Pope Alexander III, born Roland, was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 7 September 1159 until his death in 1181.
Year 1166 (MCLXVI) was a common year starting on Saturday of the Julian calendar.
Manuel I Komnenos, Latinized as Comnenus, also called Porphyrogenitus, was a Byzantine emperor of the 12th century who reigned over a crucial turning point in the history of Byzantium and the Mediterranean. His reign saw the last flowering of the Komnenian restoration, during which the Byzantine Empire experienced a resurgence of military and economic power and enjoyed a cultural revival.
The Doge of Venice was the highest role of authority within the Republic of Venice. The word Doge derives from the Latin Dux, meaning "leader," originally referring to any military leader, becoming in the Late Roman Empire the title for a leader of an expeditionary force formed by detachments from the frontier army, separate from, but subject to, the governor of a province, authorized to conduct operations beyond provincial boundaries.
The Fourth Crusade (1202–1204) was a Latin Christian armed expedition called by Pope Innocent III. The stated intent of the expedition was to recapture the Muslim-controlled city of Jerusalem, by first defeating the powerful Egyptian Ayyubid Sultanate. However, a sequence of economic and political events culminated in the Crusader army's 1202 siege of Zara and the 1204 sack of Constantinople, rather than the conquest of Egypt as originally planned. This led to the Partitio terrarum imperii Romaniae or the partition of the Byzantine Empire by the Crusaders and their Venetian allies leading to a period known as Frankokratia, or "Rule of the Franks" in Greek.
Enrico Dandolo was the doge of Venice from 1192 until his death. He is remembered for his avowed piety, longevity, and shrewdness, and his role in the Fourth Crusade and the Sack of Constantinople. Dandolo died in 1205 in Constantinople and was buried at the Hagia Sophia.
Stefan Nemanja was the Grand Prince of the Serbian Grand Principality from 1166 to 1196. A member of the Vukanović dynasty, Nemanja founded the Nemanjić dynasty, and is remembered for his contributions to Serbian culture and history, founding what would evolve into the Serbian Empire, as well as the national church. According to the Serbian Academy of Sciences and Arts, Nemanja is also among the most remarkable Serbs for his literary contributions and altruistic attributes.
Stephen III was King of Hungary and Croatia between 1162 and 1172. He was crowned king in early June 1162, shortly after the death of his father, Géza II. However, his two uncles, Ladislaus and Stephen, who had joined the court of the Byzantine Empire, challenged his right to the crown. Only six weeks after his coronation, the Byzantine Emperor Manuel I Komnenos launched an expedition against Hungary, forcing the Hungarian lords to accept Ladislaus' rule. Stephen sought refuge in Austria, but returned and seized Pressburg. Ladislaus, who died on 14 January 1163, was succeeded by Stephen's younger uncle and namesake, Stephen IV, without resistance, but his rule was unpopular. The young Stephen defeated his uncle on 19 June 1163 and expelled him from Hungary.
Christian I (c. 1130 – 23 August 1183), sometimes Christian von Buch, was a German prelate and nobleman. He was Archbishop of Mainz and Archchancellor of Germany from 1165 until his death in 1183. He was originally elected archbishop in 1160 in a disputed election. He served the Emperor Frederick I as a diplomat in Italy on two occasions.
Domenico Selvo was the 31st Doge of Venice, serving from 1071 to 1084. During his reign as Doge, his domestic policies, the alliances that he forged, and the battles that the Venetian military won and lost laid the foundations for much of the subsequent foreign and domestic policy of the Republic of Venice. He avoided confrontations with the Byzantine Empire, the Holy Roman Empire, and the Roman Catholic Church at a time in European history when conflict threatened to upset the balance of power. At the same time, he forged new agreements with the major nations that would set up a long period of prosperity for the Republic of Venice. Through his military alliance with the Byzantine Empire, Emperor Alexios I Komnenos awarded Venice economic favors with the declaration of a golden bull that would allow for the development of the republic's international trade over the next few centuries.
Otto Orseolo was the Doge of Venice from 1008 to 1026. He was the third son of Doge Pietro II of the House of Orseolo, and Maria Candiano, whom he succeeded at the age of sixteen, becoming the youngest doge in Venetian history.
The Byzantine Empire was ruled by emperors of the Angelos dynasty between 1185 and 1204 AD. The Angeloi rose to the throne following the deposition of Andronikos I Komnenos, the last male-line Komnenos to rise to the throne. The Angeloi were female-line descendants of the previous dynasty. While in power, the Angeloi were unable to stop the invasions of the Turks by the Sultanate of Rum, the uprising and resurrection of the Bulgarian Empire, and the loss of the Dalmatian coast and much of the Balkan areas won by Manuel I Komnenos to the Kingdom of Hungary.
Jacopo Tiepolo, also known as Giacomo Tiepolo, was Doge of Venice from 1229 to 1249. He had previously served as the first Venetian Duke of Crete, and two terms as Podestà of Constantinople, twice as governor of Treviso, and three times as ambassador to the Holy See. His dogate was marked by major domestic reforms, including the codification of civil law and the establishment of the Venetian Senate, but also against a mounting conflict with Emperor Frederick II, which broke into open war from 1237 to 1245.
Andronikos Komnenos Kontostephanos, Latinized Andronicus Contostephanus, was a major figure in the Byzantine Empire during the reign of his uncle Manuel I Komnenos as a general, admiral, politician and a leading aristocrat.
The Massacre of the Latins was a large-scale massacre of the Roman Catholic inhabitants of Constantinople, the capital of the Eastern Roman Empire, by the Eastern Orthodox population of the city in April 1182.
This article presents a detailed timeline of the history of the Republic of Venice from its legendary foundation to its collapse under the efforts of Napoleon.
The Diocese of Castello, originally the Diocese of Olivolo, is a former Roman Catholic diocese that was based on the city of Venice in Italy. It was established in 774, covering the islands that are now occupied by Venice. Throughout its existence there was tension between the diocese, the Patriarchate of Grado to which it was nominally subordinate, and the Doge of Venice. Eventually in 1451 the diocese and the patriarchate were merged to form the Archdiocese of Venice.
Enrico Dandolo was Patriarch of Grado, Italy, from 1134 to 1182. A member of a noble Venetian Dandolo family, after his appointment he put the interests of the church ahead of all other concerns.
Ulrich II von Treven was Patriarch of Aquileia in northern Italy from 1161 to 1181. He supported Frederick I, Holy Roman Emperor, (1122–1190) in his unsuccessful struggle for supremacy over the northern Italian states and the papacy. He was also involved in a dispute over jurisdiction with the Patriarch of Grado where he was ultimately successful.
The Byzantine–Venetian War of 1171 was fought between the Byzantine Empire and the Republic of Venice as a result of the Byzantine imprisonment of Venetian merchants and citizens across the Empire. 10,000 Venetians were imprisoned in the Byzantine capital, Constantinople, alone. Despite Doge Michiel's apparent will to pursue a peaceful solution, outrage in Venice itself swung popular opinion in the favour of full scale war against Byzantium. Doge Michiel had no choice but to set out for war, which he did in mid-late 1171.
