Richard I, returning from the Holy Land in disguise, is recognized in an inn near Vienna and is imprisoned until England pays a massive ransom

The fleet of the fourth crusade departs from Venice - only to be diverted from its purposes by Venetian guile

A German order, the Knights of the Sword, begins the forcible conversion of Latvia and Estonia to Christianity

The French king, Philip II, takes Normandy from the English, and follows this success by taking Anjou a year later

The crusaders of the fourth crusade besiege, take and destroy the Christian city of Constantinople

Venice takes the useful islands of Corfu and Crete as part of the spoils of the fourth crusade

Many of the treasures adorning the church of San Marco in Venice are loot taken from Constantinople during the fourth crusade

Within a span of less than ten years, from 1215, Genghis Khan and the Mongols plunder from China to eastern Europe

The Teutonic knights undertake a new form of crusade, attempting to subdue the pagan Prussians who occupy part of the Baltic coast

Frederick II, leader of the sixth crusade, briefly recovers Jerusalem for the Christians by negotiating with the Muslims

The Mongols conquer the Korean peninsula, subsequently using it as a base for two expeditions against Japan

Batu Khan and his Mongols sweep into Russia, where they and their descendants become known as the Golden Horde

Mongols of the Golden Horde defeat the Poles at Legnica and ravage the city of Cracow

Mongols of the Golden Horde reach Hungary, where they graze their horses for the summer before withdrawing to the Volga

Hulagu and his horde of Mongols cross the Amu Darya river and move against Muslim Persia

When Hulagu and his Mongol army reach Baghdad, in 1258, it is said that 800,000 of the inhabitants are killed - and the caliph is kicked to death

The Norwegian king, Haakon IV, annexes Iceland as his personal fief, bringing to an end the commonwealth established in AD 930

The Marinids, a Berber tribe, take Marrakech and bring to an end Almohad rule in Morocco

An uprising by Llewellyn ap Gruffydd, the prince of Wales, ends with his own death and the subjugation of Wales by the king of England, Edward I

Edward I begins a series of powerful castles - Harlech, Caernarfon and Conwy in this year alone - to subdue the Welsh

The Knights Templars withdraw from the island of Arwad, the last foothold of the crusaders in the Middle East

The Teutonic knights seize the coastal area round Gdansk, cutting off Poland's access to the sea

Gallipoli is taken by the Ottoman Turks, giving them their first foothold in Europe

Jogaila inherits a pagan Lithuanian kingdom which has been extended as far south as Kiev

Timur begins twenty years of almost continuous conquest with the capture and destruction of Herat