12th Century
| Year | Date | Event | Significance |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1102 | Kingdom of Croatia and Kingdom of Hungary formed a personal union of two kingdoms united under the Hungarian king. The act of union was deal with Pacta conventa, by which institutions of separate Croatian statehood were maintained through the Sabor (an assembly of Croatian nobles) and the ban (viceroy). In addition, the Croatian nobles retained their lands and titles. | Medieval Hungary and Croatia were (in terms of public international law) allied by means of personal union until 1526. Although, Hungarian-Croatian state existed until the beginning of the 20th century and the Treaty of Trianon. | |
| 1106 | 9/28 | Henry I of England defeats his older brother Robert Curthose, duke of Normandy, at the Battle of Tinchebrai, and imprisons him in Devizes castle; Edgar Atheling and William Clito are also taken prisoner. | This victory made a later struggle between England and the rising Capetian power in France inevitable. |
| 1107 | Through the Compromise of 1107, suggested by Adela, the sister of King Henry, the Investiture Struggle in England is ended. | This compromise removed one of the points of friction between the English monarchy and the Catholic Church. | |
| 1109 | In the Battle of Naklo, Boleslaus III Wrymouth defeats the Pomeranians. | Polish access to the sea is re-established. | |
| 1109 | 8/24 | In the Battle of Hundsfeld, Boleslaus III Wrymouth defeats Emperor Henry V. | German expansion to the east is stopped. |
| 1116 | The Byzantine army defeats the Turks at Philomelion. | The Turks abandon the entire coastal area of Anatolia and all of western Anatolia | |
| 1117 | The University of Oxford is founded. | It is the oldest university in the United Kingdom. | |
| 1118 | The Knights Templar are founded to protect Jerusalem and European pilgrims on their journey to the city. | Becomes the most recognizable, and impactful military orders during the Crusades. | |
| 1121 | 12/25 | St. Norbert and 29 companions make their solemn vows marking the beginning of the Premonstratensian Order. | This order played a significant role in evangelizing the Slavs, the Wends, to the east of the Holy Roman Empire. |
| 1122 | 9/23 | The Concordat of Worms was drawn up between Emperor Henry V and Pope Calixtus II. | This concordat ended the investiture struggle, but bitter rivalry between emperor and pope remained. |
| 1123 | 3/18-3/27 | The First Lateran Council followed and confirmed the Concordat of Worms. | |
| 1125 | Lothair of Supplinburg, duke of Saxony, is elected Holy Roman Emperor instead of the nearest heir, Frederick of Swabia. | This election marks the beginning of the great struggle between the Guelfs and the Ghibellines. | |
| 1125–1127 | Jingkang Incident | The Jurchen soldiers sack Kaifeng, bringing an end to the Northern Song Dynasty in China; the Song moves further south and makes Lin'an their new capital. | |
| 1130 | 12/25 | Roger II is crowned King of Sicily, a royal title given him by the Antipope Anacletus II. | This coronation marks the beginning of the Kingdom of Sicily and its Mediterranean empire under the Norman kings, which was able to take on the Holy Roman Empire, the Papacy, and the Byzantine Empire. |
| 1135 | The Anarchy begins in England. | This will mark a 19 year period of Government strife and Civil War between the supporters of Stephen and Matilda, and end with the crowning of Matilda's son, Henry II, and beginning the Plantagenet dynasty. | |
| 1139 | April | The Second Lateran Council declared clerical marriages invalid, regulated clerical dress, and punished attacks on clerics by excommunication. | Enforces the major reforms that Gregory VII began to heavily campaign for several decades earlier. |
| 1147–1149 | The Second Crusade was in retaliation for the fall of Edessa, one of the first Crusader States founded in the First Crusade. It was an overall failure. | This was the first Crusade to have been led by European Queens. | |
| 1150 | Ramon Berenguer IV, Count of Barcelona, married Queen Petronilla of Aragon. They had been betrothed in 1137. | This marriage gave the Kingdom of Aragon access to the Mediterranean Sea, creating a powerful kingdom which expanded to control many of the Mediterranean lands. | |
| 1152 | The Synod of Kells-Mellifont established the present diocesan system of Ireland (with later modifications) and recognized the primacy of Armagh. | This synod marks the inclusion of the Irish Church into western European Catholicism. | |
| 1158 | The Hanseatic League is founded. | This marks a new period of trade and economic development for northern and western Europe. | |
| 1163 | The first cornerstone is laid for the construction of Notre Dame de Paris. | ||
| 1166 | Stefan Nemanja united Serbian territories, establishing the Medieval Serbian state. | This marks the rise of Serbia which will dominate the Balkans for the next three hundred years. Allies of Serbia at this moment become the Hungarian Kingdom and the Republic of Venice. | |
| 1171 | King Henry II of England lands in Ireland to assert his supremacy and the Synod of Cashel acknowledges his sovereignty. | With his landing, Henry begins the English claim to and occupation of Ireland which would last some seven and a half centuries. | |
| 1174 | 7/12 | King William I of Scotland, captured in the Battle of Alnwick by the English, accepts the feudal lordship of the English crown and does ceremonial allegiance at York. | This is the beginning of the gradual acquisition of Scotland by the English. |
| 1175 | Hōnen Shōnin (Genkū) founds the Jōdo shū (Pure Land) sect of Buddhism. | This event marks the beginning of the Buddhist sectarian movement in Japan. | |
| 1176 | 5/29 | At the Battle of Legnano, the cavalry of Frederick Barbarossa is defeated by the infantry of the Lombard League. | This is the first major defeat of cavalry by infantry, signaling the new role of the bourgeosie. |
| 1179 | March | The Third Lateran Council limits papal electees to the cardinals alone, condemns simony, and forbids the promotion of anyone to the episcopate before the age of thirty. | |
| 1183 | The final Peace of Constance between Frederick Barbarossa, the pope, and the Lombard towns is signed. | The various articles of the treaty destroyed the unity of the Empire and Germany and Italy underwent separate developments. | |
| 1183 | The Taira clan are driven out of Kyōto by Minamoto Yoshinaka. | The two-year conflict which follows ends at the Battle of Dan no Ura (1185). | |
| 1184 | November | Pope Lucius III issues the papal bull Ad Abolendam. | This bull set up the organization of the medieval inquisitions. |
| 1185 | Windmills are first recorded. | ||
| 1185 | The reestablishment of the Bulgarian Empire. | ||
| 1185 | At the Battle of Dan no Ura, Minamoto Yoshitsune annihilates the Taira clan. | The elimination of the Taira leaves the Minamoto the virtual rulers of Japan and marks the beginning of the first period of feudal rule known as the Kamakura Period. | |
| 1186 | 1/27 | The future emperor Henry VI marries Constance of Sicily, heiress to the Sicilian throne. | This marriage shifts the focus of the Guelphs/Ghibelline struggle to Sicily and marks the ruin of the House of Hohenstaufen. |
| 1187 | Saladin recaptures Jerusalem. | Would lead to the Third Crusades. | |
| 1189 | July 6 | Richard I ascends the throne of England. | His heavy taxation to finance his European ventures created an antipathy of barons and people toward the crown, but his being absent enabled the English to advance in their political development. |
| 1189–1192 | The Third Crusade follows upon Saladin's uniting the Muslim world and recapturing Jerusalem. | Despite managing to win several major battles, the Crusaders did not recapture Jerusalem. | |
| 1192 | Minamoto Yoritomo is appointed Sei-i Taishōgun, or shōgun for short. | He is the first of a long line of military dictators to bear this title. The institution would last until 1913. | |
| 1193 | Turkic Muslim invaders sack and burn the university at Nalanda. | This is the beginning of the decline of Buddhism in India. | |
| 1193 | The first known merchant guild. |
Read more about this topic: Timeline Of The Middle Ages, High Middle Ages
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