1160

1151 1152 1153 1154 1155 1156 1157 1158 1159 1160

political events

England's Henry II comes to terms with France's Louis VII after failing to enlist the aid of the Holy Roman Emperor Friedrich I Barbarossa, but the peace is unstable. Desultory skirmishing continues between the French and English.

Danish forces invade Sweden under the command of the Norwegian pretender Magnus Erlingsson, a kinsman of Denmark's Valdemar I. Anti-Christian Swedish noblemen join Magnus's army and assassinate their 39-year-old king Erik IX at Uppsala May 18, beheading him as he comes out of church after Mass. In his 9-year reign he has codified Swedish laws under religious principles, built the country's first large church, defeated marauding Finns, and persuaded the English bishop Henry of Uppsala to remain in Finland and evangelize the Finns; although never canonized he will be honored for years as the patron saint of Sweden. Erik's 14-year-old son will become king next year and reign as Knut (Canute) Eriksson until his own assassination in 1167.

Milanese rebel again as they did in 1158, the Holy Roman Emperor Friedrich I Barbarossa lays siege once again, and Venice's doge Vitale II Michiel relaxes his policy of strict neutrality and sends supplies to the suffering Milanese despite the prevailing Guelph sentiment among Venetians. The insurgents surrender again, and this time the imperial forces destroy its fortifications and leave many of its buildings in ruins (see 1162).

Arab forces expel the Normans from North Africa.

The Japanese samurai Kiyomori Taira rallies his forces and defeats Yoshitomo Minamoto, who is killed in Owari Province February 12 at age 36 while trying to escape to eastern Japan (see 1159). Yoshitomo's young son Yoritomo is sent to eastern Japan, where he will be raised under the watchful eye of Tokimasa Hojo, 22, who has changed his family name from Taira (Hojo is the name of his domain) (see 1180). Kiyomori Taira is elevated to the nobility by the former emperor Goshirakawa (see 1179).

theater, film

Theater: Jeu de St. Nicholas by French troubadour Jean Bodel 12/6 at Arras.

1151 1152 1153 1154 1155 1156 1157 1158 1159 1160

Communication

Arabian philosopher Averroës (Abu-Al-Walid Muhammad ibn Ahmad ibn Rushd) [b. Cordoba, Spain, 1126, d. Marrakesh, Morocco, December 10, 1198] about this time writes lengthy commentaries on the works of Aristotle that will become a major influence in Europe in the Middle Ages. See also 1156 Earth science.

The earliest surviving engineering plan for a building's water supply system is a drawing of the plans for Christ Church in Canterbury, built about this date. The plan shows water lines from outside in red and a separate system for handling rainwater in yellow, with tanks used to settle the water and hold it for eventual use by varied parts of the church, including the latrines. Outside water is siphoned into a main tank in the tower. See also 2300 bce Construction; 1600 Tools.

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