rtrapasso
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Year 1241 The Holy Roman Emperor Friedrich II signs a treaty February 18 with the Egyptian sultan Malik-al-Kamil, nephew of the late Saladin, who surrenders Bethlehem, Nazareth, and Jerusalem plus a corridor to the port of Acre for use by Christian pilgrims (see 1187). Jerusalem's patriarchs oppose Friedrich's accession but he enters the city March 12 and crowns himself king March 18 in the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, assuming the monarchy by right of his marriage in November 1225 to the late Iolande (Isabella), daughter of Jerusalem's titular king Jean de Brienne. Friedrich returns to Italy in June and easily drives out his foes. Swedish magnates depose the boy-king Erik XI Eriksson after a 7-year reign and replace him with Knud, who will reign until 1234. Erik flees to Norway under the protection of his guardians but will return in 1233. The Teutonic Knights arrive on the Vistula, having been summoned by Konrad, duke of Masovien, to protect his duchy from constant raids by neighbors in Pruzzen. Simon de Montfort moves to England (see 1218). Now 21, the French-born younger son and namesake of the late Norman crusader will gain help from his cousin Ranulf, earl of Chester, in obtaining some confiscated estates. Majorca in the Balearic Islands falls to the forces of Aragon's Jaime I in December (see Ibiza, 1235). Turku is founded by Finns, who build a cathedral and make the new town their capital. Raymond VII, comte de Toulouse, is forced to do penance at the new Cathedral of Notre Dame in Paris April 12 and promises to help stamp out the Cathar "heresy" (see 1226). Albigensian Crusaders at Toulouse forbid laymen to read the Bible, which has not been translated into anything but Greek and Latin and will not be for centuries to come. The crusade as such ends after 20 years, but persecution of Cathars will continue (see inquisition, 1233). EDIT: Year 1242 The Teutonic Knights invade Novgorod, whose leaders invite Aleksandr Nevski to return and help them repel the invaders (see 1240; religion, 1237). The late Pope Gregory IX encouraged the Knights to "Christianize" the Baltic region, but the Battle on Lake Peipus April 5 ends in a victory for Aleksandr, who stops the Knights in a savage struggle on the ice between Lake Piepus (Chud) and Lake Pskov in Livonia. The battle ends in a massacre; some of the Knights, laden with heavy armor, crash through the ice in their flight and are drowned, others are taken captive. England's Henry III invades France to support feudal lords in the south who have rebelled against Louis IX, but Henry meets with defeat at Saintes in Poitevin and escapes death or capture largely through the help of his brother Richard, earl of Cornwall and Simon de Montfort, earl of Leicester, who have returned from their crusade in January after refortifying Ascalon and negotiating an advantageous treaty. Richard's prompt retreat at Saintes and subsequent diplomacy at Taillebourg save Henry; Aquitaine and Toulouse will soon submit to the French king, and the coalition of rebellious barons will collapse. Hugh de Lacy, earl of Ulster, dies in Ulster December 26 at age 66, leaving no legitimate heirs. His earldom reverts to the crown. The Holy Roman Emperor Friedrich II pays a short visit to his German realms that have been threatened earlier by the Mongols. He gains some support by granting extensive privileges to certain towns. The Mongol and Turkic Golden Horde regroups at Sarai on the lower Volga under the command of Batu Khan (see 1240; 1243). Il Statuto Veneto (or Il Statuto Giacomo Tiepolo) is promulgated for Venice under the rule of its doge Giacomo Tiepolo; it requires that a husband render to his wife an account of his use of her dowry, with control of the capital sum remaining in her hands; an unfaithful wife forfeits her dowry, a widow enjoys her husband's patrimony until she remarries or dies, and should a couple renounce secular life their combined property is shared equally, with each free to do what he or she likes with the money and with parents providing for any underaged children on an equal basis (year approximate). Venice's Grand Doge Giacomo Tiepolo carries on naval and military expeditions while settling factional disputes; his wife, Valdrada, devotes her time to supporting trading companies (year approximate).
< Message edited by rtrapasso -- 6/12/2007 4:57:08 AM >
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