1240
1240 was a leap year.
| Millennium: | 2nd millennium |
|---|---|
| Centuries: | 12th century – 13th century – 14th century |
| Decades: | 1210s 1220s 1230s – 1240s – 1250s 1260s 1270s |
| Years: | 1237 1238 1239 – 1240 – 1241 1242 1243 |
Events
- Batu Khan and the Golden Horde sack the Ruthenian city of Kiev.
- Mandinka prince Sundiata Keita defeats Sosso king Soumaoro Kanté at the Battle of Kirina, beginning the Mali Empire.
- July 15 – Russian prince Alexander Nevsky defeats the Swedes in the Battle of the Neva, saving Russia from a full-scale enemy invasion from the North.
- End of the civil war era in Norway.
- Saint Maurice is started to be portrayed as Moor.
Births
- Abulafia, Maltese Jewish philosopher (died 1292)
- Pope Benedict XI (died 1304)
- Stephen V of Hungary (died 1272)
- Sigerus of Brabant, French theologian (died 1284)
- Albert the Degenerate, landgrave of Thuringia (approximate date; died 1314)
Deaths
- April 11 – Llywelyn the Great, King of Gwynedd
- Ibn Arabi, Andalusian Arab philosopher
- Jacques de Vitry, French historian and theologian (born c. 1180)
- William de Warenne, 6th Earl of Surrey (born 1166)