The Ayyubids drive the Khwarezmians from Jerusalem…

Carcassonne had become famous in its role in the Albigensian Crusades, when the city was a stronghold of Occitan Cathars.

The crusading army of Simon de Montfort had forced its citizens to surrender in August 1209, ending four centuries of prosperity.

Raymond-Roger de Trencavel had been imprisoned while negotiating his city's surrender, held in his own dungeon, and allowed to die.

Montfort, who had been appointed the new viscount, had added to the fortifications.

Trencavel's son had tried in vain to reconquer his old domain in 1240.

The French crown has taken control of the devastated area and the city submits to the rule of the kingdom of France in 1247;King Louis IX founds the new part of the town across the river.

Beatrice, the youngest daughter of Raymond Berenguer IV of Provence and Beatrice of Savoy, had been married on January 31, 1246, to Charles of France, Count of Anjou and Maine, the youngest brother of King Louis IX of France.

Charles was born in 1226, shortly before the death of his father, King Louis VIII.

The affection of his mother Blanche seems largely to have been bestowed upon his brother Louis; and Louis tends to favor his other younger brothers, Robert of Artois and Alphonse of Toulouse.

The self-reliance this has engendered in Charles may account for the drive and ambition he will show in his later life.

Upon his accession as Count of Provence and Forcalquier in 1246, Charles had rapidly found himself in difficulties.

His sisters-in-law felt cheated by their father's will, and his mother-in-law, the Dowager Countess Beatrice of Savoy, claims the entire County of Forcalquier and the usufruct of Provence as her jointure.

Furthermore, while Provence is technically a part of the Kingdom of Burgundy and hence of the Holy Roman Empire, in practice it is free of central authority.

The recent counts had governed with a light hand, and the nobles and cities (three of which, Marseille, Arles, and Avignon are Imperial cities technically separate from the county) have enjoyed great liberties. (Charles, in contrast, is disposed towards a rigid administration; he will order inquests in 1252 and again in 1278 to ascertain his rights.)

Charles breaks the traditional powers of the great towns (Nice, Grasse, Marseille, Arles, Avignon) and arouses considerable hostility by his punctilious insistence on enjoying his full rights and fees.

In 1247, while Charles has gone to France to receive the Counties of Anjou and Maine, the local nobility (represented by Barral of Baux and Boniface of Castellane) join with Beatrice and the three Imperial cities to form a defensive league against him.

Unfortunately for Charles, he has promised to join his brother on the Seventh Crusade.

For the time being, Charles' only recourse is to compromise with Beatrice, allowing her to have Forcalquier and a third of the Provençal usufruct.

Wealthy Provence provides the funds that support his wider career.

His rights as landlord are, on the whole, of recent establishment, but his rights as sovereign entitles him to revenues on the gabelles (mainly salt), from alberga (commutation of gîte) and cavalcata (commutation of the duties of military service) and quista ("aids").

From the Church, unlike his brothers in the north, he receives virtually nothing.

Charles' agents are efficient, the towns are prosperous, the peasants are buying up the duties of corvée and establishing self-governing consultates in the villages: Provence flourishes.

The Rayonnant Transept Façades of Notre-Dame de Paris (1247 CE): A Masterpiece of High Gothic Architecture

In 1247, construction began on the Rayonnant Gothic transept façades of Notre-Dame de Paris, marking a significant architectural transformation of the iconic cathedral. These new façades, part of the Rayonnant phase of Gothic architecture, were designed to increase light, elegance, and intricate ornamentation, moving away from the earlier emphasis on height and mass seen in the High Gothic style.

Rayonnant Gothic Characteristics in the Transept Façades

• Delicate and intricate tracery, replacing heavier, solid masonry.
• Expanded stained-glass windows, increasing natural light penetration.
• Elaborate sculptural decoration, reinforcing the cathedral’s grandeur and spiritual symbolism.

Key Features of the Rayonnant Transept Façades

1. South Transept Façade (c. 1250s) – Designed by Jean de Chelles

   • Features a magnificent rose window, radiating outward in finely detailed tracery.
   • The portal below is dedicated to Saint Stephen, adorned with intricate sculptures and tympanum reliefs.

2. North Transept Façade (c. 1260s) – Completed by Pierre de Montreuil

   • Showcases even more refined tracery and larger window spaces, exemplifying the mature Rayonnant style.
   • The portal below is dedicated to the Virgin Mary, reflecting Notre-Dame’s Marian devotion.

Impact and Legacy

• These new façades were part of the broader movement toward Rayonnant Gothic, which sought to maximize light and decorative refinement.
• The rose windows in both transepts became some of the most iconic features of Notre-Dame, influencing later cathedrals across Europe.
• This transformation marked Notre-Dame’s evolution from an Early Gothic monument into one of the most refined High Gothic masterpieces.

The Rayonnant transept façades of Notre-Dame de Paris, begun in 1247, stand as a testament to the artistic and engineering advancements of Gothic architecture, solidifying the cathedral’s enduring legacy in medieval European art and religious devotion.

With the death of the childless Landgrave Henry Raspe in 1247, the Ludowingian line of Thuringian landgraves becomes extinct in the male line.

His property includes only large parts of Thuringia; also, the Countship of Hesse had come into Ludowingian possession through the female line.

In 1122, before his acquisition of the title of Landgrave, Count Louis I of Thuringia had married Hedwig of Gudensberg, the female heir of the Hessian countly family of the Gisonen.

The Gisonen, whose lands were initially mainly in the upper Lahn area, had previously come into the significant inheritance of Count Werner in Lower Hesse.

Then, through the marriage of Giso IV with Kunigunde of Bilstein, they had also acquired widespread property and vogtship rights from the Counts of Bilstein.

Claims on the Ludowingians' inheritance are made by Henry Raspe's niece and his nephew.

Sophie of Thuringia, married to Henry II, Duke of Brabant and Lothier, is the daughter of Henry Raspe's brother Louis IV and she claims the territories on behalf of her son Henry.

(Sophie's sister Gertrude is abbess of the imperial convent of Altenberg in Wetzlar and thus excluded from the succession.)

Henry III, Margrave of Meissen, is the son of Henry Raspe's sister Jutta.

Another competitor is the Archbishop of Mainz, who can claim Hesse is a fiefdom of the Archbishopric and now, after the extinction of the Ludowingians, demands its return.

The war will last seventeen years.

Frederick has strengthened his position in Southern Germany, acquiring the Duchy of Austria, whose duke had died without heirs, and one year later, Henry Raspe dies as well.

The new anti-king is William II, Count of Holland, the son of Floris IV and Matilda of Brabant.

William was only seven years old when his father was killed at a tournament at Corbie, His uncles William and Otto (Bishop of Utrecht) had been his guardians until 1239.

With the help of Henry II, Duke of Brabant and the archbishop of Cologne, William is elected in 1247 as king of Germany after Emperor Frederick II is excommunicated.

Frederick settles the situation in Italy by means of the diet of Terni between February and March 1247, naming his relatives or friends as vicars of the various lands.

He marries his son Manfred to Beatrice of Savoy, the daughter of Amedeus of Savoy, and secures the submission of the marquis of Monferrato.

For his part, Innocent asks protection from the King of France, Louis IX; but the king is a friend of the Emperor and believes in his desire for peace.

A papal army under the command of Ottaviano degli Ubaldini never reaches Lombardy, and …

…the Emperor, accompanied by a massive army, holds the next diet in Turin.

An unexpected event changes the situation in Italy dramatically when in June 1247 the important Lombard city of Parma expels the Imperial functionaries and sides with the Guelphs.

Enzio is not in the city and can do nothing more than ask for help from his father, who returns to lay siege to the rebels, together with his friend Ezzelino III da Romano, tyrant of Verona.

Giovanni and his companions on the return journey of from Karakorum have often had to lie on the bare snow, or on ground scraped bare of snow with a foot.

They reach Kiev on June 10, 1247.

Here, as on their further journey, the Slavonic Christians welcome them as risen from the dead, with festive hospitality.

Giovanni da Pian del Carpini, having reached Karakorum in Mongolia, returns with a travel account that generates much interest.

Crossing the Rhine at Cologne, the Carpini mission finds the Pope still at Lyon, and delivers their report and the Khan's letter.

Giovanni advises the pope to press for a Christian war against the Mongols.

Made the Serbian Primate and Archbishop of Antivari, Carpini will complete his Historia Mongolarum in 1251 and die the following year, leaving the earliest important Western account of northern and central Asia, Rus, and other regions of the Mongol dominion.