1199

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political events

Richard the Lion-Hearted lays claim to a French treasure trove, becomes embroiled in a dispute with the viscount of Limoges, harries Limousin, and lays siege to the castle of Chalus. A crossbow bolt penetrates a chink in his shoulder armor while he directing an assault on the castle, his wound turns gangrenous, and he dies April 6 at age 32. His sister Joanna, who is pregnant, has been attempting to put down a rebellion against her husband and has sought Richard's aid, only to learn of his death; she takes refuge at her mother's abbey at Fontevrault, where she insists on taking vows and then dies in childbirth. Richard's heart is buried at Rouen and he is succeeded by his brother John Lackland (or Softsword), who is crowned with support from William Marshal, 1st earl of Pembroke, and the other Norman barons; they reject claims of primogeniture advanced by supporters of John's 12-year-old nephew Arthur, posthumous son of the late Geoffrey, count of Brittany, who died in 1186.

The Declaration of Speyer confirms the right of German princes to elect the German king.

Norway's Crosier rebels suffer serious reverses at the hands of Sverrir Sigurdsson, whose forces will crush the opposition by 1202 (see 1198).

The prince of Volhynia Roman Mstislavich unites his realm with its westerly neighbor Galicia to create a principality more powerful than Kiev, whose fortunes have suffered a great decline since the unrest that followed the death of Jaroslav I in 1054.

The Venetian doge Enrico Dandolo wages war with Pisa and emerges victorious.

The Almohad ruler Abu Yusuf Yaqub al-Mansur dies at Marrakech January 23 at age 38 after a 15-year reign in which he has defeated the army of Castile's Alfonso VIII and all his other enemies. He has built some monumental public works and named his son Muhammad as his heir.

Japan's shōgun Yoritomo Minamoto dies at Kamakura February 9 at age 51 after a 7-year reign that has founded the Kamakura shōgunate; his widow, the former Masako Hōjo, becomes the power behind her son Yorii, who becomes shōgun subject to the decisions of a council headed by Masako's father, Tokimasa Hōjo, now 62, who has supported Yoritomo against the Taira.

exploration, colonization

Liverpool is founded at the mouth of the Mersey River in the west of England (see 1207).

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