1250s

Events and Trends
The 1250s is the decade starting, and ending ,.

The decade was perhaps most dominated by the, who under the leadership of continued their rapid expansion throughout  both to the east and west of their home territories. The Mongols destroyed the in, and captured the  kingdom in , eastern  in ,  in , and the ic center of , where tens or hundreds of thousands were killed as the city was burned to the ground. In the  kingdom was founded. In, a new sect of Buddhism was formed, while in the carving of Buddhist scriptures on 81,000 wooden blocks was completed.

Europe noted several important cultural milestones, including the completion of several important s and the beginning of construction of others, as well as the founding of the Collège de Sorbonne at the. Significant political developments in Europe included the lack of a for most of the decade, further erosion of the power of the  in  and, the end of the failed  in , and the expulsion of the s from  and the  from. In religion, a authorized the use of  in the, and the  clarified the concept of. Several important modern cities, including and, were founded in the 1250s.

One of the largest volcanic eruptions of the epoch is thought to have occurred. January,, with ice cores pointing to a tropical location such as , or possibly ,. The aftermath may have led to climatic anomalies in rainfall, effects on agriculture, as well as famine and epidemic disease across Europe.

Mongol Empire

 * 1251 — is elected as the fourth  of the.
 * 1253 — becomes a  to the expanding.
 * 1253 — The launches attacks on the  cities of  and.
 * 1253 — The Mongol Empire destroys the (Yunnan) in  and incorporates the region into their empire.
 * 1253 — introduces the  song and dance suite to the.
 * 1255 — is dispatched by his brother  to destroy the remaining  states in southwestern.
 * 1256 — October — commander  (operating under 's command) leads his forces in a victory over  of the, thereby capturing.
 * 1256 — —  captures and destroys the  stronghold at  in present-day.
 * 1256 — Hulagu Khan establishes the dynasty of, which will become one of four main divisions of the.
 * 1258 — — The 's  forces overrun, then the leading center of ic culture and learning, burning it to the ground and killing as many as 800,000 citizens.
 * 1259 — The kingdom in  surrenders to invading  forces.
 * 1259 — Second Mongol raid against, led by.

Europe

 * 1250 — —, dies, beginning a 23-year-long  known as the great interregnum. Frederick II is the last Holy Roman Emperor of the  dynasty; after the interregnum, the empire passes to the s. The  dissolves upon the death of Frederick II, its member states' nemesis.
 * 1250 — King captures the  from the, thus completing the expulsion of the Moors from.
 * 1251 —, dispatched two years earlier by King as an ambassador to the s, returns to his king with reports from the Mongols and ; his mission is considered a failure.
 * 1253 — King meets with  nobles and church leaders to reaffirm the validity of the.
 * 1254 — King, having exhausted his funds and being needed at home, abandons the (which he had conducted first in  and then ) and returns to.
 * 1254 — King Louis IX of France expels all s from France.
 * 1254 — King holds the first session of the Cortes ('s general assembly composed of nobles, members of the middle class, and representatives from all municipalities) in.
 * 1254 — In, an important step in the evolution of the and  occurs, as lesser barons are replaced on the  by elected representatives from shires and cities.
 * 1255 — May — from  returns to  from his missionary journey to convert the  of central and eastern Asia, his efforts having been unsuccessful.
 * 1258 — King is forced by seven powerful barons to accept the, effectively ending the  in  by requiring the calling of a.
 * 1259 — September — The defeats the  at the, ensuring the eventual reconquest of  in.
 * 1259 — — Kings  and  agree to the, in which Henry renounces his claims to -controlled territory on continental  (including ) in exchange for Louis withdrawing his support for English rebels.
 * 1259 - The cities of, , and  enter into a pact to defend against pirates of the , laying the groundwork for the.

Asia and Africa

 * 1250 — The of Mamluks seize power in.
 * 1259 —, a kingdom in the north of , is founded by King.

Science and literature

 * 1250 — isolates the element . He also first uses the word  to describe a type of bird (most likely the  of ).
 * 1254 — The  is completed.
 * 1257 —, , personally interviews King  for a week straight while compiling his major work of English history, Chronica Majora.

Art and architecture

 * 1250 — The in  is converted from a pontoon bridge to a permanent, raised wooden structure.
 * 1253 — The, the earliest important structure in the  style of , is completed in , Italy.
 * 1254 — The, once supposed to have adorned the in ancient , are installed at  in.
 * 1254 — Construction is begun on the in.
 * 1255 — The  at, , is completed. It is now a.
 * 1259 — The famous es of the in  are completed (the church and its murals are now a  ).

Cities and institutions

 * 1250 — is founded in.
 * 1251 — The city of, founded some fifty years earlier, receives its city charter.
 * 1252 — The first European are minted in the  city of, and are known as.
 * 1252 — The city of  is founded by.
 * 1254 — The city of  receives its city charter.
 * 1254 — The city of  is founded.
 * 1255 — The capital is moved to.
 * 1255 — (now Kaliningrad) is founded in.
 * 1256 — The city of, in present-day , is founded by.
 * 1257 — founds the Collège de Sorbonne at, giving a formal college (and still-common name) to the already existing  in.

Religion

 * 1251 — Carving of the, a collection of  recorded on some 81,000 wooden blocks, is completed.
 * 1252 — —  issues the  , which authorizes the  of  in the . Torture quickly gains widespread usage across.
 * 1253 — —, a ese  monk, declares his intention to preach the  and  as the true Buddhism, essentially founding the branch of Buddhism now known as.
 * 1254 — The  of  is clarified and so named by the Catholic church.
 * 1256 — —  issues a  constituting the.

Births

 * 1254 — —,  merchant and  (d. )
 * 1255 — July —, (d. )
 * 1258 —, founder of the (d. )

Deaths

 * 1250 — —  (b.
 * 1250 —, better known as Fibonacci
 * 1253 — —  Zenji, founder of the  school of   in  and author of the  and other important works (b. )
 * 1254 — —
 * 1255 —, ruler and founder of the  (b. c. )
 * 1256 —, King of