Medieval Timeline - Browse by Century

The Twelfth Century (28 entries)

Marriage of Henry I to Matilda
Date: 1100 A.D.
Description:
King Henry I of England, the grandson of Duke William of Normandy (William I - the Conqueror) marries Matilda, the great grand-daughter of Æthelred the Unready (reigned 878-1018), thus uniting the Norman and Saxon royal houses.
Date added: 08.26.05
Region: Western Europe, British Isles, England
Category: Politics
Contributor(s): Alan Chanter

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William II of England Dies
Date: August 2nd, 1100 A.D.
Description:
William II was shot by an arrow while hunting in the forest.
Date added: 09.20.04
Region: Western Europe, British Isles, England
Category: Politics

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Henry I Crowned King of England
Date: August 5th, 1100 A.D.
Description:
Following William II's death, Henry acted quickly to claim the throne. He was crowned at Westminster Abbey.
Date added: 09.20.04
Region: Western Europe, British Isles, England
Category: Politics

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Marriage of Matilda to the German Emperor Henry V
Date: 1114 A.D.
Description:
Matilda (or Maud), the 12 year old only daughter of King Henry I of England, is married to the German Emperor Henry V.
Date added: 08.26.05
Region: Western Europe, British Isles, England, Germany
Category: Politics
Contributor(s): Alan Chanter

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The Loss of the White Ship
Date: November 25th, 1120 A.D.
Description:
Prince William, King Henry I's only legitimate son and heir, is drowned near Barfleur when the White Ship sinks on its way to Normandy. King Henry appoints his 18 year old daughter Matilda, the wife of the German emperor, to become his heiress, but after Henry's death in 1135, the succession would become a disputed issue between Matilda and her cousin, Stephen (reigned 1135-64), which would throw England into a bitter civil war.
Date added: 08.27.05
Region: Western Europe, British Isles, England
Category: Politics
Contributor(s): Alan Chanter

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Henry I of England Dies
Date: December 1st, 1135 A.D.
Date added: 09.20.04
Region: Western Europe, British Isles, England
Category: Politics

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Stephen I Crowned King of England
Date: December 22nd, 1135 A.D.
Date added: 09.20.04
Region: Western Europe, British Isles, England
Category: Politics

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Battle of the Standard
Date: August 22nd, 1138 A.D.
Description:
David I, King of the Scots, intervenes in the civil war raging in England in support of his niece, Matilda. A keen supporter of Norman institutions, which had earlier alienated many of his Celtic subjects, King David's Scottish Army occupied Carlisle and advanced into the vale of York. With King Stephen's forces engaged elsewhere, the defence of the North was entrusted to the aged Archbishop Thurstan of York, who inspired his Yorkshire militia with his own Battle-Standard. This standard was a huge forty foot pole mounted on a cart, topped with a silver pyx containing the Host and flying the banners of York's patron saints—St. Peter of York, St. John of Beverley and St. Wilfred of Ripon.

The two opposing armies met at Cowton Moor, near Northallerton, where the Scots were soundly defeated by the Anglo-Normans under the command of William, Count of Aumale.
Date added: 08.27.05
Region: Western Europe, British Isles, England, Scotland
Category: Military
Contributor(s): Alan Chanter

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Battle of Lincoln
Date: February 2nd, 1141 A.D.
Description:
King Stephen, having captured Lincoln from the unpopular Ranulf, Earl of Chester, marched his army out of the city to engage a combined rebel force. This force was commanded by Robert of Gloucester, the Empress Matilda's step brother, and the Earl of Chester with his Cheshire tenants and Welsh mercenaries which had arrived to regain the castle and city for the empress.

The battle went badly for the Royalist. Rebel charges resulted in the king's flanking cavalry fleeing the field, leaving his infantry to fight unsupported. The king, fighting with his bodyguard, was eventually struck down and captured. He was briefly imprisoned in the castle before being escorted to Matilda's headquarters in Bristol. In the aftermath of the battle, the city was pillaged by the victorious rebels, with many of its citizens being slaughtered for their support to the Royalists.
Date added: 08.28.05
Region: Western Europe, British Isles, England
Category: Military
Contributor(s): Alan Chanter

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Henry Plantagenet Marries Eleanor of Aquitaine
Date: May 18th, 1152 A.D.
Description:
Prince Henry, the future King Henry II and son of the Empress Matilda by her second husband Geoffrey of Anjou, marries Eleanor of Aquitaine, the widow of King Louis VII and the queen of France. A year later, by the Treaty of Winchester (1153), Henry would become King Stephen's nominated successor, thus adding the throne of England (1154) to his considerable continental inheritances of Normandy, Brittany and Anjou.
Date added: 08.28.05
Region: Western Europe, British Isles, England, France
Category: Politics
Contributor(s): Alan Chanter

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Stephen I of England Dies
Date: October 25th, 1154 A.D.
Date added: 09.20.04
Region: Western Europe, British Isles, England
Category: Politics

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Henry II Crowned King of England
Date: December 19th, 1154 A.D.
Description:
In the first undisputed succession since the Norman Conquest, Henry II was crowned the first Angevin king of England.
Date added: 09.20.04
Region: Western Europe, British Isles, England
Category: Politics

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Dermot MacMurrough Expelled from Ireland
Date: 1166 A.D.
Description:
Rory O'Connor, the High King of Ireland, expels Dermot MacMurrough, King of Leinster, from Ireland. Dermot would return in 1170 with a force of Normans and Welsh mercenaries which would ultimately result in the establishment of Anglo-Norman rule over much of Ireland.

See the Medieval Wiki for more details.
Date added: 08.28.05
Region: Western Europe, British Isles, Ireland
Category: Politics
Contributor(s): Alan Chanter

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Baldwin IV, the Leper King, Crowned King of Jerusalem
Date: 1174 A.D.
Description:
Baldwin IV was the son of Amalric I and his first wife Agnes of Courtenay. Under suspicions of leprosy, he was nevertheless crowned King of Jerusalem after his father's death. Despite his leprosy being confirmed shortly thereafter, eventually leading to horrible disfigurement and physical handicap, he was never ousted from power.
Date added: 08.27.05
Region: Middle East, Crusader States
Category: Politics
Contributor(s): Natalie Kohout

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Conquest of Ulster
Date: 1177 A.D.
Description:
A discontented Norman knight, Sir John de Courcy left Dublin with a small force of about 300 men-at-arms to conquer the region of Antrim and Down in Ulster, Northern Ireland. After subduing the local Irish chieftains, de Courcy would commence establishing his own independent kingdom in the region. During the reign of Henry II, he seems to have been left alone to enjoy his independence (particularly as his father-in-law was the Norse King of the Isle of Man), and during this time he established the city of Belfast and established numerous castles and churches. In 1185 he was appointed by Henry to the powerful position of Justiciar of Ireland, but later refused to submit to King John and was ultimately defeated by a Royal force led by Sir Hugh de Lacy. De Lacy was rewarded by King John with the title of Earl of Ulster. De Courcy's later life is shrouded in much myth and legend, and he is thought to have died c. 1219.
Date added: 08.28.05
Region: Western Europe, British Isles, Ireland
Category: Military, Politics
Contributor(s): Alan Chanter

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Battle of Mont Gisard
Date: November 25th, 1177 A.D.
Description:
Under the leadership of Baldwin IV and Prince Reynald, the Franks were able to rout Saladin's forces at Mont Gisard. Saladin had been caught off guard, as most of his army was off foraging and pillaging and were not prepared for a battle. The sultan barely escaped with his life and was forced to return to Egypt with only a small fraction of the army he had set out with.
Date added: 08.27.05
Region: Middle East, Crusader States
Category: Military
Contributor(s): Natalie Kohout

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Philip II Augustus Orders Jews out of France
Date: April 1182 A.D.
Description:
All nonconverting Jews were ordered out of France in 1182, by order of Philip II Augustus. Their property was confiscated by the king. They were, however, allowed a short amount of time to sell any movable possessions or goods.
Date added: 08.28.05
Region: Western Europe, France
Category: Society, Religion, Law and Legislation
Contributor(s): Natalie Kohout
Source information: Craig, Albert M., William A. Graham, Donald Kagen, Steven Ozment, and Frank M. Turner. The Heritage of World Civilizations Volume One: To 1650. 5th ed. Upper Saddle River, New Jersey: Prentice Hall, 2000. 349.

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Rebellion of the Young King
Date: 1183 A.D.
Description:
Henry, the oldest of the quarrelsome sons of King Henry II, together with his brother Geoffrey lead a rebellion in Aquitaine against their brother Richard, the future King Richard I, Couer de Lion. Henry, the young king, would die in 1183, and his brother, Geoffrey of Brittany, died in 1186 whilst plotting another revolt, thus leaving Richard to inherit the crown of England upon their father's death in 1189.
Date added: 08.28.05
Region: Western Europe, France, British Isles, England
Category: Politics, Military
Contributor(s): Alan Chanter

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Death of Baldwin IV, the Leper King
Date: 1185 A.D.
Description:
After struggling with the most severe form of leprosy for almost all of his reign, Baldwin IV dies at 23 years of age. He was buried with other kings of Jerusalem in the Church of the Holy Sepulchre. During his reign no Frankish territory was lost to Saladin, with a notable victory against Saladin in 1177 at Mont Gisard and another victory at Le Forbelet in 1182.
Date added: 08.27.05
Region: Middle East, Crusader States
Category: Politics
Contributor(s): Natalie Kohout

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Sibyl and Guy of Lusignan Crowned Queen and King of Jerusalem
Date: 1186 A.D.
Description:
After the death of young Baldwin V, his mother Sibyl was to be crowned queen. This was not to take place until Sibyl agreed to divorce her unpopular husband Guy of Lusignan. Under pressure she agreed, only on the condition that she would be free to marry whomever she wanted afterwards. After her crowning as Queen of Jerusalem she chose her now ex-husband, Guy, to be her new husband. Guy was then crowned King of Jerusalem.
Date added: 08.27.05
Region: Middle East, Crusader States
Category: Politics
Contributor(s): Natalie Kohout

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Death of Baldwin V
Date: 1186 A.D.
Description:
The nine year old Baldwin V, nephew and successor to Baldwin IV, died of unknown causes at Acre in 1186.
Date added: 08.27.05
Region: Middle East, Crusader States
Category: Politics
Contributor(s): Natalie Kohout

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Battle of Hattin
Date: July 4th, 1187 A.D.
Description:
On July 4, 1187, the forces of the Kingdom of Jerusalem were defeated by Saladin. Raymond of Tripoli and a few others evaded capture. Many knights were killed in the battle and out of those taken prisoner, even less were allowed to live. The king of Jerusalem (who was Guy of Lusignan), the Master of the Temple and Reynald of Châtillon were among the notables captured. All of the captured Templars were executed except for their master. Saladin himself killed Reynald of Châtillon. Guy of Lusignan was imprisoned and released about a year later. This was the worst defeat ever faced by the Christians in the crusader states and the consequences of this loss were catastrophic. The kingdom had lost almost all of its fighting men in this disaster.
Date added: 08.27.05
Region: Middle East, Crusader States
Category: Military
Contributor(s): Natalie Kohout

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Jerusalem surrenders to Saladin
Date: October 2nd, 1187 A.D.
Description:
Saladin's army arrived outside of Jerusalem on September 20, 1187. The Patriarch of Jerusalem, Heracleus, took charge of the city's defenses with the help of Balian of Ibelin. Queen Sibyl of Jerusalem was also present in the city. After two weeks of Saladin's assault upon the walls, with a city full of refugees and a severe shortage of trained fighters, it was clear that nothing could prevent the city from falling. Heracleus and Balian decided that the only option left to them was to seek terms with Saladin. On October 2, 1187, Saladin and his army entered the defeated city amidst a relatively peaceful takeover. Many of the inhabitants, including Queen Sibyl and her entourage, were ransomed.
Date added: 08.28.05
Region: Middle East, Crusader States
Category: Military
Contributor(s): Natalie Kohout

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Henry II of England Dies
Date: July 4th, 1189 A.D.
Date added: 09.20.04
Region: Western Europe, British Isles, England
Category: Politics

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Richard I (the Lionhearted) Crowned King of England
Date: September 3rd, 1189 A.D.
Date added: 09.20.04
Region: Western Europe, British Isles, England
Category: Politics

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Capture and Ransom of Richard I
Date: 1192 A.D.
Description:
Returning from the Third Crusade, King Richard I is captured by Duke Leopold of Austria. Richard is then handed over to the Holy Roman Emperor, Henry VI, who demands the payment of a ransom of 150,000 marks, together with Richard's acknowledgement of Henry as his overlord. By 1194 most of this huge ransom had been paid, and Richard was allowed to return to England. This was only his second visit to his kingdom, but within weeks he had departed again, never to return.
Date added: 08.28.05
Region: Western Europe, Germany, British Isles, England
Category: Politics
Contributor(s): Alan Chanter

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Richard I (the Lionhearted) of England Dies
Date: April 6th, 1199 A.D.
Date added: 09.20.04
Region: Western Europe, British Isles, England
Category: Politics

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John Crowned King of England
Date: May 27th, 1199 A.D.
Date added: 09.20.04
Region: Western Europe, British Isles, England
Category: Politics

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