T.L. Winslow's 1160s Historyscope 1160-1169 C.E.

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1160 1161 1162 1163 1164 1165 1166 1167 1168 1169

1160-1169 C.E.



The Sideshow Becket Battle Decade? A century after the Norman invasion of England sees the last decade when the Scots and Irish enjoy some measure of independence from the stankin' English?

Country Leader From To
England Henry II (1133-89) 1154 1189 Henry II of England (1133-89)
Scotland Malcolm IV (1141-65) 1153 Dec. 9, 1165 Malcolm IV of Scotland (1141-65)
France Louis VII the Younger (1120-80) 1137 Sept. 18, 1180 Louis VII of France (1120-80)
Germany HRE Frederick I Barbarossa (1122-90) 1152 June 10, 1190 HRE Frederick I Barbarossa (1122-90)
Papacy Alexander III (-1181) 1159 Aug. 30, 1181 Pope Alexander III (-1181)



1160 - The William I of Sicily Matthew Bonnellus Lombard League Year?

William I the Bad of Sicily (1131-66) Morgan Leaf from Winchester Bible, 1160-75 St. Andrews Cathedral, Scotland, 1160-1318 San Cataldo Church, Sicily, 1160

1160 On Jan. 11 Sicilian-held Mahdia in Tunisia (S of Monastir) surrenders to the Almohads, who kick them out of N Africa, allowing the Almohads to establish rule in Tunisia and Tripolitania, causing a popular backlash in Sicily against adm. Maio (Majone) of Bari (-1160), and on Nov. 10 he is assassinated in Via Coperta in Palermo by Matthew Bonnellus (who was betrothed to his daughter but switched to another babe, Countess Clementia of Catanzaro), with the complicity of archbishop Hugh of Palermo (-1161), after which he flees to Caccamo then is hailed in Palermo as a hero, forcing Norman king #2 of the Two Sicilies (since 1154) William I (the Bad) of Sicily (1131-66) to pardon him and allow him to return; the king then earns his title of Bad by calling in an old debt, causing Bonnellus to begin a plot with Roger II's bastard son Simon and bastard grandson Count Tancred of Lecce (-1194) to assassinate him, but William I finds out and captures him and launches an anti-Muslim pogrom for funners, but the pop. is aroused and frees him, and he flees to Caccamo, regroups, attacks Palermo, and suffers a D after reinforcements arrive for the king from Messina, after which the king pardons him; too bad, when he turns around and starts mouthing off against the king, he is imprisoned in al-Halka, which causes his supporters to revolt again, and this time William I doesn't take chances, and Bonnellus is blinded and hamstrung and dies in prison, and his babe Clementia is exiled to Calabria. On Mar. 12 Al-Muqtafi dies, and his son Al-Mustanjid (1124-70) succeeds him as Abbasid caliph #32 (until Dec. 20, 1170). On May 1 in Languedoc in SE France Bishop William of Beziers orders priests who observe the lovely custom of beating Jews on Palm Sun. to be excommunicated; as the town is home to the Albigensians (Cathars), this gives the Church one more reason to kill them all? An assembly in Pavia called by HRE Frederick I Barbarossa declares for Pope Victor IV; Pope Alexander III responds by excommunicating Frederick I and creating the Lombard League in 1167 (incl. Bologna) to oppose him; Louis VII pledges his aid to Alexander III in the fight against Victor IV. According to world traveler Benjamin of Tudela, after Amadiya, Iraq-born David Alrui (Alroy) (El-David) (Menahem ben Solomon) stirs up the Jews in Mesopotamia with the claim that he's the Jewish Messiah, his father-in-law kills him in his sleep; when the job of Messiah stays open and another claimant appears in 1225 in S Arabia, Maimonides writes Letter to the South, pooh-poohing him while keeping belief in a coming Jewish Messiah as one of the 13 principal tenets of the Jewish faith; he also writes the immortal soundbyte: "The other nations vanish, but the Jews last forever." Lucca in Tuscany, Italy (known for its silk trade) receives a charter as an independent commune. In this decade Malcolm MacHeth leads a revolt against the Scottish Canmore kings. About this time Dusum Khyenpa "knower of the three times - past, present, future" (1110-93), disciple of Tibetan master Gampopa attains enlightenment while practicing dream yoga, becoming the first Karmapa Lama, head of the Karma Kagyu, sub-school of the Kagyu school of Tibetan Buddhism, holders of the Black Crown, becoming known as the Black Hat Lamas. About this time Chretien de Troyes (1144-90) of N France becomes the first known Trouvere. Architecture: The Arabasque Norman San Cataldo Church in Palermo, Sicily is founded by Maio di Bari, with three domes and Arab-style merlons. Nonfiction: The Winchester Bible is begun in England (until 1175), featuring the beautiful Morgan Leaf, becoming the largest surviving 12th cent. English Bible. Plays: About this time the play Ludus de Antichristo (Tegernseer Antichrist) is written in Tegernsee Abbey, Bavaria, showing Emperor Frederick I Barbarossa defeating him, after which a 2nd one appears and wins the people through hypocrisy and heresy, but is struck down by lighting from God, after which Ecclesia triumphs. Poetry: In this decade English monk Reginald of Durham writes Life of St. Oswald and Life of St. Euflamm. The Celtic romantic tragic epic Tristan et Iseult (Tristan and Isolde), by Beroul (Béroul) (of Normandy?) and Thomas of Britain is written, about Irish princess Isolde (Welsh "fair lady"?) who is betrothed to Cornish king Mark, but falls madly in love with his nephew Tristan on the journey to fetch her. French troubadour Benoit de Sainte-Maure (Sainte-More) (-1173) (born in Sainte-Maure, Touraine), a member of the court of Henry II of England composes the 40K-line poem Le Roman de Troie (The Romance of Troy), recounting the story of the Trojan War with the chars. updated to modern feudal mores, and containing the first account of the story of Troilus and Briseida (Cressida) in English, later used by Boccaccio, Chaucer, and Shakespeare; he also writes the 35K-verse Chronique de Ducs de Normandie, eulogizing the Plantagenets in octosyllabic verse. Births: Spanish Almohad Muslim ruler #3 (1184-99) Yaqub al-Mansur (d. 1199). Jerusalem queen (1186-90) Sibylla (d. 1190); eldest daughter of Almaric I of Jerusalem (1136-74) and Agnes of Courtenay (1136-84); sister of Baldwin IV (1161-85); half-sister of Isabella of Jerusalem (1172-1205); first cousin of Henry II of England; mother of Baldwin V (1177-86); granddaughter of Queen Melisende (1105-61); wife (1176-7) of William Longsword of Montferrat and (1180-90) Guy de Lusignan (1150-94). French "On the Conquest of Constantiinople" knight-historian (marshal of Champagne and Romania) Geoffrey of Villehardouin (Geoffroi de Villehardouin) (d. 1212); uncle of prince of Achaea Geoffrey of Villehardouin (1169-1229). Georgian Bagrationi queen (1184-1213) (St.) Tamar (Tamara) (Thamar) (the Great) (d. 1213); daughter of George III (-1184) and Burdukhan (daughter of the king of Alania in N Caucasus); mother of George IV (1191-1223) and Rusudan (1194-1245); the beautiful witch-warrior-queen in Mikhail Lermontov's The Demon; patron saint of infirmities. Italian pope (1198-1216) Innocent III (Lotario de'Conti) (d. 1216) in Anagni; son of Count Trasimund of Segni; nephew of Pope Clement III. French pantheistic philosopher (Amalrician?) David of Dinand (d. 1217). German (Bavarian) "Parzival" knight-poet (Minnesinger) Wolfram von Eschenbach (d. 1220) (near Ansbach?). French Crusader Simon IV de Montfort the Elder, Seigneur de Montfort-l'Amaury, Count of Toulouse, 5th Earl of Leicester, Baron of Ile de France (d. 1218); son of Simon III de Montfort and Amicia de Beaumont (daughter of Robert de Beaumont, 3rd earl of Leicester). Arab Muslim historian Ali ibn al-Athir (d. 1233) in Cizre, Turkey. French Jewish Biblical commentator Rabbi David Kimchi (Kimhi) (Qimhi) (d. 1235) (AKA Radak) in Narbonne, Provence; youngest son of Spanish-born Rabbi Joseph Ben Isaac Kimchi (1105-70); brother of Moses Kimchi (1127-90). Deaths: English historian Henry of Huntingdon (b. 1080); leaves Historia Anglorum (8 vols.) (1129-54); history of England from 5 B.C.E. to 1154 C.E.; commissioned by his patron Robert Bloet's successor Bishop Alexander of Lincoln (-1148); "the most important Anglo-Norman historian to emerge from the secular clergy"; calls England "Anglia plena iocis" (Merry England). French theologian Peter Lombard (b. 1096) on July 21/22 in Paris. English theologian Robert of Ketton (b. 1110). Swedish king (1155-60) Eric IX (b. 1120) on May 18 (killed by a Danish prince); people begin to worship him as a saint.



1161 - The Becket Gets Religion Year?

Ladislaus II of Hungary (1131-63) Stephen IV of Hungary (-1163) St. Thomas Becket (1118-70) Walter Map (1140-1209) Wace (1100-76) Marie de France Adelard of Bath (1080-1152) Avenzoar (1094-1162)

1161 On Feb. 7 Inge I (b. 1135) is killed by his rival Haakon II (the Broad-Shouldered) (Herdebrei) Sigurdsson (1147-62) near Oslo after vassal king Godfred V of Man switches sides; Haakon II becomes king of Norway (until 1162). Seljuk sultan Kilij Arslan II of Rum is defeated by Byzantine emperor Manuel I's nephew John Contostephanus, and travels to Constantinople to recognize the primacy of the emperor. Under my thumb, the bishop who won't let me down? On Apr. 18 Canterbury archbishop (since 1139) Theobald of Bec (b. 1090) dies, and English king Henry II designates his trustworthy Norman lord chancellor (secy. of state) (since 1155) (St.) Thomas Becket (1118-70) (a secular man who stepped down as archdeacon of Canterbury to become Henry II's chancellor, becoming known for high living along with charity to the poor, leading 700 knights in battle and engaging in single combat, once arriving on a mission in Paris with 40 horses, eight chariots, and 200 atendants, also enjoying womanly pleasures with his boss, and enforcing a land tax on both landowners and churches and bishoprics) as his successor, and he assumes office next year; too bad, it backfires when he unexpectedly flops and supports the ecclesiastical cause instead of being under his thumb as Lanfranc had been with William I, donning a hair shirt and living in poverty, eating only veggies, and washing the feet of 13 beggars each night; meanwhile Henry's court becomes the home of writer Walter Map (1140-1209), Norman poet Robert Wace (1100-74), Marie de France (first female French poet) (author of 12 lais, medieval poems of knighthood, varying from 100-12K lines), natural philosopher (first English scientist?) Adelard of Bath (1080-1152), and philosopher-historian-diplomat John of Salisbury (Johannes Parvus) (John the Little) (1120-80), bishop of Chartres in 1176-80. The Chinese use gunpowder explosives in battle against the Manchurians. Malcolm IV of Scotland becomes ill, causing his worried mother Ada de Warenne to get him to arrange a marriage to Constance of Brittany, which never happens. Edward the Confessor is canonized by Pope Alexander III. The Hidden Door School (Togakure Ryu Ninpo), the 2nd oldest school of the Bujinkan in Japan is founded by Togakure Daisuke. Architecture: Boyle Abbey, parent house of the Cistercian Order in Ireland is founded by Maurice O'Duffy. Nonfiction: Ibn Rushd (1128-98), Kitab al-Kulyat fi al-Tibb; becomes a std. medical textbook. Births: Japanese Yamato emperor #80 (1168-80) Takakura (Nirihito) (Nobuhito) (d. 1181) on Sept. 20; 4th son of Go-Shirakwawa (1127-92). Latin king #6 of Jerusalem (1174-85) Baldwin IV (the Leper) (the Leprous) (d. 1185); son of Amalric I (1136-74) and Agnes of Courtenay (1136-84); brother of Sibylla (1160-90). French duchess of Brittany (1186-96) Constance of Brittany (d. 1201) on June 12 in Bretagne; only child of Conan IV (1138-71) and Margaret of Scotland (Huntington) (granddaughter of David I). Spanish count of Cerdanya (1168-1223), Provence (1181-5), and Roussillon (1185-1223) Sancho (d. 1223); son of Ramon Berenguer IV (1113-62) and Petronilla of Aragon (1135-74); brother of Alfonso II of Aragon (1152-96), and Ramon Berenguer III (1158-81) of Provence. Deaths: Hungarian king (1141-62) Geza II (b. 1130) on May 13. Norwegian king Inge I (b. 1135) on Feb. 4 in Oslo. English Norman archbishop of Canterbury (1139-61) Theodore of Bec (b. 1090) on Apr. 18 in Canterbury, Kent.



1162 - The Stephen III of Hungary Year?

Stephen III of Hungary (1147-72) Baldwin IV the Leper of Jerusalem (1161-85) Alfonso II the Chaste of Aragon (1157-96)

1162 On May 13 Geza II (b. 1130) dies, and his son (by Euphrosyne, daughter of Mstislav I of Kiev) Stephen III (1147-72) becomes king of Hungary (until Mar. 4, 1172), while Geza II's brothers Ladislaus (Ladislas) (Laszlo) II (1131-63) and Stephen IV (1133-65) (husband of Maria of Byzantium) vie for the throne. On June 15 Norwgian king (since 1157) Haakon II Sigurdsson is killed in Sekken, Romsdalen by Norwegian earl Erling Skakke (1115-79). On June (Sept.?) 27 Eudes II (b. 1118) dies, and his eldest son Hugh III (1142-92) succeeds as duke of Burgundy (until Aug. 25, 1192), going on to get into border conflicts with Louis VII. HRE Frederick I Barbarossa destroys Milan, and it is rebuilt in 1167 by its allies Bergamo, Brescia, Manua, and Verona, with a moat dug around it this time. On Aug. 6 Barcelona count (since Aug. 19, 1131) Ramon Berenguer IV (b. 1113) dies, and on July 18, 1164 his poet-troubadour son Alfonso II (the Chaste) (the Troubadour) (1157-96) (friend of Richard I Lionheart of England) becomes the first combo king of Aragon and count of Barcelona (until Apr. 25, 1196), allying with Alfonso VIII of Castile against Navarre and the Moors. Pope Alexander III is forced into exile with his Norman allies in Sicily, and later flees to France, where he rules from Sans with the support of Louis VII. Science: The Council of Tours in France bans the "barbarous practice" of surgery for breast cancers. Births: The original unibrow? Mongol "most excellent barbarian" leader Genghis (Chinggis) ("universal river") Khan (d. 1227) (birth name Temujin = "iron worker") in Khentii Aimag (near the Onon River), Mongolia - born into this mess of a world in order to straighten it out, or make it a bigger mess? Deaths: Spanish Muslim physician Avenzoar (b. 1094) in Seville; dies after having performed the first tracheotomy on a goat, leaving Book of Simplification on Therapeutics and Diet (Kitab al-Tasir), written at the request of his friend Averroes, who calls him the greatest physician since Galen; it covers clinical descriptions of pericarditis, mediastinal tumors, intestinal tuberculosis, and pharyngeal paralysis, describing the use of bezoar stones (gastroliths) as medicinal items, becoming a hit in Latin and Hebrew translation. Italian scholar Henry Aristippus (b. 1105) in Palermo. Spanish count of Barcelona (1131-62) Ramon Berenguer IV (b. 1113) on Aug. 6 in Borgo Sam Dalmazzo, Piedmont, Italy. French duke of Burgundy (1143-62) Eudes II (b. 1118) on June 27 (Sept. 27?). Hungarian king (1141-62) Geza II (b. 1130) on May 13. Norwegian king (1157-62) Haakon II on July 7 in Sekken, Romsdalen (assassinated).



1163 - The Council of Woodstock Year?

Amalric I of Jerusalem (1136-74) Bohemond III of Antioch (1144-1201) Chinese Emperor Song Xiao Zong (1127-94)

1163 On Feb. 10 king (since 1143) Baldwin III (b. 1130) dies, and his brother Amalric I (1136-74), (2nd son of Fulk of Jerusalem and Melisende of Jerusalem) becomes king #5 of Jerusalem (until July 11, 1174). In July the Council of Woodstock in Woodstock, Oxfordshire sees Henry II demand oaths of vassalage from his Welsh princes, causing them to rebel; in July a quarrel starts between Henry II and Thomas Becket over the control of payments to sheriffs; by Oct. the quarrel escalates when Henry II proposes a plan to put clergy under the jurisdiction of English courts so that ecclesiastical courts can't let them off for crimes. Pope Alexander III sends a golden rose to Louis VII of France as a reward for being the secular ruler who has done the most to deserve his favor (a slap in Henry II's face?). Ladislas II dies, leaving Stephen III (d. 1173) (husband of Agnes of Austria) as sole ruler of Hungary. Magnus V Erlingsson (1156-84), son of chieftain Erling the Crooked becomes king of Norway. Constance of Antioch (b. 1128) dies after she asks the Armenian kingdom of Cilicia for help to maintain her rule and her citizens exile her, and her son Bohemond (Bohemund) III (the Child) (the Stammerer) (the Stutterer) (1144-1201) (who actually overthrew her) becomes prince of Antioch (until 1201). The Kakatiya Dynasty is founded in E India at Kakati and/or Warangal between the Godavari and Kistna Rivers (ends 1323). Song Gao Zong dies, and Song Xiao Zong (1127-94) becomes Southern (Nan) Song emperor #2 of China (until 1189). Abu Yaqub Yusuf I (-1184) becomes Almohad caliph #2 of Spain (until 1184), becoming known as a patron of brain men Averroes (Ibn Rushd) (1126-98) (introduced to him in 1153 by Ibn Tufail, making him chief justice of Seville in 1169 and of Cordova in 1172, and court physician in 1182) and Abubacer (Abu Bakr ibn Tufail or Tufayl) (1107-85). The Duchy of Breslau is formed, with Wroclaw as the capital. Architecture: Construction of the French Gothic Notre Dame (Fr. Our Lady) de Paris Cathedral in the Idle de la Cite in Paris, France begins with Pope Alexander III laying the foundation stone, becoming one of the first bldgs. on Earth to use the flying buttress; finished in 1345; Paris begins its rise to the #1 cultural capital of W Europe. Births: Bosnian ruler (1180-1204) Ban Kulin (d. 1204); father of Stephen Kulinic (-1232). German poet-minnesinger Hartmann von der Aue (d. 1215). Polish prince of Cracow (1228-38) Henry the Bearded (d. 1238); father of Henry the Pious (-1241). Deaths: Moroccan Almohad caliph Abd al-Mumin (b. 1094). French princess of Antioch (1130-63) Constance of Antioch (b. 1128). French Crusader king of Jerusalem (1143-63) Baldwin III (b. 1130) on Feb. 10 in Beirut (poisoned?).



1164 - The Constitutions of Clarendon Year?

1164 On Jan. 13 after Henry II assembles the bishops and knights of England in Clarendon, and makes them sign the Constitutions of Clarendon at Clarendon Palace in Wilthire, and Thomas Becket refuses to put his seal on it, Henry II issues them anyway, defining royal prerogatives over the Church, incl. a plan to make English clergy subject to English courts in criminal matters; in the spring after Richard de Hastings, master of the English Templars attempts to reconcile Henry II and Becket in vain, he is summoned to the royal court and condemned by his own bishops, but walks out in his archiepiscopal robes before being arrested, feeding a large number of poor in his London home before fleeing during the night to France and holing-up at the Monastery of St. Omer, submitting his resignation to Pope Alexander III, who reinvests him and defends his stand, then sends him to live for a time as a simple Cistercian monk in the Abbey of Pontigny; meanwhile Henry II banishes Becket and all his relatives from England. On Apr. 20 Antipope (since 1159) Victor IV dies, and on Apr. 22 Guido of Crema is elected Antipope Paschal II (-1168) - is that like cream of some young guy? On Aug. 12 after Nur ad-Din comes to the defense of the Fatimids, and a combined Latin-Byzantine-Armenian army attacks him in N Syria, and he retreats but they overpursue, permitting him to regroup and turn on them, the Battle of Harim outside Antioch is a big Muslim V; Bohemond III of Antioch is captured, and freed next year after a 150K dinar ransom is paid. On Sept. 26 Pope Alexander II issues a bull confirming the Military Order of Calatrava based in Castile, becoming the 2nd to receive papal approval. Aragon and Catalonia unite again (first time 1137). Somerled leads another rebellion against Malcolm IV of Scotland, and is KIA near Renfrew in C Scotland, leaving sons Dugal, the father of the MacDougalls, and Raghnall, father of the MacDonalds of the Isles and the Donald clan; former Norse king Godfred V's younger brother Ragnald (Reginald) III (Rognvaldr Olafsson) (son of Olave the Red) sees his chance and usurps the throne of the Isle of Man, but Godfred V soon returns and resumes his kingship (begun 1153) (until 1187). The fortified city of Hagenau in Alsace on the Moder River 16 mi. N of Strasbourg is chartered as a privileged imperial city, becoming a favorite site for Jewish settlement. Architecture: Sanjusangendo Temple in Kyoto, Japan is built. Poetry: Gautier d'Arras (-1185), Eracle (romance); dedicated to Count Theobald V of Blois (-1191). Births: Japanese Yamato emperor #79 (1165-8) Rokujo (Nobuhito) (d. 1176) on Dec. 28; son of Nijo (1143-65). Deaths: French abbess Heloise Abelard (b. 1101). French countess of Tripoli (1137-52) Hodiema of Jerusalem (b. 1110); killed by the Hashshashin. Japanese emperor #75 (1123-42) Sutoku (b. 1119) on Sept. 14.



1165 - The William I the Lion Year?

William I the Lion of Scotland (1143-1214) Royal Flag of Scotland

1165 On Feb. 7 Armenian marshal (son of Levon I) Stephen of Armenia (b. 1111) is invited to a banquet by Andronicus Euphorbenus, Byzantine gov. of Tarsus, and murdered, causing his half-brother Toros II of Lesser Armenia to massacre Greeks within his territories; war is averted only by the intervention of Amalric I of Jerusalem. In summer Henry II invades Wales with a large army, but is washed out of the Welsh valleys by the wettest summer in memory. On Aug. 3 emperor (since Sept. 5, 1158) Nijo (1143-65) falls ill and abdicates in favor of his infant son Rokujo (1164-76), who becomes Japanese Yamato emperor #79 (until Apr. 9, 1168); Nijo dies on Sept. 5. In Sept. Portuguese El Cid Gerald the Fearless (Geraldo Sem Pavor) (Geraldo Geraldes) (-1173) reconquers Ebora (Evora) (Évora) in C Portugal from the Moors, who held it since 715; next year it comes under the rule of Alfonso I Henriques. On Dec. 9 ever-sick Jedburgh Knight Maiden king (since May 24, 1153) Malcolm IV (b. 1141) dies a virgin (no heirs) in Jedburgh, and is succeeded as Scottish Canmore king by his 22-y.-o. brother William I the Lion (1143-1214), who is crowned king of Scotland at Scone on Dec. 24 (until Dec. 4, 1214), becoming Scotland's longest-reigning medieval monarch, and the one who has the time to lose Scotland to England; during his lifetime he is known as William the Rough (Gael. Garm), but after he adopts the Red Lion Flag and becomes popular after his death, they adopt it as the royal flag of Scotland and change his nickname too; from now on all Scottish kings are "Frenchmen in race, manners, language and culture", and "keep only Frenchmen in their household and following and have reduced the Scots to utter servitude" - finish your quiche? On Dec. 29 Charlemagne (742-814) is canonized; in the 18th cent. he is reduced to "blessed" by Pope Benedict XIV. Byzantium allies with Venice against Holy Roman Emperor Frederick I Barbarossa. Eleanor of Aquitaine moves back to Aquitaine, effectively ending her marriage with Henry II; she and her daughter Marie de France, countess of Champagne regularly preside over Courts of Love, which listen to the declamations of troubadors then decide upon questions of courtesy and etiquette in affairs of love - the original "The View"? Say, you won't dance with the music? After the Hungarians continue to fail to 'get' it, Emperor Manuel I Comnenus begins another war with the Hungarians (ends 1168), taking Dalmatia. Louis VII of France supports Thomas Becket against Henry II, refusing to give him up, pissing him off. Song Xiao Zong signs the Chinese-Manchurian Peace Treaty. The Almohads in Morocco force the Jews to convert to Islam, incl. Jewish brain man Maimonides, who had been faking conversion since 1159, and flees to Palestine then Cairo, Egypt, and writes Epistle on Forced Conversion, deciding that fleeing even sans belongings to freedom is preferable to conversion or martyrdom, although choosing to die rather than renounce the faith "is good and proper", while those who feign conversion like he did profane God's name, "not exactly, but almost so". About this time a forged letter allegedly by Prester John circulates throughout Europe, addressed to Byzantine Emperor Manuel, and refering to its author as the ruler of India and Lord of Lords. Leipzig, Germany holds its first known fair. A Roman Catholic ecclesiastical council in Albi in Languedoc in SE France condemns the Cathars, which begin to be called Albigensians. In 1165-73 Tudela, Navarre, Spain-born Jewish world traveler Benjamin of Tudela (1130-73) sets out from the NE Iberian Peninsula on a tour of the known world, heading for India via Rome, Constantinople, Antioch, Palestine, Damascus, Baghdad, and Persia, and later returns via the Indian Ocean, Red Sea, Egypt, Sicily, and Italy, writing a travel book that becomes a hit with Jews until modern times, beating Marco Polo by a cent.; he claims that in Narbonne, France there are "sages, magnates, and princes at the head of whom is... a descendant of the House of David as stated in his family tree", an illusion to the covered-up Jewish Kingdom of Septimania? Births: Arab Sufi Muslim philosopher Ibn "Doctor Maximus" al-'Arabi (d. 1240) on July 28 in Medinat Mursiya (modern-day Murcia), Al-Andalus, Spain; grows up in Seville. French Capetian king (1180-1223) Philip (Philippe) II Augustus (d. 1223) on Aug. 21 in Gonesee, Val-d'Oise; son of Louis VII (1120-80) and 3rd wife Adela of Champagne (1140-1206); father of Louis VIII (1187-1226). German Hohenstaufen king #3 (1169-97) and HRE (1191-7) Henry VI (d. 1197) in Nov. in Nimwegen; son of Frederick I Barbarossa (1122-65) and Beatrice of Burgundy; brother of HRE Philip of Swabia. Polish grand duke (1202-6, 1227-8) (gay) Wladyslaw (Wladislaus) III Laskonogi (Spindleshanks) (d. 1231); son of Mieszko III the Old (1121-1202); cousin of Leszek I the White (1186-1227). German Teutonic Knights grandmaster #4 (1210-39) Hermann von Salza (d. 1239) in Dryburg Castle, Langensalza, Thuringia. English earl of Kent (1227-43) and chief justiciar (1215-32) Hubert de Burgh (d. 1243). Deaths: Muslim geographer Mohammed al-Idrisi (b. 1100). Norman nobleman John FitzGilbert the Marshal (b. 1105). Scottish king Malcolm IV (b. 1141) on Dec. 9 at Jedburgh. Japanese Yamato emperor #78 (1158-65) Nijo (b. 1143) on Sept. 5. Hungarian King Stephen IV (b. ?).



1166 - A century after 1066 and what's up?

St. Stefan Nemanja of Serbia (1109-99) Rory O'Connor of Ireland (1116-98) Dermot MacMurrough of Leinster (1110-71) William II the Good of Sicily (1155-89) The Brunswick Lion, 1166

1166 Recognize some new cover girls? In the spring Ramon Berenguer II (b. 1135) dies fighting to conquer Nice, and his infant daughter Douce (Dulcia) II (1162-72) becomes countess of Provence; too bad, she's a you know what, and next year her cousin Count Alfonso the Chaste of Barcelona takes control of Provence and ousts her. On May 7 William I the Bad (b. 1131) dies, and his 13-y.-o. son William II the Good of Sicily (115-89) becomes Norman king #3 of Sicily and Naples (until 1189) under the regency of his mother Margaret of Navarre (until 1171), who continues her hubby's policies - but in a good way? In Aug. William I of Scotland meets with Henry II of England in Normandy, requests the restoration of Northumberland to Scotland, and is told to shove it; meanwhile Thomas Becket takes the pulpit in Vezelay and excommunicates all English clergymen who uphold the Constitutions of Clarendon, pissing-off Henry II, who threatens to confiscate the property of all priories affiliated with the Abbey of Pontigny, causing the abbot to beg Becket to leave, after which he holes-up in a rundown inn in Sens and beg for alms. Frederick I Barbarossa captures Rome. Stefan Nemanja (Stephen Nemanya) (1109-99) (Gr. "stephanos" = crowned), whose father had baptized him a Roman Catholic and adopted the Eastern Orthodox religion overthrows his brothers and becomes grand zupan (prince) of Rasca (Rascia) (Rascka) (Serbia) (until 1196), and forces the pesky heretic Bogomils into Bosnia, unifying the Serbian states and founding the Nemanjic Dynasty, named after Hebrew prophet Nehemiah. Rory (Roderick) (Gael. "high longing") O'Connor (Ruaidri Ua Conchobair) (1116-98) becomes the last Ard Ri (high king) of Ireland (until Dec. 2, 1198), which still suffers from the 1014 Irish clan feud; meanwhile Leinster king (since 1126) Dermot (Dermod) (Diarmaid) (Gael. "without envy") MacMurrough (MacMorrogh) (MacMorrow) (Mac Murchada) (1110-71) is forced to flee Ireland after abducting a neighbor's wife, Dervogilla, from Brefney (Breifne) king (since 1124) Ternan O'Rourke (Tigernan Ua Ruairc) (-1172) (modern-day County Leitrim), launching the Brefney Curse, that their shades must wander Ireland forever together until one Irishman forgives them; in the meantime MacMurrough is defeated and banished by O'Connor, and he seeks the protection of Henry II - big mistake, since it invites the stankin' English into the Emerald Isle? The Assize of Clarendon, issued by King Henry II from his royal hunting lodge at Clarendon Palace in Wiltshire reforms the English judicial system, ordering the building of jails in all English counties and boroughs, and permitting litigants to avoid trial by combat and be judged by "the country", i.e., a jury of 12 knights chosen in court by four knights named by the sheriff for a grand assize, and 12 freemen chosen by the sheriff for a petty assize; it takes until the end of the 13th cent. for trial by jury to spread throughout England; three petty assizes are established, incl. the Assize of Novel Disseisin (Lat. "recent dispossession"), allowing a plantiff to quickly get his property restored while leaving the question of true ownership till later, helping transform English law from trial by ordeal, battle, or compurgation to the evidentiary model, requiring parties to testify under oath; the three petty assizes are abolished in 1833. Henry II decrees a small tax on incomes and personal property in aid of the Holy Land, becoming the first in English history. The Military Order of Alcantara (AKA the Knights of St. Julian) is founded in Castile by two brothers from Salamanca; next year Alcantarus on the Extremadura Plain, with a bridge (Arab. "cantara") over the Tagus River is taken from the Muslims by Ferdinand II of Leon, who loses it in 1174 to the Almohads under Abu Yaqub Yusuf, after which it is not recovered until 1214 by Alfonso IX of Leon. Aix-la-Chapelle (Aachen) is given rights of an imperial city. The city of Birmingham (OE "Beormingham" = Anglian Beormingas tribe) on the Rea River in West Midlands, England (modern-day pop. 1M/3.6M) sees Lord of the Manor Peter de Bermingham obtain a market charter for his castle in an old 6th cent. B.C.E. settlement on the Birmingham Plateau, which builds the Bull Ring commercial center, becoming the 3rd largest town in Warwickshire in the 14th-16h cents., and the busiest shopping center in the U.K. by 2004 (36.5M visitors); in 1538 the city becomes a center for iron merchants, causing the pop. to become the 5th largest in England and Wales; in the 1640s it becomes a center for Parliamentarians, and in the 1660s for Nonformists, leading to the Birmingham (West Midlands) Enlightenment by 1750, along with a highly entrepreneurial economy based on thousands of small highly specialized workshops, making it a leading force in the Industrial Rev. (1760-1850) and a major financial center, incl. Lloyds Bank (1765), becoming known as "the first manufacturing town in the world" by 1791. Art: The Brunswick Lion is sculpted for Welf duke Henry the Lion for his Dankwarderode Castle in Braunschweig (Brunswick), becoming the first hollow casting of a figure since antiquity. Music: A monk of Ely composes the English ballad The Song of Canute. Births: French count of Champagne (1181-97) Henry II (d. 1197) on July 29; eldest son of Henry I the Liberal of Champagne (1127-81) and Marie of France, daughter of Louis VII of France and Eleanor of Aquitaine; nephew of Queen Adele of Champagne. French lord of Toron (1179-) Humphrey IV of Toron (d. 1198); son of Humphrey III of Toron and Stephanie of Milly; husband (1183-90) of Isabella I of Jerusalem (1172-1205); fluent in Arabic. English king #27 (1199-1216) ("Evil Prince John") John I Lackland (Softsword) (d. 1216) on Dec. 24 in Beaumont Palace, Oxford; 5th and youngest son (last of 8 children) of Henry II (1133-89) and Eleanor of Aquitaine (1122-1204); brother of Count William of Poitiers (1153-6), Henry the Young King (1155-83), Duchess Matilda of Saxony (1156-89), Richard I Lionheart (1157-99), Duke Geoffrey II of Brittany (1158-86), Queen Leonora of Castile (1162-1214), and Queen Joan of Sicily (1165-99). French duke of Burgundy (1192-1218) Eudes III (d. 1218); eldest son of Hugh III (1142-92) and 1st wife Alice (daughter of Duke Matthias I of Lorraine); father of Hugh IV (1213-71). Deaths: Persian Qadiriyya Sufi order founder Abd al-Qadir al-Jilani (b. 1077) in Baghdad; the order begins as a local chapter centered around his tomb, then spreads throughout the Arab world and sub-Saharan Africa. Flemish gen. William of Ypres (b. 1090) on Jan. 24. Norman Sicilian king #2 (1154-66) William I (b. 1131) on May 7. Spanish count of Provence (1144-66) Ramon Berenguer II (b. 1135) in spring in Nice.



1167 - The Deed Check Titty Joke English Invasion of Ireland Year? The English launch their Longbow, er, Strongbow-led long push to build their "brutish empire" (James Joyce)?

Richard FitzGilbert 'Strongbow' de Clare (1130-76)

1167 The Normans of the Welsh marches are recruited by Richard FitzGilbert "Strongbow" de Clare, 2nd Earl of Pembroke (1130-76) allegedly to help Dermot MacMurrough return and win back some of his ancestral lands, and after claiming to be invited, the stankin' Norman English plan on invading the Emerald Isle of Ireland and never leaving - causing it turn 40 shades of green? Frederick I Barbarossa is crowned Holy Roman Emperor (HRE) in Rome. The Syrian army of Nur ad-Din under lts. Shirkuh and Saladin helps the Fatimids under wazir Shawar fight the allied Latins in Egypt led by Jerusalem king Amalric I at the Battle of Bayban; the battle is a strategic V for the Syrians. The Qarmatian Dynasty stronghold in Hofuf is destroyed by a combined army of Seljuks from Iraq and forces led by Abdullah al-Uyun, who founds the Muslim (Shiite or Sunni?) Uyunid Dynasty in Bahrain and E Arabia. Henry II bans English students from attending the U. of Paris, causing them to found (or boost the fortune of 1096-founded) Oxford U. in SC England (Oxfordshire) - more affordable but a little too close to mum and dad? The city of Copenhagen (Kobenhavn) (Lat. "Hafnia") on the E coast of Zealand Island across the Oresund Strait from Malmo, Sweden (modern-day pop. 600K/2M) is founded by Bishop Absalon, who builds a small fortress on Slotsholmen Island to defend against Wendish pirates; in 1177 St. Clemens Church is built, which is eventually destroyed by marauders and replaced in the late 14th cent. with Copenhagen Castle; Saxo Grammaticus in his 13th cent. Gesta Danormum (Deeds of the Danes) calls it Portus Mercatorum (Merchant's Harbor) (Kobmannahavn). Births: French "La Chanson des Saisnes", "Le Jeu de saint Nicolas" poet-dramatist Jean (Jehan) Bodel (d. 1210) in Arras. Deaths: English queen (1135-) Empress Matilda (Maud) (b. 1102) on Sept. 10 in Rouen. English abbot (1147-) St. Ailred of Rievaulx (b. 1110) on Jan. 12 in Rievaulx, Yorkshire; his bio. is written by fellow monk Walter Daniel shortly after his death, containing passages that may be interpreted as suggesting he is gay, causing modern-day gay orgs. to adopt him as their patron saint; leaves Speculum Caritatis (The Mirror of Charity) (written at the request of Bernard of Clairvaux), De Spiritali Amicita (On Spiritual Friendship), Genealogia Regum Anglorum (Genealogy of the Kings of the English), declaring Henry II to be a good king and claiming his true descent from the Anglo-Saxon kings, Vita Davidis Scotorum Regus (Life of David, King of the Scots), Relatio de (De Bello) Standardo (Account of the Standard/On the [Aug. 22, 1138] Battle of the Standard), Vita S. Eduardi, Regis et Confessoris (Life of Saint Edward, King and Confessor), Vita S. Niniani (Life of St. Ninian), De Miraculus Hagustaldensis Ecclesiae (On the Miracles of the Church of Hexham, De Quodam Miraculo Miraculi (AKA De Sanctimoniali de Wattun) (A Certain Wonderful Miracle), and Homeliae de Oneribus Propheticis Isaiae (Homilies on the Prophetic Burdens of Isaiah), dedicated to Bishop of London (1163-) Gilbert Foliot.



1168 - The Kurdish Ardalan Dynasty Year?

Andrei I Bogolyubsky of Vladimir (1111-74) Archbishop Absalon of Denmark (1128-1201)

1168 On Apr. 9 3-y.-o. emperor (since Aug. 3, 1165) Rokujo (b. 1164-76) is deposed by his grandfather, and his 7-y.-o. uncle (4th son of cloistered emperor Go-Shirakawa) Takakura (1161-81) (personal name Norihito) becomes Japanese Yamato emperor #80 (until Mar. 18, 1180), writing the soundbyte: "The emperor is a ship, his subjects are water. The water enables a ship to float well, but sometimes the vessel is capsized by it." On Sept. 20 Antipope (since 1164) Paschal II dies, and in Sept. Giovanni Abbot of Struma is elected Antopope Callistus (Callixtus) III (-1183) (until Aug. 29, 1178) by a small group of schismatic cardinals, becoming HRE Frederick Barbarossa's bargaining chip with Pope Alexander III. On Oct. 27 a fleet of 230 Byzantine war ships carrying heavy cavalry on 60 special transports, landing in Damietta; meanwhile in Nov. after reneging on his deal with the caliph, King Amalric I of Jerusalem marches through Sinai, sieges Bilbays (Belbeis) and slaughters the pop., then camps outside Cairo demanding 2M pieces of gold not to invade the city; on Nov. 12 after reaching a pop. of 200K, Fustat, Egypt (founded 641) is burned down by order of vizier (since Dec. 1162) Shawar (Shawer)(-1169) to keep the pesky Crusaders from stealing its wealth, and the fire burns for 54 days and nights; the remains are absorbed by nearby Cairo (al-Qahirah) ("the Conqueror") (modern-day pop. 9.5M/20.4M) N of Babylon-in-Egypt, which had turned into a garbage dump; in Nov. after receiving frantic letters in Aleppo from Caliph Adhad (al-'Adid) begging for help, sends Shirkuh at the head of 6K Syrians and 2K Turkmen warriors from Damascus to Cairo, with Saladin coming along. The Byzantines win their war with Hungary (begun 1165), and receive part of Croatia; from now on Emperor Manuel I Comnenus actively intervenes in Hungarian dynastic affairs and eventually makes Bela III his puppet vassal. Vladimir-Suzdal prince (since 1157) Andrei I Yuryevich Bogolyubsky (1111-74) sacks Kiev, leaving his younger brother to rule it while taking for himself the title of grand prince. Danish soldier Absalon (Axel) (1128-1201) defeats a fleet of Wendish pirates in the Baltic. Roman Catholic bishop Berno of Mecklenburg travels to Rugen Island and destroys the pagan temple and great idol and converts the pop. Parakramabahu I of Ceylon repels a Tamil invasion from India. William I of Scotland sends envoys to ask Henry II's rival Louis VII for help in regaining Northumberland, and when Henry finds out he goes nonlinear every time William's name is mentioned, tearing off his clothes and ripping the silk cover from his bed, then cramming the mattress straw in his mouth? Guy de Lusignan (1150-94) and his brothers of Poitou (part of the duchy of Aquitaine) ambush and kill Salisbury earl (since 1145) Patrick of Salisbury, 1st Earl of Salisbury (uncle of William the Marshal) while returning from a pilgrimage, pissing-off their overlord Richard I Lionheart, who banishes them; Guy ends up in Jerusalem by 1180, while his elder brother Amalric marries the daughter of Baldwin of Ibelin and moves up the ladder. The Kurdish Ardalan (Erdelan) Dynasty (ends 1867) is founded in modern-day Khanaqin and Kirkuk in NW Iran, with capital at Sanandaj (Senna) (Sinneh). Architecture: The Cathedral of St. Mary in Limerick, Ireland is built (rebuilt in 1490).



1169 - The Ibn Rushd Averroes Year?

Averroes (Ibn Rushd) (1126-98)

1169 On Jan. 2 after they don't pay his 2M gold piece ransom but only a 50K down payment, and instead a large army under Nur ad-Din's lt. Shirkuh appears in front of Cairo, Amalric I breaks camp and returns to Jerusalem; after his plot to kill Shirkuh and Saladin at a banquet is foiled, Shawer is murdered, and his head sent to the caliph, and Shirkuh becomes vizier, witht he caliph giving him the title Al Melik Al Mansur (the Victorious King); too bad, he dies on Mar. 26, and his 31-y.-o. nephew Saladin succeeds him as vizier of the Fatimid govt. in Egypt, working for a Shiite caliph and a Sunni caliph, ordering Nur ad-Din's name to be mentioned in Fri. prayers after Adhad's; in Aug. after backing them up against a closed gate, Saladin defeats 50K black Sudanese troops loyal to the Fatimid caliph (supported by more loyal Armenian troops), accepting their surrender on condition of safe passage to Giza, but as they are paraded down the Mukatamb Hill, Saladin's Turkish troops under orders of his brother Turan Shah suddenly slaughter them - no more mayhem, it's my New Year's resolution? In May the first contingent of English under Robert fitz Stephen and Maurice de Prendergast lands in Bannow Bay, Ireland, meeting paltry resistance, beginning the Norman Invasion of Ireland (ends 1175). Toros II abdicates in favor of his infant son Reuben (Roupen) II (1165-75), who becomes king of Lesser Armenia (until 1170), under the guardianship of his maternal grandfather Thomas; too bad, Toros II's brother Mleh disputes the succession and attempts to assassinate Toros II, then flees to Aleppo Nureddin, converting to Islam then invading with a Muslim army. After prodding by Louis VII of France, Pope Alexander III commands Henry II to restore Thomas Becket to his see or face an interdict on all religious services in English territory, and visits Becket in Avranches, holding his stirrup as he mounts his horse to return to England. A window tax is introduced in England, Wales, and Ireland, with the first 2 windows exempt; to lower their taxes housholders begin blocking windows, leading to the saying "daylight robbery"; it is abolished in 1851. Architecture: The Norman Cathedral of St. Rosalia in Palermo, Sicily is begun (finished 1185). Nonfiction: Spanish Cordoban Muslim superbrain Averroes (Abu'l Waleed or Abu al-Walid Muhammad ibn Rushd (1126-98) begins writing on Aristotle's works in Arabic, stirring the Muslim World up with the need to rethink everything if they want to keep their sanity and faith at the same time; too bad, he doesn't read Greek, and has to use Arab translations of Syriac translations of Aristotle; like other Muslim brain men he Neoplatonizes Aristotle, but doesn't stop with minimizing him to save the dogmas of Islam, but minimizes Islam to fit Aristotle, even discarding the Creation for an eternal Universe, causing the Muslim World to turn against him and destroy most of his works in Arabic form, which are only saved by the Jews, who hand them to Christians, who groove on his slamming of Muhammad's dogmas until they go too deep and become rationalists, heretics, or atheists. Births: Byzantine emperor (1180-3) Alexius II Comnenus (Komnenos) (d. 1183) on Sept. 10 in Constantinople; son of Manuel I Comnenus (1118-80) and Maria, daughter of Prince Raymond of Antioch. French prince #2 of Achaea (1209-29) Geoffrey I of Villehardouin (d. 1229); father of Geoffrey II of Villehardouin (1195-1246); nephew of knight-historian Geoffrey of Villehardouin (1160-1212).



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