1140s

This is a list of events occurring in the 1140s, ordered by year.

1140

By area

Europe

• December 21 – Conrad III of Germany besieged Weinsberg, the stronghold of Welfs.
• Henry Jasomirgott is made count palatine of the Rhine.
• The town of Lanark in Scotland is made a Royal Burgh by David I of Scotland.
• Marburg becomes a town.
• The Assizes of Ariano are enacted by Roger II of Sicily.
• Roger II of Sicily places the practice of medicine under royal control.

By topic

Religion

• June 3 – Pierre Abelard is condemned for heresy by a church court in Sens, France.
• The first Cistercian monastery in Spain is founded in Fitero.^[1] The order enjoys a rapid expansion in the region in the following 15 years.
• Camaldolite monk Gratian founds the science of Canon law with the publication of the Decretum Gratiani.

1142

By area

Africa

• Unable to feed its population during a famine, the emir of the great commercial center of Mahdia has to recognize the de facto protectorate of Roger II of Sicily.^[2]
• Failed Norman raid against the city of Tripoli.^[3]

Asia

• Emperor Konoe succeeds Emperor Sutoku on the throne of Japan.

Europe

• Henry the Lion becomes Duke of Saxony.
• The Empress Maud grants Oakley, Buckinghamshire Church, with its chapels of Brill, Boarstall and Addingrove, to the monks of St. Frideswide's Priory, in Oxford.

1143

By place

Africa

• Jijel taken by the Normans.^[4]
• Failure of a Norman raid on Ceuta,^[5] but at the same time the Normans lead a successful assault against Sfax.^[3]

Asia

• December 25 – Baldwin III is crowned King of Jerusalem, succeeding his father Fulk.

Europe

• April 5 – Manuel I Comnenus becomes Byzantine Emperor.
• July 1 – Battle of Wilton in England.
• September 26 – Pope Celestine II succeeds Pope Innocent II as the 165th pope.
• October 5 – Treaty of Zamora: Portugal is recognized by the Kingdom of Leon as an independent kingdom, although it has functioned as one since the Battle of São Mamede.
• Robert of Ketton makes the first European translation of the Qur'an into Latin.
• The exploration of the uncharted eastern parts of Germany begins, and results in the founding of cities such as Lübeck.
• During the summer the people of Rome revolt against the authority of the Pope and create a republican city-state comparable to that of the other Italian cities.

1144

By area

Africa

• Death of the Catalan mercenary Reverter de La Guardia, main Almoravid commander in the Maghrid al-Aqsa. His elimination opens the regions to the troops of the Almohads.^[5]

Asia

• December 24 – The County of Edessa falls to Zengi of Mosul (see Siege of Edessa).
• Manuel I Comnenus brings Raymond, Prince of Antioch, under Byzantine influence.

Europe

• Louis VII capitulates to Pope Celestine II and so earns the pope's absolution.
• Normandy comes under Angevin control under Geoffrey of Anjou.
• The city of Montauban, France, is founded.
• The city of Ljubljana, Slovenia, is first mentioned in historical records.^[6]
• Giordano Pierleoni founds the revolutionary Commune of Rome.
• Failed Byzantine attempt to reconquer Malta.

By topic

Religion

• March 12 – Pope Lucius II succeeds Pope Celestine II as the 166th pope.
• March 22 – The first example of an anti-Semitic blood libel is recorded in England, in connection with the murder of William of Norwich.
• The Priory in Lesmahagow is founded by Benedictine monks.
• First Templars stronghold is established in the kingdom of León and Castile.^[1]

1145

By place

Africa

• Conquest of North Africa by the Almohads
  • The Banu Zayan of Tlemcen submit to the arriving Almohad armies.^[7]
  • The Merinids of Maghrib al-Aqsa attempt to resist the Almohads but are forced into the desert areas around the Tafilalt.^[7]
  • Oran falls to the Almohads.^[5]
• Successful Norman raid against the Tripolitania region.

Asia

• Estimation: Merv in the Seljuk Empire becomes the largest city of the world, taking the lead from Constantinople, capital of the Byzantine Empire.^[8]

Europe

• February 15 – Pietro Bernardo Paganelli of Montemagno, Calci is elected as Pope Eugene III, and succeeds Pope Lucius II as the 167th pope.
• Arnold of Brescia joins the revolutionary Commune of Rome, where he becomes its intellectual leader for the next decade.

By topic

Arts and culture

• Kim Pusik and his team of historians finish the compilation of the Korean historical text Samguk Sagi.
• Construction begins on Notre-Dame de Chartres Cathedral in Chartres, France.
• Woburn Abbey is founded.

Religion

• Pope Eugene III issues the bull Quantum praedecessores, calling for the Second Crusade.

1146

By place

Africa

• June 18 –George of Antioch conquers Tripoli, Libya for the king of Sicily.^[3]
• The Almohad caliph Abd al-Mu'min conquers most of Morocco from the Almoravids.

Europe

• Saint Bernard of Clairvaux preaches the Second Crusade at Vezelay, Burgundy. In a repeat of the events of 1096, Crusaders attack and massacre Jewish communities along the Rhine. Bernard de Clairvaux condemns these pogroms in strong terms, reminding the Crusaders that those who attacked the Jewish people during the previous Crusade came to a sorry end and were massacred to the last man by the Turks.
• Ildeniz, atabeg of Azerbaijan founds a dynasty, being the first independent Turkish dynasty of Azerbaijan
• The city of Bryansk is first mentioned in written records.
• Genoese raid against the Muslim-held Balearic islands.^[5] The Republic of Pisa protests officially, seeing the islands as rightfully theirs.^[9] The Genoese then proceed to lay siege to Almeria, in vain.^[10]
• While discussing the details of a military expedition against the Almoravids for the following year, the representative of the Republic of Genoa and the count of Barcelona reach a commercial agreement granting privileges to merchants of both nation in the Catalan and Ligurian ports.^[10]
• The city of Quona is conquered by the Republic of Florence in a drive to expend its control over the surrounding countryside.

By topic

Markets

• A rainy year causes the harvest to fail in Europe, one of the worse famines of the century ensues.^[11]

1147

By place

Africa

• April – Abd al-Mu'min destroys the Almoravid Empire after capturing Marrakech and killing the last emir, Ishaq ibn Ali.
• The Siculo-NormanNormans take control of Gabes.^[3]

Asia

• October 25 – Battle of Dorylaeum, the Seljuq Turks defeat German crusaders under Conrad III.

Europe

• The beginning of the Second Crusade.

Eastern Europe

• June – The Wendish Crusade fail to convert most of the Polabian Slavs.
• The cities of Moscow and Vologda are first mentioned in written records.

Southern Europe

• July 1–October 25 – with the support of English and Flemish Crusaders, Afonso I of Portugal besieges and conquers Lisbon (Siege of Lisbon).^[12] The same year, the troops of the young Portuguese kingdom take Sintra and Santarém and sack Palmela.^[13]
• Roger II of Sicily takes Corfu from the Byzantine Empire, and pillages Corinth, Athens and Thebes.
• October 7 – Almería, one of the most important maritime and commercial centers of al-Andalus, falls into Christian hands after two months of siege.^[5]
• The Almohad general Mohammad al-Masufi conquers Seville.^[5]
• Consecration of the church of San Frediano in Lucca

By topic

Religion

• Dore Abbey is founded.
• Hildegard of Bingen founds the convent of Rupertsberg near Bingen.

1148

Africa

• Taking advantage of internal strife and of a famine episod, George of Antioch takes Mahdiya (June 22), Susa (July 1) and Sfax (July 12) in Tunisia in the name of Roger II of Sicily.^[14]
• The Anglo-Flemish crusader fleet takes Oran.^[5]
• Following the uprising of other cities of the region (Meknes, Sijilmassa) under al-Massati, the population of Ceuta rebels against the Almohads.^[5]

Asia

• Siege of Damascus by the Second Crusade:
  • June – The Second Crusade reaches Jerusalem. They meet at the Council of Acre and decide to attack Damascus.
  • July – The Siege of Damascus ends in failure.
• Anna Comnena writes the Alexiad, which is a biography of her father, Emperor Alexius I.

Europe

• King Afonso I of Portugal takes Abrantes from the Moors.
• December 30 – Ramon Berenguer IV, Count of Barcelona conquers Tortosa from the Moors.^[15]

1149

By area

Asia

• June 29 – Battle of Inab: Nur ad-Din Zangi defeats the Principality of Antioch.
• July 28 – The leaders of the Second Crusade take the decision to retreat.

Europe

• October 24 – Ramon Berenguer IV, Count of Barcelona conquers Lérida from the Almoravids after a siege of seven months as well as Fraga.^[16]
• The Castle of Carimate is destroyed.
• Åhus, in present days Denmark, gains city right.

By topic

Markets

• Genoa grants the benefits of a part of the city's fiscal revenues to a consortium of creditor called compera. It is the first example of the consolidation of public debt in medieval Europe.^[17]

Significant people

Births

Deaths

References