1130s in England

Incumbents

• Monarch – Henry I (to 1 December 1135), then Stephen

Events

• 1130
  • New choir of Canterbury Cathedral completed.
• 1131
  • 8 September – the barons swear allegiance to Matilda, now countess of Anjou, as the true heir of her father, Henry I of England.
  • Cistercians found Rievaulx Abbey in Yorkshire.
  • Gilbertine Order of nuns founded by Gilbert of Sempringham in Lincolnshire, the only completely English religious order.
• 1132
  • Benedictines found Fountains Abbey in Yorkshire.
• 1133
  • August – King Henry I leaves England for the last time for Normandy.
  • A royal charter establishes the first annual Bartholomew Fair at Smithfield, London; later to become England's largest cloth fair.
  • First Bishop of Carlisle (Æthelwold) consecrated.
  • Rebuilt Exeter Cathedral consecrated.
• **1135 **
  • 26 May – the Great Fire of 1135 destroys the wooden London Bridge and seriously damages St Paul's Cathedral.
  • 1 December – King Henry I dies (at Lyons-la-Forêt in Normandy) having nominated Matilda as his heir.
  • 22 December – Stephen of Blois, nephew of Henry I, claims the throne.
  • 26 December – coronation of Stephen of England at Westminster Abbey by William de Corbeil, Archbishop of Canterbury.
  • Bruton Abbey, Buildwas Abbey and Byland Abbey founded, the latter in January by the Congregation of Savigny.
• 1136
  • 1 January – revolt in Wales; Welsh capture Swansea and Cardigan from the Normans.
  • 4 January – Henry I is buried in his foundation, Reading Abbey (tomb dedicated 1 December).
  • 5 February – by the Treaty of Durham, Stephen concedes Cumberland to David I of Scotland.
  • Hospital of St Cross, an almshouse in Winchester, is established by Bishop Henry of Blois; it will still be functioning in the 21st century.
  • Geoffrey of Monmouth writes Historia Regum Britanniae.
• 1137
  • March – Stephen fails in his attempt to re-capture Normandy from Matilda.
  • 3 June – a fire severely damages Rochester Cathedral, but it is soon rebuilt.
  • 4 June – a fire destroys much of the city of York, including 39 churches and York Minster, but the latter is soon rebuilt.
  • 27 June – a fire severely damages the city of Bath, Somerset.
• 1138
  • January–February – King David I of Scotland raids Northumberland, taking the Bishop of Durham's Norham Castle (garrisoned only by nine), and besieges the castle at Wark on Tweed.
  • 10 April – Robert Warelwast is nominated as Bishop of Exeter.
  • May – The Anarchy: Robert, 1st Earl of Gloucester, leads a rebellion against King Stephen in favour of his half-sister Matilda.
  • 10 June – Battle of Clitheroe: Having harried Craven in Yorkshire, David I of Scotland's nephew William fitz Duncan meets and defeats an English force on the edge of the Bowland Fells.
  • 22 August – Battle of the Standard: English army defeats that of David I of Scotland at Cowton Moor near Northallerton in Yorkshire.
  • December – Legatine conference in Westminster led by Alberic of Ostia.
  • Alcester Abbey and Bourne Abbey established.
• 1139
  • 8 January – Theobald of Bec enthroned as Archbishop of Canterbury.
  • 9 April – the second Treaty of Durham between King Stephen of England and David I of Scotland; David's son Earl Henry takes control of most of Northumberland, excluding Bamburgh and Newcastle upon Tyne.
  • June – Stephen orders the arrest of Roger of Salisbury, Justiciar and Bishop of Salisbury, and Alexander of Lincoln, Bishop of Lincoln.
  • 30 September – The Anarchy: Empress Matilda lands near Arundel to begin her campaign to regain the throne from Stephen.
  • 7 November – The Anarchy: Gloucester's army sacks Worcester.
  • King's School, Pontefract, founded.

Births

• 1130
  • Richard de Clare, 2nd Earl of Pembroke (died 1176)
• 1133
  • 5 March – King Henry II of England (died 1189)
• 1136
  • William of Newburgh, historian (died c. 1198)

Deaths

• year unknown, after 1130
  • Robert of Bellême, 3rd Earl of Shrewsbury (born 1052)
• 1130
  • Maud, Countess of Huntingdon (born 1074)
• 1134
  • 28 March – Stephen Harding, Abbot of Cîteaux and saint (born c. 1050)
  • Biddenden Maids, supposed earliest known conjoined twins (born 1100)
• 1135
  • 1 December – King Henry I of England (born c. 1068)
• 1136
  • 15 April – Richard de Clare, 1st Earl of Hertford (born 1094)
  • 21 November – William de Corbeil, Archbishop of Canterbury (born c. 1070 in the Île-de-France)
• 1137
  • 10 July – Pain fitzJohn, nobleman and royal administrator (killed in ambush)
  • c. 26 September – William Warelwast, Bishop of Exeter and diplomat
• 1138
  • 11 May – William de Warenne, 2nd Earl of Surrey
• 1139
  • 11 December – Roger of Salisbury, bishop and Lord Chancellor

References

References

1. Golding, Brian. (1995). "Gilbert of Sempringham and the Gilbertine Order". Oxford University Press.
2. "Fountains Abbey website".
3. (1995). "The London Encyclopaedia". Macmillan.
4. "Byland Abbey, Cistercians in Yorkshire Project".
5. (1876). "The Insurance Cyclopeadia: Being an Historical Treasury of Events and Circumstances Connected with the Origin and Progress of Insurance". C. and E. Layton.
6. Richard of Hexham. (1853–1858). "De Gestis Regis Stephani".
7. Palmer, Alan. (1992). "The Chronology of British History". Century Ltd.