Timeline of Kings and Queens, page 6
1144
Rome Gherardo Caccianemici dal Orso is elected pope as Lucius II. Belarus Rogneda Borisovich becomes prince of Polotsk.
France Geoffrey of Anjou, second husband of Empress Matilda, conquers Normandy, bringing it under Angevin control.
1145
Rome Pope Lucius II is killed by a stone thrown at him as he marches against the Roman Senate; Bernardo dei Paganelli di Montemagno, abbot of a Cistercian monastery near Rome, is elected pope as Eugene III; his pontificate is spent almost entirely outside Rome, after the Romans rebel against papal power.
1146
Holy Roman Empire Emperor Conrad III takes part in the Second Crusade. Poland Władysław II is driven into exile by his younger brothers; Bolesław IV the Curly, oldest surviving son of Bolesław III, becomes high duke. Serbia Radoslav Gradišnić becomes ruler of Duklja, but only with the authority of Byzantine Emperor Manuel I Comnenus; Duklja’s power has diminished so much that he may only style himself prince. Kievan Rus’ Igor II, brother of Vsevolod II, becomes prince of Kiev; within weeks he is deposed by his cousin, Iziaslav Msistislavich, who becomes Iziaslav II.
1147
Portugal King Afonso I and the Crusaders capture Lisbon from the Moors, following a siege. Germany Conrad III has his son, Henry Berengar, elected king – to rule while he is away on the Second Crusade and to ensure the succession for his family in the event of his death in battle.
1148
Aragón On the death of her husband, Raymond Berenguer IV, count of Barcelona, Queen Petronella abdicates in favour of her son Ramon, who becomes Alfonso II; he is the first ruler of both Aragón and Catalonia, his realms stretching as far as Provence; the union of Aragón and Catalonia lasts until the crown of Aragón is dissolved in 1707. Navarre Sancho VI becomes king; his reign sees numerous clashes with Aragón and Castile. Portugal King Afonso I takes Abrantes from the Moors. Denmark Eric III abandons the throne and retires to a monastery; the son of Eric II, Sweyn III, becomes king, but is challenged by Canute V and Valdemar ‘the Great’; he kills Canute but is himself killed by Valdemar, who becomes king in 1157. Venice Domenico Morosini is elected doge; he reconciles warring factions in Venetian patrician families and defeats the Normans. Kievan Rus’ Yuri I Dolgoruki, sixth son of Vladimir II Monomakh, becomes grand prince of Kiev.
1150
Germany King Henry Berengar dies; the succession is thrown wide open.
1151
Belarus Rostislav of Minsk becomes prince of Polotsk. Kievan Rus’ Prince Yuri I is driven from Kiev by his nephew Iziaslav III.
1152
Germany Conrad III dies never having been crowned Holy Roman Emperor; Frederick I Barbarossa, nephew of Conrad III, is elected king, the first king of Germany of the Hohenstaufen dynasty; he attempts to establish German dominance in Europe.
1153
Scotland King David I dies, having brought great change to Scotland, including the foundation of burghs, implementation of the ideals of Gregorian Reform, foundation of monasteries, Normanisation of the Scottish government and the introduction of feudalism through immigrant French and Anglo-French knights; his grandson, 11-year-old Malcolm IV, becomes king. France The Angevin dynasty takes control of Gascony and Guyenne. Rome The Roman, Corrado di Suburra, cardinal bishop of Sabina, is elected pope as Anastasius IV.
1154
England The Treaty of Winchester ends the period in England known as ‘the Anarchy’ and allows Empress Matilda’s son, Henry of Anjou, to become King Henry II of England, the first Plantagenet king. Italy Frederick I Barbarossa is crowned king. Rome Cardinal Nicholas of Albano, born Nicholas Breakspear, is elected pope as Adrian IV; he is the only Englishman to become pope. Sicily Having made his kingdom one of the greatest in Europe, Roger II dies; William I the Bad, fourth son of Roger, becomes king; he goes to war with Greece until 1158. Kievan Rus’ Rostislav I, son of Mstislav I, becomes grand prince for one week, before Iziaslav III drives him out and returns to power.
1155
Norway Sigurd II is murdered by his brother and co-ruler Inge I. Holy Roman Empire Frederick I Barbarossa of Germany is crowned Holy Roman Emperor. Kievan Rus’ Yuri I retakes Kiev.
1156
Ireland Muirchertach MacLochlainn, King MacLochlainn’s grand-son, becomes high king. Sweden Sverker I is shockingly murdered on his way to church on Christmas day, probably by the pretender to the throne, Magnus Henriksson; Erik IX the Saint becomes king; he consolidates Christianity in the kingdom and codifies Sweden’s laws. Venice Vitale II Michele is elected doge.
1157
León-Castile-Galicia On the death of King Alfonso VII, his kingdom is split between his sons; Ferdinand receives León and Galicia; Sancho becomes king of Castile and Toledo. Denmark Valdemar the Great becomes king after 10 years of unrest. Norway Inge I fights his other brother Øystein near Moster; Øystein is forced to flee and is captured and killed; Inge, the last remaining brother, becomes sole ruler, but faces opposition in an ongoing civil war from Haakon the Broadshouldered, son of Sigurd II, whose supporters are calling him king. Russia The beginning of the Golden Age of the city of Vladimir, east of Moscow; Andrei Bogolyubsky becomes Prince Andrei I of Vladimir-Suzdal. Kievan Rus’ On Yuri I’s death, Iziaslav III is restored to the throne.
1158
León-Castile-Galicia Alfonso VIII becomes king of Castile, aged 3.
1159
Rome Cardinal Orlando Bandinelli is elected pope as Alexander III; he introduces the law whereby a pope must obtain the votes of two-thirds of the cardinals to be elected. Belarus Rogneda Borisovich becomes prince of Polotsk for a second time. Kievan Rus’ Rostislav I becomes grand prince for the second time.
1160
Sweden Erik IX is murdered, either by Emund Ulvbane, an assassin hired by people working for the Sverker dynasty, or Swedish rebels; Erik is later canonised and becomes Sweden’s patron saint; Magnus II, whose mother is the granddaughter of Inge I, becomes the last king of the House of Stenkil. Sicily William I defeats a revolt, but his son Roger is killed.
1161
Sweden Karl VIII, son of Sverker I, becomes king. Norway Haakon II the Broadshouldered defeats and kills Inge I, in battle near Oslo; to his supporters, Haakon II succeeds Øystein as king; the civil war continues with two parties, known as Bagler and Birkebeiner, constantly uniting behind a royal son to oppose the rule of a king from the other party; Magnus Erlingsson is elected king by one party. Hungary and Croatia Stephen III becomes king.
1162
Norway Haakon II the Broadshouldered is killed by nobleman Erling Skaake; Haakon’s supporters name his half-brother, Sigurd Markusfostre king. Serbia Mihailo III Vojislav becomes the last ruler of Duklja. Belarus Vseslav Vasilkovich becomes prince of Polotsk.
1163
Wales Owain Gwynedd is recognized as ruler. Norway Aged 7, Magnus V Erlingsson is the first Norwegian king to be crowned; Erling Skaake kills the pretender Sigurd Markusfostre.
1165
Scotland Malcolm IV dies unmarried, aged 24; William I the Lion, Malcolm’s brother, succeeds him; his standard, a red lion rampant with a forked tail on a yellow background, goes on to become the Royal Standard of Scotland.
1166
Ireland Ruaidrí Ua Conchobair, son of King Tairrdelbach Ua Conchobair, is the last ‘High King of all Ireland’; his persecution of Dermot MacMurrough of Leinster gives Henry II of England a pretext for invading. Sicily Aged 11, William II becomes king; his mother, Margaret of Navarre, acts as regent.
1167
Sweden Canute I Ericson, son of Eric the Saint, kills Karl VII to take the throne. Belarus Volodar of Minsk becomes prince of Polotsk. Kievan Rus’ Mstislav II, son of Iziaslav II, becomes grand prince.
1168
England Prince Richard, later King Richard I the Lionheart of England, becomes duke of Aquitaine.
1169
England Eleanor of Aquitaine leaves England to establish her great court in Poitiers. Portugal Disabled by a fall from his horse during a battle near Badajoz, King Afonso is taken prisoner by soldiers of King Alfonso VIII of Castile and Leon; in return for his freedom, Portugal is forced to return all its recent Galician conquests. Germany Henry VI is elected king.
Assassination of Thomas Becket
1170
Henry II (1154–89)was the son of Queen Maud and Geoffrey of Anjou. Although he was a good ruler, he suffered from a quick temper and paid the consequences. His chief administrator was a man called Thomas Becket. When the See of Canterbury fell empty in 1162, Henry talked a very reluctant Becket into becoming the new Archbishop. Henry foolishly believed that Becket would be sympathetic to the royal cause in the escalating battle between the Church and the state — he wasn’t! Becket was ostentatiously severe in his adherence to the laws of the Church and argued bitterly with Henry II. Becket eventually infuriated Henry to the point that the king flew into one of his famous rages. Four knights — Hugh de Morville, William de Tracy, Reginald Fitzurse and Richard le Breton — perhaps seeking to curry favour with the king, rode from Normandy to Canterbury Cathedral and killed Becket in the North Transept.
Henry was full of remorse following the murder of Becket, and asked the Pope to impose penance. He walked to Canterbury Cathedral wearing sackcloth and ashes and allowed himself to be flogged by monks.
1170
Ireland Henry II sponsors the Norman invasion of Ireland, sparking eight centuries of conflict and war between Ireland and England. Kievan Rus’ Gleb, son of Yuri I, becomes grand prince.
1171
Wales Rhys ap Gruffydd agrees to negotiate with Henry II of England. Sicily William II is declared old enough to rule. Kievan Rus’ Vladimir II, son of Mstislav I, is briefly grand prince; Roman I, son of Rostislav I, succeeds him.
1172
England The Council of Avranches absolves Henry of the assassination of Thomas Becket. Ireland Henry II conquers Ireland and is confirmed as lord of Ireland by the pope. Venice Sebastiano Ziani, one of the city’s greatest planners, is elected doge. Hungary and Croatia Stephen III dies, having dispensed with two pretenders, Ladislaus II and Stephen IV, both sons of King Béla II, and having been deposed twice; Béla III, Stephen’s younger brother, becomes king; he marries the sister of Philippe II of France, and becomes one of the wealthiest monarchs in Europe.
1173
England Eleanor of Aquitaine and her sons rebel, unsuccessfully, against her husband Henry II in the Revolt of 1173–1174. Poland Mieszko III ‘the Old’, fifth son of Bolesław III, becomes high duke. Kievan Rus Vsevolod the Big Nest, future grand prince of Vladimir, is briefly installed on the Kievan throne, before being taken prisoner by two princes of Smolensk for a year; Rurik, son of Rostislav, becomes grand prince; he will occupy the Kievan throne seven times.
1174
Scotland William I is captured by Henry II of England and taken to Normandy; Henry occupies Scotland. Norway In the ongoing civil war, Øystein Meyla, son of Øystein II, is declared king by his supporters. Russia Discontented Vladimir nobles assassinate Prince Andrei I Bogolyubsky; his half-brother Mikhail becomes prince of Vladimir-Suzdal. Kievan Rus’ Iaroslav II, son of Iziaslav II, is manoeuvred onto the Kievan throne by relatives.
1175
Scotland In order to regain his kingdom, William the Lion has to acknowledge Henry II of England as his feudal superior and agree to pay for the cost of the English army’s occupation of Scotland by taxing the Scots; William signs the Treaty of Falaise, agreeing to this, and is allowed to return to Scotland. Ireland Ruaidri Ua Conchobair, the last high king, submits to Henry II with the Treaty of Windsor.
1177
Norway Øystein Meyla, pretender to the throne, is killed in the Battle of Re. Sicily William II marries Joan, daughter of Henry II of England. Poland A rebellion by the barons of Lesser Poland leads to the expulsion of Mieszko III; his younger brother, Casimir II the Just, is elevated to high duke; Mieszko never abdicates or renounces the throne and returns several times to claim it. Russia Vsevolod the Big Nest becomes grand prince of Vladimir; Vladimir is at the height of its power during his reign. Kievan Rus’ Sviatoslav III, son of Vsevolod II, deposes Iaroslav II.
1178
Venice Orio Mastropiero is elected doge.
1179
Portugal Privileges and favours given to the Catholic Church during Alfonso’s reign, as well as the churches and monasteries he has constructed, result in a papal bull, Manifestis Probatum, in which Pope Alexander III acknowledges Afonso as king of an independent Portugal. Rome Pope Alexander III is forced to leave Rome by the Roman republic; Innocent III, the antipope, is installed.
1180
France Philippe II Augustus becomes king, conquering Normandy, Anjou, Maine, Poitou and Lorraine. Rome Antipope Innocent III is deposed by Pope Alexander III. Poland Casimir II eases taxes on the clergy and gives land back to the Church in order to ensure that hereditary rights to the high dukedom of Poland fall to his line, that of Krakow, of which he is duke; nonetheless, it will be more than a century before the Polish kingship is restored. Byzantine Empire Manuel I Comnenus dies, having pursued an aggressive foreign policy, attempting to recreate a new Roman Empire; Alexios II Comnenus becomes emperor. Kievan Rus’ Rurik returns to power.
1181
Rome Cardinal Ubaldo Allucingoli is elected pope, as Lucius III; in 1184 he will launch the Inquisition.
1182
Denmark Canute VI, who has been co-ruler with his father, Valdemar the Great, becomes sole ruler on Valdemar’s death. Kievan Rus’ Sviatoslav III becomes grand prince for the third time, ruling alongside Rurik.
1183
Byzantine Empire Alexios II, having lost substantial parts of the empire, is strangled with a bow string on the orders of Andronikos Comnenos, his co-emperor and cousin of his father; Andronikos becomes sole emperor.
1184
Norway Sverre Sigurdsson, leader of the Birkebeiners, takes the throne as sole ruler after the death of his rival, former King Magnus V, in the Battle of Firmreite.
1185
Scotland Richard the Lionheart, in need of funds for the Third Crusade, terminates the Treaty of Falaise in return for 10,000 silver marks. Portugal King Alfonso Henriques I, recognized as the founder of the Portuguese nation, dies; his son, Sancho I, becomes king. Norway Jon Kuvlung, son of Inge I, becomes pretender to the throne. Rome Lucius III dies during preparations for the Third Crusade; the cardinal of Milan, Uberto Crivelli, is elected pope, as Urban III. Bulgaria The Asen brothers revolt against Byzantium, winning independence; Ivan Asen I is proclaimed king of Bulgaria along with his brothers, Teodor I and Peter IV, launching the Second Bulgarian Empire. Byzantine Empire Isaac II Angelus deposes, tortures and executes Andronikos I Comnenus, and takes the throne as the first emperor of the Angelid dynasty; during his reign, the empire will lose Bulgaria, Lefkada, Kefallonia, Zakynthos, Cilicia and Cyprus.
1186
Serbia Grand prince of Rascia and duke of all Serbia, Stefan Nemanja conquers the state of Duklja; he unifies Duklja and Rascia into a single state.
1187
Rome Pope Urban III is reported to die of grief upon hearing news of the Crusader defeat in the Battle of Hattin; Cistercian monk Alberto di Morra is elected pope as Gregory VIII, but dies two months later; cardinal bishop of Palestrina, Paulino Scolari, is elected pope as Clement III.
1188
León-Castile-Galicia Alfonso IX, son of Ferdinand I of León, becomes king of León and Galicia; he is nicknamed ‘the Slobberer’, as he had a habit of foaming at the mouth when angry; he foams at the mouth a great deal during his reign, as he argues incessantly with the pope over his marriages; he is the first western European monarch to summon his citizens to a parliament – the Cortes. Norway Pretender Jon Kuvlung is killed by King Sverre.
1189
England Richard the Lionheart allies with Philippe II of France against his father, Henry II of England, and is crowned king; forever crusading or held prisoner by Duke Leopold in Austria, he will spend only a few weeks of his reign in his kingdom. Holy Roman Empire Frederick I Barbarossa leads the Third Crusade against Saladin. Sicily William II dies childless; his nephew Tancred, illegitimate son of Roger III, duke of Apulia, seizes power and is crowned king.
1190
England Richard I threatens war against Tancred of Sicily, and captures Messina. Holy Roman Empire Frederick I Barbarossa drowns in the Saleph river while leading an army to Jerusalem. Poland Mieszko II the Old returns to power as high duke, but only for a short time, until Casimir II is restored. Albania Progon becomes prince of Albania and founder of the Progon dynasty.
1191
Rome Giacinto Bobone, 85 years old and a mere deacon, is elected pope, as Celestine III. Holy Roman Empire Henry VI of Germany is crowned Holy Roman Emperor.
1192
England A truce between Richard I and Saladin ends the Third Crusade; Richard is taken hostage by Leopold V of Austria. Venice The blind Enrico Dandolo, son of a prominent family, is elected doge; he plays a crucial role in the Fourth Crusade, which captures Constantinople; Venice captures almost half of the Byzantine Empire, which never really recovers. Belarus Ginwill becomes prince of Polotsk.
1193
Norway Sigurd Magnusson, illegitimate son of Magnus Erlingsson, becomes pretender to the throne.
1194
England Richard I is ransomed from Henry VI, Holy Roman Emperor. Norway King Sverre Sigurdsson is excommunicated by the Norwegian Church; civil war breaks out again with the Baglers; he kills the pretender to the throne, Sigurd Magnusson. Navarre Sancho VII the Strong becomes king; he is the last legitimate male-line descendant of the Houses of Íñiguez and Jiménez, the first two dynasties of kings of Navarre; his sister is married to English king, Richard the Lionheart. Sicily King Tancred dies just a few days after the death of his son and co-king, Roger III; William III becomes king under the regency of his mother, Sibylla of Acerra; Holy Roman Emperor Henry VI invades and captures the kingdom, taking Tancred’s family prisoner; William III is castrated and blinded, dying in Germany in 1198, the last of the Norman kings of Sicily; Constance, daughter of King Roger II and wife of the Holy Roman Emperor, becomes queen jointly with her husband. Poland Casimir II dies unexpectedly, probably poisoned, at a banquet; Leszek I the White becomes high duke. Kievan Rus’ Rurik becomes sole ruler on the death of Sviatoslav III.
