German merchants begin trading along the coasts of Latvia and Estonia, a region to which they give the name Livonia

The merging of Catalonia with Aragon, by marriage, creates a power in northern Spain of comparable strength to Castile

Frederick Barbarossa becomes king of Germany and Holy Roman emperor, greatly extending the power of the empire during a long reign

Henry II, coming to the throne of England, is king or feudal overlord of an unbroken swathe of territory from the Tweed to the Pyrenees

Vienna is adopted by the Babenberg rulers as the capital city of Austria

A Russian prince, Andrei Bogolyubski, makes his capital east of Moscow at Vladimir, where he builds a cathedral and several churches

Henry the Lion builds a new town at Lübeck, well placed to develop as the centre of the Hanseatic League

Chrétien de Troyes and other French authors turn the stories of Arthur and his knights into a romance of courtly love

Thomas Becket, Lord Chancellor to Henry II, is forced by the king to accept the vacant post of archbishop of Canterbury

Thomas Becket, having offended the king by his firm stand as archbishop of Canterbury, flees to a monastery near Paris

Normans land in Ireland, seize Wexford, and in the following year capture Waterford and Dublin

The first known mystery play, the Mystery of Adam, takes place outside a church somewhere in France

Henry II arranges for the archbishop of York to crown his son, the 'Young King', as a joint ruler

Thomas Becket, in France, suspends the English bishops who have participated in the coronation of the 'Young King'

After an apparent reconciliation with Henry II, Thomas Becket leaves France and returns to Canterbury

Four knights, acting on an unguarded hint from Henry II, murder Thomas Becket on December 29 in his cathedral at Canterbury

Henry II, the king of England, summons the Irish and Norman lords to do homage to him in Dublin

Construction begins on London Bridge, the first stone bridge to be built across a tidal waterway

The first known eisteddfod is held during Christmas festivities at Rhys ap Gruffydd's court in Cardigan castle

In a treaty signed at Cazorla, the kings of Castile and Aragon agree on a plan of cooperation against the Muslims

The shared memories and legends of Nordic peoples are brought together in a great German epic, the Nibelungenlied

In Cordoba the Muslim philosopher Averroës writes commentaries on Aristotle that are influential throughout medieval Europe

Resentment of western merchants results in a massacre of Roman Catholics by fellow Christians in Constantinople

Representatives of the towns in Léon are summoned to one of the earliest known parliaments

A year after succeeding to the throne of England, Richard I sets off east as one of the leaders of the third crusade