1220

Events

* May - St. Francis of Assisi resigns from the leadership of the Franciscan Order.
* August 8 - Battle of Lihula: The Estonians defeat the invading Swedes.
* November 22 - Frederick II is crowned Holy Roman Emperor by Pope Honorius III.
* The Mongols first invade the Abbasid Caliphate; Bukhara and Samarkand are taken.
* The Kara-Khitan Khanate is destroyed by Genghis Khan's Mongolian cavalry.
* The Dominican Order is approved by Pope Honorius III.
* Conrad of Masovia drives out the heathen Prussians from a Masovian territory of Chelmno Land.
* Trial by ordeal is abolished in England.
* The German Hohenstaufen dynasty, which had ruled Sicily since 1194, adopts Palermo as its principal seat.
* Dordrecht receives city rights, making it the oldest city in the present-day Netherlands.
* Ljubljana receives its town rights.
* The Islamic lands of Central Asia are overrun by the armies of the Mongol invader Genghis Khan (ca. 1155-1227), who lays waste to many civilizations and creates an empire that stretches from China to the Caspian Sea. However, he fails to destroy the strength of Islam in Central Asia.
* The Thai Kingdom of Sukhothai is established.
* St Benedict of Nursia was Canonized by the Roman Catholic Church.

Architecture

* Gothic architecture becomes increasingly popular in Europe.
* The rebuilding of the Cathedral of Chartres, which had been destroyed by a fire in 1194, is completed.
* Rebuilding of the York Minster begins.
* Building of the Salisbury Cathedral begins.
*Rebuilding of the city of London begins

Births

* April 1 - Emperor Go-Saga of Japan (d. 1272)
* November 11 - Alphonse of Toulouse, son of Louis VIII of France (d. 1271)
* Thomas Ercildoun, Scottish minstrel (d. 1297)
* Alexander Nevsky, Grand Prince of Novgorod and Vladimir
* Przemysł I of Poland (d. 1257)
* Yaroslav of Russia, Grand Duke of Vladimir
* Walter de Burgh, 1st Earl of Ulster (d. 1271)

Deaths

* February 17 - Theobald I, Duke of Lorraine
* April 15 - Adolf of Altena, Archbishop of Cologne
* Michael Choniates, Byzantine writer and ecclesiastic
* Farid od-Din Mohammad ebn Ebrahim 'Attar, Persian mystical poet
* Saxo Grammaticus, Danish historian (b. 1150)
* Henry de Bohun, 1st Earl of Hereford (b. 1176)
* Mestwin I of Pomerania
* Queen Urraca of Portugal, spouse of King Afonso II of Portugal (b. 1186)

Office holders

* List of state leaders in 1220
* List of religious leaders in 1220

Ongoing Events

* Middle Ages in Europe
* Fifth Crusade (1217-1221)
* Pager number of the legendary Dr Greg of Australia