1120s

This is a list of events occurring in the 1120s, ordered by year.

1120

By place

Asia

• The Song Dynasty governor of the bustling seaport of Quanzhou, Fujian, China, reports that the population of his city has reached 500,000 residents.
• August–September (the eighth month of the Chinese calendar) – Wanyan Xiyin completes the design of the first version of the Jurchen script

Europe

• January 16 – The Council of Nablus is held in the Kingdom of Jerusalem.
• June 17 – at the Battle of Cutanda, the Aragonese troops of Alfonso I crush the Almoravid army.^[1]
• November 25 – The White Ship is wrecked in the English Channel, resulting in the death of the son of King Henry I of England.
• Walcher of Malvern creates a system of measurement for the earth using degrees, minutes, and seconds of latitude and longitude.
• Construction begins on Llandaff Cathedral in Wales.
• Foundation of Freiburg in Breisgau.
• Under admirals Abu Abd Allah ibn Maymum of Almeria and Isa ibn Mayum of Sevilla, the Almoravid fleet attacks the Christian kingdom of Galicia.^[2]

1122

By area

Europe

• Battle of Beroia: Byzantine Emperor John II Komnenos defeats and destroys the Pechenegs.
• To contain the attacks of the Norman raiders, the Almoravid fleet attacks Sicily.^[2] The same year (related?), the Muslim population of Malta rebels against the Normans.
• The king of Aragon, Alfonso the Battler, creates the lay community of knights known as the confraternity of Belchite. It is the first local attempt to imitate the type of structure created in Palestine (end in 1136).^[3]

By topic

Religion

• Pierre Abélard writes Sic et Non.
• The Concordat of Worms resolves the Investiture Controversy, thus bringing to an end the first phase of the power struggle between the Papacy and the Holy Roman Emperors.

1123

By area

Africa

• August 9 – Failure of a Norman campaign in North Africa, the Norman troops are massacred near Mahdia at the battle of al-Dimas.^[4][5]

Asia

• The Venetian fleet defeats the Egyptian fleet off Ascalon.
• The Pactum Warmundi is established between the Republic of Venice and the Kingdom of Jerusalem.
• Emperor Sutoku succeeds Emperor Toba on the throne of Japan.
• Battle of Yibneh, a Crusader force led by Eustace Grenier crushed a Fatimid army at Yibna.

Europe

• First mention of the consuls of Bologna indicating that the city of has become an independent commune.
• Siege of Deventer, conflict between Henry V, Holy Roman Emperor and Lotharius of Supplinburg, duke of Saxony.
• In accordance with the decision of the First Council of the Lateran, the archbishop of Compostela, Diego Gelmirez, declares the Crusade in Iberia against the Andalusians.^[3]

By topic

Religion

• The First Council of the Lateran confirms the Concordat of Worms and demands that priests remain celibate.
• St Bartholomew's Hospital (Barts) is founded in London.
• Furness Abbey founded in England, once the second wealthiest and most powerful monastery in the country.

1124

By place

Europe

• March 26 – Henry I of England's forces defeat Norman rebels at Bourgtheroulde.
• April 27 – David I succeeds Alexander I to become King of Scotland.
• December 21 – Pope Honorius II succeeds Pope Calixtus II as the 163rd pope.
• Gaufrid is consecrated as the first Abbot of Dunfermline Abbey.
• The Dun Beal Gallimhe is erected by King Tairrdelbach mac Ruaidri Ua Conchobair of Connacht.
• In Ireland, St. Malachy, the great reformer of the Church, is made a bishop.

North America

• Arnald becomes the first Bishop of Greenland.

Middle East

• July 7 – Tyre falls to the Crusaders.

1125

By area

Asia

• June 11 – Battle of Azaz: The Crusaders defeat the Seljuk Turks.

Europe

• May 23 – Lothair of Saxony becomes Holy Roman Emperor on the death of Henry V.
• War ends between Toulouse and Provence.
• Nassau Castle is built.
• Florence conquers the neighboring independent republic of Fiesole.
• King Inge the Younger is murdered in Vreta, Östergötland, instigated by his wife Ulfhild. Her cousin Magnus the Strong proclaims himself ruler of Gothenland, whereas Ragnvald Knaphövde, in opposition to him, proclaims himself king of Sweden in Svealand.
• First mention of the consuls of Siena indicating that the city has become an independent commune.
• The Venetians pillage Rhodes, ravage Samos and Lesbos, and occupy Chios.
• Saracen pirates raid the city of Antibes in Provence and the benedictine monastery of Saint Honorat on the Lérins Islands.^[6]
• Creation of the first fair in Portugal in Ponte de Lima, it is an early sign of the commercialization and economic development of a still backwardish and self-contained region.^[7]
• Castellan raid in Andalusia led by king Alfonso the Battler.^[8]

By topic

Arts

• Albert of Aix begins his Historia Hierosolymitanae expeditionis.

Education

• Reading School founded.

Religion

• A collection of Zen Buddhist koans is compiled in the Chinese Blue Cliff Record.

1126

By area

Asia

• January–March – In Song Dynasty China, scholars and farmers demonstrate around Kaifeng for the restoration of a probity military official, Li Gang (李綱). Small conflicts erupt between the protestors and the Government.
• Two previously written Chinese pharmaceutical works, one by Shen Kuo and another by Su Shi, are combined into one written work.
• The rule of Emperor Huizong of Song ends in China.

Europe

• Rutherglen becomes one of the first Royal Burghs in Scotland.
• The Jin Dynasty is established in the north of China, following the Song Dynasty's loss at the Huang He River valley. Remnants of the court flee south, including much of the populace and communities such as the Kaifeng Jews.
• Ragnvald Knaphövde, pretender to the Swedish throne, is killed by upset peasants at a local thing. Sweden is without ruler, but Magnus the Strong claims sovereignty over Gothenland for the time being.
• Alfonso VII is crowned king of Castile and León in Spain.
• King Alfonso the Battler of Navarre and Aragon launches a raid into Granada.
• The Venetians occupy Cephalonia. Byzantine Emperor John II Komnenos restores their trading privileges.
• Olegarius creates the community of knights known as the confraternity of Tarragona to combat the Andalusians in Catalonia.^[3]

By topic

Science

• Adelard of Bath translates Muḥammad ibn Mūsā al-Ḵwārizmī's arithmetic and astronomical tables into Latin.

1127

• Estimation: Constantinople, capital of the Byzantine Empire, becomes the largest city of the world, taking the lead from Kaifeng, capital of China.

By area

Asia

• January 9 – Jurchen forces sack the Song Chinese capital of Kaifeng (the Jingkang Incident, 靖康事變), and begin more than a century of political division between northern and southern China.

Europe

• Conrad III establishes the Hohenstaufen dynasty when he is crowned antiking to the Holy Roman Emperor, Lothair II.
• The first coalition of the Norman princes against Roger II of Sicily is formed. The same year, Roger regains control over Malta after a rebellion.^[9] To guaranty the security of the seas, the king also establishes a pact with the maritime republic of Savona,^[10] probably following an Almoravid raid against his realm.^[5]
• Count Charles the Good of Flanders is assassinated.
• First mention of the consuls in Brescia, indicating that the city has become an independent commune.
• The commune of Milan conquers the neighboring city of Como.

By topic

Arts

• The minaret of Kalyan is completed in Bukhara (present day Uzbekistan).

1128

By area

Asia

• Champa invades Vietnam.

Europe

• June 17 – Geoffrey of Anjou marries Matilda, daughter of Henry I of England.
• June 24 – Battle of São Mamede: King Afonso I of Portugal (then Count of Portugal) defeats his mother, Teresa of León, and gains control of the county, which thus becomes de facto independent.
• July 27 – The city of Bruges is founded.
• King Louis VI of France agrees to the accession of Thierry of Alsace as Count of Flanders.
• Byzantine Emperor John II Komnenos defeats the Magyars near Haram on the Danube River.

By topic

Religion

• Pope Honorius II recognizes and confirms the Order of the Knights Templar. Bernard of Clairvaux codifies the rule of the order.^[3]
• Holyrood Abbey is founded in Edinburgh by David I, King of Scotland.

1129

• January 13 – Council of Troyes: The Order of the Knights Templars is ordained by the Pope.
• Emperor Toba begins his cloistered rule, sharing power with Sutuku, ex-Emperor Shirakawa's son.
• Burgsteinfurt Castle is built in what is now Steinfurt, Germany.
• Henry of Blois becomes bishop of Winchester.

Significant people

Births

Deaths

References