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Denmark's 30-year-old king Sweyn III (Svend Grathe) gives a banquet for his rivals Canute and Valdemar, inviting also Valdemar's boyhood friend and adviser Absalon with a view to eliminating competition for the throne. A son of the late Magnus the Strong and a grandson of the late king Niels, Canute is murdered, but Valdemar and Absalon escape, returning to Jutland. Now 26, Valdemar is the rightful heir to the throne, but Sweyn launches an invasion of Jutland and is killed in a great battle October 23 near Viborg. Valdemar will reign until his death in 1182, gaining support from Saxony's Heinrich the Lion and Brandenburg's Albrecht the Bear to subjugate the Wends (Slavs) and force them to accept Christianity.
Sweden's Erik IX Jedvardsson conquers Finland and forces baptism on the vanquished Finns.
Norway's Eystein II dies and is succeeded by his 10-year-old nephew, an illegitimate son of the late Sigurd Munn, who gains the support of Eystein's partisans against the rival king Inge I Haraldsson and will reign until 1162 as Haakon II Sigurdsson (see 1161).
The prince of Suzdal and grand prince of Kiev Yuri Dolguruki is murdered after a 32-year reign, having been poisoned (probably by Kiev boyars who have opposed him since he gained control of Kiev 2 years ago). His 46-year-old son Andrei succeeds as prince of Rostov-Suzdal, having accompanied Yuri in his conquest of Kiev 2 years ago; he will reign until 1174 as Andrei I.
The Holy Roman Emperor Friedrich I Barbarossa invades Poland, forces the submission of Boleslav IV, and in October receives the homage of Burgundian noblemen at Besançon. The Diet of Besançon permits Boleslav, duke of Bohemia, to call himself "king."
The Holy Roman Emperor Friedrich I Barbarossa's army at Rome is destroyed by typhus or some other plague.
England's Henry II challenges Owain ap Gruffydd, king of North Wales (Gwynedd), who has extended his borders almost to Chester during the reign of Stephen of Blois (see 1137). The two will reach an agreement by whose terms Owain will withdraw to Rhuddlan and the River Clwyn, paying homage to Henry (but see 1165).
Castile and León's Alfonso VII dies in the Sierra Moreno in August at age 32 while returning to Toledo after a campaign against the Almohads, whose power is increasing. "The Emperor" has held León through most of his 21-year reign, but León breaks away after 120 years and becomes indepdendent: Alfonso's son ascends the throne as Sanchez III and makes his brother king (he will reign until 1188 as Fernando II) (see León, 1230).
The Seljuk Turkish prince of Khorosan Sanjar dies May 8 at age 72 (approximate) after a reign of more than 60 years in which he suppressed some uprisings but not others.
The Bank of Venice issues the world's first government bonds.
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