Explore 55 historical events from 1250–1259.
Walter de Gray was an English prelate and statesman who was Archbishop of York from 1215 to 1255 and Lord Chancellor from 1205 to 1214. His uncle was John de Gray, who was a bishop…
Walter de Gray, English prelate and statesman
Hugh of Lincoln was an English boy whose death in Lincoln was falsely attributed to Jews. He is sometimes known as Little Saint Hugh or Little Sir Hugh to distinguish him from the …
Little Saint Hugh of Lincoln (born 1247)
The Kingdom of Serbia, also known by historical exonym Rascia, was a medieval Serbian kingdom in Southern Europe comprising most of what is today Serbia, Kosovo, and Montenegro, as…
Serbian King Stefan Uroš I and the Republic of Venice sign a peace treaty
Marie of Brabant was Queen of France from 1274 until 1285 as the second wife of King Philip III. Born in Leuven, Brabant, she was a daughter of Henry III, Duke of Brabant, and Adel…
Marie of Brabant, Queen of France (died 1321)
Floris V reigned as Count of Holland and Zeeland from 1256 until 1296. His life was documented in detail in the Rijmkroniek by Melis Stoke, his chronicler. He is credited with a mo…
Floris V, Count of Holland (died 1296)
Marco Polo was a Venetian merchant, explorer, and writer who travelled through Asia along the Silk Road between 1271 and 1295. His travels are recorded in The Travels of Marco Polo…
Marco Polo, Italian merchant and explorer (died 1324)
Conrad, a member of the Hohenstaufen dynasty, was the only son of Emperor Frederick II from his second marriage with Queen Isabella II of Jerusalem. He inherited the title of King …
Conrad IV, king of Germany (born 1228)
Nichiren was a Japanese Buddhist monk and philosopher of the Kamakura period. His teachings form the basis of Nichiren Buddhism, a unique branch of Japanese Mahayana Buddhism base…
Nichiren, a Japanese Buddhist monk, propounds Namu Myōhō Renge Kyō for the first time and declares it to be the essence
John of Avesnes was the count of Hainaut from 1246 to his death.
Battle of West-Capelle: John I of Avesnes defeats Guy of Dampierre.
Mindaugas was the first known Grand Duke of Lithuania and the only crowned King of Lithuania. Little is known of his origins, early life, or rise to power; he is mentioned in a 121…
Mindaugas is crowned King of Lithuania.
Pope Innocent IV, born Sinibaldo Fieschi, was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 25 June 1243 to his death in 1254.
Pope Innocent IV canonises Stanislaus of Szczepanów, who was killed by King Bolesław II.
Amadeus IV was Count of Savoy from 1233 to 1253.
Amadeus IV, count of Savoy (born 1197)
Theobald I, also called the Troubadour and the Posthumous, was Count of Champagne from birth and King of Navarre from 1234. He initiated the Barons' Crusade, was famous as a trouvè…
Theobald I of Navarre (born 1201)
Chiara Offreduccio, known as Clare of Assisi, is an Italian saint who was one of the first followers of Francis of Assisi.
Clare of Assisi, Italian follower of Francis of Assisi (born 1194)
Nichiren was a Japanese Buddhist monk and philosopher of the Kamakura period. His teachings form the basis of Nichiren Buddhism, a unique branch of Japanese Mahayana Buddhism base…
The Japanese monk Nichiren declared the mantra Namu Myōhō Renge Kyō, now a central part of Nichiren Buddhism
Pope Innocent IV, born Sinibaldo Fieschi, was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 25 June 1243 to his death in 1254.
Pope Innocent IV issues the papal bull ad extirpanda, which authorizes, but also limits, the torture of heretics in the
Alfonso X was King of Castile, León and Galicia from 1 June 1252 until his death in 1284. During the election of 1257, a dissident faction chose him to be king of Germany on 1 Apri…
Alfonso X is proclaimed king of Castile and León
Robert Passelewe was a medieval Bishop of Chichester elect as well as being a royal clerk and Archdeacon of Lewes.
Robert Passelewe, Bishop of Chichester
Otto I of Brunswick-Lüneburg, a member of the House of Welf, was the first duke of Brunswick-Lüneburg from 1235 until his death. He is called Otto the Child to distinguish him from…
Otto I, Duke of Brunswick-Lüneburg
Abel Valdemarsen was Duke of Schleswig from 1232 to 1252 and King of Denmark from 1250 until his death in 1252. He was the son of Valdemar II by his second wife, Berengaria of Port…
Abel, King of Denmark (born 1218)
Giovanni da Pian del Carpine OFM was a medieval Italian diplomat, Catholic archbishop, explorer and one of the first Europeans to enter the court of the Great Khan of the Mongol Em…
Giovanni da Pian del Carpine, Italian archbishop and explorer (born 1180)
Ferdinand III, called the Saint, was King of Castile from 1217 and King of León from 1230 as well as King of Galicia from 1231. He was the son of Alfonso IX of León and Berengaria …
Ferdinand III, king of Castile and León (born 1199)
Pope Innocent IV, born Sinibaldo Fieschi, was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 25 June 1243 to his death in 1254.
Pope Innocent IV issued the papal bull Ad extirpanda, authorizing the use of torture on heretics during the Medieval Inq
The Order of the Brothers of the Blessed Virgin Mary of Mount Carmel, known as the Carmelites or sometimes by synecdoche known simply as Carmel, is a mendicant order in the Catholi…
Celebrated by the Carmelite Order–but doubted by modern historians–as the day when Saint Simon Stock had a vision of…