1250s

Millennium: 2nd millennium
Centuries: 12th century13th century14th century
Decades: 1220s 1230s 1240s1250s1260s 1270s 1280s
Years: 1250 1251 1252 1253 1254 1255 1256 1257 1258 1259
1250s-related
categories:
Births – Deaths – By country
Establishments – Disestablishments

The 1250s decade ran from January 1, 1250, to December 31, 1259.

Events and trends

The decade was perhaps most dominated by the Mongols, who under the leadership of Möngke Khan continued their rapid expansion throughout Asia both to the east and west of their home territories. The Mongols destroyed the Kingdom of Dali in Laos, and captured the Goryeo kingdom in Korea, eastern Galicia in Europe, Anatolia in Turkey, and the Islamic center of Baghdad, where tens or hundreds of thousands were killed as the city was burned to the ground. In Thailand the Lannathai kingdom was founded. In Japan, a new sect of Buddhism was formed, while in Korea the carving of Buddhist scriptures on 81,000 wooden blocks was completed.

Europe noted several important cultural milestones, including the completion of several important cathedrals and the beginning of construction of others, as well as the founding of the Collège de Sorbonne at the University of Paris. Significant political developments in Europe included the lack of a Holy Roman Emperor for most of the decade, further erosion of the power of the monarchy in England and Portugal, the end of the failed Seventh Crusade in Egypt, and the expulsion of the Jews from France and the Moors from Portugal. In religion, a papal bull authorized the use of torture in the Medieval Inquisition, and the Roman Catholic Church clarified the concept of purgatory. Several important modern cities, including Stockholm and Lviv, were founded in the 1250s.

One of the largest volcanic eruptions of the Holocene epoch is thought to have occurred circa January 1258, with ice cores pointing to a tropical location such as El Chichón, Mexico or possibly Quilotoa, Ecuador. The aftermath may have led to climatic anomalies in rainfall, effects on agriculture, as well as famine and epidemic disease across Europe.[1]

War and politics

Mongol Empire

Europe

Asia and Africa

Culture

Science and literature

Art and architecture

Cities and institutions

Religion

Births

Deaths

References

  1. Emile-Geay, J., Seager, R., Cane, M., Cook, E., Haug, G.H., [The volcanic eruption of 1258 A.D. and the subsequent ENSO event, Geophysical Research Letters, 321, XXXX, doi:10.1029/2006JAXYZW, Mar 2006. (available online, pdf file)
This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the 3/31/2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.