1203

Millennium:	2nd millennium
Centuries:	12th century 13th century 14th century
Decades:	1180s 1190s 1200s 1210s 1220s
Years:	1200 1201 1202 1203 1204 1205 1206

1203 in various calendars

Gregorian calendar	1203 MCCIII
Ab urbe condita	1956
Armenian calendar	652 ԹՎ ՈԾԲ
Assyrian calendar	5953
Balinese saka calendar	1124–1125
Bengali calendar	610
Berber calendar	2153
English Regnal year	4 Joh. 1 – 5 Joh. 1
Buddhist calendar	1747
Burmese calendar	565
Byzantine calendar	6711–6712
Chinese calendar	壬戌年 (Water Dog) 3900 or 3693     — to — 癸亥年 (Water Pig) 3901 or 3694
Coptic calendar	919–920
Discordian calendar	2369
Ethiopian calendar	1195–1196
Hebrew calendar	4963–4964
Hindu calendars
- Vikram Samvat	1259–1260
- Shaka Samvat	1124–1125
- Kali Yuga	4303–4304
Holocene calendar	11203
Igbo calendar	203–204
Iranian calendar	581–582
Islamic calendar	599–600
Japanese calendar	Kennin 3 (建仁３年)
Javanese calendar	1111–1112
Julian calendar	1203 MCCIII
Korean calendar	3536
Minguo calendar	709 before ROC 民前709年
Nanakshahi calendar	−265
Thai solar calendar	1745–1746
Tibetan calendar	阳水狗年 (male Water-Dog) 1329 or 948 or 176     — to — 阴水猪年 (female Water-Pig) 1330 or 949 or 177

Year 1203 (MCCIII) was a common year starting on Wednesday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. It was also the first year to have all digits different from each other since 1098.

Events

By area

Asia

• Minamoto no Sanetomo becomes shōgun of the Kamakura shogunate.

Europe

• April 16 – Philip II of France enters Rouen, leading to the eventual unification of Normandy and France.
• William de Braose, 4th Lord of Bramber becomes the guardian of Arthur I, Duke of Brittany, and is possibly responsible for his death.
• The House of Burke is founded in Ireland.
• Battle of Basiani: The Georgians defeat a Muslim coalition.
• The Almohads begin the conquest of the Balearic Islands.
• The troops of the Fourth Crusade reach the Byzantine heartland:
  • June 23 – The Fleet of the crusaders enters the Bosphorus.
  • July 17 – The armies of the Fourth Crusade capture Constantinople by assault; the Byzantine emperor Alexios III Angelos flees from his capital into exile.
  • August 1 – The Fourth Crusade elevates Alexios IV Angelos as Byzantine emperor, after the citizens of Constantinople proclaim as emperor Isaac II Angelos (Alexius IV's father).
• The Oeselians ravage Danish Scania. The returning pirates later skirmish with the German settlers of Riga, near Visby in Gotland.

By topic

Markets

• The first evidence is revealed, that the Temple in London is extending loans to the king of England. The sums remain relatively small, but are often used for critical operations, such as the ransoming of the king’s soldiers captured by the French.

Religion

• April 8 – Congress of Bilino Polje: Ban Kulin officially declares his allegiance to the Roman Catholic Church, and denounces heresy.
• The Temple of Nataraja is completed, at Chidambaram in India.
• The Benedictine abbey of Iona is founded by Ragnall mac Somairle, on a previous Columban site.

Births

• Peter II, Count of Savoy (d. 1268)
• Eva Marshal, Norman noble (d. 1246)
• Ibn Abi Usaibia, Syrian Arab medical historian (d. 1270)

Deaths

• January 21 – Agnes II, Abbess of Quedlinburg (b. 1139)
• April 6 – William of Æbelholt, Danish churchman (b. 1125)
• November 4 – Dirk VII, Count of Holland
• May – Dafydd ab Owain Gwynedd, King of Gwynedd
• date unknown – Alexios Palaiologos, Byzantine heir apparent
• probable – Arthur I, Duke of Brittany (b. 1187)