1258

Events

* January - One of the largest volcanic eruptions of the Holocene epoch occurs, possibly from a tropical location such as El Chichón, Mexico or Quilotoa, Ecuador. [Emile-Geay, J., Seager, R., Cane, M., Cook, E., Haug, G.H., [The volcanic eruption of 1258 A.D. and the subsequent ENSO event, "Geophysical Research Letters", 321, XXXX, doi:10.1029/2006JAXYZW, Mar 2006. (available [http://www.ldeo.columbia.edu/~julieneg/docs/1258_enso_grl.pdf online] , pdf file)] Observed effects of the eruption include the following anecdotal accounts: dry fog in France; lunar eclipses in England; severe winter in Europe; a "harsh" spring in Northern Iceland; famine in England, Western Germany, France, and Northern Italy; and pestilence in London, parts of France, Austria, Iraq, Syria, and South-East Turkey. [Stothers, R.B. (2000) Climatic and Demographic consequences of the Massive Volcanic Eruption of 1258. "Climatic Change", 45, 361-374. ]
* February 10 - Battle of Baghdad (1258) - Hulagu Khan's Mongol forces overrun Baghdad, then the leading center of Islamic culture and learning and capital of the Abbasid Caliphate. They burn the imperial city to the ground, killing as many as 1,000,000 citizens.

* Llywelyn the Last declares himself Prince of Wales. He is the final ruler of an independent Wales, before its conquest by the English.
* King Henry III of England is forced by seven powerful barons to accept the Provisions of Oxford, effectively ending the absolute monarchy in England by requiring the calling of a parliament.
* The Chinese era "Baoyou" ends in the Northern Song Dynasty of China.
* Civil unrest in northern Italy spawns the medieval musical form of Geisslerlieder, penitential songs sung by wandering bands of Flagellants.
* Gissur Thorvaldsson is made Earl of Iceland by King Haakon IV of Norway.
* Korea surrenders to the Mongols.

Births

* Arghun, fourth Ilkhanate ruler of Iran (approximate date; d. 1291)
* Osman I, founder of the Ottoman Empire (d. 1326)

Deaths

* February 20 - Al-Musta'sim, last Abbasid Caliph of Baghdad
* August 18 - Theodore II Lascaris, emperor of Nicea (Byzantine Emperor in exile)
* Hong Bok-won, Goryeo commander who later served the Mongol Empire
* Meinhard I of Gorizia-Tyrol (b. c. 1200)
* Abu-l-Hassan ash-Shadhili, Moroccan spiritual leader (b. 1175)
* Clement of Dunblane, 13th-century Dominican friar who was the first member of the Dominican Order in Britain to become a bishop

Notes