1160 CE
Frederick Barbarossa, Holy Roman Emperor, captures Crema, Lombardy after a 6-month siege, as part of his campaign against the independent Italian city-states. Some 20,000 survivors are allowed to leave the city with whatever they could carry before Crema is looted and burnt to the ground. The expense of the siege (over 2,000 silver marks) and Frederick's determination to enforce it over the winter, demonstrates his ability to hold troops in the field and to keep his allies on side. Erik IX Jedvardsson of Sweden is murdered, after which his murderer Magnus Henriksen proclaims himself king of Sweden as Magnus II. He is murdered in turn the following year, however. Erik is soon worshipped as a saint. Though never formally canonized by Pope Alexander III, he eventually becomes the patron saint of Sweden. Within weeks of the death of his second wife, Queen Constance of Castile, King Louis VII of France marries Adela of Champagne, daughter of Count Theobald II ("the Great").
In the 1160s, the 12th century.
Conflict & Security
- January 25 – Frederick Barbarossa, Holy Roman Emperor, captures Crema, Lombardy after a 6-month siege, as part of his campaign against the independent Italian city-states. Some 20,000 survivors are allowed to leave the city with whatever they could carry before Crema is looted and burnt to the ground. The expense of the siege (over 2,000 silver marks) and Frederick's determination to enforce it over the winter, demonstrates his ability to hold troops in the field and to keep his allies on side.source
- A large Portuguese offensive begins in the Alentejo region, against the Almoravids. The city of Tomar is founded by Gualdim Pais, Grand Master of the Knights Templar.source
- Autumn – Raynald of Châtillon, prince of Antioch, makes a plundering raid in the valley of the Euphrates at Marash to seize cattle, horses and camels from the local peasants. On his way back to Antioch, he and his retinue are attacked by Zangid warriors. Raynald is unhorsed, captured and sent to Aleppo where he is put in jail.source
- In Japan, the Heiji Rebellion began with the siege of the Sanjō Palace.source
Exploration & Expansion
- The Almohads conquer Mahdia (modern Tunisia) from the Normans after an important naval success near the city, against Christian reinforcements coming from Sicily.source
- Approximate date – A commercial treaty between the Almohad Caliphate and the Republic of Pisa opens the North African ports to Tuscan merchants.source
Religion & Belief
- The island of Lundy is granted to the Knights Templar by Henry II of England.source
- A plot of land at Miholjanec is donated to the Knights Templar, who build a monastery in nearby Zdelia. This is the earliest historical mention of the Templars in Croatia and Hungary.source
- Jerpoint Abbey is founded in County Kilkenny.Irelandsource
Science & Discovery
Health & Medicine
- Spital am Semmering (modern Austria) is founded by Margrave Ottokar III. He erects a hospital and completes the colonization of the area around the Traisen and Gölsen rivers.source
Culture & Society
- November 2 – Betrothal of 5-year-old Henry the Young King of England and 2-year-old Marguerite, daughter of Louis VII of France; she brings Norman Vexin to the English crown as a dowry.source
- Spring – Emperor Manuel I Komnenos sends an embassy led by John Kontostephanos to Jerusalem, to ask King Baldwin III to nominate one of the princesses of the Crusader states, as a bride for the widowed emperor. Their two candidates are 15-year-old Maria of Antioch, and Melisende of Tripoli. Baldwin suggests Melisende, and her brother Count Raymond III sets about gathering an enormous dowry. The ambassadors are not satisfied, and delay the marriage for over a year. They hear rumours about Melisende's birth, based on her mother's (Countess Hodierna of Jerusalem) infidelity, and therefore Melisende's possible illegitimacy. In the end, the Emperor marries Maria in 1161 and Melisende eventually enters a convent.source
- Approximate date – Derby School is founded by Walkelin de Derby in Derby (England); it will survive until 1989.source
Births
- October 4 – Alys of France, daughter of Louis VII (died 1220)source
- December 3 – Conrad of Querfurt, German bishop (died 1202)source
- Tamar the Great, queen of Georgia (approximate date)source
- John of Matha, French priest and saint (died 1213)source
- Eschiva of Ibelin, queen of Cyprus (died 1196)source
- Siraj al-Din al-Sakaki, Persian scholar (died 1229)source
- Abu Yusuf Yaqub al-Mansur, Almohad caliph (died 1199)source
- David Kimhi, French rabbi and grammarian (died 1235)source
- Sibylla (or Sibylle), queen of Jerusalem (died 1190)source
- Azriel of Gerona, Catalan Jewish leader (died 1238)source
- Dulce of Aragon, queen of Portugal (died 1198)source
- Adolf III, count of Schaumburg and Holstein (died 1225)source
- Vladislaus III, duke of Bohemia (approximate date)source
- Ali ibn al-Athir, Arab historian and biographer (died 1233)source
Deaths
- March 12 – Al-Muqtafi, caliph of the Abbasid Caliphate (born 1096)source
- April 3 – William FitzAlan, Breton nobleman (born 1105)source
- April 27 – Rudolf I, count of Bregenz and Chur (born 1081)source
- May 18 – Erik IX Jedvardsson of Sweden is murdered, after which his murderer Magnus Henriksen proclaims himself king of Sweden as Magnus II. He is murdered in turn the following year, however. Erik is soon worshipped as a saint. Though never formally canonized by Pope Alexander III, he eventually becomes the patron saint of Sweden.source
- May 18 – Ibn al-Qalanisi, Arab politician and chroniclersource
- May 18 – Erik IX Jedvardsson ("the Holy"), king of Sweden (born 1120)source
- May 31 – Mechtildis of Edelstetten, German abbesssource
- July 23 – Al-Fa'iz bi-Nasr Allah, Fatimid caliph (born 1149)source
- October 4 – Constance of Castile, queen of France (born 1141)source
- November 13 – Within weeks of the death of his second wife, Queen Constance of Castile, King Louis VII of France marries Adela of Champagne, daughter of Count Theobald II ("the Great").source
- 17 December – Gilla na Naemh Ua Duinn, poet, historian and cleric (born 1102).Irelandsource
- December 22 – Fujiwara no Nariko, Japanese empress (born 1117)source
- Peter Lombard, French bishop and theologian (born 1096)source
- Raymond du Puy, French knight and Grand Master (born 1083)source
- Herman of Carinthia, German astronomer (born 1100)source