1193

1191 1192 1193 1194 1195 1196 1197 1198 1199 1200

political events

England's Richard the Lion-Hearted is surrendered early in the year to the Holy Roman Emperor Heinrich VI, who resents the support that the Plantagenets have given to the family of his German rival Heinrich the Lion and the recognition that Richard has given to the Norman anti-king Tancred of Sicily. Heinrich demands a ransom of 130,000 marks for the return of the English king (see 1194).

The Holy Roman Empress Constance d'Hauteville crosses the Alps on horseback in October en route to Sicily. Now past 40 and believed heretofore to be barren, she is with child and rests for 2 months in a convent outside Milan while her husband marches south to Naples, whose forces surrender to his army. Constance proceeds to the town of Jesi on the Adriatic coast and gives birth there December 26 to her first (and only) child, a son who will become Friedrich II of Sicily in 1198 and Holy Roman Emperor in 1220 (see 1194).

Egypt's Ayyubite sultan Saladin dies at Damascus March 4 at age 52, and his empire is divided among his relatives. Saladin has briefly united the Muslim world and stemmed the tide of Western conquest in the East. He has not left enough money to pay for his own grave, but his family's Ayyubid dynasty will continue to rule Egypt until 1250.

Aztec tribesmen in the Western Hemisphere invade Chichemec territory and conquer the Chichemec.

human rights, social justice

Licensed prostitution begins in Japan (see Yoshiwara, 1617).

commerce

The first known merchant guild is established at London.

British merchants import indigo from India for dyeing textiles.

literature

Chinese idealist philosopher Lu Jiuyuan (Lu Chiu-yüan) dies January 10 at age 53, having rivaled the neo-Confucian rationalist Zhu Xi (Chu Hsi).

1191 1192 1193 1194 1195 1196 1197 1198 1199 1200