1160s in England

1160s in England:

Other decades

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

Events from the 1160s in England.

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
  • 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 exiled to France.
• 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.
  • William Marshal is knighted.
• 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.
• 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)
• 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)