July 10– The Great Fire: The most severe of several early fires of London burns most of the city to the ground; over 3,000 people die, many of them by drowning in the River Thames. According to a contemporary account: "An awful fire broke out on the Southwark side of London Bridge; while it was raging, a fire broke out at the other end also and so hemmed in the numerous crowds who had assembled to help the distressed. The sufferers, to avoid the flames, threw themselves over the bridge into boats and barges; but many of these sunk, the people crowding into them.".[1]
King John (Lackland) impounds the revenue of all prelates appointed by bishops, who have deserted him at his excommunication. He remains on good terms, however, with churchmen who stood by him, including Abbot Sampson, who this year bequeaths John his jewels.[2]
Europe
Spring – After the fall of Argos the Crusaders complete their conquest of the Morea in southern Greece. The city, along with Nauplia, is given to Otho de la Roche, a Burgundian nobleman, as a fief, along with an income of 400 hyperpyron from Corinth.[3] Meanwhile, the Venetians conquer Crete and evict Enrico Pescatore, a Genoese adventurer and pirate, active in the Mediterranean.
The Children's Crusade is organized. There are probably two separate movements of young people, both led by shepherd boys, neither of which embark for the Holy Land – but both of which suffer considerable hardship.[5]
Early Spring – Nicholas leads a group from the Rhineland and crosses the alps into Italy. In August, he arrives with some 7,000 children in Genoa. Nicholas travels to the Papal States where he meets Pope Innocent III.
June – The 12-year-old Stephen of Cloyes leads a group across France to Vendôme. Attracting a following of over 30,000 adults and children. After arriving in Marseilles the vast majority return home to their families.
The Teutonic Order builds Bran Castle (or Dietrichstein) in the Burzenland (modern Romania) as a fortified position at the entrance of a mountain pass through which traders can travel. The Teutonic Knights built another five castles, some of them made of stone. Their rapid expansion in Hungary makes the nobility and clergy, who are previously uninterested in those regions, jealous and suspicious.
December 9– The 18-year-old Frederick II is crowned King of the Germans at Mainz. Frederick's authority in Germany remains tenuous, and he is recognized only in southern Germany. In the region of northern Germany, the center of Guelph power, his rival Otto IV continues to hold the imperial power despite his excommunication.[6]
Asia
Autumn –Genghis Khan invades Jin territory and besieges Datong. During the assault, he is wounded by an arrow in his knee and orders a withdrawal for rest and relaxation.[7]
By topic
Literature
Kamo no Chōmei, a Japanese poet and essayist, writes the Hōjōki, one of the great works of classical Japanese prose.
"Fires, Great", in The Insurance Cyclopeadia: Being an Historical Treasury of Events and Circumstances Connected with the Origin and Progress of Insurance, Cornelius Walford, ed. (C. and E. Layton, 1876) p26
Fine, John Van Antwerp (1994). The Late Medieval Balkans: A Critical Survey from the Late Twelfth Century to the Ottoman Conquest, p. 90. Ann Arbor, Michigan: University of Michigan Press. ISBN0-472-08260-4.
Linehan, Peter (1999). "Chapter 21: Castile, Portugal and Navarre". In David Abulafia (ed.). The New Cambridge Medieval History c.1198-c.1300. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. pp.668–671. ISBN0-521-36289-X.
Toch, Michael (1999). "Welffs, Hohenstaufen and Habsburgs". In Abulafia, David; McKitterick, Rosamond (eds.). The New Cambridge Medieval History: c. 1198– c. 1300. Cambridge University Press. p. 381.
