* 1261 – Michael VIII Palaiologos is crowned Byzantine emperor in Constantinople.

# Margaret ( 28 February 1261 – 9 April 1283 ), who married King Eirik II of Norway

1185 – 1261 ), Pope from 1254 until his death

* 1251 – 1261: Otto von Mehringen

* 1261 – 1278: Heinrich I von Osthenen ( or Ostheeren )

* 3 Latin Emperors ( 1216 – 1217, 1219 – 1261 )

** Baldwin II ( 1228 – 1261 )

* 1261 – Margaret of Scotland, Queen of Norway ( d. 1283 )

* 1218 – 1261 / 1262: Conrad I / III ( brother of, also count of Zollern )

* 1261 – The city of Constantinople is recaptured by Nicaean forces under the command of Alexios Strategopoulos, re-establishing the Byzantine Empire.

* 1303 – Daniel of Moscow, Russian Saint, Grand Prince of Muscovy ( b. 1261 )

In the subsequent conquest which lasted over 50 years, the original population was nearly exterminated especially during the major Prussian rebellion of 1261 – 83.

* 1261 – King Dinis of Portugal ( d. 1325 )

1185 – 25 May 1261 ) was Pope from 1254 until his death.

Pope Urban IV ( c. 1195 – 2 October 1264 ), born Jacques Pantaléon, was Pope from 1261 to 1264.

Like Pope Innocent III ( 1198 – 1216 ), Pope Gregory IX ( 1227 – 1241 ) and Pope Alexander IV ( 1254 – 1261 ), he was a member of the family of the Conti, counts and dukes of Segni.

* 15 October – Walter de Stapledon, English bishop ( b. 1261 )

* 1259 – September – The Empire of Nicaea defeats the Principality of Achaea at the Battle of Pelagonia, ensuring the eventual reconquest of Constantinople in 1261.

* March 2 – King Wladyslaw I of Poland ( b. 1261 )

* December 30 – Bernard Gui, inquisitor ( b. 1261 or 1262 )

* 1261 – Byzantine Empire reemerges, Latin empire brought down

After Michael's conquest of Constantinople on July 25, 1261, John IV was left behind at Nicaea, and was later blinded on Michael's orders on his eleventh birthday, December 25, 1261.

On 25 July 1261, Michael VIII's general Alexios Strategopoulos captured Constantinople from its last Latin Emperor, Baldwin II.

Walter was also prothonotary of the chancery in 1258 ; and on 12 July 1261 Henry III made him chancellor, in place of Nicholas of Ely.

Thus, on 25 July 1261, with most of the Latin troops away on campaign, the Nicaean general Alexios Strategopoulos found an unguarded entrance to the city, and entered it with his troops, restoring the Byzantine Empire for his master, Michael VIII Palaiologos.

In July 1261, as most of the Latin army was fighting elsewhere, Alexius was able to convince the guards to open the gates of the city.

* From 13 April 1204 to 25 July 1261 in the Byzantine Empire.

On July 25, 1261, Nicaean troops under Alexios Strategopoulos recaptured Constantinople.

It was through this gate that the forces of the Empire of Nicaea, under General Alexios Strategopoulos, entered and retook the city from the Latins on 25 July 1261.

On July 25, 1261, the Byzantines under Michael VIII Palaiologos recaptured Constantinople.

John IV Doukas Laskaris ( or Ducas Lascaris ) ( Greek: Ιωάννης Δ ΄ Δούκας Λάσκαρις, Iōannēs IV Doukas Laskaris ) ( December 25, 1250 – c. 1305 ) was emperor of Nicaea from August 18, 1258 to December 25, 1261.

On 25 October 1261, Ottokar married his second wife Kunigunda of Slavonia.

Nicaea served as the interim capital city of the Byzantine Empire between 1204 and 1261, following the Fourth Crusade in 1204, until the recapture of Constantinople by the Byzantines in 1261.

By the late 13th century, with the Treaty of Nymphaeum of 1261, the offensive-defensive alliance between Michael VIII Palaeologus and Genoa that opened up the Black Sea to Genoese commerce, Varna had turned into a thriving commercial port city frequented by Genoese and later also by Venetian and Ragusan merchant ships.

* Nicaea ( present-day İznik, another important city in Bithynia, and the interim Byzantine capital city between 1204 and 1261 ( Empire of Nicaea ) following the Fourth Crusade in 1204, until the recapture of Constantinople by the Byzantines in 1261.

In 1261, the Lords of Mont planned to build a city along the lake that would compete with the Aubonne and Saint-Prex.

* 1261: First mention of city rights for Cölln.

In 1261, the Latins ceded Mystras and other forts in the southeastern Peloponnese as ransom for William II, who had been captured in Pelagonia, and Michael VIII Palaeologus made the city the seat of the new Despotate of the Morea.

From 1261, the city was ruled by the Knights Hospitaller.

In 1261 the city of Izmir became Genoese territory.

The Gate was used for triumphal entries until the Komnenian period ; thereafter, the only such occasion was the entry of Michael VIII Palaiologos into the city on 15 August 1261, after its reconquest from the Latins.

Following this experience, Michael VIII Palaiologos ( r. 1259 – 1282 ) took particular care to heighten and strengthen the seaward walls immediately after the Byzantine recapture of the city in 1261, since a Latin attempt to recover the city was regarded as imminent.

It was well fortified by the Byzantines and after their reconquest of Constantinople in 1261, it became the most important city in Thrace and Byzantine Macedonia.

After the Mongol invasion of Russia, in 1261, Russian Orthodox clergy established the Diocese of Sarai in the capital city of the Golden Horde, with an overt mission to serve the numerous Slavic population of Sarai ( some Slavs were abducted by force, some joined the Mongol service voluntarily ; Russian princes had to pay regular visits of homage to Sarai ).