The Knights TemplarThe year the Order of
Knights Templar were formed. After the victorious 1st
Crusade,
Hugues de Payens and 8 fellow knights offered themselves to
King Baldwin II as protectors to
Christian pilgrims to the
Holy Lands, as well as the sites the pilgrims visited. Baldwin recognized the order of
warrior monks and gave them quarters on the
Temple Mount, site of
King Solomon's Temple. The Knights Templar had an amazing ascendancy to
wealth and
power and just as precipitous a decline. Their wealth and power were perhaps perceived as threatening to the Church and to certain rulers. The last
Grand Master (Jacques de Molay} was burned at the stake on March 19, 1314. While burning, he invited
Pope Clement V and
King Philip IV to join him in death within the year. Clement V died one month later and Philip IV 7 months after that.
Emperor/Eastern Roman Empire
Emperor Alexius Comnenus, founder of the Comnenus dynasty and ruler of the Eastern Roman Empire after the 1st Crusade, died August 15, 1118. During his reign from 1081 until 1118 he managed to drive the Italian Normans from western Greece. He defeated Turkic nomads raiding the Balkans and halted the encroaching Seljuk Turks. He negotiated with several Muslim leaders in moves to strengthen his eastern borders and provided stability. His success was not unalloyed. Concessions he made to landed magnates weakened his rulership and that of subsequent emperors. His role as Protector of the Eastern Orthodox Church was stained by his raids on Church resources when he felt the need to do so.
Thomas Becket
Thomas Becket was born in London. He served as Archbishop of Canterbury from 1162 until 1170. He was embroiled in conflict with King Henry II over rights and privileges of the Church when he was assassinated on December 29, 1170 by Richard's followers in Canterbury Cathedral. Barely 3 years later he was canonized by Pope Alexander, becoming Saint Thomas of Canterbury.
The Pope is dead, long live the Pope
Pope Paschal II died, leading to election of Pope Gelasius II.
A cathedral is reborn
Date of the rebuilt Norman cathedral at Peterborough, England. The site had beeen a place of worship since 655 AD. The cathedral had been destroyed by fire in 1116.
China
In China, 2 emperors of the Northern Song Dynasty reigned. The first was Zhenghe (1111-1118) and the second was Chonghe (1118-1119). Their reign came near the end of the Northern Song Dynasty, with only 1 more emperor to follow them.
Births:
November 28, 1118, Manuel Comnenus, future Byzantine Emperor
December 21, 1118, Thomas Becket, future Archbishop of Canterbury
Gualdim Pais, future Grand Master of the Templars
Eudes II, King of Burgundy
Nur al-Din, ruler of Syria.
Andronicus Comnenus, future Byzantine Emperor
Deaths:
January 21, 1118 Pope Paschal II
April 2, 1118 King Baldwin I of Jerusalem.
April 16, 1118 Adelaide del Vasto, mother of Roger II of Sicily and former queen of King Baldwin I.
May 1, 1118 Edith of Scotland, queen of Henry I of England.
June 5, 1118 Robert de Beaumont, 1st Earl of Leicester.
August 15, 1118 Alexius Comnenus, Byzantine Emperor.
Sources
http://www.templarhistory.com/
http://www.godwords.org/religion/christianity/roman_catholic_popes_by_year.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thomas_Becket
http://www.deltatango.freeserve.co.uk/peterborough.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Song_Dynasty#Bei_.28Northern.29_S.C3.B2ng_dynasty.2C_960-_1127