Explore 49 historical events from 1150–1159.
Pope Adrian IV was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 4 December 1154 until his death in 1159. He is the only pope to have been born in England and the …
Pope Adrian IV crowns Frederick Barbarossa as Holy Roman Emperor
Jien was a Japanese poet, historian, and Buddhist monk.
Jien, Japanese monk, poet, and historian (died 1225)
Emperor Konoe was the 76th emperor of Japan, according to the traditional order of succession.
Emperor Konoe of Japan (born 1139)
William of York was an English priest and twice Archbishop of York, before and after a rival, Henry Murdac. He was thought to be related to King Stephen of England, who helped to s…
William of York, English archbishop and saint
Stephen, often referred to as Stephen of Blois, was King of England from 22 December 1135 to his death in 1154. He was Count of Boulogne jure uxoris from 1125 until 1147 and Duke o…
Stephen, King of England
Malcolm IV, nicknamed Virgo, "the Maiden" was King of Scotland from 1153 until his death. He was the eldest son of Henry, Earl of Huntingdon and Northumbria and Ada de Warenne. The…
Malcolm IV becomes King of Scotland
Baldwin III was the king of Jerusalem from 1143 until his death. Although he only took up sole rule in 1152 and died young, he was the longest-reigning of the 12th-century kings of…
After a six month siege, Baldwin III of Jerusalem captures Ascalon, obtaining a vast amount of plunder and securing…
The military history of the Crusader states begins with the formation of the County of Edessa in 1097 and ends with the loss of Ruad in 1302, the last Christian stronghold in the …
Crusader–Fatimid wars: The fortress of Ascalon was surrendered by Fatimid Egypt to an army of crusaders, Templars, and…
William, Count of Poitiers was the first son of King Henry II of England and Duchess Eleanor of Aquitaine.
William IX, Count of Poitiers (died 1156)
David I was a 12th century ruler and saint who was Prince of the Cumbrians from 1113 to 1124 and King of Scotland from 1124 to 1153. The youngest son of King Malcolm III and Queen …
David I of Scotland (born 1083)
Óláfr Guðrøðarson was a twelfth-century King of Mann and the Isles. As a younger son of Guðrøðr Crovan, King of Dublin and the Isles, Óláfr witnessed a vicious power struggle betwe…
Óláfr Guðrøðarson, King of the Isles
Pope Eugene III, born Bernardo, called Bernardo da Pisa, was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 15 February 1145 to his death in 1153. He was the first …
Pope Eugene III (born 1087)
Bernard de Tramelay was the fourth Grand Master of the Knights Templar, serving from 1152 until his death at the Siege of Ascalon.
Bernard de Tremelay, fourth Grand Master of the Knights Templar
Eustace IV ruled the County of Boulogne from 1146 until his death. He was the eldest son of King Stephen of England and Countess Matilda I of Boulogne. When his father seized the E…
Eustace IV, Count of Boulogne (born 1130)
Bernard of Clairvaux, O.Cist., venerated as Saint Bernard, was an abbot, mystic, co-founder of the Knights Templar, and a major leader in the reform of the Benedictines through the…
Bernard of Clairvaux, French theologian and saint (born 1090)
Baldwin III was the king of Jerusalem from 1143 until his death. Although he only took up sole rule in 1152 and died young, he was the longest-reigning of the 12th-century kings of…
After an eight-year conflict, Baldwin III of Jerusalem wins sole control of the Kingdom of Jerusalem from his mother Mel
Henry II was King of England from 1154 until his death in 1189. During his reign he controlled England, substantial parts of Wales and Ireland, and much of France, an area that was…
The future Henry II of England marries Eleanor of Aquitaine
Matilda of Boulogne was the countess of Boulogne in her own right from 1125 and queen of England as the wife of King Stephen from 1135 until her death. She supported Stephen in his…
Matilda of Boulogne (born 1105)
Henry of Scotland was heir apparent to the Kingdom of Alba. He was also the 3rd Earl of Northumbria and the 3rd Earl of Huntingdon. He was the son of King David I of Scotland and h…
Henry of Scotland, 3rd Earl of Huntingdon (born 1114)
Adolf III of Berg was count of Berg from 1093 until 1132, and count of Hövel from 1090 until 1106, and Vogt of Werden. He was the son of Adolf II of Berg-Hövel, count of Berg, and …
Adolf III of Berg, German nobleman (born 1080)
Jocelin of Soissons was a French theologian, a philosophical opponent of Peter Abelard. He became bishop of Soissons, and is known also as a composer, with two pieces in the Codex …
Jocelin of Soissons, French theologian, philosopher and composer
Abū Muḥammad ʿAbd Allāh ibn Yūsuf ibn al-Ḥāfiẓ, better known by his regnal name al-ʿĀḍid li-Dīn Allāh, was the fourteenth and last caliph of the Fatimid dynasty, and the twenty-fou…
al-Adid, last Fatimid caliph (died 1171)
Adeliza of Louvain was Queen of England from 1121 to 1135 as the second wife of King Henry I.
Adeliza of Louvain (born 1103)
Geoffrey V, called the Fair or Plantagenet, was the count of Anjou and Maine by inheritance from 1129, and also duke of Normandy by his marriage claim and conquest, from 1144.
Geoffrey Plantagenet, Count of Anjou (born 1113)