Year 1139 (MCXXXIX) was a common year starting on Sunday of the Julian calendar.

Events

By region

Asia

• July 8 or August 21 Jin–Song Wars: Battle of Yancheng Song dynasty general Yue Fei defeats an army led by Jin dynasty general Wuzhu.

• September 30 A magnitude 7.7 earthquake strikes the Caucasus mountains in the Seljuk Empire, causing great devastation and killing 300,000 people.

Europe

• January 25 Godfrey II, Count of Louvain becomes Duke of Lower Lorraine.

• April 8 Second Council of the Lateran: Roger II of Sicily is excommunicated by Pope Innocent II.

• April 9 The Treaty of Durham is signed, between Stephen, King of England and David I of Scotland.

• May Representatives of Polvese Island formally submit the island to the city of Perugia, pledging military support, fiscal obligations, and an annual tribute of tench.

• July 22 Pope Innocent II, invading the Kingdom of Sicily, is ambushed at Galluccio and taken prisoner.

July 25

• Treaty of Mignano: Pope Innocent II proclaims Roger II of Sicily as King of Sicily, Duke of Apulia and Prince of Capua.

• Battle of Ourique: The independence of Portugal from the Kingdom of León is declared after the Almoravidss, led by Ali ibn Yusuf, are defeated by Prince Afonso Henriques. He then becomes Afonso I, King of Portugal, after calling the first assembly of the Estates-General of Portugal at Lamego, where he is given the Crown from the Bishop of Bragança, to confirm the independence.

By topic

Education

• King's School, Pontefract, in England is founded.

Religion

• April Second Council of the Lateran: The Anacletus schism is settled, and priestly celibacy is made mandatory within the Catholic Church.

• November Alberic of Ostia, papal legate to Outremer, convenes a legatine council in the cathedral of Antioch to examine the conduct of the Latin patriarch. The council is also attended by the Armenian Catholicos Gregory III and marks a symbolic beginning for Armenian-Latin ecclesiastic high-level contacts.

Births

• June 3 Conon of Naso, Basilian abbot (d. 1236)

• June 16 Emperor Konoe of Japan (d. 1155)

• Agnes II abbess and artist (d. 1203)

Deaths

• January 25 Count Godfrey I of Louvain and Duke of Lower Lorraine (as Godfrey VI)

• February 18 Prince Yaropolk II of Kiev (b. 1082)

• June 29 Empress Xing of China (b. 1106)

• October 20 Henry the Proud (Henry X), Duke of Bavaria

• December Roger of Salisbury, English bishop

References