1150 CE

Battle of Flochberg: German forces under Henry VI defeat the army of the House of Welf at Bopfingen. At the same time, King Conrad III besieges Welf forces at Braunschweig in Saxony, but he lifts the siege when confronted by Henry the Lion. Dryburgh Abbey located in the Scottish Borders is founded by Lord Hugh de Morville. The University of Paris (known as the Sorbonne) is founded. The first doctorate degree is awarded in Paris.

In the 1150s, the 12th century.

Conflict & Security

  • February 8 – Battle of Flochberg: German forces under Henry VI defeat the army of the House of Welf at Bopfingen. At the same time, King Conrad III besieges Welf forces at Braunschweig in Saxony, but he lifts the siege when confronted by Henry the Lion.source
  • Battle of Aintab: A Crusader army led by King Baldwin III repels the attacks of Nur al-Din near Aintab. Baldwin safely evacuates the Christian residents of the County of Edessa, which is captured by the Zangids.source
  • Battle of Tara: The Byzantines defeat the Serbian-Hungarian army under Grdeša, count (župan) of Travunija, near the snow-covered Tara River. The Serbs are overpowered, and Grand Prince Uroš II is forced to accept the peace agreement made by Emperor Manuel I Komnenos. Uroš is succeeded by his brother Desa, who becomes co-ruler of the Principality of Serbia (until 1153).source
  • Spring – Joscelin II, count of Edessa, on his way to Antioch is separated from his escort and falls into the hands of some Turcoman free-booters. Nur al-Din, ruler (atabeg) of Aleppo, heard of Joscelin's capture and sends a squadron of cavalry to take him from his captors. Joscelin is led before a hostile crowd and publicly blinded. Nur al-Din puts him in prison in the Citadel of Aleppo.source

Exploration & Expansion

  • The city of Rinteln is founded on the northern bank of the Weser River in Lower Saxony (modern Germany).source

Religion & Belief

  • November 10 – Dryburgh Abbey located in the Scottish Borders is founded by Lord Hugh de Morville.source
  • The 15-year-old King Inge I ("the Hunchback") of Norway calls for a meeting at Bergen of all religious leaders in anticipation that the English cardinal Nicholas Breakspear will find an archbishopric at Trondheim.source
  • The city of Ascalon is fortified with 53 towers by order of the 17-year-old Caliph Al-Zafir, as it is the most strategic frontier fortress of the Fatimid Caliphate.source
  • The Irish Chronology (Chronicon Scotorum) is written (approximate date).source
  • The temple at Angkor Wat ("Capital of Temples") is completed in the Khmer Empire (modern Cambodia).source
  • Peter Lombard, a French scholastic theologian, publishes the Four Books of Sentences, which becomes the standard textbook of theology at the medieval universities.source
  • Christchurch Priory located in Hampshire is founded by Earl Baldwin de Redvers.source

Technology & Infrastructure

  • Cubbie Roo's Castle is built on Wyre (Orkney Islands) and is first mentioned in the Orkneyinga Saga.source

Culture & Society

  • The University of Paris (known as the Sorbonne) is founded. The first doctorate degree is awarded in Paris.source

Births

  • January 26 – Fakhr al-Din al-Razi, Persian polymath (died 1210)source
  • October 8 – Narapatisithu, ruler of the Pagan Kingdom (died 1211)source
  • Honorius III, pope of the Catholic Church (died 1227)source
  • Robert IV, French nobleman and Grand Master (died 1193)source
  • Wincenty Kadłubek, bishop of Kraków (died 1223)source
  • William de Braose, English nobleman (died 1211)source
  • Leo I (or Levon), king of Armenian Cilicia (died 1219)source
  • Judah ben Samuel, German Jewish rabbi (died 1217)source
  • Minamoto no Noriyori, Japanese general (died 1193)source
  • Hermann Joseph, German priest and mystic (died 1241)source
  • John de Courcy (or Courci), Norman knight (died 1219)source
  • Stephen Langton, English archbishop (died 1228)source
  • Qutb al-Din Aibak, ruler of the Delhi Sultanate (died 1210)source
  • Rosamund Clifford, English noblewoman (died 1176)source
  • John de Courcy (also John de Courci) (died 1219), an Anglo-Norman knight who arrived in Ireland in 1176.Irelandsource

Deaths

  • January 9 – Xi Zong, Chinese emperor of the Jin Dynasty (born 1119)source
  • March 20 – Simon of Worcester, bishop of Worcestersource
  • April 8 – Gertrude of Babenberg, German duchess (born 1118)source
  • August 27 – Guarinus of Sitten, French bishop (born 1065)source
  • September 16 – Sibylla of Burgundy, queen of Sicily (born 1126)source
  • November 12 – Hartbert van Bierum, bishop of Utrechtsource
  • November 21 – García IV ("the Restorer"), king of Navarresource
  • December 16 – Raynald of Bar, French abbotsource
  • Kjeld (or Ketil), Danish clergyman and saintsource
  • Jabir ibn Aflah, Andalusian astronomer (born 1100)source
  • Ibn Masal, Fatimid general, official and viziersource
  • William the Simple, French nobleman (born 1085)source
  • Henry Berengar, co-ruler of Germanysource
  • Suryavarman II, ruler of the Khmer Empiresource