Editing 1166 (section)

== Events ==
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=== By place ===

==== Byzantine Empire ====
* Byzantine Emperor [[Manuel I Komnenos]] asks [[Republic of Venice|Venice]] to help pay the costs of defending [[Kingdom of Sicily|Sicily]], whose Norman rulers have had good relations with Venice. Doge [[Vitale II Michiel]] refuses to pay the requested subsidy. Manuel begins to cultivate relationships with the main commercial rivals of Venice: [[Republic of Genoa|Genoa]] and [[Republic of Pisa|Pisa]]. He grants them their own trade quarters in [[Constantinople]], very near the Venetian settlements.

==== Europe ====
* [[May 7]] &ndash; King [[William I of Sicily|William I]] ("the Wicked") of [[Sicily]] dies at [[Palermo]] after a 12-year reign. He is succeeded by his 12-year-old son [[William II of Sicily|William II]] ("the Good"), whose mother, [[Margaret of Navarre]], will be [[regent]] until he comes of age.
* [[July 5]] &ndash; The town of [[Bad Kleinkirchheim]] (in modern [[Austria]]) is first mentioned, in an ecclesiastical document, in which Archbishop [[Conrad of Babenberg|Conrad II]] of [[prince-Archbishopric of Salzburg|Salzburg]] confirms the donation of a chapel, nearby [[Millstatt Abbey]].
* Autumn &ndash; Holy Roman Emperor [[Frederick Barbarossa]] begins his fourth Italian campaign, hoping to secure the claim of [[Antipope Paschal III]] in [[Rome]] and the coronation of his wife [[Beatrice I, Countess of Burgundy]], as Holy Roman Empress.
* [[Mieszko III the Old]] proclaims a [[Prussian crusade]] against the pagans and pressures the collaboration of Frederick I. He leaves [[Greater Poland]] in the hands of his younger brother [[Casimir II the Just]].
* [[Henry the Lion]], duke of [[Duchy of Saxony|Saxony]], has the [[Brunswick Lion]] created at [[Dankwarderode Castle]] in [[Braunschweig]] (modern [[Germany]]). (Mentioned by [[Albert of Stade]], a German abbot and chronicler, as the year of origin.)

==== British Isles ====
* Summer &ndash; [[Henry II of England]] invades and conquers [[Brittany]] to punish the local Breton barons. He grants the territory to his 7-year-old son [[Geoffrey II, Duke of Brittany|Geoffrey]].<ref name=CBH>{{cite book|last=Palmer|first=Alan|last2=Palmer |first2=Veronica|year=1992|title=The Chronology of British History|publisher=Century Ltd|location=London|pages=67–69|isbn=0-7126-5616-2}}</ref>
* Henry II enacts the [[Assize of Clarendon]], reforming [[English law]], influential in the development of [[jury trial]] in [[common law]] countries worldwide.<ref name="Cassell's Chronology">{{cite book|last=Williams|first=Hywel|title=Cassell's Chronology of World History|url=https://archive.org/details/cassellschronolo0000will/page/125|url-access=registration|location=London|publisher=Weidenfeld & Nicolson|year=2005|isbn=0-304-35730-8|pages=[https://archive.org/details/cassellschronolo0000will/page/125 125–126]}}</ref>
* [[English feudal barony#Cartae Baronum|Cartae Baronum]] ("Charters of the Barons"), a survey commissioned by the English [[Treasury]] requiring each baron to declare how many knights he had enfeoffed.
* [[Muirchertach Mac Lochlainn]], High King of [[Ireland]], is killed. He is succeeded by [[Ruaidrí Ua Conchobair]], king of [[Connacht]], who defeats [[Diarmaid mac Murchadha]] (or Dermot, another ruler in eastern Ireland) in battle. Diarmaid is exiled and goes to [[Duchy of Normandy|Normandy]] and the court of King [[Henry II of England]] to ask for assistance in retaking his kingdom. Henry gives him permission to find a willing army from either [[Kingdom of England|England]] or [[Wales]]. [[Richard de Clare, 2nd Earl of Pembroke]] ("Strongbow") and his half-brothers [[Robert FitzStephen]] and [[Maurice FitzGerald, Lord of Lanstephan]], agree to help Diarmaid mac Murchadha in return for Diarmaid's daughter's hand in marriage.
* Anglo-Norman soldier [[William Marshal, 1st Earl of Pembroke|William Marshal]] is [[knight]]ed while on campaign in Normandy; he will be described as "the greatest knight that ever lived".<ref>''L'histoire de Guillaume le Maréchal''.</ref></onlyinclude>