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The 1130s

345 sourced entries across 10 years, inside the 12th century. Each year below opens its own page; the lines under it are that year’s highest-ranked entries.

1130 CE21 entries

  • February 14 – Pope Innocent II succeeds Pope Honorius II, as the 164th pope. Other factions (including Roger II of Sicily), however, support Anacletus II as pope, leading to the papal schism of 1130, and Innocent flees to France.
  • March 26 – Magnus IV and his uncle Harald Gille become joint kings of Norway, starting the civil war era in Norway.
  • April 24 – Jin–Song Wars: Battle of Huangtiandang – Naval forces of the Song dynasty trap Wuzhu's Jin troops in the city for 48 days.

1131 CE26 entries

  • May 9 – Tintern Abbey is founded in Wales by Cistercian monks in the Wye Valley.
  • October 13 – The 15-year-old Philip, eldest son of King Louis VI (the Fat) of France, dies when his horse trips over a black pig that darts out of a dung heap unexpectedly at a market in Paris.
  • Ramon Berenguer III (the Great), count of Barcelona, dies after a 34-year reign. He leaves most of his Catalonian territories to his elder son Ramon Berenguer IV, who continues the fight against the Almoravid Muslims. His younger son Berenguer Ramon inherits Provence (Southern France) and will reign as Ramon I (until 1144).

1132 CE27 entries

  • March 5 – Rievaulx Abbey is founded by the Cistercian order, near Helmsley in Yorkshire.
  • June – A fire breaks out in the Chinese capital of Hangzhou, destroying 13,000 houses and forcing many to flee to the nearby hills. Due to large fires as this, the government installs an effective fire fighting force for the city. Items such as bamboo, planks, and rush-matting are temporarily exempted from taxation, 120 tons of rice are distributed among the poor. The government suspends the housing rent requirement of the city's residents.
  • December 27 – Fountains Abbey soon to join the Cistercian order, is founded near Ripon in Yorkshire.

1133 CE31 entries

  • July 17 – Battle of Fraga: The Castellan troops led by King Alfonso I (the Battler) defeat the Almoravid army, thanks to a timely intervention of a Norman Crusader army from Tarragona, led by Robert Bordet.
  • Ramon Berenguer IV, count of Barcelona, launches a raid against Almoravid-held territories in Al-Andalus (modern Spain), and pillages the country all the way to Cádiz.
  • Spring – A German expeditionary force, led by King Lothair III, marches into northern Italy, and arrives at Rome, after a 6-month journey across the Alps. Accompanied by Bernard of Clairvaux, French abbot and Doctor of the Church, Lothair is crowned by Pope Innocent II as Holy Roman Emperor at the Church of the Lateran, on June 4. He receives as papal fiefs the vast estates of Matilda, former margravine of Tuscany, which he secures for his daughter Gertrude of Süpplingenburg and her husband, Duke Henry X (the Proud) of Bavaria.

1134 CE66 entries

  • May 13 – The Saint-Denis basilica, near Paris, is damaged by a fire. This will give the opportunity to the French abbot Suger to rebuild it in a new style, which will open the Gothic period of architecture.
  • Abdul Qadir Jilani becomes principal of the Hanbali school in Baghdad.
  • Robert of Ketton and Herman of Carinthia travel throughout France, the Byzantine Empire, and the Crusader States.

1135 CE47 entries

  • January – Byland Abbey is founded in England by the Congregation of Savigny.
  • June 4 – Emperor Hui Zong dies in exile in Heilongjiang (Manchuria), having been held prisoner with his son Qin Zong since their capture in 1127.
  • September – King García IV ("the Restorer") breaks with Alfonso VII, and makes common cause with the County of Portugal against Castile and León.

1136 CE35 entries

  • August 14 – The siege of Bagdhad by the Seljuks ends after Abbasid caliph al-Rashid Billah flees to Mosul. Seljuk sultan Ghiyath ad-Din Mas'ud enters the city the following day.
  • August 18 – Seljuk sultan Ghiyath ad-Din Mas'ud appoints al-Rashid Billah's uncle Al-Muqtafi as new caliph of the Abbasid Caliphate in Baghdad.
  • October – Battle of Crug Mawr (Great Barrow): King Owain Gwynedd (styled "Prince of Wales") defeats the Norman and Flemish forces under Robert Fitz Martin, securing the control of Ceredigion (West Wales).

1137 CE40 entries

  • 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.
  • 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.
  • 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).

1138 CE32 entries

  • April 10 – Robert Warelwast is nominated as bishop of Exeter at a royal council in Northampton, England.
  • June 6 – Al-Rashid Billah (deposed caliph of Baghdad), having fled to Isfahan, is killed there by a team of four Nizari Ismailis (Assassins). This is celebrated in Alamut for a week by Shias.
  • August 22 – Battle of the Standard: King David I of Scotland gives his full support to Matilda (daughter of the late King Henry I), and invades the north of England – travelling as far south as Lincolnshire. The Scottish army (some 15,000 men) is defeated by English forces under Earl William le Gros in Yorkshire. David retreats to Carlisle and reassembles an army.

1139 CE20 entries

  • April 8 – Second Council of the Lateran: Roger II of Sicily is excommunicated by Pope Innocent II.
  • May – Representatives of Polvese Island formally submit the island to the city of Perugia, pledging military support, fiscal obligations, and an annual tribute of tench.
  • July 8 or August 21 – Jin–Song Wars: Battle of Yancheng – Song dynasty general Yue Fei defeats an army led by Jin dynasty general Wuzhu.