January – The Seljuk ruler Mahmud I is expelled from Baghdad by his brother Barkiyaruq, but Mahmud manages to retake the city, during his spring offensive.[1]
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.
December 25 – Philip I elevates his son Louis VI as co-ruler to the government of the realm.
Philip I conquers the Vexin area, and adds the city of Bourges and the province of Berry to his estate.[10]
In Iceland, the Althing decides that the laws should be transferred to a written form (approximate date).
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.
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).
China
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.
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.[11]
Frederick I becomes archbishop of Cologne, and begins the construction of the castle of Volmarstein.
Spring – King Baldwin I concludes an alliance with the Genoese fleet, offering them commercial privileges and booty. He captures the towns of Arsuf and Caesarea. Baldwin's crusaders pillage Caesarea and massacre the majority of the local population.
Spring – A Fatimid expeditionary force (some 20,000 men) invades Palestine and launches attacks into the Kingdom of Jerusalem. The Crusaders defeat a Fatimid rearguard near Ascalon, and capture the city after a 3-year siege. The Crusaders capture Caesarea Maritima with support of the Genoese fleet. A number of Genoese trading colonies are established along the Mediterranean coast.[19]
May 17 – Battle of Ramla: The Crusaders (500 knights) under King Baldwin I are defeated by the Fatimid army at Ramla (modern Israel). Baldwin and his companions escape through the enemy lines to Arsuf.[20]
May 27 – The Crusaders under Baldwin I break their way out of Jaffa, which is encircled by the Fatimid Army. A charge of the French cavalry breaks the enemy's ranks, and forces them to retreat to Ascalon.[21]
The Pacta Conventa formed by the Croatian nobility, recognize King Coloman as their overlord, initiating the personal union between the two kingdoms. Coloman is crowned king of Croatia (until 1116).
Henry I orders the tomb of Edward the Confessor be opened; the body of the former king is supposedly found undecayed. The Westminster monks start to claim Edward as a saint.
Spring – Bohemond I, Norman prince of Antioch, is released from Seljuk imprisonment at Niksar, after a ransom is paid of 100,000 gold pieces. During his absence, Tancred (Bohemond's nephew) attacks the Byzantines, and re-captures the cities of Tarsus, Adana and Mamistra in Cilicia. Tancred is deprived of his lordship by Bohemond's return, and is rewarded with a small fief within the Principality of Antioch.[25]
Summer – The Crusaders led by Bohemond I and Joscelin of Courtenay raid the territory of Aleppo to gain supplies. They capture the town of Muslimiyah, and extract a large tribute. Sultan Fakhr al-Mulk Radwan, the Seljuk ruler of Aleppo, agrees to pay 7,000 gold pieces and ten horses to the Crusaders while Bohemond agrees to release all Seljuk prisoners captured at Muslimiyah.[27]
April 27 – Anselm, archbishop of Canterbury, again goes into exile after a dispute with King Henry I over the appointment of bishops and abbots to important Church positions.
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.[28]
Levant
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.[29]
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.[30]
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.[31]
Toghtekin, Seljuk ruler (atabeg) of Damascus, founds a short-lived principality in Syria (the first example of a series of Seljuk-ruled dynasties).
August 27 – Battle of Ramla: The Crusaders under King Baldwin I defeat a Fatimid expeditionary force (some 15,000 men) at Ramla. Baldwin pillages the enemy camp – but does not further pursue the Fatimids. The battle ends in the last large-scale attempt of the Fatimids to reconquer Palestine.[36]
Europe
The Almoravid emir, Yusuf ibn Tashfin, sends a maritime expedition to Palestine from Sevilla to ward off the Crusaders and perhaps to reconquer Jerusalem. The fleet of about seventy ships rushes into a storm in the Mediterranean Sea, and is never seen again.[37]
Autumn – Bohemond I and papal legate Bruno travel to the north of France and visit the court of King Philip I ("the Amorous"). Bohemond gets permission to recruit men throughout the kingdom.[38]
Summer – King Henry I invades Normandy, takes Bayeux (after a short siege) and Caen. He advances on Falaise, and starts inconclusive peace negotiations with Duke Robert II. Henry withdraws to deal with political issues at home.
Henry I meets Anselm, archbishop of Canterbury, under threat of excommunication at L'Aigle in Normandy to settle their disputes that has led to Anselm's exile from England (see 1103).
Autumn – Kilij Arslan I, sultan of the Sultanate of Rum, leads a Seljuk expedition to take over Melitene (modern Turkey). He attempts to capture Edessa, but the Crusader fortress is too strongly defended by its garrison. Kilij Arslan then moves on to Harran, which surrenders to him.[39]
Spring – Bohemond I, prince of Antioch, marries Constance of France (daughter of King Philip I) in the cathedral of Chartres. Philip agrees to marry his second daughter, the 9-year-old Cecile of France, to Tancred (nephew of Bohemond). Meanwhile, Bohemond mobilises an expeditionary force (some 30,000 men) to begin a campaign against Emperor Alexios I.[40]
August 7 – Emperor Henry IV escapes his captors at Ingelheim. He enters into negotiations at Cologne with English, French and Danish noblemen, and begins to collect an army to oppose his son Henry V but dies at Liège after a 49-year reign. Henry leads a successful expedition against Count Robert II of Flanders and is forced to swear his allegiance to him.
Autumn – Bohemond I returns to Apulia (Southern Italy) with an expeditionary force to prepare an offensive against the Byzantines. He is accompanied by his newlywed wife Constance (who is pregnant by him) and followers.
February 2 – A comet (the Great Comet of 1106) is seen and reported by several civilisations around the world. Lasting for 40 days, the comet grows steadily in brightness until finally fading away.[43]
Autumn – King Sigurd I sails for the Holy Land with 60 ships (with some 5,000 men) on the first stage of the Norwegian Crusade to Palestine. Now 17, he is the first European king to support the Crusaders in the Levant. Sigurd leaves his older brother Eystein I to rule the kingdom in his absence – and visits England, France, Galicia and Sicily en route.
July 29 – King Philip I dies at Melun, after a 48-year reign. He is succeeded by his son Louis VI, who, at the start of his rule, faces insurrections from feudal brigands and rebellious robber barons.
Baldwin I marches out against Sidon, with the support of a squadron of sailor-adventurers from various Italian cities. A Fatimid fleet from Egypt defeats the Italians in a sea-battle outside the harbour.[56]
Asia
The Taira and Minamoto clans join forces to rule Japan, after defeating the warrior monks of the Enryaku-ji temple near Kyoto. The Taira replace many Fujiwara nobles in important offices – while the Minamoto gain more military experience by bringing parts of Northern Honshu under Japanese control (approximate date).
^Steven Runciman (1951). A History of the Crusades. Vol II: The Kingdom of Jerusalem, p. 20. ISBN978-0-241-29876-3.
^Steven Runciman (1951). A History of the Crusades. Volume I: The First Crusade and the Foundation of the Kingdom of Jerusalem, p. 264. ISBN978-0-141-98550-3.
^Lagardère, Vincent (1989). Les Almoravides jusqu'au règne de Yūsuf b. Tāšfīn (1039-1106). Paris: L'Harmattan. ISBN978-2-7384-0467-1.
^ ab"Norman Britain". British History Timeline. BBC. Retrieved 2007-12-20.
^Gaier, Claude (2004). Armes et combats dans l'univers médiéval. Paris: De Boeck Supérieur. ISBN2-8041-4543-3.
^Steven Runciman (1951). A History of the Crusades. Vol II: The Kingdom of Jerusalem, pp. 62–63. ISBN978-0-241-29876-3.
^Steven Runciman (1951). A History of the Crusades. Vol II: The Kingdom of Jerusalem, p. 64. ISBN978-0-241-29876-3.
^Matthew of Edessa (1967). Recueil des historiens des croisades, Documents arméniens, p.57. Vol I: reprint: Farnborough.
^Touba, Keltoum (2006). Le travail dans les cultures monothéistes: judaïsme, christianisme, islam de l'Antiquité au XVIIIe siècle. Paris: L'Harmattan. ISBN2-296-00923-9.
^Steven Runciman (1952). A History of the Crusades. Vol II: The Kingdom of Jerusalem, pp. 72–73. ISBN978-0-241-29876-3.
^Picard C. (1997). La mer et les musulmans d'Occident au Moyen Age. Paris: Presses Universitaires de France.
^Steven Runciman (1952). A History of the Crusades. Vol II: The Kingdom of Jerusalem, p. 39. ISBN978-0-241-29876-3.
^Steven Runciman (1952). A History of the Crusades. Vol II: The Kingdom of Jerusalem, p. 87. ISBN978-0-241-29876-3.
^Steven Runciman (1952). A History of the Crusades. Vol: The Kingdom of Jerusalem, p. 39. ISBN978-0-241-29876-3.
^C. Warren Hollister (2003). Henry I, p. 206. (Yale University Press, New Haven & London)
^Muir, Tom (2005). Orkney in the Sagas: The Story of the Earldom of Orkney as told in the Icelandic Sagas. Kirkwall: The Orcadian. p. 63. ISBN0954886232.
^ abBarlow, Frank (1979). The English Church 1066–1154: A History of the Anglo-Norman Church. New York: Longman. pp. 78–79. ISBN0-582-50236-5.
^Hollister, C. Warren; Frost, Amanda Clark, eds. (2001). Henry I. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press. pp. 209–210. ISBN0-300-08858-2.
^Fryde, E. B.; Greenway, D. E.; Porter, S.; Roy, I. (1996). Handbook of British Chronology (3rd ed.). Cambridge University Press. p. 246. ISBN0-521-56350-X.
^Palmer, Alan; Palmer, Veronica (1992). The Chronology of British History. London: Century Ltd. pp. 58–60. ISBN0-7126-5616-2.
^Unité mixte de recherche 5648--Histoire et archéologie des mondes chrétiens et musulmans médiévaux. Pays d'Islam et monde latin, Xe-XIIIe siècle: textes et documents. Lyon: Presses Universitaires de Lyon.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
^Steven Runciman (1952). A History of The Crusades. Vol II: The Kingdom of Jerusalem (1100–1187), p. 110. (Cambridge University Press).
^Steven Runciman (1952). A History of The Crusades. Vol II: The Kingdom of Jerusalem., p. 90. ISBN978-0-241-29876-3.
^Picard, Christophe (1997). La mer et les musulmans d'Occident au Moyen Age. Paris: Presses Universitaires de France. ISBN2130488102.
^McGrank, Lawrence (1981). "Norman crusaders and the Catalan reconquest: Robert Burdet and the principality of Tarragona 1129-55". Journal of Medieval History. 7 (1): 67–82. doi:10.1016/0304-4181(81)90036-1.
