St Bartholomew's Fair licensed in London
1133
Henry I granted his jester-turned-canon Rahere the right to hold an annual cloth fair at Smithfield beside the priory Rahere had built after surviving malaria in Rome. The fair would run every August for more than seven centuries. It grew from a modest cloth market into one of England's great commercial and theatrical gatherings, famous for its puppet shows, sideshows, and the annual spectacle of livestock sales.
In context
Also in 1133 (4 other events on record)
- Al-Idrisi begins his world map for Roger II · Africa · Science
- Work begins on Durham cathedral vault · Europe · Technology
- Earthquake damages Samarra on the Tigris · Middle East · Disaster
- Lothair III crowned Emperor · Europe · Politics
Before and after in Europe
Before and after in Culture
Era
High Middle Ages (1000–1300), one of 1,306 events from that era on Saeculum.
Sources