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.