1104 CE
The new basilica at Vézelay Abbey (located in northern Burgundy in France) is dedicated. Battle of Harran: The Crusaders under Baldwin II are defeated by the Seljuk Turks. Baldwin and Joscelin of Courtenay are taken prisoner. Tancred (nephew of Bohemond I) becomes regent of Edessa. The defeat at Harran marks a key turning point of Crusader expansion. Alfonso I becomes king of Aragon and Navarre (after the death of his half-brother Peter I).
Conflict & Security
- May 7 – Battle of Harran: The Crusaders under Baldwin II are defeated by the Seljuk Turks. Baldwin and Joscelin of Courtenay are taken prisoner. Tancred (nephew of Bohemond I) becomes regent of Edessa. The defeat at Harran marks a key turning point of Crusader expansion.source
- May 26 – King Baldwin I captures Acre, the port is besieged from April, and blockaded by the Genoese and Pisan fleet. Baldwin promises a free passage to those who want to move to Ascalon, but the Italian sailors plunder the wealthy Muslim emigrants and kill many of them.source
- Spring – The Crusaders, led by Bohemond I, re-invade the territory of Aleppo, and try to capture the town of Kafar Latha. The attack fails, owing to the resistance of the local Banu tribe. Meanwhile, Joscelin of Courtenay cuts the communications between Aleppo and the Euphrates.source
- Summer – The Byzantines re-occupy the Cilician cities of Tarsus, Adana and Mamistra. A naval squadron, under Admiral Cantacuzenus, pursues in Cypriot waters a Genoese raiding fleet, and sails on to Latakia, where they capture the harbour and the lower city. Bohemond I reinforces the garrison in the citadel.source
- King David IV of Georgia defeats 100,000 Seljuk Turks with only 1,500 warriors (approximate date).source
- Autumn – Bohemond I departs to Italy for reinforcements. He takes with him gold and silver, and precious stuff to raise an army against Emperor Alexios I Komnenos. Tancred becomes co-ruler over Antioch – and appoints his brother-in-law, Richard of Salerno, as his deputy.source
- After the raid on Đại Việt in 1103, the Champa army under king Jaya Indravarman II successfully retakes three provinces in the Địa Lý regions but is quickly defeated by the national forces led by Lý Thường Kiệt, and is forced to withdraw from the country. Đại Việt under the Lý dynasty then takes control of the three Địa Lý provinces.source
- Sultan Kilij Arslan I of the Sultanate of Rum starts a war with the Danishmendids.source
Exploration & Expansion
- Toghtekin, Seljuk ruler (atabeg) of Damascus, founds a short-lived principality in Syria (the first example of a series of Seljuk-ruled dynasties).source
Religion & Belief
Climate & Environment
- Autumn – The volcano Hekla erupts in Iceland and devastates farms for 45 miles (some 70 km) around.source
Culture & Society
- The Venetian Arsenal is founded in Venice.source
Births
- Ibn Zafar al Siqilli, Arab-Sicilian politician (d. 1170)source
- Fujiwara no Kiyosuke, Japanese waka poet (d. 1177)source
- Euphrosyne of Polotsk, Kievan princess (d. 1167)source
- Vladimir Volodarevich, Galician prince (d. 1152)source
- Gens du Beaucet, French hermit and saint (d. 1127)source
- Waleran de Beaumont, 1st Earl of Worcester (d. 1166)source
- Robert de Beaumont, 2nd Earl of Leicester (d. 1168)source
Deaths
- June 8 – Duqaq, Seljuk ruler of Damascussource
- September 25 – Simon II, French noblemansource
- September 28 – Alfonso I becomes king of Aragon and Navarre (after the death of his half-brother Peter I).source
- October 26 – Johann I, bishop of Speyersource
- Danishmend Gazi, ruler of the Danishmendssource
- Herewald of Llandaff, Welsh bishopsource
- Seraphin, archbishop of Esztergomsource
- Svend Tronkræver, Danish princesource
- Peter I, king of Aragon and Navarresource
- Al-Mansur ibn al-Nasir, Hammadid rulersource
- Serlo, Norman cleric and abbotsource