Events from the 1140s in England.

Incumbents

* Monarch – Stephen (to 8 April 1141), Matilda (8 April to 1 November 1141), then Stephen

Events

* 1140 ** December –

The Anarchy The Anarchy was a civil war in England and Normandy between 1138 and 1153, which resulted in a widespread breakdown in law and order. The conflict was a war of succession precipitated by the accidental death of William Adelin, the only legiti ...

: Earl Ranulf of Chester captures Lincoln. ** Dryburgh Abbey founded. * 1141 ** 2 February – The Anarchy: At the First Battle of Lincoln, Robert, 1st Earl of Gloucester and

Empress Matilda Empress Matilda ( 7 February 110210 September 1167), also known as the Empress Maude, was one of the claimants to the English throne during the civil war known as the Anarchy. The daughter of King Henry I of England, she moved to Germany as ...

wrest control of the throne from King Stephen, who is captured and imprisoned. ** 8 April – The Anarchy: Matilda is proclaimed "Lady of the English". ** 24 June – The Anarchy: Matilda is forced to flee Westminster during a royal banquet, and flees to Oxford. ** July – The Anarchy: Matilda I of Boulogne, wife of Stephen, recaptures London. ** 14 September – The Anarchy: Rout of Winchester: Robert of Gloucester captured by forces loyal to Stephen during fighting at

Winchester Winchester is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city in Hampshire, England. The city lies at the heart of the wider City of Winchester, a local government Districts of England, district, at the western end of the South Downs Nation ...

. ** 1 November – The Anarchy: Stephen and Robert exchanged as prisoners ending the reign of Matilda. * 1142 ** Matilda grants the church of

Oakley, Buckinghamshire Oakley is a village and civil parish in Buckinghamshire, England. It has an area of and includes about 400 households. The 2011 Census recorded the population as 1,007. At one time it was thought Oakley held a rare (and possibly unique) doub ...

, with its chapels of Brill,

Boarstall Boarstall is a village and civil parish in the Aylesbury Vale district of Buckinghamshire, about west of Aylesbury. The parish is on the county boundary with Oxfordshire and the village is about southeast of the Oxfordshire market town of Bice ...

and

Addingrove Addingrove is a former hamlet in Buckinghamshire, about northwest of the market town of Thame in neighbouring Oxfordshire. The settlement is on the B4011 road between Oakley and Long Crendon. The largely depopulated former settlement now co ...

, to the monks of the Priory of St Frideswide, Oxford. ** Matilda's son Henry comes to England for the first time. ** In 1142, a group of Anglo-Norman

independent crusaders Independent or Independents may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Artist groups * Independents (artist group), a group of modernist painters based in the New Hope, Pennsylvania, area of the United States during the early 1930s * Independen ...

led by William and Ralph Vitalus helped King Afonso I Henriques of Portugal on a failed

Siege of Lisbon (1142) In or about 1142 according to a brief reference in the Anglo-Norman text known as ''De expugnatione Lyxbonensi'' and the Portuguese text known as the ''Chronica Gothorum'', a group of Anglo-Norman crusaders on their way to Jerusalem were invi ...

before continuing on their way to the Holy Land. ** 26 September – The Anarchy: Stephen captures Oxford, and besieges Matilda inside the castle. ** December – The Anarchy: Matilda escapes from Oxford Castle across the snow in a white cape for camouflage, according to Henry of Huntingdon. * 1143 ** 1 July – The Anarchy: Battle of Wilton – Robert, 1st Earl of Gloucester, defeats Stephen at Wilton. ** The Anarchy: Geoffrey de Mandeville, a supporter of Matilda, is deprived of his castles in Essex, but subsequently captures

Ely Ely or ELY may refer to: Places Ireland * Éile, a medieval kingdom commonly anglicised Ely * Ely Place, Dublin, a street United Kingdom * Ely, Cambridgeshire, a cathedral city in Cambridgeshire, England ** Ely Cathedral Ely Cathedral, formal ...

and campaigns in Cambridgeshire. ** Robert of Ketton makes the first European translation of the Qur'an into Latin. * 1144 ** 11 February – Robert of Chester completes the translation of ''Book of the Composition of Alchemy'' from Arabic to Latin. It is the first book in Europe to describe alchemy. ** 22 March – A young apprentice, William of Norwich, is murdered, a crime attributed to the Jews by the Norwich mob, the first known medieval accusation of blood libel against Jews. ** 28 November–24 December – the Siege of Edessa by Muslims led by Imad ad-Din Zengi eliminates the Crusader principality of Outremer, the news causing the pope to preach a new Crusade. ** Matilda's husband Geoffrey V of Anjou, completes the conquest of Normandy. * 1145 ** The Anarchy: Stephen captures Faringdon Castle. ** Woburn Abbey founded. ** Robert of Chester makes the first translation of an algebra text from Arabic into Latin. * 1146 ** The Anarchy: Ranulf of Chester is captured, but released after surrendering his castles. ** Many knights and barons leave England to take part in the

Second Crusade The Second Crusade (1145–1149) was the second major crusade launched from Europe. The Second Crusade was started in response to the fall of the County of Edessa in 1144 to the forces of Zengi. The county had been founded during the First Crusa ...

. * 1147 ** The Anarchy: Henry arrives in England to fight for Matilda, but is defeated in skirmishes, and returns to Normandy. ** The Anarchy: Ranulf of Chester lays waste to the land around Coventry, but fails to capture the city itself. ** Late Spring – An expedition of Crusaders leaves from

Dartmouth, Devon Dartmouth () is a town and civil parish in the English county of Devon. It is a tourist destination set on the western bank of the estuary of the River Dart, which is a long narrow tidal ria that runs inland as far as Totnes. It lies within the ...

, for the

to the

Holy Land The Holy Land; Arabic: or is an area roughly located between the Mediterranean Sea and the Eastern Bank of the Jordan River, traditionally synonymous both with the biblical Land of Israel and with the region of Palestine. The term "Holy ...

, Englishmen together with forces from Flanders,

Frisia Frisia is a cross-border cultural region in Northwestern Europe. Stretching along the Wadden Sea, it encompasses the north of the Netherlands and parts of northwestern Germany. The region is traditionally inhabited by the Frisians, a West Ger ...

, Scotland and some German polities. Leadership is provided by Hervey de Glanvill, a Norman nobleman and constable of

Suffolk Suffolk () is a ceremonial county of England in East Anglia. It borders Norfolk to the north, Cambridgeshire to the west and Essex to the south; the North Sea lies to the east. The county town is Ipswich; other important towns include Lowes ...

, who leads a fleet of some 200 ships. Bad weather forces them to take refuge at the mouth of the Douro in Portugal on 16 June. ** 24 October – English crusaders capture

Lisbon Lisbon (; pt, Lisboa ) is the capital and largest city of Portugal, with an estimated population of 544,851 within its administrative limits in an area of 100.05 km2. Grande Lisboa, Lisbon's urban area extends beyond the city's administr ...

from the Moors. * 1148 ** February – The Anarchy: Empress Matilda forced to return to Normandy. * 1149 ** 22 May – King David I of Scotland knights Henry, and cedes northern Lancashire to Ranulf of Chester, in return for control of

Carlisle Carlisle ( , ; from xcb, Caer Luel) is a city that lies within the Northern England, Northern English county of Cumbria, south of the Anglo-Scottish border, Scottish border at the confluence of the rivers River Eden, Cumbria, Eden, River C ...

. ** King David I of Scotland attempts to wrest control of the

Bishopric of Durham The Bishop of Durham is the Anglican bishop responsible for the Diocese of Durham in the Province of York. The diocese is one of the oldest in England and its bishop is a member of the House of Lords. Paul Butler has been the Bishop of Durham ...

and the Archbishopric of York from Stephen, but fails.

Births

* 1140 ** William FitzRalph, future Sheriff of Nottingham and

seneschal The word ''seneschal'' () can have several different meanings, all of which reflect certain types of supervising or administering in a historic context. Most commonly, a seneschal was a senior position filled by a court appointment within a royal, ...

of Normandy * 1146 ** William Marshal, 1st Earl of Pembroke, soldier and statesman (died

1219 Year 1219 ( MCCXIX) was a common year starting on Tuesday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. Events By place Fifth Crusade * February – Pelagius orders the Crusader army to prepare an attack against t ...

) * 1147 ** Hugh de Kevelioc, 3rd Earl of Chester (died

1181 Year 1181 ( MCLXXXI) was a common year starting on Thursday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. Events By place Europe * King Philip II (Augustus) annuls all loans made by Jews to Christians, and takes a p ...

)

Deaths

* 1140 ** 6 February – Thurstan, Archbishop of York (born c. 1070 in Normandy) * 1141 ** Aubrey de Vere,

Lord Great Chamberlain The Lord Great Chamberlain of England is the sixth of the Great Officers of State (United Kingdom), Great Officers of State, ranking beneath the Lord Privy Seal, Lord Keeper of the Privy Seal and above the Lord High Constable of England, Lord Hi ...

(born 1062) * 1142 **

Orderic Vitalis Orderic Vitalis ( la, Ordericus Vitalis; 16 February 1075 – ) was an English chronicler and Benedictine monk who wrote one of the great contemporary chronicles of 11th- and 12th-century Normandy and Anglo-Norman England. Modern historia ...

, chronicler (born 1075) * 1143 ** William of Malmesbury, historian (born

1080 Year 1080 (Roman numerals, MLXXX) was a leap year starting on Wednesday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. Events By place Byzantine Empire * Autumn – Nikephoros Melissenos, a Byzantine general and ar ...

) * 1144 ** Geoffrey de Mandeville, 1st Earl of Essex * 1147 ** 31 October – Robert, 1st Earl of Gloucester, politician (born c. 1090) * 1148 ** 3 January – Anselm of St Saba, abbot of Bury St Edmunds (born 1136 in Italy) ** 6 January – William de Warenne, 3rd Earl of Surrey (born

1119 Year 1119 (Roman numerals, MCXIX) was a common year starting on Wednesday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. Events By place Levant * June 28 – Battle of Ager Sanguinis: The Crusader army of the Princ ...

; killed on crusade) ** 30 January (approximate date) – Serlo (abbot of Cirencester) ** Gilbert de Clare, 1st Earl of Pembroke (born c.

1100 Year 1100 ( MC) was a leap year starting on Sunday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar, the 1100th year of the Common Era (CE) and ''Anno Domini'' (AD) designations, the 100th year of the 2nd millennium, the 100th and ...

)

References

{{England year nav