This article is about the year 1244.

Events

• Dogen Zenji establishes the Eiheiji temple in Japan, thus founding the Soto sect of Zen Buddhism.
• Sultan Malik al-Muattam razes the city walls of Jerusalem.
• James I of Aragon reconquers Altea, Spain.
• The Cathars of Montségur surrender after a 9-month siege.
• Siege and Fall of Jerusalem leading to the Seventh Crusade

Births

• June 24 - Henry I of Hesse (d. 1308)
• Archbishop Henry II of Virneburg (d. 1332)

Deaths

• March 1 - Gruffyd ap Llywelyn, eldest, illegitimate son of Llywelyn the Great (b. 1200)
• Jeanne, Countess of Flanders and Hainault(b. 1199/1200)
• Eleonore, daughter of king Alfonso VIII and Eleonore Plantagenet
• Witco de Perchyc, Bohemian noble (b. 1177)