1242

Events

* April 5 - During a battle on the ice of Lake Peipus, Russian forces, led by Alexander Nevsky, rebuff an invasion attempt by the Teutonic Knights.
* Emperor Go-Saga ascends to the throne of Japan.
* Batu Khan establishes the Golden Horde at Sarai.
* Cleves, Germany is chartered as a city.
* Kiel, Germany is chartered as a town.
* The diocese of Warmia, Poland is created.
* The archbishop of Wiesbaden conquers the city from the Duke of Nassau.
* The Mongols invade the Seljuk sultanate.
* German colonists arrive in Bratislava after the Mongols fail to conquer the city.
* The Mongols of the Golden Horde devastate Volga Bulgaria, and force the nation to pay tribute.
* Timeline of medicine and medical technology: Ibn Nafis suggests that the right and left ventricles of the heart are separate and describes the lesser circulation of blood.
* A French goldsmith working in Budapest named Guillaume Boucher is captured by the Mongols and taken to Karakorum.

Births

* December 15 - Prince Munetaka, Japanese shogun (d. 1274)
* Patrick Dunbar, 7th Earl of Dunbar (d. 1289)
* George Pachymeres, Byzantine historian
* Beatrix of Castile, spouse of King Afonso III of Portugal (d. 1303)

Deaths

* February 10 - Emperor Shijō of Japan (b. 1231)
* March 26 - William de Forz, 3rd Earl of Albemarle
* October 7 - Emperor Juntoku of Japan (b. 1197)
* Archambaud VIII of Bourbon
* Hōjō Yasutoki, regent of Japan (b. 1183)

Monarchs

* Aragon - James I King of Aragon and count of Barcelona (reigned from 1213 to 1276)
* Castile - Ferdinand III, the Saint King of Castile and Leon (reigned from 1217 to 1252)