1206 Explained

Year 1206 (MCCVI) was a common year starting on Sunday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar.

Events

By place

Byzantine Empire

• January 31  - Battle of Rusion: The Bulgarian forces (some 7,000 men), under Tsar Kaloyan, defeat the remnants of the Latin army, near the fortress of Rusion in Thrace. Around 120 knights, supported by soldiers and cavalry, are killed in battle or captured.
• February  - The Bulgarians attack and loot the fortified town of Rodosto (see Battle of Rodosto), defended by a Venetian garrison. Later, Kaloyan captures many more towns and fortresses.^[1]
• August 20  - Henry of Flanders is crowned as the second emperor of the Latin Empire, in the Hagia Sophia at Constantinople, after hearing of the death of his brother, Emperor Baldwin I, who has died in prison at Baldwin's Tower in Tsarevets Castle, in Veliko Tarnovo (after being captured by the Bulgarians in 1205). Upon Henry's ascension as Latin emperor, the Lombard nobles of the Kingdom of Thessalonica refuse to give him allegiance.^[2]

Asia

• Temüjin assembles at a Kurultai, a council of Mongol chiefs, the tribes under his rule and is elected as their leader. He is given the title of "Genghis Khan" of the Mongol people – founding the Mongol Empire. Genghis takes immediate steps to underpin his military command, starting with a fundamental reordering of tribal loyalties. United under one nomadic nation, under one banner and one authority.^[3]
• Muqali (or Mukhali), a Mongol general in service of Genghis Khan, is rewarded with the command of the left-wing of the newly reorganized Mongol army and takes control over the eastern Mingghans.^[4]
• March 15  - Sultan Muhammad of Ghor is murdered and succeeded by Qutb al-Din Aibak, his deputy in India, who founds the Mamluk Dynasty, the first dynasty of the Delhi Sultanate.^[5]

Europe

• King Valdemar II (the Conqueror) and Archbishop Andreas Sunonis raid Saaremaa Island (modern Estonia), forcing the islanders to submit. The Danes build a fortress, but finding no volunteers to man it, they burn it down themselves and leave the island.
• The Livonian Brothers of the Sword, in alliance with the Semigallians, conquer the Livonians (or Livs).

Britain

• June  - King John (Lackland) lands an expeditionary army at La Rochelle to defend his interests in Aquitaine, which is his from the inheritance from his mother, Queen Eleanor of Aquitaine. Meanwhile, French forces led by King Philip II (Augustus) move south to meet John. The year's campaign ends in a stalemate and a two-year truce is made between the two rulers.^[6]

By topic

Art and Culture

• Sugar, an import from the Muslim world, is mentioned for the first time in a royal English account. Almonds, cinnamon, ginger, and nutmeg are also imported for royal banquets.^[7]

Religion

• A peasant named Thurkhill in England claims that Saint Julian took him on a tour of Purgatory. Thurkhill includes realistic touches of descriptions of Purgatory's torture chambers. This is also believed by Roger of Wendover, one of his society's leading historians.^[8]
• December  - The monks of Canterbury want their own sub-prior Reginald for the post of archbishop, while John (Lackland) chooses John de Gray. Pope Innocent III appoints Stephen Langton. Finally, the monks accept the Pope's decision and vote for Langton.

Technic

• The Arab engineer Ismail al-Jazari describes many mechanical inventions in his book (title translated to English) The Book of Knowledge of Ingenious Mechanical Devices.

Births

• c.March 19  - Güyük Khan (or Kuyuk), Mongol emperor (d. 1248)
• April 7  - Otto II, German nobleman (d. 1253)
• unknown dates
  • Béla IV, king of Hungary and Croatia (d. 1270)^[9]
  • Hong Pok-wŏn, Korean general and official (d. 1258)^[10]
• Sheikh Edebali, Ottoman religious leader (d. 1326)
• Yaghmurasen ibn Zyan, Zayyanid ruler (d. 1283)^[11]
• probable
  • Margaret de Quincy, English noblewoman (d. 1266)^[12]

Deaths

• February 4  - Theobald Walter, Norman High Sheriff (b. 1165)
• March 5  - Thietmar of Minden (or Dietmar), German bishop
• April 5  - Ottaviano di Paoli, Italian cardinal-bishop and diplomat^[13]
• April 7  - Frederick I, German nobleman (House of Lorraine)
• April 16  - Kujō Yoshitsune, Japanese nobleman (b. 1169)
• April 23  - Suero Rodríguez, Spanish knight and Grand Master
• June 4  - Adela of Champagne, queen of France (b. 1140)
• unknown dates
  • Artaldus (or Arthaud), French priest and bishop (b. 1101)^[14]
  • Harald Maddadsson, Norwegian nobleman (b. 1134)^[15]
  • Huan Zong, Chinese emperor of Western Xia (b. 1177)^[16]
  • Ismail al-Jazari, Artuqid polymath and inventor (b. 1136)^[17]
  • Muhammad of Ghor, ruler of the Ghurid Empire (b. 1149)^[18]
  • William de Burgh, English nobleman (House of Burke)^[19]
  • Yang Wanli, Chinese politician and poet (b. 1127)^[20]

Notes and References

1. Setton, Kenneth M. (1989). A History of the Crusades, Volume VI: The Impact of the Crusades on Europe, p. 436. Madison and London: University of Wisconsin Press. .
2. Nicol, Donald M. (2002). The Last Centuries of Byzantium (1261–1453), p. 12. Cambridge University Press.
3. Andrew Roberts (2011). Great Commanders of the Medieval World (454–1582): Genghis Khan, p. 146–147. .
4. Hope, Michael (2016). Power, Politics, and Tradition in the Mongol Empire and the Īlkhānate of Iran, p. 36. Oxford University Press. .
5. Hywel Williams (2005). Cassell's Chronology of World History, p. 133. .
6. Turner, Ralph V. (2009). King John: England's Evil King?, pp. 107–108. Stroud, UK: History Press. .
7. King John by Warren. Published by University of California Press in 1961. p. 139
8. King John by Warren. Published by University of California Press in 1961. p. 11
9. Book: Almási, Tibor . Kristó . Gyula . Engel . Pál . Makk . Ferenc . Korai magyar történeti lexikon (9–14. század) [Encyclopedia of the Early Hungarian History (9th–14th centuries)] . Akadémiai Kiadó . 1994 . 92–93, 234 . IV. Béla; Gertrúd . 963-05-6722-9. hu.
10. Oleg Pirozhenko, 'Political Trends of Hong Bog Won Clan in the Period of Mongol Domination', International Journal of Korean History, Vol. 9 (2005); available at http://ijkh.khistory.org/journal/view.php?number=469; English translation here: http://ijkh.khistory.org/upload/pdf/9-08_oleg%20pirozhenko.pdf
11. a et b Ibn Khaldoun, Histoire des Berbères et des dynasties musulmanes de l'Afrique septentrionale, traduction du baron de Slane (tome III), Ed. Imprimerie du Gouvernement (Alger), 1856 (read online)
12. Wilkinson, Louise J. (2000) "Pawn and Political Player: Observations on the Life of a Thirteenth-Century Countess" Historical Research Vol. 73 No. 181, pp. 105-123.
13. Book: Conradus Eubel. Hierarchia catholica. Tomus 1. 1913. Libreria Regensbergiana. Münster. second. la. 35.
14. Book: Paul Burns. Alban Butler. Butler's Lives of the Saints. Burns & Oates. 1995. 9780860122593. 47.
15. Book: William P. L. Thomson. History of Orkney. Mercat Press. 1987. 9780901824820. 77.
16. Book: Shi, Jinbo . The Empire of Western Xia and the Tangut Economy . 2021-06-01 . Brill . 978-90-04-46132-1 . en.
17. Balafrej . Lamia . 2022-12-19 . Automated Slaves, Ambivalent Images, and Noneffective Machines in al-Jazari’s Compendium of the Mechanical Arts, 1206. . 21: Inquiries into Art, History, and the Visual . en . 3 . 4 . 737–774 . 10.11588/xxi.2022.4.91685 . 2701-1550.
18. Book: Puri, B. N. . A Comprehensive History of India: Comprehensive history of medieval India . Das . M. N. . 2003-12-01 . Sterling Publishers Pvt. Ltd . 978-81-207-2508-9 . en.
19. B. Smith, "Burgh, Richard de (died 1243)". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography. online edition, Oxford University Press, (2004), [author states, "Burgh, Richard de (d. 1243), justiciar of Ireland, was the son of William de Burgh (d. 1206)".].
20. The poetry of Yang Wan-Li . University of British Columbia . 1975 . 10.14288/1.0093625 . Jerry Dean . Schmidt.