1255

1255

Events

August - The final Cathar stronghold in southern France falls, eliminating their last refuge since the Roman Catholic Church began the Albigensian Crusade to crush the sect in 1209.
The death of Little Saint Hugh of Lincoln prompts the persecution of Jews in England, based on the blood libel.
Lisbon becomes the capital of the Kingdom of Portugal.
The Gothic cathedral at Bourges, France, is completed. It is now a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
A survey of royal privileges is conducted, which is included in the Hundred Rolls, an English census seen as a follow up to the Domesday Book completed in 1086; the Hundred Rolls is later completed with two larger surveys in 1274/1275 and 1279/1280.

May - William of Rubruck from Constantinople returns to Cyprus from his missionary journey to convert the Tatars of central and eastern Asia, his efforts having been unsuccessful.
Königsberg (now Kaliningrad) is founded by the Teutonic Knights in Prussia and named in honour of king Ottokar II of Bohemia.
Theodore II Lascaris, Byzantine Emperor (in exile in the Empire of Nicaea), conducts a military campaign to recover Thrace from the Bulgarians. He concludes the task successfully a year later in 1256.
The Duchy of Bavaria is split into Upper and Lower Bavaria.
The German state of Nassau is divided, not to be reunited until 1806.
King Béla IV of Hungary grants Banská Bystrica the municipal rights of a royal town.

Hulagu Khan is dispatched by his brother Möngke Khan to destroy the remaining Muslim states in southwestern Asia.

May 1 - Walter de Gray, English prelate and statesman
Little Saint Hugh of Lincoln (b. 1247)
Jarler, Archbishop of Sweden
Sundiata Keita, semi-historical hero and founder of the Mali Empire (approximate date; b. c. 1190)
Batu Khan, Mongol ruler and founder of the Blue Horde