1137 CE

Bazwāj, a mamluk (slave) commander of Damascus, launches a military campaign against Tripoli, reaching Pilgrims' Mount. He defeats a Crusader army under Count Pons (protector of Tripoli). Pons is forced to flee into the mountains where native Christians capture him. Later, he is handed over and instantly put to death by Bazwāj. Louis VI sends his 16-year-old son Louis Capet with an escort of 500 knights to Bordeaux, along with Abbot Suger in charge of the wedding arrangements. Louis and Eleanor are married in the Cathedral of Saint-André. France unites Aquitaine and its territories to the Pyrenees. Louis VI dies of dysentery at Paris after a 29-year reign. He is succeeded by Louis Capet (known as Louis VII) as King of France. During his accession the burgesses of Orléans and Poitiers revolt – who wish to organise communes (creating independent city-states).

In the 1130s, the 12th century.

Geopolitics & Diplomacy

  • August 11 – Ramon Berenguer IV, count of Barcelona, is married to Princess Petronilla of Aragon (only 1-year-old) – whose father, King Ramiro II of Aragon, seeks aid from Barcelona against King Alfonso VII of Castile, abdicates the throne in favor of Ramon on November 13.source
  • Egyptian military commander Ridwan ibn Walakhshi appointed Vizier in Egypt.source
  • The Ethiopian Empire is established by Emperor Mara Takla Haymanot of the Zagwe Dynasty.source

Conflict & Security

  • March 25 – Bazwāj, a mamluk (slave) commander of Damascus, launches a military campaign against Tripoli, reaching Pilgrims' Mount. He defeats a Crusader army under Count Pons (protector of Tripoli). Pons is forced to flee into the mountains where native Christians capture him. Later, he is handed over and instantly put to death by Bazwāj.source
  • August 29 – John II appears before the walls of Antioch, and encamps with the Byzantine army on the north bank of the Orontes River. For several days he besieges the city, Raymond of Poitiers (prince of Antioch) is forced to surrender. He recognizes John as his suzerain and becomes with Joscelin II (count of Edessa) a vassal of the Byzantine Empire.source
  • October 30 – Battle of Rignano: Sergius VII, duke (magister militum) of Naples, is defeated by the Sicilian forces under King Roger II of Sicily. Sergius is killed and Roger establishes direct control over Naples – nominating his 17-year-old son Alfonso of Capua as the new duke.source
  • Spring – Emperor John II (Komnenos) leads a Byzantine expeditionary force into Cilicia (the Byzantine fleet guards his flank). He defeats the Armenians under Prince Leo I ("Lord of the Mountains"), and captures the cities of Mersin, Tarsus, Adana and Mamistra. Leo retreats to the great fortifications of Anazarbus – where its garrison resists for 37 days. The Byzantine siege engines batter down its walls, and the city is forced to surrender. Leo escapes into the Taurus Mountains, while the Byzantine forces march southward into the plain of Antioch.source
  • Summer – Battle of Ba'rin: A Crusader force led by King Fulk of Jerusalem is scattered and defeated by Imad al-Din Zengi, Seljuk governor (atabeg) of Mosul. Fulk with a small bodyguard escapes into Montferrand Castle, which is surrounded and besieged by Zengi. After negotiations, Fulk is granted his freedom in exchange for the castle.source
  • An Almoravid fleet of 37 ships attack the coasts of southern Italy, under Norman rule.source
  • Spring – King Stephen sails to Normandy to confront Geoffrey V (the Fair) and the Angevins, who are attacking the southern areas of Normandy. Although Stephen has some success, he is not able to recapture Normandy from Matilda, daughter and heiress of the late King Henry I.source
  • The Battle of Rignano was the second great defeat of the career of Roger II of Sicily and, like the first, the Battle of Nocera, it too came at the hands of Ranulf II, Count of Alife. The prime difference was the position of the two combatants.Italysource
  • At Nocera on 24 July 1132, Ranulf was allied with Robert II of Capua and Sergius VII of Naples and he was a mere rebel, fighting the king of Sicily. On 30 October 1137, Ranulf was the recently appointed duke of Apulia, with a contingent of 800 German troops on loan from the Emperor Lothair II, and his adversaries were not only Roger, but his erstwhile ally Sergius.Italysource

Exploration & Expansion

  • In the first commercial treaty between the Almohad Caliphate and a Christian power, the Republic of Genoa obtains trading rights in the port of North Africa.source

Religion & Belief

  • June 3 – A fire severely damages Rochester Cathedral, but it is soon rebuilt.source
  • July 25 – Louis VI sends his 16-year-old son Louis Capet with an escort of 500 knights to Bordeaux, along with Abbot Suger in charge of the wedding arrangements. Louis and Eleanor are married in the Cathedral of Saint-André. France unites Aquitaine and its territories to the Pyrenees.source
  • Gilla Meic Liac mac Diarmata becomes Archbishop of ArmaghIrelandsource

Disasters & Accidents

  • June 4 – A fire destroys much of the city of York, including 39 churches and York Minster.source
  • June 27 – A fire severely damages the city of Bath.source
  • In China during the Song Dynasty, a fire breaks out in the new capital of Hangzhou. The government suspends the requirement of rent payments, alms of 108,840 kg (120 tons) of rice are distributed to the poor, and items such as bamboo, planks and rush-matting are exempted from government taxation.source

Births

  • Agnes of Poland, Grand Princess of Kiev (died 1182)source
  • Bretislav III, bishop of Prague (approximate date)source
  • Ludwig II, count of Württemberg (approximate date)source
  • Ibn Qalaqis, Fatimid poet and writer (died 1172)source
  • Walter Map, Welsh historian and writer (died 1209)source
  • Saladin (the Lion), sultan of Egypt and Syria (died 1193)source
  • Henry VI, king of Germany (approximate date)source
  • Ferdinand II, king of León and Galicia (died 1188)source
  • William I of Blois, count of Boulogne (died 1159)source
  • Wenceslaus II, duke of Bohemia (approximate date)source

Deaths

  • January 27 – John of Crema, Italian cardinalsource
  • March 6 – Olegarius, archbishop of Tarragona (born 1060)source
  • March 8 – Adela of Normandy, countess of Bloissource
  • March 25 – Pons, count of Tripoli (born 1098)source
  • April 9 – William X (the Saint), duke of Aquitaine, dies while on a pilgrimage to Santiago de Compostela (modern Spain). On his deathbed, he expresses his wish to see King Louis VI (the Fat) of France as protector of his 15-year-old daughter Eleanor, and to find her a suitable husband.source
  • April 9 – William X (the Saint), duke of Aquitaine (born 1099)source
  • June 23 – Adalbert I, archbishop of Mainzsource
  • July 10 – Pain FitzJohn, Norman noblemansource
  • August 1 – Louis VI (the Fat), king of France (born 1081)source
  • August 1 – Louis VI dies of dysentery at Paris after a 29-year reign. He is succeeded by Louis Capet (known as Louis VII) as King of France. During his accession the burgesses of Orléans and Poitiers revolt – who wish to organise communes (creating independent city-states).source
  • September 18 – Eric II, king of Denmark (born 1090)source
  • December 4 – Lothair III, Holy Roman Emperor (born 1075)source
  • December 4 – Emperor Lothair III dies at Breitenwang in Tyrol, while retreating from Italy after a mutiny among his troops. His son-in-law Henry X (the Proud), duke of Bavaria, inherits the Duchy of Saxony.source
  • Ramanuja, Indian Sri Vaishnavism philosopher (born 1017)source
  • Sergius VII of Naples (?-1137) - last Duke of NaplesItalysource
  • Antipope Gregory VIII (?-1137) - antipope 1118-1121Italysource
  • Emperor Lothar II (1075–1137) - Holy Roman Emperor, died on return to GermanyItalysource