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| - Northern Europe: As the Germans try to support the revolt of eastern Pomerania (vassal to Denmark), Valdemar, duke of Slesvig/Schleswig and brother of king Canute VI of Denmark, conquers Holstein, Hamburg and Lübeck, acquiring control over all of Nordalbingia (the lands north of the Elbe river) and weakening the Hohenstaufen dukes of Saxony; this marks the rise of the so-called Second Danish Empire. Byzantine Empire: The brilliant Vlacho-Bulgarian general Kalojan (John the Beautiful) conquers Philippopolis/Plovdiv from the Byzantines, enforcing a humiliating peace with tributes. Middle East: A heavy earthquake strikes the Levant, razing most cities and proving especially destructive in Jerusalem, where Viceroy William II is killed along with thousands of inhabitants. William's nephew, Eustace, is sworn in as the new Christian viceroy after the catastrophe. Arabia: Abu-‘Aziz Qatada saves his brother-in-law, the Saifid sultan of Arabia, Musa al-Jawhar Ghazi, from a plot and secures the governorship of Hijaz for himself and his descendants, the Banu Qatada branch of the Hashemite clan. The sultan again moves his capital in Medina and has his maternal nephew, Salih an-Nasr al-Aziz, elected as Wali (*Sunni “pope”) in Mecca. India: The Mallas replace the Thakuris on the throne of Nepal. Far East: The Tartars, the Merkites, the Oirat/Kalmucks, the Naimans and eight Mongol clans hail as Gur-Khan (universal ruler) Jamuqa. They form a coalition against the Keraite khan, Toghrul, and his adoptive son and best general, Temüjin, a scion of former khans of the Mongol confederacy, once friend and blood brother of Jamuqa. 1202 Northern Europe: the young Hohenstaufen duke Frederick III of Swabia dies with no heirs: king Lothar II assigns the duchy to Frederick's aunt Agnes. But Agnes is the king's sister-in-law:confused: , having married Lothar's brother Henry. Quoting this abuse as a break of the pact, the duke of Saxony Henry the Crusader (~*OTL Henry VI, HRE emperor), head of the Hohenstaufen house and presumptive heir to the German throne, claims the duchy for one of his own brothers, Frederick Lackland (*in OTL he died at Acre, not *here), and when Lothar denies, takes up arms. The war is quickly decided when the Saxon ruler is killed in a minor skirmish on the Weser river and Frederick is betrayed by the archbishop of Cologne and captured. In the ensuing settlement of peace, Hohenstaufen power is severely curtailed: the Augusta compromise is rejected, leaving the Electors free to appoint the new king at will instead of regularly alternating a Hohenstaufen and a Welf. The Duchy of Saxony is broken by adding bits to Thuringia (despite its being allied with the losers), to the march of Meissen/Misnia and to Brandenburg. The remaining parts, centered in Brunswick/Braunschweig and Lüneburg, are granted to Frederick Lackland as a remnant of the Hohenstaufen power block, but their electoral seat in the Diet of the princes shifts to Brandenburg. Further, various Saxon cities and feudal domains, get “free” or “immediate” status (directly under royal authority, with or without local chartres of liberties). Western Europe: Death of Amaury I the Great, emperor of Greater Normandy and the most powerful ruler of Europe. He is succeded by his firstborn, William V nicknamed “Le Beau Roger”. King Diogo II of Portugal dies in the defeat of Matxados de Areistana (*near OTL Moura) against the Andalusians of Sevilla. Southern Europe: Berengario II the Strong, king of Lombardy, dies, and is replaced by his only surviving son, Guglielmo (William) I the Simple, a crippled and weak-minded ruler under the complete influence of the Church. In the feudal anarchy following the fall of the Canossa kingdom, the Malaspina family, a distant offshoot of the former Obertenghi margraves, secures the right to most of Lunigiana, a strategic area on the pilgrim's route to Rome. Pola secures independence from Venice by allying with Ancona and the Andechs margraves of Histria and defeating the Venetians by sea at Veglia island. The Treaty of San Quirino officially severes the county of Gurizberg (*OTL Gorizia) from the Patriarchate of Aquileia. North Africa: The king of the Maurians, Paul I Iron Cross, reconquers Murnathya (*OTL Marrakech) from the Portuguese Templars. He ends their aggression of Mauretania (*Morocco) recognizing their coastal possessions on the Atlantic coast and granting them extensive feudal and commercial rights in their domains. The Genoese conquer the port of Tabarka from the Ifrigians (*Tunisians), ostensibly in the name of empress Alexandra of Sicily, actually for themselves:D . Central Asia, Caucasus: The Khorezmians vassalize Azerbaijan. Far East: Temüjin crushes and subdues the Tartars. Khan Toghrul of the Keraites adopts the victorious general as heir, but soon breaks with him, fearing his growing power. Black Africa: Some Coghound pirates from the Canaries explore the coasts of western Africa up to OTL Liberia, coming back with gold, slaves and other interesting goods; soon the news arrives to the equally greedy ears of the Pisan tradesmen. British isles: Ireland rises in rebellion against Norman overlordship. As the Irish kings are too deeply divided to accept one of them as High King, the Irish crown is offered to Reginald, the exiled younger brother of king Duncan III of Scotland and Alba. Norman power is preserved only in the south-east (the so-called Siennories, dominated by Norman and Welsh landlords) and in Dublin, ruled by the Norman-allied Owen Maddox. 1202-1205 Southern Europe: The Comune of Como conquers Valtellina from the bishopric of Coira to seize control of the central Alpine passes and their commercial routes. Pope Paul II launches an interdict against the Lombard town, officially to extirpate heresy, in fact to punish it for the enroachment on ecclesiastical lands:rolleyes: . An anti-Cathar “crusade” is called in Lombardy against Como, which is destroyed a second time, fostering the full recovery of Milan (itself a count-bishopric:rolleyes: :rolleyes: ) as a commercial powerhouse. Civil war in Serbia between Vukan and Stefan II Nemanjič, upheld respectively by Hungary and Megavlakia (the Vlacho-Bulgarian empire). At first Vukan dethrones his brother, later reinstalled with Vlacho-Bulgarian help as Vukan is again confined to his holdings in Zeta (Melanoria, *OTL Montenegro). Southern Europe: Cattaro/Kotor/Akrovion, rival of Ragusa/Dubrovnik, accepts the protection of prince Vukan of Zeta (Melanoria, *OTL Montenegro). Black Africa: The Soninke Sosso kingdom destroys Kumbi, terminating the Ghana Empire. Caucasus: The Iberians/Georgians thwart joint Ortoqid and Danishmendid aggression by successfully resisting the siege of Theodosiopolis (*OTL Erzurum). Middle East, Central Asia: Arabian forces invade Persia/Iran from the Zagros mountains and Fars, subduing the local Kurdish chieftainships. Far East: Minamoto no Sanetomo becomes shogun (generalissimo) of the Kamakura shogunate of Japan, but acts as a puppet for his mother's family, the Hōjōs. SE Asia: The Khmer Empire directly annexes Champa, reaching its apogee. 1203-1205 Far East: Temüjin defeats and eliminates Toghrul Khan of the Nestorian Keraites, becoming the most powerful ruler among the Mongols at large – the name of the Mongols will identify all these tribes, except among Europeans, which will call them Tartars. The Keraites and the Jadirats are gradually subdued and absorbed into Temüjin's horde, as he fights off the Naimans and his former friend Jamuqa. Western Europe: Pisan and Sevillan settlers colonize the uninhabited island of Santa Cruz (*OTL Madeira); the colony is subsequenlty wiped out by the Canarian Coghounds, who resettle the island. 1204 Western Europe: Following the death of king Anselm of Burgundy, his nephew Constant liquidates the elder cousin Peyre I Berenger, seizing the throne; he also shifts the capital from Arles to Valence. Central Asia: The Khorezmian army routs the Arabs at the battle of Shur Ab, preventing the fall of central Persia; the Kurds in the Zagros and the Shabankarais of Fars soon reject the Arab yoke. A reciprocate “excommunication” :D with charges of being infidels and/or heretics :rolleyes: follows between the rival Walis (*Sunni “Popes”) in Mecca and Merv (Khorassan), supporting their respective Arab and Khorezmian patrons. Uthman, the Karakhanid sultan of Samarkand, successfully expels the Karakhitais, whose rule was becoming more and more oppressive towards Muslims and Jews, as they favored Buddhism, Zoroastrianism and Nestorian/Jacobite Christianity. Black Africa: Diaba Lompo founds the Mossi kingdom of Bingo/Gurma in eastern Upper Volta. Northern Hesperia (*OTL America) The Norsemen of Skraelingarland (*OTL Acadia) together with their Christianized allies destroy the most sacred pagan sanctuary of the Mikkmakks, the Menikkø, in Markseyfjordur (*OTL Bras d'Or Lake). The last natives on Marksey (*OTL Cape Breton island) are killed or expelled. Northern Europe: The premature demise of king Haakon III causes another succession crisis in Norway; his short-lived infant nephew, Guttorm, dies soon after, and the Birkebeiner faction has to bring the baby heir Haakon IV (whose mother, Inga of Varteig, succesfully endured an ordeal by fire :eek: to prove she was true in her claims that she had the bay from the deceased Haakon III) to safety at Trondheim, as the Bagler party pretender Philip I Simonsson, a son-in-law of the late king Sverre, takes over in the south. 1204-1207 Byzantine Empire: The new Czar of the Vlachs and Bulgarians, Dimitar I, resumes war on Byzantium, claiming the imperial throne as a grandson of former emperor Basil I Vatatzes. General Kalojan of Drystra ravages Thrace and captures the fortress of Serrai. Byzantine Empire: Due to a break of relations, the Iberians/Georgians seize Trabzon from the Byzantines, who some years later manage to reconquer it. Northern Europe: King Sverker II of Sweden kills at Älgarås three of the four sons of his precedessor Canute I, from the rival House of Jedvard and Erik, despite their Norwegian Birkebeiner allies. Southern Europe: Pope-king Paul II dies, succeeded by the Church's cardinal treasurer, the Roman Cencio Savelli, who styles himself Urban IV (*OTL he was Honorius III). Sicily is shaken by the First Curional (*Baronal) War, a brief, unsuccessful revolt of minor landlords. Despite its being quickly crushed by loyalist forces in the service of empress Alexandra, the casualties are high and many towns and castles burnt to the ground. Central-Eastern Europe, Byzantine Empire: Konchak, khan of the Cumans, besieges Drystra/Silistra, the Vlacho-Bulgarian capital, but his forces are shattered by Kalojan and he is captured and forced into alliance. The Vlacho-Bulgarian-Cuman army then turns to Constantinople:eek: , blockading it by land and starting a regular siege; but the imperial capital fends off any attack, easily supplied by sea. Kalojan, aided by the Venetians, captures Gallipoli, reopening the Dardanelles to Latin (Western European) shipping. The Venetians are later defeated at Prinkipos island with help from Genoa, which gains from the grateful Byzantines an entire quarter in Constantinople, Perai.
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