Directory

1145 CE

Pope Lucius II dies at Rome after having been hit by a stone missile during the fighting against Senatorial forces led by Giordano Pierleoni. He is succeeded after an 11-month pontificate by Eugene III who becomes the 167th pope of the Catholic Church. Eugene is forced into exile by Arnold of Brescia. Eugene III issues the bull Quantum praedecessores, calling for the Second Crusade. At Christmas, King Louis VII announces his intention of making a pilgrimage which becomes part of the Crusade. Construction begins on Notre-Dame de Chartres Cathedral in Chartres, France.

Geopolitics & Diplomacy

  • Spring – Arnold of Brescia, an Italian priest from Lombardy, turns Rome into a republic with a government patterned on that of the Roman Republic. Arnold becomes the intellectual leader of the Commune of Rome, calling for liberties and democratic rights after the deposition of Giordano Pierleoni.source

Conflict & Security

  • Estimation: Merv (in the Seljuk Empire) becomes the largest city in the world, surpassing Constantinople.source
  • Spring – Seljuk forces led by Imad al-Din Zengi capture Saruj, the second great Crusader fortress east of the Euphrates. They advance to Birejik and besiege the city, but the garrison puts up a stiff resistance. Meanwhile, Queen-Regent Melisende of Jerusalem joins forces with Joscelin II, count of Edessa and approaches the city. Zengi raises the siege after hearing rumours of trouble in Mosul. He rushes back with his army to take control. There, Zengi is praised throughout Islam as "defender of the faith" and al-Malik al-Mansur, the "victorious king".source
  • The Merinids of Maghrib al-Aqsa attempt to resist the Almohads but are forced into the desert areas around the Tafilalt. Oran falls to the Almohads. A Norman raid against the Tripolitania region succeeds.source
  • Raymond of Poitiers, prince of Antioch, travels to Constantinople to ask Emperor Manuel I Komnenos for help to support his campaign against the Seljuks. When he arrives, Raymond is forced to accept the suzerainty of the Byzantine Empire. Manuel treats him graciously, gives him gifts and promises him a money subsidy.source

Religion & Belief

  • December 1 – Eugene III issues the bull Quantum praedecessores, calling for the Second Crusade. At Christmas, King Louis VII announces his intention of making a pilgrimage which becomes part of the Crusade.source
  • Woburn Abbey is founded by the Cistercians in England. A colony of monks arrive from Fountains Abbey to establish a community that will survive until 1234.source
  • Construction begins on Notre-Dame de Chartres Cathedral in Chartres, France.source
  • Kim Pusik and his team of historians finish the compilation of the Korean historical text Samguk Sagi.source

Births

  • Adam of Perseigne, French Cistercian abbot (d. 1221)source
  • Baha ad-Din ibn Shaddad, Arab historian (d. 1234)source
  • Adalbert III, archbishop of Salzburg (d. 1200)source
  • Aoife MacMurrough (or Eva), Irish princess (d. 1188)source
  • Najmuddin Kubra, founder of the Kubrawi order (d. 1221)source
  • Maria of Antioch, Byzantine empress and regent (d. 1182)source
  • Manuel Komnenos, son of Andronikos I (d. 1185)source
  • Marie of Champagne, French noblewoman (d. 1198)source
  • Ibn Jubayr, Andalusian geographer and traveller (d. 1217)source
  • Margaret of Huntingdon, Scottish princess (d. 1201)source
  • Ruben III, ruler of the Armenian Kingdom of Cilicia (d. 1187)source
  • Theodora Komnene, queen of Jerusalem (approximate date)source
  • Christina Hvide, queen of Sweden (approximate date)source
  • Shihab al-Din 'Umar al-Suhrawardi, Persian scholar (d. 1234)source

Deaths

  • February 15 – Pope Lucius II dies at Rome after having been hit by a stone missile during the fighting against Senatorial forces led by Giordano Pierleoni. He is succeeded after an 11-month pontificate by Eugene III who becomes the 167th pope of the Catholic Church. Eugene is forced into exile by Arnold of Brescia.source
  • February 15 – Lucius II, pope of the Catholic Churchsource
  • March 23 – Tashfin ibn Ali, Almoravid emirsource
  • April 5 – Gabriel II, patriarch of Alexandriasource
  • October 6 – Baldwin, archbishop of Pisasource
  • November 26 – Bellinus of Padua, Italian bishopsource
  • Sophia of Bavaria, German noblewoman (b. 1105)source
  • Fujiwara no Tamako, Japanese empress (b. 1101)source
  • William of Malines, Flemish priest (approximate date)source
  • Zhang Zeduan, Chinese landscape painter (b. 1085)source
  • Magnus Haraldsson, king of Norway (approximate date)source
  • Spring – Almohad forces under Abd al-Mu'min defeat a Muslim Almoravid army at Tlemcen. Almoravid ruler Tashfin ibn Ali dies while escaping his enemies near Oran. He is succeeded by his son Ibrahim ibn Tashfin.source