rtrapasso
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Year 1241:
The Battle of Liegnitz (Wahlstatt) in Silesia April 9 ends in victory for the Mongols of the Golden Horde, who cut down the feudal nobility of eastern Europe, including the German Knights Templar (see Kiev, 1240). Hungary's Béla IV leads a 100,000-man army to oppose them and is defeated by 90,000 Mongols April 11 at Moji on the Sajo River, losing between 40,000 and 70,000 men. The Mongols have invaded Poland, Hungary, and much of Russia, using catapults and ballistae that hurl stones, bolts, and "Greek Fire" (blazing naphtha). The Mongol khan Ughedei (Ogödai, or Subutai) dies at Karakorum in December at age 56 and his armies fall back to Karakorum to elect a successor (see 1246); the Golden Horde will never again reach so far into western Europe, but Hungary's Béla IV has been forced to flee to Dalmatia and the kingdom of Hungary will cease to exist until next year.
The Bulgarian czar Ivan Asen II dies after a glorious 23-year reign (see 1237). The Nicaean emperor John III Vatatzes annexes some Bulgarian territory, attacks the despotate of Epirus, and by next year will have reduced the sizes of Epirus and forced its despot to recognize Nicaean suzerainty. Bulgaria's Asen dynasty will continue until 1280 but the country will not regain her dominant position in the Balkans.
Denmark's Valdemar II (the Victorious) dies after a 39-year reign. His two elder sons quarrel over the succession, the elder son will reign until his assassination in 1250 as Erik IV Plovpenning with his younger brother Abel opposing him.
A Hanseatic League formed by Baltic trading towns will soon include Lübeck, Cologne, Breslau, and Danzig with concessions as far distant as London and Novgorod (see 1158; 1250).
Ships of the Hanseatic League employ new navigational discoveries including the rudder and the bowsprit. The rudder is an improvement over the oar that has been used canoe-fashion at the side of the stern, and the bowsprit permits the lower forward corner of the mainsail to be hauled beyond the bows so that a ship may sail more closely into the wind.
Smallpox reaches Denmark and Iceland (see 583; 1520).
Pope Gregory IX dies at Rome August 22 at age 94 after a 13-year reign while the Holy Roman Emperor Friedrich II is advancing against him. The pope has called a synod at Rome to depose Friedrich, who ravages papal lands, nearly takes Rome, and captures a large delegation of French prelates off Genoa, who are en route to the synod (he is induced to release the clergymen by France's Louis IX).
The late Gregory IX is succeeded October 25 by the ill and aged Milan-born Goffredo Cardinal Castiglioni, who is the first pope to be elected by a conclave set up to break a deadlock in the College of Cardinals. He reigns until November 10 as Celestine IV but dies during the controversy with the Holy Roman Emperor Friedrich II and will not be replaced until 1243.
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RE: The Thread!!! - 
If anything I spoke my mind a bit too freely. I have an underdeveloped sence of self-preservation and it comes back to bite me quite often. 
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