1156

By place

Levant

• Spring - Raynald of Châtillon, prince of Antioch, makes an alliance with Thoros II, ruler of Armenian Cilicia. He invades Cyprus and conducts a widespread plundering of the Byzantine island. The Crusaders and the Armenian forces march up and down the island robbing and pillaging every building, church and convent as well as shops and private houses. The crops are burnt; the herds are rounded up – together with all the population – and driven down to the coast. The massacre lasts about three weeks; on the rumor of a Byzantine fleet in the offing, Raynald gives the order for embarkation. The Crusader ships are loaded with booty, and every Cypriot is forced to ransom himself.

  Europe

• January 20 - Freeholder Lalli slays the English missionary-bishop Henry with an axe, on the ice of Lake Köyliönjärvi in Finland.
• February - Domenico Morosini, doge of Venice, dies after an 8-year reign. He is succeeded by Vitale II Michiel as ruler of Venice.
• May 28 - King William I lands with a Sicilian expeditionary force in Apulia. He defeats the Byzantine army at Brindisi and recaptures Bari.
• June 9 - Emperor Frederick I, [Holy Roman Emperor|Frederick I] marries Beatrice I, daughter of Reginald III, adding the County of Burgundy to the Holy Roman Empire.
• June 18 - Pope Adrian IV comes to terms, and signs the Treaty of Benevento. He recognises the suzerainty of William I as ruler of Sicily and Italy (Holy Roman Empire)|Italy].
• September 17 - Frederick I makes the Margraviate of Austria a duchy and gives the Babenberg Dynasty special privileges.
• Yuri Dolgorukiy, Grand Prince of Kiev, founds and fortifies the town of Moscow and erects a wooden Kremlin within the settlement.
• December 25 - King Sverker I is murdered on his way to church. He is succeeded by his rival, Eric IX, as ruler of Sweden.

  Africa

• The independent city-state Sfax revolts against Norman occupation. Almohad forces conquer the city and massacre the Christian citizens.

  Asia

• July 28 - The Hōgen rebellion, a dispute between Emperor Go-Shirakawa and his half-brother retired-Emperor Sutoku, erupts in Japan.

  By topic

Art and Science

• Mosan artists create the Stavelot Triptych, a masterpiece of Goldsmithing, as a reliquary to house purported pieces of the True Cross.