12th century

As a means of recording the passage of, the 12th century was that which lasted from  to. In the history of European culture, this period is considered part of the and is sometimes called the Age of the s. In China an invasion by s causes a political schism of north and south. The of Cambodia flourished during this century, while the s of Egypt were overtaken by the.

See also:

Events

 * , unites  and  under the
 * c., Foundation of the
 * c.,, the greatest military victory of Georgia. King with 40,000 , 15,000  auxiliaries, 500  mercenaries and 300 French  defeated  led muslim coalition army of 400 000.
 * , results in the disappearance of the  as an independent force.
 * , The loses power over  to the  of Manchuria.
 * , gains independence from the kingdom of  (recognised by  in ).
 * –, Fifty-year drought in the.
 * , The establishes China's first permanent standing, although China had a long naval history prior. The main admiral's office was stationed at the port of.
 * –, the Chinese navy increases from a mere 3000 marine soldiers to 52,000 marine soldiers stationed in 20 different squadrons. Between this time, hundreds of treadmill-operated craft are assembled for the navy, in order to combat the Jurchen's Jin Dynasty in the north.
 * –, is a period of  in.
 * , begins rebuilding  north of, which is regarded as the first major  building.
 * , against the  led by . After this battle on  the  is declared: Prince Afonso Henriques becomes.
 * –, Collapse of the culture at
 * –, The  is launched in response to the fall of the.
 * , A new dynasty, the, led by Emir , takes  from the  and soon invades the . The Almohads began as a religious movement to rid  of impurities.
 * , The against the  (or "") of what is now northern and eastern.
 * , the -born Muslim  publishes his Geography.
 * , the Song Dynasty Chinese, employing bombs launched from s, defeat the enormous Jin Dynasty navy on the , in the  and the.
 * ,, founder of the , born as Temüjin.
 * , King conquers  on the Island of, the strongest pagan fortress and temple in.
 * , start of the conquest of Ireland. ('Strongbow') makes an alliance with the exiled Irish chief,, to help him recover his kingdom of.
 * , is murdered.
 * , deposes the last  Caliph, initiating the.
 * , Chinese writer Zhou Qufei, a customs officer, wrote of an island far west in the  (possibly ), from where people with skin "as black as lacquer" and with frizzy hair were captured and purchased as slaves by Arab merchants.
 * -, the in Japan
 * , Founding of the cathedral school (Katedralskolan) in, . The school is the oldest in northern Europe, and one of the oldest in Europe as a whole.
 * , beginning in this year the deprives the  of political power.
 * , : defeats the king of.
 * –, The was an attempt by European leaders to reconquer the  from.
 * ,, the great n educational centre, is destroyed.
 * , is crowned King of  at the age of 3 (also known as Frederick I of Sicily).
 * c., The Empire collapses.
 * in Europe.
 * begins in
 * Conflict between the and .  is built under the Hindu king . At the end of the century the Buddhist  becomes ruler.
 * grants over lordship of to.
 * The medieval n state formed by and continued by the  dynasty.
 * teaches.
 * , twelveth century ends.

Significant people

 * , King of Georgia
 * , Queen of Georgia
 * , Christian saint
 * ,  of the
 * , towering figure in several disparate fields of mathematics
 * , one of the first philosophers; author of "Historia calamitatum mearum", a confessional account of his life (including a description of his love affair with )
 * , French abbot influential in church politics
 * , and statesman
 * , Byzantine Emperor who allied with the Crusaders
 * , ruler of Egypt and Syria who resisted the Crusaders
 * , French king
 * , Holy Roman Emperor
 * , China
 * , theologian
 * Henriques, first king of Portugal
 * , leading Jewish philosopher
 * , famous Chinese general
 * , archbishop of Canterbury
 * , of Japan, founder
 * , Chinese painter of themes
 * , Chinese painter of themes
 * , Chinese painter of the 
 * , poet and astronomer
 * , queen consort of and later the
 * , first Western musical composer known by name
 * , Chinese poet, historian, and philosopher
 * , Khmer king
 * , Khmer king
 * , philosopher
 * , king of England who led the Third Crusade
 * , king of in
 * , English historian
 * , philosopher from China
 * , Chinese maritime author

Inventions, discoveries and introductions

 * Beginning of the style in.
 * Building of in.
 * First founded.
 * becomes a self-conscious philosophical tendency in Europe.
 * Earliest record of a, in.
 * Beginning of music and poetry in.
 * Beginning of the period in the history of.
 * The  manuscript illustrates the Synopsis of Histories by.
 * Earliest Western account of a mariner's, by is "De utensilibus" (see ).
 * Although known in China since the, the for smelting  first appears in Europe, in and around , Sweden, as early as  AD.
 * First fire and plague (in ).
 * First authenticated epidemics.
 * Invention of the.
 * Start of.
 * reaches a peak.
 * (1155–1191) founder of school of illumination (Ishraq).
 * — The of, China, is built.
 * — The Chinese is founded
 * — The Chinese engineer Wu Deren combines the mechanical vehicle of the  with the distance-measuring  device.
 * The of England is completed.
 * The of  is built, city gate  and the  mosque.
 * — The of, Italy, is founded. It employed some 16000 people for the  of sailing ships in large s, hundreds of years before the.