1120s

Millennium:	2nd millennium
Centuries:	11th century – 12th century – 13th century
Decades:	1090s 1100s 1110s – 1120s – 1130s 1140s 1150s
Years:	1120 1121 1122 1123 1124 1125 1126 1127 1128 1129
1120s-related categories:	Births – Deaths – By country Establishments – Disestablishments

This is a list of events occurring in the 1120s, ordered by year.

By place

Asia

• The Song Dynasty governor of the bustling seaport of Quanzhou, Fujian, China, reports that the population of his city has reached 500,000 residents.
• August–September (the eighth month of the Chinese calendar) – Wanyan Xiyin completes the design of the first version of the Jurchen script

Europe

• January 16 – The Council of Nablus is held in the Kingdom of Jerusalem.
• June 17 – at the Battle of Cutanda, the Aragonese troops of Alfonso I crush the Almoravid army.
• November 25 – The White Ship is wrecked in the English Channel, resulting in the death of the son of King Henry I of England.
• Walcher of Malvern creates a system of measurement for the earth using degrees, minutes, and seconds of latitude and longitude.
• Construction begins on Llandaff Cathedral in Wales.
• Foundation of Freiburg in Breisgau.
• Under admirals Abu Abd Allah ibn Maymum of Almeria and Isa ibn Mayum of Sevilla, the Almoravid fleet attacks the Christian kingdom of Galicia.

1121

• August 12 – Battle of Didgori: King David the Builder of Georgia, with 55,600 troops, defeats the 300,000-strong Muslim coalition forces at Mount Didgori, in eastern Georgia.
• December 25 (Christmas Day) – The Praemonstratensian Order (Norbertines) is formed when a group of canons make solemn vows at Prémontré.
• A provincial synod held at Soissons condemns Peter Abelard's writings on the Trinity. Abelard writes Sic et Non.
• Completion of the third and largest church at Cluny Abbey.
• Reading Abbey is founded in England.
• A large rebellion takes place in Córdoba, Spain, against the ruling Almoravids.

By area

Europe

• Battle of Beroia: Byzantine Emperor John II Komnenos defeats and destroys the Pechenegs.
• To contain the attacks of the Norman raiders, the Almoravid fleet attacks Sicily. The same year (related?), the Muslim population of Malta rebels against the Normans.
• The king of Aragon, Alfonso the Battler, creates the lay community of knights known as the confraternity of Belchite. It is the first local attempt to imitate the type of structure created in Palestine (end in 1136).
• King David IV of Georgia reconquers the city of Tbilisi from Muslim rule and makes it his capital.

By topic

Religion

• September 23 – The Concordat of Worms resolves the Investiture Controversy, thus bringing to an end the first phase of the power struggle between the Papacy and the Holy Roman Emperors.
• Supposed visit of a patriarch of the Saint Thomas Christians of India to Pope Callixtus II.

By area

Africa

• August 9 – Failure of a Norman campaign in North Africa, the Norman troops are massacred near Mahdia at the battle of al-Dimas.

Asia

• February 25 – 5-year-old Emperor Sutoku succeeds his father Emperor Toba on the throne of Japan when the latter is forced to abdicate at the age of 21.
• May 29 – Battle of Yibneh: A Crusader force led by Eustace Grenier crushes a Fatimid army at Yibna.
• May 30 – The Venetian fleet defeats the Egyptian fleet off Ascalon.
• The Pactum Warmundi is established between the Republic of Venice and the Kingdom of Jerusalem.

Europe

• First mention of the consuls of Bologna indicating that the city has become an independent comune of Italy.
• Siege of Deventer: Conflict between Henry V, Holy Roman Emperor and Lothair of Supplinburg, Duke of Saxony.
• In accordance with the decision of the First Council of the Lateran, the archbishop of Compostela, Diego Gelmírez, declares the Crusade in Iberia against the Andalusians.

By topic

Religion

• March 18 – First Council of the Lateran convenes in Rome; it confirms the Concordat of Worms (1122) and demands clerical celibacy in the Catholic Church.
• St Bartholomew's Hospital ("Barts") is founded in London; it will still be operating as a medical institution on its original site into the 21st century.
• Furness Abbey founded in the north-west of England by Stephen, Count of Boulogne, for the Order of Savigny; it will become the country's second wealthiest and most powerful Cistercian monastery.

By place

Europe

• March 26 – Henry I of England's forces defeat Norman rebels at Bourgtheroulde.
• April 27 – David I succeeds Alexander I to become King of Scotland.
• December 21 – Pope Honorius II succeeds Pope Callixtus II as the 163rd pope.
• Gaufrid is consecrated as the first Abbot of Dunfermline Abbey.
• The Dun Beal Gallimhe is erected by King Tairrdelbach Ua Conchobair of Connacht.
• In Ireland, Saint Malachy, the great reformer of the Church, is made a bishop.

North America

• Arnald becomes the first Bishop of Greenland.

Middle East

• July 7 – Tyre falls to the Crusaders.

By area

Asia

• June 11 – Battle of Azaz: The Crusaders defeat the Seljuk Turks.
• November – Jin–Song wars: The Jurchens of the Jin dynasty declare war on the Song Dynasty.

Europe

• May 23 – Lothair of Saxony becomes King of Germany on the death of Henry V.
• War ends between Toulouse and Provence.
• Nassau Castle is built.
• Florence conquers the neighboring independent republic of Fiesole.
• King Inge the Younger is murdered in Vreta Abbey, Östergötland, instigated by his wife Ulfhild. Her cousin Magnus the Strong proclaims himself ruler of Gothenland, whereas Ragnvald Knaphövde, in opposition to him, proclaims himself king of Sweden in Svealand.
• First mention of the consuls of Siena indicating that the city has become an independent commune.
• The Venetians pillage Rhodes, ravage Samos and Lesbos, and occupy Chios.
• Saracen pirates raid the city of Antibes in Provence and the benedictine monastery of Saint Honorat on the Lérins Islands.
• Creation of the first fair in Portugal in Ponte de Lima, it is an early sign of the commercialization and economic development of a still backward and self-contained region.
• Castellan raid in Andalusia led by king Alfonso the Battler.

By topic

Arts

• Albert of Aix begins his Historia Hierosolymitanae expeditionis.

Education

• Reading School founded.

Religion

• A collection of Zen Buddhist koans is compiled in the Chinese Blue Cliff Record.

By area

Asia

• January–March – In Song dynasty China, scholars and farmers demonstrate around Kaifeng for the restoration of a trusted military official, Li Gang (李綱). Small conflicts erupt between the protestors and the government.
• January 18 – Emperor Huizong of Song abdicates in favour of his son Qinzong.
• The Song dynasty loses the Yellow River valley to the Jin dynasty in the Jin–Song Wars. Remnants of the court flee south, including much of the populace and communities such as the Kaifeng Jews.
• Two previously written Chinese pharmaceutical works, one by Shen Kuo and another by Su Shi, are combined into one written work.

Europe

• March 10 – Alfonso VII is crowned king of Castile and León in Spain.
• Rutherglen becomes one of the first Royal Burghs in Scotland.
• Ragnvald Knaphövde, pretender to the Swedish throne, is killed by upset peasants at a local thing. Sweden is without ruler, but Magnus the Strong claims sovereignty over Gothenland for the time being.
• King Alfonso the Battler of Navarre and Aragon launches a raid into Granada.
• The Venetians occupy Cephalonia. Byzantine Emperor John II Komnenos restores their trading privileges.
• Olegarius creates the community of knights known as the confraternity of Tarragona to combat the Andalusians in Catalonia.

By topic

Science

• Adelard of Bath translates Muḥammad ibn Mūsā al-Khwārizmī's arithmetic and astronomical tables into Latin.

1127

• Estimation: Constantinople, capital of the Byzantine Empire, becomes the largest city of the world, taking the lead from Kaifeng, capital of China.

By area

Asia

• January 9 – Jurchen forces sack the Song Chinese capital of Kaifeng during the Jingkang Incident of the Jin–Song wars, and begin more than a century of political division between northern and southern China.

Europe

• Conrad III establishes the Hohenstaufen dynasty when he is crowned anti-king to the Holy Roman Emperor, Lothair III.
• The first coalition of the Norman princes against Roger II of Sicily is formed. The same year, Roger regains control over Malta after a rebellion. To guaranty the security of the seas, the king also establishes a pact with the maritime republic of Savona, probably following an Almoravid raid against his realm.
• Count Charles the Good of Flanders is assassinated.
• First mention of the consuls in Brescia, indicating that the city has become an independent commune.
• The commune of Milan conquers the neighboring city of Como.

By topic

Arts

• The minaret of Kalyan is completed in Bukhara (present day Uzbekistan).

By area

Asia

• Champa invades Vietnam.
• Jin–Song wars: Song Dynasty China establishes a temporary capital at Yangzhou while the government retreats south after the Jurchen Jin Dynasty captured their previous capital of Kaifeng in the Jingkang Incident.

Europe

• June 17 – Geoffrey of Anjou marries Matilda, daughter of Henry I of England.
• June 24 – Battle of São Mamede: Afonso I of Portugal (then Count of Portugal) defeats his mother, Teresa of León, and gains control of the county, which thus becomes de facto independent.
• July 27 – The city of Bruges is founded.
• King Louis VI of France agrees to the accession of Thierry of Alsace as Count of Flanders.
• Byzantine Emperor John II Komnenos defeats the Magyars near Haram on the Danube River.
• Foundation of Kelso Abbey by David I of Scotland

By topic

Religion

• Pope Honorius II recognizes and confirms the Order of the Knights Templar. Bernard of Clairvaux codifies the rule of the order.
• Holyrood Abbey is founded in Edinburgh by David I, King of Scotland.

1129

• January 13 – Council of Troyes: The Order of the Knights Templar is ordained by the Pope.
• Emperor Toba begins his cloistered rule, sharing power with Sutuku, ex-Emperor Shirakawa's son.
• Jin–Song wars: The government of Song Dynasty China moves from Yangzhou to Hangzhou after the Jurchen Jin Dynasty captured their previous capital of Kaifeng in the Jingkang Incident.
• Burgsteinfurt Castle is built in what is now Steinfurt, Germany.
• Henry of Blois becomes bishop of Winchester.