1170

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Year 1170 (MCLXX) was a common year starting on Thursday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar.

Events

• November (or December) – Henry II of England, when word reaches him in France of Thomas Becket's latest actions, utters words that are interpreted by his followers as a wish for the archbishop's death.
• December 29 – Thomas Becket, Archbishop of Canterbury, is assassinated in Canterbury Cathedral.
• The Danes attack Estonia.
• The city of Dublin is captured by the Normans.
• The East Frisian island of Bant is broken up in a North Sea flood.
• Palace guards massacre the civil officials at the Korean court, and place a new king on the throne. The coup leaders abolish the privileges that have kept the aristocrats in power, and appoint themselves to senior posts.
• Earliest dating for the making of Cheddar cheese.
• According to folklore, the Welsh prince Madoc sails to North America, in his ship the Gwennan Gorn, and founds a colony.
• Estimation: Fes in the Almohad Empire becomes the largest city of the world, taking the lead from Constantinople, capital of the Byzantine Empire.^[1]

Births

Saint Dominic born on August 8

• May 9 – Valdemar II of Denmark (d. 1241) (alternative date is June 28)
• August 8 – Saint Dominic, founder of the Dominicans (d. 1221)
• Eustace the Monk, French pirate (d. 1217)
• Isabella of Hainault, queen of Philip II of France (d. 1190)
• Muqali, general of Genghis Khan
• Agnes I, Countess of Nevers
• Approximate date – Fibonacci (Leonardo Pisano Bigollo), Pisan mathematician (d. 1240/50)

Deaths

Albert I of Brandenburg died on November 18, 1170

Thomas Becket assassinated on December 29, 1170

• January 22 – Wang Chongyang, Chinese Daoist and co-founder of the Quanzhen School (b. 1113)
• April 23 – Minamoto no Tametomo, Japanese samurai, first known person to die by seppuku (b. 1139)
• November 18 – Albert I of Brandenburg (b. c. 1100)
• November 23 or November 28 – Owain Gwynedd, King of Gwynedd (b. c. 1100)
• December 29 – Thomas Becket, Archbishop of Canterbury (assassinated) (b. c. 1118)
• Al-Mustanjid, Abbasid Caliph in Baghdad
• Ruben II, Prince of Armenia (b. 1160)
• Mstislav II of Kiev
• Eliezer ben Nathan, Jewish poet and writer (b. 1090)
• Odo, Viscount of Porhoet, co-ruler of the duchy of Brittany

References