1220

Year 1220 (MCCXX) was a leap year starting on Wednesday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. This is commonly known as a limbo year.

Events

• April 26 – Confoederatio cum principibus ecclesiasticis: 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 - Battle of Lihula: Estonians defeat the invading Swedes.
• 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 the 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.
• The Thai Kingdom of Sukhothai is established.
• The University of Montpellier is granted its first statutes by Conrad of Urach.
• Saint Benedict of Nursia is 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.
  • The rebuilding of Amiens Cathedral begins.^[1]
  • Early part of Toulouse Cathedral completed.
  • The rebuilding of York Minster begins.
  • The building of the Salisbury Cathedral begins.^[1]
• The rebuilding of the city of London begins, after one of major fires.

Births

• April 1 – Emperor Go-Saga of Japan (d. 1272)
• June – Przemysł I of Poland (d. 1257)
• November 11 – Alphonse of Toulouse, son of Louis VIII of France (d. 1271)
• unknown date – Joan, Countess of Toulouse, (d. 1271)
• probable – Thomas Ercildoun, Scottish minstrel (d. 1297)

Deaths

• February 17 – Theobald I, Duke of Lorraine
• April 15 – Adolf of Altena, Archbishop of Cologne
• May – Mestwin I of Pomerania
• May 8 – Richeza of Denmark, queen consort of Sweden (b. c. 1180)
• June 1 – Henry de Bohun, 1st Earl of Hereford (b. 1176)
• November 3 – Urraca of Castile, Queen of Portugal, spouse of King Afonso II of Portugal (b. 1186)
• unknown date – Michael Choniates, Byzantine writer and ecclesiastic
• probable – Saxo Grammaticus, Danish historian (b. 1150)

References