1242

By area

Africa

• In Maghrib, after a string of successes against the fast declining Almohads, Abu Zakariya, the first Hafsid ruler of Ifriqiya, conquers the Kingdom of Tlemcen.

  Asia

• Emperor Go-Saga ascends to the throne of Japan.
• Batu Khan establishes the Golden Horde at Sarai.
• The Mongols invade the Seljuk Sultanate.

  Europe

• 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.
• Cleves, Germany is chartered as a city.
• Kiel, Germany is chartered as a town.
• The Archbishop of Mainz conquers the city of Wiesbaden, from the House of Nassau.
• King Sancho II of Portugal conquers the cities of Tavira, Alvor and Paderne, in his continuing effort against the Muslims, known as Reconquista.
• Mongol invasions
• * 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.
• * A French goldsmith working in Budapest, named Guillaume Boucher, is captured by the Mongols and taken to Karakorum.
• * The Golden Bull is issued by King Béla IV to inhabitants of Gradec and Samobor in Croatia, during the Mongol invasion of Europe. By this golden bull King Bela IV proclaim a free royal city.
• * Battle of Grobnicko Polje: Croats stop the Mongolian invasion.

  By topic

Science

• 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.

  Religion

• The diocese of Warmia, Poland is created.