Religion & Belief in the 12th century

314 sourced entries, 1100 CE to 1199 CE, oldest first. Also see Religion & Belief across every century or everything else in the 12th century.

• 1100August 5 – Henry I is crowned King of England, at Westminster Abbey. The power of the new monarch is ill-assured, and to mollify the barons he has to grant them the Charter of Liberties, one of the first examples of a written constitution in Europe.source
• 1100August 30 – After the failure of the Council of Liubech in 1097, the Congress of Vytechev establishes peace and the feudal system in Kievan Rus; the princes come to an agreement to share the country between them. Sviatopolk II of Kiev becomes the first Grand Prince.source
• 1100September 23 – Anselm, archbishop of Canterbury returns to England from exile, at the invitation of Henry I.source
• 1100November 18 – The Council of Poitiers opens, but is soon forcibly closed by William IX, Duke of Aquitaine, as the bishops are about to excommunicate King Philip I of France once more.source
• 1100November – The council of Poitiers decrees that the followers of Robert of Arbrissel have to settle down and live under a rule, leading to the foundation of Fontevraud Abbey.source
• 1100The Stift St. Georgen Abbey is founded near Sankt Georgen am Längsee (modern Austria).source
• 1100The Diocese of Faroe is founded (approximate date).source
• 1100Frederick I becomes archbishop of Cologne, and begins the construction of the castle of Volmarstein.source
• 1101February 3 – Ranulf Flambard, bishop of Durham, escapes from the Tower of London and flees to Normandy. There he joins Robert Curthose, duke of Normandy, who has just returned from the Crusades.source
• 1101April 19 – King Canute IV of Denmark is canonized as a saint under the name San Canuto.source
• 1101Fontevraud Abbey is founded by the French preacher Robert of Arbrissel.source
• 1102Council of London: A church council convened by Anselm, archbishop of Canterbury, bans sodomy and the sale of Christian slaves to non-Christian countries, and reforms the clergy.source
• 1102Dagobert of Pisa is briefly deposed as Patriarch of Jerusalem (he is restored later in the year).source
• 1102Henry I orders the tomb of Edward the Confessor be opened; the body of the former king is supposedly found undecayed. The Westminster monks start to claim Edward as a saint.source
• 1103April 27 – Anselm, archbishop of Canterbury, again goes into exile after a dispute with King Henry I over the appointment of bishops and abbots to important Church positions.source
• 1103The Scandinavian city of Lund in the Swedish province of Scania becomes a see of the Catholic Church, namely the Archdiocese of Lund (approximate date).source
• 1104April 21 – The new basilica at Vézelay Abbey (located in northern Burgundy in France) is dedicated.source
• 1104September 3 – St. Cuthbert is reburied in Durham Cathedral.source
• 1105December 31 – Henry IV, Holy Roman Emperor, is deposed by his son Henry V (who is king of Germany). Henry is forced to resign his crown and is imprisoned in the castle of Böckelheim.source
• 1105Henry I meets Anselm, archbishop of Canterbury, under threat of excommunication at L'Aigle in Normandy to settle their disputes that has led to Anselm's exile from England (see 1103).source
• 1105Bohemond I, Norman prince of Antioch, arrives in Apulia (Southern Italy) after an absence of 9 years. He travels to Rome and meets Pope Paschal II. His cousin, Roger II becomes count of Sicily.source
• 1105Winter – Sylvester IV is elected as antipope in Rome by members of the Roman aristocracy, with support of Henry V.source
• 1105Autumn – Bohemond I and papal legate Bruno travel to the north of France and visit the court of King Philip I ("the Amorous"). Bohemond gets permission to recruit men throughout the kingdom.source
• 1106Spring – Bohemond I, prince of Antioch, marries Constance of France (daughter of King Philip I) in the cathedral of Chartres. Philip agrees to marry his second daughter, the 9-year-old Cecile of France, to Tancred (nephew of Bohemond). Meanwhile, Bohemond mobilises an expeditionary force (some 30,000 men) to begin a campaign against Emperor Alexios I.source
• 1106Roger le Poer, bishop of Salisbury, is granted land in south Wales by Henry I. He starts the construction of Kidwelly Castle on the banks of the river Gwendraeth.source
• 1107August 11 – The Investiture Controversy is resolved, by the reconciliation of Henry I and Anselm, archbishop of Canterbury and the mass consecration of bishops by Anselm at the royal Palace of Westminster: William Giffard to Winchester, Roger to Salisbury, Reynelm to Hereford, William Warelwast to Exeter and Urban to Llandaff. Roger of Salisbury is also appointed Justiciar in this year.source
• 1107The Crusaders under Tancred, prince of Galilee, recover the Cilician cities of Tarsus, Adana and Mamistra conquered by Emperor Alexios I 3-years ago (see 1104).source
• 1107Saracen pirates raid the Benedictine monastery of Saint Honorat, on the Lérins Islands .source
• 1107Emperor Hui Zong writes his Treatise on Tea, the most detailed description of the Song sophisticated style of tea ceremony.source
• 1108June 13 – Restored Ferentino Cathedral in Italy is consecrated.source
• 1108Pistoia Cathedral in Italy is damaged by a severe fire.source
• 1108Construction begins on the tower of Winchester Cathedral, building continues until 1120.source
• 1108Chichester Cathedral is consecrated under Ralph de Luffa, bishop of Chichester, in England.source
• 1109Summer – Almoravid emir Ali ibn Yusuf organizes a public ritual of penance (auto-da-fé) of the works of Al-Ghazali, in front of the Great Mosque of Cordoba.source
• 1109Anselm of Laon, French monk and theologian, becomes chancellor of the cathedral at Laon (approximate date).source
• 1110July 25 – Henry V marries 8-year-old Matilda (daughter of King Henry I of England). She is crowned Queen of the Romans in a ceremony at Mainz. After the betrothal Matilda is placed into custody of Bruno, archbishop of Trier, who is tasked with educating her in German culture, manners and government.source
• 1110December – Tancred, Italo-Norman prince of Galilee, brings the Crusader castle Krak des Chevaliers in Syria under his control. He remains regent of the Principality of Antioch in the name of his cousin Bohemond II.source
• 1110Construction begins on Fontevraud Abbey in the French duchy of Anjou.source
• 1111April 13 – Henry V is crowned as Holy Roman Emperor by Pope Paschal II. Henry returns to Germany where he strengthens his power by granting privileges to the German nobles of the region of the Upper Rhine.source
• 1111The Synod of Rathbreasail marks the transition of the Irish church from a monastic to a diocesan structure.source
• 1112Gallus Anonymus, Polish chronicler and historian, begins to write Gesta principum Polonorum, to Bolesław III.source
• 1112Duke Bolesław III Wrymouth of Poland has his half-brother Zbigniew blinded and thrown into a dungeon in Tyniec Abbey. Archbishop Martin I excommunicates Bolesław for committing this terrible crime.source
• 1112Easter – The citizens of Laon in France, having proclaimed a commune, murder Bishop Waldric in his cathedral.source
• 1113January 15 – The Order of Knights of the Hospital of Saint John of Jerusalem (Knights Hospitaller), founded to protect pilgrims to the Holy Land, is formally recognized by the papal bull (proclamation) Pie Postulatio Voluntatis issued by Pope Paschal II.source
• 1113Bridlington Priory is founded in England, in the Diocese of York (approximate date).source
• 1114The cathedral of Chichester in England, constructed of wood, is destroyed by fire.source
• 1114Pontigny Abbey, a Cistercian monastery, is founded (located in Burgundy).source
• 1115Arnulf of Chocques is accused of sexual relations with a Muslim woman. He is briefly removed from his position as patriarch of Jerusalem.source
• 1115The 19-year-old Minamoto no Tameyoshi, Japanese nobleman and samurai, gains recognition by suppressing a riot against Emperor Toba at a monastery near Kyoto (approximate date).source
• 1115Peter Abelard, French scholastic philosopher, becomes master of the cathedral school of Notre-Dame and meets Héloïse d'Argenteuil.source
• 1115Clairvaux Abbey is founded by Bernard, French abbot and a major leader in the reform of Benedictine monasticism, in France.source
• 1115Hugh of Saint Victor, French theologian and writer, joins the Victorines (at the Augustinian Abbey of St. Victor) in Paris.source
• 1116Ramon Berenguer III, Count of Barcelona ("the Great"), sails to Rome in an effort to gain support from the Italian states and a licence from Pope Paschal II for his crusade against the Moors in Spain.source
• 1116The monastery and cathedral at Peterborough in England are destroyed by fire.source
• 1117May 3 – Merton Priory (previously established at Huntingdon) is consecrated at a site near London. The priory becomes an important centre of learning and diplomacy in England.source
• 1118January 24 – Pope Gelasius II succeeds Pope Paschal II as the 161st pope.source
• 1118March 10 – Gregory VIII is elected antipope.source
• 1118September 26 – Pisa Cathedral in the March of Tuscany is consecrated by Pope Gelasius II.source
• 1118The troops of Ramon Berenguer III, Count of Barcelona, led by archbishop Oleguer Bonestruga, capture Tarragona from the Moors.source
• 1118Þorlákur Runólfsson becomes Bishop of Skálholt.source
• 1118Sylvester of Kiev becomes bishop of Pereiaslav.source
• 1118Amaury IV de Montfort divorces his wife Richilde, daughter of Baldwin II of Hainaut.source
• 1118Al-Mustarshid becomes Abbasid caliph.source
• 1118The restoration of Santa Maria in Cosmedin begins.source
• 1118Knights Templar were founded in Jerusalemsource
• 1118Radostl becomes Bishop of Krakow.source
• 1118Pope Gelasius II grants the status of Crusade to the Christian effort in the Ebro Valley, attracting numerous Gascon, Occitan and Norman knights.source
• 1118Reconstruction begins on Peterborough Cathedral in England, destroyed by fire in 1116.source
• 1118Otto of Bamberg is suspended by the Pope, and Norbert of Xanten defends himself against charges of heresy, at the Synod of Fritzlar.source
• 1118The Archbishop of York is no longer required to be crowned by the Archbishop of Canterbury.source
• 1118Garmond of Picquigny becomes Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem.source
• 1119March – Olegarius Bonestruga, archbishop of Tarragona, preaches successfully a Crusade against the Moors in Catalonia.source
• 1119Council of Reims: The Catholic Church condemned those who have seized ecclesiastical property, prohibited charging a fee for burial or sacrament, banned priests, deacons and sub-deacons from having wives or mistresses, condemned simony, and reaffirmed Emperor Henry V's excommunication.source
• 1119Council of Toulouse: The Catholic Church condemned anyone who denied the Eucharist, infant baptism, ordination of priests, and lawful marriage as a heretic.source
• 1119Robert de Brus, 1st Lord of Annandale, grants and confirms the church of St. Hilda of Middlesbrough to Whitby.source
• 1120January 16 – Council of Nablus: King Baldwin II of Jerusalem and Patriarch Warmund convenes an assembly at Nablus, establishing the earliest surviving written laws of the Crusader Kingdom of Jerusalem. The prelates and noblemen who attend the meeting confirm the clergy's right to collect the tithe and to bear arms "in the cause of defense".source
• 1120August–September (the eighth month of the Chinese calendar) – Wanyan Xiyin, a Jurchen nobleman and minister, completes the design of the first version of the Jurchen script.source
• 1120Baldwin II grants the Knights Templar under Hugues de Payens and Godfrey de Saint-Omer a headquarters in a wing of the royal palace on the Temple Mount in the captured Al-Aqsa Mosque in the Old City of Jerusalem.source
• 1120Bishop Urban begins the construction on Llandaff Cathedral in Wales.source
• 1120Order of Premonstratensians founded by Norbert of Xanten at Prémontré in Picardy.source
• 1121December 25 (Christmas Day) – The Praemonstratensian Order (Norbertines) is formed, when a group of canons make solemn vows at Prémontré.source
• 1121The third and largest church is completed at Cluny Abbey (modern France).source
• 1121Henry I founds Reading Abbey in England. The Cluniac Order populates the abbey.source
• 1121Spring – Peter Abelard, a French theologian and philosopher, is condemned and charged with the heresy of Sabellius in a synod at Soissons. Abelard writes Sic et Non.source
• 1121L'Aumône Abbey is founded by Count Theobald IV of Blois at Loir-et-Cher.source
• 1122February 13 – Al-Ma'mun al-Bata'ihi is formally proclaimed vizier of the Fatimid Caliphate by Caliph al-Amir.source
• 1122September 23 – The Concordat of Worms: Emperor Henry V recognizes freedom of election of the clergy and promises to restore all Church property. This brings an end to the power struggle between the papacy and the Holy Roman Empire, known as the Investiture Controversy. In the aftermath, Cappenberg Abbey is founded by Count Gottfried II for the new order of Premonstratensians.source
• 1123March 18 – The First Council of the Lateran convenes in Rome; it confirms the 1122 Concordat of Worms and demands clerical celibacy in the Catholic Church.source
• 1123July 22 – William de Corbeil is installed as the new Archbishop of Canterbury, the highest-ranking cleric in England, after his February 4 election is approved by Pope Callixtus II.source
• 1123October 7 – Pope Calixtus II issues the papal bull Aequitatis et justitiae, placing the Roman Catholic Diocese of Tricarico in Italy under the protection of the papacy.source
• 1123Diego Gelmírez, archbishop of Santiago de Compostela, declares a Crusade in Al-Andalus (modern Spain) against the Almoravids.source
• 1123Furness Abbey (or St Mary of Furness) is founded in England by Stephen, count of Boulogne, for the Order of Savigny.source
• 1125October 3 – Al-Ma'mun al-Bata'ihi, the vizier of the Fatimid Caliphate, is dismissed and imprisoned by Caliph al-Amir.source
• 1125Lothair II (supported by Pope Honorius II) asks Frederick II to restore to the crown the estates that he has inherited from Henry V. Frederick refuses, and by year's end a succession dispute breaks out between the House of Welf and the House of Hohenstaufen. The latter is led by Frederick and his brother Conrad III, duke of Franconia.source
• 1125Saracen pirates raid the city of Antibes in Provence and the Benedictine monastery of Saint Honorat on the Lérins Islands (French Riviera).source
• 1126Olegarius, archbishop of Tarragona, creates a community of knights (known as the "Confraternity of Tarragona"), to combat the Almoravids in Catalonia.source
• 1127The Kalyan minaret (as part of the Po-i-Kalyan mosque complex) is completed in Bukhara (modern Uzbekistan).source
• 1128June 29 – Conrad III, anti-king of Germany, is crowned "King of Italy" by Archbishop Anselmo della Pusterla at Monza in Lombardy.source
• 1128August – Pope Honorius II invests Roger II of Sicily as duke of Apulia at Benevento, after his failure to form a coalition against Roger.source
• 1128November 24 – Waverley Abbey is founded by Bishop William Giffard in the south of England. The first abbot and 12 Cistercian monks are brought from L'Aumône Abbey in Normandy.source
• 1128Honorius II recognizes and confirms the Order of the Knights Templar. The French abbot Bernard of Clairvaux codifies the rule of the Order. Hugues de Payens, French Grand Master of the Order, visits both England and Scotland, where he raises men and money for the Order.source
• 1128Holyrood Abbey is founded in Edinburgh by King David I of Scotland.source
• 1128Kelso Abbey is founded by Scottish monks of the Tironensian Order.source
• 1129April 14 – Following the Capetian tradition, King Louis VI (the Fat) has his eldest son Philip crowned as co-ruler of France at Rheims Cathedral. Louis himself becomes the national protector of all France.source
• 1130February 14 – Pope Innocent II succeeds Pope Honorius II, as the 164th pope. Other factions (including Roger II of Sicily), however, support Anacletus II as pope, leading to the papal schism of 1130, and Innocent flees to France.source
• 1130December 25 – Antipope Anacletus crowns Roger II of Sicily king.source
• 1131May 9 – Tintern Abbey is founded in Wales by Cistercian monks in the Wye Valley.source
• 1131The Council of Rheims is held by several French bishops and many clergy.source
• 1132March 5 – Rievaulx Abbey is founded by the Cistercian order, near Helmsley in Yorkshire.source
• 1132December 27 – Fountains Abbey soon to join the Cistercian order, is founded near Ripon in Yorkshire.source
• 1132Malachy is appointed archbishop of Armagh in Ireland, to impose the Roman liturgy on the independent Irish Church.source
• 1132Diarmait Mac Murchada has the abbey of Kildare in Ireland burned, and the abbess raped. He becomes king of the province of Leinster.source
• 1132Basingwerk Abbey originally Benedictine, and later Cistercian, is founded near Holywell in Wales.source
• 1132Summer – Imad al-Din Zengi, Seljuk governor (atabeg) of Aleppo and Mosul, marches on Baghdad (the capital of the Abbasid Caliphate), to add it to his dominions. He is defeated by the forces of Caliph Al-Mustarshid, near Tikrit (modern Iraq). Zengi flees and escapes, with the help of Tikrit's governor Najm ad-Din Ayyub (the father of Saladin), who conveys him across the River Tigris.source
• 1133Antipope Anacletus II forces Innocent II out of Rome following the departure of Lothair III. Innocent flees and takes a ship to Pisa.source
• 1133Rijnsburg Abbey is founded by Petronilla of Lorraine, countess and regent of Holland.source
• 1133Construction of the chapter house at Durham Cathedral which is completed in 1140.source
• 1133Spring – A German expeditionary force, led by King Lothair III, marches into northern Italy, and arrives at Rome, after a 6-month journey across the Alps. Accompanied by Bernard of Clairvaux, French abbot and Doctor of the Church, Lothair is crowned by Pope Innocent II as Holy Roman Emperor at the Church of the Lateran, on June 4. He receives as papal fiefs the vast estates of Matilda, former margravine of Tuscany, which he secures for his daughter Gertrude of Süpplingenburg and her husband, Duke Henry X (the Proud) of Bavaria.source
• 1133The first convent on Iceland, the Þingeyraklaustur, is inaugurated at a monastery of the Order of Saint Benedict (located in Þingeyrar).source
• 1133Geoffrey of Monmouth, an English cleric, writes the chronicle Historia Regum Britanniae.source
• 1134The Augustinian Runcorn Priory is transferred to Norton Priory.source
• 1134Evermode of Ratzeburg becomes abbot of Gottesgnaden.source
• 1134The Humiliati retreat to a monastery in Milan.source
• 1134Called by Olegarius, the bishop of Tarragona, the Knights Templar establish their first stronghold in Catalonia.source
• 1134The Cathedral of St. Petri in Schleswig is completed.source
• 1134Cormac's Chapel is consecrated.source
• 1134Hugh of Grenoble is canonized by Innocent II.source
• 1134Malachy becomes archbishop of Armagh.source
• 1134The Japanese classic text Uchigikishu is written.source
• 1134Aelred of Hexham enters the monastery at Rievaulx Abbey.source
• 1134Stephen Harding becomes abbot of Cîteaux Abbey.source
• 1134The Church of St. James is dedicated in Glasgow.source
• 1134Buckfastleigh Abbey is refounded.source
• 1134Leo Styppes becomes Patriarch of Constantinople.source
• 1134The Abbey of St. Jacob is founded in Würzburg.source
• 1135January 7 – King Harald IV returns with Danish reinforcements and the support of King Eric II ("the Memorable"). He captures his nephew and joint ruler Magnus IV (Sigurdsson), who is blinded, castrated – and confined in Nidarholm Abbey (located on the island of Munkholmen).source
• 1135January – Byland Abbey is founded in England by the Congregation of Savigny.source
• 1135May 26 – King Alfonso VII is crowned as "Emperor of All Spain" (Imperator totius Hispaniae) in the Cathedral of León. The coronation is attended by Ramon Berenguer IV (his brother-in-law), Raymond V and other Spanish nobles who recognize him as their overlord.source
• 1135May – Council of Pisa is convened by Innocent II. The council addressed simony, schismatic clerics, heresy, as well as donations to the Templar Order.source
• 1135August 29 – Caliph Al-Mustarshid is assassinated at Baghdad after a 17-year reign. He is succeeded by his son Al-Rashid Billah as ruler of the Abbasid Caliphate (until 1138).source
• 1135December 26 – Stephen of Blois is crowned at Westminster Abbey in London by Archbishop William de Corbeil. Matilda (pregnant with child) and her husband Geoffrey V ("the Fair") leave for their own safety to Normandy, where she plans how to overthrow Stephen and claim the English throne for her own.source
• 1135Buildwas Abbey is founded in England by Roger de Clinton, bishop of Coventry.source
• 1136August 18 – Seljuk sultan Ghiyath ad-Din Mas'ud appoints al-Rashid Billah's uncle Al-Muqtafi as new caliph of the Abbasid Caliphate in Baghdad.source
• 1136The Basilica of Saint-Denis is completed to designs by Abbot Suger in Paris, France.source
• 1136Melrose Abbey (located in the Scottish Borders) is founded by Cistercian monks at the request of David.source
• 1136Worship at the original Glasgow Cathedral in Scotland begins.source
• 1136Peter Abelard writes the Historia Calamitatum, detailing his relationship with Heloise.source
• 1137June 3 – A fire severely damages Rochester Cathedral, but it is soon rebuilt.source
• 1137July 25 – Louis VI sends his 16-year-old son Louis Capet with an escort of 500 knights to Bordeaux, along with Abbot Suger in charge of the wedding arrangements. Louis and Eleanor are married in the Cathedral of Saint-André. France unites Aquitaine and its territories to the Pyrenees.source
• 1138March 7 – Conrad III is elected as King of Germany, in the presence of the papal legate Theodwin at Koblenz. He is crowned at Aachen six days later (on March 13), and acknowledged in Bamberg by several German princes of southern Germany. Henry X (the Proud), son-in-law and heir of the late King Lothair III, refuses his allegiance to Conrad. He is deprived of all his Saxon territories, which are given to Leopold IV (the Generous).source
• 1138April 10 – Robert Warelwast is nominated as bishop of Exeter at a royal council in Northampton, England.source
• 1138June 6 – Al-Rashid Billah (deposed caliph of Baghdad), having fled to Isfahan, is killed there by a team of four Nizari Ismailis (Assassins). This is celebrated in Alamut for a week by Shias.source
• 1139April 8 – Second Council of the Lateran: Roger II of Sicily is excommunicated by Pope Innocent II.source
• 1139April – Second Council of the Lateran: The Anacletus schism is settled, and priestly celibacy is made mandatory within the Catholic Church.source
• 1139July 22 – Pope Innocent II, invading the Kingdom of Sicily, is ambushed at Galluccio and taken prisoner.source
• 1139November – Alberic of Ostia, papal legate to Outremer, convenes a legatine council in the cathedral of Antioch to examine the conduct of the Latin patriarch. The council is also attended by the Armenian Catholicos Gregory III and marks a symbolic beginning for Armenian-Latin ecclesiastic high-level contacts.source
• 1140June 3 – Pierre Abelard, a French theologian, is condemned for heresy by the Council of Sens. He sets out for Rome to present his defense to Pope Innocent II.source
• 1140The first Cistercian monastery in Spain is founded in Fitero. The order enjoys a rapid expansion in the region in the following 15 years.source
• 1140Gratian, an Italian monk and canon lawyer, founds the science of Canon law with the publication of the Decretum Gratiani (approximate date).source
• 1141April 1 – Alberic of Ostia, papal legate to Outremer, solemnly dedicates the Templum Domini in Jerusalem.source
• 1141April 2 – In a legatine council convened by Alberic of Ostia in the Templum Domini, the claim of the Latin Patriarch of Antioch over the diocese of Tyre is rejected. Also, a step towards church unity between the Armenian and Latin Church is achieved when the Armenian Catholicos Gregory III makes a profession of faith and promises to restore union with Rome, which is achieved at the end of the century.source
• 1143Robert of Ketton makes the first European translation of the Qur'an for Peter the Venerable, Lex Mahumet pseudoprophete, into Latin.source
• 1143Autumn – 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.source
• 1144June 11 – The Basilica of St. Denis near Paris is completed, and consecrated in the presence of Louis VII – as the first Gothic church.source
• 1144Autumn – 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.source
• 1144The Lesmahagow Priory in Scotland, is founded after John, bishop of Glasgow, and King David I have granted lands at Lesmahagow.source
• 1145December 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.source
• 1145Woburn 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.source
• 1145Construction begins on Notre-Dame de Chartres Cathedral in Chartres, France.source
• 1145Kim Pusik and his team of historians finish the compilation of the Korean historical text Samguk Sagi.source
• 1146March 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.source
• 1146December 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.source
• 1146The Almohad caliph Abd al-Mu'min conquers most of Morocco from the Almoravids.source
• 1147April 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".source
• 1147Congregation of Savigny is affiliated to the Cistercians.source
• 1147Autumn – 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.source
• 1148June 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.source
• 1148Anna Komnene writes the Alexiad, a biography of her father, the late Emperor Alexios I Komnenos.source
• 1148Hildegard of Bingen founds a new monastery at Rupertsberg in the Rhine Valley near Bingen am Rhein.source
• 1149April 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.source
• 1149July 15 – The Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem is consecrated, after reconstruction.source
• 1150November 10 – Dryburgh Abbey located in the Scottish Borders is founded by Lord Hugh de Morville.source
• 1150The city of Ascalon is fortified with 53 towers by order of the 17-year-old Caliph Al-Zafir, as it is the most strategic frontier fortress of the Fatimid Caliphate.source
• 1150The Irish Chronology (Chronicon Scotorum) is written (approximate date).source
• 1150The temple at Angkor Wat ("Capital of Temples") is completed in the Khmer Empire (modern Cambodia).source
• 1150Peter Lombard, a French scholastic theologian, publishes the Four Books of Sentences, which becomes the standard textbook of theology at the medieval universities.source
• 1150Christchurch Priory located in Hampshire is founded by Earl Baldwin de Redvers.source
• 1151Bolton Abbey is founded in North Yorkshire, England.source
• 1152April 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.source
• 1152The Archbishopric of Nidaros in the city of Nidaros (modern-day Trondheim) in Norway is established.source
• 1152Synod of Kells-Mellifont: The present diocesan system of Ireland is established (with later modifications), and the primacy of Armagh is recognized.source
• 1152Baldwin 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.source
• 1153Dhovemi, ruler of the Maldives, converts to Islam and adopts the Muslim title of Sultan Muhammad ibn Abdullah.source
• 1155June 18 – King Frederick Barbarossa is crowned as Holy Roman Emperor by Pope Adrian IV at St. Peter's Basilica in Rome.source
• 1155Summer (3/5 June) – Robert of Chichester becomes bishop of Exeter (until 1160).source
• 1155Spring – 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.source
• 1155A 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.source
• 1155The Virgin of Vladimir icon is taken by Grand Prince Andrey Bogolyubsky to Vladimir from Suzdal.source
• 1156January 20 – Freeholder Lalli slays the English missionary-bishop Henry with an axe, on the ice of Lake Köyliönjärvi in Finland (according to legend).source
• 1156June 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.source
• 1157January 12–March 16 – Caliph Al-Muqtafi successfully defends Baghdad against the coalition forces of Sultan Muhammad of Hamadan, and Atabeg Qutb-adin of Mosul.source
• 1158The Roman Catholic Diocese of Derry is founded in Ireland.source
• 1158Raymond 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.source
• 1159September 7 – Pope Alexander III succeeds Pope Adrian IV, as the 170th pope.source
• 1159Tunis is reconquered from the Normans, by the Almohad caliphs.source
• 1160The island of Lundy is granted to the Knights Templar by Henry II of England.source
• 1160A 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.source
• 1161January 5 – Canonization of Edward the Confessor (d. 1066) in England.source
• 1161late 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.source
• 1161after April 18 – Bartholomew is consecrated as bishop of Exeter in England (until 1184).source
• 1162June 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.source
• 1162July 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.source
• 1163March / 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.source
• 1163May 19 – Council of Tours opens. Albigensians are named and condemned as heretics.source
• 1163The Thousand Pillar Temple is constructed by Rudra Deva in India.source
• 1163Loccum Abbey in Hanover is founded as a Cistercian house, by abbot Ekkehard.source
• 1164January 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
• 1164August 5 – Uppsala is recognized as the seat of the Swedish metropolitan, with the coronation of its first archbishop Stefan, by Pope Alexander III.source
• 1164King Olaf II of Norway is canonized as Saint Olaf by Alexander III, making him a universally recognised saint of the Catholic Church.source
• 1164Rainald of Dassel brings relics of the Three Magi from Milan to Cologne as a gift for Holy Roman Emperor Frederick Barbarossa.source
• 1165January 30 – Closeted Emperor Go-Shirakawa holds an opening ceremony for the Sanjūsangen-dō, a temple built by Taira no Kiyomori in Japan.source
• 1165Approximate date – Hildegard of Bingen, German Benedictine abbess, founds Eibingen Abbey near Rüdesheim am Rhein.source
• 1165Eskil, 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.source
• 1165Spring – 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
• 1166July 5 – The town of Bad Kleinkirchheim (in modern Austria) is first mentioned, in an ecclesiastical document, in which Archbishop Conrad II of Salzburg confirms the donation of a chapel, nearby Millstatt Abbey.source
• 1166Autumn – Holy Roman Emperor Frederick Barbarossa begins his fourth Italian campaign, hoping to secure the claim of Antipope Paschal III in Rome and the coronation of his wife Beatrice I, Countess of Burgundy, as Holy Roman Empress.source
• 1166Cartae Baronum ("Charters of the Barons"), a survey commissioned by the English Treasury requiring each baron to declare how many knights he had enfeoffed.source
• 1167Absalon, Danish archbishop and statesman, leads the first synod at Lund. He is granted land around the city of "Havn" (modern-day Copenhagen) and fortifies the coastal defence against the Wends.source
• 1168April 9 – Emperor Rokujō of Japan is deposed by his grandfather, retired-Emperor Go-Shirakawa, after an 8-month reign. He is succeeded by his 6-year-old uncle, Takakura, as the 80th emperor.source
• 1168Summer – King Amalric I of Jerusalem and Byzantine emperor Manuel I Komnenos negotiate an alliance against Fatimid-Egypt. Archbishop William of Tyre is among the ambassadors sent to Constantinople to finalize the treaty.source
• 1169January 8 – Shirkuh enters Cairo, leaving the Zangid army encamped outside the city. He goes to the palace, where the 18-year-old Fatimid caliph Al-Adid welcomes him with ceremonial gifts and promised money.source
• 1169Stephen III of Hungary concludes a concordat with Pope Alexander III, renouncing his right of investiture.source
• 1169Spring – Gerald the Fearless, Portuguese warrior and knight, receives the support of King Afonso I ("the Great"). The Almohad caliph, Abu Yaqub Yusuf, manages to broker an alliance with King Ferdinand II against Afonso. The allies manage to besiege Badajoz, and finally take both Afonso and Gerald prisoner.source
• 1170June 14 – King Henry II has his 15-year-old son, Henry the Young King, crowned by Roger, Archbishop of York, as junior king and heir to the English throne. The coronation drives Pope Alexander III to allow the exiled Thomas Becket (whose privilege as Archbishop of Canterbury to crown English monarchs has been infringed) to lay an interdict on England as punishment, and this threat forces Henry to negotiate with Becket. Sir William Marshal is appointed tutor-in-arms to Henry the Young King.source
• 1170November – Becket controversy: Thomas Becket excommunicates three bishops.source
• 1170Pope Alexander III addresses a series of letters to the backward Swedish church. He wants to impose the strict canonical requirements on the Swedes, that is, the ecclesiastical legal system. Due to being Christianized in 1050, Sweden is having trouble to fully adapt to the Catholicism that is preached and acted on in Europe.source
• 1171Autumn – King Alfonso II (the Chaste) of Aragon conquers the cities of Caspe and Teruel. He strengthens his southern frontier after Almohad forces under Caliph Yusuf I ravage Catalonia.source
• 1172May 21 – Henry II of England does penance at Avranches Cathedral for the murder of Thomas Becket.source
• 1172September 27–28 – Compromise of Avranches: Alberto di Morra is sent by Pope Alexander III to the Council of Avranches to investigate the Becket controversy. Henry II is absolved of censures for Becket's murder in view of his penance and swears to go on a crusade. He revokes two controversial clauses of the Constitutions of Clarendon and is reconciled with the papacy.source
• 1172c. October – The Synod of Cashel in Ireland brings Celtic Christianity more into alignment with the Latin Church (the modern Catholic Church).source
• 1173February 21 – Thomas Becket is canonized by Pope Alexander III. His tomb in Canterbury Cathedral becomes a shrine and a popular pilgrimage destination.source
• 1173Abu Yaqub Yusuf, caliph of the Almohad Caliphate, re-populates the western Andalusian city of Beja. But it is rapidly abandoned, a sign of the quick demographic weakening of the Muslims in the peninsula.source
• 1173Approximate date – Peter Waldo, French spiritual leader, is converted to Christianity and founds the Waldensians.source
• 1173Pedro Gudestéiz resigns the archdiocese of Santiago de Compostela after some controversy.source
• 1173Traditional date – The Great Mosque of al-Nuri, Mosul, is completed to the orders of Nur al-Din Zengi.source
• 1174April 7 – Pope Alexander III consecrates Richard of Dover as archbishop of Canterbury at Anagni. Richard returns to England bearing his pallium which he has received directly from the pope.source
• 1174May – The establishment of the Sultanate of Egypt, Saladin proclaimed the Sultan.source
• 1174September 5 – Canterbury Cathedral is severely damaged in a fire.source
• 1175Count Raymond of Tripoli appoints William II as chancellor of Jerusalem and is elected as archbishop of Tyre.source
• 1175The High Academy of the Bosnian Church in Moštre (modern-day Visoko), is first mentioned in the Vatican archives.source
• 1176The Carthusians are approved as a religious order.source
• 1176Autumn – Frederick I makes peace with Pope Alexander III and recognizes his legitimacy as pope of the Catholic Church.source
• 1176Sens Cathedral in Burgundy installs an horologe, presumed to be an early form of clock.source
• 1177March 16 – The Spanish Award is signed and witnessed by, among others, Robert III de Stuteville and John of Greenfordsource
• 1177March – Treaty of Venice: Frederick I Barbarossa acknowledges Alexander III as Pope, after a diplomatic mediation by Venetian doge Sebastiano Ziani.source
• 1177September 27 – Pope Alexander III sends a letter to Prester John, believing he is real.source
• 1177Puigcerdà is founded by Alfonso II of Aragon.source
• 1177possible date – Richard FitzNeal begins to write his treatise Dialogus de Scaccario ("Dialogue concerning the Exchequer") in England.source
• 1177Abbas Benedictus becomes abbot of Peterborough in England.source
• 1177Byland Abbey is established on its final site in Yorkshire, England, by the Cistercians.source
• 1177The union of Egypt and Syria under Sultan Saladin Yusuf ibn Ayyub, the foundation of the Ayyubid Sultanate.source
• 1178June 18 – Five monks from the Canterbury Abbey report the appearance of a flaming torch spewing hot coals and sparks from the upper portion of the crescent moon.source
• 1178July 17 – Saracen pirates, from the Balearic Islands, raid the Cistercian monastery of Saint Honorat on the Lérins Islands, and the city of Toulon, killing an estimated 300 and taking captives. The surviving captives are freed from the Balearic Islands in 1185.source
• 1178Summer – Antipope Callixtus III submits to Pope Alexander III after having reigned for 10 years with support from Frederick I.source
• 1178Orio Mastropiero is elected by the Council of Forty as doge of Venice, following the retirement of Sebastiano Ziani.source
• 1179March – Third Council of the Lateran: The Council condemns Waldensians and Cathars as heretics. It further institutes a reformation of clerical life and regulates that in order to prevent future schisms, the pope must receive of the cardinals' votes to be elected.source
• 1179November 1 – The 14-year-old Philip II is crowned at Rheims by Archbishop William of the White Hands. He becomes joint ruler of France, together with his father King Louis VII.source
• 1179Westminster School is founded by Benedictine monks of Westminster Abbey (by papal command) in England.source
• 1179Summer – Afonso I (the Conqueror) is recognized as King of Portugal by Pope Alexander III – bringing Portugal the protection of the Catholic Church against the Leonese monarchy.source
• 1182November – Al-Nasir, caliph of the Abbasid Caliphate, is shocked by the war between fellow-Muslims and tries to negotiate a peace. Saladin, thwarted by the strong fortifications of Mosul, retreats to Sinjar. He marches to conquer Diarbekir, the richest and the greatest fortress of the Jazira Region (with the finest library in Islam).source
• 1182The Maronite Church reestablishes its affiliation with the Roman Catholic Church.source
• 1183William of Tyre is excommunicated by the newly appointed Heraclius of Jerusalem, firmly ending their struggle for power.source
• 1184May 20 – Diet of Pentecost: Emperor Frederick Barbarossa, Holy Roman Emperor, organises a conference in Mainz. During the diet Frederick negotiates with Henry the Lion about an anti-French alliance with England.source
• 1184May – A serious fire damages Glastonbury Abbey and destroys several buildings.source
• 1184August 10 – Abu Yusuf Yaqub al-Mansur is proclaimed the new caliph of the Almohad Caliphate, after his father Abu Yaqub Yusuf is killed in Portugal.source
• 1184The papal bull Ad Abolendam is issued against several European heretical groups: the Cathars, the Waldensians, the Patarines, Josephines and the Humiliati. It is created after a landmark meeting in Verona, between the Holy Roman Empire under Frederick I and the Catholic Church under Pope Lucius III.source
• 1185August 15 – The cave monastery of Vardzia is consecrated by Queen Tamar I of Georgia. She marries Yury Bogolyubsky, Grand Prince of Novgorod.source
• 1185Evidence is first uncovered that Henry II of England is using the safes of the Temple Church in London (consecrated February 10), under the guard of the Knights Templar, to store part of his treasure.source
• 1185The Almohad forces under Caliph Yaqub al-Mansur reconquer Béjaïa and Algiers, that have been taken by the Banu Ghaniya, descendants of the Almoravids.source
• 1186The first nunnery is inaugurated in Iceland, the Kirkjubæjar Abbey.source
• 1186Joscius becomes Archbishop of Tyre.source
• 1186Jayavarman VII, the king of Cambodia, founds the temple of Ta Prohm.source
• 1186John the Chanter becomes Bishop of Exeter.source
• 1186Caliph al-Nasir marries Princess Seljuki. Right after her betrothal to him, he brings her to live with him. He then sends an escort to bring her to Baghdad from Rum, consummates the marriage, and gives her priceless jewels and lavish gifts.source
• 1187October – Josias, archbishop of Tyre, arrives in Rome and informs the Papal Court of the disaster of the Christian slaughter at Hattin by Saladin.source
• 1187Genoa takes Bonifacio (in Corsica) from Pisa. Pope Gregory VIII reconciles the differences between the states so that both may be used to expedite shipments to the Holy Land.source
• 1187Almohad forces under Caliph Abu Yusuf Yaqub al-Mansur reconquer the city of Gabès (modern Tunisia) from the Almoravid pretender, Ali Banu Ghaniya.source
• 1187Summer – Pillage of Sigtuna: A fleet of Karelians enters Lake Malar and ravages the coast. The marauders burn Sigtuna and kill Archbishop Johannes at Almarestäket in Sweden.source
• 1188March 27 – Emperor Frederick I (Barbarossa) holds a Diet at Mainz and takes the Cross, followed by his 21-year-old son, Frederick IV, and other German nobles. He sends a delegation to present an ultimatum to Saladin in Syria on May 26. With demands to withdraw his Muslim forces from Palestina and to return the True Cross to the Church of the Holy Sepulchre.source
• 1188Archdeacon Giraldus Cambrensis and Archbishop Baldwin of Forde travel through Wales, attempting to recruit men for the Third Crusade.source
• 1190Cartmel Priory is founded by William Marshal, 1st Earl of Pembroke, in England.source
• 1190King Stefan Nemanja founds the Studenica Monastery in Serbia.source
• 1191April 15 – Henry VI, son of the late Emperor Frederick I (Barbarossa), is crowned as Emperor of the Holy Roman Empire, together with his wife Constance by Pope Celestine III, on Easter Monday at Rome. Henry marches south and begins a campaign in Apulia. He besieges Naples, but encounters the resistance of Sicilian forces under Margaritus of Brindisi, who come to support the city's defense. Tusculum is destroyed by the rebel army of the Commune of Rome, on April 17.source
• 1191April – John and William de Longchamp meet at Winchester to discuss their differences. Several senior bishops are appointed as arbitrators. At the end of the meeting, both John and William agree to follow the recommendations. William is to return Lincoln Castle to Gerard de Canville and accepts limits to his powers. In return, John is to surrender Nottingham and Tickhill castles.source
• 1191The monks of Glastonbury Abbey dig up the remains of a large knight and a blonde woman, and announce they have discovered the tomb of King Arthur and Queen Guinevere.source
• 1191Spring – William de Longchamp, Chief Justiciar and regent, besieges Lincoln Castle accusing the castellan Gerard de Canville of corruption. In response, Prince John captures Nottingham and Tickhill castles from William. News of the dispute reaches Richard I, who sends Walter de Coutances, archbishop of Rouen, with orders to lead negotiations, for a peace between John and William.source
• 1192Margaritus of Brindisi becomes the first Count of Malta after capturing Constance, Holy Roman Empress in 1191.source
• 1192Constance, Holy Roman Empress is released by Tancred, King of Sicily under the pressure of Pope Celestine III in May, and returns to Germany in June.source
• 1194March – Richard returns to England, and remains for only a few weeks before returning to the Continent. He leaves the administration of England in the hands of Hubert Walter, archbishop of Canterbury, who accompanied Richard on the Third Crusade and led his army back to England. He levied the taxes to pay the king's ransom and put down a plot against Richard by his younger brother John.source
• 1194May 15 – Michael the Syrian reconsecrates the Mor Bar Sauma Monastery, which he reconstructed after its destruction by a fire. The monastery stays a center of the Syriac Orthodox Church until the end of the thirteenth century.source
• 1194July 10 – A fire devastates Chartres Cathedral. Only the crypt, the towers, and the new facade survives. Funds are collected from nobles, as well as small donations from ordinary people, to start the rebuilding.source
• 1194The Carthusian monastery of Scala Dei is founded in the region of Montsant in Catalonia.source
• 1194Ordinance of the Jewry: Beginning of strict records of financial transactions by Jews liable to taxation. The Exchequer of the Jews at Westminster regulates the taxes and the law-cases (also in Wales).source
• 1195The Abbasid Caliph, Al-Nasir, takes military action against the Ayyubid Sultan, Al-Aziz Uthman, who controls Egypt and Syria. The Caliph mobilizes his forces and marches into Mesopotamia, directly challenging Ayyubid authority in the region of Iraq.source
• 1195The Priory of St Mary's is founded in Bushmead.source
• 1196Spring – Henry VI persuades a diet at Würzburg. He manages to convince the majority of the German nobles and clergy to recognize his 2-year-old son, Frederick II, as king of the Romans and heir to the imperial throne. However, Archbishop Adolf of Cologne thwarts the will of the diet and arouses the resistance of several Saxon and Thuringian nobles against Henry, who realizes that he is unable to establish a hereditary monarchy (his Erbreichsplan) in the Holy Roman Empire without resistance.source
• 1197Arbroath Abbey located in the Scottish town of Arbroath, is consecrated and dedicated to St. Thomas Becket.source
• 1197Saracen pirates, from the Balearic Islands, raid the city of Toulon in Provence, and the Benedictine monastery of Saint Honorat, on the Lérins Islands.source
• 1197Spring – Emperor Henry VI travels to Italy to persuade Pope Celestine III to crown his infant son Frederick II, who has been elected "King of the Romans" at Frankfurt.source
• 1198January 6; Prince Leo II of Cilician Armenia crowned as Leo I — king of Armeniasource
• 1198March 8 – Philip of Swabia, son of the late Emperor Frederick I, is elected "King of Germany" by his supporters at Mühlhausen in Thuringia. Archbishop Adolf of Cologne elects Otto of Brunswick, son of Henry the Lion, as Philip's rival. Otto IV is crowned as King of the Romans in Aachen by supporters of the House of Welf. Philip's coronation does not take place until September 8, at Mainz.source
• 1198Innocent III excommunicates Philip II for repudiating his marriage to Ingeborg of Denmark (see 1193), to whom he took an almost instant dislike, but public opinion forces Philip to effect a reconciliation with the pope.source
• 1199May 26 – John returns to London and chooses people to help him to rule the kingdom. He appoints Archbishop Hubert Walter as his advisor and chancellor. Geoffrey Fitz Peter is chosen as Chief Justiciar and William (the Marshal) becomes Marshal of John's household. On May 27, John is crowned as king of England at Westminster Abbey.source
• 1199Summer – Pope Innocent III calls for a fourth Crusade at Rome. Due to the preaching of Fulk of Neuilly, an army is organized at a tournament held at Ecry-sur-Aisne by Theobald III, count of Champagne, on November 28.source