# 1140

Year 1140 (MCXL) was a leap year starting on Monday of the Julian calendar.

## Events
### By place
#### Levant

* Spring – King Fulk of Jerusalem confronts Imad al-Din Zengi, Seljuk ruler (atabeg) of Mosul, near Dara'a in southern Syria. Turkish forces under Mu'in al-Din (supported by the Crusaders) besiege Banias.

#### Europe

* Spring – King Conrad III enfeoffs Henry II (Jasomirgott), a member of the House of Babenberg, with the County Palatine of the Rhine (belonging to the Holy Roman Empire).
* Summer – King Roger II promulgates the Assizes of Ariano (a series of laws to rule the Norman Kingdom of Sicily) after the pacification of southern Italy.
* December 21 – Siege of Weinsberg: Conrad III captures the castle at Weinsberg during the civil war between the Staufers and the Welfs in Germany.

#### England and Scotland

* Summer – King Stephen appoints Geoffrey de Mandeville as Earl of Essex for his support during the civil war against Matilda (Stephen's cousin).
* The town of Lanark in Scotland is made a Royal Burgh by King David I, giving it merchant privileges relating to government and taxation.

#### Asia

* August 21 – Jin–Song Wars – Battle of Yancheng: Chinese forces under the command of Yue Fei defeat a numerically superior Jin army led by Wuzhu.

### By topic
#### Religion

* June 3 – Pierre Abelard, a French theologian, is condemned for heresy by the Council of Sens. He sets out for Rome to present his defense to Pope Innocent II.
* September 8 – Sephardi Jewish philosopher Judah Halevi, having completed the Kuzari, arrives in Alexandria on a pilgrimage to Palestine.
* The first Cistercian monastery in Spain is founded in Fitero. The order enjoys a rapid expansion in the region in the following 15 years.

#### Literature

* Gratian, an Italian monk and canon lawyer, founds the science of Canon law with the publication of the Decretum Gratiani (approximate date).

## Births

* May 28 – Xin Qiji, Chinese military leader (d. 1207)
* Adela of Champagne, queen of France (d. 1206)
* Alan Fitz Walter, Scottish High Steward (d. 1204)
* Cadfan ap Cadwaladr, Welsh nobleman (d. 1215)
* Davyd Rostislavich, Kievan Grand Prince (d. 1197)
* Domhnall Caomhánach, king of Leinster (d. 1175)
* Eliezer ben Joel HaLevi, German rabbi (d. 1225)
* Fujiwara no Tashi, Japanese empress (d. 1202)
* Gerard de Ridefort, Flemish Grand Master (d. 1189)
* Hedwig, margravine of Meissen (approximate date)
* Hugh de Paduinan, Norman nobleman (d. 1189)
* John I, archbishop of Trier (approximate date)
* John I, Norman nobleman (approximate date)
* John of Ford, English Cistercian abbot (d. 1224)
* Manfred II, marquess of Saluzzo (approximate date)
* Minamoto no Yoshihira, Japanese nobleman (d. 1160)
* Peter Waldo, French spiritual leader (d. 1205)
* Raymond III, crusader and count of Tripoli (d. 1187)
* Raymond the Palmer, Italian pilgrim (d. 1200)
* Simon II, duke of Lorraine (approximate date)
* Sophia of Minsk, queen of Denmark (d. 1198)
* Walter Map, Welsh clergyman and writer (d. 1210)
* William FitzRalph, English High Sheriff (d. 1200)
* Yuan Cai, Chinese scholar and official (d. 1195)

## Deaths

* January 12 – Louis I, German nobleman
* February 6 – Thurstan, archbishop of York
* February 14
** Leo I, prince of Armenia
** Soběslav I, duke of Bohemia
* August 21 – Yang Zaixing, Chinese general
* August 31 – Godebold, bishop of Meissen
* September 15 – Adelaide, duchess of Bohemia
* November 16 – Wulgrin II, count of Angoulême
* Aibert, French monk and hermit (b. 1060)
* Baldwin of Rieti, Italian Benedictine abbot
* Diego Gelmírez, Galician archbishop (b. 1069)
* Gaucherius, French priest and hermit (b. 1060)
* Hugh the Chanter, English historian and writer
* Kumarapala, Indian ruler of the Pala Empire
* Lhachen Naglug, Indian ruler of Ladakh (b. 1110)
* Li Gang, Chinese Grand Chancellor (b. 1083)
* Toba Sōjō, Japanese artist-monk (b. 1053)
* Wanyan Xiyin, Chinese chief adviser