Timeline 1100-1115 (Interference)

1101-1105
1100-1103

Middle East: Prince Bohemund of Taranto and Antioch is captured and kept in prisony by the Ortoqid Turks with his illegitimate son Bohemund II (*not the historical one); Tancredi, Bohemund I's nephew, acts as regent in Antioch. Afterwards Bohemund I is freed, but his son is kept in honorable custody as a hostage

1101 Northern Europe: The German county of western Frisia or Kennemerland changes name into Holland.

Central-Eastern Europe, Byzantine Empire: A disorganized second wave of Crusaders, mostly German, tries to reach Constantinople by land, but mostly remains entangled in the Hungarian internecine strives. A minority passes through war-torn Croatia and makes it to the Sklaviniai (*OTL Balkans), where it is mostly captured by the Byzantines and made into mercenaries or carves own lordships among the Serbs. Very few make it to Constantinople and beyond, and only a handful arrives to bolster the already ailing Crusader principality of Caesarea/Mazhak Middle East: The “real” second wave of the first crusade, ferried to the Levant with a great logistical effort by the Italian Communal and Western imperial navies bypassing the untrustful Byzantines, lands at Acre some 25,000 European warriors who are soon able to break the weak encirclement of the town and march to Jerusalem. The Holy City falls after a brief brutal siege and is subjected to a fierce slaughter :eek: of a half of its population, after which William II of France and England is recognized as “protector of the Holy Sepulchre”, gaining immense prestige for the House of Normandy. A subsequent Fatimid attempt to recapture the city is crushed in blood at the battle of Emmaus, and the Crusaders go on conquering most of Lebanon and Palestine in short order. A principality of Galilee is formed under Tancredi of Antioch, nephew of the still-prisoner Bohemund of Taranto and Antioch. Tripoli (Lebanon) is instead captured by Crusaders led by count Rambert of Barcelona, and made itself a county; also Arsuf and Caesarea of Palestine are taken by crusaders and made the Levant March under marquis Alberto of Biandrate, cousin of king Umberto I of Lombardy, while Jaffa is taken by the Genoese navy. 1102

Southern Europe: The Triple Crown of Croatia, Dalmatia and Slavonia is bestowed upon king Coloman I of Hungary with the recognition of the Croatian nobility (the so-called Pacta Conventa); Venice once again enforces its tutelage over all of Dalmatia. The Comune of Florence is recognized by the Canossa rulers after defeating marquis Frederick, back from the Holy Land. The Abbey of Monte Cassino is made an ecclesiastical principality with domain over a strategic passage of the main Rome-Naples route

Middle East: William II of France, England and Jerusalem is defeated at Ramla by a powerful Fatimid army, who soon besieges the Holy City, but a Franco-English relieve force routes back the Muslims, who entrench in the fortress of Gaza. The Ortoqid Sökmen conquers Hisn Kayfa (upper Tigris, Kurdistan).

India: The second Chera kingdom of Kerala (SW Deccan, India) comes to an end, overrun by the neighbouring Chola Empire of Kulothunga I.

1103

Northern Europe, British Isles: King Magnus II Barefoot of Norway dies in battle against the Irish in Ulster, which marks the effective end of the Viking Era :( and the start of the decline of Norway. His three sons, the step-brothers Eystein, Sigurd and Olaf IV, rule together the Norwegian domains, but the kingdom is weakened: the Orkneys again break free as a Norse jarldom, keeping the Hebrides, and the Crovan dynasty regains power on the Isle of Man with Olaf the Red

Central-Eastern Europe: The Kipchak/Cumans are defeated on the Suten/Moločnaja river by the Kievan Rus' led by prince Svjatopolk II Izjaslavič and his cousin Vladimir II the Great (*OTL Vladimir Monomakh) of Pereyaslavl. Their cohesion is disrupted, and part of them abandons the Bug region (Ukraine sudwestern) to migrate back eastwards.

Middle East: King William II of France, England and Jerusalem dies in Jaffa while on his way back to Europe. He, being homosexual:eek:, had no sons and appointed no regent for the kingdom of Jerusalem. So, though ultimate sovereignity rests in the hands of Henry I Beauclerc, William's brother and the new ruler of the Norman empire across the Channel, the cavaliers elect as “defensor Sancti Sepulchri” the valiant Lombard Arrigo (Henry), brother of marquis William of Montferrat.

SE Asia: The Parin dynasty succeeds the Earlier Pingtsa in the kingdom of Arakan. 1103-1106

Western Europe: Count Henry I of Limburg and Arlon usurps the marches of Flanders and Hainault upon the sudden death of marquis-regent John I and the minority of Robert III. King William I of Luxemburg and Lorraine fights back: in the end the legitimate Robertingians (*OTL Capetingians) are restored, but the usurper manages to have himself recognized as count of Brabant in addiction to his family holdings. In the meantime Constance of Aberdeen, the Pictish-born widow of John I of Flanders and Hainault, marries Dietrich, younger brother of king Hermann II of Germany

1104 Byzantine Empire: Caesarea/Mazhak, after suffering two attempted sieges at the hands of the Danishmendiyya Turks, again recognizes Byzantine overlordship and is acknowledged as a hereditary Duchy under Bertrand of Septimania, receiving reinforcements from Constantinople. Sultan Kilij Arslan of the Rum-Seljuks rebels and seizes Iconium from the Byzantines, raiding inner Anatolia, but is defeated in Heraclea.

Middle East: The Crusaders of Jerusalem conquer Haifa with the help of the Pisan fleet and occupy the al-Karak region (Krak des Moabites) east of the Dead Sea. A Crusader-Armenian army suffers a disatrous defeat in the battle of Edessa (*OTL Urfa) against the Ortoqid Turks

1105

British Isles: Henry I Beauclerc issues the Charter of Liberties for England, which replicates, ona lesser scale, the privileges already gained by the French nobility

Western Europe: The Navarrese of king Sancho III the Great besiege and conquer Burgos from Castile, which has to transfer its capital in Toledo and concede tributes

Byzantine Empire: The Rum-Seljuks are again defeated at Iconium by John, the young and brilliant son of Alexius I Comnenus and Sophia, Romanus II Diogenes' widow. They withdraw in their mountain nests in the Taurus, where any attempt to dislodge them proves futile; sultan Kilij Arslan strikes an alliance with the Danishmendiyyas of Ahlat/Armenia.

Caucasus: David IV the Builder, king of Iberia/Georgia, defeats the Danishmendiyya Turks at the battle of Ertsukhi, annexes Khakheti (eastern Georgia) and frees most of the country from Turkic rule. Middle East: A last Fatimid attack in force to recapture Jerusalem is thwarted by the Crusaders at the second battle of Ramla. Prince Bohemund I of Antiochia and Taranto is murdered by the Ismaili Nizari Assassins of Aleppo, now close allies of atabeg Toghtegin, the new Turkic regent and strongmen of Damascus. Bohemund holds the dubious honor :rolleyes: of being their first and foremost Christian victim.

Central Asia: Sultan Mahmud I of the Seljuk Empire attacks his young and powerful nephew, Sanjar, who dominates Khorassan and Central Asia; he cannot obtain more than a purely formal submission.

1106-1110
1106

British Isles: The count of Mona/Anglesey, Gruffydd ap Cynan, leads the Welsh armies to victory against Norman encroachment in the battles of Corwen and Talgarth. King Skuli the Ruthless of Northumbria receives Cumbria from Norway as a dowry for the marriage of his heir apparent, Asulf/Hastwolf, to princess Ragnhilde, sister to the royal brothers of Norway

Northern Europe: When duke Magnus of Saxony dies and the Billung family, related to the late Liudolfingians of Otto I the Great, is extinct, the duchy is bestowed upon Magnus' son-in-law, count Otto I der Reiche of Ballenstedt, founder of the Aschersleben/Ascanian House of Saxony. Also Henry the Black, brother of Welf II Duke of Bavaria, is son-in-law of Magnus, and his exclusion opens a rift between the Welfs and the German throne. The Issue of Saxony will be for a long time a thorn in the side of king Hermann II

North Africa: Tripoli of Libya is taken by the Genoese navy after a long and hard-fought siege. Most of Tripolitania, however, remains firmly in the hands of the Banu Hilal clans

1107 Northern Europe: The Polish-Kashubian Duchy of Pomerelia (eastern Pomerania) is formed under duke Wartislaw I with capital in Danzig.

Western Europe: The Zenete Compact army besieges Toledo and enforces overlordship over a weakened Castile. Nearby Leòn, backed by Gallastrian forces, proves unassailable

Southern Europe: Open hostilities erupt around the issue of Dalmatia as the Croato-Hungarians seize it, gaining the obedience of its major cities - Zara, Spalato/Split – at the expense of Venice. Help from the Norman-backed fleet of Bari is instrumental in this curtailing of Venetian power.

Middle East: Bohemund II of Taranto is freed from his golden prisony among the Ortoqid Turks and tries to regain Antioch from his cousin Tancredi, but fails. He soon takes refuge in Armenia Minor, then heads to Taranto to regain possession of his princely throne there, quietly accepting Tancredi's usurpation in the Levantine Crusader states of Antioch and Galilee.

Northern Hesperia (*OTL America): The Iceland-born Thorstein Sigurdsson the One-Eyed, with some dozens of companions from Vinlandria (*OTL Newfoundland), establishes a stable Norse colony at Thorsteinsflo (*OTL Dingwall bay) in Marksey (*OTL Cape Breton island). They soon enter into contact, and sometimes conflict, with the local Mikkmakk natives

1107-1111

Byzantine Empire, Middle East: Sigurd I Jorsalfar, co-king of Norway, Ireland etc., takes part with his Norse-Anglo-Saxon army to the final destruction of the Rum-Seljuk sultanate in southern Anatolia, gaining the Duchy of Pamphilia as a personal appanage, and also proves instrumental in the crusader capture of Saida/Sidon. He de facto renounces his royal rights over the Norwegian lands to live the rest of his life in the Mediterranean. Most Turks in the reduced area are converted to the Orthodox faith, many others flee east to the Danishmendiyyas of Ahlat/Armenia

1108 Byzantine Empire: Prince Tancredi of Antioch and Galilee is forced to pay tribute to Byzantium after being defeated and captured in an attempt to overthrow Armenia Minor, which also recognizes Byzantine suzerainty. The prestige of the Eastern Roman Empire is thus restored, though Byzantine-Crusader relations sour again. Central-Eastern Europe: The Electoral Patriarchate of Aquileia finally gains suzerainty over Carniola/Slovenia. Hungary directly annexes Slovakia, abolishing its state of appanage duchy, during a brief but illusory truce of the incessant civil war between king Coloman I and his brother, prince Álmos of Nitra. The Rurikid Knyaz (prince) Vladimir II the Great (*OTL Vladimir Monomakh), one of the most powerful rulers of Russia, founds the town-fortress of Vladimir in the central northern part of the country, which is slowly Slavicizing

1108-1110 Northern Europe, Central-Eastern Europe: King Hermann II of Germany fights back all of his eastern neighbours (Wends/Pomeranians, Bohemians/Czechs, Poles and Hungarians) with mixed success, extorting tribute from Bohemia.

1109

Northern Europe: The Polish army of king Boleslaw III defeat the Pomeranians at the battle of Naklo; the Germans are later also overcome at Hundsfeld (Silesia).

Middle East: The noble Genoese family Embriaco, already ruling Jaffa after their invaluable services to the Crusaders, gains the lordship of Byblos/Jubayl, on the coast of Lebanon.

1109-1113

Western Europe: After the death of Adalbert II civil war tears apart Burgundy between the defunct king's twin sons:eek:, Baldwin the Blond, duke of Dijon, and Berenger Iron Mask, duke of Provence. Under the regency of their sister Mathilda the country is bled white, not without Norman and Lombard encroachments, till Baldwin is killed in a skirmish in the Cevennes mountains and Berenger ascends the throne in Vienne. Having no sons and being disfigured due to leper:eek:, the winner is however forced to adopt as heir Berenger's infant orphan, Adalbert:o

1109-1116

Central-Eastern Europe: The Russian Rurikid princes, during a rare lull of their almost perpetual civil wars, attack the Kipchak/Cumans from the Dniepr to the Don, inflicting serious defeats to the eastern hordes. In the end many Cuman chieftains ally to the warring Russian principalities, offering their services as mercenaries

1110

Byzantine Empire: The Danishmendiyya Turks of Ahlat/Armenia invade Anatolia, besieging Caesarea/Mazhak, and conquer Trabzon from the Byzantines, gaining an important outlet on the Black Sea.

Middle East: The Crusaders conquer Beirut and Sidon, which are added to the county of Tripoli; the local Maronite Christian church, after centuries of Muslim subjugation, accepts the supremacy of the Roman Popes. Tancredi of Antioch and Galilee with some auxiliary Byzantine troops conquers the strategic fortress of Krak des Chevaliers (Syria).

India: The Chola armies again devastate Kalinga, but cannot unseat the powerful eastern Gangas of Orissa

ca. 1110

Northern Hesperia (*OTL America): The Rauthljudar (Red Screamers, *OTL Beothuks) natives of Vinlandria (*OTL Newfoundland), much reduced in numbers by European-imported illnesses, are unified under the leadership of the mixed-blood half-Norse Leif Strong-Axe, who enforces Christianization upon them and asks for a bishop from Iceland or Scandinavia

India: Kamarupa (Assam) frees itself from the occupation of nearby Gauda, but the local Bhauma-Pala dynasty is fatally weakened and the state declines in the face of rising tribal power.

1111-1115
1110-1112 Northern Europe: A first civil war is fought in Saxony as the powerful feudatory Lothar of Supplinburg acts as a representant of Henry the Black of the Welfs of Bavaria (their mutual sons are married). With minimal royal intervention duke Otto I of Ballenstedt manages to keep the throne, but Lothar is able to preserve his own domains, significantly weakening Ascanian authority

ca. 1110-1135

India: The venerated Tibetan yogi and poet Milarepa relaunches Buddhism of the Kagyu philosophical school in NE India (Bengal, Orissa, Kamarupa/Assam) through his preaching

1111

British Isles: The Synod of Rathbreasail completes the transition of the Irish Church from the purely monastical character of its most glorious days, when it spread faith and culture in Dark Ages Europe, to a diocesan and parish-based institution, modeled after most of the Catholic world.

Southern Europe: Roger I Borsa, prince of Melfi, dies after eliminating all of the non-Hauteville major states from Norman southern Italy. Soon a three-sided struggle:confused: ensues between count Roger II of Puglia and Boiano, prince William of Melfi and Bohemund II of Taranto. The Welfs of Bavaria wrest Bernmark (the march of Verona, in German possession since 948) from margrave Fredegar of Brischna (*OTL Bressanone/Brixen), son-in-law of king Hermann II. The German ruler is forced to play down the issue, at least for now, and host the exiled relative

Byzantine Empire: The Byzantine army is defeated by the Danishmendiyyas at the siege of Sebastea (*OTL Sivas):( . Alexius I Comnenus grants important commercial rights to Pisa to counterbalance the growing Venetian stranglehold on Byzantine foreign trade; the Pisans hadn't gained from the Crusade as much as they expected.

Central Hesperia (*OTL America): The Aztecs, also known as Mexicas, leave the Pacific coast in Aztlàn moving towards central Mexico together with many other Chichimec (“barbarian”) peoples; they settle for the moment in Chicomoztoc (The Seven Caves)

1112

Western Europe: King William I of Luxemburg and Lorraine crushes with cruelty the revolt of the inhabitants of Laon, who had slain their oppressive bishop and burnt their own cathedral, by burning hundreds of them on the stake (the so-called Laon Barbecue:eek: )

Southern Europe: King Umberto I of Lombardy dies, leaving his reign diveded on the issue of succession between his sons Amedeo II (who takes over) and Guidone (who seizes western Piedmont with Turin, Susa, Ivrea, controlling the way for western pilgrims to Rome, the Via Francigena, and its rich revenues). The subsequent struggle between the Amadei and Guidoni branches of the Susa-Biandrate clan will remain a constant of Lombard politics for much time, intertwining with Communal politics and seriously undermining royal authority

Middle East: Tancredi of Hauteville, the usurping prince of Antioch and Galilee, dies without issue. The principality of Galilee is swallowed by the kingdom of Jerusalem, while in Antioch Byzantine and Cilician/Armenian troops establish a joint sovreignity of the basileus and Armenia Minor. From Taranto, Bohemund II cries to the “heretic traitors and usurpers” :D and swears revenge.

1113

British Isles: Extinction of the main branch of the ruling McFergus dynasty in Alba/Scotland; the king of Man Olaf I Godredson the Red (also known as Olaf Bitling or Olaus the Swarthy) defeats his rival Fergus the Black, a distant cousin of the last McFergus ruler, Talorcan IX, and receives the Double Crown of Alba and Scotland on the sacred stone of Scone, establishing the Crovan dynasty in the two countries. This also finally thaws Picto-Scottish relations, being the new king neither a Pict nor a Scotsman.

Southern Europe: With the first Genoese expansion towards the eastern Riviera, the first open clashes between Genoa and Pisa begin, opening a bitter struggle for supremacy both at home and throughout the Mediterranean. The Pisan fleet crushes the Western imperial one at Favignana, ensuring free access at least through the Sicily Channel. The Strait of Messina, instead, remains off-limits for Pisan shipping. Middle East: The Nizari Ismaili Assassins are ousted from Aleppo by the Ortoqid Turks and take refuge near Damascus where they find protection under the new emir, Toghtegin, founder of the Burid dynasty; they will soon begin a violent struggle with the Muwahiddins (*OTL Druzes) nested between Syria, Lebanon and Palestine. The Knights Hospitalier of Saint John of Jerusalem, in the service of the Crusader cause, are recognized by pope Paschal II as the first military monastic order of Christianity

SE Asia: Suryavarman II takes power in the Khmer Empire. Northern Hesperia (*OTL America): The Norse bishop Eirik leads a party of Vinlandrians, both Norsemen and Red Screamers (*OTL Beothuks) to found the first successful European settlement on the Hesperian mainland, Eiriksnes (*on OTL Cape George Point) in Skraelingarland (*OTL Acadia).

1114 Byzantine Empire: General Constantine Gabras, helped by Russian and Pisan naval forces, retakes Trabzon from the Danishmendiyyas, sealing them off the Black Sea; the town is made into an unofficial Pisan colony and outlet for Russian trade, enjoying prosperity as an almost tax-free port.

North Africa: A Pisan naval crusade against Cyrenaica and the Egyptian ports proves an utter failure, with a fleet being destroyed by the Fatimids near Alexandria. The hundreds of captives are ransomed only with a lavish tribute and the solemn promise by viceroy Arrigo/Henry of Jerusalem not to harass Muslim pilgrims any more.

Middle East: Bohemund II of Taranto sails back to the Levant with a Pisan fleet, leaving his wife Serena to act as princess regent, and recaptures Antioch from the astonished Armenians and Byzantines.

1114-1115

Northern Europe: Another burst of civil war sparks out in Germany, with the Welf-Supplinburg axis openly attacking king Hermann II and the royal family; this time Lothar of Supplinburg is defeated and forced to flee to Branibor/Brandenburg, seat of the Slavic principality of Greater Wendia, now also rebel to German suzerainty. The Welfs now rule practically as independent sovereigns over Bavaria and Bernmark (*Verona), being the paramount lords of southern Germany, while lesser feudatories support king Hermann II

British Isles: In a swift, brutal civil war, the count of Mona/Anglesey Gruffydd ap Cynan overthrows king Owain ap Maredudd and establishes the Second House of Griffith as king Gruffydd II of Wales

Far East: The Jurchens, ancestors to the later Manchus, defeat the Khitan/Liao in Manchuria; their chieftain, Wangyan Aguda, proclaims himself emperor Chinese-style (Huangdi) establishing the Jin (Golden) dynasty as a rival to the Khitan/Liao just north of China 1115

Northern Europe: Knut Lavard, nephew of king Niels of Denmark, is made king of southern Jutland

Southern Europe: Anselm deposes his aged father Frederick of Canossa and closes him in the monastery of Camaldoli (Tuscany), starting a civil war with his mature brothers, Sigembert and Roland, and their young sons. The town of Brescia rebels against Canossa authority and establishes a free Comune, defeating the Canossa armies at Volta Mantovana.

Middle East: Arnulf Malecorne, the Latin patriarch of Jerusalem, is deposed by Pope Paschal II after accusation of a sexual relation with a Muslim woman:eek:, and having kept very bad relations with non-Catholic Christians in the Holy City, turning them into pro-Muslims. Bohemund II of Antioch and Taranto invades Armenia Minor (Cilicia) but is repulsed; however king Thoros I, the Armenian ruler, has to acknowledge Bohemund's “legitimate” claims on Antioch.

1116-1120
1115-1116

Southern Europe: Dalmatia rises against the new Hungarian rulers and newly accepts Venetian overlordship, ending a most delicate juncture for the Most Serene Republic.

1115-1131 British Isles: Tairrdelbach mac Ruaidri Ua Conchobair, better known as king Turlough O’Connor of Connacht (western Ireland), revolts against Norwegian overlordship, breaks and conquers nearby Munster (SW Ireland), but the Emerald Island remains divided between warring factions.

1116

Southern Europe: Brescia recognizes the authority of the king of Lombardy, Amedeo II. The Lombard royal army and the Brescian communal militia again defeat Canossa forces at Ghedi and come to besiege Mantua, extorting the acknowledgment of Brescia as a Lombard Comune. Anselm of Canossa is later murdered at Modena on instigation of the local Church (:eek: !), and Sigembert takes over the Canossa clan as the senior member of the family.

Byzantine Empire: The Danishmendiyyas try a massive invasion of Anatolia combined with a revolt of the former Rum-Seljuks (thence on known as Batitourkoi or Western Turks): John, son and heir of the aged Alexius I Comnenus, routs the Batiturk rebels at the battle of Philomelion, then defeats the Danishmendiyyas at Sebastopolis (*OTL Sulusaray), where the last credible claimant to the Rum-Seljuk throne, Malik Shah I, dies in battle. A peace accord is subsequently signed between Byzantium and Danishmendiyya Ahlat/Armenia; the Crusader Duchy of Caesarea/Mazhak is recognized as an independent buffer, paying tribute to both. The Ortoqid Turks exploit the chaos to conquer or gobble up the Crusader or Armenian statelets along the upper Euphrates.

1117

Southern Europe: The Milanese militia besieges Lodi, but king Amedeo II of Lombardy intervenes in favor of the weaker side from his capital in Pavia, imposing a truce. His brother Guidone of Susa-Ivrea establishes a matrimonial alliance with the Canossas by marrying his sister-in-law into that family. Emperor John III of the Western “Roman” Empire dies in Palermo, succeeded by his younger brother Augustin I. The empire is further weakened as local curiones (*barons, from Greek kyrios, lord) take over most local power on both sides of the Sicily and Messina straits, while the Italian sea-trading republics assume de facto domination of the navy.

Central-Eastern Europe: A sizable part of the Kipchak/Cumans, under the leadership of Khan Otrok, resettles between the Volga and Don rivers, destroying the Alan fortress of Sarkel at the Don's mouth

1118

British Isles: The Irish kingdom of Munster, under Connacht aggression, splinters into the two realms of Desmond (southern) and Thomond (northern), under an increasingly weaker Norwegian suzerainty

Southern Europe: Paschal II, Pope and king of Italy/Spoleto, dies, succeeded by Gelasius II (Giovanni Coniulo), his chancellor.

Byzantine Empire: Alexius I Comnenus dies of old age, revered almost as a saint by the populace. His son John II takes over, and soon quietly puts apart his theoretical and never crowned co-basileus, 21-year-old Belisarius Diogenes (second son of the late Leo VI), who is made instead duke of Morea/Peloponnesus. Thus the Comnenoi come to rule alone the Byzantine Empire

Central-Eastern Europe, Caucasus: Peace is made between the Alans and the eastern Kipchak/Cumans of Otrok Khan. The latter ally himself to king David the Builder of Iberia/Georgia (in turn, already bond by crossed marriages and distant kinship to the Alan ruler Aton Bagratuni) and help him wrest part the Luristan (*OTL northern Armenia) from the war-weary Danishmendiyyas, making it into the border pricipality of Matznaberd.

North Africa: A small Crusader army marches through the Sinai up to the eastern reaches of the Nile delta, finding little opposition from the Fatimids, but being forced back by an epidemic among its men.

Middle East: Hughes de Payns and other eight French-speaking knights from France and Luxemburg found in Jerusalem the military-monastic order of the Knights Templar to defend Christian pilgrims, gaining immediate recognition from king Arrigo. Vain Crusader siege of Aleppo.

Middle East, Central Asia: Upon the death of sultan Ghiyas ud-Din Mahmud I Tapar, the still mighty Seljuk Empire is divided into two halves. Iraq, western Persia/Iran and Azerbaijan are inherited by the young Mahmud II, which moves his capital in Baghdad, while central and eastern Persia/Iran and part of Central Asia remain under the sway of his powerful relative Mu'izz ad-Din Ahmed Sanjar, ruling from Merv (Khorassan). 1118-1128

Middle East: Aleppo is de facto in the hands of the local Ortoqid-appointed governor, ibn Khashshab

1119

Western Europe: Henry I of France and England is murdered in Rouen by his illegitimate daughter Juliane for allowing the blinding and mutilation of her two daughters :eek: following a feud between rival lords in Normandy. He is succeeded by his only legitimate son, William III le Adelin (*French corruption for “Atheling”, an Anglo-Saxon title for the heir to the English throne). Southern Europe: Princess regent Serena of Taranto liquidates the nearby Venetian-backed duchy of Otranto by having her cousin, duke Domenico, murdered, and his domains taken over by loyal troops. Otranto Castle falls after a protracted siege as the Venetian navy cannot break the Pisan naval blockade.

Middle East: The Crusader forces of Antioch are routed by the Ortoqid Turks at the battle of Ager Sanguinis at Sarmada (northern Syria), an utter disaster in which Bohemund II is killed (his head will be later shown on a pike in Aleppo:eek: ). Roger the Black, a distant cousin of the deceased prince, takes over the Antiochene State as regent de iure and ruler de facto

1119-1121 British Isles: The Norwegians try a last ditch effort to preserve their control over Ireland, but are finally ousted with the fall of Dublin to Turlough I of Connacht, who claims for himself the High Kingship as Turlough II. The Norwegian empire created by Olaf III the Brave and Magnus II Barefoot comes to a miserable end:(

1119-1123 Central-Eastern Europe: The Poles subdue Pomerania widening their access to the Baltic

1120 Byzantine Empire: John II Comnenus, together with duke Sigurd of Pamphilia, liquidates the die-hard faction of the Batiturks; they are deported to Europe in the thousands, where they will form the Vardariote warrior caste

ca. 1120

Western Europe: Welcher of Malvern, after studying geography in the Levant on ancient Greek and Arab texts, establishes the latitude-longitude system for measuring the Earth, which will be gradually accepted in the centuries

Caucasus: The Seljuks conquer Avaristan (inner Daghestan) from Alania.

SE Asia: The Khmer ruler Suryavarman II again vassalizes the Champa kingdom (*OTL present southern Vietnam).

1120-1122

Western Europe: The noted French philosopher Pierre Abélard is first castrated by the furious uncle of her lover, young Héloïse; he is later burnt at the stake for heresy :eek: by his enemies even before the Pope and king William III can intervene on his behalf.

Southern Europe: Pope Gelasius II dies, and for the first time since long a bitter struggle ensues re: the election of the new Pope and king of Italy/Spoleto. The rival candidates are Lamberto da Fiagnano and the Patriarch of Aquileia, Gerard. The powerful Frangipane family, descending from the ancient Anicia gens and having its main fortress in the Coliseum (!), sides with the Aquileian candidate at first, forcing his election as Paschal III, then switches side :o after a popular revolt, fostering the deposition of the Aquileian Pope-king and the enthronement of Lamberto, the learned son of humble peasants of Romagna, who takes the name of Honorius II. This marks a comeback of the nobility on the Roman scene after decades of low-profile attitude following the massacre of most of the Roman aristocrats :D at the hand of George Maniaces.