1256

{{Use mdy dates|date=February 2011}}

{{About year|1256}}

{{Year nav|1256}}

{{C13 year in topic}}

File:Prise d'Alamût (1256).jpeg conquers Alamut Castle]]

Year 1256 (MCCLVI) was a leap year starting on Saturday of the Julian calendar.

Events

= By place =

== Mongol Empire ==

  • Spring – Mongol forces (some 80,000 men), under Hulagu Khan, cross the Oxus River, and begin their campaign to destroy the remaining Muslim states in southwestern Asia – with the first objectives being the Nizari Ismaili strongholds and Baghdad, the capital of the Abbasid Caliphate. The roads across Turkestan and Persia are repaired, and bridges built. Carts are requisitioned to bring siege machines from China.{{cite book|authorlink=Steven Runciman|first=Steven|last=Runciman|year=1952|title=A History of The Crusades. Vol III: The Kingdom of Acre|pages=236, 249–250|isbn=978-0-241-29877-0}}
  • October – Mongol forces led by Baiju Noyan (operating under Hulagu Khan's command) win a victory over Kaykaus II, Seljuk ruler of the Sultanate of Rum, and capture Anatolia. Kaykaus flees to the Byzantine court where he seeks refuge at Constantinople. The Empire of Trebizond fearing a potential punitive Mongol expedition, becomes a vassal state and is forced to pay a tribute tax every year in gold and silk.Peacock, A. C. S.; Yildiz, Sara Nur (ed). (2013). The Seljuks of Anatolia: Court and Society in the Medieval Middle East, pp. 118–119. I.B. Tauris. {{ISBN|978-0-85773-346-7}}.
  • November 823Siege of Maymun-Diz: Mongol forces under Hulagu Khan successfully besiege the mountain castle of Maymun-Diz. Hulagu encircles the fortress and begins a bombardment for three days by mangonels from a nearby hilltop. On November 19, Nizari Isma'ili imam Rukn al-Din Khurshah surrenders, but a small part of the garrison refuses and fights a last stand, until they are killed after three days.Willey, Peter (2005). Eagle's Nest: Ismaili Castles in Iran and Syria, pp. 75–85. Boomsbury Academic. {{ISBN|978-1-85043-464-1}}.
  • December 15 – Mongol forces under Hulagu Khan capture and dismantle Alamut Castle (near the Masoudabad region) after the surrender of the Nizari Ismaili leaders. Hulagu founds the Ilkhanate dynasty of Persia, which becomes one of the four main divisions of the Mongol Empire. The Nizari Ismaili government is disestablished; some of them migrate to Afghanistan, Badakhshan and Sindh (modern Pakistan).

== Europe ==

  • War of the Euboeote Succession: Achaean forces under William II of Villehardouin attempt to gain control of the island of Euboea, which is resisted by the local Lombard barons (or "triarchs") with the aid of the Republic of Venice. William launches devastating raids in Euboea. Guy I de la Roche, the "Great Lord" of Athens and Thebes, enters the war against William, along with other barons of Central Greece.Setton, Kenneth M. (1976). The Papacy and the Levant (1204–1571), Volume I: The Thirteenth and Fourteenth Centuries, p. 78. Philadelphia: The American Philosophical Society. {{ISBN|0-87169-114-0}}.
  • 30 July – The Venetian Marsilio Zorzi recaptures Curzola in Dalmatia, and re-establishes himself as Count of Curzola and Mèleda.{{DBI | url = https://www.treccani.it/enciclopedia/marsilio-zorzi_%28Dizionario-Biografico%29/ | title = ZORZI, Marsilio | last = Mazzon | first = Martino | volume = 100}}

== British Isles ==

== Levant ==

= By topic =

== Natural Disaster ==

  • June 30 – A large volcanic eruption in Harrat Rahat (near Medina) is associated with an Islamic prophecy.The Seismicity of Egypt, Arabia and the Red Sea: A Historical Review p. 40.

== Religion ==

Births

Deaths

References

{{Reflist}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:1256}}