1242

Events

• April 5 - During a battle on the ice of Chudskoye Lake, Russian forces rebuff an invasion attempt by the Teutonic Knights.
• Emperor Go-Saga ascends to the throne of Japan.
• Batu Khan establishes the Golden Horde at Sarai.
• Cleves, Germany is chartered as a city.
• Kiel, Germany is chartered as a town.
• The diocese of Warmia, Poland is created.
• The archbishop of Wiesbaden conquers the city from the Duke of Nassau.
• The Mongols invade the Seljuk sultanate.
• German colonists arrive in Bratislava after the Mongols fail to conquer the city.
• The Mongols of the Golden Horde devastate Bulgaria, and force the nation to pay tribute.
• Timeline of medicine and medical technology - Ibn Nafis suggests that the right and left ventricles of the heart are separate and describes the lesser circulation of blood.

Births

• December 15 - Prince Munetaka, 6th Kamakura shogun in Japan (d. 1274)
• George Pachymeres, Byzantine historian

Deaths

• Emperor Juntoku of Japan
• Emperor Shijo of Japan

Monarchs/Presidents

• Aragon - James I King of Aragon and count of Barcelona (reigned from 1213 to 1276)
• Castile - Ferdinand III, the Saint King of Castile and Leon (reigned from 1217 to 1252)