1160s in England

Events from the 1160s in England.

1160s in England

Other decades

1140s | 1150s | 1160s | 1170s | 1180s

Incumbents

• Monarch – Henry II

Events

• 1160
  • 2 November – marriage of Henry the Young King and Marguerite, daughter of Louis VII of France; King Henry II takes control of Norman Vexin.
  • The island of Lundy is granted to the Knights Templar by Henry II.
  • Approximate date – Derby School is founded by Walkelin de Derby in Derby; it will survive until 1989.
• 1161
  • 5 January – canonisation of Edward the Confessor.
  • c. April – Bartholomew becomes Bishop of Exeter.
• 1162
  • 3 June – Thomas Becket consecrated as Archbishop of Canterbury and resigns as Lord Chancellor.
  • Becket decrees that Trinity Sunday should henceforth be celebrated in England.
  • King Henry II raises the Danegeld (by now, merely a royal tax) for the last time.
• 1163
  • January – Henry II suppresses a revolt in Wales, and captures Prince Rhys ap Gruffydd.
  • 6 March – Gilbert Foliot is translated from Hereford to become Bishop of London, an office which he will hold until his death in 1187.
  • 1 July – Henry calls the Welsh princes and King Malcolm IV of Scotland to do homage at Woodstock Palace; the Welsh rebel.
  • 1 October – Becket resists Henry II's demands to extend the jurisdiction of secular courts to the clergy.
  • 13 October – the bones of Edward the Confessor are translated to Westminster Abbey.
  • John of Salisbury completes his Life of Anselm.
• 1164
  • 30 January – Henry II enacts the Constitutions of Clarendon (at Clarendon Palace in Wiltshire) in an attempt to restore royal jurisdiction over the Church.
  • 2 November – Becket found guilty of contempt of court and goes into exile to the Continent.
• 1165
  • July – Henry II fails to quell a rebellion in Wales.
• 1166
  • July – Henry II conquers Brittany, granting the territory to his son Geoffrey.
  • Henry enacts the Assize of Clarendon, reforming the law, underpinning the importance of jury trial and defining the legal duties of sheriffs.
  • Anglo-Norman soldier William Marshal is knighted while on campaign in Normandy; he will be described as "the greatest knight that ever lived".
• 1167
  • The exiled King of Leinster, Diarmait Mac Murchada, having paid homage to Henry, begins to recruit Norman knights for an invasion of Ireland.
  • Increased enrolment at the University of Oxford after English students are barred from attending Paris University.
  • Earliest likely date for construction of building much later known as Marlipins Museum in Shoreham-by-Sea commencing, one of the earliest surviving secular buildings in England.
• 1168
  • 1 February – Henry II's daughter, Matilda, marries Henry the Lion, Duke of Saxony.
• 1169
  • January – Treaty of Montmirail: Henry II agrees to divide his French territories amongst his sons; Aquitaine to Richard, Brittany to Geoffrey, and the remainder to Henry.
  • 1 May – Norman barons land an invasion force at Wexford in support of Dermot.

Births

• 1162
  • 13 October – Leonora of England, queen of Alfonso VIII of Castile (died 1214)
  • Richard de Clare, 4th Earl of Hertford (died 1218)
• 1163
  • Aubrey de Vere, 2nd Earl of Oxford (died 1214)
• 1165
  • October – Joan of England, Queen of Sicily, daughter of Henry II of England (died 1199)
• 1166
  • 24 December – John of England (died 1216)
  • William de Warenne, 5th Earl of Surrey (died 1240)

Deaths

• 1161
  • 18 April – Theobald of Bec, Archbishop of Canterbury (born c. 1090)
• 1166
  • c. 27 December – Robert de Chesney, Bishop of Lincoln
• 1167
  • 12 January – Aelred of Rievaulx, abbot (born 1110)
  • 27 February – Robert of Melun, theologian and bishop (born c. 1100)
  • 10 September – Empress Matilda, first female ruler of England (born 1102)
• 1168
  • 5 April – Robert de Beaumont, 2nd Earl of Leicester, Justiciar (born 1104)
• 1169
  • July – Hilary of Chichester, bishop (born c. 1110)