WORLD HISTORY · TIMELINE 日本語
The 12th century1101–1200
What were the key events of the 12th century?
In the 12th century (1101–1200), the Jurchens founded the Jin dynasty and the Song retreated south of the Yangtze, while the Angkor Empire flourished in Cambodia. In Japan, Taira no Kiyomori took power, the Taira clan was later destroyed at Dan-no-ura, and Minamoto no Yoritomo won the right to appoint military governors and land stewards.
- Angkor Empire flourishes in Southeast AsiaAsia
- Jurchens found Jin; Song moves southAsia
- Cities thrive and universities emerge in Western EuropeEurope
- Taira no Kiyomori takes power; Genpei War followsAsia
- Yoritomo wins right to appoint governors and stewardsAsia
- Taira clan destroyed at Dan-no-uraAsia
- Kingdom of Jerusalem surrenders to SaladinMiddle East
- Truce ends the Third CrusadeMiddle East
Summaries are written by the site editors.
The 12th century in AP history courses
| AP World History | Unit 1–2 (The Global Tapestry; Networks of Exchange) |
|---|
Key events of the 12th century (timeline · excerpt)
Tip: the PC view is best for studying
On a computer, each region has its own vertical line, so you can follow the flow of events and see what was happening in different parts of the world at the same time.
Holy Roman Emperor Henry IV is forced to abdicate in favor of his son, Henry V, in Ingelheim.
King Henry I of England defeats his brother Robert Curthose at the Battle of Tinchebray.
Seljuq sultan Muhammad I Tapar begins the siege of Shahdiz, a fortress of the Nizari Ismailis.
Battle of Uclés: Almoravid troops under the command of Tamim ibn Yusuf defeat a Castile and León alliance under the command of Prince Sancho Alfónsez.
Baldwin I of Jerusalem captures the city of Beirut from the Fatimid Caliphate with the help of a Genoese fleet.
An army led by Baldwin I of Jerusalem and Sigurd the Crusader of Norway captures Sidon at the end of the First Crusade.
Highest Galician nobility led by Pedro Fróilaz de Traba and the bishop Diego Gelmírez crown Alfonso VII as "King of Galicia".
Ramon Berenguer III, Count of Barcelona, and Douce I, Countess of Provence, marry, uniting the fortunes of those two states.
Pope Paschal II issues Pie Postulatio Voluntatis, recognizing the Order of Hospitallers.
A large earthquake damages the areas of the Crusaders in the Middle East. Antioch, Mamistra, Marash and Edessa are hit by the shocks.
Roger of Salerno's Crusader army defeats a numerically superior Seljuk army in the battle of Sarmin
Crusades: The Council of Nablus is held, establishing the earliest surviving written laws of the Crusader Kingdom of Jerusalem.
The White Ship sinks in the English Channel, drowning William Adelin, son and heir of Henry I of England.
Battle of Didgori: The Georgian army under King David IV wins a decisive victory over the famous Seljuk commander Ilghazi.
Pope Callixtus II and Holy Roman Emperor Henry V agree to the Concordat of Worms to put an end to the Investiture Controversy.
Pope Honorius II is consecrated, having been elected after the controversial dethroning of Pope-Elect Celestine II.
Following the death of his mother, queen Urraca of León, Alfonso VII is proclaimed king of León.
Jin–Song Wars: Invading Jurchen soldiers from the Jin dynasty besiege and sack Bianjing (Kaifeng), the capital of the Song dynasty of China, and abduct Emperor Qinzong of Song and others, ending the Northern Song period.
Former Empress Matilda, daughter and designated heiress of king Henry I of England, marries Geoffrey Plantagenet, Count of Anjou.
Battle of São Mamede, near Guimarães: Forces led by Afonso I defeat forces led by his mother Teresa of León and her lover Fernando Pérez de Traba.
Alfonso VII of León and Castile is crowned in León Cathedral as Imperator totius Hispaniae (Emperor of all of Spain).
Three weeks after the death of King Henry I of England, Stephen of Blois claims the throne and is privately crowned King of England, beginning the English Anarchy.
Abbasid Caliph al-Rashid Billah flees from Bagdhad, which had been besieged by an army of the Seljuk Turks under Sultan Ghiyath ad-Din Mas'ud for fifty days.
Seljuk Sultan Ghiyath ad-Din Mas'ud enters Baghdad after he besieged it for fifty days and the flight of Abbasid caliph al-Rashid Billah the day before.
Following the surrender of Baghdad, Seljuk Sultan Mas'ud replaces Abbasid caliph Al-Rashid Billah with his uncle Al-Muqtafi.
Eleanor of Aquitaine marries Prince Louis, later King Louis VII of France, at the Cathedral of Saint-André in Bordeaux.
Ranulf of Apulia defeats Roger II of Sicily at the Battle of Rignano, securing his position as duke until his death two years later.
Konrad III von Hohenstaufen is elected king of Germany at Coblenz in the presence of the papal legate Theodwin.
Antipope Victor IV gives up his claim to the papacy due to the instigation of Bernard of Clairvaux.
A massive earthquake strikes Aleppo; it is one of the most destructive earthquakes ever.
Lý Anh Tông is enthroned as emperor of Vietnam at the age of two, beginning a 37-year reign.
Pope Innocent II issues the bull Omne datum optimum in which he endorses the Knights Templar and approves the Templar Rule.
Roger II of Sicily is excommunicated by Innocent II for supporting Anacletus II as pope for seven years, even though Roger had already publicly recognized Innocent's claim to the papacy.
Pope Innocent II confirms in the treaty of Mignano the investiture of the sons of Roger II of Sicily to their fiefs and abandons support for the barons opposed to Roger.
Battle of Ourique: The Almoravids, led by Ali ibn Yusuf, are defeated by Prince Afonso Henriques who is proclaimed King of Portugal.
A magnitude 7.7 earthquake strikes the Caucasus mountains in the Seljuk Empire, causing mass destruction and killing up to 300,000 people.
Song dynasty general Yue Fei defeats an army led by Jin dynasty general Wuzhu at the Battle of Yancheng during the Jin–Song Wars.
After a siege of several weeks, the city of Weinsberg and its castle surrender to Conrad III of Germany.
The Battle of Lincoln, at which Stephen, King of England is defeated and captured by the allies of Empress Matilda.
Empress Matilda becomes the first female ruler of England, adopting the title "Lady of the English".
Yelü Dashi, the Liao dynasty general who founded the Qara Khitai, defeats the Seljuq and Kara-Khanid forces at the Battle of Qatwan.
An army of queen Matilda defeats and disperses an army of empress Matilda which was besieging Winchester. Robert of Gloucester is captured and exchanged for king Stephen, husband of queen Matilda.
Empress Matilda's reign as "Lady of the English" ends as Stephen of Blois regains the title of "King of England".
With the signing of the Treaty of Zamora, King Alfonso VII of León and Castile recognises Portugal as a Kingdom.
Robert of Chester completes his translation from Arabic to Latin of the Liber de compositione alchemiae, marking the birth of Western alchemy.
The capital of the crusader County of Edessa falls to Imad ad-Din Zengi, the atabeg of Mosul and Aleppo.
The main altar of Lund Cathedral, at the time the seat of the archiepiscopal see of all the Nordic countries, is consecrated.
Bernard of Clairvaux preaches his famous sermon in a field at Vézelay, urging the necessity of a Second Crusade. Louis VII is present, and joins the Crusade.
Seljuk atabeg Imad al-Din Zengi of Mosul is assassinated by a slave and succeeded by his quarrelling sons.
Afonso I of Portugal captures in a surprise attack the city of Santarem from the Almoravids.
The Siege of Damascus ends in a decisive crusader defeat and leads to the disintegration of the Second Crusade.
After an eight-year conflict, Baldwin III of Jerusalem wins sole control of the Kingdom of Jerusalem from his mother Melisende.
The future Henry II of England marries Eleanor of Aquitaine. He would become king two years later, after the death of his cousin once removed King Stephen of England.
After a six-month siege, Baldwin III of Jerusalem captures Ascalon, obtaining a vast amount of plunder and securing the southern border of the Kingdom of Jerusalem.
Crusader–Fatimid wars: The fortress of Ascalon is surrendered by Fatimid Egypt to an army of crusaders, Templars, and Hospitallers led by King Baldwin III of Jerusalem.
Finnish peasant Lalli kills English clergyman Henry, the Bishop of Turku, on the ice of Lake Köyliö.
A church council presided over by Byzantine emperor Manuel I Komnenos in the Palace of Blachernae investigates the orthodoxy of the patriarch of Antioch, Soterichos Panteugenos.
Albert I of Brandenburg, also called The Bear (Ger: Albrecht der Bär), becomes the founder of the Margraviate of Brandenburg, Germany and the first margrave.
German city Munich (München) is first mentioned as forum apud Munichen in the Augsburg arbitration by Holy Roman Emperor Friedrich I.
Having received the submission of the prince of Antioch, Raynald of Châtillon, Byzantine Emperor Manuel I Komnenos enters triumphantly the city of Antioch.
Cardinal Rolando Bandinelli is elected Pope Alexander III, prompting the election of Cardinal Octaviano Monticelli as Antipope Victor IV the same day.
Battle of Caishi: A Song dynasty fleet fights a naval engagement with Jin dynasty ships on the Yangtze river during the Jin–Song Wars.
Jin–Song wars: Military officers conspire against the emperor Wanyan Liang of the Jin dynasty after a military defeat at the Battle of Caishi, and assassinate the emperor at his camp.
Hassan II of Alamut proclaims the qiyāma, according to which Ismaili practice would change from traditional Islamic practice.
Battle of Harim: Nur ad-Din Zangi defeats the Crusader armies of the County of Tripoli and the Principality of Antioch.
Michael the Syrian, one of the most important Syriac historians, is consecrated as Syriac Orthodox Patriarch at the Mor Bar Sauma Monastery.
Battle of Monte Porzio: A Roman army supporting Pope Alexander III is defeated by Christian of Buch and Rainald of Dassel.
The Byzantines defeat the Hungarian army decisively at Sirmium, forcing the Hungarians to sue for peace.
King Amalric of Jerusalem marries Byzantine princess Maria Komnene in the cathedral of Tyre.
Sicilian Chancellor Stephen du Perche moves the royal court to Messina to prevent a rebellion.
A strong earthquake strikes the Ionian coast of Sicily, causing tens of thousands of injuries and deaths, especially in Catania.
Norman mercenaries land at Bannow Bay in Leinster, marking the beginning of the Norman invasion of Ireland.
Battle of the Blacks: Uprising by the black African forces of the Fatimid army, along with a number of Egyptian emirs and commoners, against Saladin.
A major earthquake hits Syria, badly damaging towns such as Hama and Shaizar and structures such as the Krak des Chevaliers and the cathedral of St. Peter in Antioch.
Thomas Becket, Archbishop of Canterbury, is assassinated inside Canterbury Cathedral by followers of King Henry II; he subsequently becomes a saint and martyr in the Anglican Communion and the Catholic Church.
Henry the Young King and Margaret of France are crowned junior king and queen of England.
Construction of the campanile of the Cathedral of Pisa (now known as the Leaning Tower of Pisa) begins; it will take two centuries to complete.
The widow Stamira sacrifices herself in order to raise the siege of Ancona by the forces of Emperor Frederick Barbarossa.
A conspiracy against Saladin, aiming to restore the Fatimid Caliphate, is revealed in Cairo, involving senior figures of the former Fatimid regime and the poet Umara al-Yamani. Modern historians doubt the extent and danger of the conspiracy reported in official sources, but its ringleaders will be publicly executed over the following weeks.
Baldwin IV, 13, becomes King of Jerusalem, with Raymond III of Tripoli as regent and William of Tyre as chancellor.
William I of Scotland, a key rebel in the Revolt of 1173–74, is captured at Alnwick by forces loyal to Henry II of England.
Saladin routs his Muslim opponents, the Zengids, in the battle of the Horns of Hama, consolidating his control over Syria except for Aleppo.
The Battle of Myriokephalon is the last attempt by the Byzantine Empire to recover central Anatolia from the Seljuk Turks.
Baldwin IV of Jerusalem and Raynald of Châtillon defeat Saladin at the Battle of Montgisard.
Genpei War: In the Battle of Ishibashiyama in Japan, the new military commander of the Minamoto clan, Minamoto no Yoritomo, is routed by Ōba Kagechika of the Taira clan.
The Battle of Fujigawa: Minamoto forces (30,000 men) under Minamoto no Yoritomo defeat Taira no Koremori during a night attack near the Fuji River but he escapes safely with the routed army.
Election of pope Lucius III following the death of pope Alexander III in the previous month.
Taira no Munemori and the Taira clan take the young Emperor Antoku and the three sacred treasures and flee to western Japan to escape pursuit by the Minamoto clan.
Genpei War: The Battle of Mizushima takes place off the Japanese coast, where Minamoto no Yoshinaka's invasion force is intercepted and defeated by the Taira clan.
The naval Battle of Fimreite is won by the Birkebeiner pretender Sverre Sigurdsson. Sigurdsson takes the Norwegian throne and King Magnus V of Norway is killed.
Erfurt latrine disaster: At a Hoftag, a meeting with local notables, organized by Henry VI, the building collapses and many of the nobles in attendance drown in the sewage pits below.
Yoritomo wins right to appoint governors and stewards
Battle of Yashima: the Japanese forces of the Taira clan are defeated by the Minamoto clan.
Isaac II Angelos kills Stephen Hagiochristophorites and then appeals to the people, resulting in the revolt that deposes Andronikos I Komnenos and places Isaac on the throne of the Byzantine Empire.
Isaac Angelos is crowned Byzantine emperor following the deposition of Andronikos I Komnenos and after the crowd rejects the coronation of Isaac's uncle John Doukas.
The Uprising of Asen and Peter begins on the feast day of St. Demetrius of Thessaloniki and ends with the creation of the Second Bulgarian Empire.
Henry VI, the son and heir of the Holy Roman Emperor Frederick I, marries Constance of Sicily.
Georgenberg Pact: Ottokar IV, Duke of Styria and Leopold V, Duke of Austria sign a heritage agreement in which Ottokar gives his duchy to Leopold and to his son Frederick under the stipulation that Austria and Styria would henceforth remain undivided.
Saladin won Jerusalem after the city surrendered to his forces following a prolonged siege.
Friedrich Barbarossa arrives at Niš, the capital of Serbian King Stefan Nemanja, during the Third Crusade.
The Crusader army of emperor Frederick Barbarossa defeats an army of the Rum Seljuks in the battle of Philomelion.
Third Crusade: Frederick I Barbarossa drowns in the river Saleph while leading an army to Jerusalem.
Conrad of Montferrat becomes King of Jerusalem upon his marriage to Isabella I of Jerusalem.
Richard I of England marries Berengaria of Navarre in Cyprus; she is crowned Queen consort of England the same day.
English forces under King Richard I arrive in Acre, joining the already arrived French and German forces of the Third Crusade.
Third Crusade: Saladin's garrison surrenders to Philip Augustus, ending the two-year siege of Acre.
Believing Saladin had reneged on ransom promises, Richard I of England initiates the massacre at Ayyadieh, beheading 2,700 captive Muslim soldiers and another 300 women and children seized at the Fall of Acre.
Truce ends the Third Crusade
Assassination of Conrad of Montferrat (Conrad I), King of Jerusalem, in Tyre, two days after his title to the throne is confirmed by election. The killing is carried out by Hashshashin.
Richard I of England defeats Saladin in the battle of Jaffa, which enables him to conclude a favourable treaty for the crusaders.
Minamoto no Yoritomo becomes Sei-i Taishōgun and the de facto ruler of Japan. (Traditional Japanese date: the 12th day of the seventh month in the third year of the Kenkyū (建久) era).
The Treaty of Jaffa is signed between Richard I of England and Saladin, leading to the end of the Third Crusade.
Richard I of England is captured and imprisoned by Leopold V of Austria on his way home to England after the Third Crusade.
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.
Sverre is crowned King of Norway, leading to his excommunication by the Catholic Church and civil war.
Battle of Alarcos: Almohad forces defeat the Castilian army of Alfonso VIII and force its retreat to Toledo.
Philip of Swabia, Prince of Hohenstaufen, is crowned King of Germany (King of the Romans).
King Richard I of England is wounded by a crossbow bolt while fighting in France, leading to his death on April 6.
King John of England, signer of the first Magna Carta, marries Isabella of Angoulême in Angoulême Cathedral.
Source: Wikipedia date pages ("January 1" … "December 31") / CC BY-SA 4.0. Regions are assigned by the site editors.
Dates and events are based on Wikipedia and other references. Summaries and regions are written by the site editors.