1130s in England explained

Other decades
		1130s		1150s

Events from the 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 as the true heir of Henry I of England.^[1]
  • Cistercians found Rievaulx Abbey in Yorkshire.
  • Gilbertine Order of nuns founded by Gilbert of Sempringham in Lincolnshire, the only completely English religious order.^[2]
• 1132
  • Benedictines found Fountains Abbey in Yorkshire.^[3]
• 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^[4] 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.^[1]
  • 22 December – Stephen of Blois, nephew of Henry I, claims the throne.^[1]
  • 26 December – coronation of Stephen of England at Westminster Abbey^[1] by William de Corbeil, Archbishop of Canterbury.
  • Bruton Abbey, Buildwas Abbey and Byland Abbey founded, the latter in January by the Congregation of Savigny.^[5]
• 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 .
• 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.^[6]
  • 4 June – a fire destroys much of the city of York, including 39 churches and York Minster, but the latter is soon rebuilt.^[6]
  • 27 June – a fire severely damages the city of Bath, Somerset.^[6]
• 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.^[7]
  • 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.^[1]
  • 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.^[7]
  • 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.^[8]
  • June – Stephen orders the arrest of Roger of Salisbury, Justiciar and Bishop of Salisbury, and Alexander of Lincoln, Bishop of Lincoln.^[1]
  • 30 September – The Anarchy: Empress Matilda lands near Arundel to begin her campaign to regain the throne from Stephen.^[1]
  • 7 November – The Anarchy: Gloucester's army sacks Worcester.^[8]
  • 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

Notes and References

1. Book: Williams, Hywel. Cassell's Chronology of World History. registration. London. Weidenfeld & Nicolson. 2005. 0-304-35730-8. 120–122.
2. Book: Golding, Brian. Gilbert of Sempringham and the Gilbertine Order. Oxford University Press. 1995. 0-19-820060-9.
3. Web site: Fountains Abbey website . https://web.archive.org/web/19990903122611/http://www.fountainsabbey.org.uk/estate/history1b.html . dead . 1999-09-03 . 2007-12-19 .
4. Book: The London Encyclopaedia. Ben. Weinreb. Christopher. Hibbert. Macmillan. 1995. 0-333-57688-8. 287.
5. Web site: Byland Abbey, Cistercians in Yorkshire Project. 2007-12-19. https://web.archive.org/web/20071226203305/http://cistercians.shef.ac.uk/byland/. 2007-12-26. live.
6. Book: Fires, Great. The Insurance Cyclopeadia: Being an Historical Treasury of Events and Circumstances Connected with the Origin and Progress of Insurance. Walford, Cornelius. C. and E. Layton. 1876. 26.
7. Book: Richard of Hexham. Richard of Hexham. De Gestis Regis Stephani. Stevenson, Joseph. 1853–58. Church Historians of England, vol. 4, pt 1. 2008-08-29. https://web.archive.org/web/20081006164912/http://www.deremilitari.org/RESOURCES/SOURCES/hexham.htm. 2008-10-06. dead.
8. Book: Palmer, Alan. Palmer. Veronica. 1992. The Chronology of British History. Century Ltd. London. 61–63. 0-7126-5616-2.