1150 - 1179 A.D. Medieval Stuff

 

(Feature Photo: Palace of Poitiers, the seat of the counts of Poitou and dukes of Aquitaine from the 10th to the 12th centuries)

 

1150 

RULERS & ROYALTY: Stephen is on the throne of England – Louis VII is king of the West Franks

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Chess Anyone? 

The Lewis Chessman are carved out of walrus-ivory on the Isle of Lewis in the Outer Hebrides, “they are the greatest surviving series of medieval chessman, they date from the middle of the twelfth century A.D.” They were found in 1831 and the 80 pieces are thought to be the work of a Scandinavian artist, now housed in the British Museum (Collections of the British Museum pg. 128)

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Petronilla’s marriage to Raymond Berengar IV, Count of Barcelona is ratified at a wedding ceremony held in the city of Lleida (The Templars pg. 64-65)

A Kabbalah book, Sefer ha-behir, which in Hebrew means "Book of Brightness," first appears in Provence, France; Its basic motif is the mystical significance of the shapes and sounds of the Hebrew alphabet (Encyclopedia Britannica)

 

1151 

RULERS & ROYALTY: Stephen is on the throne of England – Louis VII is king of the West Franks

 

1152 

RULERS & ROYALTY: Stephen is on the throne of England – Louis VII is king of the West Franks

Eleanor of Aquitaine and king Louis VII of France get divorced after no male heir is produced, in the same year she (now 28 yrs old) marries 19 year old Henry II Fitzempress (he’s Matilda, Empress of Germany/Holy Roman Empire’s son, and grandson to Henry I, but not king yet because Stephen, Robert’s son is on the throne) in the cathedral in Poitiers, France, Henry II, a “young man, aged 19, is stocky, with red hair, and restless with pent-up energy, knowing he was doing a daring thing,” Eleanor, “11 years his senior, and with long auburn locks, is exceptionally beautiful, very beautiful and a willing accomplice in this furtive ceremony,”

Henry had already established a reputation as one of the most formidable princes in Europe, not only does he hold strategically important domains in what is now France, but he is also heir to his mother’s claim to the Kingdom of England—a claim that few doubt he will prosecute successfully (Eleanor of Aquitaine pg. 1) 

Petronilla, Queen of Aragon, Spain, now 16 yeas old, has her first child, Peter (who dies five years later) and while she is pregnant she writes up a will bequeathing her kingdom of Aragon to her husband in case she did not survive childbirth; The Aragonese Templars help the king of Aragon (Petronilla’s husband, the Count of Barcelona) lay siege to the castle in Miravet in present-day Spain

 

1153 

RULERS & ROYALTY: Stephen is on the throne of England – Louis VII is king of the West Franks

 

1154 

RULERS & ROYALTY: King Stephen dies, Henry II Fitzempress or Curmantle (Empress Matilda’s son) is crowned king of England in Westminster Abbey, Eleanor of Aquitaine is his queen – Louis VII is king of the West Franks, he marries Constance of Castile

 

1155 

RULERS & ROYALTY: Henry II is on the throne of England, Eleanor of Aquitaine is his queen – Louis VII is king of the West Franks, Constance of Castile is his queen

 

1156 

RULERS & ROYALTY: Henry II is on the throne of England, Eleanor of Aquitaine is his queen – Louis VII is king of the West Franks, he marries Constance of Castile

 

1157 

RULERS & ROYALTY: Henry II is on the throne of England, Eleanor of Aquitaine is his queen – Louis VII is king of the West Franks, he marries Constance of Castile

September 8, Eleanor, Queen of Aquitaine and England, gives birth to Richard I

 

1158 

RULERS & ROYALTY: Henry II is on the throne of England, Eleanor of Aquitaine is his queen – Louis VIIis king of the West Franks, he marries Constance of Castile

 

1159 

RULERS & ROYALTY: Henry II is on the throne of England, Eleanor of Aquitaine is his queen – Louis VIIis king of the West Franks, he marries Constance of Castile – Pope Adrian IV dies and Pope Alexander III is installed as bishop of Rome

 

1160 

RULERS & ROYALTY: Henry II is on the throne of England, Eleanor of Aquitaine is his queen – Louis VII is king of the West Franks, his queen, Constance of Castile dies and he marries Adèla of Champagne

 

 

1161 

RULERS & ROYALTY: Henry II is on the throne of England, Eleanor of Aquitaine is his queen – Louis VII is king of the West Franks, Adèla of Champagne is his queen

 

1162 

RULERS & ROYALTY: Henry II is on the throne of England, Eleanor of Aquitaine is his queen – Louis VII is king of the West Franks, Adèla of Champagne is his queen

Thomas Becket becomes Archbishop of Canterbury from 1162-1170

Petronilla’s husband dies, and her son inherits the throne of Aragon, Aquitaine and Barcelona  

 

1163 

RULERS & ROYALTY: Henry II is on the throne of England, Eleanor of Aquitaine is his queen – Louis VII is king of the West Franks, Adèla of Champagne is his queen

Notre Dame construction begins  

 

1164 

RULERS & ROYALTY: Henry II is on the throne of England, Eleanor of Aquitaine is his queen – Louis VII is king of the West Franks, Adèla of Champagne is his queen

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Time for School

The first university is founded in Oxford

 

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1165 

RULERS & ROYALTY: Henry II is on the throne of England, Eleanor of Aquitaine is his queen – Louis VII is king of the West Franks, Adèla of Champagne is his queen

 

1166 

RULERS & ROYALTY: Henry II is on the throne of England, Eleanor of Aquitaine is his queen – Louis VII is king of the West Franks, Adèla of Champagne is his queen

December 24, Eleanor, Queen of Aquitaine and England, gives birth to John I

 

1167 

RULERS & ROYALTY: Henry II is on the throne of England, Eleanor of Aquitaine is his queen – Louis VII is king of the West Franks, Adèla of Champagne is his queen

Empress Matilda of the Holy Roman/German Empire of England, and mother of Henry II dies in Rouen, France

 

1168

RULERS & ROYALTY: Henry II is on the throne of England, Eleanor of Aquitaine is his queen – Louis VII is king of the West Franks, Adèla of Champagne is his queen

 

1169

RULERS & ROYALTY: Henry II is on the throne of England, Eleanor of Aquitaine is his queen – Louis VII is king of the West Franks, Adèla of Champagne is his queen

 

1170

RULERS & ROYALTY: Henry II is on the throne of England, Eleanor of Aquitaine is his queen – Louis VII is king of the West Franks, Adèla of Champagne is his queen

Thomas Becket, Archbishop of Canterbury, is murdered in Canterbury Cathedral after engaging in a conflict with Henry II (Henry Fitzempress, Matilda’s son, Eleanor of Aquitaine’s husband and father to Richard and John), Henry II’s knights misunderstood the King’s angry words and went and killed Thomas, he was soon after made a saint by Pope Alexander III

The large city of Cahokia (near present day St. Louis, Missouri) is burned, Cahokia’s population rivals Paris, it’s a trading center, and is surrounded  by 120 pyramids and farmland (modern archaeologists surmise that rebels burned the town, and were the ones that instituted the sun imagery that was used thereafter), before the fire, the homes were large and reflected wealth and stature, after the fire, a defense is built around the city, and the homes are much smaller (see year 1250)

 

1171

RULERS & ROYALTY: Henry II is on the throne of England, Eleanor of Aquitaine is his queen

 

1172 

RULERS & ROYALTY: Henry II is on the throne of England, Eleanor of Aquitaine is his queen

 

1173 

RULERS & ROYALTY: Henry II is on the throne of England, Eleanor of Aquitaine is his queen

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Back to the Drawing Board

Eleanor of Aquitaine’s sons (Richard and John) involve her in a plot against their father Henry II, as a result Henry II has her imprisoned, she’s now 41 years old

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October 15, Petronilla dies at the age of thirty-seven in Barcelona and is buried at Barcelona Cathedral (her tomb is now lost)

 

1174 

RULERS & ROYALTY: Henry II is on the throne of England, Eleanor of Aquitaine is his queen (though now she’s imprisoned by him)

 

1175 

RULERS & ROYALTY: Henry II is on the throne of England, Eleanor of Aquitaine is his queen (though now she’s imprisoned by him) 

Alter-cross of gilt copper and champlevé is made, it’s a “masterpiece of Romanesque enamel. Made in the Mosan region or Middle Rhineland…The five scenes on the cross were chosen as Old Testament prefigurations of the Crucifixion.” Now housed in the British Museum (Collections of the British Museum, pg. 131)

 

1176

RULERS & ROYALTY: Henry II is on the throne of England/Eleanor of Aquitaine is his queen (though now she’s imprisoned by him)

 

1177

RULERS & ROYALTY: Henry II is on the throne of England/Eleanor of Aquitaine is his queen (though now she’s imprisoned by him)

 

1178

RULERS & ROYALTY: Henry II is on the throne of England/Eleanor of Aquitaine is his queen (though now she’s imprisoned by him)

 

1179 

RULERS & ROYALTY: Henry II is on the throne of England/Eleanor of Aquitaine is his queen (though now she’s imprisoned by him)