1162

1161 1162 1163 1164 1165 1166 1167 1168 1169 1170

political events

Forces of the Norwegian pretender Magnus Erlingsson defeat those of the boy king Haakon II Sigurdsson, who is killed at age 15 (approximate) after a 5-year reign.

Poland's duke Boleslav IV divides the province of Silesia among his late brother Wladyslaw's sons.

The Holy Roman Emperor Friedrich I Barbarossa destroys Milan in his continuing campaign against supporters of the pope (see 1160; 1167).

Ramon Berenguer IV, count of Barcelona and ruling prince of Aragon, dies at Borgo San Dalmazzo, Piedmont, August 6 at age 49 and is succeeded by his 10-year-old son, who will ascend the throne of Aragon in 1164 and reign until 1196 as Alfonso II (see 1171).

China's Southern Song (Sung) emperor Gaozong (Kao-tsung) becomes embroiled in war again as hostilities resume with the Nüzhen (Juchen) after 21 years of peace. Another peace treaty is signed, Gao abdicates, and the smaller Southern Song empire will become richer than the combined Sung empire was in 1127.

medicine

A Church dictum promulgated by the Council of Tours in connection with the practice of dismembering dead crusaders and boiling them down for transport back home discourages dissection of human bodies: "The Church abhors the shedding of blood."

The Spanish physician Maimonides (Moshe ben Maimon), 28, is forced to leave Córdoba. He will go to Fez for 10 years and then to Cairo, where he will become physician to Saladin (Saläh al-Din), sultan of Egypt. Maimonides will write works on medicine, law, mathematics, logic, and theology.

religion

A letter of protection drawn up April 16 by the Holy Roman Emperor Friedrich I Barbarossa refers to Hildegard von Bingen, now 65, as "abbess." Hildegard's books Physica and Cause et Cure appeared in the last decade; she completes her book Liber Vite Miridorum.

England's Henry II has his chancellor Thomas à Becket elected to succeed the late Theobald as archbishop of Canterbury. Becket immediately becomes an ardent champion of Church rights. Henry II returns from the Continent and begins almost at once to quarrel with the new archbishop, who defends clerical privileges. The king proposes that a land tax, used to pay part of the sheriff's salary, shall henceforth be paid into the exchequer, but Becket opposes the move and defeats the proposal in July at the Council of Woodstock (see 1164).

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