The third crusade suffers an early disaster when its first leader, the emperor Frederick Barbarossa, is drowned crossing the Calycadnus river

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 three-year old Frederick II has a claim to the thrones of both Sicily and Germany on the death of his father, the emperor Henry VI

On the death of his brother, Richard I, John becomes king of England

Temujin, elected chief of all the Mongol tribes, takes the name Genghis Khan

On the death of his father, King John, Henry III becomes king of England

Frederick II is crowned Holy Roman emperor by a somewhat reluctant pope, Honorius III

Llewellyn ap Iorwerth acquires such authority over other Welsh chieftains that he is informally referred to as the prince of Wales

Andrew II accepts the Golden Bull, a charter of liberties demanded by the nobles of Hungary

Magna Carta is reissued slightly modified when Henry III comes of age; in the version which becomes enshrined in English law

Ogadai, son of Genghis Khan, turns his father's headquarters at Karakorum into a capital city

The kingdom of Granada is established with a Berber noble, Muhammad I, as the first king

A warlord, Sundiata, conquers Ghana and establishes the kingdom of Mali

Haakon IV is the first ruler to build up a strong Norway, some two centuries after the region becomes a single kingdom

Alexander, a Russian prince, defeats a Swedish army on the frozen river Neva, thus winning his name Alexander Nevksy

Birger Jarl establishes a dynasty which brings all Sweden under a single rule

The last sultan of Saladin's dynasty is murdered by slaves in the palace guard, and Mameluke rule is reintroduced in Egypt

Alexander Nevsky, appointed grand prince of Vladimir in 1252, thrives by collaborating with the Mongols of the Golden Horde

The death of the last Hohenstaufen ruler, Conrad IV, leaves a vacancy on the German throne which is not filled for nineteen years

Henry III accepts severe curtailment of his powers in the Provisions of Oxford, but then asks the pope to absolve him from his oath

The Bohemian prince Otakar II, ruler also of Austria, extends his territories after defeating the Hungarians at Kressenbrunn

At Ayn Jalut, near Nazareth, the Egyptian Mamelukes defeat the Mongol army of Hulagu - the first military setback for the Mongols

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

Pope Urban IV offers Sicily to a French prince, Charles of Anjou, who marches south in 1266 to fight for the kingdom

Kublai defeats his brother Ariq Böge and thus establishes his position as Great Khan of the Mongols