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1240
Year 1240 ( MCCXL) was a leap year starting on Sunday of the Julian calendar. Events By place Europe * May 24 – Duke Skule Bårdsson, claimant to the Norwegian throne, is defeated by King Haakon IV (the Old) and his supporters. He seeks refuge in Elgeseter Priory in Trondheim, and Haakon burns down the monastery, in which Skule is burned alive. Haakon becomes the undisputed ruler; this ends the civil war era in Norway, after 110 years. * July 15 – Battle of the Neva: A Swedish army under Bishop Thomas sails up the Gulf of Finland in their longboats. They proceed into the Neva River with the aim of seizing control over Lake Ladoga and from there, striking at the city of Novgorod. Prince Alexander rallies his ''druzhina'' comparable to the 'household' of western European countries, and decisively routs the Swedish forces, saving the Novgorod Republic from a full-scale enemy invasion from the North. As a result, Alexander wins his first military victory at t ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Battle Of The Neva
The Battle of the Neva (; ; ) was fought between the Novgorod Republic, along with Karelians, and the Kingdom of Sweden (Middle Ages), Kingdom of Sweden, including Kingdom of Norway (872–1397), Norwegian, Finns proper, Finnish and Tavastians, Tavastian forces, on the Neva River, near the settlement of Ust-Izhora, on 15 July 1240. The battle is mentioned only in Russian sources, and it remains unclear whether it was a major invasion or a small-scale raid. In Russian historiography, it has become an event of massive scale and importance. Background Pope Honorius III (1216–1227) received a number of petitions regarding new Baltic crusades, mainly concerning Prussia and Livonia but also a report from the Swedish Archbishop concerning difficulties with their mission in Finland. At that time, Honorius responded to the Swedish archbishop only by declaring an embargo against trade with pagans in the region; it is not known if the Swedes requested further help for the moment. In 1237 ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Alexander Nevsky
Alexander Yaroslavich Nevsky (; ; monastic name: ''Aleksiy''; 13 May 1221 – 14 November 1263) was Prince of Novgorod (1236–1240; 1241–1256; 1258–1259), Grand Prince of Kiev (1249–1263), and Grand Prince of Vladimir (1252–1263). Commonly regarded as a key figure in medieval Russian history, Alexander was a grandson of Vsevolod the Big Nest and rose to legendary status on account of his military victories in northwestern Russia over Swedish invaders in the 1240 Battle of the Neva, as well as German crusaders in the 1242 Battle on the Ice. He preserved Eastern Orthodoxy, agreeing to pay tribute to the powerful Golden Horde. Metropolitan Macarius of Moscow canonized Alexander Nevsky as a saint of the Russian Orthodox Church in 1547. Early life Born in Pereslavl-Zalessky around the year 1220, Alexander was the second son of Prince Yaroslav Vsevolodovich. His mother was , daughter of Mstislav Mstislavich The Bold. From the ''Tales of the Life and Courage of the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Siege Of Faenza
The siege of Faenza occurred from August 1240 to April 14, 1241, during the course of the wars of the Guelphs and the Ghibellines. In this military confrontation, the Holy Roman Emperor Frederick II aggressively laid siege to the town of Faenza and successfully captured the city. Background In August 1237, Frederick II returned to the northern Italian domain of the Holy Roman Empire from northern Europe. He had just put his affairs in Germany and Austria in order, including electing his son Conrad as the King of Germany and vanquishing the rebellious Duke of Austria. With these accomplishments complete, the Emperor assembled an army and turned his attention to reasserting control over the rebellious northern Italian cities in his Empire. War for Lombardy and Italy Once he reached northern Italy in the late summer of 1237, Frederick II and his Ghibelline allies quickly captured the cities of Mantua and Ferrara. Then on November 27, 1237, the Imperial army decisively d ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Haakon IV Of Norway
Haakon IV Haakonsson ( – 16 December 1263; ; ), sometimes called Haakon the Old in contrast to his namesake son, was King of Norway from 1217 to 1263. His reign lasted for 46 years, longer than any Norwegian king since Harald Fairhair. Haakon was born into the troubled civil war era in Norway, but his reign eventually managed to put an end to the internal conflicts. At the start of his reign, during his minority, Earl Skule Bårdsson served as regent. As a king of the Birkebeiner faction, Haakon defeated the uprising of the final Bagler royal pretender, Sigurd Ribbung, in 1227. He put a definitive end to the civil war era when he had Skule Bårdsson killed in 1240, a year after he had himself proclaimed king in opposition to Haakon. Haakon thereafter formally appointed his own eldest son, Haakon the Young, as his co-regent. Under Haakon's rule, medieval Norway is considered to have reached its zenith or golden age. His reputation and formidable naval fleet allowed him ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Civil War Era In Norway
The civil war era in Norway (, ''borgarkrigstidi'', ''borgerkrigstida'' or ''borgerkrigstiden'') began in 1130 and ended in 1240. During this time in Norwegian history, some two dozen rival kings and pretenders waged wars to claim the throne. In the absence of formal laws governing claims to rule, men who had proper lineage and wanted to be king came forward and entered into peaceful, if still fraught, agreements to let one man be king, set up temporary lines of succession, take turns ruling, or share power simultaneously. In 1130, with the death of King Sigurd the Crusader, his possible half-brother, Harald Gillekrist, broke an agreement that he and Sigurd had made to pass the throne to Sigurd's only son, the bastard Magnus. Already on bad terms before Sigurd's death, the two men and the factions loyal to them went to war. In the first decades of the civil wars, alliances shifted and centered on the person of a king or pretender. However, towards the end of the 12th cen ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Novgorod Republic
The Novgorod Republic () was a medieval state that existed from the 12th to 15th centuries in northern Russia, stretching from the Gulf of Finland in the west to the northern Ural Mountains in the east. Its capital was the city of Novgorod. The republic prospered as the easternmost trading post of the Hanseatic League, and its people were much influenced by the culture of the Byzantines, with the Novgorod school of icon painting producing many fine works. Novgorod won its independence in 1136 after the Novgorodians deposed their prince and the Novgorod ''veche'' began to elect and dismiss princes at its own will. The ''veche'' also elected the '' posadnik'', who was the chief executive of the city, and the archbishop of Novgorod, subject to approval by the Russian metropolitan. The '' tysyatsky'' was also elected by the ''veche'', who was originally the military commander, and served the interests of the common people. Novgorodian nobles known as boyars dominated the ''vech ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Skule Bårdsson
Skule Bårdsson or Duke Skule (; ) (–24 May 1240) was a Norwegian nobleman and claimant to the royal throne against his son-in-law, King Haakon Haakonsson. Henrik Ibsen's play '' Kongs-Emnerne'' (1863) is about the dispute between Duke Skule and King Haakon. Biography Skule Bårdsson was born around 1189. As a son of Bård Guttormsson, he belonged to the Norwegian nobility and was a half-brother of King Inge Bårdsson who in his last years elevated Skule to be an earl (''jarl''). After King Inge's death in 1217, Haakon was chosen king at the age of 13, against the candidacy of Skule Bårdsson. However, Skule held much of the real power under a form of power sharing between Skule and Haakon. Skule's center of power was mostly in Nidaros. He had noblemen who were handbound to him (his vassals/liegemen) such as Endrid Bookling, and Alf of Leifa-steads. These men would probably be somewhere between European count and high Ministerialis. In order to facilitate a compromise betw ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Veliky Novgorod
Veliky Novgorod ( ; , ; ), also known simply as Novgorod (), is the largest city and administrative centre of Novgorod Oblast, Russia. It is one of the oldest cities in Russia, being first mentioned in the 9th century. The city lies along the Volkhov River just downstream from its outflow from Lake Ilmen and is situated on the M10 federal highway connecting Moscow and Saint Petersburg. UNESCO recognized Novgorod as a World Heritage Site in 1992. The city has a population of At its peak during the 14th century, the city was the capital of the Novgorod Republic and was one of Europe's largest cities. The "Великий" part was added to the city's name in 1999. Climate Veliky Novgorod has a humid continental climate (Köppen ''Dfb''). The city has warm summers with temperatures reaching over 30 °C (86 °F) and relatively cold winters with frequent snowfall. The lowest air temperature ever recorded is -45 °C (-49 °F). The warmest month is July with a d ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Neva
The Neva ( , ; , ) is a river in northwestern Russia flowing from Lake Ladoga through the western part of Leningrad Oblast (historical region of Ingria) to the Neva Bay of the Gulf of Finland. Despite its modest length of , it is the fourth-largest river in Europe in terms of average discharge (after the Volga, the Danube and the Rhine). The Neva is the only river flowing from Lake Ladoga. It flows through the city of Saint Petersburg, the three smaller towns of Shlisselburg, Kirovsk and Otradnoye, and dozens of settlements. It is navigable throughout and is part of the Volga–Baltic Waterway and White Sea–Baltic Canal. It is the site of many major historical events, including the Battle of the Neva in 1240 which gave Alexander Nevsky his name, the founding of Saint Petersburg in 1703, and the Siege of Leningrad by the German army during World War II. The river played a vital role in trade between Byzantium and Scandinavia. Etymology The earliest people in recorde ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Reconquista
The ''Reconquista'' (Spanish language, Spanish and Portuguese language, Portuguese for ) or the fall of al-Andalus was a series of military and cultural campaigns that European Christian Reconquista#Northern Christian realms, kingdoms waged against the al-Andalus, Muslim kingdoms following the Muslim conquest of the Iberian Peninsula by the Umayyad Caliphate, culminating in the reign of the Catholic Monarchs of Spain. The beginning of the ''Reconquista'' is traditionally dated to the Battle of Covadonga ( or 722), in which an Kingdom of Asturias, Asturian army achieved the first Christian victory over the forces of the Umayyad Caliphate since the beginning of the military invasion. The ''Reconquista'' ended in 1492 with the Granada War#Last stand at Granada, fall of the Nasrid kingdom of Granada to the Catholic Monarchs of Spain, Catholic Monarchs. In the late 10th century, the Umayyad vizier Almanzor waged a series of military campaigns for 30 years in order to subjugate ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Papal States
The Papal States ( ; ; ), officially the State of the Church, were a conglomeration of territories on the Italian peninsula under the direct sovereign rule of the pope from 756 to 1870. They were among the major states of Italy from the 8th century until the unification of Italy, which took place between 1859 and 1870, culminated in their demise. The state was legally established in the 8th century when Pepin the Short, king of the Franks, gave Pope Stephen II, as a temporal sovereign, lands formerly held by Arian Christian Lombards, adding them to lands and other real estate formerly acquired and held by the bishops of Rome as landlords from the time of Constantine onward. This donation came about as part of a process whereby the popes began to turn away from the Byzantine emperors as their foremost temporal guardians for reasons such as increased imperial taxes, disagreement with respect to iconoclasm, and failure of the emperors, or their exarchs in Italy, to pro ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Sancho II Of Portugal
Sancho II (; 8 September 1207 – 4 January 1248), nicknamed Afonso the Cowled or Afonso the Capuched (), alternatively, Afonso the Pious (), was King of Portugal from 1223 to 1248. Sancho was born in Coimbra, the eldest son of Afonso II of Portugal by his wife, Urraca of Castile. He ascended the throne after his father's death on 25 March, 1223. He was succeeded on the Portuguese throne by his brother, King Afonso III, in 1248. Military career and reign By the time of his accession to the throne, in 1223, Portugal Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic, is a country on the Iberian Peninsula in Southwestern Europe. Featuring Cabo da Roca, the westernmost point in continental Europe, Portugal borders Spain to its north and east, with which it share ... was embroiled in a difficult diplomatic conflict with the Catholic Church. His father, Afonso II, had been excommunicated by Pope Honorius III, for his attempts at reducing the Church's power within the country ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
