1158 CE

Vladislav II becomes king of Bohemia. He is crowned by Frederick Barbarossa, Holy Roman Emperor, with a diadem (called by the chroniclers a diadema or circulus). Vladislaus is also invested with Upper Lusatia, and accompanies Frederick to Milan to suppress the rebellion in Lombardy (northern Italy). King Sancho III ("the Desired") dies after a 1-year reign. He is succeeded as ruler of Castile by his 2-year-old son Alfonso VIII ("the Noble"). The noble houses of Lara and Castro claim the regency, as the boy's uncle, Ferdinand II (ruler of León and Galicia). Emperor Go-Shirakawa of Japan abdicates the throne after a 3-year reign. He is succeeded by his 15-year-old son Nijō as the 77th emperor. Go-Shirakawa retains power, and gives Kiyomori Taira a higher position to lead a samurai-dominated government.

In the 1150s, the 12th century.

Geopolitics & Diplomacy

  • September 5 – Emperor Go-Shirakawa of Japan abdicates the throne after a 3-year reign. He is succeeded by his 15-year-old son Nijō as the 77th emperor. Go-Shirakawa retains power, and gives Kiyomori Taira a higher position to lead a samurai-dominated government.source

Conflict & Security

  • January 11 – Vladislav II becomes king of Bohemia. He is crowned by Frederick Barbarossa, Holy Roman Emperor, with a diadem (called by the chroniclers a diadema or circulus). Vladislaus is also invested with Upper Lusatia, and accompanies Frederick to Milan to suppress the rebellion in Lombardy (northern Italy).source
  • Autumn – Emperor Manuel I Komnenos sets out from Constantinople at the head of an expeditionary army. He marches to Cilicia; and while the main army follows the coast road eastwards Manuel hurries ahead with a force of only 500 cavalry. He manages to surprise Thoros II "the Great", lord of the Armenian Kingdom of Cilicia, who participated in the attack on Cyprus in 1156. Thoros flees into the mountains and Cilicia is occupied by the Byzantines.source
  • Portuguese forces, led by King Afonso I of Portugal ("the Great"), conquer Pamela, Alcácer do Sal and Sesimbra from the diminished Almoravids.source

Exploration & Expansion

  • The Diet of Roncaglia is convoked by Frederick I. He mobilises an army of 100,000 men and leaves in June for a second Italian expedition – accompanied by Henry the Lion and his Saxon forces. He crosses the Alps and lays siege to Milan. German forces capture the city from the rebels after a short siege. However Milan soon rebels again, with Empress Beatrice taken captive and forced into parading on a donkey.source

Religion & Belief

  • The Roman Catholic Diocese of Derry is founded in Ireland.source
  • Raymond of Fitero, Spanish monk and abbot, pledges to defend the fortress of Calatrava (guarding the roads to Córdoba and Toledo) from incoming Muslim raiders. It is the founding moment of the Order of Calatrava, the spearhead of the Iberian armies during the Reconquista.source
  • The Roman Catholic Diocese of Derry was founded.Irelandsource

Economy & Finance

  • To restore confidence in the English currency, Henry II mints a new penny (known to specialists as the Tealby penny) with his own image.source

Health & Medicine

  • The Diet of Roncaglia near Piacenza was first convoked by Frederick Barbarossa.Italysource

Crime & Justice

  • Welsh forces under Ifor Bach ("Ivor the Short") attack Cardiff Castle and kidnap William Fitz Robert, Norman lord of Glamorgan, along with his family.source

Culture & Society

  • The University of Bologna is granted its first privileges by Frederick I.source
  • 12-year-old William Marshal is sent from England to the Château de Tancarville in Normandy to be brought up in the household of William de Tancarville, a cousin of William's mother. He begins his training as a knight; this also includes academic studies, practical lessons in chivalry and courtly life, and warfare and combat (using wooden swords and spears).source
  • Summer – King Henry II of England travels to France to meet King Louis VII and propose a marriage between his three-year-old son Henry and Louis' daughter Margaret (less than a year old). She is shipped to England, as the future wife and queen. The Vexin region is promised to Margaret as dowry and is put under the care of the Knights Templar, until her future husband is old enough to take control of it.source
  • The University of Bologna, the oldest continually operating university in the world, was granted its first privileges by the Emperor.Italysource

Births

  • August 6 – Al-Nasir li-Din Allah, Abbasid caliph (died 1225)source
  • September 23 – Geoffrey II, duke of Brittany (died 1186)source
  • Henry I, Duke of Mödling ("the Elder"), German nobleman (died 1223)source
  • Albert I ("the Proud"), margrave of Meissen (died 1195)source
  • Giordano Forzatè, Italian religious leader (died 1248)source
  • Fujiwara no Ietaka, Japanese waka poet (died 1237)source
  • Valdemar Knudsen, Danish bishop (died 1236)source
  • Jinul (or Chinul), Korean Zen master (died 1210)source
  • Baldwin of Bethune, French nobleman (died 1212)source
  • Margaret of France, Queen of England and Hungary, daughter of Louis VII of France (died 1197)source
  • Yvette of Huy, Belgian anchoress (died 1228)source
  • Satō Tsugunobu, Japanese warrior (died 1185)source
  • Theobald I, Count of Bar, French nobleman and knight (died 1214)source
  • Philip of Dreux, bishop of Beauvais (died 1217)source

Deaths

  • April 26 – Martirius, archbishop of Esztergomsource
  • July 19 – Wibald, German monk and abbot (born 1098)source
  • July 27 – Geoffrey VI, count of Nantes (born 1134)source
  • August 20 – Rögnvald Kali Kolsson, Earl of Orkneysource
  • August 31 – King Sancho III ("the Desired") dies after a 1-year reign. He is succeeded as ruler of Castile by his 2-year-old son Alfonso VIII ("the Noble"). The noble houses of Lara and Castro claim the regency, as the boy's uncle, Ferdinand II (ruler of León and Galicia).source
  • August 31 – Sancho III, king of Castile (born 1134)source
  • September 22 – Otto of Freising, German bishop (born 1114)source
  • December 15 – Frederick II, German archbishopsource
  • Oda of Brabant, Belgian prioress and saintsource
  • Abu Jafar ibn Atiyya, Almohad vizier and writersource
  • Thorbjorn Thorsteinsson, Norwegian piratesource
  • Barthélemy de Jur, French bishop (born 1080)source
  • Anselm of Havelberg, German bishop (born 1100)source
  • Domnall Ua Longargain, Archbishop of MunsterIrelandsource
  • Geoffrey VI, Count of Anjou (1134–1158)Italysource