Year 1140 (MCXL) was a leap year starting on Monday of the Julian calendar.

Events

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By place

Levant

• Spring King Fulk of Jerusalem confronts Imad al-Din Zengi, Seljuk ruler (atabeg) of Mosul, near Dara'a in southern Syria. Turkish forces under Mu'in al-Din (supported by the Crusaders) besiege Banias.

Europe

• Spring King Conrad III enfeoffs Henry II ("Jasomirgott"), a member of the House of Babenberg, with the County Palatine of the Rhine (belonging to the Holy Roman Empire).

• Summer – King Roger II promulgates the Assizes of Ariano (a series of laws to rule the Norman Kingdom of Sicily) after the pacification of southern Italy.

• December 21 – Siege of Weinsberg: Conrad III captures the castle at Weinsberg during the civil war between the Staufers and the Welfs in Germany.

England and Scotland

• Summer King Stephen appoints Geoffrey de Mandeville as Earl of Essex for his support during the civil war against Matilda (Stephen's cousin).

• The town of Lanark in Scotland is made a Royal Burgh by King David I, giving it merchant privileges relating to government and taxation.

Asia

• August 21 Jin–Song Wars Battle of Yancheng: Chinese forces under the command of Yue Fei defeat a numerically superior Jin army led by Wuzhu.

By topic

Religion

• June 3 Pierre Abelard, a French theologian, is condemned for heresy by the Council of Sens. He sets out for Rome to present his defense to Pope Innocent II.

• September 8 Sephardi Jewish philosopher Judah Halevi, having completed the Kuzari, arrives in Alexandria on a pilgrimage to Palestine.

• The first Cistercian monastery in Spain is founded in Fitero. The order enjoys a rapid expansion in the region in the following 15 years.

Literature

• Gratian, an Italian monk and canon lawyer, founds the science of Canon law with the publication of the Decretum Gratiani (approximate date).</onlyinclude>

Births

• May 28 Xin Qiji, Chinese military leader (d. 1207)

• Adela of Champagne, queen of France (d. 1206)

• Alan Fitz Walter, Scottish High Steward (d. 1204)

• Cadfan ap Cadwaladr, Welsh nobleman (d. 1215)

• Davyd Rostislavich, Kievan Grand Prince (d. 1197)

• Domhnall Caomhánach, king of Leinster (d. 1175)

• Eliezer ben Joel HaLevi, German rabbi (d. 1225)

• Fujiwara no Tashi, Japanese empress (d. 1202)

• Gerard de Ridefort, Flemish Grand Master (d. 1189)

• Hedwig, margravine of Meissen (approximate date)

• Hugh de Paduinan, Norman nobleman (d. 1189)

• John I, archbishop of Trier (approximate date)

• John I, Norman nobleman (approximate date)

• John of Ford, English Cistercian abbot (d. 1224)

• Manfred II, marquess of Saluzzo (approximate date)

• Minamoto no Yoshihira, Japanese nobleman (d. 1160)

• Peter Waldo, French spiritual leader (d. 1205)

• Raymond III, crusader and count of Tripoli (d. 1187)

• Raymond the Palmer, Italian pilgrim (d. 1200)

• Simon II, duke of Lorraine (approximate date)

• Sophia of Minsk, queen of Denmark (d. 1198)

• Walter Map, Welsh clergyman and writer (d. 1210)

• William FitzRalph, English High Sheriff (d. 1200)

• Yuan Cai, Chinese scholar and official (d. 1195)

Deaths

• January 12 Louis I, German nobleman

• February 6 Thurstan, archbishop of York

February 14

• Leo I, prince of Armenia

• Soběslav I, duke of Bohemia

• April 7 Aibert, French monk and hermit (b. 1060)

• August 21 Yang Zaixing, Chinese general

• August 31 Godebold, bishop of Meissen

• September 15 Adelaide, duchess consort of Bohemia

• November 16 Wulgrin II, count of Angoulême

• Baldwin of Rieti, Italian Benedictine abbot

• Diego Gelmírez, Galician archbishop (b. 1069)

• Gaucherius, French priest and hermit (b. 1060)

• Hugh the Chanter, English historian and writer

• Kumarapala, Indian ruler of the Pala Empire

• Lhachen Naglug, Indian ruler of Ladakh (b. 1110)

• Li Gang, Chinese Grand Chancellor (b. 1083)

• Toba Sōjō, Japanese artist-monk (b. 1053)

• Wanyan Xiyin, Chinese chief adviser

• Approximate date Honorius Augustodunensis, French theologian

References