1227
Genghis Khan dies campaigning against Western Xia
After a fall from his horse and a lingering illness, the founder of the Mongol empire died in Gansu as his armies were completing the extermination of the Tangut kingdom. His body was carried secretly to an unmarked grave in Mongolia. The empire continued to expand. Every person who witnessed the funeral procession was reportedly killed to keep the burial site secret for eternity.
Gregory IX elected pope
A cousin of Innocent III and nearly eighty years old, Ugolino of Ostia took the name Gregory IX and brought the papacy's war with Frederick II to white heat. He would live another fourteen years, long enough to preside over the Inquisition's formalization. His personal friendship with Francis of Assisi had not softened his temper, and he wielded excommunication like a blunt instrument against imperial ambition.
Ogedei Khan elected as successor
At a great kurultai on the Kerulen River, the Mongol princes confirmed Genghis Khan's choice of his third son Ogedei as Great Khan. The new ruler, a gifted administrator and legendary drinker, would expand the empire more efficiently than his father, building Karakorum and authorizing simultaneous campaigns on four fronts.