1254

Events

Europe

War and politics

* October 10 - Edward Plantagenet marries Eleanor of Castile. His father Henry III had demanded the marriage in exchange for ending the war with her brother Alfonso X of Castile.
* December 2 - Manfred of Sicily defeats the army of Pope Innocent IV at Foggia.
* King Louis IX of France, having exhausted his funds and being needed at home, abandons the Seventh Crusade (which he had conducted first in Egypt and then Syria) and returns to France.
* King Louis IX of France expels all Jews from France.
* King Afonso III of Portugal holds the first session of the "Cortes" (Portugal's general assembly composed of nobles, members of the middle class, and representatives from all municipalities) in Leiria.
* In England, an important step in the evolution of the Parliament and Peerage occurs, as lesser barons are replaced on the King's Council by elected representatives from shires and cities.
* Pope Innocent IV excommunicates Conrad IV of Germany and Rudolph I of Germany (later elected Holy Roman Emperor).
* The Ghibelline town of Pistoia is taken over by Guelph Florence.

Culture

* The Danish city of Copenhagen receives its city charter.
* The Horses of Saint Mark, once supposed to have adorned the Arch of Trajan in ancient Rome, are installed at Saint Mark's Basilica in Venice.
* The Swedish city of Malmö is founded.
* Construction is begun on the Cathedral of Saint Martin in Utrecht.

Religion

* December 12 - Pope Alexander IV succeeds Pope Innocent IV as the 181st pope.
* The Catholic dogma of purgatory is clarified and so named by the Catholic Church.

Asia

* Battle of Adrianople: The Byzantines defeat Bulgaria.
* The classic Japanese text "Kokin Chomonjo" is completed.
* The Mongols destroy Nanzhao kingdom in modern Yunnan.
* The Mongols enslave 200,000 Koreans and take them away.

Births

* September 15 - Marco Polo, Italian explorer (d. 1324)
* Floris V, Count of Holland (d. 1296)
* Zhao Mengfu, Chinese scholar, painter and calligrapher (d. 1322)
* Ren Renfa, Chinese painter

Deaths

* May 21 - Conrad IV of Germany (b. 1228)
* November 3 - John III Ducas Vatatzes, Byzantine Emperor (b. 1193)
* December 7 - Pope Innocent IV
* William de Ferrers, 5th Earl of Derby (b. 1193)
* Silvester de Everdon, English bishop