henry III of England declares himself of age and assumes power. § (approximate date) Swedish–Novgorodian Wars: Grand Prince Yaroslav II of Vladimir leads an attack from the Novgorod Republic on Finnic peoples in eastern Fennoscandia called "Yem", whom he devastates.

○ January 11 – The city of Požega is first mentioned in a charter of Andrew II of Hungary.

○ March – England makes a truce with France.

○ March 19 – Pope Gregory IX succeeds Pope Honorius III as the 178th pope.

○ November 24 – Prince Leszek I the White, High Duke of Poland, is assassinated at an assembly of Piast dukes at Gąsawa.

When I was fifty-two, in the year of our Lord 1228, and AS 46 by our count,

○ Abu Zakariya founds the Hafsid dynasty in Ifriqiyah (today's Tunisia).

○ Sukaphaa, the first Ahom king, establishes his rule in Assam. The Ahom kings reign for close to 600 years.

○ April 25 – Conrad IV of Germany becomes titular King of Jerusalem, with Frederick II, Holy Roman Emperor as regent.

○ June 28 – The Sixth Crusade is launched from Brindisi by Emperor Frederick II, after delays due to sickness and an excommunication from Pope Gregory IX.

○ Baldwin II becomes emperor of the Latin Empire in Constantinople, with John of Brienne as regent.

○ The Transylvanian town of Reghin is first mentioned in a charter of Andrew II of Hungary.

○ Spain: King James I of Aragon launches a major offensive against the Muslims in Majorca. The same year, in Murcia, confronted to increasing Christian pressure, the cadi (soon to be called emir), Ibn Hud al-Yamadi, denounces the Almohads and acknowledges the Abbasids as legitimate caliphs, in effect declaring independence. Other notable Christian success: Alfonso IX of León conquers Mérida.

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

○ First evidence of the use of the knights Templar as cashiers by the king of England to transfer safely 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.

○ July 16 – Saint Francis of Assisi is canonized by Pope Gregory IX.

When I was fifty-three, in the year of our Lord 1229, and AS 47 by our count,

○ February 18 – Sixth Crusade: Frederick II signs a ten-year truce with al-Kamil, regaining Jerusalem, Nazareth, and Bethlehem with neither military engagements nor support from the papacy.

○ March 6 (Shrove Tuesday) – The 2-year University of Paris strike begins with a student riot.

○ March 18 – Sixth Crusade: Frederick II crowns himself King of Jerusalem.

○ April 12 – The Treaty of Paris brings the Albigensian Crusade to an end.

○ April 23 – Alfonso IX of León conquers Cáceres.

○ September 12 – The Catalan-Aragonese army under the command of James I of Aragon disembarks at Santa Ponça, Majorca, with the purpose of conquering the island.

○ November 28 or November 29 – Erik Eriksson is defeated in the Battle of Olustra and deposed as king of Sweden by Knut Långe, who proclaims himself the new king.

○ The Catholic Church permanently establishes the Inquisition, in the charge of the Dominican Order in Rome.

○ Beverston Castle, Gloucestershire, England is founded.

○ Following the deadlock tie in the election of the Venetian Doge, the number of electors is increased from 40 to 41 in order to prevent such future occurrences.

○ The University of Toulouse is founded in France.

○ The city of Turku, Finland is founded.

○ The city of Rapperswil is established by Count Rudolf II of Rapperswil

When I was fifty-four, in the year of our Lord 1230, and AS 48 by our count,

○ Sundiata starts to rule in Mali (approximate date).

○ In the West African village of Siby, Sundiata Keita, founder of the Mali Empire, forces the Malinkés to bind themselves to each other by oath.

○ August 10–12 – Sultan Kayqubad I of Rum defeats Shah Jalal ad-Din of Persia in the Battle of Yassıçemen, ending the Khwarazmian dynasty

○ March 9 – Bulgarian tsar Ivan Asen II defeats Theodore of Epirus near the village of Klokotnitsa.

○ Iberian Peninsula: Alfonso IX defeats Ibn Hud al-Yamani (known as Almogàver by the Christians) at the battle of Alange. This success opens the road to Badajoz to the Leonese troops. The Portuguese king Sancho II continues his offensive southward and takes Beja, Juromenha, Serpa and Moura.

○ September 24 – The Kingdoms of León and Galicia unite with the Kingdoms of Castile and Toledo under Ferdinand III.

○ The Teutonic Knights are invited into Prussia to forcibly convert the Prussians and Yatvags to Christianity.

○ The Carmina Burana poetry and song collection is created (approximate date).

When I was fifty-five, in the year of our Lord 1231, and AS 49 by our count,

○ April 9 – After a bizarre weather phenomena of yellowish clouds and dust chokes the air around Hangzhou, Song Dynasty, China, obscuring the sky and sun, a fire breaks out at night in the southeast of the city, which continues into the next day. Fighting the flames is difficult due to limited visibility. When the fires are extinguished, it is discovered that an entire district of some 10,000 houses in the southeast of the city were consumed by the flames.

○ Mongol troops cross the Yalu River into Korea, then under the Goryeo Kingdom.

○ Italy: Emperor Frederick II promulgates the Constitutions of Melfi (also known as Liber Augustalis), a collection of laws for Sicily.

○ Llywelyn the Great launches a campaign against the Norman lordships in Wales.

○ Spain: The Castillans reconquer the city of Quesada.

○ Ardengus becomes bishop of Florence.

When I was fifty-six, in the year of our Lord 1232, and AS 50 by our count, I emerged from my hermitage because I was offered an excellent business opportunity and found myself a silk merchant, traveling from town to town selling my wares.

○ The Almohad army besieges Ceuta where Abu Musa, the rebellious brother of the caliph, has received shelter and the support of the population. The Genoese rent a part of their fleet to the rebels who successfully resist the forces of the caliph. The consequences of this revolt are threefold: the city becomes de facto independent from the Almohads, but its reliance on the Italian maritime powers increases and the trans-Saharan trade routes begin to shift eastward due to the local turmoil.

○ The first edition of Tripitaka Koreana is destroyed by Mongol invaders.

○ April 8 – The Jin Dynasty in China defend their capital against the Mongol siege on Kaifeng during the Mongol–Jin War. The battle involves the use of rockets.

○ June 15 – Battle of Agridi: Henry I of Cyprus defeats the armies of Frederick II.

○ Spain: Muhammad Ibn Yusuf Ibn Nasr rebels against the independent ruler of al-Andalus, Ibn Hud al-Yadami and takes control of the city of Arjona. This is the foundation of the Nasrid dynasty.

○ Italy: Pope Gregory IX, driven from Rome by a revolt, takes refuge at Anagni .		○ Holy Roman Emperor Frederick II promulgates the Statutum in favorem principum.

○ The northern French city of Troyes issues its first recorded life annuities, confirming the trend of consolidation of local public debts initiated in 1218 by the neighboring city of Reims.

○ May 30 – Anthony of Padua is canonized by Pope Gregory IX at Spoleto less than a year after his death; he becomes the patron saint of lost items. When I was fifty-seven, in the year of our Lord 1233 and AS 51 by our count, I continued to travel far and wide in the Known World, selling silks and linens and meeting new people in several Kingdoms. I traveled to the Fifty-Year Celebration and was fortunate enough to see several dear friends from years gone by!
 * Mongol-Jin War - the Mongols capture the city of Kaifeng, the capitol of the Jin dynasty, after besieging it for months.
 * The Mongol siege of Caizhou begins


 * Winter – Spain: after the loss of Trujillo and Ubeda, Ibn Hud al-Yamadi has to demand a truce to the king of Castile, Ferdinand the Third.
 * The Castillian troops besiege the Muslim-held city of Peniscola.
 * The rebellious city of San Severo is destroyed by Frederick the Second, Holy Roman Emperor.
 * Elberg and Gendt get their city rights.
 * Amadeus IV becomes count of Savoy.
 * Pope Gregory IX forbids Jews to employ Christian servants.

When I was fifty-eight, in the year of our Lord 1234 and AS 52 by our reckoning
 * The Manden region rises against the Kaniaga Kingdom. This is the beginning of a process that will lead to the rise of the Mali Empire.


 * February 9 – Mongol conquest of the Jin dynasty: In the Siege of Caizhou, Song Dynasty Chinese and Mongolian armies occupy the Jurchen capital at Caizhou, and Emperor Aizong of Jin commits suicide, marking the collapse of the Jin Dynasty.


 * Upon the death of Knut Långe, the deposed Erik Eriksson returns as king of Sweden, possibly after a small war between the two of them. It is also possible that Knut dies of natural causes, and Erik peacefully then returns as king.
 * Pope Gregory IX calls for a crusade against Bosnia, and replaces the Bogumil Bosnian Bishop with a Catholic Dominican German, Johann.
 * King Andrew II of Hungary proclaims herzeg Coloman as Ban of Bosnia, who passes it on to Prijezda, a cousin of Ban Matej Ninoslav (1234 to 1239), despite Matej being the legitimate Ban of Bosnia.
 * Sancho II of Portugal conquers the cities of Aljustrel and Mértola from the Muslims.[1]


 * Saint Dominic is canonized.
 * Pope Gregory IX releases the Nova Compilatio Decretalium or Decretales Gregorii IX.

When I was fifty-nine, in the year of our Lord 1235 and AS 53 by our reckoning, I was able at last to attend the Great Pennsic War, my first War in nineteen years! Now I am turned sixty years of age, in the year of our Lord 1236 and AS 54 by our count. I am sure the world will continue to hold many wonders!
 * Connacht in Ireland is finally conquered by the Hiberno-Norman Richard Mór de Burgh; Felim Ua Conchobair is expelled.
 * A general inquisition begins in France.
 * The Byzantine emperor John III Doukas Vatatzes and the Bulgarian tsar Ivan Asen II besiege Constantinople, in an attempt to take it from its Latin rulers, John of Brienne and Baldwin II. Angelo Sanudo successfully negotiates a two-year truce.
 * Elizabeth of Hungary (d. 1231) is canonized, by Pope Gregory IX.
 * A Chinese text of this year records that Hangzhou City, the capital of the Song Dynasty, held various social clubs that included a West Lake Poetry Club, the Buddhist Tea Society, the Physical Fitness Club, the Anglers' Club, the Occult Club, the Young Girls' Chorus, the Exotic Foods Club, the Plants and Fruits Club, the Antique Collectors' Club, the Horse-Lovers' Club, and the Refined Music Society.
 * Probable date – The Lancaster Royal Grammar School is founded in England.
 * Approximate date – Battle of Kirina: Mandinka prince Sundiata Keita defeats Sosso king Soumaoro Kanté, beginning the Mali Empire. By tradition, the Manden Charter, a constitution, is proclaimed in Kouroukan Fouga.
 * Kouroukan Fouga, the constitution of the Mali Empire, is created.


 * May 1 – Razia Sultana is the designated successor of her father, to the Delhi Sultanate.
 * Only four of 58 districts in Sichuan, China, are captured from the Southern Song by the Mongols, under Ögedei Khan.
 * Kalinga Magha, founder of the Aryacakravarti Dynasty, is expelled from Polonnaruwa to Jaffna, the capital of the Jaffna Kingdom.


 * January 14 – Henry III of England marries Eleanor of Provence.
 * June 29 – Córdoba, Andalusia, is taken by Castilian troops from the emir Ibn Hud, as part of the Reconquista of the Iberian Peninsula.[1] The Great Mosque here becomes wholly a Roman Catholic cathedral.
 * September 22 – Battle of Saule: The Lithuanians and Semigallians defeat the Livonian Brothers of the Sword.
 * Volga Bulgaria is conquered by the Mongol Batu Khan.
 * A tournament at Tickhill in England turns into a battle between northerners and southerners, but peace is restored by the papal legate.[2]


 * May 6 – Roger of Wendover, Benedictine monk and chronicler of St. Albans Abbey dies. His chronicle is continued by Matthew Paris.


 * A drought causes the harvest to fail, and leads to one of the great famines of the century in Europe.


 * Alexander of Hales enters the Franciscan Order.