Year 1239 (MCCXXXIX) was a common year starting on Saturday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. Events By place Europe Summer – A German expeditionary force under Emperor Frederick II invades the Romagna and Tuscany, hoping to capture Rome. He appoints his 21-year-old son, Enzo of Sardinia, as imperial vicar general for Northern Italy. Frederick also threatens with war against Venice, who has sent ships to blockade the harbors on Sicily. In order to finance his growing need for arms, he institutes an administrative reorganization of the Holy Roman Empire (among others, the formation of 10 vice regencies in Italy). August – Siege of Faenza: Frederick II lays siege to the town of Faenza during the war of the Guelphs and Ghibellines. Meanwhile, Frederick makes an alliance with Pisa to support his campaign against the Papal States. Autumn – King Béla IV allows some 40,000 Cumans, pagan nomads fleeing the Mongols, to settle in Hungary between the rivers Danube and Theiss, after their leader, Köten, has promised to convert to Christianity. November – Pope Gregory IX grants the status of Crusade to King Ferdinand III (the Saint), who leads a successful campaign against the Almohads in Murcia. King Louis IX (the Saint) holds a parlement (or "court of law") at Paris, for the first time recorded in Ancien Régime France. England June 17 or June 18 – Edward I (Longshanks), first son born to King Henry III and Queen Eleanor of Provence, is born at the Palace of Westminster. Henry names him after Edward the Confessor and chooses Simon de Montfort as his godfather. Levant September 1 – Barons' Crusade: A Crusader force (some 1,500 knights) under King Theobald I of Navarre arrives at Acre. At a council of local barons – most prominently: Walter of Brienne, Odo of Montbéliard, Balian of Beirut, John of Arsuf, and Balian of Sidon, plans are made to prepare an expedition against the Ayyubids in Egypt. Later, Theobald is also joined by some Crusaders from Cyprus. November 2 – A expeditionary force (some 4,000 knights) under Theobald I sets out from Acre for the Egyptian frontier, detachments from the military orders and several local barons accompany the Crusaders. While marching to Jaffa, a Crusader column led by Peter of Brittany and his lieutenant Raoul de Soissons with two hundred knights, lays an ambush and attacks a rich Muslim caravan. November