1129

Emperor Shirakawa (1073–1087)

Year 1129 (MCXXIX) was a common year starting on Tuesday of the Julian calendar.

Events

By place

Europe

• April 14 – Following the Capetian tradition, King Louis VI (the Fat) has his eldest son Philip crowned as co-ruler of France at Rheims Cathedral. Louis himself becomes the national protector of all France.
• June 2 – Fulk V, count of Anjou, marries Melisende (daughter of King Baldwin II) the heir to the Kingdom of Jerusalem. Fulk gives up his title which passes to his 15-year-old son, Geoffrey V (the Fair).
• September – Roger II of Sicily gains recognition as duke at Melfi from the Norman nobles of Naples, Bari, Capua, Salerno and other cities that have resisted him.
• Burgsteinfurt Castle is built in what is now Steinfurt (modern Germany).

Asia

• Jin–Song War: Emperor Gao Zong of the Song dynasty moves the capital from Yangzhou to Hangzhou, after the Jurchen Jin dynasty captures Kaifeng in the Jingkang Incident.
• March 26 – Gao Zong abdicates the throne after a mutiny of the palace guard. His 2-year-old son Zhao Fu succeeds him, but Empress Meng becomes regent and the sole ruler.
• April 20 – Gao Zong regains the throne (with the support of the imperial army led by General Han Shizhong). Zhao Fu is forced to abdicate with Meng having ruled for 25 days.
• July 24 – Former Emperor Shirakawa dies at his native Kyoto. His son Toba begins his cloistered rule, sharing power with Sutoku, a grandson of Shirakawa.

By topic

Religion

• January 23 – Henry of Blois becomes bishop of Winchester after the death of William Giffard (who was also Lord Chancellor to King Henry I) in England.

Births

• Abu al-Abbas as-Sabti, Moroccan Sufi writer (d. 1204)
• Date Tomomune, Japanese nobleman and samurai (d. 1199)
• Elisabeth of Schönau, German Benedictine abbess (d. 1164)
• Henry the Lion, duke of Saxony and Bavaria (d. 1195)
• Theophanes Kerameus, bishop of Rossano (d. 1152)

Deaths

• January 23 – William Giffard, bishop of Winchester
• January 27 – Ranulf le Meschin, 3rd Earl of Chester (b. 1070)
• January 29 – Minamoto no Shunrai, Japanese poet (b. 1055)
• February 16 – Thoros I, Armenian prince (or 1130)
• February 17 – Constantine II, Armenian prince
• July 24 – Shirakawa, emperor of Japan (b. 1053)
• July 28 – Zhao Fu, emperor of the Song dynasty (b. 1127)
• November 21 – Nigel d'Aubigny, Norman nobleman
• December 30 – Roger of Cannae, Italian bishop (b. 1060)
• Athanasius VI bar Khamoro, patriarch of Antioch
• Cellach of Armagh (or Celsus), Irish archbishop (b. 1080)
• Fujiwara no Akinaka, Japanese nobleman (b. 1059)
• John Theristus, Italian Benedictine monk (b. 1049)
• Ramiro Sánchez, Spanish nobleman (or 1130)
• Richard Fitz Pons, Norman nobleman (b. 1080)
• Walter FitzRoger, Norman sheriff of Gloucester
• Zhao Mingcheng, Chinese politician (b. 1081)