Directory

1100 CE

It was the last year of the 11th century and the first year of the 12th century. In the proleptic Gregorian calendar, it was a non-leap century year starting on Monday (like 1900).

Geopolitics & Diplomacy

  • October 18 – Reconquista: Peter I of Aragon conquers Barbastro (modern Spain) from the hands of the Almoravids.source
  • December 25 – Philip I of France elevates his son Louis VI as co-ruler to the government of the realm.source
  • Philip I of France conquers the Vexin area, and adds the city of Bourges and the province of Berry to his estate.source
  • The Ancestral Puebloans culture, located in the modern-day Four Corners (United States), rises (approximate date).source
  • In Iceland, the Althing decides that the laws should be transferred to a written form (approximate date).source

Conflict & Security

  • January – The Seljuk ruler Muhammad Tapar is expelled from Baghdad by his brother Barkiyaruq, but Muhammad manages to retake the city during his spring offensive.source
  • August 20 – With the support of a Venetian fleet, the Crusaders under Tancred capture the coastal city of Haifa.source
  • August – Battle of Melitene: Bohemond I of Antioch is captured by the Danishmends, leaving Tancred as regent of the Principality of Antioch for two years.source
  • September 16 – Battle of Malagon: The Almoravid army defeats Castellan troops.source
  • The Liao dynasty crushes the Zubu, a tribute state of the Khitan Empire, and takes their khan prisoner.source
  • After a success over the Armenians of Cilicia and the Emirate of Aleppo, Baldwin of Bourcq becomes Count of Edessa, with the support of Daimbert.source

Exploration & Expansion

  • May or June – Count Raymond IV of Toulouse (Saint-Gilles) sails to Constantinople to obtain the support of Byzantine Emperor Alexios I Komnenos in his attempt to seize Tripoli.source
  • August 1 – A Genoese fleet leaves Italy to support the Crusaders' efforts to conquer the coastal cities; the ships reach Latakia on September 25.source
  • Oraibi, a Hopi village in Navajo County, becomes the oldest populated settlement in modern-day Arizona (modern-day United States).source
  • A collective of Tuareg trading clans decide to permanently settle the city of Timbuktu (modern Mali) north of Djenné along the Niger River. Timbuktu will later achieve fame as a center of Islamic learning. The Sankore, Djinguereber and Sidi Yahya mosques are among Timbuktu's most famous religious and scholarly institutions (approximate date).source
  • Genoa, Venice and Pisa gain trading privileges from the Crusader states, in return for their service during the conquest of the coastal cities.source

Religion & Belief

  • August 5 – Henry I is crowned King of England, at Westminster Abbey. The power of the new monarch is ill-assured, and to mollify the barons he has to grant them the Charter of Liberties, one of the first examples of a written constitution in Europe.source
  • August 30 – After the failure of the Council of Liubech in 1097, the Congress of Vytechev establishes peace and the feudal system in Kievan Rus; the princes come to an agreement to share the country between them. Sviatopolk II of Kiev becomes the first Grand Prince.source
  • September 23 – Anselm, archbishop of Canterbury returns to England from exile, at the invitation of Henry I.source
  • November 18 – The Council of Poitiers opens, but is soon forcibly closed by William IX, Duke of Aquitaine, as the bishops are about to excommunicate King Philip I of France once more.source
  • November – The council of Poitiers decrees that the followers of Robert of Arbrissel have to settle down and live under a rule, leading to the foundation of Fontevraud Abbey.source
  • The Stift St. Georgen Abbey is founded near Sankt Georgen am Längsee (modern Austria).source
  • The Diocese of Faroe is founded (approximate date).source
  • Frederick I becomes archbishop of Cologne, and begins the construction of the castle of Volmarstein.source

Technology & Infrastructure

  • Intense urban activity in north and central Europe: Kalmar (Kungälv) and Varberg (Sweden) are chartered; The cities of Aach (southern Germany) and Nakléřov in Bohemia are created. The castle of Burg Eppstein is built in central Germany.source

Science & Discovery

  • Checkers is invented (approximate date).source

Crime & Justice

  • Henry I of England grants the ownership of Carisbrooke Castle on the Isle of Wight to Richard de Redvers, a Norman nobleman.source

Culture & Society

  • November 11 – King Henry I of England marries Matilda of Scotland, the daughter of King Malcolm III and a direct descendant of the Saxon king Edmund Ironside.source
  • The city of Cusco (modern Peru) is founded (approximate date).source

Births

  • May 19 – Judith of Bavaria, duchess of Swabia (d. 1130)source
  • May 23 – Qin Zong, Chinese emperor (d. 1161)source
  • Jacob ben Meir Tam, French Jewish rabbi (d. 1171)source
  • Elvira of Castile, queen consort of Sicily (approximate date)source
  • Teobaldo Roggeri, Italian shoemaker (d. 1150)source
  • Herman of Carinthia, German astronomer (d. 1160)source
  • Eliza and Mary Chulkhurst, English conjoined twins (d. 1134)source
  • Robert of Melun, bishop of Hereford (d. 1167)source
  • Muhammad al-Idrisi, Almoravid geographer (d. 1165)source
  • Héloïse d'Argenteuil, French abbess and scholar (d. 1162)source
  • Robert de Beaumont, 2nd Earl Leicester (d. 1168)source
  • Adrian IV, pope of the Catholic Church (d. 1159)source
  • Albert I (the Bear), margrave of Brandenburg (d. 1170)source
  • Robert de Ferrers, 2nd Earl of Derby (d. 1162)source

Deaths

  • February 23 – Zhezong, Chinese emperor (b. 1077)source
  • February 23 – Emperor Zhezong dies after a 15-year reign. He is succeeded by his 17-year-old brother Huizong as ruler of the Song dynasty. At about this date, the Chinese population reaches around 100 million and in Kaifeng, his capital, the number of registered citizens within the walls is about 1,050,000 with the army stationed here boosting the overall populace to some 1.4 million people.source
  • February 25 – Gerland, bishop of Agrigentosource
  • March 28 – Adelaide of Weimar-Orlamünde, German noblewomansource
  • July 18 – Godfrey of Bouillon, French nobleman (b. 1060)source
  • July 23 – Warner of Grez, French noblemansource
  • August 2 – King William II of England (William Rufus) dies in a hunting accident in the New Forest. Sir Walter Tirel is accused of having shot the arrow, but flees the country to avoid a trial. Henry I claims the throne.source
  • September 8 – Antipope Clement III dies at Civita Castellana after a 20-year reign in opposition to the legitimate popes Gregory VII, Victor III and Urban II. Supporters of Emperor Henry IV in Rome choose Theodoric as his successor.source
  • September 8 – Clement III, antipope of Romesource
  • September 16 – Bernold of Constance, German chroniclersource
  • October 13 – Guy I, Count of Ponthieu (or Wido), French noblemansource
  • November 18 – Thomas of Bayeux, archbishop of Yorksource
  • December 22 – Bretislav II, duke of Bohemiasource
  • December 25 – French Crusader Baldwin I is crowned first King of Jerusalem at the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem, by Daimbert, the new Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem, following the death of the previous ruler, Baldwin's brother Godfrey of Bouillon, on July 18.source