1244

1244 in various calendars
Gregorian calendar	1244 MCCXLIV
Ab urbe condita	1997
Armenian calendar	693 ԹՎ ՈՂԳ
Assyrian calendar	5994
Balinese saka calendar	1165–1166
Bengali calendar	650–651
Berber calendar	2194
English Regnal year	28 Hen. 3 – 29 Hen. 3
Buddhist calendar	1788
Burmese calendar	606
Byzantine calendar	6752–6753
Chinese calendar	癸卯年 (Water Rabbit) 3941 or 3734 — to — 甲辰年 (Wood Dragon) 3942 or 3735
Coptic calendar	960–961
Discordian calendar	2410
Ethiopian calendar	1236–1237
Hebrew calendar	5004–5005
Hindu calendars
- Vikram Samvat	1300–1301
- Shaka Samvat	1165–1166
- Kali Yuga	4344–4345
Holocene calendar	11244
Igbo calendar	244–245
Iranian calendar	622–623
Islamic calendar	641–642
Japanese calendar	Kangen 2 (寛元２年)
Javanese calendar	1153–1154
Julian calendar	1244 MCCXLIV
Korean calendar	3577
Minguo calendar	668 before ROC 民前668年
Nanakshahi calendar	−224
Thai solar calendar	1786–1787
Tibetan calendar	ཆུ་མོ་ཡོས་ལོ་ (female Water-Hare) 1370 or 989 or 217 — to — ཤིང་ཕོ་འབྲུག་ལོ་ (male Wood-Dragon) 1371 or 990 or 218

Events

March 16 – Siege of Montségur: French forces capture and destroy Château de Montségur in Languedoc, after a 9-month siege. Some 200 'heretics' (perfecti and credentes) are burnt in a bonfire, near the foot of the castle. This marks the final defeat of the Cathars (or Albigensians); the followers become scattered fugitives, meeting in forests and mountain wilds.^[1]
March 26 – Treaty of Almizra: King James I (the Conqueror) and King Ferdinand III (the Saint) agree on the distribution of Muslim lands yet to be conquered. All lands south of a line, from the cities of Biar to Villajoyosa through Busot, are reserved for the Crown of Castile. This ends further Aragonese expansion on the Iberian Peninsula.^[2]
December – King Louis IX (the Saint) falls desperately ill of a severe malarian infection. Near-death, he vows that if he recovers he will set out for a crusade. Louis' life is spared and as soon as his health permits him, he takes the cross and immediately begins preparations for the Seventh Crusade.^[3]

June – Khwarazmian forces (some 10,000 men) invade Syrian territory, ravaging the land and burning the villages. As Damascus is too strong for a siege, they attack Galilee, past the town of Tiberias – which they capture. The Khwarazmians attack further southward through Nablus towards Jerusalem.^[4]
July 15 – Siege of Jerusalem: Khwarazmian horsemen attack and sack the 'holy city' of Jerusalem. There is bloody fighting in the streets, the Khwarazmian force their way into the Armenian Quarter, where they decimate the Christian population, and drive out the Jews. The city is left in a state of ruin.^[5]
August 23 – The Tower of David surrenders to the Khwarazmian forces, some 6,000 Christian men, women and children march out of Jerusalem. As they move along the road toward Jaffa, they see crusader flags waving on the Walls of Jerusalem. Returning, some 2,000 of them are massacred.^[6]
October 4 – The Crusaders assemble a force of some 1,000 cavalry and 6,000 men outside Acre, after hearing that Jerusalem is sacked by the Khwarazmians. They are joined by the Ayyubid forces (some 4,000 men) of Damascus and Homs – while Emir An-Nasir Dawud brings his army from Kerak.^[7]
October 17 – Battle of La Forbie: A Crusader army (some 10,000 men) under Walter IV of Brienne and Ayyubid allies are defeated near Hiribya (or La Forbie) by Egyptian and Khwarazmian forces. The army is destroyed, with about 7,500 men killed. Walter and William of Chastelneuf are captured.^[8]

June 7 – Pope Innocent IV is driven from Rome by imperial forces of Emperor Frederick II, and travels secretly in disguise to Sutri. Genoese galleys prepared by his relatives are waiting for him at the port of Civitavecchia to take him to Genoa.
October 5 – Innocent IV flees to France and travels to Lyon, where he arrives on November 29. Although the city is nominally subject to the Holy Roman Empire, Innocent falls under the protection of Louis IX.
December 27 – Innocent IV summons a general council to meet in Lyon (some 140 bishops eventually come) to attend what becomes later the First Council of Lyon.

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Events