1268

Conradin (right) is executed by Charles I of Sicily, thus extinguishing the Hohenstaufen dynasty.

Year 1268 (MCCLXVIII) was a leap year starting on Sunday of the Julian calendar.

Events

By topic

War and politics

• February 18 – Battle of Rakvere: The Livonian Order is defeated by Dovmont of Pskov.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>
• April 4 – A five-year Byzantine–Venetian peace treaty is concluded between Venetian envoys and Emperor Michael VIII Palaiologos. It is ratified by the Doge of Venice Reniero Zeno on June 30.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>
• August 23 – Battle of Tagliacozzo: The army of Charles of Anjou defeats the Ghibellines supporters of Conradin of Hohenstaufen, marking the fall of the Hohenstaufen Family from the Imperial and Sicilian thrones, and leading to the new chapter of Angevin domination in Southern Italy.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>
• October 29 – Conradin, the last legitimate male heir of the Hohenstaufen Dynasty of Kings of Germany and Holy Roman Emperors, is executed, along with his companion Frederick I, Margrave of Baden, by Charles I of Sicily, a political rival and ally to the hostile Roman Catholic Church.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>
• King Stephen V of Hungary launches a war against Bulgaria.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref><ref>Template:Cite book</ref>
• The County of Wernigerode becomes a vassal state of the Margrave of Brandenburg.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>
• New election procedures for the election of the doge are established in Venice, in order to reduce the influence of powerful individual families and possibly to prevent the popular Lorenzo Tiepolo from becoming elected.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>
• Pope Clement IV dies; the following papal election fails to choose a new pope for almost three years, precipitating the later creation of stringent rules governing the electoral procedures.<ref name=":0">Template:Cite book</ref>

Culture

• Nicola Pisano completes the famous octagonal Gothic-style pulpit, at the Duomo di Siena.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>
• The carnival in Venice is first recorded.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>
• In France, the use of hops as the exclusive flavoring agent used in the manufacture of beer is made compulsory.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>
• The town of Guta is founded (currently Kolárovo, Slovakia).<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>Template:Better source needed

By place

Asia

• May 18 – Battle of Antioch: The Principality of Antioch, a crusader state, falls to the Mamluk Sultan Baibars; his destruction of the city of Antioch is so great, as to permanently negate the city's importance.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>
• The Battle of Xiangyang, a 6-year battle between the Chinese Song dynasty and the Mongol forces of Kublai Khan, begins in what is today Hubei.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>
• Kublai Khan sends an emissary to the Kamakura shogunate of Japan, demanding an acknowledgment of suzerainty and payment of tribute; the Japanese refuse, starting a diplomatic back-and-forth, lasting until the Mongols attempt to invade in 1274.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>
• An earthquake in Cilicia occurs in 1268 northeast of the city of Adana. Over 60,000 people perished in the Armenian Kingdom of Cilicia in southern Asia Minor.<ref>Walford, Cornelius (1879) The famines of the world: past and present London, page 55, Template:OCLC</ref><ref>Lomnitz, Cinna (1974) Global Tectonics and Earthquake Risk Elsevier Scientific Pub. Co., Amsterdam, Template:ISBN</ref><ref>Template:Cite book</ref>
• The Tibetan monk Drogön Chögyal Phagpa of the Sakya School completes the 'Phags-pa script, which was sponsored by Kublai Khan as a new writing system in his empire.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>

Births

• April/June – Philip IV of France (d. 1314)<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>
• Saint Clare of Montefalco (d. 1308)<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>
• Emperor Duanzong of China (d. 1278)<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>
• Mahaut, Countess of Artois (d. 1329)<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>
• Vedanta Desika, Indian Hindu poet and philosopher<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>

Deaths

• May 15 – Peter II, Count of Savoy (b. 1203)<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>
• July 7 – Reniero Zeno, Doge of Venice<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>
• August 11 – Agnes of Faucigny, Dame ruler of Faucigny, countess consort of Savoy<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>
• October 29
  • Conradin, Duke of Swabia (executed) (b. 1252)<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>
  • Frederick I, Margrave of Baden (executed) (b. 1249)<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>
• November 29 – Pope Clement IV<ref name=":0" />
• December 9 – Vaišvilkas, Prince of Black Ruthenia<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>
• date unknown
  • Barral of Baux, Grand Justiciar of Sicily<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>
  • Henry de Bracton, English jurist<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>