1241 (timeline)

Year **1241** (MCCXLI) was a common year starting on Tuesday of the Julian calendar.
It corresponded to the Byzantine years of 6749–6750 and the Islamic years of 638–639

## Events

### Europe

#### Holy Roman Empire

* Otto II, Duke of Bavaria, denounces Otto V, King of the Germans, and calls for a new election. The War of the Two Ottos breaks out.
* The Massacre of Metz takes place.
* Rudolf of Habsburg defeats Swabian forces at a battle near Zollern and marries Ulrike, Duchess of Swabia, becoming Duke of Swabia himself.
* The Battle of Salzburg takes place. Frederick of Babenberg is pushed back to Vienna and sends his wife and daughter to Prague, alongside his will, which names Wenceslaus I of Bohemia as the regent of Austria.
* The County of the Palatine is granted to Henry of Luxembourg by King Otto V.
* Wenceslaus I of Bohemia declares for Otto V and is named heir to Brunswick.

#### France

* Flanders is vacated by the Duke of Brabant.

#### England

* May – The Battle of Harefield takes place.
* The Pale Rebellion ends.
* Norman lords abandon Henry III of England as he marches north to claim the Scottish Crown.
* The Battle of Galloway takes place as Robert de Brus and Hubert de Burgh switch sides and attack King Henry III, defeating the remains of his army.

#### Italy

* 23 February – Syracuse falls to the Hafsids.
* The lords of Italy declade themselves independent of the Holy Roman Empire in a great gathering in Rome, presided over by Pope Gregory IX and Frederick I of Sicily.
* The Papal States incorporate the cities of Bologna and Ravenna.
	+ The County of Ferrara is created and granted to Azzo VI d'Este.
	+ The Most Serene Republic of Venice incorporates Verona and Padua. Ezzelino Dandolo is appointed Podesta of Verona.
	+ Mantua becomes a republic, with Pinamonte Bonacolsi elected as Doge.
	+ The Duchy of Milan is created and awarded to Pagano della Torre.
	+ The Duchy of Tuscany is transferred in absentia to Maurice II of Egypt, who is also raised from Count to Duke of Montferrat.
	+ The Republic of Pisa incorporates Siena.
* Frederick I of Sicily lifts the siege of Messina with the support of French troops, led by prince Alberic, and lays siege to Syracuse. The Hafsid navy is defeated and the island is plagued by illness and epidemics.
* A papal conclave elects Pope Innocent V.

#### Iberia

* Queen Eleanor of Aragon steps down as regent and joins a convent. Ramon Berenguer IV, Count of Provence, is made regent of Aragon.
* Sancho of Portugal successfully attacks Enrique I of Castille, claiming León and Galicia in the name of his brother-in-law Martin Alfonso of Santiago.
* Nasrids and Marinids invade Portugal, taking Seville.
* Theobald I of Navarre retakes Navarre.

#### Byzantium

* Theodore Doukas Laskaris, son of John III Vatatzes, is betrothed to Isabella, daughter of Béla IV of Hungary.
* Demetrios Keraunos, Ecumencial Patriarch of Constantinople, summons all metropolitans and bishops to a great synod to be held at Constantinople. The churches of Bulgaria and Serbia, as well as the churches in Russia, Italy and the Levant, send representatives, but the Church of Georgia boycotts the synod because of the Byzantine-Armenian war.

### Middle East

* Aimery II of Jerusalem declares Isabella, Queen of Armenia, unfit to serve as the Syrian regent, with Pope Gregory IX's support.
* 3 April – Aimery II lifts the Siege of Alexandria and proceeds to besiege Cairo.
* Beirut and Sidon fall to the Syrian nobles.
* The Byzantines invade Cilician Armenia. Peace negotiations fail as Queen Isabella has the Byzantine envoy blinded and has his tongue cut out.

## Deaths

* 18 May – Arthur II, Duke of Britanny.
* May – Alexander II of Scotland, killed in the Battle of Harefield.
* Richard of Cornwall, executed for treason.
* Henry I, Duke of Brabant, of old age and a cold.
* Gerard of Luxembourg, Henry of Welf and Otto of Andechs, slain at the Massacre of Metz.
* Pope Gregory IX.
* Hugh de Vere, Earl of Oxford, slain at the Battle of Galloway.