1259

Portion of a fresco of the Boyana Church, completed this year.

Year 1259 (MCCLIX) was a common year starting on Wednesday of the Julian calendar.

Events

By place

Europe

• September – Epirote–Nicaean conflict,<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> Battle of Pelagonia: The Empire of Nicaea defeats the Principality of Achaea, ensuring the eventual reconquest of Constantinople in 1261.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref><ref>Template:Cite book</ref>
• December 4 – Kings Louis IX of France and Henry III of England agree to the Treaty of Paris, in which Henry renounces his claims to French-controlled territory on continental Europe (including Normandy), in exchange for Louis withdrawing his support for English rebels.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>
• The famous frescoes of the Boyana Church in Bulgaria are completed (the church and its murals are now a UNESCO World Heritage Site).<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>
• The German cities of Lübeck, Wismar, and Rostock enter into a pact to defend against pirates of the Baltic Sea, laying the groundwork for the Hanseatic League.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>
• Nogai Khan leads the second Mongol Golden Horde attack against Lithuania, and Poland.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>

Asia

• March – The Japanese Shōka era ends, and the Shōgen era begins (till April 1260).<ref>Template:Cite book</ref><ref>Template:Cite book</ref>
• August 11 – While conducting a siege against the Song dynasty city known as Fishing Town in the province of Chongqing, China, the Mongol Great Khan, Möngke Khan, dies in the nearby hills. Persian, Chinese, and Mongol records have different accounts of how he died, including succumbing to an arrow wound received by a Chinese archer in the siege, dysentery, and even a cholera epidemic. His death sparks a succession crisis in the Mongol Empire, while his brothers Ariq Böke and Kublai soon convene their own kurultai to elect themselves as the next Khan of Khans, opening the path to a four–year-long Toluid Civil War from 1260 to 1264. In the end, Ariq Böke surrenders to Kublai.<ref name="Morris2009"/><ref>Template:Cite book</ref>
• While engaged in a war with the Mongols, the Song Chinese official Li Zengbo writes in his Kozhai Zagao, Xugaohou that the city of Qingzhou is manufacturing one to two thousand strong iron-cased gunpowder bomb shells a month, dispatching to Xiangyang and Yingzhou about ten to twenty thousand such bombs at a time.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>
• Lannathai, a kingdom in the north of Thailand, is founded by King Mangrai.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref><ref>Template:Cite book</ref>
• The Goryeo Kingdom in Korea surrenders to invading Mongol forces.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>
• The Chinese era Kaiqing begins and ends, in the Southern Song dynasty of China (Emperor Lizong).<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>

Births

• February 25 – Infanta Branca of Portugal, daughter of King Afonso III of Portugal and Urraca of Castile (d. 1321)<ref>Template:Cite book</ref><ref>Template:Cite book</ref>
• March 25 – Andronikos II Palaiologos, Byzantine emperor (d. 1332)<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>
• Pietro Cavallini, Italian painter (d. 1330)<ref>Template:Cite book</ref><ref>Template:Cite book</ref>
• Demetre II of Georgia (d. 1289)<ref>Template:Cite book</ref><ref>Template:Cite book</ref>
• Richard Óg de Burgh, 2nd Earl of Ulster (d. 1326)<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>

Deaths

• January – Matilda II, Countess of Boulogne, ruler of Boulogne, queen consort of Portugal (b. 1202)<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>
• February 7 – Thomas, Count of Flanders<ref>Template:Cite book</ref><ref>Template:Cite book</ref>
• May 29 – King Christopher I of Denmark (b. 1219)<ref>Template:Cite book</ref><ref>Template:Cite book</ref>
• July 21 – Gojong of Goryeo<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>
• August 11 – Möngke Khan of the Mongol Empire<ref name="Morris2009">Template:Cite book</ref>
• October 7 – Ezzelino III da Romano, Italian ruler<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>
• November 18 – Adam Marsh, English scholar and theologian<ref>Template:Cite book</ref><ref>Template:Cite book</ref>
• date unknown – Matthew Paris, English chronicler<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>