1156 CE

Freeholder Lalli slays the English missionary-bishop Henry with an axe, on the ice of Lake Köyliönjärvi in Finland (according to legend). The Hōgen rebellion, a dispute between Emperor Go-Shirakawa and his half-brother retired-Emperor Sutoku, erupts in Japan. King Sverker I (the Elder) is murdered on his way to church. He is succeeded by his rival, Eric IX (the Holy), as ruler of Sweden.

In the 1150s, the 12th century.

Geopolitics & Diplomacy

  • September 17 – Frederick I makes the Margraviate of Austria a duchy and gives the Babenberg Dynasty special privileges (the Privilegium Minus).source
  • Ruaidrí Ua Conchobair becomes King of ConnachtIrelandsource
  • Treaty of Benevento - The Treaty of Benevento was an important treaty between the papacy of Adrian IV and the Norman Kingdom of Sicily. After years of turbulent relations, the popes finally settled down to a peace with the Hauteville kings.Italysource

Conflict & Security

  • May 28 – King William I (the Bad) lands with a Sicilian expeditionary force in Apulia. He defeats the Byzantine army at Brindisi and recaptures Bari.source
  • July 28 – The Hōgen rebellion, a dispute between Emperor Go-Shirakawa and his half-brother retired-Emperor Sutoku, erupts in Japan.source
  • The independent city-state Sfax revolts against Norman occupation. Almohad forces conquer the city and massacre the Christian citizens.source
  • Spring – Raynald of Châtillon, prince of Antioch, makes an alliance with Thoros II (the Great), ruler of Armenian Cilicia. He invades Cyprus and conducts a widespread plundering of the Byzantine island. The Crusaders and the Armenian forces march up and down the island robbing and pillaging every building, church and convent as well as shops and private houses. The crops are burnt; the herds are rounded up – together with all the population – and driven down to the coast. The massacre lasts about three weeks; on the rumor of a Byzantine fleet in the offing, Raynald gives the order for embarkation. The Crusader ships are loaded with booty, and every Cypriot is forced to ransom himself.source

Religion & Belief

  • January 20 – Freeholder Lalli slays the English missionary-bishop Henry with an axe, on the ice of Lake Köyliönjärvi in Finland (according to legend).source
  • June 18 – Pope Adrian IV comes to terms, and signs the Treaty of Benevento. He recognises the suzerainty of William I as ruler of Sicily and Italy.source
  • The events in 1156 left the pope alone in opposition to the Normans. The army of Michael Palaeologus had been annihilated, the army of Frederick Barbarossa had returned to Germany, and the internal rebels against royal authority in Apulia, men like Robert II of Capua or Richard II of Aquila, had either reconciled or been imprisoned. In short, the pope had no support to continue hostilities. He was also barred from Rome by the populace. He was staying at Benevento, which had been papal territory for over a century. The Sicilian army approached Benevento and the pope was forced to make terms.Italysource

Crime & Justice

  • Mosan artists create the Stavelot Triptych, a masterpiece of Goldsmithing, as a reliquary to house purported pieces of the True Cross.source

Culture & Society

  • June 9 – Emperor Frederick I (Barbarossa) marries Beatrice I, daughter of Reginald III, adding the County of Burgundy to the Holy Roman Empire.source
  • Yuri Dolgorukiy, Grand Prince of Kiev, founds and fortifies the town of Moscow and erects a wooden Kremlin within the settlement (approximate date).source

Births

  • January 6 – Matilda of England, daughter of Henry II (died 1189)source
  • October 27 – Raymond VI, French nobleman (died 1222)source
  • Sayf al-Din al-Amidi, Ayyubid jurist (died 1233)source
  • Robert of Auxerre, French chronicler (died 1212)source
  • Hōjō Masako, Japanese noblewoman (died 1225)source
  • Gaucelm Faidit, French troubadour (died 1209)source
  • Isaac II Angelos, Byzantine emperor (died 1204)source
  • Abu Said al-Baji, Almohad Sufi scholar (died 1231)source
  • Magnus V Erlingsson, king of Norway (died 1184)source
  • Zhang Congzheng, Chinese physician (died 1228)source
  • Bona of Pisa (c. 1156-1207) - Saint Bona, patron saint of travellersItalysource

Deaths

  • January 17 – André de Montbard, French noblemansource
  • January 20 – Henry, English bishop and missionarysource
  • January 31 – Herman van Horne, bishop of Utrechtsource
  • February – Domenico Morosini, doge of Venice (House of Morosini), dies after an 8-year reign. He is succeeded by Vitale II Michiel as ruler of Venice.source
  • July 20 – Toba, Japanese emperor (born 1103)source
  • August 4 – Otto IV, German nobleman (born 1083)source
  • August 12 – Blanca of Navarre, queen of Castilesource
  • November 20 – Henry I, German nobleman (born 1115)source
  • December 2 – William IX, count of Poitiers (born 1153)source
  • December 25 – Sverker I (the Elder), king of Swedensource
  • December 25 – King Sverker I (the Elder) is murdered on his way to church. He is succeeded by his rival, Eric IX (the Holy), as ruler of Sweden.source
  • December 25 – Peter the Venerable, French monk and abbotsource
  • Li Qingzhao, Chinese female poet (born 1084)source
  • Tairrdelbach Ua Conchobair, Irish king (born 1088)source
  • Tairrdelbach Ua Conchobair (Turlough O’Connor), who had reigned as King of Connacht since 1106 and was a claimant to the High Kingship of Ireland. He was buried in Clonmacnoise.Irelandsource