date: October 5

text: October 5 – Treaty of Zamora: The Kingdom of Portugal is recognized by King Alfonso VII ("the Emperor") of León and Castile in the presence of his cousin, King Afonso I of Portugal and papal representatives.


date: July 1

section: Conflict & Security

text: July 1 – Battle of Wilton: Earl Robert of Gloucester (illegitimate son of the late King Henry I) defeats the English forces of King Stephen during a surprise attack at Wilton Abbey. In the darkness, Stephen escapes, while his steward William Martel fights a rearguard action to delay the pursuers.

source_section: Events › By place › England


text: Norman raiders capture Jijel (modern Algeria). A Norman raid on Ceuta fails, but at the same time the Normans lead a successful assault against Sfax.

source_section: Events › By place › Africa


section: Exploration & Expansion

text: Adolf II, count of Schauenburg and Holstein, founds Lübeck – which later becomes one of the leading Hanseatic cities. He divides the conquered Slavic lands, as part of the eastward expansion in Germany.

source_section: Events › By place › Europe


section: Religion & Belief

text: Robert of Ketton makes the first European translation of the Qur'an for Peter the Venerable, Lex Mahumet pseudoprophete, into Latin.

source_section: Events › By topic › Literature


text: Autumn – Stephen arrests Geoffrey de Mandeville, 1st Earl of Essex, during a meeting of the Royal Court at St. Albans. He is charged with treason against Stephen, but given his freedom back in return for surrendering his title and castles. Geoffrey becomes an outlaw and fortifies Ramsey Abbey, where he sets up his headquarters to plunder the countryside of Ely.


date: July 31

section: Births

text: July 31 – Nijō, emperor of Japan (d. 1165)

source_section: Births


text: Konoe Motozane, Japanese nobleman (d. 1166)


text: Fujiwara no Motozane, Japanese waka poet (d. 1166)


text: Philip I (of Alsace), count of Flanders (d. 1191)


text: Jigten Sumgön, founder of the Drikung Kagyu (d. 1217)


text: Mu'in al-Din Chishti, Persian preacher (d. 1236)


text: Beatrice I, Holy Roman Empress (d. 1184)


text: Balian of Ibelin, French nobleman (d. 1193)


date: January 12

section: Deaths

text: January 12 – Leo of Constantinople, Byzantine patriarch

source_section: Deaths


date: January 26

text: January 26 – Ali ibn Yusuf, ruler of the Almoravids (b. 1084)


date: February 6

text: February 6 – Hugh II, Duke of Burgundy, French nobleman (b. 1084)


date: April 8

text: April 8 – Emperor John II Komnenos Komnenos dies of a poisoned arrow wound while hunting wild boar on Mount Taurus in Cilicia. He is succeeded by his 24-year-old son Manuel I, who is chosen as his successor, in preference to his elder surviving brother Isaac. Manuel dispatches John Axouchos, his commander-in-chief (megas domestikos), to Constantinople ahead of him – with orders to arrest Isaac in the Great Palace.

source_section: Events › By place › Byzantine Empire


date: April 18

text: April 18 – Gertrude of Süpplingenburg, German duchess and regent (b. 1115)


date: June 24

text: June 24 – Ermesinde of Luxembourg, Countess of Namur, French noblewoman (b. 1080)


date: August 2

text: August 2 – Muño Alfonso, Galician military leader


date: September 23

text: September 23 – Pope Innocent II dies at Rome after a 13-year pontificate. He is succeeded by Celestine II as the 165th pope of the Catholic Church.

source_section: Events › By topic › Religion


text: September 23 – Pope Innocent II, pontiff of the Catholic Church


date: September 24

text: September 24 – Agnes of Waiblingen, daughter of Henry IV (b. 1072)


date: November 13

text: November 13 – King Fulk of Jerusalem dies after a hunting accident in Acre. He is succeeded by his 13-year-old son Baldwin III – who is crowned as co-ruler alongside his mother, Queen Melisende on Christmas Day. Due to the political situation the Crusader States of Tripoli, Antioch and Edessa assert their independence. Raymond of Antioch demands the return of Cilicia to his principality and invades the province.

source_section: Events › By place › Levant


text: November 13 – Fulk (the Younger), king of Jerusalem


date: December 24

text: December 24 – Miles of Gloucester, 1st Earl of Hereford, English nobleman


text: Spring – King Conrad III gives Bavaria to his half-brother Henry II ("Jasomirgott"). His wife, Gertrude (daughter of the late Emperor Lothair III) dies in childbirth at Klosterneuburg Monastery in Lower Austria on April 18.


text: December 24 – Siege of Edessa: Seljuk forces led by Imad al-Din Zengi conquer the fortress city of Edessa after a four-week siege. Thousands of inhabitants are massacred – only the Muslims are spared. The women and children are sold into slavery. This eliminates the Crusader principality of Outremer. Lacking the forces to take on Zengi, Joscelin II retires to his fortress at Turbessel. There, he requests reinforcements from the Byzantines and Queen-Regent Melisende of Jerusalem. This will lead to the Pope preaching a Second Crusade.


text: Autumn – Imad al-Din Zengi, Seljuk governor (atabeg) of Mosul, attacks the Artuqid forces led by Kara Arslan – who has made an alliance with Joscelin II, count of Edessa. In support of the alliance Joscelin marches out of Edessa with a Crusader army down to the Euphrates River, to cut off Zengi's communications with Aleppo. Zengi is informed by Muslim observers at Harran of Joscelin's movements. He sends a detachment of Muslims to ambush the Crusaders and reaches Edessa with his main army in late November.


text: Spring – Italo-Norman forces under King Roger II of Sicily invade the Papal States to force Pope Lucius II to accept his truce, but the patrician Giordano Pierleoni, brother of the late Antipope Anacletus II, leads the Roman populace to proclaim a constitutional republic free of papal authority with regard to civil rule. Pierleoni takes over the papal capital, and establishes the Commune of Rome in the style of the old Roman Republic.


text: Summer – Geoffrey Plantagenet, Count of Anjou ("the Fair", husband of Empress Matilda) completes his conquest of Normandy, which comes under Angevin control. In exchange for being recognised as Duke of Normandy by King Louis VII of France, Geoffrey surrenders half of the county of Vexin – a region vital to Norman security – to Louis.


text: 14-year old Baldwin III of Jerusalem quells a rebellion in Wadi Musa.


text: The first Knights Templar stronghold is established in the Kingdom of León and Castile.


text: The city of Montauban in southern France is founded by Count Alfonso Jordan of Toulouse.


date: June 11

text: June 11 – The Basilica of St. Denis near Paris is completed, and consecrated in the presence of Louis VII – as the first Gothic church.


text: Autumn – Geoffrey de Mandeville, 1st Earl of Essex, is mortally wounded by a stray arrow received in a skirmish. Because he is an outlaw, his burial is denied at the monastery he has founded, Walden Abbey. Geoffrey's body is eventually accepted by the Knights Templar community for burial within the Temple Church in London.


text: The Lesmahagow Priory in Scotland, is founded after John, bishop of Glasgow, and King David I have granted lands at Lesmahagow.


section: Technology & Infrastructure

text: The city of Ljubljana (modern Slovenia) is first mentioned in historical records.


date: March 22

section: Crime & Justice

text: March 22 – The first example of an anti-Semitic blood libel is recorded in England, in connection with the murder of William of Norwich.


date: August 11

text: August 11 – Sinjong, Korean ruler of Goryeo (d. 1204)


text: Taira no Tadanori, Japanese military leader (d. 1184)


text: Approximate date – Maria Komnene, queen consort of Hungary and Croatia (d. 1190)


text: Li Fengniang, Chinese empress of the Song dynasty (d. 1200)


text: Minamoto no Tomonaga, Japanese samurai (d. 1160)


text: Matsudono Motofusa, Japanese nobleman (d. 1230)


date: March 8

text: March 8 – Celestine II, pope of the Catholic Church


text: March 8 – Pope Celestine II dies at Rome after a 5-month pontificate. He is succeeded by Lucius II as the 166th pope of the Catholic Church.


text: March 22 – William of Norwich, English child saint (b. 1132)


date: May 23

text: May 23 – Petronilla of Lorraine, countess of Holland (b. 1082)


date: June 12

text: June 12 – Al-Zamakhshari, Persian philosopher (b. 1075)


date: July 17

text: July 17 – Abu Mansur Mauhub al-Jawaliqi, Arab philologist (b. 1074)


date: July 27

text: July 27 – Salomea of Berg, High Duchess of Poland (b. 1099)


date: September

text: September – Geoffrey de Mandeville, 1st Earl of Essex, English nobleman


date: October 10

text: October 10 – Alfonso of Capua, Italo-Norman nobleman (b. 1120)


text: December 24 – Hugh II (or Hugo), archbishop of Edessa


text: Matthew of Edessa (or Matteos), Armenian historian


text: Zhu Bian, Chinese diplomat, poet and writer (b. 1085)


text: Catalan mercenary Reverter de La Guardia, the main Almoravid commander in the Maghrid al-Aqsa, dies. His elimination opens the regions to the troops of the Almohads.


text: Reverter de La Guardia, viscount of Barcelona (or 1142)


section: Geopolitics & Diplomacy

text: Spring – Arnold of Brescia, an Italian priest from Lombardy, turns Rome into a republic with a government patterned on that of the Roman Republic. Arnold becomes the intellectual leader of the Commune of Rome, calling for liberties and democratic rights after the deposition of Giordano Pierleoni.


text: Estimation: Merv (in the Seljuk Empire) becomes the largest city in the world, surpassing Constantinople.

source_section: Events › By place › Asia


text: Spring – Seljuk forces led by Imad al-Din Zengi capture Saruj, the second great Crusader fortress east of the Euphrates. They advance to Birejik and besiege the city, but the garrison puts up a stiff resistance. Meanwhile, Queen-Regent Melisende of Jerusalem joins forces with Joscelin II, count of Edessa and approaches the city. Zengi raises the siege after hearing rumours of trouble in Mosul. He rushes back with his army to take control. There, Zengi is praised throughout Islam as "defender of the faith" and al-Malik al-Mansur, the "victorious king".


text: The Merinids of Maghrib al-Aqsa attempt to resist the Almohads but are forced into the desert areas around the Tafilalt. Oran falls to the Almohads. A Norman raid against the Tripolitania region succeeds.


text: Raymond of Poitiers, prince of Antioch, travels to Constantinople to ask Emperor Manuel I Komnenos for help to support his campaign against the Seljuks. When he arrives, Raymond is forced to accept the suzerainty of the Byzantine Empire. Manuel treats him graciously, gives him gifts and promises him a money subsidy.


date: December 1

text: December 1 – Eugene III issues the bull Quantum praedecessores, calling for the Second Crusade. At Christmas, King Louis VII announces his intention of making a pilgrimage which becomes part of the Crusade.


text: Woburn Abbey is founded by the Cistercians in England. A colony of monks arrive from Fountains Abbey to establish a community that will survive until 1234.


text: Construction begins on Notre-Dame de Chartres Cathedral in Chartres, France.

source_section: Events › By topic › Art and Culture


text: Kim Pusik and his team of historians finish the compilation of the Korean historical text Samguk Sagi.


text: Adam of Perseigne, French Cistercian abbot (d. 1221)


text: Baha ad-Din ibn Shaddad, Arab historian (d. 1234)


text: Adalbert III, archbishop of Salzburg (d. 1200)


text: Aoife MacMurrough (or Eva), Irish princess (d. 1188)


text: Najmuddin Kubra, founder of the Kubrawi order (d. 1221)


text: Maria of Antioch, Byzantine empress and regent (d. 1182)


text: Manuel Komnenos, son of Andronikos I (d. 1185)


text: Marie of Champagne, French noblewoman (d. 1198)


text: Ibn Jubayr, Andalusian geographer and traveller (d. 1217)


text: Margaret of Huntingdon, Scottish princess (d. 1201)


text: Ruben III, ruler of the Armenian Kingdom of Cilicia (d. 1187)


text: Theodora Komnene, queen of Jerusalem (approximate date)


text: Christina Hvide, queen of Sweden (approximate date)


text: Shihab al-Din 'Umar al-Suhrawardi, Persian scholar (d. 1234)


date: February 15

text: February 15 – Pope Lucius II dies at Rome after having been hit by a stone missile during the fighting against Senatorial forces led by Giordano Pierleoni. He is succeeded after an 11-month pontificate by Eugene III who becomes the 167th pope of the Catholic Church. Eugene is forced into exile by Arnold of Brescia.


text: February 15 – Lucius II, pope of the Catholic Church


date: March 23

text: March 23 – Tashfin ibn Ali, Almoravid emir


date: April 5

text: April 5 – Gabriel II, patriarch of Alexandria


date: October 6

text: October 6 – Baldwin, archbishop of Pisa


date: November 26

text: November 26 – Bellinus of Padua, Italian bishop


text: Sophia of Bavaria, German noblewoman (b. 1105)


text: Fujiwara no Tamako, Japanese empress (b. 1101)


text: William of Malines, Flemish priest (approximate date)


text: Zhang Zeduan, Chinese landscape painter (b. 1085)


text: Magnus Haraldsson, king of Norway (approximate date)


text: Spring – Almohad forces under Abd al-Mu'min defeat a Muslim Almoravid army at Tlemcen. Almoravid ruler Tashfin ibn Ali dies while escaping his enemies near Oran. He is succeeded by his son Ibrahim ibn Tashfin.


text: Władysław II ("the Exiled"), High Duke of Poland, suffers a defeat against the coalition forces under his brother Bolesław IV ("the Curly"). Władysław and his family escape across the border to Bohemia and later seek refuge in Germany. Bolesław captures Silesia and the Senioral territories, and becomes the new ruler of Greater Poland.


text: Eldiguz, Seljuk ruler (atabeg) of Azerbaijan, founds the Eldiguzid Dynasty and establishes an independent state within the Seljuk Empire.

source_section: Events › By place › Seljuk Empire


date: March 1

text: March 1 – Eugene III reissues the bull Quantum praedecessores, originally issued in December 1145), proclaiming the Second Crusade.


text: Summer – King Roger II launches a full scale invasion into North Africa, seizing lands from Emir Abu'l-Hasan al-Hasan ibn Ali in what is now parts of Algeria, Tunisia and Libya – thereby opening up more of the mercantile wealth of the Muslim world to Sicilian merchants. On June 18, George of Antioch conquers Tripoli and establishes more Sicilian authority.


text: The Republic of Genoa raids the Muslim-held Balearic Islands. The Republic of Pisa protests officially – seeing the islands as rightfully theirs. The Genoese then proceed to lay siege to Almería, in vain.


text: Autumn – Siege of Edessa: The Crusaders under Joscelin II recapture Edessa (Northern Syria) from Nur ad-Din, Seljuk ruler of Damascus. After not receiving support from the other Crusader states, Nur ad-Din counter-raids the territory of Antioch but withdraws his forces to retake Edessa in November.


text: The Republic of Genoa reaches a commercial agreement with Ramon Berenguer IV, count of Barcelona, granting privileges to merchants of both nations in the Catalan and Ligurian ports.


date: March 31

text: March 31 – Bernard of Clairvaux, commissioned by Pope Eugene III, preaches the Second Crusade at Vézelay, in Burgundy. King Louis VII of France and his wife, Queen Eleanor of Aquitaine, take up the cross. In a repeat of the events of 1096, Crusaders attack and massacre Jewish communities along the Rhine. Encouraged by his success, Bernard undertakes a tour in Burgundy, Lorraine and Flanders – preaching the Crusade as he goes.


date: December 25

text: December 25 – Diet of Speyer: King Conrad III takes the cross and secures the election of his 10-year-old son Henry as his successor in Germany.


text: The Almohad caliph Abd al-Mu'min conquers most of Morocco from the Almoravids.


text: The city of Bryansk (modern Russia) is first mentioned in the Hypatian Codex.


section: Climate & Environment

text: A rainy year causes the harvest to fail in Europe; one of the worst famines of the century ensues.

source_section: Events › By topic › Climate


text: Walram I, German nobleman (House of Nassau) (d. 1198)


text: Fujiwara no Ikushi, Japanese empress and nun (d. 1173)


text: Gerald of Wales, Welsh clergyman and chronicler (d. 1223)


text: Abd al-Ghani al-Maqdisi, Arab scholar and jurist (d. 1203)


text: Abu Musa al-Jazuli, Almohad philologian and writer (d. 1211)


date: February 5

text: February 5 – Zafadola, Arab ruler of the Hudid Dynasty


date: February 26

text: February 26 – Geoffrey de Gorham, Norman scholar


date: April 14

text: April 14 – Gertrude of Sulzbach, German queen (b. 1110)


date: June 1

text: June 1 – Ermengarde of Anjou, French duchess and regent


date: August 1

text: August 1 – Vsevolod II, Grand Prince of Kiev (Rurik Dynasty)


date: August 27

text: August 27 – Eric III, king of Denmark (House of Estridsen)


date: September 14

text: September 14 – Imad ad-Din Zengi, Seljuk ruler of Syria


date: September 15

text: September 15 – Alan, 1st Earl of Richmond ("the Black"), Breton noble


text: Izz al-Din Husayn, Persian ruler of the Ghurid Dynasty


text: Rodrigo Gómez, Castilian nobleman and military leader


text: Robert Pullen, English theologian (approximate date)


text: Eric III of Denmark abdicates as king, retiring to St. Canute's Abbey, Odense, where he dies on August 27, in his mid-20s. Canute V is elected to succeed him in Jutland and Sweyn III in Zealand.


text: Adam of Saint Victor, French Latin poet and composer


text: The first known reference to Moscow as a meeting place of Rurikid princes Yuri Dolgoruky and Sviatoslav Olgovich.


text: The Siculo-Normans take control of Gabes (modern Tunisia).


date: May

text: May–June – Nur al-Din, Seljuk ruler (atabeg) of Aleppo, signs a peace treaty with Mu'in al-Din Unur. As part of the agreement, he marries Mu'in al-Din's daughter Ismat al-Din Khatun. Together Mu'in al-Din and Nur al-Din besiege the fortresses of Bosra and Salkhad, which has been captured by rebellious Muslim forces.


date: July 1

text: July 1–October 25 – Siege of Lisbon: King Afonso I of Portugal conquers Lisbon from the Taifa of Badajoz after a four-month siege, with support of English, Flemish and German Crusaders. The garrison surrenders on the guarantee that their lives will be spared. The Crusaders break the terms and take part in a bloody massacre. Afonso rules from his capital at Coimbra, takes Sintra and Santarém, and sacks Palmela.

source_section: Events › By place › Second Crusade


date: July 17

text: July 17 – King Alfonso VII of León and Castile, leads a campaign at the head of mixed armies of Catalonia, Genoa, Pisa and France. He besieges Almería in southern Al-Andalus (modern Spain); a Genoese fleet of 63 galleys and 163 other vessels, blockade the Almoravid-held port, which is captured after a 2-month siege on October 17.


date: October 25

text: October 25 – Battle of Dorylaeum: The German crusaders under Conrad III are defeated by the Seljuk Turks led by Sultan Mesud I. Conrad is forced to turn back and is wounded by arrows during the retreat to Nicaea. In Seljuk territory the Crusaders are harassed all the way and demoralised by the intensified attacks. Many of the weakest people fall behind and are captured by the Muslims.


date: November

text: November – The combined forces of Louis VII and Conrad III meet at Lopardium and march along the coastal road via Pergamon and Smyrna to Ephesus, where they celebrate Christmas. Conrad, still suffering from his wounds, sails back to Constantinople to be placed under the care of Manuel's own physicians. Meanwhile, the Crusader camp is attacked by Turkish raiders near Ephesus.


date: December 24

text: December 24 – Battle of Ephesus: The French crusaders under Louis VII leave Ephesus, and ascend the Meander Valley. Louis is warned by messengers of Manuel that Seljuk and Danishmendid forces are assembling west of Adalia. Louis ignores the advice and successfully fends off an ambush just outside Ephesus.


text: A Sicilian fleet (some 70 ships) under George of Antioch attacks Corfu, the island surrenders and welcomes the Normans as their liberators. Leaving a garrison of 1,000 men, George sails to the Peloponnesus. He pillages the cities of Corinth, Athens and Thebes. King Roger II begins an 11-year war between Sicily and the Byzantine Empire.


text: Spring – Eugene III leaves Viterbo and travels to France. At the start of April he meets Louis VII at Dijon. It is agreed that Abbot Suger, Louis' adviser, governs France while Louis is away.


text: Battle of Bosra: A Crusader force under King Baldwin III fights an inconclusive battle against Seljuk forces from Damascus led by Mu'in al-Din aided by Nur al-Din's contingents from Aleppo and Mosul. Baldwin retreats to Jerusalem, while the Seljuk Turks attack his rearguard and stragglers underway back to Palestine.


text: Spring – The Almohads under Abd al-Mu'min destroy the Almoravid Empire. They capture Marrakesh and kill the last emir, Ishaq ibn Ali. Abd al-Mu'min orders the elimination of 30,000 Almoravids in a purge.


date: June

text: June – A French expeditionary force (some 18,000 men) led by King Louis VII departs from Metz and travels through Bavaria. Louis is accompanied by the French nobility and his wife, Queen Eleanor of Aquitaine, heiress of France. At Regensburg, where the force arrives on June 29, the Crusaders journey peaceably for fifteen days through Hungary and reach the Byzantine frontier at the end of August.


text: June – The Wendish Crusade: An expedition of Crusaders – composed of Germans, Saxons and Danes – expels the Obotrites from Wagria (Schleswig-Holstein). Two Danish fleets led by King Canute V in alliance with co-ruler Sweyn III, ravage the northern coast. The countryside of Mecklenburg and Pommerania is plundered and depopulated with much bloodshed, especially by German forces under Henry the Lion.


date: September 10

text: September 10 – The German crusaders under Conrad III reach Constantinople, where there is a frosty exchange of letters between Conrad and Manuel I. The German forces make camp at Galata on the northern shore of the Golden Horn. Manuel orders that a full-scale effort must be made to transport the Germans, who are causing troubles by sacking the Philopatium, across the Bosporus.


text: Late spring – An expedition of Crusaders and Englishmen, together with forces from Flanders, Frisia, Scotland and some German polities, leaves from Dartmouth in England for the Holy Land. Leadership is provided by Hervey de Glanvill, a Norman nobleman and constable of Suffolk, who leads a fleet of some 200 ships. Bad weather forces them to take refuge at the mouth of the Douro River, on the Portuguese coast, on June 16.


date: April 13

text: April 13 – Pope Eugene III issues a bull (known as the Divina dispensatione), permitting Conrad III to attack the Polabian Slavs (or Wends) under the spiritual guidance of Bishop Anselm of Havelberg. The Crusaders are allowed to wear sacred crosses, and Bernard of Clairvaux instructs the Germans how to treat the Slavs under their control. "With God's help", says the abbot, "they shall be either converted or slaughtered".


text: Congregation of Savigny is affiliated to the Cistercians.


text: Autumn – Conrad III decides not to wait for the French and crosses the Bosporus into Asia Minor. He leads the German crusader army to Nicomedia, and divides his forces into two divisions. Conrad takes the knights and his professional soldiers across Seljuk central territory while the baggage train, pilgrims and a defending force under Bishop Otto of Freising travel along the Aegean coast.


date: September 7

text: September 7 – The German crusaders suffer a natural disaster near Constantinople, when part of their encampment is swept away by a flash flood with considerable loss of life. Emperor Manuel I Komnenos orders the Crusaders to cross to Asia Minor by the Hellespont. Conrad III ignores the advice of Manuel and after some minor clashes with the Byzantines, pushes towards Constantinople.


section: Culture & Society

text: May – July – A German expeditionary force (some 20,000 men) under King Conrad III leaves Regensburg and passes into Hungary. The German nobility is headed by Conrad's nephew and heir, Frederick I, duke of Swabia. On July 20, Conrad crosses into the Byzantine Empire, and reaches Sofia – where Michael Palaiologos (a nephew of Emperor Manuel I) gives Conrad an official welcome and provides the Crusaders with food.


date: May 9

text: May 9 – Minamoto no Yoritomo, Japanese shogun (d. 1199)


date: September 30

text: September 30 – Guang Zong, Chinese emperor (d. 1200)


text: Stephen III, king of Hungary and Croatia (d. 1172)


text: Wada Yoshimori, Japanese samurai (d. 1213)


text: Jetsun Dragpa Gyaltsen, Tibetan spiritual leader (d. 1216)


text: William Marshal, 1st Earl of Pembroke (d. 1219)


text: Garnier de Nablus, Syrian Grand Master (d. 1192)


text: Sukeko, Japanese princess and empress (d. 1216)


text: Taira no Munemori, Japanese samurai (d. 1185)


text: Hugh de Kevilioc, 5th Earl of Chester (d. 1181)


text: Haakon II Sigurdsson, king of Norway (d. 1162)


text: Abd al-Haqq I, ruler of the Marinid Sultanate (d. 1217)


text: Raimbaut d'Aurenga, French troubadour (d. 1173)


text: Ibn Qudamah, Umayyad theologian (d. 1223)


date: January 13

text: January 13 – Robert de Craon, French Grand Master


date: April 6

text: April 6 – Frederick II, German nobleman (b. 1090)


date: April 9

text: April 9 – Conrad I, archbishop of Salzburg (b. 1075)


date: July 31

text: July 31 – Hugh of Crécy, French nobleman


date: September 19

text: September 19 – Igor II Olgovich, Kievan prince


date: September

text: September – Fatimah Khatun, wife of caliph al-Muqtafi.


date: October 31

text: October 31 – Robert FitzRoy, English nobleman


date: December 25

text: December 25 – Guy II, French nobleman


text: William Fitz Duncan, Scottish prince


text: Hériman of Tournai, French chronicler


text: Comita II (or III), Italian ruler of Arborea


text: John Capellanus, Scottish chancellor


text: Martim Moniz, Portuguese nobleman


text: Ibn Bassam, Andalusian poet and historian


text: King Afonso I ("the Great") of Portugal takes Abrantes from the Almoravids. Ramon Berenguer IV conquers the lower Ebro plain (between 1148–1149).


date: January 1

text: January 1 – The French crusaders under King Louis VII defeat a Turkish ambush next to the Meander River. Three days later they arrive at Laodicea – passing the spot where the German contingent led by Otto of Freising had been so disastrously ambushed (see 1147). The Crusaders are badly mauled as they cross Mount Cadmus (around January 8) before reaching Adalia on January 20.


date: January 8

text: January 8 – Battle of Mount Cadmus: The French crusaders under Louis VII are defeated by the Seljuk Turks. The vanguard led by Geoffrey de Rancon ignores orders to pause and moves too far ahead, losing touch with the main army. The French are attacked by the Turks with the baggage train (almost 10 km long) unprotected. Louis is able to escape the fray under cover of the darkness.


date: March

text: March – The French crusaders are left in Adalia; lack of available shipping obliges Louis VII to divide his forces – the knights and best troops accompany him to St. Symeon. Large numbers of pilgrims and non-combatants try to continue along the coastal road. Continually harassed by the Turks many French and Germans are killed. Less than half of them arrive in the late spring at Antioch.


date: June

text: June – Mu'in ad-Din Unur, Seljuk ruler (atabeg) of Damascus, prepares for war and strengthens the fortifications of the city. He sends an urgent request for military assistance to the Zangid ruler Sayf al-Din. Unur orders his troops to destroy the water sources in areas that the Crusaders must cross. Seljuk governors of frontier provinces station scouting parties along the road to Damascus.


date: July 24

text: July 24 – Zangid forces under Sayf al-Din arrive at Homs. Mu'in al-Din Unur sends a letter of ultimatum to the Crusader leaders to lift the siege of Damascus. Meanwhile, guerrilla attacks demoralise the Crusaders.


date: July 28

text: July 28 – Siege of Damascus: The Crusaders are forced to withdraw from their siege of Damascus after only four days. First Conrad III, then the rest of the Crusader army, decides to retreat to Jerusalem.


date: July

text: July – The Crusaders under Baldwin III join forces with the Crusader armies of Louis VII and Conrad III (all together some 50,000 men) at Tiberias. They march up the Jordan Valley and cross into Zangid territory.


text: September – The French crusaders raid the province of Damascus, in reprisal for the failure of their siege. Mu'in al-Din Unur takes his forces to the Hawran to protect the harvest and its transport to Damascus.


date: October

text: October – Queen Matilda returns to Normandy, partially due to her difficulties with the Catholic Church. Without the support of Robert of Gloucester her personal fight for the English throne is over.


text: Battle of Ghazni: Ghurid forces under Sayf al-Din Suri defeat the Ghaznavid sultan Bahram-Shah and capture the capital Ghazni. Bahram-Shah is forced to flee to India.


text: Siege of Tortosa: A multinational force under Ramon Berenguer IV besieges the Almoravid city of Tortosa. After a 7-month siege the garrison surrenders.


text: Following the uprising of other cities in the region of Meknes (modern Morocco) under al-Massati, the population of Ceuta rebels against the Almohads.


date: February 1

text: February 1 – A small Crusader fleet of Genoese and English ships sets sail from Lisbon for the Holy Land. The Anglo-Flemish Crusader fleet takes Oran.


date: March 7

text: March 7 – King Conrad III recovers from his wounds and leaves Constantinople with his household. He is well supplied with money by Emperor Manuel I Komnenos and uses these funds to recruit pilgrims to augment the forces that remain to him. Conrad and his re-equipped Crusaders sail with a Byzantine fleet to Palestine. The fleet is scattered by storms and lands in different ports.


date: March 19

text: March 19 – Louis VII and his wife, Queen Eleanor of Aquitaine, are welcomed at St. Symeon by Eleanor's uncle Raymond of Poitiers and all his household. Raymond escorts the French crusaders to Antioch, where for the next days festivities are held. He urges Louis to accompany him on an expedition against Aleppo but Louis refuses and prefers instead to finish his pilgrimage to Jerusalem.


date: June 24

text: June 24 – Council of Acre: Conrad III, Louis VII, Melisende and many other nobles join in a war council near Acre. They decide that Damascus rather than Edessa will be the primary target of the Second Crusade.


text: Anna Komnene writes the Alexiad, a biography of her father, the late Emperor Alexios I Komnenos.


text: Hildegard of Bingen founds a new monastery at Rupertsberg in the Rhine Valley near Bingen am Rhein.


text: An Italian silk industry is started at Palermo by Roger II, who takes numbers of silk workers back from Greece.

source_section: Events › By topic › Technology


text: Taking advantage of internal strife and a famine episode, George of Antioch takes Mahdia (June 22), Susa (July 1) and Sfax (July 12) in Tunisia, in the name of Roger II.


date: April

text: April–May – Louis VII and the French crusaders remain in Antioch, but there are rumours of an incestuous affair between Eleanor of Aquitaine and Raymond of Poitiers. Louis, alarmed for his honour, departs with his army to Jerusalem in late May. Meanwhile, Conrad III with his chief nobleman are welcomed by Queen Melisende and her 18-year-old son, co-ruler Baldwin III at Jerusalem.


date: September 8

text: September 8 – Conrad III sails from Acre to Thessaloniki and forms an alliance with Manuel I against King Roger II of Sicily. During his visit Henry II, Duke of Austria ('Jasomirgott') marries Manuel's niece, Theodora Komnene.


text: Muhammad II, ruler of the Nizari Ismaili State (d. 1210)


text: Ōe no Hiromoto, Japanese nobleman (d. 1225)


text: Urraca of Portugal, queen consort of León (d. 1211)


text: Qiu Chuji, Chinese Taoist religious leader (d. 1227)


text: Galgano Guidotti, Italian knight and saint (d. 1181)


text: Ugo Canefri, Italian knight and health worker (d. 1233)


text: Bohemond III ("the Child"), prince of Antioch (d. 1201)


text: Béla III, king of Hungary and Croatia (d. 1196)


text: Philippa of Antioch, princess of Antioch (d. 1178)


text: Isabelle de Meulan, French noblewoman (d. 1220)


date: January 3

text: January 3 – Anselm of St. Saba, English bishop


date: January 6

text: January 6 – William de Warenne, 3rd Earl of Surrey (b. 1119)


text: January 6 – Gilbert de Clare, 1st Earl of Pembroke (b. 1100)


date: January 24

text: January 24 – Ascelin (or Anselm), English bishop


date: April 16

text: April 16 – Robert de Bethune, bishop of Hereford


text: April 16 – Roger de Clinton, bishop of Coventry


text: April – Southern French crusaders under Alfonso Jordan of Toulouse arrive by sea at Acre. Alfonso dies suddenly at Caesarea, resulting in the accusation that he has been poisoned by Count Raymond II of Tripoli. Most of the Provençal forces turn back and return home. Meanwhile, an unknown proportion of northern European naval crusaders (from England and Germany) arrive at Acre.


date: August 21

text: August 21 – William II, count of Nevers (b. 1089)


date: September 17

text: September 17 – Conan III, duke of Brittany (b. 1095)


date: September 30

text: September 30 – Magnús Einarsson, Icelandic bishop


date: November 2

text: November 2 – Malachy, Irish archbishop and saint (b. 1094)


text: Amadeus III, count of Savoy and Maurienne


text: William of St. Thierry, French abbot and writer


text: Abu Bakr ibn al-Arabi, Andalusian scholar (b. 1076)


text: April – King Louis VII and Queen Eleanor of Aquitaine sail homeward in separate Sicilian ships. While the fleet rounds the Peloponnese (southern Greece) it is attacked by ships of the Byzantine navy. Louis gives orders to raise the French flag and is allowed to sail on. But the ships containing many of his followers and his possessions are captured and taken as a war-prize to Constantinople.


date: June 29

text: June 29 – Battle of Inab: The Zangid army under Nur al-Din defeats the combined army of Raymond of Poitiers and the Assassins of Ali ibn Wafa at Inab. After the battle, Nur al-Din invades Antiochene territory and captures the fortresses of Artah and Harim. He then turns west to appear before the walls of Antioch itself and raids as far as St. Symeon.


date: July

text: July – King Baldwin III receives an urgent request for help from Antioch to break the incomplete Zangid blockade of the city. Meanwhile, the Crusaders fail to retake Harim. Nur al-Din strengthens his siege of Antioch, but it is too large to surround. A truce is agreed under which Harim and farther east territory remains under Seljuk dominance.


date: October 24

text: October 24 – Ramon Berenguer IV, count of Barcelona, conquers Lleida from the Almoravids, after a siege of seven months (as well as Fraga and Mequinenza).


text: Åhus, in present-day Sweden, gains city rights (approximate date).


text: Spring – King Stephen besieges Worcester, but is unable to capture the castle due to its strong defences. He expels William de Beauchamp, lord of the city. Stephen builds two forts near the castle to assist in the attack.

source_section: Events › By place › Britain


text: The Italian 'naval republics' of Genoa, Pisa and Venice finance their expanding trade within and outside Europe – trade which includes an arms industry for manufactures and merchants alike (approximate date).


date: April 8

text: April 8 – Pope Eugene III takes refuge in the castle of Tusculum where he meets Louis VII and Eleanor of Aquitaine. He attempts to reunite the couple by insisting to restore the love between them.


date: July 15

text: July 15 – The Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem is consecrated, after reconstruction.


section: Economy & Finance

text: Genoa grants the benefits of a part of the city's fiscal revenues to a consortium of creditors called compera, the first example of the consolidation of public debt in medieval Europe.

source_section: Events › By topic › Commerce


text: Spring – Emperor Manuel I Komnenos recovers Corfu with the help of the Venetians, who defeat the Sicilian fleet. During the three-month siege, Byzantine admiral Stephen Kontostephanos is killed by a stone thrown by a catapult. Manuel prepares an offensive against the Normans; King Roger II sends a fleet (some 40 ships) under George of Antioch, to pillage the suburbs of Constantinople.


date: March

text: March – The 16-year-old Henry of Anjou, eldest son of Queen Matilda, lands in England in a second attempt to take the English throne from Stephen. He travels up via Salisbury and Gloucester north to Carlisle (Scotland).


date: May 22

text: May 22 – Henry of Anjou is knighted at Carlisle by King David I. Henry acknowledges the Scottish king's right to Northumberland.


text: Majd al-Din ibn Athir, Zangid historian (d. 1210)


text: Al-Fa'iz bi-Nasr Allah, Fatimid caliph (d. 1160)


text: Shikishi, Japanese princess, poet and nun (d. 1201)


text: Odon of Poznań, duke of Greater Poland (d. 1194)


text: Minamoto no Michichika, Japanese nobleman (d. 1202)


text: Margaritus of Brindisi, Sicilian admiral (d. 1197)


text: Fujiwara no Kanezane, Japanese nobleman (d. 1207)


text: Muhammad of Ghor, ruler of the Ghurid Empire (d. 1206)


text: Ch'oe Ch'ung-hŏn, Korean ruler of Goryeo (d. 1219)


text: Albert of Vercelli, patriarch of Jerusalem (d. 1214)


date: January 15

text: January 15 – Berengaria of Barcelona, queen of Castile (b. 1116)


date: March 10

text: March 10 – Reginald I ("the One-Eyed"), count of Bar


date: April 24

text: April 24 – Petronille de Chemillé, French abbess


date: May 8

text: May 8 – Bernard du Bec, French Benedictine abbot


text: June 29 – Raymond of Poitiers, prince of Antioch


date: August 28

text: August 28 – Mu'in al-Din Unur, Seljuk ruler of Damascus


text: September 30 – Arnaud de Lévezou, French archbishop


date: October 8

text: October 8 – Al-Hafiz, caliph of the Fatimid Caliphate


text: Joseph ibn Tzaddik, Spanish Jewish rabbi and poet


text: Machig Labdrön, Tibetan Buddhist teacher (b. 1055)


text: Qadi Ayyad, Almoravid imam and chief judge (b. 1083)


text: Pedro Helías, archbishop of Santiago de Compostela


text: Stephen Kontostephanos, Byzantine aristocrat (b. 1107)


text: The Pantheon of Agrippa is reconstructed in Rome.

source_section: Events › By place › Roman Empire


text: Trajan captures the Parthian capital of Ctesiphon.


text: A revolt breaks out in Britain; the garrison at Eboracum (York) is massacred.


text: Emperor Trajan is cut off in southern Mesopotamia after his invasion of that region.


text: Alexandria in Egypt is damaged during the Jewish-Greek civil wars. Marcus Rutilius Lupus, the Roman governor, sends Legio XXII Deiotariana to protect the inhabitants of Memphis.


text: Pope Sixtus I succeeds Alexander I as the seventh pope of Rome (according to Catholic biographies).


text: The Diaspora Revolt erupts almost simultaneously across various Jewish Diaspora communities in the empire's east, including Egypt, Libya and Cyprus.


text: An earthquake destroys Apamea and Antioch in Syria. The local bishop is held responsible (he will be martyred and remembered as St. Ignatius).


text: Shun of Han, Chinese emperor of the Han Dynasty (d. 144)


text: Pausanias, Greek historian and geographer (d. 180)


text: Alexander I, bishop of Rome (approximate date)


text: Dio Chrysostom, Greek philosopher and historian (b. AD 40)


date: February 8

text: 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.


text: 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.


text: 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).


text: 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.


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


date: November 10

text: November 10 – Dryburgh Abbey located in the Scottish Borders is founded by Lord Hugh de Morville.


text: 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.


text: The Irish Chronology (Chronicon Scotorum) is written (approximate date).


text: The temple at Angkor Wat ("Capital of Temples") is completed in the Khmer Empire (modern Cambodia).


text: Peter Lombard, a French scholastic theologian, publishes the Four Books of Sentences, which becomes the standard textbook of theology at the medieval universities.


text: Christchurch Priory located in Hampshire is founded by Earl Baldwin de Redvers.


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


text: 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.


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


date: January 26

text: January 26 – Fakhr al-Din al-Razi, Persian polymath (d. 1210)


text: October 8 – Narapatisithu, ruler of the Pagan Kingdom (d. 1211)


text: Baldwin V, count of Hainaut and Flanders (d. 1195)


text: Robert IV, French nobleman and Grand Master (d. 1193)


text: André de Chauvigny, French nobleman (d. 1202)


text: Wincenty Kadłubek, bishop of Kraków (d. 1223)


text: Henryk Kietlicz, archbishop of Gniezno (d. 1219)


text: Judah ben Samuel, German Jewish rabbi (d. 1217)


text: Agnes of Loon, German duchess and regent (d. 1191)


text: John Comyn, archbishop of Dublin (approximate date)


text: Hermann Joseph, German priest and mystic (d. 1241)


text: John de Courcy (or Courci), Norman knight (d. 1219)


text: Henry de Longchamp, English High Sheriff (d. 1212)


text: Qutb al-Din Aibak, ruler of the Delhi Sultanate (d. 1210)


date: January 9

text: January 9 – Xi Zong, Chinese emperor of the Jin Dynasty (b. 1119)


date: March 20

text: March 20 – Simon of Worcester, bishop of Worcester


text: April 8 – Gertrude of Babenberg, German duchess (b. 1118)


date: August 27

text: August 27 – Guarinus of Sitten, French bishop (b. 1065)


date: September 16

text: September 16 – Sibylla of Burgundy, queen of Sicily (b. 1126)


date: November 12

text: November 12 – Hartbert van Bierum, bishop of Utrecht


date: November 21

text: November 21 – García IV ("the Restorer"), king of Navarre


date: December 16

text: December 16 – Raynald of Bar, French abbot


text: Kjeld (or Ketil), Danish clergyman and saint


text: Jabir ibn Aflah, Andalusian astronomer (b. 1100)


text: Ibn Masal, Fatimid general, official and vizier


text: William the Simple, French nobleman (b. 1085)


text: Henry Berengar, co-ruler of Germany


text: Suryavarman II, ruler of the Khmer Empire


text: Confronted with internal strife, the commune of Bologna is the first Italian republic to turn to the rule of a podestà, Guido di Ranieri da Sasso (it ends in 1155).

source_section: Events


text: After the Battle of Ghazni, the city is burned by the Prince of Ghur.


text: Bolton Abbey is founded in North Yorkshire, England.


text: Anping Bridge is completed in China's Fujian province. Its total length will not be exceeded until 1846.


section: Health & Medicine

text: The first plague and fire insurance policy is issued in Iceland.


date: April 3

text: April 3 – Igor Svyatoslavich, Russian prince (d. 1202)


date: May 9

text: May 9 – al-Adid, last Fatimid caliph (d. 1171)


text: Unkei, Japanese sculptor (d. 1223)


date: January 13

text: January 13 – Abbot Suger, French statesman and historian (b. c. 1081)


date: April 23

text: April 23 – Adeliza of Louvain, queen of Henry I of England (b. 1103)


date: September 7

text: September 7 – Geoffrey of Anjou dies, and is succeeded by his son Henry, aged 18.


text: September 7 – Geoffrey V, Count of Anjou (b. 1113)


text: Li Qingzhao, Chinese poet (b. 1084)


text: Matlacohuatl becomes ruler of the city-state Azcapotzalco located in the Valley of Mexico (until 1222).

source_section: Events › By place › Mesoamerica


text: Spring – King Baldwin III and his mother, Queen Melisende, are called to intervene in a dispute between Baldwin's aunt Hodierna and her husband Raymond II, count of Tripoli. Hodierna decides to take a long holiday, and travels to Jerusalem, while Raymond escorts her out on the road southwards. On the way back to Tripoli, a group of Assassins stabs him to death at the southern gate of the city. The garrison rushes to arms and pours into the streets, slaying every Muslim in their way, but the Assassins manage to escape; the motive of their act is never known.


text: Stephen besieges Newbury Castle and holds the young William as a hostage to ensure that his father, John Marshal, keeps his promise to surrender the castle. When John refuses to comply, Stephen threatened to have the young boy catapulted over the walls. After this, William remains a crown hostage for many months.

source_section: Events › By place › England


text: The Almohad Caliphate conquers the Maghrib al-Awsat (modern Algeria). The city of Béjaïa becomes one of the main naval bases of the Almohads.

source_section: Events › By place › Africa


text: Summer – Nur al-Din, Seljuk ruler (atabeg) of Aleppo, re-captures most of Crusader territory in the Orontes Valley – reducing the Principality of Antioch to little more than a narrow coastal strip along the Mediterranean. The County of Tripoli remains unchanged and Jerusalem remains a potential threat with ambitions to expand eastward, while also striving to dominate the Fatimid Caliphate in Egypt.


text: Baldwin III begins a civil war against Melisende and launches an invasion in the south. He captures the castle of Mirabel, which is defended by Manasses. Baldwin spares his life and is exiled, Nablus thereupon surrenders soon after. Melisende seeks refuge in the Tower of David with her younger son, the 16-year-old Amalric. Baldwin enters Jerusalem, he allows his mother to retain Nablus and the neighbourhood as her dower.


date: April 6

text: April 6 – King Stephen has his nobles swear fealty to his son Eustace, as the rightful heir of the English throne. Theobald, archbishop of Canterbury, and other bishops refuse to crown Eustace favouring Henry of Anjou to claim the throne instead. Stephen confiscates their property and Theobald is forced into exile in Flanders.


text: The Archbishopric of Nidaros in the city of Nidaros (modern-day Trondheim) in Norway is established.


text: Synod of Kells-Mellifont: The present diocesan system of Ireland is established (with later modifications), and the primacy of Armagh is recognized.


text: Baldwin III demands more authority and blames Manasses, ruler of Ramla, for interfering with his legal succession as ruler of Jerusalem. He demands a second coronation from Patriarch Fulcher separated from Melisende. Fulcher refuses, and as a kind of self-coronation Baldwin parades through the city streets with laurel wreaths on his head. Before the High Court (Haute Cour) the decision is made to divide the kingdom into two districts.


text: The town of Gorodets, located on the banks of the Volga River, is founded by Yuri Dolgorukiy, Grand Prince of Kiev.

source_section: Events › By place › Europe


date: May 10

text: May 10 – Gangjong, Korean ruler of Goryeo (d. 1213)

source_section: Births


text: Taira no Tomomori, Japanese nobleman (d. 1185)


text: Maria Komnene, Byzantine princess (d. 1182)


text: Imai Kanehira, Japanese general (d. 1184)


text: Roman Mstislavich, Kievan prince (d. 1205)


text: Geoffrey, illegitimate son of Henry II (d. 1212)


text: James of Avesnes, French nobleman (d. 1191)


text: Roger IV, duke of Apulia and Calabria (d. 1161)


text: Patrick I, Scottish nobleman (approximate date)


text: Diego López II, Spanish nobleman (d. 1214)


text: Han Tuozhou, Chinese statesman (d. 1207)


text: David of Scotland, Scottish prince (d. 1219)


date: January 8

text: January 8 – Conrad I, German nobleman (b. 1090)

source_section: Deaths


date: January 18

text: January 18 – Albero de Montreuil, German archbishop


date: February 15

text: February 15 – King Conrad III dies after a 14-year reign at Bamberg. He is succeeded by his 29-year-old nephew Frederick I (Barbarossa), duke of Swabia, who is crowned as King of the Germans at Aachen several days later, on March 9. Frederick becomes sole ruler of Germany and receives the royal insignia, despite the fact that Conrad has a 6-year-old son, Frederick IV, who becomes duke of Swabia.


date: March 21

text: March 21 – King Louis VII repudiates his marriage to Eleanor of Aquitaine and has it annulled on grounds of misconduct and consanguinity – returning her lands and titles. Within 6 weeks, Eleanor re-marries Henry of Anjou, who had claimed the counties of Anjou and Maine, and the province of Touraine upon the death of his father Geoffrey Plantagenet (the Fair), the previous year. With the addition of Eleanor's lands, he now controls territory stretching unbroken, from Cherbourg to Bayonne.


date: May 3

text: May 3 – Matilda of Boulogne, queen of England


date: June 12

text: June 12 – Henry of Scotland, heir apparent to the throne of Scotland


date: August 1

text: August 1 – Albrecht I, German bishop of Meissen


date: September 13

text: September 13 – Ghiyath ad-Din Mas'ud, Seljuk sultan


date: October 12

text: October 12 – Adolf III, count Berg and Hövel (b. 1080)


date: October 14

text: October 14 – Ralph I (or Raoul), French nobleman


date: October 24

text: October 24 – Jocelin of Soissons, French theologian


date: November 13

text: November 13 – William of St. Barbe, Norman bishop


text: Adelard of Bath, English philosopher (b. 1080)


text: Raymond II (or Raimundus), count of Tripoli


date: November 6

text: November 6 – The Treaty of Wallingford: Henry of Anjou and Stephen ratify the terms of a permanent peace under the direction of Archbishop Theobald of Bec. Ending the civil war (The Anarchy) – between England and Normandy after 18-years. The treaty grants the throne to Stephen for the duration of his life, but makes Henry the heir apparent.


date: August 19

text: August 19 – Siege of Ascalon: King Baldwin III of Jerusalem captures Ascalon, the last Fatimid fortress in Palestine. The citizens are allowed to leave in peace and return to Egypt.

source_section: Events › By place › Levant


date: August

text: August – Stephen assemble troops to renew the siege of Wallingford Castle in a final attempt to take the stronghold. Henry of Anjou marches south to relieve the siege, arriving with a small army of mercenaries. He places Stephen's besieging troops under siege themselves. Stephen agrees to make a truce and accepts Henry as heir to the English throne.


text: Estimation: Constantinople, capital of the Byzantine Empire, becomes the largest city of the world, taking the lead from Merv in the Seljuk Empire.

source_section: Events › By topic › Demography


text: Spring – The 19-year-old Henry II of England lands with a Norman fleet (some 40 ships) on the south coast of England. He defeats King Stephen (a cousin of his mother, Queen Matilda) with a small army at Malmesbury. Henry travels north through the Midlands, while a temporary truce is accepted. Robert de Beaumont, 2nd Earl of Leicester, announces his support for the cause. Hoping to dethrone Stephen and replace him with Matilda.


text: King Roger II sends a Sicilian expedition under Admiral Philip of Mahdia to conquer Ifriqiya. With the support of Muslim troops, the Siculo-Normans suppress a rebellion on Djerba and invade the Kerkennah Islands.


text: Confronted with important financial difficulty due to the expenses of the Spanish crusade, the Republic of Genoa has to sell a third of the city of Tortosa (which they had conquered in 1148 during an expedition against the Almoravids) to Ramon Berenguer IV, count of Barcelona.


text: Dhovemi, ruler of the Maldives, converts to Islam and adopts the Muslim title of Sultan Muhammad ibn Abdullah.

source_section: Events › By topic › Religion


text: Spring – Andronikos I Komnenos, son of Isaac Komnenos, is imprisoned in the imperial palace for conspiring against his uncle, Emperor Manuel I (Komenenos) at Constantinople.

source_section: Events › By place › Byzantine Empire


text: Raynald of Châtillon, a French nobleman, marries Constance of Antioch (after given permission by Baldwin III) and becomes Prince of Antioch.


date: August 17

text: August 17 – William IX, count of Poitiers (d. 1156)


text: Abu Mohammed Salih, Almohad Sufi leader (d. 1234)


text: Aimery of Cyprus (or Amaury), king of Jerusalem (d. 1205)


text: Marco I Sanudo, duke of the Archipelago (d. 1227)


text: Sibylla of Acerra, queen and regent of Sicily (d. 1205)


text: Kamo no Chōmei, Japanese author and poet (d. 1216)


text: Fujiwara no Kanefusa, Japanese nobleman (d. 1217)


text: Harvey I of Léon, Breton nobleman and knight (d. 1203)


text: Waleran de Beaumont, 4th Earl of Warwick (d. 1204)


text: Cathal Crobhdearg Ua Conchobair, Irish king (d. 1224)


text: William II (the Good), king of Sicily (d. 1189)


text: Richard de Clare, 3rd Earl of Hertford (d. 1217)


text: Nerses of Lambron, Armenian archbishop (d. 1198)


text: Ibn Hammad, Hammadid historian and writer (d. 1230)


date: January 28

text: January 28 – Pelagius of Oviedo, Spanish bishop


date: February 10

text: February 10 – Taira no Tadamori, Japanese samurai (b. 1096)


text: February 10 – Taira no Tadamori dies after a career in which he has used his military and diplomatic skills to subdue the pirates menacing commerce in the Seto Inland Sea. He expands trade with China and becomes the first samurai to serve Emperor Konoe as personal bodyguard. He is succeeded by his son Taira no Kiyomori, who assumes control of the Taira Clan. He establishes the first samurai-dominated government in Japan.

source_section: Events › By place › Asia


date: April 16

text: April 16 – Piotr Włostowic, Polish nobleman (b. 1080)


date: May 22

text: May 22 – Atto of Pistoia, Portuguese bishop (b. 1070)


date: May 24

text: May 24 – King David I of Scotland dies after a 29-year reign at Carlisle Castle. He is succeeded by his grandson, the 12-year-old Malcolm IV (Virgo). Malcolm is the eldest son of Henry of Scotland, 3rd Earl of Huntingdon, who is crowned as ruler of Scotland at Scone Priory on May 27. Because of his young age, Donnchad (or Duncan) becomes Malcolm's regent and royal adviser.


date: June 29

text: June 29 – Óláfr Guðrøðarson, king of the Isles


date: July 8

text: July 8 – Eugene III, pope of the Catholic Church


text: July 8 – Pope Eugene III dies after an 8-year pontificate at Tivoli. He is succeeded by Anastasius IV as the 168th pope of the Catholic Church.


text: August 17 – Eustace IV, count of Boulogne (b. 1130)


date: August 20

text: August 20 – Bernard of Clairvaux, French abbot (b. 1090)


date: September 3

text: September 3 – Henry I, German archbishop (b. 1080)


text: October 14 – Henry Murdac, English archbishop


date: December 16

text: December 16 – Ranulf de Gernon, Norman nobleman (b. 1099)


text: Tallinn, the capital of Estonia, is first marked on the world map by Muhammad al-Idrisi.


text: The Banate of Bosnia becomes an autonomous duchy as part of the Lands of the Hungarian Crown.


date: April 18

text: April 18 – Nur al-Din, Seljuk ruler (atabeg) of Aleppo, encamps before Damascus and overthrows Mujir al-Din by force with support of the Jewish citizens, who open the eastern gate to the bulk of his army. Mujir flees to the citadel, but capitulates after only a few hours. He is offered his life and the Emirate of Homs. A few weeks later Mujir is suspected of plotting with old friends in Damascus and is exiled to Baghdad. Damascus is annexed to Zangid territory and all of Syria is unified under the authority of Nur al-Din, from Edessa in the north to the Hauran to the south.


text: The Almohad army conquers the last independent Muslim stronghold at Granada (modern Spain), after a six year siege.


date: January 15

text: January 15 – Muhammad al-Idrisi, Arab geographer and cartographer, completes his atlas of the world, the Tabula Rogeriana, which will remain one of the most accurate maps until the Age of Discovery.

source_section: Events › By topic › Art and Culture


text: Normans conduct a series of raids in North Africa, including Annaba (modern Algeria) and the Nile Delta.


text: Autumn – King Frederick Barbarossa, Holy Roman Emperor, leads an expedition into Italy for his imperial coronation. He wants to impose his will upon the towns and cities of Lombardy, a region long accustomed to interference from Germany. Frederick encounters stiff resistance to his authority, the Lombard nobles are unwilling to acknowledge his rule and the rights to raise taxes.


text: Nur al-Din establishes the Al-Nuri Hospital in Damascus. The hospital has outpatient consulting rooms, a conference room, prayer hall, vestibules and bathrooms.


date: December 19

text: December 19 – The 21-year-old Henry II is crowned as sole ruler of England along with his wife Eleanor of Aquitaine.


text: Peter de Bermingham has a charter to hold a market in Birmingham, origin of the Bull Ring.


date: April 13

text: April 13 – Gökböri, Ayyubid general (d. 1233)


date: October 19

text: October 19 – Vsevolod the Big Nest, Grand Prince of Vladimir-Suzdal (d. 1212)


date: November 2

text: November 2 – Constance I, queen of Sicily (d. 1198)


date: November 11

text: November 11 – Sancho I, king of Portugal (d. 1211)


text: Shihab al-Din Yahya ibn Habash Suhrawardi, Persian philosopher (d. 1191)


text: Robert II, count of Dreux and Braine (d. 1218)


text: Minamoto no Yoshinaka, Japanese general (d. 1184)


text: Kyŏng Taesŭng, Korean military leader (d. 1183)


text: Agnes of Austria, queen consort of Hungary (d. 1182)


text: Benoît de Sainte-Maure, French poet (d. 1173)


date: February 20

text: February 20 – Wulfric of Haselbury, English miracle worker


date: February 26

text: February 26 – King Roger II dies at Palermo after a 24-year reign. He is succeeded by his fourth son William I ("the Bad"') as ruler of Sicily. William appoints Maio of Bari, a man of low birth, to chancellor and his adviser. He pursues his father's policy of strengthening authority over the towns and the Italian nobles, who rally around his cousin Robert III, count of Loritello, in Apulia and Calabria.


date: March 8

text: March 8 – Stephen of Obazine, French priest (b. 1085)


date: March

text: March – Lawrence of Durham, English prelate and poet


date: April 1

text: April 1 or 15 – Al-Zafir, Fatimid caliph (b. 1133)


date: April 3

text: April 3 – Al-Adil ibn al-Sallar, Fatimid vizier


date: June 8

text: June 8 – William of York, English archbishop


date: June 9

text: June 9 – Geoffrey of Canterbury, English abbot


date: June 20

text: June 20 – Ermengol VI ("el de Castilla"), count of Urgell (b. 1096)


date: September 4

text: September 4 – Gilbert de la Porrée, French theologian


date: November 18

text: November 18 – Adelaide of Maurienne, French queen (b. 1092)


date: December 3

text: December 3 – Pope Anastasius IV dies after a 17-month pontificate. He is succeeded by Adrian IV (the only English pope in history) as the 169th pope of the Catholic Church.


text: December 3 – Anastasius IV, pope of the Catholic Church


date: December 12

text: December 12 – Vicelinus, German bishop (b. 1086)


text: Henry II grants the city of Bristol ('Brycgstow') a Royal charter, and is divided between Gloucestershire and Somerset (until 1373).


date: April 18

text: April 18 – Siege of Tortona: German forces capture the citadel of Tortona (after a two-month siege). The city is razed to the ground, including the graves.


text: The city of Bari rebels against King William I ("the Bad") of Sicily and recognizes the Byzantine emperor Manuel I Komnenos as its overlord.


text: Henry II subdues the English nobles who have become too powerful during the civil war. He takes Bridgnorth Castle and Scarborough Castle.


date: June 18

text: June 18 – King Frederick Barbarossa is crowned as Holy Roman Emperor by Pope Adrian IV at St. Peter's Basilica in Rome.


text: Summer (3/5 June) – Robert of Chichester becomes bishop of Exeter (until 1160).


text: Spring – King Henry II has the Palace of Westminster (which is badly damaged by Stephen's supporters during The Anarchy) repaired. Thomas Becket, archbishop of Canterbury, is given the task of repairing the buildings.


text: A plan to conquer Ireland is approved by Adrian IV in a Papal bull (a formal proclamation issued by the pope) called Laudabiliter. It gives Henry II lordship over Ireland, but the Irish kings resist English rule.


text: The Virgin of Vladimir icon is taken by Grand Prince Andrey Bogolyubsky to Vladimir from Suzdal.


text: Jaisalmer Fort, located in the Indian state Rajasthan, is constructed by the Rajput ruler Rawal Jaisal (approximate date).


text: Arnold of Brescia is exiled by Adrian IV and forced to flee. He is arrested by imperial forces, hanged, and his body burned at the stake in Rome in June.


text: New Year's Day is changed from January 1 to March 25.


date: February 28

text: February 28 – Henry the Young King, son of Henry II (d. 1183)


date: May 17

text: May 17 – Jien, Japanese poet and historian (d. 1225)


date: November 11

text: November 11 – Alfonso VIII, king of Castile (d. 1214)


text: Taira no Tokuko, Japanese empress (d. 1214)


text: Ottokar I, duke of Bohemia (approximate date)


text: Bernard d'Armagnac, French nobleman (d. 1202)


text: Geoffrey de Saye, English nobleman (d. 1230)


text: Fujiwara no Ariie, Japanese nobleman (d. 1216)


text: Sicard of Cremona, Italian prelate (d. 1215)


text: Kamo no Chōmei, Japanese waka poet (d. 1216)


text: Abu Muhammad Salih, Almohad Sufi leader (d. 1234)


text: Fujiwara no Yasuhira, Japanese nobleman (d. 1189)


text: Benkei, Japanese warrior monk (sōhei) (d. 1189)


text: Maud de Braose, English noblewoman (d. 1210)


date: June 4

text: June 4 – Baldwin de Redvers, English nobleman


date: June 10

text: June 10 – Sigurd II, king of Norway (b. 1133)


date: June 11

text: June 11 – Kenkai, Japanese Buddhist monk (b. 1107)


date: August 22

text: August 22 – The 16-year-old Emperor Konoe dies after a 14-year reign. He is succeeded by his brother Go-Shirakawa as the 77th emperor of Japan.


text: August 22 – Konoe, emperor of Japan (b. 1139)


text: November 18 – Qin Hui, Chinese politician (b. 1090)


text: Minamoto no Yoshikuni, Japanese samurai (b. 1082)


text: William de Mohun, English nobleman (b. 1090)


text: Arnold of Brescia, Italian priest and rebel (b. 1090)


text: Li Qingzhao, Chinese poet and writer (b. 1084)


text: Fujiwara no Akisuke, Japanese nobleman (b. 1090)


text: Geoffrey of Monmouth, English historian (b. 1095)


date: September 17

text: September 17 – Frederick I makes the Margraviate of Austria a duchy and gives the Babenberg Dynasty special privileges (the Privilegium Minus).


date: May 28

text: May 28 – King William I (the Bad) lands with a Sicilian expeditionary force in Apulia. He defeats the Byzantine army at Brindisi and recaptures Bari.


date: July 28

text: July 28 – The Hōgen rebellion, a dispute between Emperor Go-Shirakawa and his half-brother retired-Emperor Sutoku, erupts in Japan.


text: The independent city-state Sfax revolts against Norman occupation. Almohad forces conquer the city and massacre the Christian citizens.


date: January 20

text: January 20 – Freeholder Lalli slays the English missionary-bishop Henry with an axe, on the ice of Lake Köyliönjärvi in Finland (according to legend).


text: June 18 – Pope Adrian IV comes to terms, and signs the Treaty of Benevento. He recognises the suzerainty of William I as ruler of Sicily and Italy.


date: December 25

text: December 25 – King Sverker I (the Elder) is murdered on his way to church. He is succeeded by his rival, Eric IX (the Holy), as ruler of Sweden.


text: Mosan artists create the Stavelot Triptych, a masterpiece of Goldsmithing, as a reliquary to house purported pieces of the True Cross.

source_section: Events › By topic › Art and Science


date: June 9

text: June 9 – Emperor Frederick I (Barbarossa) marries Beatrice I, daughter of Reginald III, adding the County of Burgundy to the Holy Roman Empire.


text: Yuri Dolgorukiy, Grand Prince of Kiev, founds and fortifies the town of Moscow and erects a wooden Kremlin within the settlement (approximate date).


date: January 6

text: January 6 – Matilda of England, daughter of Henry II (d. 1189)


date: October 27

text: October 27 – Raymond VI, French nobleman (d. 1222)


text: Sayf al-Din al-Amidi, Ayyubid jurist (d. 1233)


text: Robert of Auxerre, French chronicler (d. 1212)


text: Hōjō Masako, Japanese noblewoman (d. 1225)


text: Gaucelm Faidit, French troubadour (d. 1209)


text: Isaac II Angelos, Byzantine emperor (d. 1204)


text: Abu Said al-Baji, Almohad Sufi scholar (d. 1231)


text: Magnus V Erlingsson, king of Norway (d. 1184)


text: Zhang Congzheng, Chinese physician (d. 1228)


date: January 17

text: January 17 – André de Montbard, French nobleman


text: January 20 – Henry, English bishop and missionary


date: January 31

text: January 31 – Herman van Horne, bishop of Utrecht


date: February

text: February – Domenico Morosini, doge of Venice (House of Morosini), dies after an 8-year reign. He is succeeded by Vitale II Michiel as ruler of Venice.


date: July 20

text: July 20 – Toba, Japanese emperor (b. 1103)


date: August 4

text: August 4 – Otto IV, German nobleman (b. 1083)


date: August 12

text: August 12 – Blanca of Navarre, queen of Castile


date: November 20

text: November 20 – Henry I, German nobleman (b. 1115)


date: December 2

text: December 2 – William IX, count of Poitiers (b. 1153)


text: December 25 – Sverker I (the Elder), king of Sweden


text: December 25 – Peter the Venerable, French monk and abbot


text: Tairrdelbach Ua Conchobair, Irish king (b. 1088)


text: Atsiz, Persian ruler of the Khwarazmian Empire


text: Domenico Morosini, doge of Venice (House of Morosini)


text: Albert I of Brandenburg begins his ruthless program to pacify the Slavic region.


date: July

text: July – Henry II launches a campaign against Owain Gwynedd in north Wales. Although Owain defeats him at the Battle of Ewloe he eventually submits to Henry and pays homage.


date: August 21

text: August 21 – Sancho III and Ferdinand II, the sons of King Alfonso VII of Castile, divide his kingdom between them upon his death.


text: Nur al-Din Zengi besieges the Knights Hospitaller in the crusader fortress of Banyas, routs a relief army led by King Baldwin III of Jerusalem, and takes Grand Master Bertrand de Blanquefort prisoner.


text: Henry II of England grants special trading privileges to the Hansa merchants of Cologne in London who lend him money at interest.


text: Henry II of England grants a charter to the merchants of Lincoln (approximate date).


date: January 12

text: January 12–March 16 – Caliph Al-Muqtafi successfully defends Baghdad against the coalition forces of Sultan Muhammad of Hamadan, and Atabeg Qutb-adin of Mosul.


text: August 12 – The 1157 Hama earthquake takes place after a year of foreshocks. Its name is taken from the city of Hama, in west-central Syria (then under Seljuk rule), where the most casualties are sustained.


date: June 11

text: June 11 – Albert the Bear (Ger: Albrecht der Bär), becomes the founder of the Margraviate of Brandenburg, Germany and the first Margrave.


date: September 8

text: September 8 – King Richard I of England (d. 1199)


text: Leopold V of Austria, Duke of Austria from 1177 and Duke of Styria from 1192 until his death (d. 1194)


text: Margaret of France, Queen of England and Hungary, Queen of England by marriage to Henry the Young King and queen of Hungary and Croatia by marriage to Béla III of Hungary (d. 1197)


text: Tomoe Gozen, female Samurai warrior and military leader (d. 1247)


text: Alexander Neckham, English scholar, teacher, theologian and abbot of Cirencester Abbey (d. 1217)


date: January 24

text: January 24 or January 25 – Agnes of Babenberg, Politically active High Duchess consort of Poland (b. 1111)


date: May 8

text: May 8 – Ahmed Sanjar, Great Seljuk Sultan (b. 1084 or 1086)


date: May 15

text: May 15 – Yury Dolgoruky, Russian prince (b. c. 1099)


text: August 21 – King Alfonso VII of Castile (b. 1105)


date: October 23

text: October 23 – Battle of Grathe Heath: A civil war in Denmark ends with the death of King Sweyn III. Valdemar I of Denmark becomes king of all Denmark, and restores and rebuilds the country.


text: October 23 – King Sweyn III of Denmark (b.c. 1125) (in battle)


text: date unknown – King Eystein II of Norway (b.c. 1125)


date: September 5

text: September 5 – Emperor Go-Shirakawa of Japan abdicates the throne after a 3-year reign. He is succeeded by his 15-year-old son Nijō as the 77th emperor. Go-Shirakawa retains power, and gives Kiyomori Taira a higher position to lead a samurai-dominated government.


date: January 11

text: January 11 – Vladislav II becomes king of Bohemia. He is crowned by Frederick Barbarossa, Holy Roman Emperor, with a diadem (called by the chroniclers a diadema or circulus). Vladislaus is also invested with Upper Lusatia, and accompanies Frederick to Milan to suppress the rebellion in Lombardy (northern Italy).


text: Autumn – Emperor Manuel I Komnenos sets out from Constantinople at the head of an expeditionary army. He marches to Cilicia; and while the main army follows the coast road eastwards Manuel hurries ahead with a force of only 500 cavalry. He manages to surprise Thoros II "the Great", lord of the Armenian Kingdom of Cilicia, who participated in the attack on Cyprus in 1156. Thoros flees into the mountains and Cilicia is occupied by the Byzantines.


text: Portuguese forces, led by King Afonso I of Portugal ("the Great"), conquer Pamela, Alcácer do Sal and Sesimbra from the diminished Almoravids.


text: The Diet of Roncaglia is convoked by Frederick I. He mobilises an army of 100,000 men and leaves in June for a second Italian expedition – accompanied by Henry the Lion and his Saxon forces. He crosses the Alps and lays siege to Milan. German forces capture the city from the rebels after a short siege. However Milan soon rebels again, with Empress Beatrice taken captive and forced into parading on a donkey.


text: The Roman Catholic Diocese of Derry is founded in Ireland.


text: Raymond of Fitero, Spanish monk and abbot, pledges to defend the fortress of Calatrava (guarding the roads to Córdoba and Toledo) from incoming Muslim raiders. It is the founding moment of the Order of Calatrava, the spearhead of the Iberian armies during the Reconquista.


text: To restore confidence in the English currency, Henry II mints a new penny (known to specialists as the Tealby penny) with his own image.

source_section: Events › By topic › Economy


text: Welsh forces under Ifor Bach ("Ivor the Short") attack Cardiff Castle and kidnap William Fitz Robert, Norman lord of Glamorgan, along with his family.


text: The University of Bologna is granted its first privileges by Frederick I.

source_section: Events › By topic › Education


text: 12-year-old William Marshal is sent from England to the Château de Tancarville in Normandy to be brought up in the household of William de Tancarville, a cousin of William's mother. He begins his training as a knight; this also includes academic studies, practical lessons in chivalry and courtly life, and warfare and combat (using wooden swords and spears).


text: Summer – King Henry II of England travels to France to meet King Louis VII and propose a marriage between his three-year-old son Henry and Louis' daughter Margaret (less than a year old). She is shipped to England, as the future wife and queen. The Vexin region is promised to Margaret as dowry and is put under the care of the Knights Templar, until her future husband is old enough to take control of it.


date: August 6

text: August 6 – Al-Nasir li-Din Allah, Abbasid caliph (d. 1225)


date: September 23

text: September 23 – Geoffrey II, duke of Brittany (d. 1186)


text: Henry I, Duke of Mödling ("the Elder"), German nobleman (d. 1223)


text: Albert I ("the Proud"), margrave of Meissen (d. 1195)


text: Giordano Forzatè, Italian religious leader (d. 1248)


text: Fujiwara no Ietaka, Japanese waka poet (d. 1237)


text: Valdemar Knudsen, Danish bishop (d. 1236)


text: Jinul (or Chinul), Korean Zen master (d. 1210)


text: Baldwin of Bethune, French nobleman (d. 1212)


text: Margaret of France, Queen of England and Hungary, daughter of Louis VII of France (d. 1197)


text: Yvette of Huy, Belgian anchoress (d. 1228)


text: Ermengol VIII (or Armengol), count of Urgell (d. 1208)


text: Theobald I, Count of Bar, French nobleman and knight (d. 1214)


text: Philip of Dreux, bishop of Beauvais (d. 1217)


date: April 26

text: April 26 – Martirius, archbishop of Esztergom


date: July 19

text: July 19 – Wibald, German monk and abbot (b. 1098)


date: July 27

text: July 27 – Geoffrey VI, count of Nantes (b. 1134)


date: August 20

text: August 20 – Rögnvald Kali Kolsson, Earl of Orkney


date: August 31

text: August 31 – King Sancho III ("the Desired") dies after a 1-year reign. He is succeeded as ruler of Castile by his 2-year-old son Alfonso VIII ("the Noble"). The noble houses of Lara and Castro claim the regency, as the boy's uncle, Ferdinand II (ruler of León and Galicia).


text: August 31 – Sancho III, king of Castile (b. 1134)


date: September 22

text: September 22 – Otto of Freising, German bishop (b. 1114)


date: December 15

text: December 15 – Frederick II, German archbishop


text: Oda of Brabant, Belgian prioress and saint


text: Abu Jafar ibn Atiyya, Almohad vizier and writer


text: Thorbjorn Thorsteinsson, Norwegian pirate


text: Barthélemy de Jur, French bishop (b. 1080)


text: Anselm of Havelberg, German bishop (b. 1100)


text: (Approximate date): Churchman Richard FitzNeal is appointed Lord High Treasurer in England, in charge of Henry II of England's Exchequer, an office he will hold for almost 40 years.


text: Taira no Kiyomori leaves Kyōto on a personal pilgrimage, giving Fujiwara no Nobuyori and his Minamoto allies the perfect chance to stage an uprising.


date: September 7

text: September 7 – Pope Alexander III succeeds Pope Adrian IV, as the 170th pope.


text: Tunis is reconquered from the Normans, by the Almohad caliphs.


text: Minamoto no Yoshitsune, Japanese general (d. 1189)


date: May 30

text: May 30 – Wladislaus II, the Exile of Poland (b. 1105)


date: August 29

text: August 29 – Bertha of Sulzbach, Byzantine Empress (b. 1110s)


date: September 1

text: September 1 – Pope Adrian IV (b. c. 1100)


date: October 11

text: October 11 – William of Blois, Count of Boulogne and Earl of Surrey (b. c. 1137)


text: Trajan removes Osroes I as king of Parthia, and appoints his son Parthamaspates in his place. Parthamaspates romanizes his name to Parthicus.

source_section: Events › By place › Roman Empire


text: Quintus Marcius Turbo sails to Alexandria and defeats Jewish insurgents in several pitched battles.


text: Emperor Trajan completes his invasion of Parthia by capturing the cities of Seleucia, Babylon, Ctesiphon and Susa, marking the high-water mark of the Roman Empire's eastern expansion.


text: In summer, rebellious movement emerges in Mesopotamia against Roman occupation. General Lusius Quietus is sent by Trajan to suppress the uprisings, recovering Nisibis, besieging and sacking Edessa, and waging war against local Jews


text: Trajan sends two expeditionary forces. One, consisting of elements of Legio III Cyrenaica, to suppress the revolt in Judea and the other Legio VII Claudia to restore order on Cyprus.


text: Trajan makes Syria a province of Rome and crosses the Tigris to annex Adiabene. He proceeds with his army to the Persian Gulf and conquers territory that becomes the province of Parthia.


text: Trajan sends laureatae to the Roman Senate on account of his victories and being conqueror of Parthia.


text: Liang Na, wife of Shun of Han (d. 150)


date: March 30

text: March 30 – Quirinus of Neuss, Roman Christian martyr according to Roman Catholic tradition


text: Ban Zhao, female Chinese historian (b. AD 49)


text: Zacchaeus of Jerusalem, bishop of Jerusalem


text: Philopappos, prince of Commagene (b. AD 65)


text: Abgar VII, ruler of Osroene (approximate date)


date: January 25

text: January 25 – Frederick Barbarossa, Holy Roman Emperor, captures Crema, Lombardy after a 6-month siege, as part of his campaign against the independent Italian city-states. Some 20,000 survivors are allowed to leave the city with whatever they could carry before Crema is looted and burnt to the ground. The expense of the siege (over 2,000 silver marks) and Frederick's determination to enforce it over the winter, demonstrates his ability to hold troops in the field and to keep his allies on side.


text: A large Portuguese offensive begins in the Alentejo region, against the Almoravids. The city of Tomar is founded by Gualdim Pais, Grand Master of the Knights Templar.


text: Autumn – Raynald of Châtillon, prince of Antioch, makes a plundering raid in the valley of the Euphrates at Marash to seize cattle, horses and camels from the local peasants. On his way back to Antioch, he and his retinue are attacked by Zangid warriors. Raynald is unhorsed, captured and sent to Aleppo where he is put in jail.


text: In Japan, the Heiji Rebellion began with the siege of the Sanjō Palace.


text: The Almohads conquer Mahdia (modern Tunisia) from the Normans after an important naval success near the city, against Christian reinforcements coming from Sicily.


text: Approximate date – A commercial treaty between the Almohad Caliphate and the Republic of Pisa opens the North African ports to Tuscan merchants.


text: The island of Lundy is granted to the Knights Templar by Henry II of England.


text: A plot of land at Miholjanec is donated to the Knights Templar, who build a monastery in nearby Zdelia. This is the earliest historical mention of the Templars in Croatia and Hungary.


text: Spital am Semmering (modern Austria) is founded by Margrave Ottokar III. He erects a hospital and completes the colonization of the area around the Traisen and Gölsen rivers.


date: May 18

text: May 18 – Erik IX Jedvardsson of Sweden is murdered, after which his murderer Magnus Henriksen proclaims himself king of Sweden as Magnus II. He is murdered in turn the following year, however. Erik is soon worshipped as a saint. Though never formally canonized by Pope Alexander III, he eventually becomes the patron saint of Sweden.


date: November 2

text: November 2 – Betrothal of 5-year-old Henry the Young King of England and 2-year-old Marguerite, daughter of Louis VII of France; she brings Norman Vexin to the English crown as a dowry.


text: Approximate date – Derby School is founded by Walkelin de Derby in Derby (England); it will survive until 1989.


date: October 4

text: October 4 – Alys of France, daughter of Louis VII (d. 1220)


date: December 3

text: December 3 – Conrad of Querfurt, German bishop (d. 1202)


text: Rudolph I, count palatine of Tübingen (d. 1219)


text: Eschiva of Ibelin, queen of Cyprus (d. 1196)


text: David Kimhi, French rabbi and grammarian (d. 1235)


text: Alice of Courtenay, French noblewoman (d. 1218)


text: Bertold V, German nobleman (House of Zähringen) (d. 1218)


text: Dulce of Aragon, queen of Portugal (d. 1198)


text: Cadenet, French poet and troubadour (approximate date)


text: Mestwin I, duke of Pomerania (approximate date)


text: Adolf III, count of Schaumburg and Holstein (d. 1225)


text: Vladislaus III, duke of Bohemia (approximate date)


text: Ali ibn al-Athir, Arab historian and biographer (d. 1233)


text: Ma Yuan, Chinese landscape painter (d. 1225)


date: March 12

text: March 12 – Al-Muqtafi, caliph of the Abbasid Caliphate (b. 1096)


date: April 3

text: April 3 – William FitzAlan, Breton nobleman (b. 1105)


date: April 27

text: April 27 – Rudolf I, count of Bregenz and Chur (b. 1081)


text: May 18 – Ibn al-Qalanisi, Arab politician and chronicler


text: May 18 – Erik IX Jedvardsson ("the Holy"), king of Sweden (b. 1120)


date: May 31

text: May 31 – Mechtildis of Edelstetten, German abbess


date: July 23

text: July 23 – Al-Fa'iz bi-Nasr Allah, Fatimid caliph (b. 1149)


text: October 4 – Constance of Castile, queen of France (b. 1141)


date: November 13

text: November 13 – Within weeks of the death of his second wife, Queen Constance of Castile, King Louis VII of France marries Adela of Champagne, daughter of Count Theobald II ("the Great").


date: December 17

text: December 17 – Gilla na Naemh Ua Duinn, Irish poet (b. 1102)


date: December 22

text: December 22 – Fujiwara no Nariko, Japanese empress (b. 1117)


text: Peter Lombard, French bishop and theologian (b. 1096)


text: Raymond du Puy, French knight and Grand Master (b. 1083)


text: Herman of Carinthia, German astronomer (b. 1100)


date: February 3

text: February 3 – Battle of Oslo: King Inge I of Norway ("the Hunchback") is defeated and killed while fighting the forces of Haakon II ("the Broadshouldered") who succeeds Inge, with 5-year-old Magnus V as co-ruler, but not without challenges to his sovereignty.


date: December 15

text: December 15 – Wanyan Liang, Chinese prince of Hailing, is assassinated while on campaign. He is succeeded by Emperor Shizong of Jin (until 1189).


text: An Almoravid offensive against the Kingdom of Portugal reaches the city of Almada, located on the Tagus river.


text: Jin–Song Wars: The Battle of Tangdao (November 16) and Battle of Caishi (November 26–27) on the Yangtze River, between the Jin dynasty and the Song dynasty in China result in two pivotal Song naval victories.


date: January 5

text: January 5 – Canonization of Edward the Confessor (d. 1066) in England.


text: late summer/early autumn – Géza II of Hungary and the envoys of Pope Alexander III conclude the Concordat of 1161, by which Géza agrees to support the Pope in exchange for concessions.


text: after April 18 – Bartholomew is consecrated as bishop of Exeter in England (until 1184).


text: The Cross of Saint Euphrosyne, commissioned by Euphrosyne of Polotsk in Belarus, is created by craftsman Lazar Bohsha. (It goes missing during World War II, and is not recovered subsequently).


text: Magnus Henriksson, pretender to the throne of Sweden, is murdered by Charles VII, who becomes king of Sweden until 1167.


date: December 24

text: December 24 – The widowed Emperor Manuel I Komnenos marries Maria of Antioch, aged 16, at Hagia Sophia.


date: February 22

text: February 22 – Innocent III, pope of the Catholic Church (d. 1216)


date: September 20

text: September 20 – Takakura, emperor of Japan (d. 1181)


text: Guðmundur Arason, Icelandic bishop (d. 1237)


text: Sasaki Yoshikiyo, Japanese nobleman (d. 1242)


text: Sancho, Count of Provence (or Sanche), Spanish nobleman (d. 1223)


text: Da'ud Abu al-Fadl, Ayyubid physician (d. 1242)


text: Belgutei, half-brother of Genghis Khan (d. 1271)


text: Satō Tadanobu, Japanese samurai (d. 1186)


text: Beatrice of Albon, duchess of Burgundy (d. 1228)


text: Constance, duchess of Brittany (approximate date)


text: Börte, wife of Genghis Khan (approximate date)


text: Alfonso Téllez de Meneses, Spanish nobleman (d. 1230)


text: Eleanor of England, queen of Castile (d. 1214)


text: Tsangpa Gyare, Tibetan Buddhist leader (d. 1211)


text: February 3 – Inge I ("the Hunchback"), king of Norway (b. 1135)


date: April 18

text: April 18 – Theobald of Bec, archbishop of Canterbury (b. 1090)


text: April 18 – Theobald of Bec, archbishop of Canterbury in England dies after an illness. King Henry II is informed and expresses the wish to have his friend Thomas Becket elected as the successor.


date: May 12

text: May 12 – Fergus of Galloway, Scottish nobleman


date: June 14

text: June 14 – Qinzong, Chinese emperor (b. 1100)


date: September 10

text: September 10 – Tala'i ibn Ruzzik, Fatimid vizier


date: September 11

text: September 11 – Melisende, queen of Jerusalem (b. 1105)


date: October 12

text: October 12 – Henry V, duke of Carinthia (House of Sponheim)


date: October 28

text: October 28 – Imar of Tusculum, French abbot and bishop


date: November 21

text: November 21 – William III, count of Nevers and Auxerre


date: November 23

text: November 23 – Adam of Ebrach, German monk and abbot


text: December 15 – Wanyan Liang, Chinese emperor (b. 1122)


text: Roger IV, duke of Apulia and Calabria (b. 1152)


text: Magnus Henriksson, king of Sweden (b. 1130)


date: July 24

text: July 24 – Emperor Gaozong of Song becomes embroiled in war again as hostilities resume with the Jurchen-led Jin dynasty (or "Great Jin") after 21 years of peace. Another peace treaty is signed, Gao abdicates the throne in favor of his adopted son Xiaozong. The smaller Southern Song empire becomes richer than the Song dynasty.

source_section: Events › By place › China


date: March 6

text: March 6 – German forces led by Frederick Barbarossa, Holy Roman Emperor, capture Milan; much of the city is destroyed three weeks later on the emperor's orders. The fortifications are demolished and the churches are destroyed. The population is dispersed, and the commune abolished. The fate of Milan leads to the submission of Brescia, Piacenza, and many other northern Italian cities.


date: July 7

text: July 7 – Norwegian forces supporting 6-year-old Magnus V (Erlingsson) defeat the 15-year-old King Haakon II (Sigurdsson), who is killed in battle in Romsdal after a 5-year reign.


text: Egyptian military commander Shawar appointed Vizier of Egypt.


date: June 3

text: June 3 – King Henry II has his chancellor Thomas Becket elected to succeed the late Theobald of Bec as archbishop of Canterbury. He accepts the pallium sent by Pope Alexander III.


date: July 15

text: July 15 – Ladislaus II, duke of Bosnia, is declared king of Hungary and Croatia. He is crowned by Archbishop Mikó and grants one-third of the kingdom to his brother, Stephen IV.


text: The Beisi Pagoda (or North Temple Pagoda) is completed during the Song dynasty in China.


date: March 5

text: March 5 – Ogasawara Nagakiyo, Japanese warrior (d. 1242)


date: March 11

text: March 11 – Theodoric I, margrave of Meissen (d. 1221)


date: June 20

text: June 20 – Benchō, Japanese Buddhist patriarch (d. 1238)


date: June 30

text: June 30 – Yang (or Gongsheng), Chinese empress (d. 1233)


text: Fujiwara no Teika, Japanese poet and calligrapher (d. 1241)


text: Renier of Montferrat, Byzantine politician (d. 1183)


text: Abd al-Latif al-Baghdadi, Abbasid traveler and writer (d. 1231)


text: Gebre Mesqel Lalibela, ruler of the Ethiopian Empire (d. 1221)


text: Guillem de Cabestany, Spanish troubadour (d. 1212)


text: Geoffrey Fitz Peter, 1st Earl of Essex (approximate date)


text: Genghis Khan, founder of the Mongol Empire (d. 1227)


text: Kajiwara Kagesue, Japanese nobleman (d. 1200)


date: February 18

text: February 18 – Theotonius, Portuguese advisor (b. 1082)


date: May 31

text: May 31 – Géza II, king of Hungary and Croatia (b. 1130)


text: July 7 – Haakon II (Sigurdsson), king of Norway (b. 1147)


date: July 29

text: July 29 – Guigues V, count of Albon and Grenoble (b. 1125)


date: July 31

text: July 31 – Fujiwara no Tadazane, Japanese nobleman (b. 1078)


date: August 6

text: August 6 – Ramon Berenguer IV, count of Barcelona (b. 1114)


date: September 27

text: September 27 – Odo II, duke of Burgundy (b. 1118)


text: Odo of Deuil (or Eudes), French abbot and historian


text: The Almohad emir, Abd al-Mu'min, prepares a gigantic fleet of some four hundred ships to invade Al-Andalus (modern Spain). He dies the following year, before the fleet is completed.


text: Hugh de Morville, Constable of Scotland, Norman nobleman and knight


text: Angharad ferch Owain, queen consort of Gwynedd (b. 1065)


text: Tiantong Zongjue, Chinese Buddhist monk (b. 1091)


text: Ibn Zuhr (or Avenzoar), Moorish physician (b. 1094)


text: Richard de Belmeis II, English bishop and politician


text: Egyptian military commander Shawar appointed Vizier of Egypt for a second term.

source_section: Events


date: March

text: March / April (traditional date) – The first stone of the cathedral of Notre-Dame de Paris is set by Pope Alexander III during the reign of Louis VII of France.


date: May 19

text: May 19 – Council of Tours opens. Albigensians are named and condemned as heretics.


text: The Thousand Pillar Temple is constructed by Rudra Deva in India.


text: Loccum Abbey in Hanover is founded as a Cistercian house, by abbot Ekkehard.


text: The Guanfuchang salt-fields (官富場) in Hong Kong (modern-day To Kwa Wan, Kowloon Bay, Kwun Tong and Lam Tin districts) are first officially operated by the Song dynasty.


section: Science & Discovery

text: The Norwegian Law of Succession is introduced.


date: August 19

text: August 19 – Ottokar IV of Styria (d. 1192)


text: As-Salih Ismail al-Malik, ruler of Syria (d. 1181)


text: Canute VI of Denmark (d. 1202)


text: Isabella, Countess of Gloucester, queen consort of England (d. 1217) (approximate date)


text: Ban Kulin, ruler of Bosnia (d. 1204)


text: Ibn al-Qabisi, Iraqi grammarian and poet (d. 1235)


text: Hōjō Yoshitoki, Kamakura regent (d. 1224)


date: January 14

text: January 14 – King Ladislaus II of Hungary (b. 1131)


date: February 10

text: February 10 – King Baldwin III of Jerusalem (b. 1130)


date: May

text: May – Abd al-Mu'min, founder of the Almohad Empire (b. 1094)


date: August 10

text: August 10 – Dahui Zonggao, Chinese Zen Buddhist monk (b. 1089)


text: date unknown – Constance of Antioch, ruler of Antioch (b. 1127) - or possibly early 1164


text: Owain Gwynedd becomes partial ruler of the Kingdom of Gwynedd in north Wales on the death of Gruffydd ap Rhys.


date: August 12

text: August 12 – Battle of Harim: Zangid forces under Nur al-Din defeat and capture Bohemond III of Antioch, Raymond of Tripoli, and Hugh of Lusignan.


text: Spring – Saladin accompanies his uncle, General Shirkuh, with an army sent to the Fatimid Caliphate (modern Egypt) by Nur al-Din, ruler (atabeg) of Syria.


text: Battle of Renfrew: A Norse-Gaelic army led by Lord Somerled, ruler of the Isles, invades Scotland and is routed by the Scottish forces under the command of Walter fitz Alan and Herbert of Selkirk, bishop of Glasgow.

source_section: Events › By place › Scotland


text: A commercial treaty grants access to Almohad-dominated ports to merchants from several European powers, including Marseille and Savona.

source_section: Events › By place › Africa


date: January 30

text: January 30 – King Henry II tries to delimit spiritual and royal jurisdictions in the Constitutions of Clarendon, written in large part by his councilor Richard de Luci.

source_section: Events › By place › England


date: August 5

text: August 5 – Uppsala is recognized as the seat of the Swedish metropolitan, with the coronation of its first archbishop Stefan, by Pope Alexander III.


text: King Olaf II of Norway is canonized as Saint Olaf by Alexander III, making him a universally recognised saint of the Catholic Church.


text: Rainald of Dassel brings relics of the Three Magi from Milan to Cologne as a gift for Holy Roman Emperor Frederick Barbarossa.


date: November 2

text: November 2 – Thomas Becket, having contended with Henry II over the power of secular courts, is found guilty of contempt of court, and exiled to France.


text: Venice secures its loans against fiscal revenues, to obtain lower interest rates. In the first operation of this kind, the Republic obtains 1150 silver marci, for 12 years of the taxes levied on the Rialto market.

source_section: Events › By topic › Markets


date: July 16

text: July 16 – Frederick V, son of Frederick Barbarossa

source_section: Births


date: December 28

text: December 28 – Emperor Rokujō of Japan (d. 1176)


text: Hatakeyama Shigetada, Japanese samurai (d. 1205)


text: Fulk of Pavia, Italian prelate and bishop (d. 1229)


text: Isabel de Bolebec, English noblewoman (d. 1245)


text: Ibn Tumlus, Moorish scholar and physician (d. 1223)


text: Shi Miyuan, Chinese official and politician (d. 1233)


text: January 30 – William of Anjou, viscount of Dieppe (b. 1136)

source_section: Deaths


date: March 13

text: March 13 – Fujiwara no Tadamichi, Japanese regent (b. 1097)


date: April 20

text: April 20 – Antipope Victor IV dies at Rome and is succeeded by Paschal III, who has gained election through the influence of Archchancellor Rainald of Dassel.


text: April 20 – Victor IV, antipope of Rome (b. 1095)


date: May 16

text: May 16 – Héloïse, French scholar and abbess


text: May 19 – Bashnouna, Egyptian monk and martyr


date: June 18

text: June 18 – Elisabeth of Schönau, German abbess


date: September 4

text: September 4 – Henry II, prince-bishop of Liège


date: September 14

text: September 14 – Emperor Sutoku of Japan dies in Sanuki Province (on the island of Shikoku), having lived in exile from the capital at Kyoto since 1156.


text: September 14 – Sutoku, emperor of Japan (b. 1119)


date: November 11

text: November 11 – Hugh of Amiens, French archbishop


date: December 23

text: December 23 – Hartmann of Brixen, German bishop (b. 1090)


date: December 31

text: December 31 – Ottokar III, margrave of Styria (b. 1124)


text: Hodierna of Jerusalem, countess of Tripoli (b. 1110)


date: August 3

text: August 3 – Emperor Nijō of Japan abdicates the throne, dying soon after following a 7-year reign. He is succeeded by his 1-year-old son Rokujō as 79th emperor.


text: In China the Jin dynasty ("Great Jin") and the Song dynasty make a lasting peace (until 1205).


date: October 15

text: October 15 – Battle of Fahs al-Jullab: Almohad forces defeat Ibn Mardanish, ruler of the Taifa of Murcia. His army is routed at a place called the "merchant field" near Alhama, in the valley of the Guadalentín.

source_section: Events › By place › Europe


text: c. August – Battle of Crogen: Owain Gwynedd (Owain Fawr), ruler of the Kingdom of Gwynedd in north Wales, having formed an alliance with his nephew Rhys ap Gruffydd, prince of Deheubarth, to challenge English rule, defeats King Henry II of England and drives his army out of Wales.

source_section: Events › By place › British Isles


text: Reconquista – Gerald the Fearless, Portuguese warrior and adventurer, seizes the city of Évora by surprise. The same year (or soon after), he takes Cáceres, Trujillo, Montánchez, Moura, Monsaraz and Alconchel from the Almohads.


text: Benjamin of Tudela, Spanish Jewish traveler, sets out on his journey from the northeast Iberian Peninsula (modern Spain), on a pilgrimage to the land of Israel and beyond.


text: Otto II, Margrave of Meissen, grants Leipzig city and market privileges. The city is located at the crossways of the Via Regia and Via Imperii trade routes.


text: January 30 – Closeted Emperor Go-Shirakawa holds an opening ceremony for the Sanjūsangen-dō, a temple built by Taira no Kiyomori in Japan.


text: Approximate date – Hildegard of Bingen, German Benedictine abbess, founds Eibingen Abbey near Rüdesheim am Rhein.

source_section: Events › By topic › Religion


text: Eskil, Danish archbishop of Lund, appoints Fulco as the first Bishop of Estonia, marking the early beginning of the introduction of Christianity to the country. He will visit Estonia for the first time in 1169 or 1170.


text: Spring – Byzantine Emperor Manuel I Komnenos makes an alliance with Venice against Holy Roman Emperor Frederick Barbarossa, who takes an oath at the Diet of Würzburg to support Antipope Paschal III against Pope Alexander III.

source_section: Events › By place › Byzantine Empire


text: Andronikos I Komnenos, a cousin of Manuel I, escapes from prison at Constantinople. After passing through many dangers, he reaches Kiev and seeks refuge at the court of Prince Yaroslav Osmomysl.


text: The construction of Liuhe Pagoda ("Six Harmonies Pagoda") in Hangzhou is completed in Song dynasty China.


text: Eleanor of Aquitaine, queen consort of England, spends most of the year in Anjou. Her husband, Henry II, begins an affair with "the Fair" Rosamund Clifford.


date: July 28

text: July 28 – Ibn Arabi, Andalusian philosopher (d. 1240)


date: October

text: October – Joan of England, queen consort of Sicily (d. 1199)


date: November

text: November – Henry VI, Holy Roman Emperor (d. 1197)


text: Conrad III of Scharfenberg, German cleric and bishop (d. 1224)


text: Philippe du Plessis, French Grand Master (d. 1209)


text: Renaud I, Count of Dammartin (Reginald of Boulogne), French nobleman (d. 1227)


text: Henry I ("the Brave"), duke of Brabant (d. 1235)


text: Jean de Montmirail, French nobleman and Cistercian monk (d. 1217)


text: Lady Shizuka Gozen, Japanese court dancer (d. 1211)


text: Henry the Bearded, High Duke of Poland (d. 1238)


text: Waleran III (or Walram), duke of Limburg (d. 1226)


text: Hermann von Salza, German nobleman, Grand Master of the Teutonic Knights (d. 1239)


text: Theobald Walter, 1st Chief Butler of Ireland, Anglo-Norman High Sheriff (d. 1206)


text: Albéric Clément, 1st Marshal of France (d. 1191)


date: January 24

text: January 24 – William of Ypres, Flemish nobleman (b. 1090)


date: February 7

text: February 7 – Stephen of Armenia, Armenian nobleman (b. 1111)


date: March 27

text: March 27 – Awn al-Din ibn Hubayra, Abbasid vizier (b. 1105)