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history

What Happened in 1125, 1225

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Here’s our next instalment of things that happened in ..25 years of yore.

Some Notable Events in 1125

29 March. Reading School is founded in Berkshire, England.

23 May. Emperor Henry V dies of cancer in Utrecht after leading an expedition against King Louis VI of France and then against the citizens of Worms. Having no legitimate children, Henry leaves his possessions to his nephew, Frederick II, Duke of Swabia. At the Haftag diet in Regensburg, Lothair II (duke of Saxony) is elected King of Germany and crowned at Aachen on 13 September.

11 June. Battle of Azaz: The Crusader states led by King Baldwin II of Jerusalem defeat the Seljuk forces at Azaz and raise the siege of the town. Baldwin mobilizes a force of 1,100 armoured knights and 2,000 foot-soldiers. The Crusaders capture the Seljuk camp and Baldwin takes enough loot to ransom the prisoners taken by the Seljuk Turks.

Unknown Date. King Inge the Younger of Sweden is murdered, instigated by Queen Ulvhild Håkansdotter. Her cousin Magnus I proclaims himself ruler over the Lands of Sweden (Norrland, Svealand and Gothenland).

Unknown Date. The Venetians pillage the islands of Rhodes, ravage Samos and Lesbos, and occupy Chios. The Florentines sack and conquer the neighbouring independent republic of Fiesole in Italy.

Unknown Date. The first fair in Portugal is created in Ponte de Lima; it is an early sign of the commercialization and economic development.

Unknown Date. King Alfonso I of Aragon and Navarre leads a Castellan raid in Andalusia.

Unknown Date. King Henry I arranges the marriage between his nephew Stephen of Blois and the 20-year-old Matilda, daughter and heiress of Eustace III, count of Boulogne. This gives Stephen control of the County of Boulogne and also lands in England that had belonged to Eustace (who dies on his return from the Holy Land).

Unknown Date. A collection of Zen Buddhist koans is compiled, in the Chinese Blue C1iff Record.

Unknown Date. Died. Harding of Bristol, English sheriff reeve (b.1048).

Unknown Date. Died. Robert de Mowbray, Norman Earl of Northumbria.

Some Notable Events in 1225

11 February. The Charter of the Forest is restored to its traditional rights by King Henry III. “Free men” are allowed to find pasture for their pigs, collect firewood, graze animals, or cut turf for fuel. At this time, however, only about 10 percent of the population is “free”, the rest are locked into service to a local landowner, some of them little more than slaves.

25 July. Emperor Frederick II takes an oath at San Germano (near Cassino) and promises to depart on a Crusade (the Sixth Crusade), for the Near East in August 1227. He sends 1000 knights to the Levant and provides Rome with 100,000 ounces of gold, to be forfeited to the Catholic Church should he break his vow. These funds will be returned to Frederick once he arrives at Acre.

9 November. Frederick II marries the 14-year-old Queen Yolande, heiress to the kingdom of Jerusalem, and adds the Crusader States to his dominions.

29 November. The 12-year-old Henry VII, by order of his father Frederick II, marries Margaret of Austria, daughter of Duke Leopold VI.

Unknown Date. Magna Carta is reaffirmed (for the third time) by Henry III, in return for issuing a property tax. It becomes the definitive version of the text.Magna Carta, 1225

Unknown Date. The 8-year-old Henry I is crowned as king of Cyprus in the Cathedral of Saint Sophia at Nicosia.

Unknown Date. Born. Thomas Aquinas, Italian friar and theologian (d.1274).

quotes

June Monthly Quotes

Rather thin pickings in the way of quotes encountered this month.

In a sense, nothing in life is planned – or everything is – because in the dance every step is ultimately the corollary of the step before; the consequence of being the kind of person one chances to be.
[Anthony Powell; The Acceptance World]

Most dictionaries define happiness as “the feeling of being happy”. This has the bizarre quality of being correct while containing no useful information whatsoever.
[Dr Dean Burnett, Science Focus, May 2025]

People were created to be loved. Things were created to be used. The reason why the world is in chaos is because things are being loved and people are being used.
[Dalai Lama]

Every form of addiction is bad, no matter whether the narcotic be alcohol, morphine or idealism.
[Carl Jung]

You can seem like a millionaire to one person and a homeless person to the next. The ants think you are a giant, and the trees don’t even notice you. You think you have a boring life, but the next person might be striving for your lifestyle. Comparison is the thief of joy, so stay kind and keep loving life. Life is all just a big game of perspective.
[unknown]

The general population doesn’t know what’s happening, and it doesn’t even know that it doesn’t know.
[Noam Chomsky]

Chocolate lines up planetarily with the sun. Chocolate is an octave of sun energy. In fact, it’s the energy of the centre of the sun.
[David Avacado Wolfe (b.1970)]

Such indeed is the respect paid to science, that the most absurd opinions may become current, provided they are expressed in language, the sound of which recals [sic] some well-known scientific phrase.
[James Clerk Maxwell (1831-1879)]

current affairs, history, memes

June Quiz Answers

Here are the answers to this month’s six quiz questions. If in doubt, all should be able to be easily verified online.

World Affairs

  1. Which political figure became Baroness of Kesteven? Margaret Thatcher
  2. What year was the United Nations established? 1945
  3. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus became the head of which United Nations agency in 2017? WHO (World Health Organisation)
  4. Who was US President in the year 2000? Bill Clinton
  5. What was the name of the treaty signed between the Allies and Germany that officially ended WWI? Treaty of Versailles
  6. The border between North Korea and South Korea is about 257km long and 4km wide. What is this buffer zone known as? Korean Demilitarised Zone (DMZ)

Answers were correct when questions were compiled in late 2024.

books, memes, quotes

This Month’s Poem

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Trees
Joyce Kilmer

I think that I shall never see
A poem lovely as a tree.
A tree whose hungry mouth is prest
Against the earth’s sweet flowing breast;
A tree that looks at God all day,
And lifts her leafy arms to pray;
A tree that may in summer wear
A nest of robins in her hair;
Upon whose bosom snow has lain;
Who intimately lives with rain.
Poems are made by fools like me,
But only God can make a tree.

Find this poem online at Poetry Foundation

amusements, memes

Ten Things

This year our Ten Things column each month is alternating between composers and artists a century at a time from pre-1500 to 20th century. As always, there’s no guarantee you will have heard of them all!

Ten Artists Born in 17th Century

  1. Claude Lorrain
  2. Giovanni Battista Tiepolo
  3. Willem van der Velde the Younger
    Willem van der Velde the Younger
    Calm: Fishing Boats under Sail
  4. Johannes Vermeer
  5. Wenceslaus Hollar
  6. Aelbert Cuyp
  7. Pieter de Hooch
  8. Antoine Watteau
  9. William Hogarth
  10. Peter Lely
current affairs, memes

June Quiz Questions

Each month we’re posing six pub quiz style questions, with a different subject each month. As always, they’re designed to be difficult, but it is unlikely everyone will know all the answers – so have a bit of fun.

World Affairs

  1. Which political figure became Baroness of Kesteven?
  2. What year was the United Nations established?
  3. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus became the head of which United Nations agency in 2017?
  4. Who was US President in the year 2000?
  5. What was the name of the treaty signed between the Allies and Germany that officially ended WWI?
  6. The border between North Korea and South Korea is about 257km long and 4km wide. What is this buffer zone known as?

Answers will be posted in 2 weeks time.