Chronology of Medieval Christianity

Christian History Timeline 1100 CE - 1200 CE

When did the Knights Hospitaller received formal papal recognition? When did Pope Alexander III canonize Thomas Becket? When were Christian Crusaders defeated by Saladin at the Battle of Hattin? When did Jews in York England commit mass suicide in order to avoid having to submit to baptism? These are all important dates in the history of Christianity; not only are they presented here in this timeline, but they are presented in historical and religious context.

There are several different types of color-coded dates in this timeline of Medieval Christianity, explained in a color key at the bottom of the timeline.

Timeline of Medieval Christianity: 1100 CE - 1200 CE
1100	A new asceticism is sought for monks who wish to engage in contemplation and self-examination. Two new orders are created: the Carthusian and the Cistercian. St. Bernard of Clairvaux, leader of the Cistercians, establishes 343 monasteries before he dies. Accompanying the fervent worship of Jesus during this period is the pronouncement of the Virgin Mary as a saint. This is the first time a woman was given such central significance in Christianity.
1100 - 1300	Construction of the famous cathedral in Chartres, France.
September 08, 1100	Anti-pope Clement III died.
October 06, 1101	Bruno von Köln, founder of the Carthusian Order, died.
July 13, 1105	Rashi, a famous medieval Jewish Bible scholar, died.
August 07, 1106	Heinrich IV, Holy Roman Emperor, died in Liege, Lorraine. Heinrich's conflicts with the pope, known as the Investiture Conflict, played an important role in the developing relationship between church and state in medieval Europe.
February 21, 1109	Anselm of Canterbury died at the age of 76.
April 29, 1109	Hugh of Cluny died.
July 12, 1109	Crusaders captured the harbor city of Tripoli.
December 04, 1110	The armies of the First Crusade conquered Sidon.
April 13, 1111	Henry V was crowned Holy Roman Emperor.
February 15, 1113	The Knights Hospitaller received formal papal recognition as a separate and independent monastic order. The Hospitallers played an important role in the security of the Crusader states in the Middle East.
June 25, 1115	St. Bernard founded a monastery in Clairvaux, France. This would later become an important center for the Cistercians, a religious order that flourished until the Reformation.
July 08, 1115	Peter the Hermit died. According to tradition, Peter was one of those primarily responsible for spreading the fervor which helped launch the First Crusade.
December 21, 1117	Thomas Becket, Archbishop of Canterbury, was born.
January 21, 1118	Pope Paschal II died.
January 24, 1118	Gelasius II was elected pope. Gelasius' reign would be marred by violent conflicts with Henry V over lay investiture.
April 14, 1118	Baldwin II is crowned King of Jerusalem. Baldwin supported religious military orders, expanded the Latin Kingdom of Jerusalem, and held against the attacks of Seljuq Turks.
1119	Hugues de Payens founds the Order of Knights Templars in Jerusalem. The name came from the fact that their headquarters was on the site of Solomon's Temple.
January 29, 1119	Pope Gelasius II died. Gelasius' reign was marred by violent conflicts with Henry V over lay investiture.
February 09, 1119	Callistus II was elected pope. Callistus is known for having finally settled the investiture conflict with secular rulers and for presiding over the First Lateran Council.
August 01, 1119	Forces of the First Crusade were defeated in the battle of Sarmada.
1121	Peter Abelard is castrated for his teachings.
September 23, 1122	Pope Callistus II and the Emperor of the Holy Roman Empire, Heinrich V sign the treaty of Metz, finally determining who has the right to invest clergy.
1123	Persian poet Umar Khayyam is born. His poem The Rubaiyat became popular in the West because of its use by Victorian Edward Fitzgerald.
March 18, 1123	The First Lateran Council opens in Rome. It is the Ninth Ecumenical Council and the first to be held in the West. The most important issue addressed concerned the right of investiture. Summoned by Pope Callistus II, it was held in the Lateran Palace, Rome, and many of the council's decrees became part of the evolving corpus of canon law.
July 07, 1124	Tyrus surrendered to Crusaders.
December 21, 1124	Honorius II was elected pope.
January 13, 1128	The Templars received the formal rules of their order, originally commissioned by St. Bernard.
February 12, 1130	Innocent II was elected pope.
February 13, 1130	Pope Honorius II died.
February 14, 1130	Cardinal Pietro Pierleone was elected as anti-pope Anacletus II.
May 13, 1133	Honen, founder of the Jodo sect of Japanese Pure Land Buddhism, was born in Inaoka, Mimasaka province of Japan.
March 30, 1135	Medieval Jewish scholar Moses Maimonides was born.
1136	The Abbot Suger created the first rose window.
January 25, 1138	Anacletus II, antipope from 1130 - 1138, died.
May 29, 1138	Anti-Pope Victor IV (Gregorio) overthrew himself for Pope Innocent II.
April 20, 1139	The Second Lateran Council (10th ecumenical council) opens in Rome. Convened at the Lateran Palace, Rome, by Pope Innocent II, the council attempted to heal the wounds left by the schism of the antipope Anacletus II (d. 1138) and condemned the theories of Arnold of Brescia.
1140	The Sefer ha-Kusari of Spanish rabbi Judah ben Samuel ha-Levi argued that all revealed religious thought was superior to the rational and philosophical.
February 11, 1141	Medieval theologian and mystic Hugh of St. Victor died
April 21, 1142	Peter Abelard died.
September 24, 1143	Pope Innocent II died.
September 25, 1143	Celestine II was elected pope.
March 08, 1144	Pope Celestine II died.
March 12, 1144	Lucius II was elected pope.
February 15, 1145	Eugene III was elected pope.
February 15, 1145	Pope Lucius II died.
December 01, 1145	In a bull sent to French King, Louis VII, Pope Eugene III proclaimed the Second Crusade.
March 21, 1146	King Louis VII of France launched the Second Crusade, partly in response to Bernard of Clairvaux's preaching and partly in response to urging from Pope Eugene III, and became leader of an doomed undertaking.
1147	Second Crusade begins following an appeal by St. Bernard of Clairvaux. It would last until 1149.
October 25, 1147	Armies of the Second Crusade were destroyed by Saracens at Dorylaeum (modern Turkey).
July 23, 1148	Crusaders captured Damascus.
1151	The Toltec Empire in Mexico ended.
March 04, 1152	Friedrich I (Barbarossa) was elected German King in Frankfurt. He would later become Emperor of the Holy Roman Empire.
July 08, 1153	Pope Eugene III died.
August 20, 1153	St. Bernard of Clairvaux died. Bernard founded the famous abbey at Clairvaux.
December 04, 1154	Adrian IV became pope.
1155	Pope Adrian IV gives control of Ireland to Henry II of England.
September 01, 1159	Pope Adrian IV died.
September 07, 1159	Pope Alexander III was born.
1161	Explosives were first used in China at the Battle of Ts'ai-shih.
1161	Explosives are first used in China at the Battle of Ts'ai-shih.
June 03, 1162	Thomas Becket is installed as Archbishop of Canterbury.
November 02, 1164	Thomas Becket was exiled from England.
September 20, 1168	Italian antipope Paschal III died.
December 02, 1170	After a six year exile in France, Archbishop of Canterbury Thomas Becket returned to England.
December 29, 1170	Archbishop Thomas Becket is murdered in the Canterbury Cathedral by four knights who believe that they are executing the wishes of King Henry II.
June 09, 1171	Jacob ben Meir Tam, a leading Talmudic authority of medieval Europe, died. Ben Meir is best known for his writings which are included in the Tosafot.
February 21, 1173	Pope Alexander III canonized Thomas Becket. Archbishop of Canterbury, Becket had been martyred three years earlier.
January 18, 1174	Bernard of Clairvaux was canonized.
1177	Alexander III and Emperor Frederick Barbarossa enact the "Treaty of Venice," allowing imperial and ecclesiastical forces to stop competing with each other so much and unite in battling heretics as enemies of both church and state.
March 05, 1179	The Third Lateran Council opens under Pope Alexander III. Convened at the Lateran Palace, Rome, after the Peace of Venice, which reconciled the pope with Holy Roman Emperor Frederick I, it included an envoy from the Orthodox Greeks and the most important legislation was the first canon, which confirmed that the election of the pope was to be in the hands of the cardinals alone, two thirds being necessary for election. This council also enacts harsh measures against the Waldenses and Albigensians.
September 17, 1179	Hildegard of Bingen, mystic and composer, died at the age of 81.
August 30, 1181	Pope Alexander III died. Alexander convened the Third Lateran Council.
September 01, 1181	Lucius III was elected Pope.
0, 1182	Philip II banishes Jews from France.
1184	At the Council of Verona, Pope Lucius III declares that the "Poor of Lyons" should be included in the list of heretics condemned for preaching without permission, making them subject to repression and persecution.
November 25, 1185	Urban III was elected pope.
November 25, 1185	Pope Lucius III died.
1187	Muslim general Salah al-Kin al-Ayyubi, in Egypt, ended the Christian crusades.
July 04, 1187	Christian Crusaders were defeated by Saladin at the Battle of Hattin, making it possible for Muslim forces to reconquer Jerusalem.
October 02, 1187	Saladin captured Jerusalem after 88 years of occupation by the Franks.
October 20, 1187	Pope Urban III died.
December 17, 1187	Pope Gregory VIII died.
December 19, 1187	Clement III was elected pope.
1189	Last known Norse visit to North America occurs.
January 21, 1189	Troops for the Third Crusade, called in response to the victories of Muslims under the command of Saladin, began to gather under King Philip Augustus of France, King Henry II of England (shortly followed by his son, King Richard I), and Holy Roman Emperor Frederick I. Frederick drowned the next year on the way to Palestine - German folklore developed that asserted he was hidden in a mountain waiting to return and lead Germany to a new and brighter future.
April 03, 1189	Conflict between Emperor Frederick Barbarossa of Germany and Pope Clement III were settled when the Peace of Strasbourg was signed.
September 03, 1189	Thirty Jews were massacred at the coronation of King Richard I.
March 16, 1190	Jews in York England committed mass suicide in order to avoid having to submit to baptism.
March 18, 1190	Crusaders on a rampage killed 57 Jews in Bury St. Edmonds, England
March 20, 1191	Pope Clement III died.
April 30, 1191	Celestine III was elected pope.
April 15, 1191	Pope Celestine III crowned German king Henry VI as emperor.
July 12, 1191	Under the command of Richard I, Christian forces capture Acre after a siege of two years. During the siege 6 archbishops, 12 bishops, 40 earls, 500 barons, and 300,000 soldiers were reported killed.
March 04, 1193	The famous Muslim leader Saladin died.
July 16, 1194	St. Clare of Assisi was born. Clare would be deeply influenced by the work and teachings of St. Francis of Assisi. So much so, in fact, that she eventually chose a spiritual life rather than the marriage her parents arranged for her and founded the Poor Clares religious order.
January 08, 1198	Innocent III was elected pope.
January 08, 1198	Pope Celestine III died.
March 05, 1198	The Teutonic Knights were re-formed as a military order in a ceremony at Acre in Palestine.
February 19, 1199	Pope Innocent III issued a bull which assigned the uniform of a white tunic with a black cross to the Teutonic Knights. This uniform was worn during the Crusades.
March 25, 1199	Pope Innocent III issued a bull to establish Inquisition.
c. 1200	The Jewish mystic movement Kabbalah develops in France and spreads to Spain.
1200	The Fourth Crusade is launched.

Color Key: This chart explains which sorts of topics are given which colors in the chronologies.

Color	Topic
Blue	Councils, Synods, Bulls, and other official church decisions.
Yellow	Violence: Crusades, wars, insurrections, and other acts of violence.
Green	Popes: births, deaths, elections, and other actions important to the papacy.
Orange	Heresies, schisms, and the beginnings of the Protestant Reformation.
Purple	Jews: acts of antisemitism and persecution against the Jews
Red	Other: various events important to the development of medieval Christianity.
Grey	Miscellaneous events to provide historical context and comparison

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